Treaty between Great Britain and The
Netherlands, respecting Territory and
Commerce in the East Indies. Signed at
London, March 17, 1824.
1824
Exported from Wikisource on February 2, 2022
1
In the Name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.
His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of The
Netherlands, desiring to place upon a footing, mutually
beneficial, their respective possessions and the commerce
of their subjects in the East Indies, so that the welfare and
prosperity of both nations may be promoted, in all time to
come, without those differences and jealousies which have,
in former times, interrupted the harmony which ought
always to subsist between them; and being anxious that all
occasions of misunderstanding between their respective
agents may be, as much as possible, prevented; and in order
to determine certain questions which have occurred in the
execution of the Convention made at London, on the 13th
of August, 1814, in so far as it respects the possessions of
His Netherland Majesty in the East, have nominated their
Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:
His Majesty The King of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, The Right Honourable George Canning,
a Member of His said Majesty's Most Honourable Privy
Council, a Member of Parliament, and His said Majesty's
Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs;–And the
Right Honourable Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, a
Member of His said Majesty's Most Honourable Privy
Council, a Member of Parliament, Lieutenant-Colonel
Commandant of the Montgomeryshire Regiment of
2
Yeomanry Cavalry, and President of His said Majesty's
Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India:
And His Majesty The King of the Netherlands, Baron
Henry Fagel, Member of the Equestrian Corps of the
Province of Holland, Counsellor of State, Knight Grand
Cross of the Royal Order of the Belgic Lion, and of the
Royal Guelphic Order, and Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of His said Majesty to His Majesty The
King of Great Britain; - And Anton Reinhard Falck,
Commander of the Royal Order of the Belgic Lion, and His
said Majesty's Minister of the Department of Public
Instruction, National Industry, and Colonies:
Who, after having mutually communicated their full
powers, found in good and due form, have agreed on the
following Articles:
Article I
The High Contracting Parties engage to admit the subjects
of each other to trade with their respective possessions in
the Eastern Archipelago, and on the continent of India, and
in Ceylon, upon the footing of the most favoured nation;
their respective subjects conforming themselves to the local
regulations of each settlement.
Article II
3
The subjects and vessels of one nation shall not pay, upon
importation or exportation, at the ports of the other in the
Eastern Seas, any duty at a rate beyond the double of that at
which the subjects and vessels of the nation to which the
port belongs, are charged.
The duties paid on exports or imports at a British port, on
the continent of India, or in Ceylon, on Dutch bottoms, shall
be arranged so as, in no case, to be charged at more than
double the amount of the duties paid by British subjects,
and on British bottoms.
In regard to any article upon which no duty is imposed,
when imported or exported by the subjects, or on the
vessels, of the nation to which the port belongs, the duty
charged upon the subjects or vessels of the other, shall, in
no case, exceed 6 per cent.
Article III
The High Contracting Parties engage, that no Treaty
hereafter made by either, with any native power in the
Eastern Seas, shall contain any article tending, either
expressly, or by the imposition of unequal duties, to exclude
the trade of the other party from the ports of such native
power: and that if, in any Treaty now existing on either part,
any Article to that effect has been admitted, such Article
shall be abrogated upon the conclusion of the present
Treaty.
4
It is understood that, before the conclusion of the present
Treaty, communication has been made by each of the
Contracting Parties to the other, of all Treaties or
Engagements subsisting between each of them,
respectively, and any native power in the Eastern Seas; and
that the like communication shall be made of all such
Treaties concluded by them respectively hereafter.
Article IV
Their Britannic and Netherland Majesties engage to give
strict orders, as well to their Civil and Military Authorities,
as to their ships of war, to respect the freedom of trade,
established by Articles I., II., and III.; and, in no case, to
impede a free communication of the natives in the Eastern
Archipelago, with the ports of the two Governments,
respectively, or of the subjects of the two Governments with
the ports belonging to native powers.
Article V
Their Britannic and Netherland Majesties, in like manner,
engage to concur effectually in repressing piracy in those
seas; they will not grant either asylum or protection to
vessels engaged in piracy, and they will, in no case, permit
the ships or merchandise captured by such vessels, to be
introduced, deposited, or sold, in any of their possessions.
5
Article VI
It is agreed that orders shall be given by the two
Governments to their officers and agents in the East, not to
form any new settlement on any of the islands in the
Eastern seas, without previous authority from their
respective Governments in Europe.
