explanatory statements, and would also be most obliged if he could be informed what date the Japanese Government has in view for the announcement provided for in the 1st paragraph of Article XXI.

The Undersigned, &c.,

Viscount Aoki.

BARON VON MARSCHALL.

(Translation.)

Viscount Aoki to Baron von Marschall.

Berlin, April 4, 1896. THE Undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, has the honour to inform his Excellency the Minister of State, Imperial German Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in answer to the note of this day's date, that he entirely indorses the explanatory statements set forth therein, in Nos. 1 to 4, concerning the acquisition of real rights in landed property, the construction of warehouses, the freedom from taxation in the foreign settlements, and the preservation of duly-acquired rights after the expiration of the Treaty.

At the same time, the Undersigned does not fail, in accordance with the special powers from the Imperial Japanese Government, in answer to the inquiry on the subject made by Baron von Marschall, to state as follows:

The Imperial Japanese Government consider it desirable that the Law Codes of the Japanese Empire be actually in operation as soon as the present Treaty relations between Japan and Germany lose their effect; they therefore undertake not to make the announcement provided for in the 1st paragraph of Article XXI until those portions of the said Law Codes, at present in course of preparation, shall have been put into force.

The Undersigned, &c.,

Baron von Marschall.

VISCOUNT AOKI.

CONSULAR TREATY between Germany and Japan.-Signed at Berlin, April 4, 1896.

[Ratifications exchanged at Berlin, November 18, 1896.]

(Translation.)

His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, in the name of the German

Empire, actuated by the common desire to make Regulations as to the mutual admission of Consular officials, and as to the rights, privileges, and immunities which these officials are to enjoy in Japan and Germany, in the exercise of their duties, have agreed to conclude a Consular Treaty, and for this purpose have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:

His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary accredited to His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, Viscount Siuzo Aoki;

His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, bis Minister of State, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Adolf, Baron Marschall von Bieberstein;

Who, after having communicated to one another their full powers, which were found in due and proper form, have agreed on and concluded the following Articles :

ART. I. Either of the High Contracting Parties may appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents in all harbours, towns, and places in the territory of the other Party, with the exception of those localities where it may not appear desirable to recognize such officials. This restriction, however, shall not be put in force against either of the High Contracting Parties without also being applied to every other Power.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of both Parties, as well as the Chief Secretary, Secretary, Clerks, and Attachés, shall enjoy in both countries all rights, immunities, and privileges which are accorded, or shall in future be accorded, to the officials of corresponding rank of the most favoured nation.

II. The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall be reciprocally received and recognized on producing their Commissions in the form established in their respective countries. The necessary exequatur shall be delivered to them free of cost, on exhibiting which they shall enjoy the rights, prerogatives, and immunities reciprocally granted.

Notice shall be given, on producing the Commission, of the limits of the district allotted to the Consular officer, and subsequent notice shall be given of the changes that may be made therein.

The Government granting the exequatur shall be at liberty to withdraw the same on stating the reasons for which it has thought proper to do so.

III. Consular officers, if nationals of the State by which they were appointed, shall be exempt from arrest or imprisonment in civil cases, and from preliminary arrest in penal cases except in the cases of offences which the local law qualifies as crime. They shall be exempt from military quarterings and contributions, and provided they be not engaged in commerce or industry, or any other business or pursuit for

profit not belonging to their Consular functions, they shall also be exempt from capitation or sanctuary taxes, and from all other duties or contributions of a direct or personal character; but this immunity shall not extend to customs, excise, or octroi duties, nor to taxes upon real property which they may acquire or own in the country in which they reside.

Consular officials who engage in business or commerce, shall not plead their Consular privileges to avoid commercial liabilities.

In the case of the arrest of a Consul or Consular officer, the Legation of the country to which he belongs shall be immediately informed thereof by the Government of the country in which the arrest has taken place.

IV. Consuls-General, Consuls, and their Chief Secretaries or clerks, as well as Vice-Consuls and Consular Agents, are bound to appear as witnesses before a Court if the Courts of the country in which they reside so desire. But the judicial authorities must request them in writing officially to appear before them.

In case the Consular officer is prevented from attending by his official duties or by illness, the official authority of the Court (but only in civil suits) must go to his residence and take his evidence orally, or ask for his written deposition in conformity with the formalities prescribed by the laws of the respective

countries.

The officer in question must comply with the request of the Court authority within the period prescribed to him, and communicate his written deposition to the Court, signed, and with his official seal attached.

