THE COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH FRANCE.

The following is the Treaty of Commerce between her Majesty and the Emperor of the French, signed at Paris, January 23, 1860, and the ratifications of which were exchanged at Paris, February 4, 1860. " Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and his Majesty the Emperor of the French, being equally animated with the desire to draw closer the ties of friendship which unite their two people, and wishing to improve and extend the relations of commerce be- tween their respective dominions, have resolved to conclude a treaty for that purpose, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say :

" Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Most Honourable Henry Richard Charles Earl Cowley, Viscount Denson, Baron Cowley, a Peer of the United Kingdom, a Member of her Britannic Majesty's Privy Council, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honour- able Order of the Bath, her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni- potentiary to the Emperor of the French; and Richard Cobden, Esq., a Member of the British Parliament ;

" His Majesty the Emperor of the French, M. Baroche, Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour, &c., a Member of his Privy Council, President of his Council of State, provisionally charged with the Department of Foreign Affairs ; and M. Rouher, Grand Officer of the Im- penal Order of the Legion of Honour, Sm., Senator, his Minister and Secretary of State for the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works; " Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles :—

" ARTICLE I.

"His Majesty the Emperor of the French engages that on the following articles of British production and manufacture, imported from the United Kingdom i o France, the duties shall in no case exceed 30 per cent, ad valorem, a two additional declines included.

"The articles are as follows :—Refined sugar. Turmeric in powder. Rock crystal worked. Iron forged in lumps or prisms. Brass wire (copper alloyed with zinc), polished or unpolished of every description. Chemical productions, enumerated or non-enumerated. Extracts of dye-woods. Ga- rancine. Common soap of every description, and perfumed soap. Stone- ware and earthenware, fine and common. China and porcelain-ware. Glass, crystal, mirrors, and plate-glass. Cotton yarn. Worsted and woollen yarn of every description. Yarns of flax and hemp. Yarns of hair, enumerated or non-enumerated. Cotton matufactures. Horsehair manufactures, enu- merated or non-enumerated. Worsted and woollen manufactures, enume- rated ur non-enumerated. Cloth list. Manufactures of hair. Silk manu- factures. Manufactures of waste and floss silk. Manufactures of bark and all other vegetable fibres, enumerated or non-enumerated. Manufactures of flax and hemp. Mixed manufactures of every description. Hosiery. Haberdashery and small wares. Manufactures of caoutchouc and gnats percha, pure or mixed. Articles of clothing, wholly or in part made up. Prepared skins. Articles of every sort manufactured from leather or skins, included or not under the denomination of small wares, fine or common. Plated articles of every description. Cutlery. Metal wares, whether enu- merated or not. Pig and cast-iron of every description, without distinction of weight. Bar and wrought-iron, with the exception of the kinds specified in Article XVII. Steel. Machinery, tools, and mechanical instruments of every description. Carriages on spnngs, lined and painted. Cabinet-ware, carved work, and turnery of every description ; worked ivory and wood. Brandies and spirits, including those not distilled from wine, cherries, mo- lasses, or rice. Ships and boats. With respect to refined sugar and chymi- cal productions of which salt is the basis, the excise or inland duties shall be added to the amount of the above specified duties.

" ARTICLE H.

" His Imperial Majesty engages to reduce the import duties in France on British coal and coke to the amount of 15e. for the hundred kilogrammes, with the addition of the two decimes.

" His Majesty the Emperor also engages, within four years from the date of the ratification of the present treaty, to establish upon the importation of coal and coke by land and by sea a uniform duty, which shall not exceed that which is fixed by the preceding paragraph.

ARTICLP Ill.

" It is understood that the rates of duty mentioned in the preceding articles are independent of the differential duties in favour of French ship- ping, with which duties they shall not interfere.

" ARTICLE IV.

" The duties ad valorem stipulated in the present treaty shall be calcu- lated on the value at the place of production or fabrication of the object imported, with the addition of the cost of transport, insurance, and com- mission necessary for the importation into France as far as the port of dis- charge.

" For the levying of these duties the importer shall make a written de- claration at the Custom-house, stating the value and description of the goods imported. If the Custom-house authorities shall be of opinion that the declared value is insufficient,. they shall be at liberty to take the goods on paying to the importer the price declared, with an addition of 5 per cent. This payment, together with the restitution of any duty which may have been levied upon such goods, shall be made within the fifteen days fol- lowing the declaration.

" ARTICLE V.

