respective authorities of the place, in all cases in which their support may be necessary.

4. They may accompany the captains, mates, or masters of vessels of their nation in all that they may have to do with regard to the manifests of their merchandise and other documents, and be present in all cases in which the authorities, courts, or judges of the country may have to take any declarations from the persons above mentioned, or any other belonging to their respective crews.

5. They shall have the right, in the ports or places to which they are or may be severally appointed, of receiving the protests or declarations which such captains, masters, crews, passengers, and merchants as are citizens of their country may respectively choose to make there; and also such as any foreigners may choose to make before them relative to the personal interests of any of their citizens; and the copies of said acts, duly authenticated by the said Consuls under the seal of their Consulates, respectively, shall receive faith in law, as if they had been authenticated before the judges or courts of the respective countries.

6. They may determine on all matters relating to injuries sustained at sea by effects and merchandise shipped in vessels of the nation in whose service the Consul is employed arriving at the place of his residence, provided that there be no stipulations to the contrary between the shippers, owners, and insurers. But if among the persons interested in such losses and injuries there should be inhabitants of the country where the Consul resides, and not belonging to the nation in whose service he is, the cognizance of such losses and injuries appertains to the local authorities.

7. They may compromise amicably, and out of court, the differences arising between their fellow-countrymen, providing that those persons agree voluntarily to submit to sucli arbitration; in which case the document containing the decision of the Consul, authenticated by himself and his Chancellor or Secretary, shall have all the force of a notarial copy authenticated, so as to render it obligatory on the interested parties.

8. They may cause proper order to be maintained on board of vessels of their nation, and may decide on the disputes arising between the captains, the officers, and the members of the crew, unless the disorders taking place on board should disturb the public tranquility, or persons not belonging to the crew or to the nation in whose service the Consul is employed, in which case the local authorities may interfere.

9. They may direct all the operations for saving vessels of their nation which may be wrecked on the coasts of the district where the Consul resides. In such cases the local authorities shall interfere only in order to maintain tranquility, to give security to the interests of the parties concerned, and to cause the dispositions which should be observed for the entry and export of the property to be fulfilled. In the absence of the Consul, and until his arrival, the said authorities shall take all the measures necessary for the preservation of the effects of the wrecked vessel.

10. They shall take possession of the personal or real estate left by any of their citizens who shall die within their Consulate, leaving no legal representative or trustee by him appointed to take charge of his effects; they shall inventory the same with the assistance of two merchants, citizens of the respective countries, or for want of them of any others whom the Consuls may choose; shall cause a notice of the death to be published

in some newspaper of the country where they reside; shall collect the debts due to the deceased in the country where he died, and pay the debts due from his estate which he shall have contracted; shall sell at auction, after reasonable public notice, such of the estate as shall be of a perishable nature, and such further part, if any, as shall be necessary for the payment of his debts, but they shall pay no claims not reduced to a judgment for damages. on account of any wrongful act alleged to have been done by the deceased. Whensoever there is no Consul in the place where the death occurs, the local authority shall take all the precautions in their power to secure the property of the deceased, and immediately notify the nearest Consul of the country to which the deceased belonged.

11. They may demand from the local authorities the arrest of seamen deserting from the vessel of the nation in whose service the Consul is employed, exhibiting, if necessary, the register of the vessel, her muster-roll, and any other official document in support of this demand. The said authorities shall take such measures as may be in their power for the discovery and arrest of such deserters, and shall place them at the disposition of the Consul; but if the vessel to which they belong shall have sailed, and no opportunity for sending them away should occur, they shall be kept in arrest at the expense of the Consul for two mouths; and if at the expiration of that time they should not have been sent away, they shall be set at liberty by the respective authorities, and cannot again be arrested for the same cause.

12. They may give such documents as may be necessary for the intercourse between the two countries, and countersign those which may have been given by the authorities. They may also give bills of health, if necessary, to vessels sailing from the port where the Consul resides to the port of the nation to which he belongs; they may also certify invoices, muster-rolls, and other papers necessary for the commerce and navigation of vessels.

13. They may appoint a Chancellor or Secretary whensoever the Consulate has none and one is required for authenticating documents.

14. They may appoint Commercial Agents to employ all the means in their power in behalf of individuals of the nation in whose service the Consul is, and for executing the commissions which the Consul may think proper to intrust to them out of the place of his residence: Provided, however, that such Agents are not to enjoy the prerogatives conceded to Consuls, but only those which are peculiar to Commercial Agents.

971..ARTICLE XXXIV.

The Consuls of one of the contracting republics residing in another country may employ their good offices in favor of individuals of the other republic which has no Consul in that country.

972..ARTICLE XXXV.

The contracting republics recognize no diplomatic character in Consuls, for which reason they will not enjoy in either country the immunities granted to public agents accredited in that character; but in order

that the said Consuls may exercise their proper functions without difficulty or delay, they shall enjoy the following prerogatives:

1. The Consular offices and dwellings shall be at all times inviolable. The local authorities shall not, under any pretext, invade them. In no case shall they examine or scize the archives or papers there deposited. In no case shall those offices or dwellings be used as places of asylum. When, however, a Consular Officer is engaged in business, the papers relating to the Consulate shall be kept separate.

2. Consuls, in all that exclusively concerns the exercise of their functions, shall be independent of the state in whose territory they reside.

3. The Consuls and their Chancellors or Secretaries shall be exempt from all public service and from contributions, personal and extraordinary, imposed in the country where they reside, and they shall be exempt from arrest, except in the case of offenses which the local legislation qualifies as crimes and punishes as such. This exemption does not comprehend the Consuls or their Chancellors or Secretaries who may be natives of the country in which they reside.

