Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 18 Part 2c.djvu/129

 citizens of the United States and subjects of China, which cannot be amicably settled otherwise, the same shall be examined and decided conformably to justice and equity by the public officers of the two nations acting in conjunction.

ARTICLE XXV.

All questions in regard to rights, whether of property or person, arising between citizens of the United States in China, shall be subject to the jurisdiction, and regulated by the authorities of their own Government. And all controversies occurring in China between citizens of the United States and the subjects of any other Government, shall be regulated by the treaties existing between the United States and such Governments respectively, without interference on the part of China.

ARTICLE XXVI.

Merchant vessels of the United States lying in the waters of the five ports of China open to foreign commerce will be under the jurisdiction of the officers of their own Government; who, with the masters and owners thereof, will manage the same without control on the part of China. For injuries done to the citizens or the commerce of the United States by any foreign power, the Chinese Government will not hold itself bound to make reparation. But if the merchant vessels of the United States, while within the waters over which the Chinese Government exercises jurisdiction, be plundered by robbers or pirates, then the Chinese local authorities, civil and military, on receiving information thereof, will arrest the said robbers or pirates, and punish them according to law, and will cause all the property which can be recovered, to be placed in the hands of the nearest Consul, or other officer of the United States, to be by him restored to the true owner. But if, by reason of the extent of territory and numerous population of China, it should, in any case, happen that the robbers cannot be apprehended, or the property only in part recovered, then the law will take its course in regard to the local authorities, but the Chinese Government will not make indemnity for the goods lost.

ARTICLE XXVII.

If any vessel of the United States shall be wrecked or stranded on the coast of China, and be subjected to plunder or other damage, the proper officers of Government, on receiving information of the fact, will immediately adopt measures for their relief and security; and the persons on board shall receive friendly treatment, and be enabled at once to repair to the most convenient of the free ports, and shall enjoy all facilities for obtaining supplies of provisions and water. And if a vessel shall be forced, in whatever way, to take refuge in any port other than one of the free ports, then in like manner the persons on board shall receive friendly treatment and the means of safety and security.

ARTICLE XXVIII.

Citizens of the United States, their vessels and property, shall not be subject to any embargo; nor shall they be seized or forcibly detained for any pretense of the public service; but they shall be suffered to prosecute their commerce in quiet, and without molestation or embarrassment.

ARTICLE XXIX.

The local authorities of the Chinese Government will cause to be apprehended all mutineers or deserters from on board the vessels of the United States in China, and will deliver them up to the Consuls or other