the rules of public or private international law generally recognized by civilized nations. It is likewise agreed that by neither of the two parties can any claim be presented against the other for responsibility for damages, injuries, or exactions which their respective citizens may suffer in cases of political disturbances produced by insurrection or civil war, or which may be caused by insurgents or rebels, unless the public authorities may have been remiss in the discharge of their duties, or may not have employed necessary vigilance or precautions. ARTICLE VI. The native products of Chile and the manufactures from Chilean raw material, as well as native products from Bolivia and manufactures from Bolivian raw material, which may be respectively imported into the territories of each of the high contracting parties, shall be free from every fiscal or municipal charge which may not prior to this Treaty have been imposed upon similar products of the country into which such products are imported. A special protocol shall enumerate the products comprised in this exemption, and shall at the same time determine the proceeding which must be followed by the respective custom-houses for their importation. In the meantime, article 7 of the protocol of May 30, 1895, shall continue in force. ARTICLE VII. Alcohols of Chile are not comprehended in the exemption of the previous paragraph; but in no case can a greater tax be imposed upon them than that imposed upon the alcohols of other countries. If the Government of Bolivia shall accord any exception or privilege in favor of another State, Chile shall be included in this exception or privilege. For the purpose of this provision, alcohol shall be understood to be spirits which exceed 25 degrees. ARTICLE VIII. Every favor or immunity which one of the high contracting parties accords to a third power in the matter of commerce shall be immediately and unconditionally extended to the other. In addition, neither of the high contracting parties shall subject the other to any prohibition or surcharge on goods which may be exported or in transit, which shall not at the same time be applied to all other nations, except the special measures which the two countries may reserve the right to establish for sanitary purposes, or in the eventuality of a war. ARTICLE IX. The ports of Chile which are in communication with Bolivia shall be free for the transit of merchandise imported and exported, proceeding from or destined to the latter Republic. ARTICLE X. For the purpose of giving facilities to commerce between the two countries, the high contracting parties bind themselves to stimulate the formation of societies or companies for the construction of railway lines to unite their conterminous provinces and to protect or guarantee effectively those which at present exist, in order that they may extend their branches to the most important centers. Especially will they encourage the extension of the railway line which unites Antofagasta with the city of Oruro. ARTICLE XI. Railway engines, wagons, sleepers, rails, spikes, fish plates, and other accessories which are introduced through Antofagasta or any other Chilean port, and which are destined for the prolongation of the railway from Oruro to La Paz, are exempt from all storage and dock charges and from every other fiscal tax. The amount and period of this privilege shall be determined by agreement between the contracting Govern ments. ARTICLE XII. Correspondence exchanged between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Bolivia shall be duly stamped in the country from which it proceeds, and shall cirenlate free and exempt from all charge by the post-offices of the countries to which it is directed. ARTICLE XIII. The official correspondence of the two Governments and their respective diplomatic and consular agents, official publications, reviews, pamphlets, and newspapers shall be free of postage and exempt from every charge in the country to which they are destined. ARTICLE XIV. When the correspondence and publications before mentioned shall pass through one of the two countries in transit, the latter shall be obliged to forward them to their destination, and if, for that purpose, there should be necessity of stamping them, the stamping shall be for the account of the Government to whom the mail in transit belongs, without any responsibility on the part of the other. ARTICLE XV. The two Governments oblige themselves to support an equal number of mail services, on the days and by the routes on which they may agree for carrying the mails of both countries. ARTICLE XVI. The high contracting parties shall respectively accredit the consular officials which they may regard as necessary for the development of trade and for the protection of the rights and interests of their respective citizens. The said officials shall enjoy the privileges, exemptions, immunities, and style of address which belong to the consular office with which they are invested. The consular offices and archives are inviolable. They can not be searched by anyone. These privileges, however, shall not be extended to the archives of consuls who at the same time exercise trade, commerce, or other functions foreign to the consulate, unless they keep such business entirely separate from everything that concerns their consular functions. ARTICLE XVII. The high contracting parties likewise agree that, independently of the preceding provisions, the diplomatic and consular agents and citizens of each country, and the merchandise of each nation, shall respectively enjoy whatever exemption, immunities, and privileges may be conceded to the most favored nation, freely when freely granted, and yielding the same compensation when the grant is conditional. ARTICLE XVIII. The present treaty shall be in full force for ten years, to count from the date of the exchange of the ratifications. When this period has elapsed, either of the high contracting parties may notify the other of the abrogation of the treaty, but the period of one year shall intervene between the announcement of such abrogation and the cessation of the