Article VII
The Molucca islands, and especially Amboyna, Banda,
Ternate, and their immediate dependencies, are excepted
from the operation of the I., II., III., and IV. Articles, until
The Netherland Government shall think fit to abandon the
monopoly of spices; but if the said Government shall, at any
time previous to such abandonment of the monopoly, allow
the subjects of any power, other than a native Asiatic power,
to carry on any commercial intercourse with the said
islands, the subjects of His Britannic Majesty shall be
admitted to such intercourse, upon a footing precisely
similar.
Article VIII
His Netherland Majesty cedes to His Britannic Majesty all
His establishments on the continent of India; and renounces
all privileges and exemptions enjoyed or claimed in virtue
of those establishments.
6
Article IX
The factory of Fort Marlborough, and all the English
possessions on the Island of Sumatra, are hereby ceded to
His Netherland Majesty; and His Britannic Majesty further
engages that no British settlement shall be formed on that
island, nor any Treaty concluded by British authority, with
any native Prince, Chief, or State therein.
Article X
The town and fort of Malacca, and its dependencies, are
hereby ceded to His Britannic Majesty; and His Netherland
Majesty engages for himself and his subjects, never to form
any establishment on any part of the Peninsula of Malacca,
or to conclude any Treaty with any native Prince, Chief, or
State therein.
Article XI
His Britannic Majesty withdraws the objections which have
been made to the occupation of the island of Billiton and its
dependencies, by the agents of The Netherland
Government.
Article XII
7
His Netherland Majesty withdraws the objections which
have been made to the occupation of the island of
Singapore, by the subjects of His Britannic Majesty.
His Britannic Majesty, however, engages, that no British
establishment shall be made on the Carimon isles, or on the
islands of Battam, Bintang, Lingin, or on any of the other
islands south of the straits of Singapore, nor any Treaty
concluded by British authority with the chiefs of those
islands.
Article XIII
All the colonies, possessions, and establishments which are
ceded by the preceding Articles, shall be delivered up to the
officers of the respective Sovereigns on the 1st of March,
1825. The fortifications shall remain in the state in which
they shall be at the period of the notification of this Treaty
in India; but no claim shall be made, on either side, for
ordnance, or stores of any description, either left or
removed by the ceding Power, nor for any arrears of
revenue, or any charge of administration whatever.
Article XIV
All the inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded shall
enjoy for a period of 6 years from the date of the ratification
of the present Treaty[1], the liberty of disposing, as they
8
please, of their property, and of transporting themselves,
with out let or hindrance, to any country to which they may
wish to remove.
Article XV
The High Contracting Parties agree that none of the
territories or establishments mentioned in Articles VIII.,
IX., X., XI., and XII., shall be at any time transferred to any
other Power. In case of any of the said possessions being
abandoned by one of the present Contracting Parties, the
right of occupation thereof shall immediately pass to the
other.
Article XVI
It is agreed that all accounts and reclamations, arising out of
the restoration of Java, and other possessions, to the officers
of His Netherland Majesty in the East Indies, as well those
which were the subject of a Convention made at Java on the
24th of June, 1817, between the Commissioners of the two
nations, as all others, shall be finally and completely closed
and satisfied, on the payment of the sum of £100,000, to be
made in London, on the part of The Netherlands before the
expiration of the year 1825.
Article XVII
9
The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications
exchanged at London, within 3 months from the date
hereof, or sooner if possible.
In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed the same, and affixed thereunto the seals of their
arms.
Done at London, the 17th day of March, in the year of our
Lord, 1824.
(L.S.) GEORGE CANNING. (L.S.) H. FAGEL.
(LS.) C. W. W. WYNN. (L.S.) A. R. FALCK.
1. ↑ The Ratifications were exchanged in London, 8th
June, 1824.
10
11
About this digital edition
This e-book comes from the online library Wikisource[1].
This multilingual digital library, built by volunteers, is
committed to developing a free accessible collection of
publications of every kind: novels, poems, magazines,
letters...
We distribute our books for free, starting from works not
copyrighted or published under a free license. You are free
to use our e-books for any purpose (including commercial
exploitation), under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported[2] license or, at your
choice, those of the GNU FDL[3].
Wikisource is constantly looking for new members. During
the transcription and proofreading of this book, it's possible
that we made some errors. You can report them at this
page[4].
The following users contributed to this book:
Fentener van Vlissingen
CalendulaAsteraceae
Jan.Kamenicek
1. ↑ https://en.wikisource.org
12
2. ↑ https://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
3. ↑ https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
4. ↑
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:Scriptorium
13