V. Consuls - General, Consuls, Vice - Consuls, and Consular Agents, may place over the entrance to their offices, or of their dwellings, the arms of their nation with the inscription indicative of their office.

They may also hoist the flag of their country over the house in which the Consular office is. They may also hoist their flag on board any vessel employed by them in port in the exercise of their functions.

VI. Consular archives shall be at all times inviolable, and under no pretext whatever shall the local authorities be allowed to examine or seize the papers forming parts of them.

When, however, a Consular officer is engaged in business, the papers relating to the Consulate shall be kept separately locked up, apart from his private papers.

The offices and dwellings of Consular officers who are nationals of the State by which they were appointed, and are not engaged in commerce or industry or any other professional business, shall be at all times inviolable.

The local authorities shall not, except in the case of pursuit for crimes, invade them under any pretence whatever. In no case shall they examine or seize the papers there deposited. In no event whatever may the Consular offices or dwellings be used as places of asylum.

VII. In the event of the death, iucapacity, or absence of Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, their Chief Secretaries, or Secretaries, whose official character may have previously been made known to the authorities in Germany or Japan respectively, may temporarily exercise the Consular functions, and while thus acting shall enjoy the same rights, prerogatives, and immunities as the officers whose places they fill, on the conditions, and with the reserves, prescribed for those officers.

VIII. Consuls-General and Consuls may, with the assent of their respective Governments, and with the concurrence of the Government of the country in which they reside, appoint Acting Consuls as their substitutes in case of incapacity or temporary absence, as also Consular Agents in the cities, ports, and places within their Consular districts.

Such Acting Consuls, or Consular Agents shall be furnished with a Commission by the Consul appointing them or by his Government. They shall enjoy the Consular privileges stipulated in this Treaty for Consular officers, subject to the exceptions and reservations provided for the same.

IX. Consuls General, Consuls, Vice - Consuls, and Consular Agents shall have the right to apply to the authorities of the respective countries, judicial or executive, within their Consular district, for redress in case of any infraction of the Treaties and Conventions existing between the two countries, or of international law, and to ask the authorities for information, or to address the same with a view of protecting the rights and interests of their countrymen. If due attention should not be given to these applications, the Consular officers aforesaid, in the absence of a diplomatic agent of their country, may apply directly to the Government of the country where they reside.

X. Consuls - General, Consuls, Vice - Consuls, and Consular Agents of the two countries, or their principal Secretaries, shall have the following rights, so far as they are thereto authorized by their national laws and ordinances :

1. To take at their office or official residence, or at the residence of the parties, or on board of vessels of their own nation, the depositions of the captains or crews, of passengers on board, of merchants, or any other nationals of their own country.

2. To take and attest unilateral deeds, wills, and bequests of their cou , and any acts of agreement entered into between

their own nationals or between their nationals and the subjects or other inhabitants of the country in which they have their official residence. They can also take and attest the acts of agreements between persons of the latter category if such contracts relate to property situated, or to business to be transacted, in the territory of the nation by which the said Consular officer was appointed.

3. To translate and legalize all documents emanating from the authorities or functionaries of their own country. All such instruments, and also copies, extracts, and translations, when duly authenticated by the said Consular officers under the official seal of the Consulate, shall have, in the two countries, the same force and effect as if drawn up or authenticated by a notary public or other competent public or judicial officer of one or the other of the two countries, provided that they are subject to the stamp or other duties and charges imposed by the laws of the country in which they are to take effect.

XI. Diplomatic Representatives, Consuls-General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls have the right, in conformity with the laws of the country by which they were appointed, to celebrate marriages between nationals of the said country according to the laws of the

same.

This provision shall not apply to marriages where one of the parties is a national of that country in which the officer has his official residence.

The officer must give immediate notice to the competent local authorities of all marriages celebrated in accordance with the above provisions.

XII. Diplomatic Representatives, Consuls - General, Consuls, or Vice-Consuls shall have the right, conformably to the laws and regulations of their country, to certify births and deaths of their countrymen.

The above provision does not affect the existing obligation of the parties concerned to report births and deaths to the local authorities.

XIII. Consuls-General, Consuls, or Vice-Consuls shall have the right, conformably to the laws and regulations of their country, to appoint guardians and trustees for their nationals, or themselves to undertake and discharge the duties of guardians and trustees for their nationals.

XIV. In case of the death of a national of either of the Contracting Parties within the territories of the other, the following rules shall be observed :

(a.) In the event of the death of a German subject in Japan, or of a Japanese subject in Germany, at or near the place where a Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent of the