Pictures of life in Mexico/Volume 2/Chapter 37
CHAPTER XXXVII.
COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
Before alluding to the Mexican commerce, it may be well to furnish a copy of the amicable treaty between Great Britain and the Republic, drawn up and signed in the year 1826; especially as the principal points of the arrangements specified have undergone no material changes since that period, and the existence of the commercial treaty is better known than its guarantees.
Article I.
There shall be perpetual amity between the dominions and subjects of his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of Mexico and their citizens.
Article II.
There shall be between all the territories of his Britannic Majesty in Europe and the territories of Mexico, a reciprocal freedom of commerce. The inhabitants of the two countries, respectively, shall have liberty freely and securely to come, with their ships and cargoes, to all places, ports, and rivers, in the territories aforesaid, saving only such particular ports to which other foreigners shall not be permitted to come, to enter into the same, and to remain and reside in any part of the said territories respectively; also to hire and occupy houses and warehouses for the purposes of their commerce; and, generally, the merchants and traders of each nation, respectively, shall enjoy the most complete protection and security for their commerce.
In like manner, the respective ships of war, and post-office packets, of the two countries, shall have liberty freely and securely to come to all harbours, rivers, and places, saving only such particular ports (if any) to which other foreign ships of war and packets shall not be permitted to come to enter into the same, to anchor and to remain there and refit: subject always to the laws and statutes of the two countries respectively.
By the right of entering the places, ports, and rivers mentioned in this article, the privilege of carrying on the coasting trade is not understood; in which national vessels only are permitted to engage.
Article III.
His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, engages further, that the inhabitants of Mexico shall have the like liberty of commerce and navigation stipulated for in the preceding article, in all his dominions situated out of Europe, to the full extent in which the same is permitted at present, or shall be permitted hereafter, to any other nation.
Article IV.
No higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, of any article of the growth, produce, or manufacture of Mexico; and no other or higher duties shall be imposed on the importation into the territories of Mexico of any articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of his Britannic Majesty's dominions, than are or shall be payable on the like articles, being the growth, produce, or manufacture of any foreign country; nor shall any other or higher duties or charges be imposed in the territories or dominions of either of the contracting parties, on the exportation of any articles to the territories of the other, than such as are or may be payable on the exportation of the like articles to any other foreign country; nor shall any prohibition be imposed upon the exportation of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of his Britannic Majesty's dominions, or of the said territories of Mexico, to or from the said dominions of his Britannic Majesty, or to or from the said territories of Mexico, which shall not equally extend to other nations.
Article V.
No higher or other duties or charges on account of tonnage, light or harbour dues, pilotage, salvage in case of damage or shipwreck or any other local charges, shall be imposed in any of the ports of Mexico on British vessels, than those payable in the same ports by Mexican vessels, nor in the ports of his Britannic Majesty's territories on Mexican vessels, than shall be payable in the same ports on British vessels.
Article VI.
The same duties shall be paid on the importation into the territories of Mexico of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture of his Britannic Majesty's dominions, whether such importation shall be in Mexican or in British vessels; and the same duties shall be paid on the importation into the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture of Mexico, whether such importation shall be in British or in Mexican vessels. The same duties shall be paid, and the same bounties and drawbacks allowed, on the exportation to Mexico of any articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of his Britannic Majesty's dominions, whether such exportation shall be in Mexican or in British vessels; and the same duties shall be paid, and the same drawbacks and bounties allowed, on the exportation of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of Mexico, to his Britannic Majesty's dominions, whether such exportation shall be in British or in Mexican vessels.
Article VII.
In order to avoid any misunderstanding with respect to the regulations which may respectively constitute a British or a Mexican vessel, it is hereby agreed that all vessels built in the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, or vessels which shall have been captured from an enemy by his Britannic Majesty's ships of war, or by the subjects of his said Majesty, furnished with letters of mark by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and regularly condemned in one of his said Majesty's prize courts as a lawful prize, or which shall have been condemned in any competent court from the breach of the laws made for the prevention of the slave-trade, and owned, navigated, and registered according to the laws of Great Britain, shall be considered as British vessels: and that of all vessels built in the territories of Mexico, or captured from the enemy by the ships of Mexico, and condemned under similar circumstances, and which shall be owned by any citizen or citizens thereof, and whereof the master and three-fourths of the mariners are citizens of Mexico, excepting where the laws provide for any extreme cases, shall be considered as Mexican vessels.
