Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 8.djvu/556

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544 TREATY WITH ECUADOR. 1839. bX,£j;;°if);)¤;i:;i;8 Nor shall any vessel of either, that may have entered into such port may q,,;, ,,,,,,,,,3 before the same was actually besieged, blockaded or invested by the i¤¤¢¢ds other, be restrained from quitting such place with her cargo; nor, if found therein, after the reduction and surrender, shall such vessel or $@3,,,;*;,; °Q’,,hg: her cargo be liable to confiscation, but they shall be restored to the fbund therein. owners thereof ARTICLE XXI. D¤¤i¤l; Hvisit st In order to prevent all kinds of disorder, in the visiting and exami- $:°Q,'uT,;gQ°f,?'f}f nation of the ships and cargoes of both the contracting parties, on the canuot_sh0t—ex· high seas, they have agreed, mutually, that, whenever a vessel of war, {’;';';:*,:j,*;”a{,‘L*:_"*° public or private, shall meet with a neutral of the other contracting ’party, the first shall remain out of cannon shot, and may send its boats, with two or three men only, in order to execute the said examination of the papers, concerning the ownership and cargo of the vessel, without causing the least extortion, violence or ill treatment, for which the commanders of the said armed ships shall be responsible, with their persons and property : for which purpose, the commanders of the said private armed vessels shall, before receiving their commissions, give sufficient security to answer for all the damages they may commit; and it is expressly agreed, that the neutral party shall, in no case, be required to go on board the examining vessel for the purpose of exhibiting his papers, or for any other purpose whatever. ARTICLE XXII. in me og- ,,.,,5 To avoid_ all kind of vexation and abuse in the examination of the §*;°·2gi$;¤lc¢¤f2- papers relating to the ownership of the vessels belonging to the citr- 5,;,,, be fugfhf zens of the two contracting parties, they have agreed, and do agree, ed, showing to that in case one of them should be engaged in war, the ships and ves-

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,‘f’{]‘e,2;;Si"°P‘ sels belonging to the citizens of the other must be furnished with sealetters or passports, expressing the name, property, and bulk of the

ships; as also the name and place of habitation of the master and commander of said vessel, in order that it may thereby appear that said ship truly belongs to the citizens of one of the parties. They have likewise agreed, that such ships being laden, besides the said sealetters or passports, shall also be provided with certificates containing the several particulars of the cargo, and the place whence the ship sailed, so that it may be known whether any forbidden or contraband goods be on board the same; which certificates shall be made out by the officers of the place whence the ship sailed, in the accustomed form: without such requisites said vessels may be detained, to be adjudged by the competent tribunal, and may be declared legal prize, unless the said defect shall be proved to be owing to accident, and satisfied or supplied by testimony entirely equivalent. ARTICLE XXIII. Visiting mmHg_ It isfurther agreedthat the stipulations above expressed, relative to tions apply_ only the visiting and examination of vessels, shall apply only to those which z;$_;”°i"“‘h°“‘ sail without convoy ; and when said vessels shall be under convoy, the y` verbal declaration of the commander of the convoy, on his word of honor,that the vessels under his protection belong to the nation whose flag he carries; and when they are bound to an enemy’s port, that they have no contraband goods on board, shall be sufficient. ARTICLE XXIV. Prize causes to It is further agreed that, in all cases, the established courts for

 prize causes, in the country to which the prizes may be conducted,

only. shall alone take cognizance of them; and whenever sucll tribunals,