be authorized, in case the owner or master, or other agent of the owner, is not present, to lend their official assistance in order to afford the necessary assistance to the subjects of the respective states. The same rule shall apply in case the owner, master or other agent is present, but requires such assistance to be given.

ARTICLE XIII.

All vessels which, according to Japanese law, are to be deemed Japanese vessels, and all vessels which, according to British law, are to be deemed British vessels, shall, for the purposes of this treaty, be deemed Japanese and British vessels, respectively.

ARTICLE XIV.

The consuls-general, consuls and consular agents of each of the contracting parties, residing in the dominions and possessions of the other, shall receive from the local authorities such assistance as can by law be given to them for the recovery of deserters from the vessels of their respective countries.

It is understood that this stipulation shall not apply to the subjects of the country where the desertion takes place.

ARTICLE XV.

The high contracting parties agree that, in all that concerns commerce and navigation, any privilege, favour or immunity which either contracting party has actually granted, or may hereafter grant, to the government, ships, subjects or citizens of any other state, shall be extended immediately and unconditionally to the government, ships, subjects or citizens of the other contracting party; it being their intention that the trade and navigation of each country shall be placed in all respects by the other on the footing of the most favoured nation.

ARTICLE XVI.

Each of the high contracting parties may appoint consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, pro-consuls and consular agents in all the ports, cities and places of the other, except in those where it may not be convenient to recognize such officers.

This exception, however, shall not be made in regard to one of the contracting parties without being made likewise in regard to every other Power.

The consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, pro-consuls and consular agents may exercise all functions, and shall enjoy all privileges, exemptions and immunities, which are, or may hereafter be, granted to consular officers of the most favoured nation.

ARTICLE XVII.

The subjects of each of the high contracting parties shall enjoy in the dominions and possessions of the other the same protection as native subjects in regard to patents, trade-marks and designs, upon fulfilment of the formalities prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XVIII.

Her Britannic Majesty's Government, so far as they are concerned, give their consent to the following arrangement:

The several foreign Settlements in Japan shall be incorporated with the respective Japanese Communes, and shall thenceforth form part of the general municipal system of Japan.

The competent Japanese authorities shall thereupon assume all municipal obligations and duties in respect thereof, and the common funds and property, if any, belonging to such Settlements, shall at the same time be transferred to the said Japanese authorities.

When such incorporation takes place, existing leases in perpetuity under which property is now held in the said Settlements shall be confirmed, and no conditions whatsoever other than those contained in such existing leases shall be imposed in respect of such property. It is, however, understood that the consular authorities mentioned in the same are in all cases to be replaced by the Japanese authorities.

All lands which may previously have been granted by the Japanese Government free of rent for the public purposes of the said Settlements shall, subject to the right of eminent domain, be permanently reserved free of all taxes and charges for the public purposes for which they were criginally set apart.

ARTICLE XIX.

The stipulations of the present treaty shall be applicable, so far as the laws permit, to all the colonies and foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, excepting to those hereinafter named, that is to say, except to: India.

The Dominion of Canada.

Newfoundland.

The Cape.

Natal.

New South Wales.

Victoria.

Queensland.

Tasmania.

South Australia

Western Australia.

New Zealand.

Provided always that the stipulations of the present treaty shall be made applicable to any of the above-named colonies or foreign possessions, on whose behalf notice to that effect shall have been given to the Japanese Government by Her Britannic Majesty's representative at Tokio within two years from the date of the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty.

ARTICLE XX.

The present treaty shall, from the date it comes into force, be substituted in place of the conventions, respectively of the 23rd day of the 8th month of the 7th year of Kayei, corresponding to the 14th day of October, 1854, and of the 13th day of the 5th month of the 2nd year of Keiou, corresponding to the 25th day of June, 1866, the treaty of the 18th day of the 7th month of the 5th year of Ansei, corresponding to the 26th day of August, 1858, and all arrangements and agreements subsidiary thereto concluded or existing between the high contracting parties; and from the same date such conventions, treaty, arrangements and agreements shall cease to be binding, and, in consequence, the jurisdiction then exercised by British courts in Japan, and all the exceptional privileges, exemptions and immunities then enjoyed by British subjects as a part of, or appurtenant to, such jurisdiction, shall absolutely and without notice cease and determine, and thereafter all such jurisdiction shall be assumed and exercised by Japanese courts.

