Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 6, 1886
No. 161.
Mr. Pendleton to Mr. Bayard.
Berlin, May 4, 1886.(Received May 15.)
Sir: The Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung publishes this morning the two documents called, respectively—
Declaration concerning the reciprocal freedom of commercial intercourse between the German and English possessions and dependencies in the West Pacific Ocean.
Declaration concerning the boundaries of German and English jurisdiction in the West Pacific Ocean. * * *
I have, &c.,
From the Berlin Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, May 4, 1886.
The Reichs Anzeiger publishes the following documents:
A declaration concerning the reciprocal freedom of trade and commerce in the German and English possessions and protectorates in the West Pacific.
The Government of His Majesty the German Emperor and the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland having resolved, after the demarkation of the German and English dominions in the West Pacific Ocean, to secure to themselves reciprocal freedom of trade and commerce in their possessions and protectorates situated in that quarter, within the limits defined by this declaration, the undersigned, Count Herbert von Bismarck, under-secretary of state of His Imperial Majesty’s foreign office, and Sir Edward Baldwin Malet, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Her British Majesty, having been furnished with proper full powers, have, in the name of their Governments, signed the following declaration:
I.
In the sense of the present declaration the term West Pacific Ocean is understood to mean that portion of the Pacific Ocean which lies between the fifteenth degree of north and the thirtieth degree of south latitude, and between the one hundred and sixty-fifth degree of longitude west and the one hundred and thirtieth degree of longitude east of Greenwich.
II.
The Imperial Government and the Royal Government of Great Britain agree that the subjects of each shall have the right to visit all the possessions of the other state, and likewise those districts over which a protectorate has been established by the other state, to settle there, to acquire and own all kinds of property there, to carry on every kind of trade and industry and every kind of agricultural and manufacturing business, on the same conditions, in obedience to the same laws, and in the enjoyment of the same religious liberty, the same protection and the same privileges as the subjects of the state which exercises rights of sovereignty or of protectorate there.
III.
In all German and British possessions and in all districts under the protection of Germany or Great Britain in the West Pacific Ocean, the vessels of both states shall reciprocally receive equal usage and the usage of the most favored nation, and German or British goods imported by the subjects of either state under any flag shall not be subjected to any other or higher duties or imposts than those imported by the subjects of the other state or of any third power.
[Page 330]IV.
All disputed claims to land that has been acquired (before the proclamation of the sovereignty or of the protectorate by either of the two Governments) by a German subject in a British possession, or in a district under the protection of the British Government, or by a British subject in a German possession, or in a district under German protection, shall be examined and decided by a mixed commission, to be appointed for this purpose by both Governments. The claim may, however, be decided by the local authorities alone, provided that the party claiming the land expressly so elect.
V.
Both Governments pledge themselves to establish no penal colonies in the West Pacific Ocean, and to send no convicts thither.
VI.
In this declaration the words “possessions and protectorates in the West Pacific Ocean shall not be considered as referring to those colonies which already have regularly constituted Governments with legislative bodies.
This declaration shall take effect on the day on which it is signed.
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A declaration concerning the boundaries of the German and English dominions in the West Pacific Ocean.
The Government of His Majesty the German Emperor and the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, having resolved to define the boundaries of the German and English dominions in the West Pacific Ocean, the undersigned, Count H. von Bismarck, under-secretary of state of His Imperial Majesty’s foreign office, and Sir Edward Baldwin Malet, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Her British Majesty, having been duly provided with full powers, have, in the name of their Government, signed the following declaration:
I.
In this declaration the term “West Pacific Ocean” is understood to mean that portion of the Pacific Ocean which lies between the fifteenth degree of north and the thirtieth degree of south latitude, and between the one hundred and sixty-fifth degree of longitude west and the one hundred and thirtieth degree of longitude east of Greenwich.
II.
A line of demarkation is hereby agreed upon in the West Pacfic Ocean, beginning at a point near Mitre Rock, on the northeast coast of New Guinea, beneath the eighth parallel of south latitude, which forms the boundary between the German and the British possessions on that coast, and following this parallel to the point A, and continuing thence to the points B, C, D, E, F, and G, the situation of which points is as follows:
- A.
- —8° south latitude; 154° west longitude from Greenwich.
- B.
- —7° 15ʹ south latitude; 155° 25ʹ west longitude.
- C.
- —7° 15ʹ south latitude; 155° 35ʹ west longitute.
- D.
- —7° 25ʹ south latitude; 156° 40ʹ west longitude.
- E.
- —8° 50ʹ south latitude; 159° 50ʹ west longitude.
- F.
- —6° north latitude; 173° 30ʹ west longitude.
- G.
- —15° north latitude; 173° 30ʹ west longitude.
The point A is marked 780, “Pacific Ocean” (southwest sheet), oh the British admiralty chart; the points B, C, D, and E are marked 214 (South Pacific, Solomon Islands), on the British admiralty chart, and the points F and G, 781, “Pacific Ocean” (northwest sheet), on the British admiralty chart.
[Page 331]III.
Germany pledges herself not to make any acquisitions of territory; not to establish any protectorates; not to oppose the extension of British influence, and to relinquish all territories heretofore acquired by her or over which she has established a protectorate in that part of the West Pacific Ocean lying to the east, southeast, or south of the aforesaid dividing line.
IV.
Great Britain pledges herself not to make any acquisitions of territory; not to establish any protectorate; not to oppose the extension of German influence, and to relinquish all territories heretofore acquired by her or over which she has established a protectorate in that part of the West Pacific Ocean lying to the west, northwest, or north of the aforesaid dividing line.
V.
In case it shall be shown by future surveys that any islands now represented on the aforesaid maps as situated on one side of the aforesaid dividing line, are really situated on the other side, the aforesaid dividing line shall then be so changed that such islands shall appear on the same side of the line on which they are now represented on the aforesaid charts.
VI.
This declaration shall not apply to the Navigator’s (Samoa) Islands, with which Germany, Great Britain, and the United States have concluded treaties, nor to the Friendly (Tonga) Islands, with which Germany and Great Britain have concluded treaties, nor to Niné Island (Savage Island), which groups shall in future, as heretofore, form a neutral territory, nor to any islands or places in the West Pacific Ocean that are now under the sovereignty or protection of any civilized power other than Germany or Great Britain.
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