SWEDEN.

SWEDEN, 1783.

TREATY OF AMITY AND COMMERCE BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SWEDEN AND THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA. CONCLUDED APRIL 3, 1783: RATIFIED BY THE KING OF SWEDEN MAY 23, 1783, AND BY THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 29, 1783.

[This treaty terminated by the limitation contained in the first separate article. post, fifteen years after the exchange of ratifications, but was revived in part by Article XII of the treaty of 1816, post, and was again revived in part by Article XVII of the treaty of 1827, post.]

The King of Sweden, of the Goths and Vandals, &c., &c., &c., and the thirteen United States of North America, to wit: New Hamp shire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, desiring to establish, in a stable and permanent manner, the rules which ought to be observed relative to the correspondence and commerce which the two parties have judged necessary to establish between their respective countries, states, and subjects: His Majesty and the United States have thought that they could not better accomplish that end than by taking for a basis of their arrangements the mutual interest and advantage of both nations, thereby avoiding all those burthensome preferences which are usually sources of debate, embarrassment, and discontent, and by leaving each party at liberty to make, respecting navigation and commerce, those interior regulations which shall be most convenient to itself.

With this view, His Majesty the King of Sweden has nominated and appointed for his Plenipotentiary Count Gustavus Philip de Creutz, his Ambassador Extraordinary to His Most Christian Majesty, and Knight Commander of his orders; and the United States, on their part, have fully empowered Benjamin Franklin, their Minister Plenipotentiary to His Most Christian Majesty.

The said Plenipotentiaries, after exchanging their full powers, and after mature deliberation in consequence thereof, have agreed upon, concluded, and signed the following articles:

ARTICLE I.

Peace and friendship.

There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace, and a true and sincere friendship between the King of Sweden, his heirs and successors, and the United States of America, and the subjects of His Majesty, and those of the said States, and between the countries, islands, cities, and towns situated under the jurisdiction of the King and of the said United States, without any exception of persons or places; and the conditions agreed to in this present treaty shall be perpetual and permanent between the King, his heirs and successors, and the said United States.

*Translation from the original, which is in the French language.

ARTICLE II.

The King and the United States engage mutually not to grant hereafter any particular favour to other nations in respect to Favors granted. commerce and navigation which shall not immediately become common to the other party, who shall enjoy the same favour freely, if the concession was freely made, or on allowing the same compensation, if the concession was conditional.

Subjects of Sweden entitied to the same privileges in United States as the most

ARTICLE III.

The subjects of the King of Sweden shall not pay in the ports, havens, roads, countries, islands, cities, and towns of the United States, or in any of them, any other nor greater duties or imposts, of what nature soever they may be, than those which favoured nations. the most favoured nations are or shall be obliged to pay; and they shall enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, immunities, and exemptions in trade, navigation, and commerce which the said nations do or shall enjoy, whether in passing from one port to another of the United States, or in going to or from the same, from or to any part of the world whatever.

Citizens of the tled to the same

as the most favoured nutions.

ARTICLE IV.

The subjects and inhabitants of the said United States shall not pay in the ports, havens, roads, islands, cities, and towns under United States ent- the dominion of the King of Sweden, any other or greater privileges in Sweden duties or imposts, of what nature soever they may be, or by wbat name soever called, than those which the most favoured nations are or shall be obliged to pay; and they shall enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, immunities, and exemptions in trade, navigation, and commerce which the said nations do or shall enjoy, whether in passing from one port to another of the dominion of His said Majesty, or in going to or from the same, from or to any part of the world what

ever.

Liberty of con

ARTICLE V.

There shall be granted a full, perfect, and entire liberty of conscience to the inhabitants and subjects of each party; and no perscience, &c., secured. son shall be molested on account of his worship, provided he submits so far as regards the public demonstration of it to the laws of the country. Moreover, liberty shall be granted, when any of the subjects or inhabitants of either party die in the territory of the other, to bury them in convenient and decent places, which shall be assigned for the purpose; and the two contracting parties will provide each in its jurisdiction, that the subjects and inhabitants respectively may obtain certificates of the death, in case the delivery of them is required.

Estates.

ARTICLE VI.

