[Abolition of the Elbe Duties.] Navigation of the Elbe, which were suspended in virtue of Art. XIV of that Convention, and the Compact of the 4th of April, 1863, between Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Anhalt-Dessau-Köthen, Anhalt-Bernburg and Hamburgh, concerning the administration and imposition at Wittenberg of the Elbe Dues held in common, will cease to have force on and after 1st July, 1870. Ratifications.* ART. III. The present Agreement shall be ratified and the Ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Vienna within 10 days. Vienna, 22nd June, 1870. (L.S.) BEUST, m.p. (L.S.) v. SCHWEINITZ, m.p. * Ratifications exchanged at Vienna, 26th June, 1870. [Protest against Annexation to Prussia.] made in con But there has Now, the Right of Conquest supposes a War formity with the principles of the Law of Nations. never been between us and the King of Prussia a War of such a nature. Moreover, as we have already stated above, it could not take place according to the Fundamental Laws of the Germanic Confederation, and it ought to have been morally impossible from one of our near relatives, of a friendly Sovereign, of a German Prince! We consequently found ourselves, purely and simply, in the position of legitimate self-defence, in the face of an aggression which nothing could justify, and which we had not provoked. With the facts above described in view, we loudly and solemnly Protest: Against the unjustifiable Invasion of our Territory, which detachments of the Army of the King of Prussia presumed to make on the 15th June, 1866, and following days; Against the Occupation of our Kingdom by the same Army detachments; Against the Usurpation of our Rights and Prerogatives committed by the Agents of Prussia, and against any which they may still commit; Against the Losses which we and our Royal House have suffered, or which we may be made to suffer, on the part of Prussia, in respect of our Property,* Revenues, or Estates, of whatever nature they may be ; Against the Spoliations suffered by the Public Treasury of Hanover under Prussian Administration, and against those which it may have to bear in future; Against the Prosecutions, Losses, and Injuries to which our faithful Subjects may have been exposed, in consequence of the unjust and illegal acts of the Administration of the King of Prussia, or to which they may be subject in future; Against the Obstacles which the said Administration brutally put to the manifestation of our well-beloved Subjects in favour of the preservation of our Dynasty and the Dynasty of Hanover, whilst it has provoked, and favoured by most disloyal means, manifestations in a contrary sense; Against the Ill-will of the King of Prussia, who has repelled the steps which we have taken, or which we have ordered to be * See note, page 1742. [Neutrality. War. France and Prussia.] No. 422.-NOTE of the Swiss Government to Foreign Powers, declaring its Neutrality in the War between France and Prussia. Berne, 18th July, 1870. (Translation as laid before Parliament.) Berne, 18th July, 1870. THE Treaties of 1815 Guarantee to Switzerland her perpetual Neutrality and the Inviolability of her Territory (No. 43). They also Guarantee the same Neutrality to certain Countries which formerly formed an integral part of the Kingdom of Sardinia (No. 40), but at present are in the possession of France in consequence of the Treaty of Turin of 24th March, 1860 (No. 313). The hope having vanished of a pacific solution of the quarrel which has taken place between France and Prussia with respect to the Spanish Throne, and these two States having appealed to Arms, the Swiss Confederation has considered it their duty to explain at once and with the greatest freedom the position they intend taking to provide for certain eventualities. The Federal Council declares, consequently, by virtue of a special power unanimously conferred by the Federal Assembly, that Switzerland will maintain and defend, during the War which is preparing, her Neutrality and the Integrity of her Territory by all the means in her power. She will loyally maintain towards all this position, which is dictated to her by European Treaties, and which agrees as well with her present condition as with her own requirements; but if, contrary to every expectation, violence was offered to that Neutrality, she would energetically repulse every aggression, convinced as she would be of the justice of her cause. With reference to the parts of Savoy which, according to the terms of the Declaration of the Great Powers of 29th March 1815 (No. 10), of the Final Act of Vienna, 9th June, 1815 (No. 27), of the Treaty of Paris, 20th November, 1815 (No. 40), Article III, and of the Act recognising and guaranteeing Swiss Neutrality, bearing the same date (No. 43), are to enjoy a Neutrality similar to that of Switzerland, an arrangement which France and Sardinia have confirmed by Article II of the Treaty of Turin, cited above, of the 24th March, 1860 (No. 313), the Federal Council thinks fit to recall to mind that Switzerland has the right to occupy that Territory. The Federal Council would employ that right if circumstances seemed to require its exercise for the defence of Swiss Neutrality and of the Integrity of the Territory of the Confederation; in every case it will scrupulously respect the restrictions which Treaties lay on the exercise of the right in question, and will come to an arrangement to that effect with the French Imperial Government. The Federal Council expresses the hope that these frank explanations of the position which Switzerland will take in presence of the events which are preparing will be received with goodwill, both by the Belligerent States and by the other Great Powers, which guaranteed the Treaties of Vienna; and that they will convince them that Switzerland, in the dispositions she will take, intends placing herself in the position which the existing Treaties assign her. With this hope he takes, &c., In the name of the Swiss Federal Council, THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION, [On the 29th July, 1870, Mr. Bonar, Her Majesty's Minister at Berne, reported that the Duc de Gramont, in his reply to this communication, "had not rejected nor even contested the right so claimed by Switzerland, but had confined himself to declaring that, under the eventualities referred to, it would have to be made the subject of special arrangement between the two Governments."] [Peace.] (Translation.*) Reference to Treaties of Zurich of 10th November, 1859. In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity. His Majesty the King of Italy and His Majesty the Emperor of Austria having resolved to establish between their respective States a sincere and lasting Peace, His Majesty the Emperor of Austria having ceded to His Majesty the Emperor of the French the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom,† His Majesty the Emperor of the French on his part having declared himself ready to recognise the Union of the said Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom to the States of His Majesty the King of Italy, with the reservation of the consent of the Populations being duly consulted; His Majesty the King of Italy and His Majesty the Emperor of Austria have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, namely: His Majesty the King of Italy, the Sieur Louis Frederic Count Menabrea, Senator of the Kingdom, Lieutenant-General, &c.; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, the Sieur Felix Count Wimpffen, his actual Chamberlain, Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary, on an Extraordinary Mission, &c.; Who, after having exchanged their respective Full Powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles: Peace and Friendship. ART. I. There shall be from the date of the exchange of the Ratifications of the present Treaty, Peace and Friendship between His Majesty the King of Italy and His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, their heirs and successors, their States and their respective subjects in perpetuity. Delivery of Prisoners of War. ART. II. The Italian and Austrian Prisoners of War shall be immediately delivered up on both sides. Union of Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom to Italy. ART. III. His Majesty the Emperor of Austria agrees to the Union of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom to the Kingdom of Italy, * For French version see "State Papers," vol. lvi, p. 700. + Treaties of Zurich, of 10th November, 1859. |