4. No Consular Officer who is not a citizen of the country to which he is accredited shall be compelled to appear as a witness before the courts of the country where he resides. When the testimony of such Consular Officer is needed, it shall be asked in writing, or some one shall go to his house to take it viva voce. If, however, the testimony of a Consular Officer in either country should be necessary for the defense of a person charged with a crime and should not be voluntarily given, compulsory process requiring the presence of such Consular Officer as a witness may be issued. 5. In order that the dwellings of Consuls may be easily and generally known for the convenience of those who may have to resort to them, they shall be allowed to hoist on them the flag, and to place over their doors the coat of arms of the nation in whose service the Consul may be, with an inscription expressing the functions discharged by him.

973.. ARTICLE XXXVI.

Consuls shall not give passports to any individual of their nation, or going to their nation, who may be held to answer before any authority, court, or judge of the country for delinquencies committed by them, or for a demand which may have been legally acknowledged, provided that in each case proper notice thereof shall have been given to the Consul.

Treaty concluded May 29, 1856 (Peace and Friendship).

974.. ARTICLE I.

There shall henceforward be perpetual peace and friendship between the United States and their Majesties the first and second Kings of Siam and their successors.

All American citizens coming to Siam shall receive from the Siamese Government full protection and assistance to enable them to reside in Siam in all security, and trade with every facility, free from oppression or injury on the part of the Siamese. Inasmuch as Siam has no ships trading to the ports of the United States, it is agreed that the ships of war of the United States shall render friendly aid and assistance to such Siamese vessels as they may meet on the high seas, so far as can be done without a breach of neutrality; and all American Consuls residing at ports visited by Siamese vessels shall also give them such friendly aid as may be permitted by the laws of the respective countries in which they reside.

975.. ARTICLE II.

The interests of all American citizens coming to Siam shall be placed under the regulations and control of a Consul, who will be appointed to reside at Bangkok. He will himself conform to and will enforce the observance by American citizens of all the provisions of this treaty, and such of the former treaty, negotiated by Mr. Edmund Roberts in 1833, as shall still remain in operation. He shall also give effect to all rules and regulations as are now or may hereafter be enacted for the government of American citizens in Siam, the conduct of their trade, and for the prevention of violations of the laws of Siam. Any disputes arising between American citizens and Siamese subjects shall be heard and determined by the Consul, in conjunction with the proper Siamese officers, and criminal offenses will be punished, in the case of American offenders, by the Consul, according to American laws, and in the case of Siamese offenders by their own laws, through the Siamese authorities. But the Consul shall not interfere in any matters referring solely to Siamese; neither will the Siamese authorities interfere in questions which only concern the citizens of the United States.

976.. ARTICLE III.

If Siamese in the employ of American citizens offend against the laws of their country, or if any Siamese, having so offended, or desiring to desert, take refuge with American citizens in Siam, they shall be searched for, and, upon proof of their guilt or desertion, shall be delivered up by the Consul to the Siamese authorities. In like manner, any American offenders, resident or trading in Siam, who may desert, escape to, or hide themselves in Siamese territory, shall be apprehended and delivered over to the American Consul on his requisition.

977.. ARTICLE IV.

American citizens are permitted to trade freely in all the seaports of Siam, but may reside permanently only at Bangkok, or within the limits assigned by this treaty.

American citizens coming to reside at Bangkok may rent land and buy or build houses, but cannot purchase land within the circuit of two hundred seng (not more than four miles English) from the city

walls, until they shall nave lived in Siam for ten years, or shall obtain special authority from the Siamese Government to enable them to do so. But, with the exception of this limitation, American residents in Siam may, at any time, buy or rent houses, lands, or plantations situated anywhere within a distance of twenty-four hours' journey from the city of Bangkok, to be computed by the rate at which boats of the country can travel. In order to obtain possession of such lands or houses it will be necessary that the American citizen shall, in the first place, make application through the Consul to the proper Siamese officer, and the Siamese officer and the Consul, having satisfied themselves of the honest intentions of the applicant, will assist him in settling, upon equitable terms, the amount of the purchase money; will make out and fix the boundaries of the property, and will convey the same to the American purchaser under sealed deeds, whereupon he and his property shall be placed under the protection of the governor of the district, and that of the particular local authorities. He shall conform in ordinary matters to any just direction given him by them, and will be subject to the same taxation that is levied on Siamese subjects. But if, through negligence, the want of capital, or other cause, an American citizen should fail to commence the cultivation or improvement of the lands so acquired within a term of three years from the date of receiving possession thereof, the Siamese Government shall have the power of resuming the property upon returning to the American citizen the purchase-money paid by him for the same.

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American ships of war may enter the river and anchor at Paknam; but they shall not proceed above Paknam unless with the consent of the Siamese authorities, which shall be given where it is necessary that a ship shall go into dock for repairs. Any American ships of war conveying to Siam a public functionary, accredited by the American Government to the court of Bangkok, shall be allowed to come up to Bangkok, but shall not pass the forts called Phrachamit and Pit-pach-nuck, unless expressly permitted to do so by the Siamese Government. But in the absence of an American ship of war, the Siamese authorities engage to furnish the Consul with a force sufficient to enable him to give effect to his authority over American citizens and to enforce discipline among American shipping.

979.. ARTICLE VII.

The measurement duty hitherto paid by American vessels trading to Bangkok under the treaty of 1833 shall be abolished from the date of this treaty coming into operation, and American shipping or trade will thenceforth only be subject to the payment of import and export duties on the goods landed or shipped.

On the articles of import the duty shall be three per cent., payable, at the option of the importer, either in kind or money, calculated upon the market value of the goods. Drawback of the full amount of duty shall be allowed upon goods found unsalable and re-exported. Should the American merchant and the custom-house officers disagree as to the