of either of the contracting parties, it is nevertheless agreed
between them, to clear away all doubts which might arise thereupon,
that their respective citizens and subjects shall have full right to
dispose of all effects, which they shall have or ought to have within
the territories of the other party, by testament, donation, or
otherwise, in favor of such persons as they shall think fit; and their
heirs, subjects of one of the parties, and residing in the territories
of the other, or elsewhere, whether so by testament, donation, or
other particular titles, or as intestate, shall freely succeed to, and
take possession of all such effects, whether in person or by
procuration, or if minors by their guardians, tutors, or curators,
although they shall not have obtained letters of naturalization, and
may dispose of the same as they shall think fit, paying the just debts
only which shall have been due from the deceased at the time of his
death; and they shall not be chargeable with the payment of any duties
or imposts whatever, upon entering into the possession of such
effects, movable or immovable; and who shall be deemed heirs of any
citizen of the United States, who shall die intestate in Russia, and
in what proportion his effects, movable or immovable, which he shall
have left there, shall be divided among them, shall be determined by
the laws of the State in the Union of which the deceased was last a
member; and if the heirs of the deceased shall be absent, or minors,
at the time of his death, and he shall not have named a particular
trustee of his effects for their use, in such case an inventory shall
be taken of all such effects, movable and immovable, by a Notary
Public, under the direction and in presence of the consul, vice
consul, agent or commissioner of the United States, if there be any in
or near the place where the deceased last dwelt; all which effects
shall be immediately after committed to the care of one or more
persons, to be named by the said consul, vice consul, agent, or
commissioner, or in default thereof, to those whom the public
authority shall designate for that purpose, to the end, that they may
safely be kept by them, and preserved for the lawful heirs of the
deceased.
ARTICLE XXIII.
The contracting parties shall mutually endeavor by all the means in
their power, to defend and protect all vessels and other effects
belonging to the citizens or subjects of the other party, and being in
their ports, roads, harbors, internal seas, passes, rivers, and as far
as their jurisdiction extends at sea, and to recover, and cause to be
restored entire, to the true proprietors, their agents or attornies,
all such vessels and effects which shall be taken under their
respective jurisdictions, and their vessels of war and convoys sailing
under their authority, in cases when they may have a common enemy,
shall take under their protection all the vessels belonging to the
citizens and subjects of the other party, which shall not be ladened
with contraband goods, (according to the description thereof made in
the article of this treaty) for places with which one of the parties
is at peace and the other at war, nor destined for any place blocked,
and which shall hold the same course or follow the same route, and
they shall defend such vessel as long as they shall hold the same
course, or follow the same route against all attacks, force, and
violence of the common enemy, in the same manner as they ought to
protect and defend the vessels belonging to the people and subjects of
their proper sovereign.
ARTICLE XXIV.
Merchants, masters, and owners of vessels, mariners, men of all kinds,
vessels, merchandises, and effects in general, of either of the
contracting parties, or of their citizens and subjects, shall not be
seized or detained within the territories of the other party for any
military expedition, public or private use of any one, by arrests,
violence, or any color thereof; much less shall it be permitted to
take or extort by force anything from the citizens or subjects of the
other party, and without the consent of the owner; which, however, is
not to be understood of seizures, detentions, and arrests, which shall
be made by the command and authority of justice, and by the ordinary
method, on account of debts and crimes, in respect whereof the
proceedings must be by way of law and according to the forms of
justice.
ARTICLE XXV.