The subjects of the contracting parties in the respective States may freely dispose of their goods and effects, either by testament, donation, or otherwise, in favour of such persons as they think proper; and their heirs, in whatever place they shall reside, shall receive the succession even ab intestato, either in person or by their attorney, without having occasion to take out letters of naturalization. These inheritances, as well as the capitals and effects which the subjects

of the two parties, in changing their dwelling, shall be desirous of removing from the place of their abode, shall be exempted from all duty called "droit de détraction" on the part of the Government of the two States, respectively. But it is at the same time agreed that nothing contained in this article shall in any manner derogate from the ordinances published in Sweden against emigrations, or which may hereafter be published, which shall remain in full force and vigor. The United States, on their part, or any of them, shall be at liberty to make, respecting this matter, such laws as they think proper.

ARTICLE VII.

Trade with rations

other.

All and every the subjects and inhabitants of the Kingdom of Sweden, as well as those of the United States, shall be permitted to navigate with their vessels, in all safety and freedom, and at war with the without any regard to those to whom the merchandizes and cargoes may belong, from any port whatever; and the subjects and inhabitants of the two States shall likewise be permitted to sail and trade with their vessels, and, with the same liberty and safety, to frequent the places, ports, and havens of Powers enemies to both or either of the contracting parties, without being in any wise molested or troubled, and to carry on a commerce not only directly from the ports of an enemy to a neutral port, but even from one port of an enemy to another port of an enemy, whether it be under the jurisdiction of the same or of different Princes. And as it is acknowledged by this treaty, with respect to ships and merchandizes, that free ships shall make the merchandizes free, and that everything which shall be on free goods; except board of ships belonging to subjects of the one or the other of the contracting parties shall be considered as free, even though the cargo, or a part of it, should belong to the enemies of one or both, it is nevertheless provided that contraband goods shall always be excepted; which being intercepted, shall be proceeded against according to the spirit of the following articles. It is likewise agreed that the same liberty be extended to persons who may be on board a free ship, with this effect, that, although they be enemies to both or either of the parties, they shall not be taken out of the free ship, unless they are soldiers in the actual service of the said enemies.

ARTICLE VIII.

Free ships make

contraband articles.

This liberty of navigation and commerce shall extend to all kinds of merchandizes, except those only which are expressed in the following article, and are distinguished by the name of contraband goods.

ARTICLE IX.

Contraband goods.

Under the name of contraband or prohibited goods shall be comprehended arms, great guns, cannon-balls, arquebuses, musquets, mortars, bombs, petards, granadoes, saucisses, pitchballs, carriages for ordnance, musquet-rests, bandoleers, cannon-powder, matches, saltpetre, sulphur, bullets, pikes, sabres, swords, morions, helmets, cuirasses, halbards, javelins, pistols and their holsters, belts bayonets, horses with their harness, and all other like kinds of arms and instruments of war for the use of troops.

51

ARTICLE X.

Goods not contraband.

These which follow shall not be reckoned in the number of prohibited goods, that is to say: All sorts of cloths, and all other manufactures of wool, flax, silk, cotton, or any other materials; all kinds of wearing apparel, together with the things of which they are commonly made; gold, silver coined or uncoined, brass, iron, lead, copper, latten, coals, wheat, barley, and all sorts of corn or pulse, tobacco; all kinds of spices, salted and smoked flesh, salted fish, cheese, butter, beer, oyl, wines, sugar; all sorts of salt and provisions which serve for the nourishment and sustenance of man; all kinds of cotton, hemp, flax, tar, pitch, ropes, cables, sails, sail-cloth, anchors, and any parts of anchors, ship-masts, planks, boards, beams, and all sorts of trees and other things proper for building or repairing ships. Nor shall any goods be considered as contraband which have not been worked into the form of any instrument or thing for the purpose of war by land or by sea, much less such as have been prepared or wrought up for any other use: all which shall be reckoned free goods, as likewise all others which are not comprehended and particularly mentioned in the foregoing article, so that they shall not by any pretended interpretation be comprehended among prohibited or contraband goods. On the contrary, they may be freely transported by the subjects of the King and of the United States, even to places belonging to an enemy, such places only excepted as are besieged, blocked, or invested; and those places only shall be considered as such which are nearly surrounded by one of the belligerent powers.

