project sent by you, being drawn up entirely conformable to the same
principles, which you will be certainly convinced of, Sir, by the note
explaining the reasons for adding some articles, and only giving a
different turn to others, so that I flatter myself, that I shall soon
hear that you are perfectly satisfied with them, having observed the
most perfect reciprocity carefully established throughout.
As to the object mentioned in the letter with which you have honored
me, you already know, Sir, his Majesty's generous intentions towards
the individuals in question, and his Majesty is the more induced to
avail himself of the first opportunity to manifest these intentions,
as he thinks he may reasonably hope that Congress will also consider
them as a distinguished proof of his friendship and esteem for that
respectable body.
There remains nothing further for me to add, but that the King will
adopt with great pleasure the most proper means to accelerate the
conclusion of the treaty, which we have begun. For myself, it will be
the most agreeable part of my office, Sir, to assist in perfecting
such happy connexions with a minister of such universal reputation as
yourself; and it is with sentiments of the most distinguished regard,
that I have the honor to be &c.
ROSENCRONE.
* * * * *
_Counter Project of a Treaty with Denmark._
Translation.
Counter Project of a Treaty of Amity and Commerce between his Majesty,
the King of Denmark and Norway, and the United States of America.
His Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, and the United States of
America, wishing to fix in an equitable and permanent manner the
regulations necessary in the commerce, which they are desirous to
establish between their respective countries, conceive that they
cannot accomplish this object better, than by taking as the basis for
their conventions, the most perfect equality and reciprocity, leaving
to each party the liberty of making such interior regulations, with
respect to commerce and navigation, as shall appear suitable, and
founding the advantages of commerce on reciprocal utility, and the
just laws of free competition. It is in consequence of these
principles, and of mature deliberation, that the contracting parties
have agreed upon the following articles.
ARTICLE I.
There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace, and a true and
sincere friendship, between his Majesty, the King of Denmark and
Norway, his heirs and successors, on the one part, and the United
States of America on the other, and between the citizens and subjects
of the said powers, and likewise between the countries, islands,
cities, and places situated within their respective jurisdictions, and
the people and inhabitants thereof, of whatever rank or condition they
may be, without exception of persons or places.
ARTICLE II.
The subjects of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, may
frequent the countries and latitudes of the United States, reside and
traffic there in all kinds of merchandise and effects, the importation
or exportation whereof is not, or shall not be prohibited, and in all
places where the navigation or commerce are not, or shall not be
reserved solely for the citizens and inhabitants of the United States;
and they shall not pay in the ports, harbors, roads, countries,
islands, cities, and places of the United States, other or greater
duties or imposts of any kind or denomination whatever, than such as
the most favored nations pay, or shall pay. They shall, moreover,
enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, and exemptions, with
respect to trade, navigation, and commerce, which the most favored
nations do or shall enjoy, and they shall also conform to the laws and
ordinances, which the said nations are, or shall be bound to observe,
whether in passing from one port to another of the dominions of the
said States, or in returning from any part, or to any part of the
world whatever.
ARTICLE III.
In like manner, the citizens and inhabitants of the United States of
America may frequent the States of his Majesty, the King of Denmark
and Norway, reside and traffic there in all kinds of merchandise and
effects, the importation or exportation whereof is not, or shall not
be prohibited, and in all places where the navigation and commerce are
not, or shall not be reserved solely to his Danish Majesty's subjects,
and they shall not pay in the ports, harbors, roads, countries,
islands, cities, and places belonging to his said Majesty, other or
greater duties and imposts of any kind or denomination whatever, than
such as the most favored nations do, or shall pay. They shall,
moreover, enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, and exemptions,
which the most favored nations do, or shall enjoy, and they shall also
conform to the laws and ordinances which the said nations are, or
shall be bound to observe, whether in passing from one port to
another of his Danish Majesty's dominions, or in going to, or
returning from any part of the world whatever. And the United States
of America, with their subjects and inhabitants, shall allow his
Danish Majesty's subjects peaceably to enjoy their rights in the
countries, islands, establishments, and seas, in the East and West
Indies, without molestation or opposition.
ARTICLE IV.
His Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, shall use every means in
his power to protect and defend all the vessels and effects belonging
to the citizens or inhabitants of the said United States of America,
as shall be in his ports, harbors, or roads, or in the vicinity of his
territories, countries, islands, cities, and places, as far as his
jurisdiction extends, as to the sea, and shall use his efforts to
recover and cause to be restored to the lawful proprietors, the
vessels and effects which shall be taken from them within the extent
of his said jurisdiction, and his ships of war, or any other convoys
whatever, sailing under his authority, shall, on all occasions where
there may be a common enemy, take under their protection all the
vessels belonging to the citizens or inhabitants of the United States,
or any of them which may be holding the same course, or going the same
route, and they shall defend the said ships as long as they shall hold
the same course, or follow the same route, against every attack,
force, or violence of the common enemy, in the same manner as they are
bound to defend and protect the vessels belonging to his said
Majesty's subjects.
