After having examined with due attention the preliminaries of the
question and especially the negotiations formerly carried on between the
Governments of Great Britain and Germany and that of Spain, have
agreed to draw up the following Protocol :
The Secretary of State of Spain, in the name of his Government, says :
Considering the preliminary fact that the German ships ''Marie
Louise" and "Gazelle" were returned and an indemnity paid for their
cargoes in 1873 and 1874, and that the German ship "Minna" was
returned twice in 1875 and 1874;
Didy appreciating the increasing requirements of navigation and
commerce, and above all the legal status constituted by the Notes of the
Spanish Secretary of State dated the loth of April last and by the
ofl&cial publication of said Notes by the Governments of Great Britain
and- Germany, as also by the instructions given accordingly by said
Governments to their consuls, agents and commanders of their naval
forces ;
Therefore the Government of his Majesty the King of Spain rec-
ognizes that the merchant ships going to the Sulu archipelago can no
longer be required to call first at Zamboanga, to pay the harbor dues
there and to provide themselves with a navigation permit delivered at
said port. It furthermore believes that it must acknowledge, as provided
in the Notes of the 15th of April last, the complete liberty of direct
trade and commerce for ships and subjects of Great Britain, the German
Empire and the other powers, with the Sulu archipelago.
Considering that the Governments of Great Britain and of Germany
have maintained all their claims in regard to the liberty of navigation,
commerce and direct trade with the Sulu archipelago and within the
archipelago; that the Government of his Majesty the King of Spain
admits that it cannot guarantee the security of commerce at unoccupied
places of the archipelago in return for duties and dues paid, but will
guarantee perfect security to the ships and subjects of Great Britain,
Germany and the other powers at places occupied by said Government,
and provide the establishments necessary for the protection of their
trade, the Spanish Secretary of State remarks that there is no reason
why said ships and subjects should be exempted, at places occupied by
Spain, from the formalities, general regulations and ordinary duties,
whose nature will be explained in the present Protocol.
The undersigned representatives of Great Britain and of Germany
refer, on their part, to the Notes and official communications sent by
them on this matter to the Spanish Government, and requesting the
latter to acknowledge the absolute liberty of commerce and trade in all
parts of the Suhi archipelago, said acknowledgment having been men-
tioned by the Spanish Government in the Notes of April 15, 187G.
In consequence of what precedes and as the result of their conferences,
the undersigned have agreed on the following declarations:
Commerce and direct trading by ships and subjects of Great Britain,
Germany and the other powers are declared to be and shall be absolutely
free with the Sulu archipelago and in all parts thereof, as well as the
right of fishery, without prejudice to the rights recognized to Spain by
the present Protocol, in conformity with the following declarations:
II
The Spanish authorities shall no longer require ships and subjects of
Great Britain, Germany and the other powers, going freely to the
archipelago of Sulu, or from one point to another within the Sulu waters,
or from such a point to any other point in the world, to touch, before or
after, at any specified place in the archipelago or elsewhere, to pay any
duties whatsoever, or to get a permit from said authorities, which, on
their side, shall refrain from obstructing or interfering in any way with
the above mentioned trade.
It is undei-stood that the Spanish authorities shall in no way and
under no pretense prevent the free importation and exportation of all
sorts of goods, without exception, save at such places as are occupied,
and in accordance with Declaration III, and that in all places not oc-
cupied effectively by Spain, neither the ships and subjects above men-
tioned nor their goods shall be liable to any tax, duty or pa3mfient what-
soever, or any sanitary or other regulation.
Ill
In the places occupied by Spain in the archipelago of Sulu the Spanish
Government shall be empowered to establish taxes and sanitary and
other regulations, while said places are effectively occupied; but Spain
pledges herself, on her part, to provide in such places the ofiBces and
employees necessary to meet the requirements of commerce and the ap-
plication of said regulations. It is however expressly understood that
the Spanish Government, while it is resolved to impose no restrictive
regulations in the places occupied by it, pledges itself voluntarily not to
establish in said places taxes or duties exceeding those provided in the
Spanish tariffs or in the treaties or conventions between Spain and any
other power. Neither shall it put into force in said places exceptional
regulations applicable to the commerce and subjects of Great Britain,
Germany and the other powers. In case Spain should occupy effectively
other places in the archipelago of Sulu, and provide thereat the offices and
employees necessary to meet the requirements of commerce, the Gov-
ernments of Great Britain and Germany shall not object to the applica-
tion of the rules already stipulated for places occupied at present. But,
in order to avoid the possibility of new claims due to the uncertainty of
business men in regard to the places which are occupied and subject to
regulations and tariffs, the Spanish Government shall, whenever a place
is occupied in the Sulu archipelago, communicate the fact to the Gov-
enmients of Great Britain and Germany, and inform commerce at large
by means of a notification which shall be published in the oflBcial journals
of Madrid and Manila. In regard to tlie tariffs and regulations stipu-
lated for places which are occupied at the present time, they shall only
be applicable to the places which may be subsequently occupied by Spain
six months after the date of publication in the Official Gazette of Madrid.
It remains agreed that no ship or subject of Great Britain, Germany and
other powers shall be required to call at one of the occupied places, when
going to or from a place not occupied by Spain, and that they shall not be
liable to suffer prejudice on that account or on account of any class of
merchandise shipped to an unoccupied place in the archipelago.
IV
The three Governments represented by the undersigned pledge them-
selves respectively to publish the present declarations and to have them
strictly respected by their representatives, consular agents and com-
manders of the naval forces in the seas of the Orient.
If the Governments of Great Britain and Germany do not refuse their
adhesion to the present Protocol within 15 days from this date, or if they
notify their acceptance before the expiration of said period, through their
undersigned representatives, the present Declarations shall then come into
force.
A seal which says: Office of the Minister of State. — ^Translation. —
The undersigned, his Excellency Senor Jos6 Elduayen, Marquis of Pazo
de la Merced, Minister of State of his Majesty the King of Spain; His
Excellency Seiior Count Solms Sonnerwalds, Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of Germany, and
His Excellency Sir Robert B. D. Morier, Envoy Extraordinary and Min-
ister Plenipotentiary of her Britannic Majesty, authorized in due form
to carry on the negotiations followed in London and Berlin during the
years 1881 and 1882 by the representatives of his Majesty the King of
Spain with the Governments of Great Britain and Germany, for the
purpose of obtaining from these two powers the solemn recognition of
the sovereignty of Spain over the archipelago of Sulu, have agreed on the
following articles :
I
The Governments of (ilermany and Great Britain recognize the
sovereignty of Spain over the parts which are effectively occupied as well
as over those whicli are not yet occupied, of the archipelago of Sulu,
whose limits are established in Article 11.