In case the citizens or subjects of either party, with their shipping,
whether public and of war, or private and of merchants, be forced
through stress of weather, pursuit of pirates or enemies, or any other
urgent necessity for seeking of shelter and harbor to retreat and
enter into any rivers, bays, roads, or ports, belonging to the other
party, they shall be received and treated with all humanity and
kindness, and enjoy all friendly protection and help, and they shall
be permitted to refresh, and provide themselves at reasonable rates
with victuals, and all things needful for the sustenance of their
persons, or reparation of their vessels, and conveniency of their
voyage, and shall no ways be detained or hindered from returning out
of the said ports or roads, but may come to sail and depart when and
whither they please, nor shall they be subject to any visit or to the
payment of any duties whatever, provided always, that during their
remaining in port, they do not break bulk, or expose any merchandise
to sale. It is nevertheless to be understood, that if it shall become
necessary for the effectual reparation of any vessel to unload her in
part or in whole, permission for that purpose shall be granted, and
there shall not be demanded any duties whatever upon the merchandises
which shall be unloaded, but they shall be deposited in some suitable
magazine under the inspection of a proper officer of the port, to be
delivered up to the master of the vessel after she shall have been
repaired, to be again loaded on board her; likewise, permission shall
be granted to sell so much of the said merchandises as shall be
necessary to defray the expenses of repairing and equipping the vessel
for sea, paying the duties only upon such part as shall be sold, and
they shall not be demanded upon any other part of the cargo under
pretence of her having broken bulk, or any other pretence whatever,
but she shall be permitted freely to proceed to sea with the remainder
of her cargo, without any molestation or impediment whatever.
ARTICLE XXVI.
If the vessels of the citizens or subjects of either of the
contracting parties come upon the coasts of the other party, without
intending to enter into port, or being entered into port, not
designing to unload their cargoes or to break bulk, they shall not be
obliged to pay for their vessels or cargoes any duties of entry or
departure, nor to render any account of their cargoes, at least if
there is not probable cause to suspect that they carry contraband
goods to the enemies of such party; in which case they shall be
obliged to exhibit their passports and certificates described in the
article of this treaty, to which full faith and credit shall be
given.
ARTICLE XXVII.
It shall be lawful for captains and masters of vessels belonging to
the United States, or any of them, or to their citizens, freely to
receive on board their vessels, or take into their service as
passengers or seamen, the natives or citizens of any of the United
States, being in any port or place subject to the jurisdiction of her
Imperial Majesty, upon such conditions as they shall agree upon,
without being subject for so doing to any fine, punishment, process,
or reprehension whatsoever; and reciprocally, the captains and masters
belonging to her Imperial Majesty, or any of her subjects, shall enjoy
in all the ports and places under the obedience of the United States,
the same privilege of receiving and taking into their service
passengers and seamen, being natives or subjects of any country of the
domination of her Imperial Majesty, provided that neither on the one
side nor the other, they may not receive or take into their service
such of their countrymen who are already engaged either in the public
or any private service, or who shall have fled from the justice of the
country, but they shall surrender up all such persons whenever duly
required so to do.
ARTICLE XXVIII.
If any vessels belonging to either of the parties, their citizens or
subjects, shall within the coasts or dominions of the other party,
stick upon the sands or be wrecked, or suffer any other damage, all
friendly assistance and relief shall be given to the persons
shipwrecked, or shall be in danger thereof; and the vessels, effects,
and merchandises which shall have been saved, or the proceeds of them,
if being perishable they shall have been sold, being claimed within
the space of ---- months by the masters or owners, their agents or
attornies, shall be faithfully restored, paying only that which ought
to be paid by the native citizens or subjects in such cases for
salvage. There shall also be delivered, gratis, to the persons
shipwrecked, safe conducts or passports for their free passage from
thence, and to return each one to his country.
ARTICLE XXIX.
The two contracting parties, fully convinced of the wisdom and justice
of the principles contained in the declaration of her Imperial Majesty
of the 28th day of February, 1780, made to the then belligerent
powers, and proposed by her as the basis of a system to be established
for the general benefit of the commercial world, and that the same
ought to be regarded as sacred by all belligerent powers forever;
which principles have since been established and agreed upon in the
maritime convention concluded at Copenhagen, between her said Imperial
Majesty and the King of Denmark and of Norway, on the 9th of July,
1780; and being desirous to make the same the invariable rule of their
own conduct, and to have recourse thereto upon all proper occasions,
as to stipulations and laws, which merit a distinguished rank in the
human code;
The contracting parties do here solemnly adopt and immediately apply
to themselves the few important principles, which have been
established as above in favor of neutral nations in general, viz.
