England. the transportation of goods and passengers. In the exercise of this navigation Nr. 10620. the subjects and flags of both Powers shall be treated, in all circumstances, 25. Aug. 1800. on a footing of perfect equality, not only for the direct navigation from the open sea to the inland ports of the Zambesi, and vice versa, but for the great and small coasting trade, and for boat trade on the course of the river. Consequently, on all the course and mouths of the Zambesi there will be no differential treatment of the subjects of the two Powers; and no exclusive privilege of navigation will be conceded by either to Companies, Corporations, or private persons. || The navigation of the Zambesi shall not be subject to any restriction or obligation based merely on the fact of navigation. It shall not be exposed to any obligation in regard to landing-station or depôt, or for breaking bulk, or for compulsory entry into port. In all the extent of the Zambesi the ships and goods in process of transit on the river shall be submitted to no transit dues, whatever their starting-place or destination. No maritime or river toll shall be levied based on the sole fact of navigation, nor any tax on goods on board of ships. There shall only be collected taxes or duties which shall be an equivalent for services rendered to navigation itself. The Tariff of these taxes or duties shall not warrant any differential treatment. || The affluents of the Zambesi shall be in all respects subject to the same rules as the river of which they are tributaries. || The roads, paths, railways, or lateral canals which may be constructed with the special object of obviating the innavigability or correcting the imperfections of the river route on certain sections of the course of the Zambesi, its affluents, branches and outlets, shall be considered, in their quality of means of communication, as dependencies of this river, and as equally open to the traffic of both Powers. And, as on the river itself, so there shall be collected on these roads, railways and canals only tolls calculated on the cost of construction, maintenance and management, and on the profits due to the promoters. As regards the Tariff of these tolls, strangers and the natives of the respective territories shall be treated on a footing of perfect equality. || Portugal undertakes to apply the principles of freedom of navigation enunciated in this Article on so much of the waters of the Zambesi, its affluents, branches and outlets, as are or may be under her sovereignty, protection, or influence. The rules which she may establish for the safety and control of navigation shall be drawn up in a way to facilitate, as far as possible, the circulation of merchant-ships, || Great Britain accepts, under the same reservations and in identical terms, the obligations undertaken in the preceding Articles in respect of so much of the waters of the Zambesi, its affluents, branches and outlets, as are or may be under her sovereignty, protection, or influence. || Any questions arising out of the provisions of this Article shall be referred to a Joint Commission, and, in case of disagreement, to arbitration. || Another system for the administration and control of the Zambesi may be substituted for the above arrangements by common consent of the Riverain Powers. || Portugal will, on application England. Nr. 10620. from Great Britain, grant to a Company a lease for 100 years of 10 acres 25. Aug. 1890. at the mouth of the Chindé, for purposes of transhipment. The ground so leased shall not in any case be fortified. Article XIV. In the interest of both Powers, Portugal agrees to grant absolute freedom of passage between the British sphere of influence and Pungwé Bay for merchandize of every description, and to give the necessary facilities for the improvement of the means of communication. She undertakes to construct a railway to serve this region within a period fixed by surveys which shall be completed with the least possible delay. An engineer named by the British Government shall take part in these surveys, which shall commence within a period of four months from the signature of this Convention. In case these conditions should not be precisely carried out, Portugal will grant to a Joint Company under the control of Portuguese and British Directors, and with seats in Lisbon and London, with the least possible delay, a Concession for the construction of a railway, with all requisite facilities for the acquisition of land, cutting timber and free importation and supply of materials and labour. It is understood, that no dues shall be levied at the port of entry or exit on goods in transit exceeding the maximum of 3 per cent. under the conditions stipulated in Article XI. || It is further understood that the same provision as to goods in transit applies to the Limpopo, the Save and all other navigable rivers flowing to the coast of the Portuguese spheres in East or West Africa, with the exception of the Zambesi. Article XV. Great Britain and Portugal engage to facilitate telegraphic communication in their respective spheres. || The stipulations contained in Article XIV as regards the construction of a railway from Pungwé Bay to the interior shall be applicable in all respects to the construction of a telegraph-line for communication between the coast and the British sphere south of the Zambesi. Questions as to the points of departure and termination of the line, and as to other details, if not arranged by common consent, shall be submitted to the arbitration of experts under the prescribed conditions. || Portugal engages to maintain telegraphic service between the coast and the River Ruo, which shall be open to the use of the subjects of the two Powers without any differential treatment. || Great Britain and Portugal engage to give every facility for the connection of telegraphic lines constructed in their respective spheres. || Details in respect to such connection, and in respect to questions relating to the settlement of through tariffs and other charges, shall, if not settled by common consent, be referred to the arbitration of experts under the prescribed con ditions. All differences not specifically mentioned in the preceding Articles which 25. Aug. 1890. may arise between the two Governments with regard to this Convention shall be submitted to arbitration. Article XVII. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London as soon as possible. || In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. || Done in duplicate at London, the twentieth day of August, in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety. Nr. 10621. ENGLAND. Salisbury. Der Minister des Auswärtigen an den portugiesischen Gesandten in London. Verlangt eine Zusage über die Eisenbahn am Zambesi. Foreign Office, August 20, 1890. 