File No. 412.00.
The American Ambassador to
the Secretary of State.
No. 712.]
American Embassy,
Mexico,
July 6th, 1911.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of the Department’s instruction No. 398 of June 27th last, in
which I am instructed to report relative to such plans as may have been
proposed or such suggestions as may have been made with reference to the
question of claims growing out of the Mexican revolution by members of
the resident Diplomatic Corps.
[Page 934]
Since the agitation and discussion among the diplomatic representatives
which occurred immediately after the creation of the Mexican Claims
Commission there seems to have been a disposition manifested not to
proceed hastily, but to await developments which may reveal the purpose
and policy of this Government relative to the question of the settlement
of claims.
A temporary Court of Claims, of excellent personnel, has been organized
and is expected to open its sittings in the near future, giving
preferential consideration to the Chinese claims, which are vastly
greater in number and pecuniary size to those of any other nation. A
copy and translation of the rules of procedure of this Claims Commission
is transmitted herewith to the Department, and I think it advisable that
I should be instructed, at as early a date as is convenient, as to what
attitude the Embassy shall take toward this Claims Commission and in
what manner it shall advise American claimants.
In the meantime, the Embassy is taking steps to ascertain the names of
all American claimants and is instructing them as to the form in which
their claims shall be prepared for presentation.
I have [etc.]
[Inclosure.—Translation.—Extracts.]
Rules of the Mexican Claims
Commission.
The Constitutional President ad interim of the Republic, exercising
the powers vested in him by Section I, Article 85, of the Federal
Constitution, and in accordance with Article 2 of the Decree of May
31 last, has seen fit to issue the following:
rules of the consultative claims
commission.
-
Article I. In accordance with Article
2 of the Decree of May 31 last, a Consultative Commission shall
be established in the City of Mexico, beginning July 1st of this
year, which shall have Chargé of the examination and elucidation
of claims made against the National Treasury because of injuries
to the private estate of persons or for damages directly growing
out of the revolution of November, 1910; and to consult with the
Department of Finance with reference to the legal foundation or
nonfoundation of said claims, and upon the amount of the
indemnity, if any, to which claimants may be entitled.
- Articles II to VII concern the organization, manner of voting,
place and time of meeting, etc.
-
Article VIII. All claims shall be
submitted in writing, accompanied by the proper proofs, and
shall be received from the 1st day of July to the 30th of
September of this year. After the expiration of this term no
administrative cognizance shall be taken of any claim.
-
Article IX. Claims shall be registered
and taken up in the order of their filing with the Commission;
and when several of them are filed at the same time they shall
be given the alphabetical order of the last names of the
claimants.
-
Article X. The Secretary shall keep a
register [etc.].
-
Article XI. Claims growing out of
forcible occupation, supply of money, arms, horses, or effects,
or from loans exacted by the chiefs of the revolution, shall be
submitted with the proper orders, certificates of delivery,
receipts, and other documents proving the claim.
-
Article XII. The preparation of the
records up to the time when they are ready for decision shall be
made by means of instructions given by one of the members of the
Commission, and to that end the business shall be divided among
the members.
-
Article XIII. When the claimants do
not prosecute their claims personally but through attorneys, the
capacity of the latter shall be proved by a duly certified power
of attorney, regardless of the amount of the claim.
-
Article XIV. The claimants shall have
the right to ask for a fixed term within which to file proof,
which shall not exceed two months from the date on which such
term is fixed. During such term all proofs usually contemplated
by the law, except those of interrogatories, may be submitted,
and in due time they shall be considered in accordance with the
provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Federal
District. The term of proof shall not be limited for the
Commission, and therefore as long as it remains in existence it
shall have the right, at any time prior to rendering its
decision in any case, to institute such inquiries therein as it
may deem advisable.
-
Article XV. The Commission may also
accept any means of proof different from those provided in the
above-mentioned Code of Civil Procedure which, in its judgment,
may be reasonably sufficient to cause conviction concerning the
concrete case in question, leaving the estimate of such means of
proof to the reasonable opinion of the Commission; but the fact
that they may be taken into consideration in some concrete case
shall not serve as a precedent which will necessarily cause such
means to have the same effect in other cases.
-
Article XVI. All public offices of the
federal, states, or municipal government, as well as the chiefs
of the army and of revolutionary forces, shall be required to
supply information, data, and copies of such documents as the
Commission may ask in order to establish and ascertain
claims.
-
Article XVII. In case any proof or
proceeding is to be had outside of the capital the Commission
may appoint for the purpose any authority of the Republic, be it
federal or local; and if, because of the amount of the claim or
for some other reason, the Commission considers it advisable, it
can designate the secretary or any of the commissioners to go to
the place in question for the purpose of said proceeding,
receiving, in case it is necessary, through the Department of
Finance, the assistance of the federal or local
authorities.
-
Article XVIII. The decisions reached
by the Commission during the course of the case shall be
personally brought to the attention of the interested party, if
the latter appears at the office within three days from the date
in which they are passed, or, in case the party does not appear,
he shall receive information in writing from the secretary, who
shall address his communication to the domicile mentioned for
that purpose in the first application. In the absence of a given
domicile notices shall be published in the “Diario
Oficial,”
-
Article XIX. When there may be any
reason to suspect that false proofs or documents have been
submitted and, in general, that a punishable act has been
committed; the case shall be brought to the attention of the
proper authority, suspending all action and reporting the case
to the Department of Finance to the end that it may prescribe
such action as may be proper.
-
Article XX. When the term of proof has
expired, there being no further proceedings, the record shall be
placed at the disposal of the claimant in the Office of the
Commission to the end that if he sees fit, he may allege in
writing, within a term of fifteen working days, whatever he may
consider favorable to his interests. At the expiration of the
fifteen days’ term, the Commission shall subject the case to
discussion in connection with the decision submitted by such
member of the Commission as may have taken cognizance of the
matter, without prejudice to the right which all the other
commissioners shall have to personally study the record before
voting, if they so desire.
-
Article XXI. The final report rendered
by the Commission in each case shall be made in the usual form
for legal decisions and shall close with concrete conclusions
concerning the propriety or impropriety of the claim and the
amount, if any, of the indemnity to be paid the claimant. If
from the examination of the claim it would appear that a
solution strictly in accordance with the law is not possible,
the Commission shall so state it in its report and shall propose
to the Department of Finance such equitable bases as in its
judgment may be adopted to effect a settlement with the party in
interest.
-
Article XXII. When the records are
completed, with the report of the Commission, their originals
shall be sent to the Department of Finance for such definite
decision as may lie.
-
Article XXIII. The Commission shall
end its labors no later than December 31 of the present
year.
-
Articles XXIV to XXVI. [Pay of members
and employees of the Commission.]
Madero,
Secretary of Finance.