ARTICLE V.
In like manner, the said United States and their ships of war, sailing
under their authority, shall protect and defend, in conformity with
the preceding article, all the vessels and effects belonging to the
subjects of his Danish Majesty, and shall use all their efforts to
recover and cause to be restored the said vessels and effects, which
shall have been taken within the extent of the jurisdiction of the
said States, and each of them.
ARTICLE VI.
It is agreed and determined that every merchant, captains of merchant
vessels, or others, his Danish Majesty's subjects, shall have entire
liberty in all places within the dominions and jurisdiction of the
United States of America, to manage themselves, their own affairs, and
to employ whomsoever they please to manage them, and they shall not be
obliged to make use of any interpreter or broker, nor to pay them any
fee, unless they make use of them; and with respect to the time and
manner of loading or unloading their ships and whatever belongs to
them, they shall always be considered and treated as the most favored
nations, and shall pay no fee or salary, which the said nations are
not bound to pay in similar cases. The citizens, inhabitants, and
subjects of the United States of America shall reciprocally have and
enjoy the same privileges and liberties in all the places belonging to
his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway.
ARTICLE VII.
Whenever one of the contracting parties shall be at war with other
powers, the communication and free commerce of the subjects of the
other party with the States of the said powers, shall not on that
account be interrupted. On the contrary, in this case it is agreed and
stipulated, that every ship and vessel of the neutral party may
freely navigate from port to port, and on the coasts of the States at
enmity with the other party, and that the vessels and ships being
free, shall likewise secure the liberty of merchandise; so that
everything shall be judged free which shall be found on board of the
vessels belonging to the subjects of one of the contracting parties,
although the loading, or part of it, should belong to the enemies of
one of them; it being, nevertheless, well understood, that contraband
goods shall be always excepted; and it is also agreed, that this same
liberty shall extend to the persons of such as shall be found on board
of the free vessel, even though they should be enemies of one of the
two contracting parties, and they shall not be taken from on board the
said vessels, unless they are military characters, and actually in the
service of the enemy.
ARTICLE VIII.
The merchant vessels of one of the two contracting parties, coming
either from a port belonging to the enemy, or from their own, or a
neutral port, and navigating towards a port of an enemy of the other,
shall be bound every time they shall be required, to exhibit, as well
on the high seas as in port, their passports, or sea letters, and
other public documents, which shall expressly prove that their loading
is not of that kind, which is prohibited as contraband; it being well
understood, nevertheless, that in all cases, where such merchant
vessels shall be escorted by one or more vessels of war, the simple
declaration of the officer commanding the convoy, that these vessels
do not carry any contraband goods, shall be considered as fully
sufficient, and they shall not require to examine the papers of the
escorted vessels.
ARTICLE IX.
It shall no sooner be found by the sea letters, passports, or other
public documents, or by the verbal declaration of the commanding
officer of the convoy, that the merchant vessels are not laden with
contraband goods, than they shall be at liberty to continue their
voyage without any hinderance; but if, on the contrary, the exhibition
of the said passports or other documents, in case the vessels are not
escorted, tends to discover that the said vessels carry merchandise
reputed contraband, consigned to an enemy's port, it shall not,
however, be permitted to break open the hatches of the said vessels,
nor to open any chest, case, trunk, bale, package, or cask, which
shall be found on board, or to displace or overturn the least part of
the merchandise, whether the vessel belongs to his Danish Majesty's
subjects, or to the citizens or inhabitants of the United States,
until the cargo has been landed in presence of the officers of the
Courts of Admiralty, and that the inventory has been made of it. And
it shall not be permitted to sell, exchange, or alienate the
merchandise reputed contraband, in any manner whatever, before trial
has been held and legally finished, to declare them contraband, and
that the Courts of Admiralty shall have pronounced them confiscated,
without any prejudice, nevertheless, to the vessels or to the
merchandise, which by virtue of the treaty shall be considered free.
It shall not be permitted to retain these merchandises under pretence,
that they have been intermixed with the contraband merchandise, and
still less confiscate them as legal prizes. In case where a part only,
and not the whole of the loading, shall consist of contraband
merchandises, and that the commander of the vessel consents to deliver
them up to the privateer, which shall have discovered them, then the
captain, who shall have made the prize, after having received the
merchandise, must immediately release the vessel, and shall not in any
wise prevent the continuation of his voyage; but in case the
contraband merchandise cannot all be taken on board the captor, then
the captain of the said vessel shall be at liberty, notwithstanding
the offer to deliver the contraband goods, to conduct the master to
the nearest port, in conformity to what is prescribed above.