And it is further agreed, that every vessel qualified to trade, as above described, under the provisions of this treaty shall be furnished with a register, passport, or sea-letter, under the signature of the proper person authorized to grant the same, according to the laws of the respective countries (the form of which shall be communicated), certifying the name, occupation, and residence of the owner or owners, in the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, or in the territories of Mexico, as the case may be; together with the name, burden, and description of the vessel as to build and measurement, and the several particulars constituting the national character of the vessel, as the case may be.
Article VIII.
All merchants, commanders of shipping, and others the subjects of his Britannic Majesty, shall have full liberty, in all the territories of Mexico to manage their own affairs themselves, or to commit them to the management of whomsoever they please, as broker, factor, agent, or interpreter; nor shall they be obliged to employ any other persons for those purposes than those employed by Mexicans, nor to pay them any other salary or remuneration than such as is paid, in like cases, by Mexican citizens; and absolute freedom shall be allowed, in all cases, to the buyer and seller to bargain and fix the price of any goods, wares, or merchandise, imported into or exported from Mexico, as they shall see good, observing the laws and established customs of the country. The same privileges shall be enjoyed in the dominions of his Britannic Majesty by the citizens of Mexico, under the same conditions.
The citizens and subjects of the contracting parties, in the territories of each other, shall receive and enjoy full and perfect protection for their persons and property, and shall have free and open access to the courts of justice in the said countries, respectively, for the prosecution and defence of their just rights; and they shall be at liberty to employ, in all causes the advocates attorneys, or agents of whatever description whom they may think proper; and they shall enjoy in this respect the same rights and privileges therein as native citizens.
Article IX.
In whatever relates to the succession to personal estates, by will or otherwise, and the disposal of personal property of every sort and denomination, by sale, donation, exchange, or testament, or in any other manner whatsoever, as also the administration of justice, the subjects and citizens of the two contracting parties shall enjoy, in their respective dominions and territories, the same privileges, liberties, and rights, as native subjects; and shall not be charged, in any of these respects, with any higher imposts or duties than those which are paid, or may be paid, by the native subjects or citizens of the power in whose dominions or territories they may be resident.
Article X.
In all that relates to the police of the ports, the lading and unlading of ships, the safety of merchandize goods, and effects, the subjects of his Britannic Majesty and the citizens of Mexico respectively shall be subject to the local laws and regulations of the dominions and territories in which they may reside. They shall be exempted from all compulsory military service, whether by sea or land. No forced loans shall be levied upon them; nor shall their property be subject to any other charges, requisitions, or taxes, than such as are paid by the native subjects or citizens of the contracting parties in their respective dominions.
Article XI.
It shall be free for each of the two contracting parties to appoint consuls, for the protection of trade, to reside in the dominions and territories of the other party; but before any consul shall act as such, he shall, in the usual form, be approved and admitted by the government to which he is sent; and either of the contracting parties may except from the residence of consuls, such particular places as either of them may judge fit to be excepted. The Mexican diplomatic agents and consuls shall enjoy, in the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, whatever privileges, exceptions, and immunities are or shall be granted to agents of the same rank belonging to the most favoured nation; and in like manner the diplomatic agents and consuls of his Britannic Majesty in the Mexican territories shall enjoy, according to the strictest reciprocity, whatever privileges, exceptions, and immunities are or may be granted to the Mexican diplomatic agents and consuls in the dominions of his Britannic Majesty.
Article XII.
For the better security of commerce between the subjects of his Britannic Majesty and the citizens of the Mexican States, 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 merchants residing upon the coasts shall be allowed six months, and those of the interior a whole year, to wind up their accounts and dispose of their property; and that a safe conduct shall be given them to embark at the port which they shall themselves select. All those who are established in the respective dominions and territories of the two contracting parties, in the exercise of any trade or special Employment, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing such trade and employment therein without any manner of interruption, in full enjoyment of their liberty and property, so long as they behave peaceably, and commit no offence against the laws; and their goods and effects, of whatever description they may be, shall not be liable to seizure or sequestration, or to any other charges or demands than those which may be made upon the like effects or property belonging to the native subjects and citizens of the respective dominions or territories in which such subjects or citizens may reside. In the same case, debts between individuals, public funds, and the shares of companies, shall never be confiscated, sequestrated, or detained.
Article XIII.