In case of war,

be furnished with

tificates.

ARTICLE XI.

In order to avoid and prevent on both sides all disputes and discord, it is agreed that, in case one of the parties shall be engaged ships and vessels to in a war, the ships and vessels belonging to the subjects or sea-letters and cer- inhabitants of the other shall be furnished with sea-letters or passports, expressing the name, property, and port of the vessel, and also the name and place of abode of the master or commander of the said vessel, in order that it may thereby appear that the said vessel really and truly belongs to the subjects of the one or the other party. These passports, which shall be drawn up in good and due form, shall be renewed every time the vessel returns home in the course of the year. It is also agreed that the said vessels, when loaded, shall be provided not only with sea-letters, but also with certificates containing a particular account of the cargo, the place from which the vessel sailed, and that of her destination, in order that it may be known whether they carry any of the prohibited or contraband merchandizes mentioned in the 9th article of the present treaty; which certificates shall be made out by the officers of the place from which the vessel shall depart.

Vessels shall ex

ters and certificates.

ARTICLE XII.

Although the vessels of the one and of the other party may navigate freely and with all safety, as is explained in the 7th article, hibit their sea-let they shall, nevertheless, be bound, at all times when reIf no contraband quired, to exhibit, as well on the high sea as in port, their goods may pass. passports and certificates above mentioned; and, not having contraband merchandize on board for an enemy's port, they may freely and without hindrance pursue their voyage to the place of their destination. Nevertheless, the exhibition of papers shall not be de

but credit

manded of merchant-ships under the convoy of vessels of war, shall be given to the word of the officer commanding the convoy.

ARTICLE XIII.

Discovery of contraband goods.

If on producing the said certificates it be discovered that the vessel carries some of the goods which are declared to be prohibited or contraband, and which are consigned to an enemy's port, it shall not however be lawful to break up the hatches of such ships, nor to open any chest, coffers, packs, casks, or vessels, nor to remove or displace the smallest part of the merchandizes, until the cargo has been landed in the presence of officers appointed for the purpose, and until an inventory thereof has been taken; nor shall it be lawful to sell, ex-change or alienate the cargo or any part thereof, until legal process shall have been had against the prohibited merchandizes, and sentence shall have passed declaring them liable to confiscation, saving nevertheless as well the ships themselves, as the other merchandizes which shall have been found therein, which by virtue of this present treaty are to be esteemed free, and which are not to be detained on pretence of their having been loaded with prohibited merchandize, and much less confiscated as lawful prize. And in case the contraband merchandize be only a part of the cargo, and the master of the vessel agrees, consents, and offers to deliver them to the vessel that has discovered them, in that case the latter, after receiving the merchandizes which are good prize, shall immediately let the vessel go, and shall not by any means hinder her from pursuing her voyage to the place of her destination. When a vessel is taken and brought into any of the ports of the contracting parties, if upon examination she be found to be loaded only with merchandizes declared to be free, the owner, or he who has made the prize, shall be bound to pay all costs and damages to the master of the vessel unjustly detained.

ARTICLE XIV.

Goods found in an

It is likewise agreed that whatever shall be found to be laden by the subjects of either of the two contracting parties, on a ship belonging to the enemies of the other party, the whole enemy's shij. effects, although not of the number of those declared contraband, shall be confiscated as if they belonged to the enemy, excepting nevertheless such goods and merchandizes as were put on board before the declaration of war, and even six months after the declaration, after which term none shall be presumed to be ignorant of it, which merchandizes shall not in any manner be subject to confiscation, but shall be faithfully and specifically delivered to the owners, who shall claim or cause them to be claimed before confiscation and sale, as also their proceeds, if the claim be made within eight months, and could not be made sooner after the sale, which is to be public: provided, nevertheless, that if the said merchandizes be contraband, it shall not be in any wise lawful to carry them afterwards to a port belonging to the enemy.

ARTICLE XV.

Vessels of war and

And that more effectual care may be taken for the security of the two contracting parties, that they suffer no prejudice by the men-of-war of the other party or by privateers, all cap- privateers. tains and commanders of ships of His Swedish Majesty and of the United