In all cases the forcible execution of the judgments, issued on the conditions determined heretofore, shall not take place without the co-operation of the consul or of his delegate. The imperial government will enact a law which shall determine the rules of procedure to be observed by the parties, in the application of the preceding regulations. Foreigners, in whatever locality they may be, may freely submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the council of elders or of the tribunal of the canton, without the assistance of the consul, in cases which do not exceed the competency of these councils or tribunals, reserving always the right of appeal before the tribunal of the arrondissement, where the case may be brought and tried with the assistance of the consul or his delegate. The consent of a foreigner to be tried as above stated, without the assistance of his consul, shall always be given in writing, and in advance of all procedure. It is well understood that all these restrictions do not concern cases which have for their object questions of real estate, which shall be tried and determined under the conditions established by the law. The right of defense and the publicity of the hearings shall be assured in all cases to the foreigners who may appear before the Ottoman tribunals, as well as to Ottoman subjects. The preceding dispositions shall remain in force until the revision of the ancient treaties, a revision which the Sublime Porte reserves to itself the right to bring about hereafter by an understanding between it and the friendly powers. In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the protocol, and have affixed thereto their seals. Done at Constantinople the eleventh of August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. (Signed) A. AARIFI. [Translation.] Law conceding to foreigners the right of holding real estate in the Ottoman Empire. Imperial Rescript.-Let it be done in conformity with the contents. 7 Sepher, 1284, (January 18, 1867.) With the object of developing the prosperity of the country, to put an end to the difficulties, to the abuses, and to the uncertainties which have arisen on the subject of the right of foreigners to hold property in the Ottoman Empire, and to complete, in accordance with a precise regulation, the safeguards which are due to financial interests and to administrative action, the following legislative enactments have been pro. mulgated by the order of his imperial majesty, the Sultan: ARTICLE I. Foreigners are admitted, by the same privilege as Ottoman subjects, and without any other restriction, to enjoy the right of holding real estate, whether in the city or the country, throughout the empire, with the exception of the province of the Hédjaz, by submitting themselves to the laws and the regulations which govern Ottoman subjects, as is hereafter stated. This arrangement does not concern subjects of Ottoman birth who have changed their nationality, who shall be governed in this matter by a special law. ART. II. Foreigners, proprietors of real estate in town or in country, are in consequence placed upon terms of equality with Ottoman subjects in all things that concern their landed property. The legal effect of this equality is 1st. To oblige them to conform to all the laws and regulations of the police or of the municipality which govern at present or may govern hereafter the enjoyment, the transmission, the alienation, and the hypothecation of landed property. 2d. To pay all charges and taxes, under whatever form or denomination they may be, that are levied, or may be levied hereafter, upon city or country property. 3d. To render them directly amenable to the Ottoman civil tribunals in all questions relating to landed property, and in all real actions, whether as plaintiffs or as defendants, even when either party is a foreigner. In short, they are in all things to hold real estate by the same title, on the same condition, and under the same forms as Ottoman owners, and without being able to avail themselves of their personal nationality, except under the reserve of the immunities attached to their persons and their movable goods, according to the treaties. ART. III. In case of the bankruptcy of a foreigner possessing real estate, the assignees of the bankrupt may apply to the authorities and to the Ottoman civil tribunals requiring the sale of the real estate possessed by the bankrupt, and which by its nature and according to law is responsible for the debts of the owner. The same course shall be followed when a foreigner shall have obtained against another foreigner owning real estate a judgment of condemnation before a foreign tribunal. For the execution of this judgment against the real estate of his debtor, he shall apply to the competent Ottoman authorities, in order to obtain the sale of that real estate which is responsible for the debts of the owner; and this judgment shall be executed by the Ottoman authorities and tribunals only after they have decided that the real estate of which the sale is required really belongs to the category of that property which may be sold for the payment of debt. ART. IV. Foreigners have the privilege to dispose, by donation or by testament, of that real estate of which such disposition is permitted by law. As to that real estate of which they may not have disposed, or of which the law does not permit them to dispose by gift or testament, its succession shall be governed in accordance with Ottoman law. ART. V. All foreigners shall enjoy the privileges of the present law, as soon as the powers on which they depend shall agree to the arrangements proposed by the Sublime Porte for the exercise of the right to hold real estate. ow, therefore, be it known that I, ULYSSES S. GRANT, President of the United States of America, have caused the said protocol and law to be made public for the information and guidance of citizens of the United States. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the SEAL.] ninety-ninth. By the President: U. S. GRANT. HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. Mr. Campbell to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES NORTHERN BOUNDARY COMMISSION, Washington, December 2, 1874. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for the information o the Department, a preliminary report and sketch from Major W. J. Twining, United States Engineers, chief astronomer of the commission, showing the progress of the survey of the boundary during the past season. From this report it will be seen that the survey of the boundary-line defined in the treaty of 1818 has been completed, and connected (on the summit of the Rocky Mountains) with the eastern terminus of the boundary-line from the Pacific Ocean defined in the treaty of 1846. The whole boundary-line between the United States and British Possessions has now been established, with the exception of the boundary between British Columbia and Alaska. The United States commission and the British commission are now engaged in working out the results of their field operations for the purpose of preparing the final joint maps necessary to a proper representation of the boundary-line and the territories adjacent thereto. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, Commissioner Northern Boundary Surrey. Hon. HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. Major Twining to Mr. Campbell. UNITED STATES NORTHERN BOUNDARY COMMISSION, SIR: In answer to your request I respectfully submit a brief statement of the work performed by the commission during the past summer. During the summer of 1873 the boundary was surveyed and marked from the "Red River of the North" west to longitude 106 12. For a distance of ninety miles the marks were of a temporary nature, and are to be replaced by permanent monuments. This arrangement resulted from a difference of opinion which existed at that time in regard to the true definition of the 49th parallel of latitude. During the winter of 1873-74 the surveys east of the Red River were completed to the Lake of the Woods, including the shore-line of that lake as far east as the Rainy River. During the present season the work has been executed in the same manner as heretofore, under the agreement made last year between the chief astronomers of the United States and British commissions. This agreement was to the effect that the officers of the United States were to determine astronomical stations at intervals of forty miles, and to survey a belt of territory five miles wide south of the parallel; the English to determine a similar series of astronomical stations, and to survey an equal belt of topography north of the line. The distance remaining to be surveyed during the present year was three hundred and fifty-eight miles, from longitude 106 12' to longitude 114° 05'. I organized the parties in St. Paul, Minn., on the 1st of June, and proceeded, by way of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Missouri River, to Fort Buford. Thence, traveling by land, the advanced working-parties reached the line, at the initial point of this year's operations, on the 1st of July. The shortness of the season, and the immense distance to be traveled after the work should be completed, required that it should be finished early in September. With this object in view, the working-parties were pushed to the utmost limit of their endurance, and, by the 1st of September, the eight astronomical stations assigned to the United States commission had been determined (by one party) and the line had been connected with the last station of the northwestern boundary, at the summit of the Rocky Mountains. Full details of the survey have been given in the preliminary reports from this office. Without recapitulation, I will only say that the results have been in every respect satisfactory. The commission returned to Saint Paul by way of the Missouri River and the Northern Pacific Railroad, making the distance from Fort Benton to Bismarck, (1,200 miles,) in open boats, in eighteen days. The men were discharged on the 5th of October. Thus in four months this expedition accomplished a journey of thirty-seven hundred miles, nine hundred of which was by land, and twelve hundred by water in open boats, besides surveying and marking three hundred and fifty-eight miles of the boundaryline. The topographical parties have been continuously in the field, both winter and summer, from the 1st of June, 1873, until the present time, with the exception of two months in the spring of 1874. They have demonstrated by experience that instrumental work can be done in that high latitude, even in the most rigorous part of the winter, where the country is wooded. On the open plains such exposure would be, beyond question, exceedingly dangerous. The limits of this report will allow only a very brief statement of the general character of the country passed over. That portion crossed by the part of the line surveyed during the present year was found to be an open plain entirely destitute of timber, but easily practicable for wagontrains, except in the vicinity of Frenchman's Creek and the crossing of Milk River, where wide detours had to be made to avoid the Bad Lands. From longitude 106 to the crossing of Milk River the country cannot be called attractive. The rain-fall is small, and water consequently scarce during the summer months. The soil is alkaline, and produces mostly sage-brush and cactus. From the Sweet Grass Hills to the Rocky Mountains its character is entirely changed. The rain-fall appears to be ample. The belt along the foot of the mountains, in addition to scenery of rare beauty, presents to the eye of the practical man the more solid advantage of an unsurpassed fertility. Northwestern Montana is still the range of immense herds of buffaloes, whose numbers, contrary to the commonly received opinion, are constantly increasing. This region is the country of the Blackfoot and Piegan tribes of Indians. It is also the debatable ground of the North Assiniboines, the Gros Ventres of the Prairie, and the River Crows, while an occasional war-party of Sioux may be found as far northwest as the Sweet Grass Hills. With the exception of the Sioux, these tribes appear to be peaceably enough disposed. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, ESQ., W. J. TWINING, Capt. Engineers, Chief Astronomer. Commissioner Northern Boundary. |