treaty. If the notice mentioned is not given, the treaty shall continue in force indefinitely. ARTICLE XIX. The ratifications of this treaty shall be exchanged within the period of six months, and the exchange shall take place in the city of Santiago. In witness whereof the minister of foreign relations of Chile and the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Bolivia have signed and sealed with their respective seals, and in duplicate, the present treaty of commerce, in the city of Santiago, on the 18th day of May, 1895. [L. S.] [L. S.] LUIS BARROS BORGONO. And inasmuch as the present treaty has been ratified by me, after approval by the National Congress, and the respective ratifications have been exchanged on April 30th of the current year, Therefore, making use of the authority conferred upon me by paragraph 19 of article 73 of the constitution of the State, I hereby order that the said treaty take effect in all its parts as a law of the Republic. Given in Santiago the 1st day of May, 1896. JORGE MONTT. AGREEMENT FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE BOUNDARY CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHILE AND THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. Mr. Strobel to Mr. Olney. No. 88.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Santiago, May 9, 1896. (Received June 12.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose copy and translation of a protocol signed here on April 17 last by the Argentine minister and the Chilean minister of foreign relations, and published in the official journal (Diario Oficial) of the 7th instant. It is hoped that this agreement will prove a final settlement of the boundary controversy. This controversy which, during the past year, has caused much uneasiness and excitement in both countries, involves the following three points: First. The boundary line along the Andes between parallels 23° and 26° 52′ 45′′ south latitude, in the region known as the Puna de Atacama. This is the boundary between the Argentine Republic and the territory which was formerly Bolivian. The Argentines declared that the territory in question along this line had been originally under discussion with Bolivia and their rights admitted by that Government; that it was wrongfully occupied by the Chilean troops during the war with Peru and Bolivia, and that, as this territory is not therefore involved in the controversy in the same manner as the territory in question along the remaining frontier line, they refused to submit the question of the possession of this territory to arbitration. Second. The proper position of the landmark of San Francisco. The Argentines alleged that this landmark, which was placed between parallels 26 and 27° south latitude, had been placed there by mistake on the part of the boundary commissioners. The error they claimed to be self-evident, and they demanded a revision. Third. The boundary line running through the long extent of territory between parallels 26° 52′ 45′′ south latitude to the Straits of Magellan. Here the two Governments have differed on the principle on which the demarcation should be made. The conventions on which the diverse opinions rested were the treaty of July 23, 1881, negotiated by the United States ministers at Buenos Ayres and Santiago, and the ErrazurizQuirno Costa protocol of May 1, 1893. Without going into the details. of these instruments, it will suffice to say that, according to the Chilean view of their proper construction, the boundary line should be determined by the watershed (divortium aquarum); while, according to the Argentine view, the line should pass through the highest peaks of the Andes. These conventions are to a certain extent ambiguous, and afford reasonable arguments for either contention. They clearly provide, however, that Chile can not have a port on the Atlantic, or the Argentine Republic on the Pacific. On approaching parallel 520 south, the range of the Andes runs close to the sea; but it is provided that, in any case, the coast of the Pacific is to be left to Chile. On applying the terms of the new protocol to the above three points, it will be found that in reference to the first-the Puna de Atacamaarticle 1 provides that the boundary line is to be traced by the two Governments with the cooperation of the Government of Bolivia. In reference to the second point, the proper position of the landmark of San Francisco-the Chilean Government yields in article 5 of the protocol, which declares that the present position of the landmark shall not be taken into consideration either as a basis or precedent for the determination of the boundary line. This concession seems entirely appropriate in view of the general belief that the present position of the landmark is the result of an error of the boundary commissions. On the third point, the dividing line, which is to run through the country lying between parallel 26° 52′ 45" south latitude and the Straits of Magellan, differences of opinion which can not be settled by friendly negotiation on the part of the two Governments are to be submitted to the decision of her Britannic Majesty's Government, which is to apply the provisions of the above-mentioned treaty and protocol, after the ground has been examined by a commission to be appointed by the arbitrator. By article 3 the experts are to proceed to the study of the region in the vicinity of the parallel 26° 52′ 45′′, where, as already stated, the chain of the Andes runs close to the sea, and where, by the existing agreements, the Pacific coast is to belong to Chile. Any difference regarding this part of the boundary line is also to be submitted to the arbitrator. By article 6, the protocol of September of last year, copy and translation of which was sent to the Department with my No. 41 of September 19, 1895, is confirmed, and the work of demarcation, in spite of disagreements, is to continue without interruption. By article 8, the request to act as arbitrator is to be addressed to the British Government within sixty days after the signature of the present agreement. I have, etc., EDWARD H. STROBEL. [Inclosure in No. 