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tions for which this Article provides, the Signatory Powers of the Declaration of London shall be notified thereof by the Imperial Ottoman Government.

"It is likewise understood that the provisions of the four Articles aforesaid shall in no case occasion any obstacles to the measures which the Imperial Ottoman Government may think it necessary to take in order to insure by its own forces the defence of its other possessions situated on the eastern coast of the Red Sea."

It is, I understand, contended in support of the Senate amendment that the existence of the above provisions in the Suez Canal Convention justifies the demand now made for the insertion of analogous provisions in regard to the proposed Nicaragua Canal.

But the analogy which it has been attempted to set up fails in one essential particular. The banks of the Suez Canal are within the dominiors of a territorial Sovereign who was a Party to the Convention, and whose established interests it was necessary to protect; whereas the Nicaragua Canal will be constructed in territory belonging not to the United States, but to Central American States, of whose sovereign rights other Powers cannot claim to dispose.

Moreover, it seems to have escaped attention that Article X of the Suez Canal Convention receives most important modification from Article XI, which lays down that "the measures which shall be taken in the cases provided for by Articles IX and X of the present Treaty shall not interfere with the free use of the Canal." The Article proceeds to say that: "In the same cases, the erection of permanent fortifications contrary to the provisions of Article VIII is prohibited."

The last paragraph of Article VIII, which is specially alluded to, runs as follows:—

"They " [i.e., the Agents of the Signatory Powers in Egypt] "shall especially demand the suppression of any work or the dispersion of any assemblage on either bank of the Canal, the object or effect of which might be to interfere with the liberty and the entire security of the navigation."

The situation which would be created by the addition of the new clause is deserving of serious attention. If it were to be added, the obligation to respect the neutrality of the canal in all circunstances would, so far as Great Britain is concerned, remain in force, the obligation of the United States, on the other hand, would be essentially modified. The result would be a one-sided arrangement under which Great Britain would be debarred from any warlike action in or around the canal, while the United States would be able to resort to such action to whatever extent they might deem necessary to secure their own safety.

It may be contended that if the new clause were adopted, section 7 of Article II, which prohibits the erection of fortifications, would sufficiently insure the free use of the canal. This contention is, however, one which His Majesty's Government are quite unable to admit. I will not insist upon the dangerous vagueness of the language employed in the amendment, or upon the absence of all security as to the manner in which the words might, at some future time, be interpreted. For even if it were more precisely worded, it would be impossible to determine what might be the effect if one clause permitting defensive measures, and another forbidding fortifications, were allowed to stand side by side in the Convention. To His Majesty's Government it seems, as I have already said, that the amendment might be construed as leaving it open to the United States at any moment, not only if war existed, but even if it were anticipated, to take any measures, however stringent or far-reaching, which, in their own. judgment, might be represented as suitable for the purpose of protecting their national interests. Such an enactment would strike at the very root of that "general principle" of neutralization upon which the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was based, and which was reaffirmed in the Convention as drafted.

But the import of the amendment stands out in stronger relief when the third proposal is considered. This strikes out Article III of the Convention, under which the High Contracting Parties engaged, immediately upon the Convention being ratified, to bring it to the notice of other Powers and to invite their adherence. If that adherence were given, the neutrality of the canal would be secured by the whole of the adhering Powers. Without that adherence, it would depend only upon the guarantee of the two Contracting Powers. The amendment, however, not only removes all prospect of the wider guarantee, but places this country in a position of marked disadvantage compared with other Powers which would not. be subject to the self-denying Ordinance which Great Britain is desired to accept. It would follow, were His Majesty's Government to agree to such an arrangement, that while the United States would have a Treaty right to interfere with the canal in time of war, or apprehended war, and while other Powers could with a clear conscience disregard any of the restrictions imposed by the Convention, Great Britain alone, in spite of her enormous possessions on the American Continent, in spite of the extent of her Australasian Colonies and her interests in the East, would be absolutely precluded from resorting to any such action, or from taking measures to secure her interests in and near the canal.

I request that your Excellency will explain to the Secretary of State the reasons, as set forth in this despatch, why His Majesty's

Government feel unable to accept the Convention in the shape presented to them by the American Ambassador, and why they prefer, as matters stand at present, to retain unmodified the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. His Majesty's Government have, throughout these negotiations, given evidence of their earnest desire to meet the views of the United States. They would, on this occasion, have been ready to consider in a friendly spirit any amendments of the Convention, not inconsistent with the principles accepted by both Governments, which the Government of the United States might have desired to propose, and they would sincerely regret a failure to come to an amicable understanding in regard to this important subject.