ARTICLE X.
In order to obviate entirely every disorder and violence, it is
stipulated, that whenever the merchant vessels and ships of the
subjects and inhabitants of one of the two parties, navigating alone,
shall be met by any vessel of war, privateer, or armed vessel of the
other party, the said vessels of war, privateers, or armed vessels,
shall remain on their part constantly out of cannonshot, and shall not
send above two or three men in their boats on board the merchant
vessels or ships, to examine the passports or other documents, which
shall prove the property and cargoes of the said vessels or ships.
Such of the vessels of war, privateers, or armed vessels of the one
party, as shall molest or damage in any manner whatever the ships or
vessels of the other, shall be obliged to answer for it in their
persons and property, and consequently, to render satisfaction for all
damage and interest over and above the reparation due for the insult
shown the flag.
ARTICLE XI.
It is agreed that everything that is found laden by the respective
subjects or inhabitants on board of vessels belonging to the enemies
of the other party, or to their subjects, shall be confiscated
without distinction of prohibited merchandise, in like manner as
though it belonged to the enemy, excepting always such effects and
merchandise as shall have been put on board of said vessels, before
the declaration of war, or even after said declaration, if, at the
time of lading, it was unknown, so that the merchandises of the
subjects of the two contracting parties, whether they are of the
number termed contraband or otherwise, which, as has just been said,
shall have been laden on board of a vessel belonging to the enemy
before the war, or even after the declaration, when it was not known,
shall in no wise be subject to confiscation, but shall be faithfully
and _bona fide_ returned without delay to their proprietors who shall
claim them, it being well understood, nevertheless, that it shall not
be permitted to carry into the enemy's ports merchandise of a
contraband nature. And in order that every dissension may be avoided,
it is agreed, that after the term of six months being elapsed from the
declaration of war, the respective subjects, from whatever part of the
world they may come, shall not allege the ignorance mentioned in the
present article.
ARTICLE XII.
All vessels and merchandise of whatever nature soever, whenever they
shall have been recovered from the hands of pirates on the high seas,
shall be brought into some port of one of the two States, and shall be
delivered to the care of the officers of the said port, in order to be
restored entire to their true proprietor, as soon as he shall have
duly and sufficiently proved his property.
ARTICLE XIII.
The ships of war belonging to the two parties, as also those of their
subjects which are armed, shall conduct at full liberty wheresoever
they please, the prizes they shall have made from their enemies,
without being obliged to pay any other duties than such as the most
favored nations; the said vessels or the said prizes, on entering into
the ports of his Danish Majesty, or of the said United States, shall
not be subject to be stopped or seized, nor shall the officers of the
places have any power to take cognizance of the validity of the said
prizes, which shall go out, and be freely conducted in full liberty,
to the places mentioned in the commissions, which the captains of the
said vessels shall be obliged to produce.
ARTICLE XIV.
In order to favor as much as possible the commerce on both sides, it
is agreed, that if a war should happen between his Majesty, the King
of Denmark and Norway, and the United States of America, (which God
forbid) nine months after the declaration of war shall be granted to
the subjects on both sides to collect, sell, and transport freely, the
merchandise and effects belonging to them, and to withdraw themselves;
and if anything is taken from them, or if any injury is done to them
during the above prescribed time, by one of the two parties, full and
entire satisfaction shall be given them in this respect.
ARTICLE XV.
No subject of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, shall take
a commission or letter of marque (to arm any vessel or vessels, for
the purpose of acting as a privateer against the said United States,
or any of them, or against their subjects, people, or inhabitants, or
against their property, or that of any among them) from any Prince
whatever, with whom the said United States shall be at war. In like
manner no citizen, subject, or inhabitant of the said United States,
or of any of them, shall demand or accept of any commission or letter
of marque (to arm any vessel or vessels, to cruise against the
subjects of his said Majesty, or any of them, or their property) from
any Prince or State whatever, with whom his Majesty shall be at war;
and if any one of either nation should take such commissions or letter
of marque, he shall be punished as a pirate.
ARTICLE XVI.
In case the vessels of the subjects and inhabitants of one of the two
contracting parties should approach the coasts of the other, without
however designing to enter into the port, or to discharge the cargo,
or to break bulk after having entered, they shall be at liberty to
depart, or to pursue their voyage without molestation, in the same
manner as is practiced by the vessels belonging to the most favored
nations.
ARTICLE XVII.
