File No. 812.516/196
[Inclosure—Translation]
decree dated september 21, 1917, prescribing
the manner in which private contributions to the capital
necessary for the establishment of the sole bank of issue shall
be collected, etc.
No. 532
I, Venustiano Carranza, Constitutional President of the United
Mexican States to the inhabitants thereof make known:
That in virtue of the extraordinary powers in the Treasury in me
vested by the Congress of the Union by the act of May 8 of the
current year, and considering
That there is a large number of persons who have indicated to the
Executive of the Union their desire to contribute to the
capitalization of the Sole Bank of Issue to be established in
accordance with Article 38 of the Constitution,
That, without prejudice to the negotiations of the Government to
secure a foreign loan for the establishment of the said bank, the
patriotic offers of the persons who desire to aid in the prompt
national reconstruction should be taken into consideration, and that
the character with which such offers should be accepted and the form
in which the funds shall be collected and utilized should be
established,
Have, therefore, seen fit to decree the following:
Article 1. Persons who desire to contribute to the capitalization of
the Sole Bank of Issue shall make their deposits with commercial
houses which the Department of Hacienda shall designate in each
State Capital and the large cities, or with the banking institution
in the City of Mexico which the said Department shall select for the
collection of funds in the Federal District; and the said commercial
houses and banking institution shall deliver to the depositor a
provisional certificate for the amount delivered.
Article 2. Federal or State employees who desire to contribute shall
make their payments direct to the houses designated without the
intervention of their respective paymasters, nor shall the payments
take the form of discounts from salaries.
Article 3. The funds collected in the various States by the
commercial houses selected for that purpose shall be sent to the
banking institution which, according to Article 1, shall be
designated to collect funds for the Federal District; and the said
institution shall retain on deposit at the disposal of the
Department of Hacienda all such funds as well as those it may itself
collect.
Article 4. The said banking institution shall issue final
nontransferable certificates at par for amounts of twenty, one
hundred, five hundred and one thousand pesos respectively, which
shall be exchanged for the provisional certificates issued, a final
certificate being given in exchange for any number of provisional
ones the sum total of which is equivalent to any one of the values
mentioned, it being understood that if the amounts deposited by any
one person should not reach the total of twenty pesos and thus not
enable the holder to exchange the same for a final certificate, such
amounts shall be considered as a donation to the Nation.
[Page 1016]
The funds received from performances or bazaars held for the
collection of money for the capitalization of the Sole Bank shall
also be considered as donations.
Article 5. Both the provisional and final certificates mentioned in
Articles 1 and 4 shall be exempt from stamp taxation.
Article 6. The persons mentioned in Articles 1 and 2 shall be
considered as creditors of the Sole Bank for the amounts which they
may voluntarily have contributed for the capitalization of the same.
Their credits shall draw interest at the rate of five per cent per
annum beginning two years from the 1st of April, 1918, within which
period the Sole Bank of Issue shall begin operations, unless it is
found preferable, in decreeing the organization of the bank, to
issue shares for the amounts so collected.
In any case, the Federal Government is responsible for the amounts
received for the capitalization of the bank.
Article 7. If it is found, when the Sole Bank of Issue is to begin
operations, that the amount collected is less than 5,000,000 pesos,
the Federal Government shall furnish the bonds necessary to complete
the amount, with which minimum capital the bank shall begin
operations. Furthermore, the Government of the Federation shall
furnish other assets, to be made known in due time, for increasing
the capitalization of the institution stated.
Article 8. The Department of Hacienda shall issue regulations
governing the compliance of this decree and shall decide any doubts
that may arise in its interpretation.
I, therefore, order that this be printed [etc.]
Given at the National Palace of Mexico on the 21st day of September
1917.