" Her Britannic Majesty engages to recommend to Parliament to enable her to abolish the duties of importation on the following articles :—Sulphu- ric acid, and other mineral acids. Agates and cornelians, set. Lucifers of every description. Percussion caps. Arms of every description. Jewels, set. Toys. Corks. Brocade of gold and silver. Embroideries and needle- work of every description. Brass and bronze manufactures, and bronze metal. Canes, walking canes or sticks, umbrella or parasol sticks, mounted, painted, or otherwise ornamented. Hats, of whatever substance they may be made. Gloves, stockings, socks, and other articles of cotton or linen, wholly or in part made up. Leather manufactures. Lace manufactured of cotton, wool, silk, or linen. Manufactures of iron and steel. Machinery and mechanical instruments, tools, and other instruments. Cutlery and otheritrtieles of steel, iron, or cast iron. Fancy ornaments of steel and iron. Articles covered with copper by galvanic process. Millinery and artificial flowers. Raw fruits. Gloves and other leather articles of clothing. Manu- factures of caoutchouc and gutta percha. Oils. Musical instruments. Worsted and woollen shawls, plain printed, or patterned. Coverlids, wool- len_gloves, and other worsted and woollen manufactures not enumerated.

Handkerchiefs and other manufactures not enumerated of linen and hemp. Perfumery ; cabinet ware, carved work, and turnery of every description. Clocks, watches, and opera-glasses. Manufactures of lead, enumerated or not enumerated. Feathers, dressed or not. Goat's and other hair manu- factures. China and porcelain ware. Stone and earthenware. Grapes. Sulphate of quinine. Salts of morphine. Manufactures of silk, or of silk mixed with any other materials, of whatever description they may be. Articles not enumerated in the tariff, now paying an ad valorem duty of 10 per cent. ; subject, however, to such measures of precaution as the protec- tion of the public revenue may require, against the introduction of materials liable to Custom or Excise duties, in the composition of articles admitted duty free in virtue of the present paragraph.

" ARTICLE VI.

"Her Britannic Majesty engagea also to propose to Parliament that the duties on the importation of French wine, be at once reduced to a rate not exceeding 3s. a gallon, and that from the 1st of April 1861, the duties on importation shall be regulated as follows- " 1. On wine containing less than 15 degrees of proof spirit verified by Sykes's hydrometer, the duty shall not exceed la. a gallon. " 2. On wine containing from 15 to 26 degrees, the duty shall not exceed Is. 6d. a gallon. " 3. On wine containing from 26 to 40 degrees, the duty shall not exceed 24. a gallon. " 4. On wine in bottles the duty shall not exceed 2a. a gallon. " 5. Wine shall not be imported at any other ports than those which shall

be named for that purpose before the present treaty shall come into force, her Britannic Majesty reserving to herself the right of substituting other ports for those which shall have been originally named, or of increasing the number of them.

" The duty fixed upon the importation of wine at ports other than those named shall be 2s. agalloh. " 6. Her Britannic Majesty reserves to herself the power, notwithstand- ing the provisions of this article, to fix the maximum amount of proof spirit which may be contained in liquor declared as *Me, without, however, the maximum being lower than 37 degrees.

" ARTICLE VII.

" Her Britannic Majesty promises to recommend to Parliament to admit into the United Kingdom merchandise imported from France at a rate of duty equal to the Excise duty, which is or shall be imposed upon articles of the same description in the United Kingdom. At the same tune, the duty

chargeable upon the importation of such merchandise may be augmented by such a sum as shall be an equivalent for the expenses which the system of Excise may entail upon the British producer.

"ARTICLE VIII.

"In accordance with the preceding article, her Britannic Majesty under- takes to recommend to Parliament the admission into the United Kingdom of brandtai and spirits imported from France at a duty exactly equal to the Excise duty levied upon home-made spirits, with the addition of a surtax of 2d. a gallon, which will make the actual duty payable on. French brandies and spirits 8s. 2d. the gallon.

"Her Britannic Majesty also undertakes to recommend to Parliament the admission of rum and tafia imported from the French colonies at the same duty which is or shall be levied on these same articles imported from the British colonies.

" Her Britannia Majesty. undertakes to recommend to Parliament the ad- mission of paper-hangings imported from France at a duty equal to the Ex- cise tax,—that is to say, at 14s. per hundredweight ; and cardboard of the same origin at a duty which shall not exceed 15s. per hundred- weight.

"Her Britannic Majesty further undertakes to recommend to Parliament the admission of gold and silver plate imported from France at a duty equal to the stamp or Excise duty which is charged on British gold and silver plate.

"ARTICLE IX..

" It is understood between the two high contracting Powers that if one of them thinks it necessary to establish an Excise tax or inland duty, upon any article of home production or manufacture which is comprised among the pre- ceding enumerated articles the foreign imported article of the same descrip- tion may be immediately liable to an equivalent duty on importation. "It is equally understood between the high contracting Powers that in case the British Government should deem it necessary to increase the Excise duties levied upon some home-made spirits the duties on the importation of wines may be modified in the following manner :-

" For every increase of Is. per gallon of spirits on the Excise duty there may be on wines which pay Is. 6d. duty an augmentation not exceeding lid. per gallon ; and on wines which pay 2s. an augmentation not exceeding 2id. per gallon.

