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Doc. No. 75. 



the State any goods, merchandise, or any other articles of commerce, for 

 sale or exchange, without paying the duties established by law. And 

 they are also prohibited from importing any articles or materials which 

 may be monopolized or prohibited by the State for any purpose, except 

 for the use of the works of the canal. 



Art. 15. The State binds itself to facilitate and aid in every possible 

 way the engineers, contractors, employes, and laborers who may be em- 

 ployed in the explorations and surveys of the route, and in the construc- 

 tion of the works of the canal; and to this end stipulates, that all citizens 

 of the country who may be so employed by the company shall be free 

 and exempt from all civil or military service of the State whatsoever; but 

 to entitle them, however, to the right of exemption from such mihtary ser- 

 vice, they shall have been previously in the employ of the company for at 

 least the period of one month. The State also guaranties to all for- 

 eigners who may be employed on the works of the canal, the same 

 rights, liberties, and privileges as are enjoyed by the inhabitants of the 

 country; and also, that they shall not be molested or disturbed in their 

 labors while thus employed, by any internal commotions or disorders of 

 the country; and at the same time, that they shall be free and exempt from 

 all taxes, duties, or direct contributions whatsoever during the time they 

 may be in the company's employ. 



Art. 16. The said company agrees to receive from the State, as laborers 

 upon the works of the canal, any convicts who may be capable of labor, 

 upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the company and the 

 State. 



Art. 17. The said company agrees to transport across the said canal 

 all passengers, goods, merchandise, and materials of every description 

 which may be intrusted to it; and also stipulates that the canal shall be 

 open to the transit of vessels of all nations, subject to fixed and uniform 

 rates of tolls that may be established by the company. 



Art. 18. The company shall establish a tariff of fees or tolls for the trans- 

 portation of all passengers, goods, wares, merchandise, and property of 

 every description, and for vessels of all kinds passing through or along said 

 canal, which shall have the force of law from the moment in which it shall 

 be communicated to the government of Nicaragua, which shall be obhged 

 to sanction the same within eight days after its reception ; and at the same 

 time, with a view to induce the largest and most extended business by 

 this route, the said company agree to fix the said tarifi' of fees or tolls for 

 the same at the lowest possible rate consistent with the mutual interests 

 both of the State and the company; and in case that the company should 

 determine at any time to alter such tariff, it shall be incumbent upon it to " 

 give six months' previous notice of such determination fn the State paper 

 of Nicaragua, and in the principal seaport towns of the United States. 



Art. 19. The rate of tolls and charges for the transit of the products 

 and manufactures of the State of Nicaragua, and the adjoining States, 

 shall be regulated by a particular and more favorable tariff, which shall be 

 agreed upon between the State and the company. 



Art. 20. The State grants to all steamers and vessels of the company, 

 during the continuance of this contract, the right of ingress and egress to, 

 from, and through all its harbors, rivers, and waters, both on the Pacific 

 and Atlantic oceans, and the interior, and the use of the same free of all 



