Office of the Historian

812.6363/422

The Ambassador in Mexico (Fletcher) to the Acting Secretary of State

Mexico, January 8, 1919.
[Received January 18.]
No. 1703

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith to the Department, the official text, with translation, of an Executive Decree dated December 27, 1918, providing for an extension of the period in which denouncements of oil claims manifested in accordance with the Decree of July 31, 1918,66 shall be made, this period to be extended until such time as the Congress enacts the new Petroleum Law.

I have [etc.]

Henry P. Fletcher
[Enclosure—Translation]

Executive Decree of December 27, 1918, Extending the Period for the Denouncement of Oil Claims67

I, Venustiano Carranza, Constitutional President of the United Mexican States, to the inhabitants thereof, know ye:

That in use of the extraordinary powers in the treasury conferred upon me by the Congress of the Union by the Law of May 8, 1917, and,

Considering: That on November 22nd, last, the Executive in my charge sent to the Congress of the Union, through the Department of Government, the bill68 relative to the Organic Law of Article 27 of the Constitution69 in reference to Petroleum; and inasmuch as the period prescribed by the Decree of November 14th, last,70 for the making of denouncements of oil claims manifested in accordance with the Decree of July 31 of the present year, is about to expire, it is necessary to extend that period until such time as the Congress of the Union enacts the Petroleum Law;

[Page 592]

Therefore, I have seen fit to decree the following:

Sole Article: The period prescribed by the Decree of November 14, 1918, for the making of denouncements of oil claims manifested in accordance with the Decree of July 31 of the same year, is extended until such time as the Congress of the Union enacts the Petroleum Law.

I, therefore, order this to be printed, published, distributed, and given due compliance.

Given at the Palace of the Executive Power of the Union, in Mexico, on the twenty-seventh day of December, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen.

V. Carranza

The Acting Secretary of Hacienda, in Chargé of the Office
Rafael Nieto
  1. Ibid., p. 752.↩
  2. Diario Oficial, Jan. 6, 1919.↩
  3. Foreign Relations, 1918, p. 772.↩
  4. Ibid., 1917, p. 955.↩
  5. Ibid., 1918, p. 771.↩