TREATY of Union between the Argentine Confederation and Buenos Ayres.-Concluded at Paraná, June 6, 1860.

[Ratifications exchanged at Paraná, June 19, 1860.]

(Translation.)

His Excellency the Governor of Buenos Ayres, and His Excellency the President of the Argentine Confederation, desiring to accomplish the important work of National Union, arranged by the Treaty of Peace and Union concluded at San José de Flores the 11th November, 1859,* &c. : have appointed as Commissioners with full powers; the former, Dr. Don Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield, and the latter, His Excellency the Minister of War and Marine, Colonel Don Benjamin Victorica, and Deputy Dr. Don Daniel Araoz, who after examining their full powers and finding them in good and due form have determined upon the following Articles :

ART. I. The National Government immediately upon receiving from that of Buenos Ayres assurance of the authenticity of the reforms presented by the Provincial Convention, shall communicate the same to the Legislative Congress now sitting, in order that the Convention ad hoc may be convoked without loss of time, to take them into consideration, in accordance with the stipulation in Article V of the Treaty of 11th November last.

II. Immediately upon the issue of the decree by Congress, the National Government shall appoint the day for the election of Members for the Convention, which shall be as early as possible, time and distance being taken into consideration, and shall inform the Government of Buenos Ayres thereof, in order that it may convoke the people of that Province, the National Government proceeding with the other Provinces according to the forms established.

III. Buenos Ayres having by Article V of the Treaty of 11th November, the right of sending Deputies in proportion to her population, this right implies that the other Provinces shall do the same; and the want of any correct census placing a difficulty in the way of an early arrangement, Buenos Ayres accepts as a basis for the number of her Deputies Article XXXIV of the National Constitution, which the National Government also accepts for the remaining Provinces.

IV. As it is desirable that this body shall be the truest representation of the real and general interests of the country, it is recommended as a further qualification for National Deputies, that they be natives of, or residents in the Provinces which elect them.

V. As it is necessary to support the decisions of the Conven

* Vol. L. Page 690. + Of 1st May, 1853. Vol. XLII. Page 779.

tion with all possible guarantees and prestige, in order that they may never be impugned as springing from force or violence and may have the authority of reason freely manifested, both Governments declare that the Convention and the Deputies shall have all those immunities, privileges, and exemptions which the laws of the Republic have always accorded and decreed to national bodies and their members; the said Convention shall meet in the city of Santa Fé, the National Authorities guaranteeing that protection and respect which are due to it by those laws.

VI. To avoid delays the Provincial Governments and that of Buenos Ayres shall respectively receive the resignations of Deputies elected, and shall proceed to new elections.

VII. Vacancies which may occur among Deputies incorporated in the Convention ad hoc, by resignation or other causes, can only be filled up by its own resolution, communicated to the respective Governments including that of Buenos Ayres.

VIII. The Convention ad hoc, shall terminate its sittings within 30 days from the day of opening, which shall be one month after the day of election.

IX. The Convention ad hoc so soon as it has determined concerning the reforms proposed by Buenos Ayres, shall communicate the result to the National Government and to that of Buenos Ayres, for the purposes and effects provided in the former Treaty, and detailed in the present, and shall then close its sittings.

X. In virtue of the provisions of the said Treaty and of the present, 15 days after the sanction of the Convention ad hoc the Government of Buenos Ayres shall decree the promulgation and swearing of the National Constitution.

XI. When the National Constitution has been sworn by Buenos Ayres, the sessions of the Legislative Congress shall be prorogued in order that the Deputies and Senators from Buenos Ayres may join, or an extraordinary session shall be convoked with the same object; in order that that Province may exercise its full rights as soon as possible, by taking part in the national legislation which shall govern her.

XII. The Government of Buenos Ayres shall continue the arrangement and administration of all the objects included in the estimates for 1859, even though they naturally depend upon national authorities, until the Deputies of Buenos Ayres shall have joined Congress, and the latter shall have decided upon the mode of carrying out the guarantee given to Buenos Ayres by Article VIII of the Treaty of 11th November.

XIII. In the preceding Article, the clause relating to Foreign Relations is excepted, Buenos Ayres having suspended it by Article VI of the Treaty.

XIV. Meantime the Government of Buenos Ayres in order to contribute its quota to the National expenses shall pay to the National Government the sum of 1,500,000 dollars currency monthly, commencing from the date of the ratification of the present Treaty.

XV. The National Government considering the Province of Buenos Ayres, as it is, an integral part of the nation, agrees to aid it in the defence of its frontiers against the savages, and to that effect shall order the approach of two regiments of cavalry to the dividing line of Buenos Ayres, to be under the orders of the Commandant General of the northern frontier of that Province, in order that they give the required assistance in case of an invasion of Indians or in the pursuit of them.

XVI. The Legislative Congress, when the Deputies from Buenos Ayres shall have joined, shall decree as quickly as possible the measures necessary to place the Custom-Houses upon one uniform basis, and to improve the protection of general commerce as far as possible; meantime the customs laws and practises observed at present shall continue in force.

