ART. XVII.—The High Contracting Parties agree to the following arrangement:— The several Foreign Settlements in Japan shall, from the date this Treaty comes into force, be incorporated with the respective Japanese communes, and shall thenceforth form part of the general municipal system of Japan. The competent Japanese authorities shall thereupon assume all municipal obligations and duties in respect thereof, and the common funds and property, if any, belonging to such Settlements shall at the same time be transferred to the said Japanese authorities. When such incorporation takes place, existing leases in perpetuity upon which property is now held in the said Settlements shall be confirmed, and no conditions whatever other than those contained in such existing leases shall be imposed in respect of such property. It is, however, understood that the Consular Authorities mentioned in the same are in all cases to be replaced by the Japanese Authorities. All lands which may previously have been granted by the Japanese Government free of rent for the public purposes of the said Settlements shall, subject to the right of eminent domain, be permanently reserved free of all taxes and charges for the public purposes for which they were originally set apart. ART. XVIII.—The present Treaty shall, from the date it comes into force, be substituted in place of the Treaty of Peace and Amity concluded on the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the 7th year of Kayei corresponding to the 31st day of March, 1854; the Treaty of Amity and Commerce concluded on the 19th day of the 6th month of the 5th year of Ansei, corresponding to the 29th day of July, 1858; the Tariff Convention concluded on the 13th day of the 5th month of the 2nd year of Keio, corresponding to the 25th day of June, 1866; the Convention concluded on the 25th day of the 7th month of the 11th year of Meiji, corresponding to the 25th day of July, 1878, and all Arrangements and Agreements subsidiary thereto concluded or existing between the High Contracting Parties, and from the same date such Treaties, Conventions, Arrangements, and Agreements shall cease to be binding, and in consequence, the jurisdiction then exercised by Courts of the United States in Japan and all the exceptional privileges, exemptions, and immunities then enjoyed by citizens of the United States as a part of, or appurtenant to, such jurisdiction, shall absolutely and without notice cease and determine, and thereafter all such jurisdiction shall be assumed and exercised by Japanese Courts. ART. XIX.—This Treaty shall go into operation on the 17th day of July, 1899, and shall remain in force for the period of twelve years from that date.