The high contracting parties hereby engage to consider the decision of the commissioners as absolutely final and conclusive upon each claim decided upon by them, and to give full effect to such decisions without any objection, evasion, or delay whatsoever.

ARTICLE XIV.

be presented to

ers;

Every claim shall be presented to the commissioners Claims when to within six months from the day of their first meeting, the commissionunless in any case where reasons for delay shall be established to the satisfaction of the commissioners, and then, and in any such case, the period for presenting the claim may be extended by them to any time not exceeding three months longer.

cided.

The commissioners shall be bound to examine and de-when to be decide upon every claim within two years from the day of their first meeting. It shall be competent for the com- Commissioners missioners to decide in each case whether any claim has to decide if any case is properly or has not been duly made, preferred, and laid before before them. them, either wholly or to any and what extent, according to the true intent and meaning of this treaty.

ARTICLE XV.

All sums of money which may be awarded by the commissioners on account of any claim shall be paid by the one government to the other, as the case may be, within twelve months after the date of the final award, without interest, and without any deduction save as specified in Article XVI. of this treaty.

ARTICLE XVI.

The commissioners shall keep an accurate record, and correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the dates thereof, and may appoint and employ a secretary, and any other necessary officer or officers, to assist them in the transaction of the business which may come before them.

Awards

to be paid.

Records.

Secretary.

Each government shall pay its own commissioner and Expenses; agent or counsel. All other expenses shall be defrayed by the two governments in equal moieties.

when

to be charged upon awards;

The whole expenses of the commission, including contingent expenses, shall be detrayed by a ratable deduction on the amount of the sums awarded by the commissioners, provided always that such deduction shall not exceed the per cent. rate of five per cent. on the sums so awarded.

ARTICLE XVII.

not over five

of

commissioners to

claims that might

The high contracting parties engage to consider the Decisions result of the proceedings of this commission as a full, be final upon all perfect, and final settlement of all such claims as are have been prementioned in Article XII. of this treaty upon either sented. government; and further engage that every such claim,

Right of the inhabitants of the

certain sea fisheries in common.

See xxxii. & xxxiii.

whether or not the same may have been presented to the notice of, made, preferred, or laid before the said commission, shall, from and after the conclusion of the proceedings of the said commission, be considered and treated as finally settled, barred, and thenceforth inadmissible.

ARTICLE XVIII.

It is agreed by the high contracting parties that, in United States in addition to the liberty secured to the United States fisherman by the convention between the United States and Vol. viii., p. 248. Great Britain, signed at London on the 20th day of October, 1818, of taking, curing, and drying fish on certain coasts of the British North American Colonies therein defined, the inhabitants of the United States shall have, in common with the subjects of her Britannic Majesty, the liberty, for the term of years mentioned in Article articles XXXIII. of this treaty, to take fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the sea-coasts and shores, and in the bays, harbors, and creeks, of the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the colony of Prince Edward's Island, and of the several islands thereunto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts and shores and islands, and also upon the Magdalen Islands, for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish; provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere with the rights of private property, or with British fishermen, in the peaceable use of any part of the said coasts in their occupancy for the same purpose.

Salmon and shad fisheries ex

ish fishermen.

It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty apclusively for Brit- plies solely to the sea fishery, and that the salmon and shad fisheries, and all other fisheries in rivers and the mouths of rivers, are hereby reserved exclusively for British fishermen.

ARTICLE XIX.

Rights in common of British

certain coasts of

It is agreed by the high contracting parties that British subjects in certain subjects shall have, in common with the citizens of the sea fisheries on United States, the liberty, for the term of years menUnited tioned in Article XXXIII. of this treaty, to take fish of See articles every kind, except shell-fish, on the eastern sea-coasts xxxii. & xxxiii. and shores of the United States north of the thirty-ninth

the

States.

Proviso.

parallel of north latitude, and on the shores of the several islands thereunto adjacent, and in the bays, harbors, and creeks of the said sea-coasts and shores of the United States and of the said islands, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts of the United States and of the islands aforesaid, for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish; provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere with the rights of private property, or with the fishermen of the United States in the peaceable use

of any part of the said coasts in their occupancy for the same purpose.

Salmon and

It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty ap- shad fisheries. plies solely to the sea fishery, and that salmon and shad fisheries, and all other fisheries in rivers and mouths of rivers, are hereby reserved exclusively for fishermen of the United States.

ARTICLE XX.

Certain places

reserved from

the common right Vol. x. p. 1089.

of fishing.

See articles xxxii. & xxxiii.

It is agreed that the places designated by the commissioners appointed under the first article of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at Washington on the 5th of June, 1854, upon the coasts of her Britannic Majesty's dominions and the United States, as places reserved from the common right of fishing under that treaty, shall be regarded as in like manner reserved from the common right of fishing under the preceding articles. In case any question should arise between the governments of the United States and of her Britannic Majesty as to the common right of fishing in places not thus designated as reserved, it is agreed that a commission shall be appointed to designate such places, Commission to and shall be constituted in the same manner, and have places, if, &c. the same powers, duties, and authority as the commission appointed under the said first article of the treaty of the 5th of June, 1854.

