File No. 812.512/268.
Consul Letcher to the
Secretary of State.
No. 492.]
American Consulate,
Chihuahua,
May 29, 1914.
Sir: Having further reference to the
Department’s instruction No. 268, of April 23, 1914, and to my reply
thereto, despatch No. 467, of May 14, 1914, I have the honor to report
that I am in receipt of a telegraphic reply to my representations to
General Carranza on
[Page 740]
the
subject of the demanded duplicate payment of mining taxes, of which
reply the following is a translation:
Referring to your unofficial note of the 14th instant directed to
Señor Carranza on the subject of taxes upon mining pertenencias
in Durango, I beg to inform you, in accordance with instructions
of the First Chief, that orders have now been issued to the tax
authorities to receive payments from the American Smelting and
Refining Company, not to collect double quotas from foreign
companies, and, in cases where a double payment has been
collected from companies or persons, to return the amount of
such second payments to the parties from whom they have been
exacted. I communicate this with satisfaction for the
information of His Excellency the Secretary of State.
Accept my distinguished consideration.
Fabela.
In view of the important bearing of this case upon the interests of
American mining companies owning property in this country, copies of my
note to General Carranza, which paraphrases the Department’s instruction
No. 268 of April 23, 1914, and of General Carranza’s telegraphic reply
of May 24, are forwarded herewith.
I have [etc.]
[Inclosure 1.]
Consul Letcher to
General Carranza.
American Consulate,
Chihuahua,
May 14, 1914.
Sir: The Department of State of my
Government has instructed me to bring to your attention certain
conditions that have arisen in connection with the collection of
pertenencia taxes by the mining agency at Durango, with the request
that American citizens who are affected by the conditions complained
of be relieved of the hardships described. The case that has been
brought to the particular attention of the Department is as
follows:
The American Smelting and Refining Company, which owns extensive
mining properties at Velardeña, Durango, paid its pertenencia taxes
due for the July period of the year 1913 directly to the Federal
Government at Mexico City on July 10, 1913, and those due for the
November period of the same year on November 7, 1913, to the same
office. It appears that at the time the Constitutionalist
authorities had opened no mining tax offices In the State of Durango
and that such offices were established by your Government
subsequently to the month of November. The mining tax office now
having been established, the American Smelting and Refining Company
made a tender of its quota of taxes for the March tercio through the
American Consul at Durango, but this payment was refused by Señor L.
Aillaud, Director of the Durango office, on the ground that taxes
for the two preceding tercios which were paid to the Federal
Government at Mexico City were illegally paid to the said Federal
Government and must be duplicated to the Constitutionalist
authorities before payment for the March, 1914, tercio could be
receipted for. At the request of the American Consul at Durango the
matter was referred in this stage to Senor E. Perusquia, general
director of taxes for your Government, who thereupon sustained the
subordinate office in its demand for a repayment of taxes paid to
the Federal Government.
My Government instructs me to say that it trusts that you will
understand, that under the rules and principles of international law
payments of taxes made in the manner prescribed by law to a de facto government fully extinguish an
individual’s obligations and that he becomes perforce exempt from
further exactions, and that, in this sense, it does not doubt that
you will issue orders to the appropriate authorities of Durango to
desist from attempting to collect from American citizens throughout
territory dominated by the Constitutionalists taxes already legally
paid, to the de facto Huerta Government.
I am [etc.]
[Page 741]
[Inclosure 2.]
[Copy of Spanish original of reply to Inclosure 1, translation of
which is contained in the covering despatch.]
