Directory_and_Chronicle_1890 — Page 370

336d

TREATY BETWEEN GERMANY AND JAPAN.

Art. XI.-The Imperial Japanese Government agrees that for a period of ten years from the time the present Treaty comes into force, German subjects or citizens shall be entitled to charter ships to Japanese subjects for employment in the coasting trade of Japan, subject, however, to the observance of the following stipulations.

No foreign vessel shall be permitted to engage in the coasting trade of Japan ander the provisions of this Article, except such as are bona fide, and in whole, char- tered by Japanese subjects alone.

Any Japanese subject desiring to charter a foreign vessel shall apply in writing to the Customs Authorities of the port of charter, setting forth in his application all the particulars relating to the vessel, so far as it is possible to give them, and the name and nationalityofthe master. The application shall be accompanied by a draft of the charter party, to be signed by the owner, master, or agent of the vessel; this draft shall mention the object of the charter, its duration, and the amount of charter money to be paid. Upon the receipt of this application the Customs Authorities shall, upon the payment of a fee of 50 yen, issue a permit to be called the "charter permit.

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The term for which foreign vessels may be chartered shall not exceed twelve calendar months.

At the expiration of the charter, the Customs Authorities of the port of charter. and a new charter-permit obtained upon the upon application being made in the same

charter.

charter permit shall be returned to the The charter may, however, be renewed payment of a further fee of 50 yen and manner as in the case of the original

In addition to the foregoing fee, chartered foreign vessels shall pay from the date of first clearance under charter tonnage and light dues at the rate of 2 sen per ton for every month, or fraction of a month, during which their charter continues.

Chartered foreign vessels shall carry a distinguishing flag, to indicate that the Tessels are chartered by Japanese subjects.

They shall, in the same manner as Japanese vessels, be obliged to carry mails, when required to do so by the Japanese Postal Authorities. But such vessels shall, under no circumstances, be allowed to carry mails without permission from the said authorities.

Chartered foreign vessels shall be permitted to engage in the coasting trade. When going abroad the charter-permit shall be surrendered to the Customs Authori- ties of the port of clearance, and all such goods as may have been shipped at any port while the vessel was so chartered, shall be subject to the prescribed export duties.

Chartered foreign vessels are subject to the Trade Regulations, in so far as such Regulations are applicable, but their charter-permits shall, when in port, be deposited with the Customs Authorities.

Art. XII.-Any ship of war or merchant vessel of either of the Contracting Parties which may be compelled by stress of weather, or by reason of any other distress, to take shelter in a port of the other shall be at liberty to refit therein, to procure all necessary supplies, and to put to sea again, without paying any dues other than such as would be payable by national vessels. In case, however, the master of a merchant ve-sel should be under the necessity of disposing of a part of his cargo in order to defray the expenses, he shall be bound to conform to the regulations and tariffs of the place to which he may have come.

If any ship of war or merchant vessel of one of the Contracting Parties should run aground or be wrecked upon the coasts of the other, the local authorities shall inform the Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent of the district of the occurrence, or, if there be no such Consular Officers, they shall inform the Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent of the nearest district.

All proceedings relative to the salvage of German vessels, wrecked or cast on shore in the territorial waters of the Japanese Empire, shall take place in accordance with the laws of Japan; and, reciprocally, all measures of salvage relative to Japanese vessels, wrecked or cast on shore in the territorial waters of Germany, shall take place in accordance with the laws of Germany.