TREATY of Extradition between the Argentine Confederation and Brazil.-Signed at Paraná, December 14, 1857.

[Ratified by the Emperor of Brazil, January 30, 1858.] (Translation.)

In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity.

His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and the Vice-President of the Argentine Confederation in the exercise of the executive Power, considering that the proximity of the two countries and the facility with which their frontiers are passed, require for the friendly relations which so happily exist between them, the observance of special rules in conformity with the political and social institutions by which they are governed, have agreed to conclude a treaty of extradition, as the sole effective means of putting a stop to the impunity with which criminals escape from one territory to the other, and to prevent the serious losses and dangers connected with the flight of slaves from the Brazilian territory to that of the Confederation.

For this purpose they have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, Councillor José Maria da Silva Paranhos, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on special mission to the Argentine Confederation, Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Anne of Russia, first class; Deputy to the General Legislative Assembly of the Empire, &c.

And the Vice-President of the Argentine Confederation, Doctors Don Santiago Derqui and Don Bernabé Lopez, Ministers and Secretaries of State in the departments of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs.

Who, after exchanging their full powers, which were found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:

ART. I. The two High Contracting Parties bind themselves not to give asylum to great criminals in their respective territories, but to grant their extradition, jointly agreeing in the following conditions:

1. When the crimes on account of which the extradition is claimed have been committed in the territory of the reclaiming Government. 2. When the crimes by their enormity and habitual frequency may tend to endanger the public morals or security; as in the case of such crimes as assassination, administration of poison, arson, robbery, trading in African negroes, fraudulent bankruptcy, fabrication and utterance of base coin, or of any paper that circulates as money in the public offices, falsification of public documents, of authorized bank notes, or bills of exchange, embezzlement of money or funds by public depositaries, or by subordinate persons to whose keeping they have been entrusted.

3. When the crimes are proved in such a manner that the laws of the country from which the extradition of the criminal is demanded, would justify his arrest and indictment if the crime had been committed within its jurisdiction.

4. When the criminal is claimed directly or through the medium of the representative of the Government of the nation in which the offence has been committed.

5. It is allowable that the reclamation should be made by the President of the province of Santo Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul, and reciprocally by the Governor of the province of Corrientes, if the criminal should have escaped from either of those provinces. II. No extradition shall take place:

1. If the criminal claimed should be a citizen of the country to whose Government the reclamation is made.

2. For political crimes; and when it has been granted on account of the acts enumerated in the preceding Article, the criminal cannot be proceeded against or punished for the said political crimes committed previous to his surrender, or in connexion with those acts.

III. It is understood that if a person who has committed crimes in more than one State should be claimed, before his surrender, by the respective Governments, that one shall have the preference in whose territory the greatest crime has been committed, and if the crimes are equally serious, that one which first laid claim to the criminal.

IV. It is also understood that if the person whose surrender is demanded should have committed any crime in the country wherein he has taken refuge, and should be prosecuted for it, his extradition cannot take place until he has suffered the punishment, or has been acquitted.

V. The expenses of the apprehension and conveyance of the criminal are to be charged to the account of the Government which claims him.

VI. Slaves belonging to Brazilian subjects, who for any reason whatever should go, against the will of their masters, into the territory of the Argentine Confederation, and be found there, shall be given up.

The following rules are to be observed in such restitutions : 1. The aforesaid slaves shall be claimed directly by the Imperial Government, or through its representative with the Confederation.

2. It is allowable that the reclamation should be made by the President of the province of Santo Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul to the Governor of Corrientes, in case the slave or slaves claimed belong to Brazilian subjects resident or settled in that province.

3. It is also allowable that the reclamation should be made by the master of the slave before the competent authority of the place

where he may be, if the master of the slave should be in pursuit of him to take him from the Argentine territory; but the surrender cannot take place without the order of the governor of the province.

4. The reclamation in question must be accompanied by the title or document which, according to the laws of Brazil, serves to prove the property which is claimed.

5. The slave surrendered shall not suffer the least punishment for the simple fact of his flight.

6. The expenses incurred in the apprehension and restoration of the slave or slaves shall be charged to the claimant.

It is expressly understood that if any slave should go into the Argentine territory in company with his master, by the order, or with the consent of his master, in whatever character it may be, the reclamation of which this article treats shall not be allowed.

VII. A person comprised in any of the cases set forth in Articles I and VI, may be provisionally taken into custody in both countries upon a requisition made directly, or through the respective diplomatic agents, or the authorities of the adjoining districts.