ARTICLE XXI.

The present treaty shall not take effect until at least five years after its signature. It shall come into force one year after His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Government shall have given notice to Her Britannic Majesty's Government of its wish to have the same brought into opera

tion. Such notice may be given at any time after the expiration of four years from the date thereof. The treaty shall remain in force for the period of twelve years from the date it goes into operation.

Either high contracting party shall have the right, at any time, after eleven years shall have elapsed from the date this treaty takes effect, to give notice to the other of its intention to terminate the same, and at the expiration of twelve months after such notice is given this treaty shall wholly cease and determine.

ARTICLE XXII.

The present treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Tokio as soon as possible, and not later than six months from the present date.

In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.

Done at London, in duplicate, this sixteenth day of the seventh month of the twenty-seventh year of Meiji.

The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, deeming it advisable in the interests of both countries. to regulate certain special matters of mutual concern, apart from the treaty of commerce and navigation signed this day, have, through their respective plenipotentiaries, agreed upon the following stipulations:

1. It is agreed by the contracting parties that one month after the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty of commerce and navigation. signed this day, the import tariff hereunto annexed1 shall, subject to the provisions of Article XXIII of the treaty of 1858 at present subsisting between the contracting parties, as long as the said treaty remains in force and thereafter, subject to the provisions of Articles V and XV of the treaty signed this day, be applicable to the articles therein enumerated, being the growth, produce or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, upon importation into Japan. But nothing contained in this protocol, or the tariff hereunto annexed shall be held to limit or qualify the right of the Japanese Government to restrict or to prohibit the importation of adulterated drugs, medicines,

1 Omitted.

food or beverages; indecent or obscene prints, paintings, books, cards, lithographs or other engravings, photographs, or any other indecent or obscene articles; articles in violation of patent, trade-mark or copyright laws of Japan; or any other article which, for sanitary reasons or in view of public security or morals, might offer any danger.

The ad valorem duties established by the said tariff shall, so far as may be deemed practicable, be converted into specific duties by a supplementary convention, which shall be concluded between the two governments within six months from the date of this protocol; the medium prices, as shown by the Japanese customs returns during the six calendar months preceding the date of the present protocol, with the addition of the cost of insurance and transportation from the place of purchase, production or fabrication, to the port of discharge, as well as commission, if any, shall be taken as the basis for such conversion. In the event of the supplementary convention not having come into force before the expiration of the period fixed for the said tariff to take effect, ad valorem duties in conformity with the rule recited at the end of the said tariff shall, in the meantime, be levied.

In respect of articles not enumerated in the said tariff, the general statutory tariff of Japan for the time being in force shall, from the same time, apply, subject as aforesaid to the provisions of Article XXIII of the treaty of 1858 and Articles V and XV of the treaty signed this day, respectively.

From the date the tariffs aforesaid take effect, the import tariff now in operation in Japan in respect of goods and merchandise imported into Japan by British subjects shall cease to be binding.

In all other respects the stipulations of the existing treaties and conventions shall be maintained unconditionally until the time when the treaty of commerce and navigation signed this day comes into force.

2. The Japanese Government, pending the opening of the country to British subjects, agrees to extend the existing passport system in such a manner as to allow British subjects, on the production of a certificate of recommendation from the British representative in Tokio, or from any of Her Majesty's consuls at the open ports in Japan, to obtain upon application passports available for any part of the country, and for any period not exceeding twelve months, from the Imperial Japanese Foreign Office in Tokio, or from the chief authorities in the Prefecture in which an open port is situated; it being understood that the existing rules and regulations governing British subjects who visit the interior of the empire are to be maintained.