"ARTICLE X.

" The two high contracting parties reserve to themselves the power of levying upon all articles mentioned in the present treaty, or upon any other article, landing or shipping dues, in order to pay the expenses of all neces- sary establishments at the ports of importation and exportation. " But in all that relates to local treatment, the dues and charges in the ports, basins, docks, roadsteads, harbours, and rivers of the two countries, the privileges, favours, or advantages which are or shall be granted to na- tional vessels generally, or to the goods imported or exported in them, shall be equally granted to the vessels of the other country, and to the goods im- ported or exported in them.

" ARTICLE XI.

" The two high contracting Powers engage not to prohibit the exporta- tion of coal, and to levy no duty upon such exportation.

" ARTICLE XII.

" The subjects of one of the two high contracting Powers shall in the do- minions of the other enjoy the same protection as native subjects in regard to the rights of property in trademarks and in patterns of every descrip- tion.

" ARTICLE XIII.

" The ad valorem duties established within the limits fixed by. the pre- ceding articles shall be converted into specific duties by a supplementary convention, which shall be concluded before the 1st of July, 1860. The me- dium prices during the six mouths preceding the date of the present treaty shall be taken as the bases for this conversion.

" Duties shall, however, be levied in conformity with the bases above established :— " 1. In the event of this supplementary convention not having come into force before the expiration of the period fixed for the execution by France of the present treaty ; " 2. Upon those articles the specific duties on which shall not have been settled by common consent. " ARTICLE XIV.

" The present treaty shall be binding for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland so soon as the necessary legislative sanction shall have been given by Parliament, with the reserve made in Article VI. respecting wines.

" Further, her Britannic Majesty reserves to herself the power of retain- ing, upon special grounds, and by way of exemption, during a period not exceeding two years, dating from the 1st of April, 1860, half of the duties on those articles, the free admission of which is stipulated by the present treaty.

" This reserve, however, does not apply to articles of silk manufacture. " ARTICLE XV.

" The engagements contracted by his Majesty the Emperor of the French shall be fulfilled, and the tariffs previously indicated as payable on British goodsand manufactures shall be applied within the following periods :— " 1. For coal and coke, from the 1st of July, 1860.

" 2. For bar and pig iron, and for steel of the kinds which are not sub- ject to prohibition, from the 1st of October, 1860. " 3. For worked metals, machines, tools, and mechanical instruments of all sorts, within a period which shall not exceed the 31st of December, 1860.

"4. For yarns and manufactures in flax and hemp, from the 1st of June, 1861.

" 5. And for all other articles from the let of October, 1861.

"ARTICLE XVI.

"His Majesty the Emperor of the French engages that the ad valorem duties payable on the importation into France of merchandise of British production and manufactures, shall not exceed a maximum of 25 per cent, from the 1st of October, 1864.

"ARTICLE XVII.

"It is understood between the two high contracting Powers, as an ele- ment of the conversion of the all valorem duties into specific duties, that for the kinds of bar iron which are at present subjected on importation into France to a duty of 10f. not including the two additional decimes' the duty shall be 7f. on every 100 kilogramme* until the 1st of October, 1864, and 6f. from that period, including in both cases the two additional flecimes.

" ARTICLE XVIII.

"The arrangements of the present Treaty of Commerce are applicable to Algeria, both for the exportation of her produce, and for the importation of British. goods. " ARTICLE XIX.

"Each of the two high contracting Powers engages to confer on the other any favour, privilege, or reduction in the tariff of duties of importation on the articles mentioned in the present Treaty which the said Power may concede to any third Power. They further engage not to enforce one against the other any prohibition of importation or exportation, which shall not at the same time be applicable to all other nations. ARTICLE XX.

" The present Treaty shall not be valid unless her Britannic Majesty shall be authorized by the assent of her Parliament, to execute the engage- ments contracted by her in the articles of the present Treaty. "ARTICLE XXI "The present Treaty shall remain in force for the space of ten years, to date from the day of the exchange of ratifications, and in case neither of the high contracting Powers shall have notified to the other, twelve months be- fore the expiration of the said period of ten years, the intention to put an end to its operation, the treaty shall continue in force for another year, and so on from year to year until the expiration of a year, counting from the day on which one or other of the high contracting Powers shall have an- nounced its intention to put an end to it. " The high contracting Powers reserve to themselves the right to intro- duce by common consent into this treaty any modification which is not op- posed to its spirit and principles, and the utility of which shall have been shown by experience. "ARTICLE XXII.

"The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be ex- changed at Paris within the period of fifteen days, or sooner if possible.

" In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it, and affixed thereto the seal of their arms.

"Done in duplicate at Paris, the 23d day of January, in the year of our Lord 1860.

" (L.S.) COWLEY.

S. RICHARD COBDEN.

" (L.S.i V. 13.i.nocila.

" (L.S. F. Rounnx.