48
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 3

tracting parties shall grant to a third Power, shall be extended immediately and unconditionally to the other party.

All vessels which, according to British law, are to be deemed British vessels, and all vessels which, according to the law of Mexico, are to be deemed Mexican vessels, shall, for the purposes of this treaty, be respectively deemed British or Mexican vessels.

For the same purpose shall be considered as ports of each of the contracting parties those which are or hereafter may be declared open by the respective Governments for import or export trade.

The two contracting parties agree to consider, as a limit of their territorial waters on their respective coasts, the distance of three marine leagues reckoned from the line of low-water mark. Nevertheless, this stipulation shall have no effect, excepting in what may relate to the observance and application of the Customhouse Regulations and the measures for preventing smuggling, and cannot be extended to other questions of civil or criminal jurisdiction or of international maritime law.

ARTICLE V.

The subjects or citizens of each of the contracting parties shall be permitted to reside, permanently or temporarily, in the dominions or possessions of the other, and to occupy and hire houses and warehouses for purposes of commerce, whether wholesale or retail. They shall also be at full liberty to exercise civil rights, and therefore to acquire, possess, and dispose of every description of property, movable and immovable, as far as the laws of each country will permit. They may acquire and transmit the same to others, whether by purchase, sale, donation, exchange, marriage, testament, succession ab intestato, and in any other manner, under the same conditions as natives of the country. Their heirs and legal representatives may succeed to and take possession of it, either in person or by procurators, in the same manner and in the same legal forms as natives of the country.

In none of these respects shall they pay upon the value of such property any other or higher impost, duty, or charge than is payable by natives of the country.

In every case the subjects or citizens of the contracting parties shall be permitted to export their property, or the proceeds thereof, if sold, freely and without being subjected, on such exportation, to pay any duty different from that to which natives of the country are liable under similar circumstances.

The citizens or subjects of each one of the contracting parties who may be residing, temporarily or permanently, in the dominions and possessions of the other are subject to the laws of the country where they reside, especially to those which determine the rights and obligations of foreigners, on the same conditions as those of the citizens or subjects of the most favoured nation.

ARTICLE VI.

The dwellings, manufactories, warehouses, and shops of the subjects or citizens of each of the contracting parties in the dominions and possessions of the other, and all premises appertaining thereto destined for purposes of residence or commerce, shall be respected.

It shall not be allowable to proceed to make a search of or a domiciliary visit to such dwellings and premises, or to examine or inspect books, papers, or accounts, except under the conditions and with the forms prescribed by the laws for natives of the country.

The subjects or citizens of each of the two contracting parties in the dominions and possessions of the other shall have free access to the Courts of justice for the prosecution and defence of their rights, without other conditions, restrictions, or taxes beyond those imposed on natives of the country; and shall, like them, be at liberty to employ, in all causes, their advocates, attorneys, or agents from among the persons admitted to the exercise of those professions according to the laws of the country.

ARTICLE VII.

The subjects or citizens of each of the contracting parties in the dominions and possessions of the other shall be exempted from all compulsory military service whatever, whether in the army, navy, or national guard, or militia. They shall likewise be exempted from all contributions, whether pecuniary or in kind, imposed as a compensation for personal service, and, finally, from forced loans, and from charges, requisitions, and war contributions, unless imposed on real property, when they shall pay them equally with nationals.

ARTICLE VIII.

The subjects or citizens of either of the two contracting parties residing in the dominions and possessions of the other shall enjoy, in regard to their houses, persons, and properties, the protection of the Government in as full and ample a manner as the subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation.

In like manner the subjects or citizens of each contracting party shall enjoy in the dominions and possessions of the other full liberty of conscience, and shall not be molested on account of their religious belief.

ARTICLE IX.

The subjects or citizens of each of the contracting parties shall have, in the dominions and possessions of the other, the same rights as natives, or as subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation, in regard to patents for inventions, trade marks, and designs, upon fulfilment of the formalities prescribed by law.

ARTICLE X.

Each of the contracting parties may appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, Pro-Consuls, and Consular Agents to reside respectively in towns or ports in the dominions and possessions of the other Power, each one of them reserving the right of excepting those places where it may not appear convenient to admit them whenever this exception is extended to the consular functionaries of all other nations.

Such consular officers, however, shall not enter upon their functions until after they shall have been approved and admitted by the Government to which they are sent. They shall exercise whatever functions, and enjoy whatever privileges, exemptions, and immunities, are, or may hereafter be, granted there to consular officers of the most favoured nation.

The archives and official papers of consular functionaries shall be respected as inviolable, without the authorities of the country being able, on any account, to seize them, or take note of their contents.

ARTICLE XI.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of each of the contracting parties, residing in the dominions and possessions of the other, shall receive from the local authorities such assistance as can by law be given to them for the recovery of deserters from the vessels of their respective countries.

ARTICLE XII.

Any ship of war or merchant-vessel of either of the contracting parties which may be compelled by stress of weather, or by accident, to take shelter in a port of the other, shall be at liberty to refit therein, to procure all necessary stores, and to continue their voyage without paying any dues other than such as would be payable in a similar case by a national vessel. In case, however, the master of a merchant-vessel should be under the necessity of disposing of a part of his merchandise in order to defray his expenses, he shall be bound to conform to the regulations and tariffs of the place to which he may have come.

If any ship of war or merchant-vessel of one of the contracting parties should run aground, or be wrecked within the territory of the other, such ship or vessel, and all parts thereof, and all furniture and appurtenances belonging thereunto, and all goods and merchandise saved therefrom, including any which may have been cast out of the ship, or the proceeds thereof if sold, as well as all papers found on board such stranded or wrecked ship or vessel, shall be given up to the owners or their agents when claimed by them within the period fixed by the laws of the country; and such owners or agents shall pay only the expenses incurred in the preservation of the property, together with the salvage or other expenses which would have been payable in the like case of a wreck of a national vessel.

The goods and merchandise saved from the wreck shall be exempt from all duties of Customs unless cleared for consumption, in which case they shall pay the same rate of duty as if they had been imported in a national vessel.

In the case either of a vessel being driven in by stress of weather, run aground, or wrecked, the respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall, if the owner or master or other agent of the owner is not present, or is present and requires it, be authorised to interpose in order to afford the necessary assistance to their fellow-countrymen.

ARTICLE XIII.

For the better security of commerce between the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty and the citizens of the United States of Mexico, it is agreed that, if at any time any interruption of friendly intercourse or any rupture should unfortunately take place between the two contracting parties, the subjects or citizens of either of the said contracting parties who may be residing in the dominions or territories of the other, or who may be established there, in the exercise of any trade or special employment, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing such trade or employment, without any manner of interruption, in full enjoyment of their liberty and property, so long as they behave peacefully and commit no offence against the laws; and their goods, property, and effects, of whatever description they may be,