20 TREATY OF COMMERCE WITH FRANCE. 1778. tions which shall remain in all their force and vigour, and the United States on their part, or any of them, shall be at liberty to enact such laws, relative to that matter, as to them shall seem proper. ARTICLE XII. ships sus ce;. The merchant ships of either of the parties which shall be making •d ¤h¤ll¢>><liil>i¢ into a port belonging to the enemy of the other ally, and concerning £:fF,%°$;§"d whose voyage, and the species of goods on board her, there shall be ` just grounds of suspicion, shall be obliged to exhibit as well upon the high seas, as in the ports and havens, not only her passports, but likewise certificates, expressly shewing that her goods are not of the number of those which have been prohibited as contraband. ARTICLE XIII. How to pro If by the exhibiting of the abovesaid certificates, the other party dis- ¤¤<¤di¤ ¤¤¤¤ of cover there are any of those sorts of goods which are prohibited and °°0';:,;°b°"d declared contraband, and consigned for a port under the obedience of Ihis enemies, it shall not be lawful to break up the hatches of such ship, or to open any chest, coffers, packs, casks, or any other vessels found therein, or to remove the smallest parcels of her goods, whether such ship belongs to the subjects of France, or the inhabitants of the said United States, unless the lading be brought on shore in the presence of the officers of the court of admiralty, and an inventory thereof made; but there shall be no allowance to sell, exchange or alienate the same, iu any manner, untill after that due and lawful process shall have been had against such prohibited goods, and the court of admiralty shall by a sentence pronounced have confiscated the same; saving always as well the ship itself as any other goods found therein, which by this treaty are to be esteemed free, neither may they be detained on pretence of their being as it were infected by the prohibited goods, much less shall they be confiscated, as lawful prize: but if not the whole cargo, but only part thereof shall consist of prohibited or contraband goods, and the commander of the ship shall be ready and willing to deliver them to the captor, who has discovered them, in such case, the captor having received those goods, shall forthwith discharge the ship, and not hinder her by any means, freely to prosecute the voyage on which she was bound. But in case the contraband merchandises cannot be all received on board the vessel of the captor, then the captor may, notwithstanding the offer of delivering him the contraband goods, carry the vessel into the nearest port agreeable to what is above directed. ARTICLE XIV. _Goods found On the contrary it is agreed, that whatever shall be found to be laden
- 3liz¤;§°¥E;"¤ by the subjects and inhabitants of either party on any ship belonging
00,,6-QJ0d_ ,,,,_ to the enemys of the other, or to their subjects, the whole although it be loss put on not of the sort of prohibited goods, may be confiscated in the same
- g:_:g£i£;>,!’<:v<·j¤- manner as if it belonged to the enemy,except such goods and merchan-
6,, w,,,,,,, ,,,,0 '* dizes as were put on board such ship before the declaration of war, or months alter. even after such declaration, if so be it were done without knowledge of such declaration, so that the goods of the subjects and people of either party, whether they be of the nature of such as are prohibited or otherwise, which as is aforesaid, were put on board any ship belonging to an enemy before the war or after the declaration of the same, without the knowledge of it, shall no ways be liable to confiscation, but shall well and truely be restored without delay to the proprietors demanding the same; but so as that if the said merchanclizes be contraband it shall not be any ways lawful to carry them afterwards to any ports belonging to the enemy. The two contracting parties agree, that the term of two
