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river.

TREATY BETWEEN THE GERMAN STATES AND SIAM.

211

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 pro- hibited, 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 employment 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 subject without the consent 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 agreed 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 belongs or owes services.

If Siamese in the employment of a German subject offend against the laws of Siam, or if any Siamese offenders or fugitives take refuge with a German subject in Siam, the German Consular Officer shall, upon proof of their 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 the Siamese authorities can prove to the German Consular Officer that there are lawful reasons for such detention.”

Within the boundaries fixed by article five 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, profession, 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 of 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 Con- sular Officer of the Contracting German States.

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Art. VIII. Within the limits specified in the fifth article, subjects of the Con- tracting 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 walls and the Klong-padung-kung-krasem canal, &c.

2. On the right bank of the river between the points opposite the upper and the lower mouth of the Klong-padung-kumg-krasem canal, within a distance of two English 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-money, 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 shall 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 favored

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 being distinctly set forth to the Consul, he shall in conjunction with the Siamese authorities arrange such suitable conditions and terms as shall admit of the mines being worked. German subjects shall likewise be

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