[Inclosure 1 in No. 552.] Madagascar custom-house regulations. In consequence of the law of annexation, the ministry of commerce brings to the knowledge of all merchants doing business with Madagascar the following arrangements, which are brought to the notice of the local authorities by the mail of August 10, and which become effective as soon as said bill shall have been promulgated in said island: First. French products imported into the island and coming direct from France or a French colony will enter free of duty, ceasing to be subject to the 10 per cent ad valorem duty formerly imposed. Second. The entry, free of duty, of French goods at Madagascar is subordinated to the presentation to the Madagascar custom-house officials by French tradesmen of (passavaits) permits delivered by the home custom-house at the port of departure, which permits are intended to guarantee the French origin of the products or show that (they) are considered as same by having paid all customs dues. Third. Goods shipped from France for temporary admission will enter free of duty until the customs régime is definitely established. Fourth. Pending this definite arrangement, all foreign products will be subject to the sole present import duty of 10 per cent ad valorem. [Inclosure 2 in No. 552.] Law declaring Madagascar and depending islands a French colony. The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies have adopted, and the President of the Republic promulgates, the following law: Sole article: The island of Madagascar, with its depending islands, is declared to be a French colony. The present law, debated and adopted by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, shall be executed as a state law. No. 71.] Mr. Rockhill to Mr. Patenôtre. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 12, 1896. EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 8th instant, informing the Department of the action your Government has taken with regard to the establishment of French courts at Madagascar, and inquiring, with reference to the Department's note to you of the 2d of May last, whether this Government considers it necessary to give further instructions to the United States consulate at Tamatave on the subject of the jurisdiction of the French courts at Madagascar. In reply I beg to inform you that the instructions already given to the United States consulate at Tamatave on the subject in question are deemed sufficient by the Department. Accept, etc., W. W. ROCKHILL, PROHIBITION OF THE IMPORTATION OF FRENCH CATTLE INTO Mr. Patenôtre to Mr. Olney. [Translation.] EMBASSY OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC IN THE UNITED STATES, Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: The minister for foreign affairs of the French Republic, having been informed that the American consul at Havre had received instructions to the effect of forbidding the expor tation of our cattle to the United States, requests me to call your kind attention to this prohibition, which to him does not seem to be justified. The information furnished by the proper department gives no notice in fact of any contagious disease such as to excite fears which could explain this measure. Besides, shipments of French cattle are confined to a very small number of select specimens, therefore examined with particular care, and consequently offering exceptional guarantees for good health. The Government of the Republic hopes that under these circumstances the Federal Government will kindly modify the instructions sent to its consuls and put an end to a prohibition which can be but the result of a misapprehension. Accept, etc., No. 61.] Mr. Olney to Mr. Patenôtre. PATENÔTRE. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, EXCELLENCY: Referring to your note of the 26th ultimo, asking, in view of the alleged healthful condition of the cattle of France, that the instructions to American consular officers in your country may be so modified as to permit the exportation of French cattle to the United States, I have the honor to inclose for your information a copy of a letter of the 2d instant from the Secretary of Agriculture, setting forth the grounds upon which he feels constrained to decline to permit at present the importation of French cattle into this country. Regretting the inability of this Government to comply with your request, I beg your excellency to accept, etc., RICHARD Olney. [Inclosure in No. 61.] Mr. Morton to Mr. Olney. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your note of the 27th ultimo, inclosing translation of a note of the 26th ultimo from the French ambassador at this capital in regard to the prohibition of French cattle from entry into the United States. The United States statutes prohibit the importation of cattle from any foreign country, and this prohibition can only be removed upon the certification to the President by the Secretary of Agriculture that a country, or part of a country, is free from contagious or infectious disease of domestic animals, and that neat cattle and hides can be imported without danger to the domestic animals of the United States. The official reports of the French Government show that the most dreaded contagious diseases of cattle exist in that country, and have existed there for a long time. The report for the month of March shows that 34 animals were slaughtered on account of being affected with contagious pleuro-pneumonia; that 121 others were inoculated because they had been exposed, and that the disease existed in 13 different communes. The same report shows the existence of foot-and-mouth disease in 24 departments and 198 communes, and that anthrax was also quite prevalent. Under these circumstances it is impossible for me to certify to the President that any cattle can be imported into the United States from France without danger to the domestic animals of this country. The impossibility of my making such a certificate should be appreciated by the officials of the French Government, since they have considered it necessary to close the ports of France against the cattle of the United States on the ground of pleuro-pneumonia and Texas fever, when it has been shown officially by this Government that pleuro-pneumonia does not exist here and that there is no possibility of Texas fever being carried to foreign countries and transmitted to the cattle of those countries by our export animals. In addition, it should be clearly stated that animals imported for breeding purposes are far more dangerous than those imported for slaughter. The French cattle which would come to this country would be retained in breeding herds, they would be shipped to all parts of the country and exhibited at the great shows, where they would come in contact with animals from all of our States, and if they were affected with a contagious disease the damage would be irreparable. In every case where contagion has been brought into the United States from foreign countries, it has been brought with and disseminated by valuable cattle imported for breeding purposes. On the other hand, cattle which are imported into a country for immediate slaughter can be readily handled at the port of debarkation and slaughtered without coming in contact with the cattle of that country. Our cattle, for instance, could be safely landed and slaughtered at the French