1429. ARTICLE XXXIII.

For the purpose of more effectually protecting their commerce and navigation, the two contracting parties do hereby agree, as soon hereafter as circumstances will permit them, to form a Consular Convention, which shall declare, especially, the powers and immunities of the Consuls and Vice-Consuls of the respective parties.

1430. ARTICLE XXXIV.

It is further agreed that the words "most favored nation," that occur in this treaty, shall not be so construed as to prevent either of the contracting parties from concluding any treaty or convention with any other nation or state it may think proper, as freely and as fully as though said words were not used: Provided, however, That notwithstanding any such treaty or convention the citizens of the United States shall be placed in Ecuador, with respect to navigation and commerce, upon an equal footing with the subjects of Spain, and with the citizens of Mexico, and of the other Hispano-American States, with which treaties have been, or may be, concluded; and that the citizens of Ecuador shall be entitled to enjoy, in the United States, the same rights and privileges, with respect to navigation and commerce, that the citizens of the United States enjoy, or shall enjoy, in Ecuador.

The agreement with Egypt concluded November 16, 1884, may be found in United States TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS (1887), title EGYPT."

FRANCE.

Convention concluded February 23, 1853 (Consular privileges).

1431. ARTICLE I.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the United States and France, shall be reciprocally received and recognized on the presentation of their commissions, in the form established

in their respective countries. The necessary exequatur for the exercise of their functions shall be furnished to them without charge; and on the exhibition of this exequatur, they shall be admitted at once and without difficulty, by the territorial authorities, Federal or State, judicial or executive, of the ports, cities, and places of their residence and district, to the enjoyment of the prerogatives reciprocally granted. The Government that furnishes the exequatur reserves the right to withdraw it on a statement of the reason for which it has thought proper to do so.

1432. ARTICLE II.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the United States and France shall enjoy in the two countries the privileges usually accorded to their offices, such a personal immunity, except in the case of crime, exemption from military billetings, from service in the militia or the national guard, and other duties of the same nature; and from all direct and personal taxation, whether Federal, State, or municipal. If, however, the said Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents are citizens of the country in which they reside; if they are, or become, owners of property there, or engage in commerce, they shall be subject to the same taxes and imposts, and, with the reservation of the treatment granted to Commercial Agents, to the same jurisdiction as other citizens of the country who are owners of property or merchants.

They may place on the outer door of their offices, or of their dwellinghouses, the arms of their nation, with an inscription in these words: "Consul of the United States," or "Consul of France"; and they shall be allowed to hoist the flag of their country thereon.

They shall never be compelled to appear as witnesses before the courts. When any declaration for judicial purposes, or deposition, is to be received from them in the administration of justice, they shall be invited, in writing, to appear in court, and if unable to do so, their testimony shall be requested in writing, or be taken orally at their dwellings. Consular Pupils shall enjoy the same personal privileges and immunities as Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents. In case of death, indisposition, or absence of the latter, the Chancellors, Secretaries, and Consular Pupils attached to their offices shall be entitled to discharge ad interim the duties of their respective posts; and shall enjoy, while thus acting, the prerogatives granted to the incumbents.

1433. ARTICLE III.

The Consular offices and dwellings shall be inviolable. The local authorities shall not invade them under any pretext. In no case shall they examine or seize the papers there deposited. In no case shall those offices or dwellings be used as places of asylum.

1434. ARTICLE IV.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, of both countries, shall have the right to complain to the authorities of their respective Governments, whether federal or local, judicial or executive, throughout the extent of their Consular district, of any infraction of the treaties or conventions existing between the United States and France, or for the purpose of protecting informally the rights and interests of their countrymen, especially in cases of absence. Should there be no Diplomatic Agent of their nation, they shall be authorized, in case of need, to have recourse to the general or federal Government of the country in which they exercise their functions.

1435. ARTICLE V.

The respective Consuls-General and Consuls shall be free to establish, in such parts of their districts as they may see fit, Vice-Consuls or Consular Agents, who may be taken indiscriminately from among Americans of the United States, Frenchmen, or citizens of other countries. These Agents, whose nomination, it is understood, shall be submitted to the approval of the respective Governments, shall be provided with a certificate given to them by the Consul by whom they are named, and under whose orders they are to act.