1st. That all vessels shall navigate freely from port to port, and
upon the coasts of nations at war, excepting always ports blocked;
2dly. That effects belonging to powers at war, or to their subjects,
shall be free upon neutral vessels, excepting contraband merchandises;
3dly. That to determine what shall characterise a port blocked, this
denomination shall be granted but to such port only, where the vessels
of war of the power that attacks it shall be sufficiently near, and
stationed in such a manner, that there is an evident danger of
entering into it;
4thly. That neutral vessels shall not be arrested, but upon just
causes and evident facts, and they shall be judged without delay; that
the process shall always be uniform, prompt, and legal, and that
always besides the indemnification, which shall be granted to those
who have sustained any damages or losses without being in fault, there
shall be given complete satisfaction for the insult committed upon the
respective flags.
ARTICLE XXX.
If the merchant vessels of the citizens or subjects of one of the
other parties, sailing along the coasts or on the high seas without
any escort, are met by the vessels of war or private armed vessels of
the other party, being engaged in a war with any other power, they
shall be held, if required, to exhibit their passports, sea-letters,
and other documents described in the article of this treaty; and to
prevent all disorder and violences, the vessels of war and private
armed vessels making the visit shall constantly remain out of
cannon-shot from the armed vessels, and shall send their boats to
them, but they shall not board them with more than two or three men
for the purpose of examining their papers abovementioned.
Nevertheless, it shall not be permitted to visit or to examine the
papers of any merchant vessels when convoyed by vessels of war, but
full faith shall be given to the declaration of the officer commanding
the escorts, that the merchant vessels are not charged with any
contraband merchandises for an enemy's port.
ARTICLE XXXI.
And when it shall appear by the papers exhibited, or by the verbal
declaration of the officer commanding the escort, that the merchant
vessels are not charged with any contraband merchandises destined for
a port of the enemy of the other party, they shall be permitted to
pursue their voyage without any molestation or impediment; and that
more effectual care may be taken for the security of the citizens,
subjects, and people of both parts, it shall be expressly forbidden to
the captains and commanders of all vessels of war, and of private
armed vessels, their officers and people, to molest or to do any
damage to the vessels, citizens, subjects, and people of the other
party, and if they shall act to the contrary, they shall be obliged to
answer therefor in their persons and goods, besides the reparation due
for the insult committed upon the flag.
ARTICLE XXXII.
If, by exhibiting the sea-letters and other documents, the other party
shall discover there any of those sorts of goods, which are declared
prohibited and contraband, and that they are consigned for a port
under the obedience of his enemy, it shall not be lawful to break up
the hatches of such ship, nor to open any chest, coffer, packs, casks,
or other vessels found therein, or to remove the smallest parcel of
the goods, unless the lading be brought on shore in presence of the
officers of the Court of Admiralty, and an inventory thereof be made;
but there shall be no allowance to sell, exchange, or alienate the
same, until after that due and lawful process shall have been had
against such prohibited goods of contraband, and the Court of
Admiralty by a sentence pronounced shall have confiscated the same,
saving always as well the ship itself as any other goods found
therein, which are to be esteemed free, and may not be detained on
pretence of their being infected by the prohibited goods, much less
shall they be confiscated as lawful prize. But, on the contrary, when
by the visitation at land, it shall be found that there are no
contraband goods in the vessel, and it shall not appear by the papers,
that he who has taken and carried in the vessel has been able to
discover any there, he shall be condemned in all the charges and
damages, which he shall have caused, both to the owners of the
vessels, and to the owners and freighters of the cargoes with which
they shall be loaded, for his temerity in taking and carrying them
into port; it being declared most expressly, that free vessels shall
assure the liberty of the effects with which they shall be ladened,
and that this liberty shall extend itself equally to the persons who
shall be found in free vessels, although they are enemies to both, or
either party, who may not be taken out of her unless they are military
men actually in the service of an enemy.
