public ground in A portion of the monument upon such portion of the public grounds in the city the city of Wash of Washington as may be designated for that purpose by the ington granted as President of the United States. a site for said monument. Approved August 11, 1848. Four copies of the statutes at tor of the Trea [No. 26.] A RESOLUTION concerning the distribution of the statutes at large Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the large to be deliv. Secretary of State be authorized and directed to deliver to the ered to the Solici Solicitor of the Treasury four copies of the statutes at large, sury for the use for the use of his office, and to be kept and preserved therein as Solicitor allow public property, and that the Solicitor be allowed the use of library of Con- the library of Congress, subject to regulations of the Joint Committee on the Library. of his office. ed the use of the gress. Approved August 11, 1848. the Catholic con Augustine, Flori general of Flori da, to arbitration. [No. 27.] A RESOLUTION authorizing the submission of certain claims to arbitration. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the The claim of United States of America in Congress assembled, That the gregation of St. Solicitor of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized, by da, and Benedict and with the approval of the Secretaries of the Treasury and Madeore, vicar War Departments, to submit the differences between the United certain States of the one part, and the Catholic congregation of St. in their memorial, Augustine, Florida, and Benedict Madeore, Vicar General of to be submitted to the catholic church of Florida, of the other part, as to certain. property specified in the memorials to Congress of the claimants, at this session, to arbitration, and to agree, for the United States, to such impartial and disinterested citizen learned it. the law as said Solicitor and said parties may select, to decide said differences on such terms and conditions, and in such mode, manner, and form, as may be deemed just and proper by said Solicitor and said parties, to be set forth in such submission; and that said Solicitor be directed to defend the rights and interests of the United States before such arbitrator, and to obtain from Havana, or elsewhere, such papers as may be necessary therefor, the decision of said arbitrator to be made before or during the next session of Congress, and, with the evidence on which the same is founded, to be laid before Con gress at its next session, for its approval and ratification thereof, or dissent therefrom, and for its further action. Approved August 11, 1848. [No. 28.] A RESOLUTION for the relief of H. B. Gaither. $240 to be paid him for taking charge of and keeping certain the Cherokees in Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be authorized and required to pay to H. B. Gaither the sum of two hundred and forty dollars, for taking books relating to charge of and keeping certain books relating to the payment the payment of of the Cherokees, in the year eighteen hundred and forty-one, is. under an implied contract with William Armstrong, agent for said Indians; and that said sum be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved August 14, 1848. CONVENTION WITH THE SWISS CONFEDERATION FOR THE CONCLUDED MAY 18, 1847. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. the Swiss Con 18th WHEREAS a Convention between the United States of Convention with America and the Federal Directory of the Swiss Confedera- federation, tion was concluded and signed at the City of Washington, May, 1847. by their respective Plenipotentiaries, on the eighteenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven; which Convention, being in the English and French languages, is, word for word, as follows: The President of the United States of America, and the Federal Directory of the Swiss Confederation, animated by the desire to secure and extend, by an amicable Convention, the relations happily existing between the two countries, have, to this effect, appointed, as their plenipotentiaries, to wit: the President of the United States of America, James Buchanan, Secretary of State of the United States; and the Federal Directory of the Swiss confederation, A. C. Cazenove, Swiss consul at Alexandria; who, after the exchange of their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and signed the following articles: Le Président des Etats Unis de l'Amérique, et le Directoire Federal de la Confédération Suisse, animés du désir d'assurer et d'étendre par une convention amiable, les rélations heureusement existantes, entre les deux pays, ont nommé à cet effet pour leurs plénipotentiaires, savoir: le Président des Etats Unis d'Amérique, James Buchanan, Sécretaire d'Etat des Etats Unis; et le Directoire Federal de la confédération Suisse, A. C. Cazenove, consul Suisse á Alexandrie; lesquels après l'échange de leurs pleins pouvoirs trouvés en bonne et due forme, sont convenus des articles suivants, et les ont signés: Preamble. Negotiators. ARTICLE 1. Power to dis- The citizens of each one of property. Heirs may inherit and take manner; possession; of the same on tain duties. pose of personal the high contracting parties shall have power to dispose of their personal property, within the jurisdiction of the other, either by testament, donation, or ab intestato, or in any other and their heirs, being citizens of the other party, shall inherit all such personal estates, whether by testament, or ab intestato, and they may take possession of the same, either personally or by attor. and may dispose ney, and dispose of them as payment of cer they may think proper, paying to the respective governments no other charges than those to which the inhabitants of the country in which the said property shall be found would be liable in a similar case; and, in the abProperty of absence of such heir, or heirs, the same care shall be taken of the property that would be taken, in the like case, for the preservation of the property of a citizen of the same country, until the lawful proprietor shall have had time to take measures for possessing himIn cases of dis- self of the same; and in case any dispute should arise be tween claimants to the same succession, as to the property thereof, the question shall be decided according to the laws, and by the judges, of the country in which the property is situated. sent heirs to be taken care of. pute, how to be decided. ARTICLE 1. Les citoyens de chacune des hautes parties contractantes auront la faculté de disposer de leurs biens personnels, dans la jurisdiction de l'autre, soit par testament, donation, ou de toute autre maniére; et leurs héritiers, etant citoyens de l'autre partie, hériteront de leurs dits biens personnels, que ce soit, par testament, ou ab intestato, et ils pourront en prendre possession, euxmèmes, ou par le moyen de leurs agens, et en disposer comme ils l'entendront, n'ayant à payer aux gouvernemens respectifs d'autres droits, que ceux auxquels sont soumis en pareil cas les habitans même du pays dans lequel les dits biens se trouvent; dans le cas de l'absence de l'héritier ou des héritiers, il y serait pris par l'autorité, à l'egard des dits biens, le même soin que celui qui pourrait être pris, dans le même cas, pour la conservation des biens d'un natif du même pays, et cela jusqu'à ce que le propriétaire légal ait pu prendre les mesures convenables pour les recueillir; et dans le cas où il s'éléverait une question parmi les prétendans à une successión de savoir à qui les biens doivent appartenir, cette question sera décidée après les lois et par les juges du pays dans lequel les biens se trouvent. ARTICLE 2. Si, par la mort d'une personne possedant des propri etés foncières sur le territoire de l'une des hautes parties contractantes, ces propriétés |