Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 8.djvu/540

This page needs to be proofread.

528 CONVENTION WITH MEXICO. 1839. King of Prussia to provide an arbitrator to act in the case provided by said convention could not be obtained: And whereas the parties to said convention are still, and equally, desirous of terminating the discussions which have taken place between them in respect to said claims, arising from injuries to the persons and property of the citizen of the United States by Mexican authorities, in a manner equally advantageous to the citizens of the United States, by whom said injuries have been sustained, and more convenient to Mexico than that provided by said convention: the President of the United States has named for this purpose, and furnished with full powers, John Forsyth, Secretary of State of the said U-nited States; and the President of the Mexican Republic has named his excellency Senor Don Francisco Pizarro Martinez, accredited as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexican Republic to the United States, and has furnished him with full powers for the same purpose: And the said plenipotentiaries have agreed upon and concluded the following articles: ARTICLE I. Camp, clgjing It is agreed that all claims of citizens of the United States upon the ¢¤ b¤ ¤‘¢f¤¤¤d ¢<> Mexican Government, statements of which, soliciting the interposition zulfszfgggglg of the Government of the United States, have been presented to the Manner Ofthejy Department of State or to the diplomatic agent of the United States at ¤¤¤<>i¤tm¢¤f- Mexico until the signature of this convention, shall be referred to four commissioners, who shall form a board, and be appointed in the following manner, namely: two commissioners shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and two commissioners by the President of the Mexican Republic. The said commissioners, so appointed, shall be sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims according to such evidence as shall be laid before them on the part of the United States and the Mexican Republic respectively. ARTICLE II. The board to The said board shall have two secretaries, versed in the English and 2;*;: Wg’c¤°¤¥°· Spanish languages ; one to be appointed by the President of the United s' ·' States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof; and the other by the President of the Mexican Republic. And the said secretaries shall be sworn faithfully to discharge their duty in that capacity. ARTICLE III. Meeting of,;,, The said board shall meet in the city of Washington within three board. months after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, and · within eighteen months from the time of its meeting shall terminate its duties. The Secretary of State of the United States shall, immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, give notice of the time of the meeting of the said board, to be published in two ncwspapers in Washington, and in such other papers as he may think proper. ARTICLE IV. Qruurngntg to All documents which now are in, or hereafter, during the continuance bcdchvcrsdto of the commission constituted by this convention, may come into the °h° b°“d‘ possession of the Department of State of the United States, in relation to the aforesaid claims, shall be delivered to the board. The Mexican Government shall furnish all such documents and explanations as may bein their possession, for the adjustment of the said claims according to the principles of justice, the law of nations, and the stipulations of the treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and