XVII. The natural and manufactured products of Buenos Ayres are free of duty on entering the Custom-Houses of the other provinces; and their produce and manufactures shall likewise be free in hers.

XVIII. The National Government desiring that there may be yet another bond of union offers to decree, in due form, laws and regulations which may be esteemed favourable to reciprocal commerce, to receive the paper money of Buenos Ayres in the Custom-Houses of the Confederation, in such quantity as it may judge fit.

XIX. The present definitive Treaty of Union shall be ratified within 10 days, and exchanged in the city of Paraná within 5 days after if possible.

In faith whereof the Commissioners of both Governments have signed and sealed it with their respective seals. Done in the city of Paraná, the 6th day of June, 1860.

Secretaries:

(L.S.) DALMACIO VELEZ SARSFIELD.
(L.S.) BENJAMIN VICTORICA.
(L.S)

VICENTE G. QUESADA.
JOSE MARIA CANTILO.

DANIEL ARAOZ.

DECREE of the President of Honduras, promulgating the Contract of February 22, 1859, between Honduras and the North American "Agricultural and Navigation Company," for the Navigation of the Rivers Aguan, Tinto, and Patook, and for Colonization in the Department of Olancho.Comayagua, February 20, 1860.

(Translation.)

SANTOS GUARDIOLA, General of Division, well-deserving of the country, and President of the Republic of Honduras.

Whereas the Chamber of Deputies has decreed, and the Senate has approved the following:

The Chamber of Deputies of the State of Honduras, taking into consideration that the contracts for steam navigation in the rivers Aguan, Tinto and Patook, and for the colonization, in the department of Olancho, by agricultural and industrious persons from Europe, adjusted by Commissioners amply authorized, between the Executive Power of the State, and a New York Company composed of Messrs. Raymond K. Weed, William C. Burchard, William R. Storrs, John A. Weed, and Isaac Newton, entitled "Agricultural and Navigation Company," are of evident utility, inasmuch as they tend to establish an easy communication between the interior of the said department of Olancho and the Atlantic Ocean, and tend to give an impetus to agriculture, and to people some of the waste lands of the State with industrious inhabitants, has been pleased to decree, and decrees as follows:

Sole Article. The aforesaid Contracts of Navigation and Colonization in the department of Olancho are approved on the terms agreed upon. And therefore they shall be held and observed as laws of the State.

NUMBER I.

The tenor of the Contracts is as follows:-The Supreme Government of the State of Honduras on the one part, and Raymond K. Weed and William C. Burchard, and their associates, Messrs. William R. Storrs and John A. Weed, entitling themselves "the Agricultural and Navigation Company of New York" on the other part, with the object of adapting and making navigable one or more of the principal rivers of the former State, and of establishing a colony in the lands thereof, have agreed for that object to enter into a contract upon equitable and reasonable principles. With that view the Government has authorized its General Minister Don Florencio Xatruch, and the Company has authorized the said Raymond K. Weed and William C. Burchard, who by common consent have stipulated the following Articles.

SECTION I.-ART. I. The State of Honduras concedes to the

said Company the exclusive right and privilege of steam navigation on the rivers Aguan, Tinto and Patook, and their tributaries, one or more of them, with the powers to make free use of the lakes, lands and waters, and natural materials, that may be convenient and necessary for the specified objects.

II. The State grants to all vessels that may navigate in connexion with the rivers, and that may be employed in the trade peculiar to the Company, the privilege of coming in and going out of the ports, lakes, and rivers of the State, provided that the said vessels comply with the laws of the State.

III. The said Company undertakes at its own expense to cleanse, put in order, and make navigable, one or more of the rivers mentioned in Article I of the contract, commencing the said works from the mouths of the rivers, and following them up to such part thereof as may be most practicable towards their source, removing all obstructions that may impede the free passage of the steamers, making all artificial canals that may be necessary, constructing wharves, aud putting up buildings in different parts of the rivers for the deposit of fuel, coal, and other articles that may be required for the consumption of the steamers.

IV. The State taking into consideration that the establishment of ports on one or more of the before mentioned rivers would be very advantageous for the interior trade, consents that the said Company after having concluded the works treated of in Article III, aud after having set one or more steamers to work, shall select the fittest and most favourable places for the establishment of the said ports; and the Company on its part obliges itself to defray all necessary charges in such places as may be selected for the construction of the buildings that may be required for the administration of CustomHouses and the persons employed therein. The said CustomHouses shall be on account and for the benefit of the State.

V. The mails, warlike stores and other useful objects belonging to the State shall have free passage in the Company's eteamers; and for passengers, goods, wares, and property of every description, the Company undertakes to fix a tariff of tolls and charges at the lowest possible price; but in no case can the Company introduce arms or warlike stores without express orders from the Government.

VI. The said Company shall have the right to constitute itself into a company of shareholders; to create, sell, or otherwise dispose of its capital, and to establish statutes and regulations for the administration of its own affairs, and for the appointment of the employés that may be deemed necessary, and all its capital and property shall be exempt from imposts, contributions, or other charges and duties on the part of the State.

VII. The said Company shall enjoy exclusively the rights and