TREATY BETWEEN THE GERMAN STATES AND SIAM.
of Supannaburi, and thence to the mouth of the Bangputsa canal nto the Cowpya river. Nevertheless German subjects may reside beyond these boundaries on obtain. ing permission to do so from the Siamese authorities.
All subjects of the Contracting German States are at liberty to travel and trade throughout the entire Kingdom of Siam, and to buy and sell all merchandise not prohibited, from and to whomsoever they please.
They are not bound to purchase from, or to sell to officials or monopolists, nor is anybody permitted to interfere with them or hinder them in their business.
Art. VI. The Siamese Government will place no restrictions upon the employ- ment of Siamese subjects in any capacity whatever by German subjects. But when a Siamese subject belongs or owes service to some particular master, he may not engage himself to a German subjec: without the conseut of the same.
Should he, however, do so, the contract for services is to be looked upon as concluded for three months only, unless a still shorter period should have been greed upon, or the German subject be willing to discharge the Siamese at once; and during this period the German subject is bound to pay two-thirds of the stipulated wages, not to the Siamese in his employment, but to the person to whom he belon, s or owes service.
If Siamese in the employment of a German subject offend against the laws of Siam, or if any Samese offenders or fugitives take refuge with a German subject in Siam, the German Consular Officer shall, upon proof of the guilt or desertion, take the necessary steps to ensure their being delivered up to the Siamese authorities.
Art. VII.-Subjects of the Contracting German States shall not be detained against their will in the Kingdom of Siam, unless th Siamese authorities can prove to the German Consular Officer that there are lawful reasons for such detention.
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Within the boundaries fixed by Article V. of this treaty, subjects of the contracting German States shall be at liberty to travel without hindrance or delays of any kind whatever, provided they are in possession of a passport signed by their Consular Officer, containing in Siamese characters their names, professions, and a description of their person, and countersigned by the competent Siamese authority.
Should they wish to go beyond the said limits and travel in the interior or the Kingdom of Siam, they shall procure for themselves a passport, which shall be delivered to them at the request of the Consular Officer by the Siamese authorities, and such passport shall not be refused in any instance except with the concurrence of the Consular officer of the Contracting German States.
Art. VIII.-Within the limits specified in the fifth article, subjects of the Contracting German States may buy and sell, take, or let on lease, land and plantations, and may build, buy, rent, sell, or let houses. The right, however, of owning land situated:
1.-On the left bank of the river within the city of Bangkok proper, and on the piece of ground between the city wall and the Klong-padung-kung-krasem canal &c. ; 2. On the right bank of the river between the points opposite the upper an! the lower month of the Klong padung-kung-krasem canal, within a distance of two Eugl.sh miles from the river, shall only belong to such as have received a special permission from the Siamese Government, or have spent ten years in Siam.
In order to obtain possession of such property, German subjects may make an application through the Consular Officer to the Siamese Government, which thereupon will appoint a functionary, who, jointly with the Consular officer, shall equitably adjust and settle the amount of the purchase-mon y, and make out and fix the boundaries of the property. The Siamese Government will then convey the property to the German purchaser. All landed property of German subjects shall be under the protection of the district Governor and the local authorities, but the proprietors shail conform in ordinary matters to an equitable direction proceeding from the said authorities, and shall be subject to the same taxation as the subjects or citizens of the most favoured
nation.
Subjects of the Contracting German States shall be at liberty to search for and open mines in any part of Siam, and the matter bing distinc ly set forth to the