ture of Prince Edward's Island, have passed laws on their part to give full effect to the provisions of the said Treaty as contained in Articles XVIII to XXV inclusive, and Article XXX of said Treaty.

In testimony 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 1st day of July, in the year of our Lord 1873, and of the Independence of the United States of America the 97th.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.

U. S. GRANT.

ACT of Congress of the United States, to authorize the President to accept for Citizens of the United States the Jurisdiction of certain Tribunals in the Ottoman Dominions, and Egypt, established, or to be established, under the authority of the Sublime Porte, and of the Government of Egypt.

[Chapter 62.]

[March 23, 1874.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, that whenever the President of the United States shall receive satisfactory information that the Ottoman Government, or that of Egypt, has organized other tribunals on a basis likely to secure to citizens of the United States, in their dominions, the same impartial justice which they now enjoy there under the judicial functions exercised by the Minister, Consuls, and other functionaries of the United States, pursuant to the Act of Congress approved the 22nd of June, 1860, entitled "An Act to carry into effect provisions of the Treaties between the United States, China, Persia, and other countries, giving certain judicial powers to Ministers and Consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in those countries, and for other purposes," he is hereby authorized to suspend the operations of said Acts as to the dominions in which such tribunals may be organized, so far as the jurisdiction of said tribunals may embrace matters now cognizable by the Minister, Consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in said dominions, and to notify the Government of the Sublime Porte, or that of Egypt, or either of them, that the United States during such suspension will, as aforesaid, accept for their citizens the jurisdiction of the tribunals afore

said over citizens of the United States which has heretofore been exercised by the Minister, Consuls, or other functionaries of the United States.

§ 2. That the President is hereby authorized, for the benefit of American citizens residing in the Turkish dominions, to accept the recent law of the Ottoman Porte ceding the right of foreigners possessing immovable property in said dominions.

Approved March 23, 1874.

GUATEMALAN DECREE for the Seizure of Contraband of War entering Ports of Salvador.-Guatemala, April 18, 1876.

(Translation.)

THE Minister of War, charged with the Government of the Republic of Guatemala:

Whereas the Republic of Guatemala is in a state of war with that of Salvador, and in its character as a belligerent has the right to prevent the importation of elements of war into the ports of the enemy; and whereas to this end it has armed for warfare the steam-ship General Barrios:

In virtue of the powers with which he has been invested, decrees:

ART. 1. The introduction into and traffic in the ports of Salvador is prohibited of all the articles specified in this Decree as contraband of war, which in the event of their capture will be considered lawful prize.

2. The following articles are by this Decree declared contraband of war:-Arms of every kind; gunpowder, and the materials used for its manufacture; munitions of war, and materials for their manufacture, and soldiers' clothing.

3. The Minister of War is charged with the execution of the present Decree.

Given in the National Palace of Guatemala, the 18th of April, 1876.

FRANCO. LAINFIESTA, Minister of Fomento charged with the Portfolio of War.

J. MA. SAMAYOA.

SPEECH of the King of Portugal, on the Opening of the Cortes.-Lisbon, January 2, 1876.

(Translation.)

WORTHY PEERS OF THE REALM AND DEPUTIES OF THE PORTUGUESE NATION!

ON opening the session of this present Legislature I gladly comply with the precept laid down in the Constitutional Charter of the Kingdom.

Our relations of friendship and good understanding with foreign Powers continue happily unchanged.

Having made an agreement on the 15th of September, 1872,* with the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland for the purpose of submitting to the arbitration of the President of the French Republic the settlement of the dispute which had long been pending between Portugal and England, as to the right of possession to certain territories in the Bay of Lorenzo Marques, I avail myself with much pleasure of this opportunity to notify to you that Marshal MacMahon, by his Award of the 24th of July of last year,† decided that our right to the territories in question was duly proved and established. In making this communication to you, I feel satisfaction at the termination of a question which had for so many years been pending between my Government and that of Her Britannic Majesty, to whom I am bound by ties of ancient and traditional friendship, which it is my wish to continue and to maintain; and I hereby express my acknowledgments to the Marshal and President for the high impartiality and justice displayed by him in this delicate matter.

After the closing of the last Legislative Session I received the visit of the Sultan of Zanzibar and of the President of the South African Republic, and my Government endeavoured to draw closer with them both the friendly relations which it is well to cement and to develop with the Chiefs of those States which adjoin one of our vastest possessions.