The liberty of navigation and commerce, mentioned in the 7th article
of this treaty, shall extend to all kinds of merchandises, excepting
those which are designated by the name of contraband. Under this name
of contraband, or prohibited merchandise, are only to be comprehended,
arms, cannon, powder, matches, pikes, swords, lances, spears,
halberts, mortars, petards, grenades, saltpetre, fusils, balls,
bucklers, helmets, drums, coats of mail, and other arms of that kind
fit to arm soldiers, swivels, shoulder belts, horses with their
equipages, and all other instruments of war whatever, excepting always
the quantity that may be necessary for the defence of the vessel and
such as compose the crew. All other effects and merchandise not
expressly designated above, of whatever kind or denomination they may
be, and however fit they may be, even for the building, the repairing,
and equipment of vessels, or for the making of any machine or warlike
instrument by land or by sea, shall not be considered as contraband,
and they may consequently be transported and conducted in the freest
manner by the subjects of the two contracting parties to places
belonging to the enemy, excepting, nevertheless, such as shall be
actually besieged, blocked up or invested, and such shall only be
considered so, where the vessels of the power that attacks shall be so
near, and posted in such a manner, as that there shall be evident
danger to enter.
ARTICLE XVIII.
The passports or sea letters, which shall prove the property of the
neutral vessels, according to the tenor of the 8th Article of the
present treaty, shall be prepared and distributed according to the
model which shall be agreed on. Every time that the vessel shall have
returned to its own country, it shall be furnished with new passports
of the like kind; at least, these passports must not be of an older
date than two years after the time the vessel has returned last to its
own country. Moreover, the vessels being loaded, must be provided with
such certificates, or manifests, or other public documents, as are
commonly given to vessels which depart from the ports from whence they
have last sailed, containing a specification of the cargo, of the
place from whence the vessel has departed, and that of her
destination, in order that it may be known whether there are any
contraband effects on board of the vessels, and whether they are
destined to carry them to an enemy's country, or not. If the names of
the persons to whom the effects on board belong, are not expressed in
the said documents, this omission shall not, however, give cause for
confiscation, as the freedom of the vessel secures the freedom of the
effects.
ARTICLE XIX.
Should it happen that the ships or vessels of one of the two
contracting parties, or of their subjects, should strike against the
rocks, or strand, or be shipwrecked on the coast of the other, the
respective subjects shall enjoy both for their persons and their ships
and vessels, effects and merchandise, all the aid and assistance
possible, as the inhabitants of the country, and shall only pay the
same expenses and duties, which the proper subjects of the State on
whose coasts they shall have stranded or have been shipwrecked, are
subject to in similar cases.
ARTICLE XX.
If the subjects or inhabitants of one of the two parties, compelled by
storm, or by the pursuit of pirates, or of the enemy, or by any other
accident, find themselves constrained to take refuge with their ships
in the rivers, bays, ports, and roads belonging to the other, they
shall be received and treated with every humanity and kindness, and
they shall be permitted likewise to refresh and to furnish themselves
at a just price with every kind of provisions, and everything
necessary for the maintenance and support of their persons, and for
the reparation of their ships, provided they carry on no commerce
contrary to the laws and ordinances of the place or port into which
they have entered.
ARTICLE XXI.
It is agreed, that the subjects of each of the contracting parties,
and their ships, vessels, merchandise, and effects, shall not be
subject to an embargo or detention in any of the countries, islands,
towns, places, ports, or domains whatever of the other party, for any
military expedition, public or private use, in any manner whatever,
and in cases of seizure, detentions, or arrests for debts contracted,
or faults committed by any subject of one of the parties in the States
of the other, the said seizures, detentions, or arrests shall be made
only by order and authority of the justice, and according to the
ordinary means; and with regard to debts and faults, process ought to
be made by way of equity, and agreeably to the forms of the justice of
the place.
ARTICLE XXII.
The two contracting parties have mutually granted permission to have
in their respective ports, consuls, vice consuls, agents, and
commissaries, which they shall appoint themselves, and whose functions
shall be regulated by a particular convention whenever either of the
parties wish to establish it.
ARTICLE XXIII.
The subjects of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, may in
the country of the United States of America dispose of their effects
by testament, donation, or otherwise; and their heirs, subjects of his
said Majesty, shall succeed them, without any impediment in all their
effects, moveable and immoveable, either by testament or ab intestat;
so that they may take possession of the inheritance, either by
themselves, or by attorney, and dispose of it as they please, after
having discharged the different duties established by the laws of the
State where the said succession shall have been left; and in case that
the heirs of the said dead subjects should be absent or minors, and
that the deceased shall not have appointed guardians or executors, the
property left shall then be inventoried by the Notary Public, or by
the magistrate of the place, and disposed of in such manner that they
may be kept and preserved for the legal proprietors; and, supposing
that there should arise a dispute about such inheritance among several
pretenders, then the Judges of the places where the effects of the
deceased shall be found, shall decide the process by a definitive
sentence agreeably to the laws of the country. The contents of the
present article shall be reciprocally observed, with respect to the
subjects of the United States of America, in the States of his Danish
Majesty.
ARTICLE XXIV.