The Panama Canal Controversy/Appendix
APPENDIX
A
CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY, 1850
Signed at Washington, April 19, 1850.
(Ratifications exchanged at Washington, July 4, 1850.)
Her Britannic Majesty and the United States of America being desirous of consolidating the relations of amity which so happily subsist between them, by setting forth and fixing in a Convention their views and intentions with reference to any means of communication by Ship-Canal, which may be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by the way of the River San Juan de Nicaragua, and either or both of the Lakes of Nicaragua or Managua, to any port or place on the Pacific Ocean;
Her Britannic Majesty has conferred full powers on the Right Honourable Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, a Member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the United States; and the President of the United States on John M. Clayton, Secretary of State of the United States, for the aforesaid purpose; and the said Plenipotentiaries, having exchanged their full powers, which were found to be in proper form, have agreed to the following Articles:—
Article I.
The Governments of Great Britain and the United States hereby declare that neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive controul over the said Ship-Canal; agreeing that neither will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America; nor will either make use of any protection which either affords, or may afford, or any alliance which either has, or may have, to or with any State or people, for the purpose of erecting or maintaining any such fortifications, or of occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America, or of assuming or exercising dominion over the same. Nor will Great Britain or the United States, take advantage of any intimacy, or use any alliance, connection, or influence that either may possess with any State or Government through whose territory the said canal may pass, for the purpose of acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the subjects or citizens of the one, any rights or advantages in regard to commerce or navigation through the said canal, which shall not be offered, on the same terms, to the subjects or citizens of the other.
Article II.
Vessels of Great Britain or the United States traversing the said canal shall, in case of war between the Contracting Parties, be exempted from blockade, detention, or capture by either of the belligerents; and this provision shall extend to such a distance from the two ends of the said canal as may hereafter be found expedient to establish.
Article III.
In order to secure the construction of the said canal, the Contracting Parties engage that if any such canal shall be undertaken upon fair and equitable terms by any parties having the authority of the Local Government or Governments through whose territory the same may pass, then the persons employed in making the said canal, and their property used or to be used for that object, shall be protected, from the commencement of the said canal to its completion, by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, from unjust detention, confiscation, seizure, or any violence whatsoever.
Article IV.
The Contracting Parties will use whatever influence they respectively exercise with any State, States, or Governments possessing, or claiming to possess, any jurisdiction or right over the territory which the said canal shall traverse, or which shall be near the waters applicable thereto, in order to induce such States or Governments to facilitate the construction of the said canal by every means in their power; and, furthermore, Great Britain and the United States agree to use their good offices, wherever or however it may be most expedient, in order to procure the establishment of two free ports, one at each end of the said canal.
Article V.
The Contracting Parties further engage that when the said canal shall have been completed, they will protect it from interruption, seizure, or unjust confiscation, and that they will guarantee the neutrality thereof, so that the said canal may for ever be open and free, and the capital invested therein secure. Nevertheless, the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, in according their protection to the construction of the said canal, and guaranteeing its neutrality and security when completed, always understand that this protection and guarantee are granted conditionally, and may be withdrawn by both Governments, or either Government, if both Governments, or either Government, should deem that the persons or company undertaking or managing the same adopt or establish such regulations concerning the traffic thereupon, as are contrary to the spirit and intention of this Convention; either by making unfair discriminations in favour of the commerce of one of the Contracting Parties over the commerce of the other, or by imposing oppressive exactions, or unreasonable tolls upon passengers, vessels, goods, wares, merchandise, or other articles. Neither party, however, shall withdraw the aforesaid protection and guarantee without first giving six months' notice to the other.
Article VI.
The Contracting Parties in this Convention engage to invite every State with which both or either have friendly intercourse, to enter into stipulations with them similar to those which they have entered into with each other, to the end that all other States may share in the honour and advantage of having contributed to a work of such general interest and importance as the canal herein contemplated; and the Contracting Parties likewise agree that each shall enter into Treaty stipulations with such of the Central American States as they may deem advisable for the purpose of more effectually carrying out the great design of this Convention; namely, that of constructing and maintaining the said canal as a ship communication between the two oceans for the benefit of mankind, on equal terms to all, and of protecting the same; and they also agree that the good offices of either shall be employed, when requested by the other, in aiding and assisting the negotiation of such Treaty stipulations; and should any differences arise as to right or property over the territory through which the said canal shall pass, between the States or Governments of Central America, and such differences should in any way impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the Governments of Great Britain and the United States will use their good offices to settle such differences in the manner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance existing between the Contracting Parties.
Article VII.
It being desirable that no time should be unnecessarily lost in commencing and constructing the said canal, the Governments of Great Britain and the United States determine to give their support and encouragement to such persons or company as may first offer to commence the same, with the necessary capital, the consent of the local authorities, and on such principles as accord with the spirit and intention of this Convention; and if any persons or company should already have, with any State through which the proposed Ship-Canal may pass, a contract for the construction of such a canal as that specified in this Convention, to the stipulations of which contract neither of the Contracting Parties in this Convention have any just cause to object, and the said persons or company shall, moreover, have made preparations and expended time, money, and trouble on the faith of such contract, it is hereby agreed, that such persons or company shall have a priority of claim over every other person, persons, or company, to the protection of the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, and be allowed a year, from the date of the exchange of the Ratifications of this Convention, for concluding their arrangements, and presenting evidence of sufficient capital subscribed to accomplish the contemplated undertaking; it being understood that if, at the expiration of the aforesaid period, such persons or company be not able to commence and carry out the proposed enterprise, then the Governments of Great Britain and the United States shall be free to afford their protection to any other persons or company that shall be prepared to commence and proceed with the construction of the canal in question.
