Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 17.djvu/908

 868 TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN. MA! 8, 1871. three ccnnnis- sixty-one, and the ninth of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-dive, inclu- See Ame, p. 422. Article I. of this treaty, and all claims, with the like exception, on the part of corporations, companies, or private individuals, subjects of her Britannic Majesty, upon the government of the United States, arising out of acts committed against the persons or property of subjects of her Britanuic Majesty during the same period, which may have been presented to either government for its interposition with the other, and which yet remain unsettled, as well as any other such claims which may be presented within the time specified in Article XIV. of this treaty, shall be referred to three their appoint- commissioners, to be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: ¤¤¤¤*$ One commissioner shall be named by the President of the United States, one by her Britannic Majesty, and a third by the President of the United States and her Britannic Majesty conjointly; and in case the third commissioner shall not have been so named within a period of three months from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, then the third commissioner shall be named by the Representative at Washington ygcgucigg; of his Majesty the King of Spain. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of any commissioner, or in the event of any commissioner omitting or ceasing to act, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner hereinbefore provided for making the original appointment; the period of three months in case of such substitution being calculated from the date of the happening of the vacanc. their Powe;-g The commgsioners so named shall meet at Washington at the earliest wd d“¤°¤· convenient period after they have been respectively named; and shall, S" P°“¤ P· 941 before proceeding to any business, make and subscribe a solemn declaration that.they will impartially and carefully examine and decide, to the best of their judgment, and according to justice and equity, all such claims as shall be laid before them on the part of the governments of the United States and of her Britannic Majesty, respectively; and such declaration shall be entered on the record of their proceedings. Anrionn XIII. Clsimstobs The commissioners shall then forthwith proceed to the investigation of l¤V°¤*·iS***°d· the claims which shall be presented to them. They shall investigate and decide such claims in such order and such manner as they may think proper, but upon such evidence or information only as shall be furnished by or on behalf of the respective governments. They shall_be bound to receive and consider all written documents or statements which may be presented to them by or on behalf of the respective governments in sup= port of, or in answer to,·any claim, and to hear, if required, one person on each side, on behalf of each government, as counsel or agent for such A majority to government, on each and every separate claim. A majority of the comdfgvzrd in each missioners shall be sufficient for an award in each case. The award shall claim. be given upon each claim in writing, and shall be signed by the com- Agent of each missioners assenting to it. It shall be competent for each government S°"“’¤*“€¤*- to name one person to attend the commissioners as its agent, to present and support claims on its behalf, and to answer claims made upon it, and to represent it generally in all matters connected with the investigation and decision thereof Decisions to be The high contracting parties hereby engage to consider the decision E"’·l' __1 of the commissioners as absolutely nnal and conclusive upon each claim x£f° “m" ° decided upon by them, and to give full ed`ect to such decisions without any objection, evasion, or delay whatsoever. Aurxcnm XIV. Claims when Every claim shall be presented to the commis ioners within six months
 * °¤°”i sive, not being claims growing out of the acts of the vessels referred to in