Monseigneur the Prince Napoleon to Seen and sealed with the seal of state. By the Emperor: J. BAROCHE, The Keeper of the Seal, September 13, 1866

Imperial decree for the promulgation of the convention signed at Mexico, July 30, 1866, relative to the delegation granted to the french government on the customs receipts of Mexico.

Napoleon, by the grace of God and the national will, Emperor of the French, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Considering the report made by our minister secretary of state for foreign affairs, have decreed and do decree as follows:

Article 1.

A convention relative to the delegation granted to the French government on the customs receipts of Mexico, having been signed at Mexico on the 30th of July, 1866, the said convention, the terms of which follow, being approved of by us, shall be fully and completely carried out, beginning on the 1st day of November, 1866.

CONVENTION.

His Majesty the Emperor of the French, and his Majesty the emperor of Mexico, actuated by a wish to settle in a mutually satisfactory manner the financial questions now pending between their governments, have resolved to enter into a convention for that purpose, and have appointed as their plenipotentiaries, namely:

His Majesty the Emperor of the French, Mr. Alphonse Dano, his envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in Mexico, commander of the imperial order of the legion of honor, grand cross of the order of Guadalupe, &c., &c., &c., acting under his general full powers; his Majesty the emperor of Mexico, M. Luis de Arroyo, under secretary of state, chargé of the department of foreign affairs, officer of the order of Guadalupe, &c., &c., &c., anthorized for that purpose; who have agreed upon the following articles:

Article 1. The Mexican government grants to the French government a delegation on one-half the receipts of all the seaport custom-houses of the empire arising from the duties hereafter mentioned.

General and special duties of import and exports on goods of all kinds.

Additional duties of internacion and contra-registro.

Duties of major as materials, when these latter shall be freed from the existing delegation, granted for the benefit of the railroad company from Vera Cruz to Mexico, which delegation shall not be extended.

Nevertheless, three-fourths of the export duties of the custom-houses on the Pacific being already pledged, the delegation granted to the French government shall be restricted to the remaining twenty-five per cent.

Art. 2. The funds collected through the delegation agreed on in the preceding article shall be applied, 1st. To the payment of the interest on the sinking fund, and the payment of all the obligations (bonds) arising from the two loans contracted in 1864 and 1865 by the Mexican government. 2d. To the payment of the interest, at the rate of three per cent., of the sum of two hundred and sixteen millions of francs, of which the Mexican government has acknowledged itself debtor by the Miramar convention, and of all the sums subsequently advanced by the French treasury for whatsoever purpose. The amount of this debt, now estimated by approximation at two hundred and fifty millions of francs, shall be hereafter definitively established.

In case of the funds being insufficient to fully meet the above-mentioned charges, the rights of the holders of bonds of both loans and those of the French government shall be fully reserved.

Art. 3. The funds arising from the delegation of one-half of the proceeds of Mexican customs will increase in proportion with the receipts, and in case these funds should exceed the sum requisite to satisfy the claims set forth in article 3, the surplus shall be applied to cancelling the debt due to the French government.

Art. 4. The tariff of duties and the mode of levying it now in use can in no wise be altered so as to diminish the quota granted.

Art. 5. The collecting of the moneys arising from the delegation mentioned in Article 1 shall be intrusted at Vera Cruz and Tampico to special agents, placed under the protection of the French flag.

All the duties levied at these two places, on account of the Mexican treasury shall be applied in full to the benefit of the French delegation excepting only such portions as are applied to delegations presently existing and to the salary of the employés of those two custom-houses. The amount of this latter expense, which will include the salaries allowed to the French agents, shall in no case exceed five per cent. of the above-mentioned duties. A quarterly statement of accounts shall show the amount thus levied by the French government, and the proceeds of the delegated duties for all the custom-houses of the empire. This statement shall determine the amount to be immediately paid in by the Mexican government in order to complete the quota granted, if there be a deficiency, or the amount to be returned to it in like manner in case of excess in collecting.

In all the ports, except Vera Cruz and Tampico, the French consular agents shall visé the returns of the situation of the custom-houses of their district.

Art. 6. The Emperor Napoleon III shall alone decide how long the agents appointed collectors shall remain at Vera Cruz and Tampico, and take the measures requisite to insure their protection.

Art. 7. The above-mentioned stipulations shall be submitted to the Emperor of the French for approval, and be enforced from the time appointed by his Majesty.

The convention signed at Miramar on the 10th of April, 1864, shall then be abrogated in all points relating to financial matters.

In token of which the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the present convention, to which they have set their seals.

Made double at Mexico on the 30th day of July, A. D. 1866.

ALPH. DANO.

LUIS DE ARROYO.

Article 2.

Our minister secretary of state for home affairs, chargé of foreign affairs ad interim, is intrusted with the execution of the present decree.