[2nd Peace of Paris. Claims of British Subjects.]

Division of Inscriptions arising to each Creditor.

ART. VIII. The amount of the Inscriptions arising to each Creditor, from his Claims liquidated and allowed, shall be divided by the Commissioners of Deposit into 5 equal portions; the first of which shall be delivered immediately after liquidation, the second 3 months after, and so on with respect to the other portions every 3 months; the Creditors will nevertheless receive the interests of the whole of their debts liquidated and allowed, from the 22nd of March, 1816, inclusive, as soon as their respective Claims shall have been allowed and admitted.

Capital to be Inscribed as a Fund of Guarantee in the Name of

Commissioners.

ART. IX. A Capital, producing an Interest of 3,500,000 francs, commencing from the 22nd of March, 1816, shall be inscribed as a fund of guarantee in the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, in the name of two or four Commissioners, the one-half English and the other half French, chosen by their respective Governments.

Commissioners to receive the Interest for the profit of Creditors.

These Commissioners shall receive the said Interest from the 22nd of March, 1816, every 6 months; they shall hold it in deposit, without having the power of negotiating it, and they shall further be bound to place the amount of it in the Public Funds, and to receive the Accumulated and Compound Interest of the same, for the profit of the Creditors.

Amount of Inscriptions to be Increased to meet the necessary

Payments.

In case the 3,500,000 francs of Interest shall be insufficient, there shall be delivered to the said Commissioners Inscriptions for larger sums, until their amount shall be equal to what may be necessary to pay all the Debts mentioned in the present Act. These Additional Inscriptions, if there shall be any, shall be delivered, bearing Interest from the same period as the 3,500,000 francs above stipulated, and shall be administered by the Commissioners, according to the same principles, so that the Claims which shall remain to be paid, shall be paid with the same proportion of Accumulated and Compound Interest, as if the fund of guarantee had been from the first sufficient; and as soon as all the payments

[2nd Peace of Paris, Claims of British Subjects.]

due to the Creditors shall have been made, the surplus of the interest fund not employed, with the proportion of Accumulated and Compound Interest which shall belong thereto, shall, if there be any, be given up to the disposal of the French Government.

Certificates to be delivered to Creditors.

ART. X. In proportion as the Liquidation shall be effected, and as the Claims shall be allowed, distinction being made between the sums representing the Capitals, and the sums arising from the Arrears or Interest, the Commission of Liquidation, which shall be mentioned in the following Articles, shall deliver to the Creditors, allowed to be such, two Certificates for the value of the whole Inscription to be made, bearing Interest from the 22nd of March, 1816, inclusive; one of the Certificates relating to the Capital of the debt, and the other relating to the Arrears or Interest liquidated, up to the 22nd of March, 1816, exclusively.

Certificates to be inscribed in the Great Book of the Public Debt.

ART. XI. The Certificates above-mentioned shall be delivered over to the Commissioners holding the Annuities in deposit, who shall check the same, in order that they be immediately inscribed in the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, to the debit of the deposit fund, and to the credit of the new creditors, acknowledged as such, bearers of the said Certificates; care being taken to distinguish the Perpetual from the Life Annuities.

Interest and Capital to be paid to Creditors by the Commissioners.

And the said Creditors shall be authorised from the day of the definitive Liquidation of their Claims to receive, for their profit, from the said Commissioners, the Interests which are due to them, together with the Accumulated and Compound Interests, if there be any, as well as such portion of the capital as shall have been paid, according to what has been regulated by the preceding Articles.

Delay to be allowed to Claimants.

ART. XII. A further delay shall be allowed, after the signature of the present Convention, to the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, who shall have Claims upon the French Government, for the matters specified in the present Act, in order that they may bring forward their Claims and produce their Titles.

[2nd Peace of Paris. Claims of British Subjects.]

This delay shall be extended to 3 Months for the Creditors residing in Europe, 6 Months for such as are in the western colonies, and 12 Months for such as are resident in the East Indies, or in other Countries equally distant. After the expiration of these periods, the said Subjects of His Britannic Majesty shall no longer have the benefit of the present Liquidation.

Appointment of Commissioners.

ART. XIII. In order to proceed in the Liquidation and allowance of the Claims mentioned in the preceding Articles, there shall be formed a Commission, composed of two French and two English Commissioners, who shall be nominated and appointed by their respective Governments.

Liquidation, &c., of Sums allowed by Commissioners.

These Commissioners, after they shall have allowed and admitted the Titles to the Claims, shall proceed, according to the principles pointed out, to the allowance, liquidation, and determi nation of the Sums which shall be due to each Creditor.

Certificates to be delivered on Claims being allowed.