The subjects of his Britannic Majesty residing in the Mexican territories shall enjoy, in their houses, persons, and properties, the protection of the government; and continuing in possession of what they now enjoy, they shall not be disturbed, molested, or annoyed in any manner, on account of their religion, provided they respect that of the nation in which they reside, as well as the constitution, laws, and customs of the country. They shall continue to enjoy to the full the privilege already granted to them, of burying in the places already assigned to that purpose, such subjects of his Britannic Majesty as may die in the Mexican territories; nor shall the funerals and sepulchres of the dead be disturbed in any way, or upon any account. The citizens of Mexico shall enjoy, in all the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, the same protection, and shall be allowed the free exercise of their religion, in public or private, either within their own houses, or in the chapels and places of worship set apart for that purpose.
Article XIV.
The subjects of his Britannic Majesty shall on no account or pretext whatsoever be disturbed or molested in the peaceable possession and exercise of whatever rights, privileges, and immunities they have at any time enjoyed within the limits described and laid down in a convention signed between his said Majesty and the King of Spain, on the 14th of July 1786; whether such rights, privileges, and immunities shall be derived from the stipulations of the said convention, or from any other concession which may at any time have been made by the King of Spain or his predecessors to British subjects and settlers residing and following their lawful occupations within the limits aforesaid; the two contracting parties reserving, however, for some more fitting opportunity, the further arrangements of this article.
Article XV.
The government of Mexico engages to cooperate with his Britannic Majesty for the total abolition of the slave-trade; and to prohibit all persons inhabiting within the territories of Mexico; in the most effectual manner, from taking any share in such trade.
Article XVI.
The two contracting parties reserve to themselves the right of treating and agreeing hereafter, from time to time, upon such other articles as may appear to them to contribute still further to the improvement of their mutual intercourse, and the advancement of the general interests of their respective subjects and citizens: and such articles as may be so agreed upon shall, when duly ratified, be regarded as forming a part of the present treaty, and shall have the same force as those now contained in it.
Article XVII.
The present treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London, within the space of six months, or sooner, if possible.
In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto their respective seals.
Done at London, the twenty-sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
(L.S.) William Huskisson.
(L.S.) James L. Morier.
ADDITIONAL ARTICLES.
Article I.
Whereas, in the present state of Mexican shipping, it would not be possible for Mexico to receive the full advantage of the reciprocity established by the Articles V., VI., VII., of the treaty signed this day, if that part of the VIIth Article which stipulates, that in order to be considered as a Mexican ship, a ship shall actually have been built in Mexico, should be strictly and literally observed, and immediately brought into operation—it is agreed that, for the space of ten years, to be reckoned from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, any ships, wheresoever built, being bonâ fide the property of, and wholly owned by, one or more citizens of Mexico, and whereof the master, and three-fourths of the mariners at least, are also natural-born citizens of Mexico, or persons domiciliated in Mexico by act of the government, as lawful subjects of Mexico to be certified according to the laws of that country, shall be considered as Mexican ships; his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland reserving to himself the right, at the end of the said term of ten years, to claim the principle of reciprocal restrictions stipulated for in Article VII. above referred to, if the interests of British navigation shall be found to be prejudiced by the present exception to that reciprocity in favour of Mexican shipping.
Article II.
It is further agreed that, for the like term of ten years, the stipulations contained in Articles V. and VI. of the present treaty, shall be suspended; and in lieu thereof, it is hereby agreed that, until the expiration of the said term of ten years, British ships entering into the ports of Mexico from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or any of his Britannic Majesty's dominions, and all articles the growth, produce, and manufacture of the United Kingdom, or of any of the said dominions, imported in such ships, shall pay no other or higher duties than are or may hereafter be payable, in the said ports, by the ships, and the like goods, the growth, produce, or manufacture of the most favoured nation; and, reciprocally, it is agreed that Mexican ships entering into the ports of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or any other of his Britannic Majesty's dominions, from any port of the states of Mexico; and all articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the said states, imported in such ships, shall pay no other or higher duties than are or may hereafter be payable, in the said ports, by the ships and the like goods, the growth produce, or manufacture of the most favoured nation; and that no higher duties shall be paid, or bounties or drawbacks allowed, on the exportation of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the dominions of either country, in the ships of the other, than upon the exportation of their like articles in the ships of any other foreign country.
It being understood that, at the end of the said term of ten years, the stipulations of the said Vth and VIth Articles shall, from thenceforward, be in full force between the two countries.
The present additional articles shall have the same force and validity as if they were inserted, word for word, in the treaty signed this day. They shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at the same time.