Article VIII.
The Governments of Great Britain and the United States having not only desired, in entering into this Convention, to accomplish a particular object, but also to establish a general principle, they hereby agree to extend their protection by Treaty stipulations to any other practicable communications, whether by canal or railway, across the isthmus which connects North and South America; and especially to the interoceanic communications, should the same prove to be practicable, whether by canal or railway, which are now proposed to be established by the way of Tehuantepec or Panama. In granting, however, their joint protection to any such canals or railways as are by this Article specified, it is always understood by Great Britain and the United States, that the parties constructing or owning the same shall impose no other charges or conditions of traffic thereupon than the aforesaid Governments shall approve of as just and equitable, and that the same canals or railways, being open to the subjects and citizens of Great Britain and the United States on equal terms, shall also be open on like terms to the subjects and citizens of every other State which is willing to grant thereto such protection as Great Britain and the United States engage to afford.
Article IX.
The Ratifications of this Convention shall be exchanged at Washington within six months from this day, or sooner if possible.
In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have signed this Convention, and have hereunto affixed our seals.
Done at Washington, the nineteenth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty.
(Signed) Henry Lytton Bulwer. (L.S.)
(Signed) John M. Clayton. (L.S.)
B
HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY, 1901
Signed at Washington, November 18, 1901.
(Ratifications exchanged at Washington, February 21, 1902.)
His Majesty Edward the Seventh, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, and Emperor of India, and the United States of America, being desirous to facilitate the construction of a ship-canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by whatever route may be considered expedient, and to that end to remove any objection which may arise out of the Convention of the 19th April, 1850, commonly called the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, to the construction of such canal under the auspices of the Government of the United States, without impairing the 'general principle' of neutralization established in Article VIII of that Convention, have for that purpose appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:—
His Majesty Edward the Seventh, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, and Emperor of India, the Right Honourable Lord Pauncefote, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., His Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States; and
The President of the United States, John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America;
Who, having communicated to each other their full powers which were found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the following Articles:
Article I.
The High Contracting Parties agree that the present Treaty shall supersede the afore-mentioned Convention of the 19th April, 1850
Article II.
It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of the Government of the United States, either directly at its own cost, or by gift or loan of money to individuals or Corporations, or through subscription to or purchase of stock or shares, and that, subject to the provisions of the present Treaty, the said Government shall have and enjoy all the rights incident to such construction, as well as the exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the canal.
Article III.
The United States adopts, as the basis of the neutralization of such ship-canal, the following Rules, substantially as embodied in the Convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th October, 1888, for the free navigation of the Suez Canal, that is to say:—
1. The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations observing these Rules, on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable.
2. The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within it. The United States, however, shall be at liberty to maintain such military police along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness and disorder.
3. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not revictual nor take any stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly necessary; and the transit of such vessels through the canal shall be effected with the least possible delay in accordance with the Regulations in force, and with only such intermission as may result from the necessities of the service.
Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same Rules as vessels of war of the belligerents.
4. No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of war, or warlike materials in the canal, except in case of accidental hindrance of the transit, and in such case the transit shall be resumed with all possible dispatch.
5. The provisions of this Article shall apply to waters adjacent to the canal, within three marine miles of either end. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer than twenty-four hours at any one time except in case of distress, and in such case shall depart as soon as possible; but a vessel of war of one belligerent shall not depart within twenty-four hours from the departure of a vessel of war of the other belligerent.
6. The plant, establishments, buildings, and all works necessary to the construction, maintenance, and operation of the canal shall be deemed to be part thereof, for the purpose of this Treaty, and in time of war, as in time of peace, shall enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury by belligerents, and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as part of the canal.
Article IV.
It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty or of the international relations of the country or countries traversed by the before-mentioned canal shall affect the general principle of neutralization or the obligation of the High Contracting Parties under the present Treaty.
Article V.
The present Treaty shall be ratified by His Britannic Majesty, and by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington or at London at the earliest possible time within six months from the date hereof.
In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty and thereunto affixed their seals.
Done in duplicate at Washington, the 18th day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and one.(Seal.) (Signed) Pauncefote.
(Seal.) (Signed) John Hay.
C
TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND PANAMA (HAY-VARILLA), 1903
Constitutes the United States, in the words of Sir E. Grey, 'practical sovereign' over the Canal territory.
Article XVIII.
The Canal when constructed, and the entrances thereto shall be neutral in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon the terms provided for by section i of Article III of, and in conformity with all the stipulations of the Treaty entered into by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain on November 18th, 1901.
D
PANAMA CANAL ACT, 1912
Section 5. That the President is hereby authorized to prescribe and from time to time change the tolls that shall be levied by the Government of the United States for the use of the Panama Canal. … No tolls shall be levied upon vessels engaged in the coastwise trade of the United States. That section forty-one hundred and thirty-two of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 4132. … Tolls may be based upon gross or net registered tonnage … When based on net registered tonnage for ships of commerce the tolls shall not exceed one dollar and twenty-five cents per net registered ton, nor be less, other than for vessels of the United States and its citizens, than the estimated proportionate cost of the actual maintenance and operation of the Canal. …