ARTICLE XXI.

It is agreed that, for the term of years mentioned in Article XXXIII, of this treaty, fish oil and fish of all kinds (except fish of the inland lakes, and of the rivers falling into them, and except fish preserved in oil), being the produce of the fisheries of the United States, or of the Dominion of Canada, or of Prince Edward's Island, shall be admitted into each country, respectively free of duty

ARTICLE XXII.

designate such

Certain fish oil free of duty. See articles

and fish to be

xxxii. & xxxiii.

Commissioners

to determine the

Inasmuch as it is asserted by the government of her Britannic Majesty that the privileges accorded to the compensation, if citizens of the United States under Article XVIII. of by the United any, to be paid this treaty are of greater value than those accorded by States for privileges granted by Articles XIX. and XXI. of this treaty to the subjects article xviii. of of her Britannic Majesty, and this assertion is not ad- this treaty. mitted by the government of the United States, it is further agreed that commissioners shall be appointed to determine, having regard to the privileges accorded by the United States to the subjects of her Britannic Majesty, as stated in Article XIX. and XXI. of this treaty, the amount of any compensation which, in their opinion, ought to be paid by the government of the United States

to the government of her Britannic Majesty, in return for the privileges accorded to the citizens of the United States under Article XVIII. of this treaty; and that any sum of money which the said commissioners may so Award when to award shall be paid by the United States government, in a gross sum, within twelve months after such award shall have been given.

be paid.

Commissioners,

how

ARTICLE XXIII.

The commissioners referred to in the preceding article pointed; be ap shall be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: One commissioner shall be named by the President of the United States, one by her Britannic Majesty, and a third by the President of the United States and her Britannic Majesty conjointly; and in case the third commissioner shall not have been so named within a period of three months from the date when this article shall take effect, then the third commissioner shall be named by the representative at London of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of any commissioner, or in the event of any commissioner omitting or ceasing to act, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner hereinbefore provided for making the original appointment, the period of three months in case of such substitution being calculated from the date of the happening of the vacancy.

vacancies;

when and where to meet;

The commissioners so named shall meet in the city of Halifax, in the province of Nova Scotia, at the earliest convenient period after they have been respectively their powers named, and shall, before proceeding to any business,

and duties.

Agent for each government.

fore these com

make and subscribe a solemn declaration that they will impartially and carefully examine and decide the matters referred to them to the best of their judgment, and according to justice and equity; and such declaration shall be entered on the record of their proceedings.

Each of the high contracting parties shall also name one person to attend the commission as its agent, to represent it generally in all matters connected with the commission.

ARTICLE XXIV.

Proceedings be- The proceedings shall be conducted in such order as missioners, how the commissioners appointed under Articles XXII. and to be conducted. XXIII. of this treaty shall determine. They shall be

Documents and papers.

bound to receive such oral or written testimony as either government may present. If either party shall offer oral testimony, the other party shall have the right of crossexamination, under such rules as the commissioners shall prescribe.

If in the case submitted to the commissioners either party shall have specified or alluded to any report or document in its own exclusive possession, without annexing a copy, such party shall be bound, if the other party

thinks proper to apply for it, to furnish that party with a copy thereof; and either party may call upon the other, through the commissioners, to produce the originals or certified copies of any papers adduced as evidence, giving in each instance such reasonable notice as the commissioners may require.

Cases to be

The Awards.

The case on either side shall be closed within a period 18d in six of six months from the date of the organization if the months. commission, and the commissioners shall be requested to give their award as soon as possible thereafter. aforesaid period of six months may be extended for three months in case of a vacancy occurring among the commissioners under the circumstances contemplated in Article XXIII. of this treaty.

ARTICLE XXV.

The commissioners shall keep an accurate record and Records. correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the dates thereof, and may appoint and employ a secretary secretary, etc. and any other necessary officer or officers to assist them in the transaction of the business which may come before them.

its own Expenses.

Each of the high contracting parties shall pay its own commissioner and agent or counsel; all other expenses shall be defrayed by the two governments in equal moieties.

ARTICLE XXVI.

of

the St. Lawrence

The navigation of the river St. Lawrence, ascending Navigation and descending, from the forty-fifth parallel of north to be free; latitude, where it ceases to form the boundary between the two countries, from, to, and into the sea, shall forever remain free and open for the purposes of commerce to the citizens of the United States, subject to any laws and regulations of Great Britain, or of the dominion of Canada, not inconsistent with such privilege of free navigation.

The navigation of the rivers Yukon, Porcupine, and of other rivers. Stikine, ascending and descending, from, to, and into the sea, shall forever remain free and open for the purposes of commerce to the subjects of her Britannic Majesty and to the citizens of the United States, subject to any laws and regulations of either country within its own territory, not inconsistent with such privilege of free navigation.

ARTICLE XXVII.

The use on terms of equality

by citizens of

The government of her Britannic Majesty engages to urge upon the government of the dominion of Canada to of certain canals secure to the citizens of the United States the use of the both countries, to Welland, St. Lawrence, and other canals in the dominion be urged. on terms of equality with the inhabitants of the dominion; and the government of the United States engages