88-Translation.] Agreement between Chile and the Argentine Republic. In the city of Santiago, Chile, on the 17th day of April, 1896, in the office of the ministry of foreign relations, Señor Don Adolfo Guerrero, the minister of foreign relations, and Señor Don Norberto Quirno Costa, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Argentine Republic in Chile, declared that: The Governments of the Republic of Chile and the Argentine Republic, in their desire to facilitate the loyal execution of the existing treaties which fix an immovable boundary between both countries, reestablish confidence in peace, and avoid every cause of conflict, with the purpose, as always, of arriving at conclusions by direct negotiation, without prejudice to having recourse to the other conciliatory methods prescribed by the same compacts, have arrived at the agreement which contains the following bases: First. The operations in the demarcation of the boundary line between the Republic of Chile and the Argentine Republic, executed in accordance with the treaty of 1881 and the protocol of 1893, shall extend in the range of the Andes to the twentythird parallel of south latitude. The dividing line between this parallel and the parallel 26 degrees 52 minutes and 45 seconds must be traced with the cooperation of both Governments and of the Government of Bolivia, whose participation shall be requested for this purpose. Second. If differences should arise between the experts in fixing in the range of the Andes the landmarks of the dividing line south of the parallel 26 degrees 52 minutes and 45 seconds south latitude, and they can not be overcome by friendly agreement between the two Governments they shall be submitted to the decision of the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, whom the contracting parties from this time forth designate as the arbitrator entrusted with the strict application in such case of the provisions of the treaty and protocol referred to, after the ground has been studied by a commission appointed by the arbitrator. Third. The experts shall proceed to the study of the ground in the region bordering upon the fifty-second parallel which is the subject of the last part of article 2 of the protocol of 1893, and shall propose the divisional line to be adopted, if the case provided for in the said provision should arise. If there is a difference of opinion regarding the fixing of this line, it shall likewise be decided by the arbitrator designated in this convention, FR 96-3 Fourth. Sixty days after the disclosure of the difference of opinion in the case to which the previous provisions refer, the intervention of the arbitrator shall be requested by both Governments, by common accord, or by either of them separately. Fifth. Both Governments agree that the present position of the landmark of San Francisco, between parallels 26 and 27 shall not be taken into consideration as a basis or precedent binding for the determination of the boundary line in that region. The operations and labors which have already been effected at that point, at different periods, shall be regarded as studies for the definite fixing of the line, without prejudice to making any other examinations that the experts may see fit to have made. Sixth. The experts, on renewing their labors in the coming session, shall arrange for the operations and studies referred to in the first and third provisions of this agreement. Seventh. Both Governments agree to ratify likewise the third provision of the memorandum of September 6th, 1895, for the prosecution of the labors of demarcation in case any disagreement should occur, in order that these labors, in accordance with the purpose of the contracting parties, may proceed without interruption. Eighth. Within the period of sixty days after the signature of the present agreement, the diplomatic representatives of the Republic of Chile and the Argentine Republic accredited to the Government of Her Britannic Majesty shall conjointly request from the British Government the acceptance of the office of arbitrator conferred upon it, and for this purpose the respective Governments shall issue the necessary instructions. Ninth. The Governments of the Republic of Chile and the Argentine Republic shall share equally the expenses required for the execution of this agreement. The undersigned ministers, in the names of their respective Governments, and duly authorized, sign the present agreement in duplicate, one for each, and affix thereto their seals. ADOLFO GUERRERO. [L. S.] Therefore, and making use of the power conferred upon me by paragraph 19 of article 73 of the constitution of the Republic, I hereby approve of the preceding agreement, and decree that it be published in the official journal. Santiago, May 7th, 1896. JORGE MONTT. NON-EXEMPTION FROM MILITARY SERVICE OF CHILDREN BORN IN CHILE OF AMERICAN PARENTS. No. 75.] Mr. Strobel to Mr. Olney. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Santiago, April 6, 1896. (Received May 13.) SIR Referring to my No. 74, of this date, transmitting copy and translation of the principal provisions of the act of the Chilean Congress organizing the national guard, I have the honor to report that I have received several personal applications from American citizens established in this country, requesting the intervention of this legation for the purpose of securing the exemption of their children, born in Chile, from the service required by the above law. To these applications I have replied that, although by section 1993 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, children of American fathers, born abroad, are citizens of the United States, the law can not be construed so as to exempt them from the allegiance due to the country of their birth as long as they remain within its territory, provided that, by the law of the country where they are born and reside, such children are citizens of that country. As by the Chilean constitution (Chapter IV, article 6, paragraph 1) all persons born in Chile are Chilean citizens, I have declined to interfere in these cases. EDWARD H. STROBEL. I have, etc., |