ports without the least danger to the native cattle, even if they were affected with disease, if they were handled under proper supervision. If, therefore, the French Government considers it necessary to close the ports of that country against cattle from the United States, it must be conceded that this Government has much greater justification for prohibiting cattle from France. J. STERLING MORTON, I have, etc., Secretary. Mr. Patenôtre to Mr. Olney. [Translation.] EMBASSY OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC IN THE UNITED STATES, Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: The minister of foreign affairs of the French Republic informs me that by a decree dated the 2d of October, and by the abrogation of the interdiction of transit decreed on the 19th of February, 1895, our department of agriculture has exceptionally authorized the transit of animals of the bovine species coming from the United States, which may be consigned to Basle, Switzerland, by way of Boulogne, on condition that the animals in question, after having been subjected to a sanitary examination in the port of shipment, shall be transported in a sealed car. In directing me to bring this decision to the knowledge of the Federal Government, Mr. Hanotaux begs me to again call your benevolent attention to the interdiction which the importation of French cattle is now subjected to in the United States. As I have had the honor to bring to your notice recently, such importation is limited to a very small number of high-class animals, which have consequently been subjected to a previous examination and are only embarked for America after a scrupulous examination. In view of the very exceptional guarantees with which this traffic is surrounded, it seems that their introduction into the United States can not present any kind of danger, and my Government therefore hopes that the prohibitive measures taken during these latter months may be soon withdrawn. Be pleased to accept, etc., PATENOTRE. Mr. Olney to Mr. Patenôtre. No. 82.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 27, 1896. EXCELLENCY: Referring to previous correspondence concerning the prohibition of the importation of French cattle into the United States, and particularly to your note of the 9th ultimo, relative to the conditions upon which the transit of certain American cattle from the French port of Boulogne to Basle, Switzerland, would be allowed, I have the honor to inform you that the Department has received a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture stating that upon careful consideration of the subject he is of the opinion that the French regulations, communicated by your above-mentioned note, would absolutely prevent the shipment of American cattle to Switzerland through France. The regulations in question require that there shall be a certificate delivered by the proper authority attesting that the animals do not come from States in which Texas fever is prevalent, and that there has been no contagious disease in the place from which they have come. They require, secondly, a certificate that the cattle have been held in a Government quarantine station for at least forty-five days before shipment, and that they shall also be put to the tuberculin test. Notwithstanding these certificates and this quarantine and this tuberculin test, it is required that a French veterinarian shall accompany the animals in their trip across the Atlantic and during their transit across French territory until they reach the Swiss border, the said veterinarian to be compensated by the owners of the cattle; and, finally, that these exported animals shall not be allowed to be placed in any train having cars of French cattle. The Secretary of Agriculture states furthermore that this country has no cattle to export to Switzerland except fat cattle for immediate slaughter; that such cattle can not be held in quarantine for forty-five days, first, because the expense is too great, and secondly, because their condition can not be maintained in a quarantine station during that period. In addition to the expense of the quarantine, the French Government requires by its regulations that a tuberculin test should be made. The Secretary of Agriculture regards such a test as absolutely unnecessary with cattle that are simply shipped across French territory in sealed cars. He is also of the opinion that the requirement that a French veterinarian shall accompany the cattle from the time they leave an American port until they reach the Swiss border, imposes an additional expense which is also unnecessary after the certificate of freedom from contagion and the certificate of quarantine. With reference to the requirement that such animals shall not be carried in any train having cars of French cattle in it, the Secretary of Agriculture observes that it is not likely that there would be any shipments of these cattle from this country sufficiently large to fill an entire train, and that this condition would require that the animals should be held at Boulogne until they could be taken by a freight train which would carry no French animals, and that this would require additional expense, not only for holding the cattle at Boulogne, but probably for a special train from Boulogne to the Swiss border. The Secretary of Agriculture states, in conclusion, that it would not be profitable to ship American cattle under the new French regulations, and that they therefore can not be accepted by this Government as a concession of any practical value. Accept, etc., RICHARD OLNEY. ANGLO-FRENCH AGREEMENT AS TO SIAM. Mr. Eustis to Mr. Olney. No. 450.] EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, Paris, January 22, 1895. (Received Feb. 3.) SIR: I send herewith a copy of the Yellow Book just issued by the French Government, containing the official text, in English and in French, of the arrangement concluded between Great Britain and France with reference to the boundary of Siam. The arrangement signed by Lord Salisbury and the French ambassador at London, M. de Courcel, is made in the shape of a joint declaration and does not need the approval of the Chambers. I have, etc., J. B. EUSTIS. [Inclosure in No. 450.] DECLARATION. The undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed the following declaration: I. The Governments of France and Great Britain engage to one another that neither of them will, without the consent of the other, in any case or under any pretext, advance their armed forces into the region which is comprised in the basins of the Petcha Bouri, Meiklong, Menam, and Bang Pa Kong (Petriou) rivers and their respective tributaries, together with the extent of coast from Muong Bang Tapan to Muong Pase, the basins of the rivers on which those two places are situated and the basins of the other rivers, the estuaries of which are included in that coast; and including also the territory lying to the north of the basin of the Menam and situated between the Anglo-Siamese frontier, the Mekong River, and the eastern watershed of the Mo Ing. They further engage not to acquire within this region any special privilege or advantage which shall not be enjoyed in common by or equally open to France and Great Britain and their nationals and dependents. These stipulations, however, shall not be interpreted as derogating from the special |