In proportion as the Claims shall be allowed and ascertained, they shall deliver to the Creditors the two Certificates mentioned in Article X, one for the capital, the other for the interests.

Commission of Arbitration.*

ART. XIV. A Commission of Arbitrators shall at the same time be named, composed of four members, two of whom shall be named by the British Government, and two by the French Government.

If it shall be necessary to call upon the Arbitrators, in case of an equality of votes on any point, the four names of the Arbitrators, English and French, shall be put into an urn, and the one of the four whose names shall be drawn first shall be the Arbitrator of the particular affair upon which there shall have been such equality of votes.

Each of the Commissioners of Liquidation shall, in his turn, take from the urn the ticket which is to point out the Arbitrator.

*The Commissioners of Liquidation were:-Mr. Colin Alexander Mackenzie and Mr. George Lewis Newnham. The Commissioners of Arbitration were:-Mr. George Hammond and Mr. David Richard Morier. The Commissioners of Deposit were:-Mr. David Richard Morier and Mr. James Drummond. Their appointments were dated 27th December, 1815.

[2nd Peace of Paris. Claims of British Subjects.]

A Procès-verbal shall be made of this operation, and shall be annexed to the one which shall be drawn up for the liquidation and determination of the particular Claim.

Vacancies in either Commission to be filled up without delay.

If a Vacancy shall take place, either in the Commission of Liquidation or in that of Arbitration, the Government, which ought to provide for the nomination of a new member, shall proceed to that nomination without delay, in order that the two Commissions may always remain as far as possible complete.

Absent Commissioner of Liquidation to be replaced by one of the Arbitrators.

If one of the Commissioners of Liquidation shall be absent, he shall be replaced, during his absence, by one of the Arbitrators of his Nation; and as in that case there will remain but one Arbitrator of that Nation, the two Arbitrators of the other Nation shall also be reduced to one by lot.

Absent Commissioner of Arbitration to be replaced by a Commissioner of Liquidation.

And if one of the Arbitrators should absent himself, the same operation shall take place, in order to reduce to one the two Arbitrators of the other Nation.

It is generally understood, that in order to obviate all manner of delay in this business, the Liquidation and Adjudication shall not be suspended, provided there shall be present, and in activity, one Commissioner and one Arbitrator of each Nation, the principle of equality between the Commissioners and the Arbitrators of the two Nations being always preserved, and re-established, if necessary, by lot.

Oath to be taken by New Commissioners.

Whenever either of the Contracting Powers shall proceed to the nomination of new Commissioners of Liquidation, of Deposit, or of Arbitration, the said Commissioners shall be obliged, previously to their entering upon their functions, to make the Oath, and in the forms detailed in the following Article.

Oath to be taken by Commissioners of Liquidation, Deposit, and Arbitration.

ART. XV. The Commissioners of Liquidation, the Commis

[2nd Peace of Paris. Claims of British Subjects.]

sioners of Deposit, and the Arbitrators, shall together make an Oath, in presence of the Ambassador of His Britannic Majesty, and between the hands of the Keeper of the Seals of France, to proceed justly and faithfully, to have no preference either for the Creditor or for the Debtor, and to act in all their proceedings according to the stipulations of the Treaty of Paris of the 30th May, 1814 (No. 1), and of the Treaties and Conventions with France, signed this day (Nos. 40, 41, 42, 45, 46), and more particularly according to those of the present Convention.

Power to Commissioners to call Witnesses.

The Commissioners of Liquidation and the Arbitrators shall be authorised to call Witnesses whenever they shall judge it necessary, and to examine them by Oath in the usual forms, upon all points relative to the different Claims which form the object of this Convention.

Time of Restoration of French Colonies of Martinique and

Guadaloupe.

ART. XVI. When the 3,500,000 francs of Interest, mentioned in Article IX, shall have been inscribed in the name of the Commissioners, who are to hold that sum in Deposit, and on the first demand which shall be thereafter made by the French Government, His Britannic Majesty shall give the necessary orders to carry into execution the restoration of the French Colonies, as stipulated by the Treaty of Paris of the 30th May, 1814 (No. 1), comprehending Martinique and Guadaloupe, which have been since occupied by the British Forces.

The Inscription above-mentioned shall be made before the 1st January next, at the latest.

Restoration of Prisoners of War.

ART. XVII. The Prisoners of War, officers and soldiers, both naval and military or of any other description, taken during the hostilities which have lately ceased, shall on both sides be immediately restored to their respective Countries, under the same conditions which are specified in the Convention of the 23rd April, 1814, and in the Treaty of the 30th May of the same year (No. 1); and the British Government renounces all claim to any * See Appendix.