commissioners of the International Boundary Commission, on receiving which notice it shall be the duty of the said commission to repair to the place where the change has taken place or the question has arisen, to make a personal examination of such change, to compare it with the bed of the river as it was before the change took place, as shown by the surveys, and to decide whether it has occurred through avulsion or erosion, for the effects of Articles I and II of the convention of November 12, 1884; having done this, it shall make suitable annotations on the surveys of the boundary line. ARTICLE V. Whenever the local authorities on any point of the frontier between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico, in that portion in which the Rio Grande and the Colorado River form the boundary between the two countries, shall think that works are being constructed, in either of those rivers, such as are prohibited by Article III of the convention of November 12, 1884, or by Article VII of the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo of February 2, 1848, they shall so notify their respective commissioners, in order that the latter may at once submit the matter to the International Boundary Commission, and that said. commission may proceed, in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing article, to examine the case, and that it may decide whether the work is among the number of those which are permitted, or of those which are prohibited by the stipulations of those treaties. The commission may provisionally suspend the construction of the works in question pending the investigation of the matter, and if it shall fail to agree on this point, the works shall be suspended, at the instance of one of the two governments. ARTICLE VI. In either of these cases, the commission shall make a personal examination of the matter which occasions the change, the question or the complaint, and shall give its decision in regard to the same, in doing which it shall comply with the requirements established by a body of regulations to be prepared by the said commission and approved by both governments. ARTICLE VII. The International Boundary Commission shall have power to call for papers and information, and it shall be the duty of the authorities of each of the two countries to send it any papers that it may call for, re lating to any boundary question in which it may have jurisdiction in pursuance of this convention. The said commission shall have power to summon any witnesses whose testimony it may think proper to take, and it shall be the duty of all persons thus summoned to appear before the same and to give their testimony, which shall be taken in accordance with such by-laws and regulations as may be adopted by the commission and approved by both governments. In case of the refusal of a witness to appear, he shall be compelled to do so, and to this end the commission may make use of the same means that are used by the courts of the respective countries to compel the attendance of witnesses, in conformity with their respective laws. ARTICLE VIII. If both commissioners shall agree to a decision, their judgment shall be considered binding upon both governments, unless one of them shall disapprove it within one month reckoned from the day on which it shall have been pronounced. In the latter case, both governments shall take cognizance of the matter, and shall decide it amicably, bearing constantly in mind the stipulation of Article XXI of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of February 2, 1848.1 The same shall be the case when the commissioners shall fail to agree concerning the point which occasions the question, the complaint or the change, in which case each commissioner shall prepare a report, in writing, which he shall lay before his government. ARTICLE IX. This convention shall be ratified by both parties, in accordance with the provisions of their respective constitutions, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Washington as speedily as possible, and shall be in force from the date of the exchange of ratifications for a period of five years. In testimony whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed it. Done in duplicate, in the city of Washington, in the English and Spanish languages, on the 1st day of March one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine. T. F. BAYARD. [SEAL] 1 See p. 125, infra. ARTICLE XXI OF THE TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO. Signed February 2, 1848. If unhappily any disagreement should hereafter arise between the governments of the two republics, whether with respect to the interpretation of any stipulation in this treaty, or with respect to any other particular concerning the political or commercial relations of the two nations, the said Governments, in the name of those nations, do promise to each other, that they will endeavour, in the most sincere and earnest. manner, to settle the differences so arising, and to preserve the state of peace and friendship, in which the two countries are now placing themselves; using for this end, mutual representations and pacific negotiations. And if, by these means, they should not be enabled to come to an agreement, a resort shall not, on this account, be had to reprisals, aggression or hostility of any kind, by the one republic against the other, until the government of that which deems itself aggrieved, shall have maturely considered, in the spirit of peace and good neighborship, whether it would not be better that such difference should be settled by the arbitration of commissioners appointed on each side, or by that of a friendly nation. And should such course be proposed by either party, it shall be acceded to by the other, unless deemed by it altogether incompatible with the nature of the difference, or the circumstances of the case. CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS RENEWING YEARS THE ARBITRATION CONVENTION OF FEBRUARY FOR FIVE Signed at London December 16, 1909. Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands and His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, signatories of the convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes, concluded at The Hague on the 29th July, 1899; Taking into consideration that by Article 19 of that convention the high contracting parties have reserved to themselves the right of concluding agreements, with a view to referring to arbitration all questions which they shall consider possible to submit to such treatment; Have named as their plenipotentiaries: Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, Karel Willem Paul Frans Baron Gericke Van Herwijnen, Her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at London, Chamberlain Extraordinary; and His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, the Right Honourable Sir Edward Grey, a Baronet of the United Kingdom, a Member of Parliament, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1. The high contracting parties hereby renew for a further period of 5 years, dating from the 12th of July next, the convention signed at London on the 15th February, 1905, for the settlement by arbitration of certain classes of questions which may arise between the two governments. ARTICLE 2. The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London as soon as possible. Done in duplicate at London, the 16th day of December, 1909. (L. S.) GERICKE. CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS, PROVIDING FOR THE SETTLEMENT BY ARBITRATION OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF QUESTIONS WHICH MAY ARISE BETWEEN THE TWO GOVERNMENTS. Signed at London, February 15, 1905; ratifications exchanged at London, July 12, 1905. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, signatories of the convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes, concluded at The Hague on the 29th July, 1899; Taking into consideration that by Article XIX of that convention the high contracting parties have reserved to themselves the right of concluding agreements, with a view to referring to arbitration all questions which they shall consider possible to submit to such treatment, Have named as their plenipotentiaries to conclude the following arrangement: His Majesty the King of the United Kindom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, the Most Honourable Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of Lansdowne, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, Karel Willem Paul Frans Baron Gericke van Herwijnen, Her envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at London, Chamberlain extraordinary: Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows: ART. I. Differences which may arise of a legal nature, or relating to the interpretation of treaties existing between the high contracting parties, and which it may not have been possible to settle by diplomacy, shall be referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration established at The Hague by the convention of the 29th July, 1899: provided, nevertheless, that they do not affect the vital interests, the independence, or the honour of the two contracting states, and do not concern the interests of third parties. II. In each individual case the high contracting parties, before appealing to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, shall conclude a special agreement defining clearly the matter in dispute, the scope of the powers of the arbitrators, and the periods to be fixed for the formation of the arbitral tribunal and the several stages of the procedure. III. The present convention, which shall be ratified, is concluded for a period of five years, dating from the exchange of the ratifications, which shall take place at London as soon as possible. Done in duplicate at London, the 15th day of February, 1905. |