Your Lordship is authorized to read this despatch to the Secretary of State, and to leave a copy in his hands.

Lord Pauncefote.

I am, &c.,

LANSDOWNE.

(Inclosure.)-Articles I and VI of Convention between Her Majesty and the United States of America relative to the Establishment of a Communication by Ship-Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Signed at Washington, April 19, 1850.

ART. I. The Governments of Great Britain and the United States hereby declare that neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over the said shipcanal; agreeing that neither will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America; nor will either make use of any protection which either affords, or may afford, or any alliance which either has, or may have, to or with any State or people, for the purpose of erecting or maintaining any such fortifications, or of occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America, or of assuming or exercising dominion over the same. Nor will Great Britain or the United States take advantage of any intimacy, or use any alliance, connection, or influence that either may possess with any State or Government through whose territory the said canal may pass for the purpose of acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the subjects or citizens of the one, any rights or advantages in regard to commerce or navigation through the said canal, which shall not be offered, on the same terms, to the subjects or citizens of the other.

Art. VI. The Contracting Parties in this Convention engage to invite every State with which both or either have friendly intercourse

to enter into stipulations with them similar to those which they have entered into with each other, to the end that all other States may share in the honour and advantage of having contributed to a work of such general interest and importance as the canal herein contemplated; and the Contracting Parties likewise agree that each shall enter into Treaty stipulations with such of the Central American States as they may deem advisable, for the purpose of more effectually carrying out the great design of this Convention, namely, that of constructing and maintaining the said canal as a ship communication between the two oceans for the benefit of mankind, on equal terms to all, and of protecting the same; and they also agree that the good offices of either shall be employed, when requested by the other, in aiding and assisting the negotiation of such Treaty stipulations; and should any differences arise as to right or property over the territory through which the said canal shall pass between the States or Governments of Central America, and such differences should in any way impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the Governments of Great Britain and the United States will use their good offices to settle such differences in the manner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance which exist between the Contracting Parties.

ACT of the British Parliament, to make provision for the Honour and Dignity of the Crown and the Royal Family, and for the Payment of certain Allowances and Pensions.

[1 Edw. VII, c. 4.]

Most Gracious Sovereign,

[July 2, 1901.]

WHEREAS your Majesty has been graciously pleased to signify to your faithful Commons in Parliament assembled that your Majesty placed unreservedly at their disposal those hereditary revenues which were so placed by your predecessor, and that your Majesty is desirous of making competent provision for the honourable support and maintenance of your Majesty's son, the Duke of Cornwall and York, your daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cornwall and York, and your daughters, the Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, the Princess Victoria, and Princess Charles of Denmark, and that your Majesty is further desirous that similar provision should be made for Her Majesty the Queen in the event of her surviving your Majesty, and for the Duchess of Cornwall and York in the event of her surviving the Duke of Cornwall and York:

Now therefore we, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled,

have freely and voluntarily resolved to make such provision as hereinafter appears for the purpose aforesaid, and we do most humbly beseech your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. The hereditary revenues which were by section 2 of "The Civil List Act, 1837," directed to be carried to and made part of the Consolidated Fund shall, during the present reign and a period of six months afterwards, be paid into the Exchequer, and be made part of the Consolidated Fund.

2. There shall, during the present reign, and a period of six months afterwards, be paid for the King's Civil List, the yearly sum of 470,0007.

3.-(1.) There shall be paid to His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York during the joint lives of His present Majesty and of His said Royal Highness an annuity of 20,000l.

(2.) There shall be paid to Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall and York during the continuance of her marriage with His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York, for her sole and separate use, but without any power of anticipation, an annuity of 10,000l.

(3.) In the event of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall and York surviving His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York, there shall be paid to her during her life an annuity of 30,000l.

4.-(1.) There shall he paid to the trustees hereinafter mentioned as a provision for the benefit of His Majesty's daughters the annual sum of 18,000l. during their joint lives, to be reduced on the death of each of the said Princesses by 6,000l.

(2.) The persons who are for the time being the First Commissioner of His Majesty's Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Keeper of His Majesty's Privy Purse shall be the Princesses' trustees, and shall be a body corporate by that name, and any act of the trustees may be signified under the hands and seals of the persons who are the trustees for the time being.

(3.) The trustees shall hold the annual sum paid to them under this section, in trust for all or any one or more of the daughters of His Majesty, in such shares, at such times, in such manner, and subject to such conditions and powers of revocation (including, if it is thought fit, a condition against alienation) as His present Majesty may by order, countersigned by the First Commissioner of His Majesty's Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, appoint: Provided that any such appointment may be varied by another order inade and countersigned in like manner.

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