By the President of the United States of America.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, a Convention between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico extending for an indefinite period from December 24, 1900, the duration of the Convention between the two High Contracting Parties of March 1, 1889, concerning the water-boundary between the two countries, was concluded and signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at the City of Washington, on the 21st day of November, 1900, the original of which Convention, being in the English and Spanish languages, is word for word as follows:
Whereas the United States of America and the United States of Mexico desire to give full effect to the provisions of the Convention concluded and signed in Washington March 1, 1889, to facilitate the execution of the provisions contained in the Treaty signed by the two High Contracting Parties on the 12th of November 1884, and to avoid the difficulties arising from the changes which are taking place in the beds of the Bravo del Norte and Colorado Rivers in those parts which serve as a boundary between the two Republics;
And whereas the period fixed by Article IX of the Convention of March 1, 1889, extended by the Conventions of October 1, 1895, November 6, 1896, October 29, 1897, December 2, 1898, and December 22, 1899, expires on the 24th of December 1900;
And whereas the two High Contracting Parties deem it expedient to indefinitely continue the period fixed by Article IX of the Convention of March 1, 1889, and by the sole article of the Convention of October 1, 1895, that of November 6, 1896, that of October 29, 1897, that of December 2, 1898, and that of December 22, 1899, in order that the International Boundary Commission may be able to continue the examination and decision of the cases submitted to it, they have [Page 789] for that purpose, appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries, to wit:
- The President of the United States of America, John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America; and
- The President of the United States of Mexico, Manuel de Azpíroz, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of Mexico at Washington;
Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Article:
Article.
The said Convention of March 1, 1889, as extended on the several dates above mentioned, and the Commission established thereunder shall continue in force and effect indefinitely, subject, however, to the right of either contracting party to dissolve the said Commission by giving six months’ notice to the other; but such dissolution of the Commission shall not prevent the two governments from thereafter agreeing to revive the said Commission, or to reconstitute the same, according to the terms of the said Convention; and the said convention of March 1, 1889, as hereby continued, may be terminated twelve months after notice of a desire for its termination shall have been given in due form by one of the two contracting parties to the other.
This Convention shall be ratified by the two High Contracting Parties in conformity with their respective Constitutions, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in Washington as soon as possible.
In testimony whereof, we, the undersigned, by virtue of our respective powers, have signed this Convention in duplicate, in the English and Spanish languages, and have affixed our respective seals.
Done in the City of Washington on the 21st day of November, one thousand nine hundred.
John Hay [seal.]
M. de Azpíroz [seal.]
And whereas the said Convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the ratifications of the two Governments were exchanged in the City of Washington, on the twenty-fourth day of December, one thousand nine hundred;
Now, therefore, be it known that I, William McKinley, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Convention to be made public, to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
By the President:
David J.
Hill,
Acting Secretary of
State.