652 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



United States, it is further agreed that commissioners 

 shall be appointed to determine, having regard to 

 the privileges accorded by the United States to the 

 subjects of hor Britannic Majesty, as stated in Ar- 

 ticles 19 and 21 of this treaty, the amount of any 

 compensation which, in their opinion, ought to bo 

 paid by the Government of the United States to the 

 Government of her Britannic Majesty, in return for 

 the privileges accorded to the citizens of the United 

 States under Article 18 of this treaty; that any sum 

 of money which the said commissioners may so 

 award shall be paid by the United States Government 

 in a gross sum within twelve mouths after such 

 award shall have been g^iven. 



ART. 23. The commissioners referred to in the 

 preceding article shall be appointed in the following 

 manner, that is to say : One commissioner shall be 

 named by the President of the United States, one 

 by her Britannic Majesty, and a third by the Presi- ' 

 dent and her Britannic Majesty conjointly; and, in 

 case the third commissioner shall not have been so 

 named within a period of three months from the date 

 when this act shall take effect, then the third com- 

 missioner shall be named by the representative at 

 London of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria and 

 King of Hungary. In case of the death, absence, or 

 incapacity of any commissioner, or in the event of 

 any commissioner omitting or ceasing to act, the 

 vacancy shall be filled in the manner hereinbefore 

 provided for making the original appointment, the 

 period of three months in case of such substitution 

 being calculated from the date of the happening of 

 the vacancy. The commissioners named shall meet 

 in the city of Halifax, in the province of Nova Scotia, 

 at the earliest convenient period after they have been 

 respectively named, and shall, before proceeding to 

 any business, make and subscribe a solemn declara- 

 tion that they will impartially and carefully examine 

 and decide the matters referred to them, to the best 

 of their judgment, and according to justice and 

 equity, and such declaration shall be entered on the 

 record of their proceedings. Each of the high con- 

 tracting powers shall also name one person to attend 

 the commission as his agent, to represent it generally 

 in all matters connected with the commission. 



ART. 24. The proceedings shall be conducted in 

 such order as the commissioners appointed under 

 Articles 22 and 23 of this treaty shall determine. 

 They shall be bound to receive such oral or written 

 testimony as either Government may present. If 

 either party shall offer oral testimony, the other 

 party shall have the right of cross-examination, 

 under such rules as the commissioners shall pre- 

 scribe. If in the case submitted to the commis- 

 sioners either party shall have specified or alluded 

 to any report or document in its own exclusive 

 possession without annexing a copy, such party shall 

 be bound, if the other party thinks proper to apply 

 for it, to furnish that party with a copy thereof, and 

 cither party may call upon the other through the 

 commissioners to produce the originals or certified 

 copies of any papers adduced as evidence, giving in 

 each instance such reasonable notice as the commis- 

 sioners may require. The case on either side shall 

 be closed within a period of six months from the 

 date of the organization of the commission ; and the 

 commissioners shall be requested to give their award 

 as soon as possible thereafter. The aforesaid period 

 of six months may be extended for three months in 

 case of a vacancy occurring among the commissioners 

 under the circumstances contemplated in Article 23 

 of this treaty 



ART. 25. The commissioners shall keep an accurate 

 record and correct minutes, or notes, of all their 

 proceedings, with the dates thereof, and may appoint 

 und employ a secretary, and any other necessary 

 officer or officers to assist them in the transaction of 

 the business which may come before them. Each 

 of the high compacting parties shall pay its own 

 commissioner and agent or counsel; all other ex- 



penses shall be defrayed by the two Governments 

 in equal moieties. 



ART. 26. The navigation of the river St. Lawrence, 

 ascending and descending from the 45th parallel of 

 north latitude, where it ceases to form the boundary 

 between the two countries, from, to, and into the 

 sea, shall forever remain free, and open for the pur- 

 poses of commerce to the citizens of the United 

 States, subject to any laws and regulations of Great 

 Britain or of the Dominion of Canada, not incon- 

 sistent with such privilege of free navigation. The 

 navigation of the rivers Yucan, Porcupine, and Sti- 

 kine, ascending and descending from, to, and into 

 the sea, shall forever remain free and open for the 

 purposes of commerce to the citizens of both powers, 

 subject to any laws and regulations of either country 

 within its own territory, not inconsistent with such 

 privilege of free navigation. 



ART. 27. The Government of her Britannic Ma- 

 jesty engages to urge upon the Government of the 

 Dominion of Canada to secure to the citizens of the 

 United States the use of the Welland, St. Lawrence, 

 and other canals in the Dominion, on terms of equal- 

 ity with the inhabitants of the Dominion, and the 

 Government of the United States engages that the 

 subjects of her Britannic Majesty shall enjoy the use 

 of the St. Clair Flats Canal on terms of equality with 

 the citizens of the United States, and further engages 

 to urge upon the State governments to secure to the 

 subjects of her Britannic Majesty the use of the 

 several State canals connected with the navigation 

 of the lakes or rivers traversed by or contiguous to 

 the boundary-line between the 'possessions of the 

 high contracting parties on terms of equality with 

 the inhabitants of the United States. 



ART. 28. The navigation of Lake Michigan shall, 

 also, for the term of years mentioned in Article 33 

 of this treaty, be free and open, for the purposes of 

 commerce, to the subjects of her Britannic Majesty, 

 subject to any laws and regulations of the United 

 States, or of the States bordering thereon ? not incon- 

 sistent with such privilege of free navigation. 



ART. 29. It is agreed that, for the term of years 

 mentioned in Article 33 of this treaty, goods, wares, 

 or merchandise, arriving at the ports of New York, 

 Boston, and Portland, and any other ports of the 

 United States, which have been or may from time to 

 time be specially designated by the President of the 

 United States and destined for her Britannic Majesty's 

 possessions in North America, may be entered at the 

 proper custom-house and conveyed in transit, without 

 the payment of duties, through the territory of the 

 United States, under such rules, regulations, and 

 conditions for the protection of the revenues as the 

 Government of the United States may from tune to 

 time prescribe, and under like rules, regulations, and 

 conditions^ goods, wares, or merchandise may be 

 conveyed in transit, without the payment of duties, 

 from such possessions through the territory of the 

 United States for export from the said ports of the 

 United States. It is further agreed that, for the like 

 period, goods, wares, or merchandise, arriving at any 

 of the ports of her Britannic Majesty's possessions in 

 North America, and destined for the United States, 

 may be entered at the proper custom-house and con- 

 veyed in transit, without the payment of duties, 

 through the said possessions, under such rules and 

 regulations and conditions for the protection of the 

 revenue as the Government of the said possessions 

 may from time to time prescribe, and under like 

 rules, regulations, and conditionSj goods, wares, or 

 merchandise, may be conveyed m transit without 

 payment of duties, from the United States, through 

 said possessions to other places in the United States, 

 or for export from ports in the said possessions. 



ART. 30. It is agreed that for the term of years 

 mentioned in Article 33 of this treaty subjects of her 

 Britannic Majesty may carry in British vessels, with- 

 out payment of duties, goods, wares, or merchandise, 

 from one port or place within the territory of the 