20.Aug. 1890. M. le Ministre, || In view of the great importance, in the interests of Nr. 10521. British and Portuguest commerce, of an easy and economical means of trans- England. port between the sphere of influence reserved to Great Britain on the south of the Zambesi and the sea-coast, I have the honour to state that it would be satisfactory to Her Majesty's Government, if you could give me an assurance, that the traffic rates to be charged on the railway to be constructed under Article XIV of this Agreement shall not be unreasonably in excess of the proportionate rates per mile charged on other railway systems in South Africa. Salisbury. Nr. 10622. PORTUGAL. Der Gesandte in London an den eng- His Most Faithful Majesty's Legation, London, 22. Aug. 1890. (Uebersetzung.) || My Lord, || On the 20th instant I had the honour to Nr. 10622. receive a note in which your Excellency, referring to the railway mentioned Portugul. in Article XIV of the Convention which has now been concluded between the Government of His Most Faithful Majesty and the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, expresses a hope, that I may be able to give an assurance that the rates chargeable on the railway in question will not be unreasonably high, or out of proportion per kilometre to the rates on other South African *) Die eingeklammerten Zahlen geben das Datum der Ankunft an. Portugal. Nr. 10622. railways. || I have the honour to state, in reply, that as it is stipulated that 22. Aug. 1890, the railway is to be constructed in the interests of the two Powers, Portugal Nr. 10623. would gain nothing by fixing rates which would hinder the transit of goods and passengers, and so preclude the possibility of earning the profits expected from such an undertaking. || I have therefore no doubt that I may declare that it is the intention of the Government of His Most Faithful Majesty that the rates on the above-mentioned railway shall be moderate and on a par with those of other African railways, without prejudice to the capital employed, and to certain other circumstances which must be had in consideration. Barjona de Freitas. Nr. 10623. ENGLAND. Der Gesandte in Lissabon an den Minister des Auswärtigen. - Opposition in Portugal gegen das Abkommen. Lisbon, August 23, 1890. (August 27.) (Extract.) || The Anglo-Portuguese Convention, the bases of which were England. published here on the evening of the 21st, has been violently assailed by the 23.Aug.1890. whole of the Progressist and Republican press as involving even a deeper humiliation for Portugal than the ultimatum of the 11th January, and one paper, the "Novidades", goes so far in condemning what it calls this supreme act of spoliation, as to say that it would be better for Portugal to dispose altogether of the Province of Mozambique than to retain it under the conditions of the Convention which has just been signed. || On the other hand, the Ministerial press, and such respectable papers as the "Jornal do Commercio" and the "Economista" defend the Convention as being an honourable solution of the conflict, and, under all the circumstances, not disadvantageous to Portugal. The following concluding paragraph of a long article in this morning's issue of Senhor Serpa Pimentel's paper, the "Gazeta de Portugal," written in refutation of the criticisms of the Progressist newspapers, typifies the language used by the defenders of the settlement with England:- || "We cannot conclude without declaring, and this without fear of being contraticted in good faith, that the Convention is an honourable termination of a conflict which kept us daily in suspense and on the brink of an unpleasant quarrel; it introduces the peaceable system of arbitrations, which is one of the best conceived aspirations of modern times; it means permanent peace, and, finally, it puts an end to all the vexations to which we have hitherto been subject; and, although all aspirations have not been satisfied, a dispute has been honourably settled which placed the Portuguese nation on the border of an abyss. || This is the truth felt by every one, and these are the facts palpable to all." Nr. 10624. ENGLAND. Derselbe an Denselben. Dasselbe. Lisbon, September 2, 1890. (September 5.) England. 2. Sept. 1890. My Lord, || The battle which has been waged continuously in the Por- Nr. 10624. tuguese press since the publication of the bases of the Anglo-Portuguese Convention between the Government supporters and the Opposition and Republicans has received a fresh impetus from the publication of the text itself. This appears to have rather strengthened the objections and intensified the animosity of those who denounce this Treaty as equivalent to the annihilation of Portuguese sovereignty in East Africa. || As far as I can gather, the two points which excite the loudest opposition are the obligation to construct a railway from Pungwé Bay to the British sphere of influence, as being mostly, if not entirely, for the benefit of Great Britain at the expense of Portugal, and the engagement entered into by Portugal not to cede certain territories "without the consent of Great Britain." This is interpreted as differing from and going beyond the ordinary right of pre-emption clause. The Opposition papers maintain, that it virtually establishes a British Protectorate, and that the King of Portugal ceases to be an independent Sovereign there. || The Government papers, in reply to this, refer to the IIIrd Article of the Treaty between Portugal and China of 1887, which says that "Portugal confirms, in its entirety, the 3rd Article of the Protocol of Lisbon relating to the engagement never to alienate Macao without previous agreement with China." George G. Petre. Nr. 10625. ENGLAND. - Derselbe an Denselben. Unterredung mit dem portugiesischen Minister des Auswärtigen. Lisbon, September 11, 1890. (September 15.) England. 11.Sept. 1890. (Extract.) || I saw Senhor Hintze Ribeiro yesterday at the Ministry for Nr. 10625. Foreign Affairs, who said that there was nothing in the Treaty which had so irritated and offended the public mind as the wording of this "previous consent" clause, because it was interpreted as a humiliation to Portugal, and not because there was an objection to giving Great Britain a prior right to the territories in question in the event of Portugal wishing to cede them I told Senhor Hintze Ribeiro that I thought it was very unfortunate that this did not occur either to himself or the Portuguese negotiators when the terms of the Treaty were being discussed and drawn up, and that it could not possibly have occurred to Her Majesty's Government, who of course had no thought of wounding Portuguese susceptibility, but simply of preventing a future transfer injurious to the interests of Great Britain. || Neither the Minister nor the negotiator seem to have been at all prepared for the passionate opposition which this clause, or at least the wording of it, has excited. To any one unacquainted with the Portuguese it is almost unintelligible, but it is none the less real. || Staatsarchiv LVII. 7 |