ARTICLE XXXIII.
On the contrary, it is agreed, that whatever shall be found to be
ladened by the citizens and subjects of either party, on any ships
belonging to the enemies of the other, although it be not comprehended
under the sort of prohibited goods, the whole may be confiscated as if
it belonged to the enemy; excepting always such effects and
merchandises as were put on board such vessel before the declaration
of war, or in the space of ---- months after it; which effects shall
not be in any manner subject to confiscation, but shall be faithfully,
and without delay, restored in nature to the owners who shall claim
them, or cause them to be claimed before the confiscation or sale;
and, if they should not be claimed before then, the proceeds thereof
shall be restored, provided they are duly claimed within ---- months
after the sale, which shall always be public. Nevertheless, if the
said merchandises are contraband, it shall by no means be lawful to
transport them afterwards to any port belonging to the enemies of the
other ally.
ARTICLE XXXIV.
And under this denomination of contraband or merchandises prohibited,
shall be comprehended only ----. All other effects and merchandises
not before specified expressly, and even all sorts of naval matters,
however proper they may be for the construction and equipment of
vessels of war, or for the manufacture of one or another sort of
machines of war, by land or by sea, shall not be adjudged contraband,
neither by the letter nor according to any pretended interpretation
whatever, ought they, or can they be comprehended under the notion of
effects prohibited or contraband; so that all effects and
merchandises, which are not expressly before mentioned, may, without
any exception and in perfect liberty, be transported by the citizens
and subjects of both allies from and to places belonging to the enemy
of the other, excepting only the place, which at the same time shall
be blocked, as described in the article of this treaty.
ARTICLE XXXV.
All vessels and merchandises of whatever nature, which shall be
rescued out of the hands of any pirates or robbers navigating the high
seas without requisite commissions, shall be brought into some port of
one of the two States, and deposited in the hands of the officers of
that port, in order to be restored entire to the true proprietors, as
soon as due and sufficient proofs shall be made concerning the
property thereof.
ARTICLE XXXVI.
It shall be lawful, as well for the ships of war of the two
contracting parties, as for the private armed vessels belonging to
their respective citizens and subjects, to carry whithersoever they
please, the ships and goods taken from their enemies; neither shall
they be obliged to pay anything to the officers of the Admiralty, or
to any other judges or persons whatever; nor shall the aforementioned
prizes, when they come to and enter the ports of the said States be
detained by arrest, or be subject to any search or visit; nor shall
the validity of the capture be questioned; but they may come to sail,
depart, and carry their prizes to those places, which are mentioned in
their commissions, which the commanders of such ships of war, or
private armed vessels shall be obliged to show, if required. On the
contrary, no shelter or refuge shall be given in the ports of one of
the parties to such as shall have made a prize upon the citizens and
subjects of the other party, and if, perchance, such ships shall come
in, being forced by stress of weather, or the danger of the seas, they
shall be obliged to depart as soon as possible.
ARTICLE XXXVII.
No subject of her said Imperial Majesty, shall apply for or take any
commission or letters-of-marque for arming any ship or vessels, to act
as privateers against the said United States, or any of them, the
citizens or inhabitants thereof, or against the property of any of
them, from any Prince or State, with which the United States shall be
at war; nor shall any citizen or inhabitant of the said United States,
or any of them, apply for or take any commission or letters-of-marque,
for arming any ships or vessels to act as privateers against the
subjects of her said Imperial Majesty, or any of them, or against
their property, from any Prince or State with which her said Imperial
Majesty shall be at war; and if any persons of either nation shall
take such commission or letters-of-marque, he shall be punished as a
pirate.
ARTICLE XXXVIII.