The requisition must be accompanied by a warrant issued by the competent authority, and is to be executed in the form and according to the regulations prescribed by the laws of each of the two countries. The person so arrested shall be set at liberty if the formalities required by the said Articles be not complied with within the space of 4 months.

VIII. The present Treaty shall continue for the term of 8 years, reckoned from the date of the exchange of the ratifications, and beyond that term until one of the two High Contracting Parties shall announce to the other, 6 months beforehand, its intention of putting an end to it; it shall also last during the negotiations which may be entered into for its renewal or modification.

IX. The exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty shall take place in the city of the Paraná, within the space of 8 months, reckoned from its date, or before, if possible.

In witness whereof we, the Undersigned, Plenipotentiaries of His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and of the Vice-President of the Argentine Confederation, in virtue of our full powers, have signed the present Treaty with our own hands, and have had our seals affixed to it.

Done in the city of the Paraná, on the 14th day of the month of December, in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1857.

(L.S.) JOSE MARIA DA SILVA PARANHOS. (L.S.) SANTIAGO DERQUI.

(L.S.) BERNABE LOPEZ.

DECREE of the Vice-President of the Argentine Confederation, appointing a Commission to examine into British and French Claims against the Argentine Government.-Paraná, January 12, 1857.

(Translation.)

THE Vice-President of Argentine Confederation, in exercise of the executive power,

Considering,

That there have been for some years pending claims made by the Governments of France and England for injuries said to have been sustained by certain subjects of those nations, in consequence of arbitrary acts of public functionaries of the Argentine Republic, in violation of their rights;

That the national Government, with submission to the principles which regulate its conduct, desires to pay attention as far as possible to those claims; but that as equity and justice must govern this settlement, agreeably to the rectitude and uprightness of the Governments making the claims and to the obligations of the Argentine National Government, it is indispensable to proceed to a diligent investigation into the origin of the acts and deeds which have given rise to the claims, as well as into the true amount of losses sustained by each of those persons who have applied to their Governments;

That since those acts and deeds are alleged to have been done in various places, and many of them are referred to distant periods of civil war, and the investigation of them requires time, and a special devotion to the work;

Having heard the council of Ministers,

DECREES,

ART. I. A commission is constituted consisting of 3 members, for the purpose of proceeding, with information of the claims already brought forward by their Excellencies the Ministers of France and England, to take the necessary steps, either themselves or by deputies whom they may appoint, to ascertain the origin of the acts and deeds which have given rise to the claims, as well as the true amount of losses sustained by each foreign claimant.

II. Their Excellencies the Provincial Governors, at the request of the Commission, shall transmit, in legalized copy, all the documents or proofs which may exist in the public offices, and may serve to explain the points to which Article I refers.

III. The public functionaries, federal and provincial, shall execute the orders which may be given them by the Commission, and every citizen is bound to give testimony on oath if required for this investigation.

IV. Whenever the Commission or their deputies shall receive a declaration on oath it shall be done before a public notary or two witnesses.

V. As soon as the Commission shall have finished the business for which it is appointed it shall give notice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, whom it shall consult upon the doubts which it may entertain.

VI. To compose the Commission constituted by this decree the following persons are appointed: General Tomas Guido, Dr. Nicolas Molinas, Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice, and the Fiscal of the State, Dr. Ramon Ferreira, who, when they have met, will decide which of them shall act as President.

VII. Let this be communicated, published, and sent to the National Registry.

Paraná, 12th January, 1857,

(L.S.) CARRIL.

(L.S.) BERNABE LOPEZ.

DECLARATION of the Government of New Granada, of Neutrality in the War between Austria and France and Sardinia.

(Translation.)

OFFICIAL NOTICE.

Department of Foreign Affairs of the

New Granadian Confederation, Bogotá, July 1, 1859. THE Legation of His Majesty the Emperor of the French has informed the Executive Power, by order of its Government, that in the war now waged by France and Sardinia against Austria, His Imperial Majesty has instructed the commanders of his land and naval forces to respect the territorial rights as well as the navigation and commerce of the powers which may remain neutral, and that he hopes that the Government of the Republic, in a spirit of just reciprocity, will adopt the necessary measures, in order that a strict neutrality may be observed by the authorities and citizens of the Confederation; and the Executive Power, in the performance of its duties, has directed that Granadians be informed, by means of this official notice, of the obligation under which they lie to observe strict neutrality in the present war carried on by France, and that by not acting in accordance with this intimation of the Government they will ineur the responsibility and damages which may ensue.