174 



Doc. No. 75. 



Nicaragua, river Tipitapa, lake of Leon, or any other rivers, lakes, waters, 

 and lands situated within its territory, with the object of connecting the 

 two oceans, and to make use of, for its construction and navigation, said 

 rivers, lakes, waters, and lands, both public and private. And the 

 State also grants to the company the exclusive right to the administration, 

 management, and control of said canal, according to the following 

 articles : 



Art. 2. The dimensions of the canal shall be such as may be neces- 

 sary for the passage of vessels of all sizes; and the point at which it shall 

 terminate on the Pacific, in the event that the engineers of the company 

 shall decide upon two or more points as equally practicable, shall be that 

 one most consistent with the mutual interests both of the State and the 

 company. 



Art. 3. The company binds itself to construct, at its own expense, in 

 the harbors at the extremities of the route of said canal, custom-house 

 buildings of the necessary capacity for the use of the State and the com- 

 pany. 



Art. 4. The exclusive rights and privileges herein granted to the said 

 company by the said State shall be enjoyed by the same for the fixed pe- 

 riod of eighty five years, counted from the day in which the canal shall 

 be completed and put in use. 



Art. 5. The company hereby agrees to pay to the said State for the 

 said grant the following sums of money, viz: 1st. Ten thousand dollars, 

 by draft on the said company in the city of New York, as soon as this 

 contract shall be ratified by the legislature of the State; 2d. Ten thousand 

 dollars at the expiration of one year from this date; and ten thousand dol- 

 lars each year thereafter until the completion of said canal: the above 

 sums to be paid to the State in the city of Leon or in the city of New 

 York, as the State may elect. Also, the said company makes a free dona- 

 tion to the said State of two hundred thousand dollars of stock in the^ 

 enterprise, which shall be delivered to the State as soon as the certificates 

 of stock shall be distributed by the company. 



Art. 6. Said State shall receive for its proportion of the income of said 

 canal, after the same shall be put in use, the following interests, viz: For 

 the first twenty years, twenty per cent, annually out of the net profits, 

 after deducting therefrom the interest of the capital employed in its con- 

 struction, at the rate of seven per cent, per annum; and twenty- five per 

 cent, each year thereafter of said net profits, after deducting the said 

 seven per cent., until the expiration of the full period of the term herein 

 above granted. And the State shall also receive ten per cent, out of the 

 net profits, without any deduction of interest, of any route which the 

 company may establish between the two oceans, whether it be by rail- 

 road, or carriage road, or by any other means of communication, during 

 the twelve years herein granted for the construction of said canal. 



Art. 7. The said company shall be bound to make and present an an- 

 nual report and account to the government of Nicaragua, setting forth the^ 

 receipts and expenditures, as well as a statement of the condition of the 

 works of the canal; which report shall be certified by the proper officers 

 of the company. The State, however, shall have the right, through any 

 commissioners which it may appoint for that purpose, to inspect and ex- 

 amine at any time the books of the company, to satisfy itself of the cor- 

 rectness of said receipts and expenditures. 