With the object of encouraging trade and facilitating the means of communication with the South African Republic, my Minister of Foreign Affairs concluded with the said President a Treaty which will be submitted to your approval, and from the stipulations of which I trust advantages will accrue to both countries, and at a not remote future period an increase of prosperity to the province of Mozambique.

Public tranquillity has been generally maintained throughout the Kingdom and in the Transmarine Provinces.

* Vol. LXIII. Page 1045.

+ Vol. LXVI. Page 554.

In virtue of the authority accorded to my Government several loans were made for public works, for the purchase of vessels of war; and the disciplinary regulations for the army were published. Moreover, several measures of a legislative nature were decreed in conformity with Article XV of the Additional Act to the Charter. My Ministers will, in due time, render you an account of the use they have made of the powers conferred upon them.

Public works continue to be carried on throughout the Kingdom on a scale compatible with the resources provided for that purpose; 54 kilometres of the Minho Railway, and 38 of that of the Douro were opened for public travel; and these works are being actively carried on. The construction of common roads and of the Algarve Railway were also strenuously pushed forward; but this, as well as other measures of a legislative nature, which the Government have thought it their duty to adopt for that Province in consequence of the extraordinary circumstances in which it was placed, will form the subject of special Projects of Law which will be laid before you by the Minister for the proper Department. I hope that you will maturely examine the same, and that they may meet with your approval.

Several Projects of Law of general interest remained pending in the two Houses of Parliament at the close of the last Legislative Session. I call your enlightened attention especially to those respecting administrative reform, primary instruction, the Code of Civil Procedure, the sanctioning of the expenditure incurred in procuring new armament for the army, and the construction of new railways. Other proposals will be laid before you by the several Public Departments upon different branches of the Public Administration, some of which are intended to ameliorate the condition of the Transmarine Provinces, and to develop the wealth of those vast and important possessions. With regard to all these I trust you will adopt such decisions as your enlightened zeal may suggest.

My Minister of Finance will lay before you the Budget of the Revenue and Expenditure of the State for the financial year 1876– 1877, and I rejoice at being able to inform you that the improvement of the public credit and the steady increase in the public revenue render the condition of the Treasury more satisfactory every day. The increasing prosperity in the different branches of the national activity has caused many of the existing taxes to become more productive, thus relieving the country from the necessity of having to submit to further sacrifices. By means of a judicious economy in the public expenditure, but so as not to be detrimental to the public service, and of a progressive development of the public wealth, we shall gradually continue to improve our economical and financial condition.

Worthy Peers of the Realm and Deputies of the Portuguese Nation!

The matters which you are going to discuss are worthy of your best attention, and I feel sure that you will apply thereto with the wisdom and prudence of which you have given so many proofs. On my part I fully confide in your enlightened patriotism, and in unison with you I hope that with the assistance of Divine Providence we shall continue to endeavour earnestly, as hitherto, to promote the welfare of the nation.

The session is opened!

POSTAL ARRANGEMENT between the United States and the Dominion of Canada.-Signed at Ottawa, January 27, 1875, and at Washington, February 1, 1875.

THE Post Office Department of the United States of America, and the Post Office Department of the Dominion of Canada, being desirous of effecting, by means of a new Arrangement, the unification of the postal systems of the United States and Canada, in respect to correspondence exchanged between them, the Undersigned, duly authorized for that purpose by their respective Governments, have agreed upon the following Articles :

ART. I. Correspondence of every kind, written and printed, embracing letters, postal cards, newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, books, maps, plans, engravings, drawings, photographs, lithographs, sheets of music, &c., and patterns and samples of merchandise, including grains and seeds, mailed in the United States and addressed to Canada, or, vice versa, mailed in Canada and addressed to the United States, shall be fully prepaid at the domestic postage rates of the country of origin, and the country of destination will receive, forward, and deliver the same free of charge.

II. Each country will transport the domestic mails of the other by its ordinary mail routes, in closed pouches, through its territory free of charge.

III. Patterns and samples of merchandize not exceeding the weight of 8 ounces may be exchanged in the mails between the two countries, under such regulations in regard to the forwarding and delivery of the same as either of the Post Office Departments shall prescribe, to prevent violations of the revenue laws. They must never be closed against inspection, but must always be so wrapped or inclosed that they may be readily and thoroughly examined by postmasters. The postage on each pattern or sample shall be 10 cents, prepayment obligatory.