1436. ARTICLE VI.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall have the right of taking at their offices or bureaus, at the domicile of the parties concerned, or on board ship, the declarations of captain, crews, passengers, merchants, or citizens of their country, and of executing there all requisite papers.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall have the right also to receive at their offices or bureaus, conformably to the laws and regulations of their country, all acts of agreement executed between the citizens of their own country and the

APPENDIX NO. III.

citizens and inhabitants of the country in which they reside, and even all such acts between the latter, provided that these acts relate to property situated, or to business to be transacted, in the territory of the nation to which the Consul or the Agent before whom they are executed may belong.

Copies of such papers, duly authenticated by the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, and sealed with the official seal of their Consulate, or Consular Agency, shall be admitted in courts of justice throughout the United States and France in like manner as the originals.

1437. ARTICLE VII.

In all the States of the Union whose existing laws permit it, so long and to the same extent as the said laws shall remain in force, Frenchmen shall enjoy the right of possessing personal and real property by the same title and in the same manner as the citizens of the United States. They shall be free to dispose of it as they may please, either gratuitously, or for value received, by donation, testament, or otherwise, just as those citizens themselves; and in no case shall they be subjected to taxes on transfer, inheritance, or any others different from those paid by the latter, or to taxes which shall not be equally imposed.

As to the States of the Union by whose existing laws aliens are not permitted to hold real estate, the President engages to recommend to them the passage of such laws as may be necessary for the purpose of conferring this right.

In like manner, but with the reservation of the ulterior right of establishing reciprocity in regard to possession and inheritance, the Government of France accords to the citizens of the United States the same rights within its territory, in respect to real and personal property and to inheritance, as are enjoyed there by its own citizens.

1438. ARTICLE VIII.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall have exclusive charge of the internal order of the merchantvessels of their nation, and shall alone take cognizance of differences which may arise, either at sea or in port, between the captain, officers, and crew, without exception, particularly in reference to the adjustment of wages and the execution of contracts. The local authorities shall not, on any pretext, interfere in these differences, but shall lend forcible aid to

the Consuls when they may ask it to arrest and imprison all persons composing the crew whom they may deem it necessary to confine. Those persons shall be arrested at the sole request of the Consuls, addressed in writing to the local authority, and supported by an official extract from the register of the ship or the list of the crew, and shall be held, during the whole time of their stay in the port, at the disposal of the Consuls. Their release shall be granted at the mere request of the Consuls made in writing. The expenses of the arrest and detention of those persons shall be paid by the Consuls.

1439. ARTICLE IX.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents may arrest the officers, sailors, and all other persons making part of the crews of ships-of-war or merchant-vessels of their nation who may be guilty or be accused of having deserted said ships and vessels, for the purpose of sending them on board, or back to their country. To that end, the Consuls of France in the United States shall apply to the magistrates designated in the act of Congress of May 4, 1826-that is to say, indiscriminately to any of the Federal, State, or municipal authorities; and the Consuls of the United States in France shall apply to any of the competent authorities, and make a request in writing for the deserters, supporting it by an exhibition of the registers of the vessel and list of the crew, or by other official documents, to show that the men whom they claim belonged to said crew. Upon such request alone, thus supported and without the exaction of any oath from the Consuls, the deserters, not being citizens of the country where the demand is made, either at the time of their shipping or of their arrival in the port, shall be given up to them. All aid and protection shall be furnished them for the pursuit, seizure, and arrest of the deserters, who shall even be put and kept in the prisons of the country at the request and at the expense of the Consuls until these Agents may find an opportunity of sending them away. If, however, such opportunity should not present itself within the space of three months, counting from the day of the arrest, the deserter shall be set at liberty, and shall not again be arrested for the

same cause.

1440. ARTICLE X.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice Consuls, or Consular Agents shall receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains of vessels of their nation in reference to injuries experienced at