Doc. No. 75. 



141 



c. 



Translation of the agreement befimen the State of Nicaragua, and the 

 iKicaragua Steam Company of New Yorky for the establishment of 

 communications between the Atlantic and Pacific. 



Don Jose Trinidad Munos^ general-in-chief of the army of the sovereign 

 State of Nicaragua, commissioned by the supreme government of the 

 State, and David T. Brown , commissioned by the company entitled '^the 

 Nicaragua Steam Company of New York/' having met with the object of 

 conferring and setthng an^ agreement respecting the construction of a 

 canal, and the interior trade in the territory of the State, after exchanging 

 their respective credentials, have agreed upon the following articles: 



Article 1. The State of Nicaragua grants to the Nicaragua Steam 

 Company the exclusive privilege of passage through its rivers and lakes, 

 from the port of San Juan de Nicaragua on the North (Atlantic) sea, up 

 the river of San Juan and through the lake of Grenada, the river of 

 Pasquiel and the lake of liCon, to the point which the engineers of the 

 company may select on the South sea at the port of Realejo, the Tama- 

 rindo, or any other basin or port on that coast, through the neck of land 

 embraced between the lake of Leon and the South sea; but only by one 

 line of route, whether it be by canals or by railroads; which v/orks shall be 

 constructed entirely at the expense of the said company. 



Art. 2. The privilege conceded by the State of Nicaragua to the 

 Steam Company is for the precise and positive term of forty years, counted 

 from the date of the ratification of the present agreement by the represent- 

 ativ^es of the two parties. 



Akt. 3. The State of Nicaragua, in order to afford greater protec- 

 tion to the company which undertakes the work, engages to exact no duty 

 of transit on the merchandise, nor tax on the passengers, transported by 

 the boats or cars of the company. The same freedom from .duties 

 shall be extended to the machines, materials, and instruments which the 

 company may require for its use; but it is prohibited from selling them in 

 the interior; and in case of contravention, the company will incur the 

 penalties declared against contraband. 



Art. 4. The State gives to the company gratuitously the coal, stones, 

 and other materials for building, in the vacant lands, and those of 

 the government, adjacent to the line of route selected; with the exception, 

 however, of the fortresses and military posts, and the materials belonging 

 to individuals, for which the company shall pay the owners at prices fixed 

 by agreement, or determined by referees. The State, in like manner, 

 grants to the company the use of the vacant lands adjacent to the 

 line of communication, for the establishment of houses, stores, bridges, 

 moles, and other things necessary for the interests of the company; 

 provided, however, that lands belonging to individuals shall be purchased 

 by the company in the same manner as materials for building. 



Art. 5. The government of the State shall provide the company 

 with the number of laborers required, so far and as regularly as it may 

 be able. The company shall pay these laborers at the rate of three reals 

 per day each. Those who are considered in the organization, as officers 

 and sergeants, shall be paid according to the military tariff of the State; 

 the government, however; reserving to itself the right to issue such regu- 