It shall not be lawful for any foreign privateers, not belonging to
the subjects of her said Imperial Majesty, or to the citizens or
inhabitants of the said United States, which have commissions from any
other Prince or State, at war with either of the parties, to fit their
ships in the ports of either of them, to sell the prizes which they
shall have made, or in any other manner whatsoever to discharge the
vessels, merchandises, or any part of their cargoes; neither shall
they be allowed even to purchase provisions, except such as shall be
necessary for their going to the next port of that Prince or State
from which they have commissions.
ARTICLE XXXIX.
To the end that all dissension and quarrel may be avoided and
prevented, it is agreed, that in case one of the two parties happens
to be at war, the vessels belonging to the citizens and subjects of
the other ally, shall be provided with sea-letters or passports,
expressing the name and the place of abode of the master or commander
of said vessel, to the end, that thereby it may appear, that the
vessel really and truly belongs to the citizens or subjects of one of
the contracting parties; which passports shall be drawn and
distributed according to the form annexed to this treaty. Each time
that the vessel shall return she shall have such of her passports
renewed, or at least they ought not to be of more ancient date than
two years from the time the vessel last came from her own country. It
is also agreed, that such vessels being loaded, ought to be provided,
not only with the said passports or sea-letters, but also with a
general passport, or with particular passports or manifests, or other
public documents which are ordinarily given, to vessels which are
outward bound, in the ports from whence they have set sail in the last
place, containing a specification of the cargo, of the place from
whence the vessel departed, and of that of her destination; or instead
of all these, certificates from the magistrates or governors of
cities, places, and colonies, from whence the vessel came, given in
the usual form, to the end, that it may be known whether there are any
effects prohibited or contraband on board the vessels, and whether
they are destined to be carried to an enemy's country or not. And in
case any one judges proper to express in the said documents, the
person to whom the effects on board belong, he may do it freely,
without however being bound to do it; and the omission of such
expression cannot and ought not to be deemed a cause of confiscation.
ARTICLE XL.
The contracting parties grant to each other mutually, the liberty of
having, each in the ports of the other, consuls, vice consuls, agents,
and commissaries, of their own appointment, whose functions shall be
regulated by particular agreement whenever the parties shall choose to
enter into one.
ARTICLE XLI.
For the better promoting commerce on both sides, it is agreed that if
a war should break out between the contracting parties (which may God
prevent) the term of twelve months, to commence from the day of the
publication of a proclamation by the sovereign authority of the State
to be made for that purpose whenever it shall be judged proper, shall
be allowed to the citizens and subjects of each part residing within
the dominions of the other, in which they themselves may retire,
together with their families, goods, and effects, and carry them
whithersoever they please; and for this end, passports and safe
conducts shall be freely granted to them, as well for their persons as
for their vessels and other effects, for some convenient ports of
their respective countries, and for a time necessary for the voyage;
and likewise during the said term, the selling and disposing of their
effects, both movable and immovable, shall be allowed to them freely,
and without any molestation; and also their goods and effects of every
sort, and more especially their persons, shall not be detained or
troubled by arrest or seizure, except it be in a due course of justice
on account of debts or crimes, but rather in the meantime, they shall
have and enjoy good and speedy justice, so that within that term they
may be able to recover their goods, effects, and debts intrusted as
well to the public as to private persons; and it shall be lawful for
them also before, or at the time of their departure, to consign to
whom they shall think fit, or otherwise dispose of according to their
pleasure or convenience, such of their effects as they shall not have
parted with, as well as the debts which shall be due to them, and
their debtors shall be obliged to pay the same in like manner as if
the contracting parties were in full peace with each other.
FOOTNOTES:
[27] It does not appear that this plan of a treaty was ever discussed
between the parties, but was drawn up by Mr Dana on such principles as
he intended to maintain, should the negotiation proceed.
* * * * *
TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
St Petersburg, June 24th, 1783.
Sir,