1st. That the so-called government of Maximilian is not at all a
national one, but essentially French, inasmuch as it is not only
sustained by French bayonets and money, but even the minor officials
are French; and they are so numerous that it has been thought
necessary to secure their interests by means of a diplomatic
convention.
2d. That the arrangements made by the French government with its
agent in Mexico, embracing several years to come, show it is not
disposed to withdraw its forces nor its influence from that
republic, as it seems to wish the United States to believe.
I avail myself of the opportunity to renew to you, Mr. Secretary, the
assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c.
Convention.
The Mexican and French governments, desiring to fix the position
of the French officials placed at the disposal of his majesty
the emperor Maximilian, the following diplomatic convention has
been agreed upon between Don Francisco de P Cesar, under
secretary of the treasury and public credit, and his excellency
Don Alfonso Dano, envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary of France to Mexico, commander of the imperial
order of the Legion of Honor, &c., &c., both duly
authorized by their respective governments:
Article 1. Those agents of the
administrations of the French empire who are or may be placed at
the disposal of the government of his majesty the emperor
Maximilian shall be assigned to the offices and grades in which
the minister under whose direction they may serve may think them
most useful.
[Page 706]
Article 2. The government of his
majesty reserves the right of determining the number and the
qualifications of the French officials he may need in the
different public departments.
Article 3. The said agents shall have
the right to a salary equivalent to that which they receive in
France, and to a daily compensation at the following rates:
Three dollars per day to those who receive fixed salaries of
fifteen hundred francs a year; four dollars to those who get
from sixteen hundred to twenty-four hundred francs; five dollars
to those who have from twenty-five hundred to five thousand
francs; six dollars to those who get from five thousand one
hundred to eight thousand francs, and so on, increasing one
dollar a day for every two thousand francs of fixed salary; hut
the French agents employed in Mexico previous to the first of
January, 1865, shall continue to receive the salaries and
perquisites they had before that date
Article 4. The official Mexican salary
is considered as composed of the European salary and the
compensation mentioned in article 3. The payment of the ordinary
salary proper is charged upon the Mexican treasury, as well as
the contingent expenses mentioned in articles 8, 10, and 12.
Article 5 Whatever position the French
agents may have in Mexico, they shall continue to belong to
their former administrations. They shall be entitled to gradual
promotion, according to the rules of the service to which they
belong. In case an agent is promoted in France, he shall
immediately enjoy the emoluments corresponding to his new rank
in Mexico, according to article 3 of the present convention.
Article 6. The commission or patent
granted to a French agent by the Mexican government shall give
him no right of merit in France.
Article 7. To entitle him to a pension his term of service in
Mexico shall be increased fifty per
cent, above its actual duration.
Article 8. French agents sent to Mexico
shall only receive their European salary from the time they
leave off duty in France till they land in Mexico; but they
shall receive for travelling expenses a sum equal to half of
their year’s pay in Europe; and in no case shall it be less than
one thousand francs. The half of this sum shall be paid him
before he embarks, and the other half after his arrival in
Mexico. The government shall also pay his travelling expenses
from the landing place to his place of residence in Mexico. The
Mexican government reserves the mode of recompensing the
services of the French agents, by increasing their salaries, or
by honorific distinctions, as it finds most convenient.
Article 9. The salaries of the French agents, according to
their grade in Europe, shall be
subject to the discounts ordered by the law of the 9th of June,
1853, on civil pensions in France. The Mexican treasury shall
have charge of the sums discounted in the offices at the time
the salaries are to be paid, and shall
deliver the amount to the French treasurer at the end of each
month, together with a minute account, certified by the chief
agent appointed for that purpose, by
the minister of the Mexican treasury.
Article 10. Alter three years’
residence in Mexico the French agent shall have a right to six
months’ leave of absence and a free passage to and from France.
During the time of the leave of absence and the voyage he shall
only receive the salary of his office in Europe.
Article 11. The agent who wishes to
return to France before the completion of his term of five years
shall contribute to the expenses of his return in proportion to
the remaining term of service, except in case of delicate health
or for other reasons independent of the agent’s will.
Article 12 The Mexican government shall
place at the disposal of the French government those agents it
deems unfit for the service in Mexico, in which case they shall
have their travelling expenses back to France paid by Mexico,
together with their European salary, from the day of their
embarcation to their arrival in France. And they shall also have
a right to compensation equivalent to three months of their pay
in Europe.
Done in duplicate, in
Mexico, on the 29th of
September, 1865.
F. DE P. CESAR.
ALFONSO DANO.
[A wax seal with the motto, “French legation in Mexico.”]
[Another seal with the legend, Department of the treasury and
public credit]
