Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919, Volume II

412.00/110

The Chargé in Mexico (Summerlin) to the Secretary of State

Mexico, September 10, 1919.
[Received September 22.]

No. 2374

Sir: With reference to the Embassy’s telegram No. 3161 of September 1, 4 P.M.,²³ giving extracts from a Presidential Decree, as published in the press of this city, modifying the Presidential decree of November 24, 1917, (forwarded to the Department with the Embassy’s despatch No. 634 of December 5, 1917),²⁴ which created a commission to pass upon claims for damages growing out of the Mexican revolution, I have the honor to transmit, herewith, the text of the first mentioned decree together with a translation. The decree has not yet been published in the Diario Oficial but the enclosed copy was furnished me today by the Department of Hacienda.

As stated in the telegram in reference, the principal changes which the new decree makes in the decree of November 24, 1917 are as follows:

1. —The following additional claims will be received:

• First:—Those growing out of post-revolutionary disorders in Mexico, provided the damages caused by rebels or bandits resulted from some act, leniency or neglect of the legitimate authorities.
• Second:—Those growing out of killing or injuring indviduals, provided the victim is not at fault.

2. —The proof necessary to establish claim is lessened.

3. —The Executive is authorized to enter into international conventions to submit the claims of the citizens of any country to a permanent mixed commission.

4. —Claims of public service companies which were taken over by the Mexican Government may be submitted directly to the Executive for adjudication.

5. —Claims due to injury or death are to be paid as soon as allowed.

The changes above enumerated are covered in Article 1, Article 3, Section IV, Article 6, Article 8, Section III, Articles 13, 14 and 17, and Transitory Article 1 of the new decree. I have not had an opportunity to make a careful study of the remaining articles, but they appear to embrace no important changes and to differ mainly in phraseology from the corresponding articles of the old decree.

The Department will be furnished with copies of the official text of the Decree as soon as it is published in the Diario Oficial.

I have [etc.]

George T. Summerlin

[Enclosure—Translation]²⁵

Executive Decree of August 30, 1919, Establishing a Claims Commission

I, Venustiano Carranza, Constitutional President of the United Mexican States, to the inhabitants thereof make known:

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

Whereas the experience of over a year of work by the Claims Commission counsels the expediency of reforming the Claims Decree of November 24, 1917, not only in respect to its operation, but in order to increase the sphere of its functions;

Whereas even though Constitutional order was reestablished on May 1, 1917, there has continued to exist for a considerable length of time a certain state of revolt in some portions of the country, during which damages have continued to take place to persons and properties, which should also be included in the General Claims Decree; and especial attention must be given to those caused by death or injury, which were not expressly included in the Decree of 1917; and lastly,

Whereas it has always been the firm intention of the Mexican Government emanating from the Constitutionalist Revolution, to indemnify justly all those who may have suffered damages by reason of revolutionary movements, and it is therefore necessary to remove all such obstacles as might lead to doubt as to the sincerity of these intentions, particularly as regards foreign claimants, who, not finding the former law sufficiently explicit, might have withheld the presentation of their claims;

I, Therefore, in view of the foregoing considerations, have seen fit to decree the following

Law on Claims for Damages Arising from the Revolution

• Article 1.—In conformity with the Decree of May 10, 1913,²⁶ issued at Monclova, State of Coahuila, by the First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army, there is established in the City of Mexico a Commission under the Department of Hacienda, which will handle claims for damages to persons or property arising out of the revolutionary movements which have occurred in the Republic since the 20th of November, 1910, and of the subsequent state of revolt which continues to exist in some regions of the country.
• Article 2.—The Claims Commission referred to in the preceding article shall be composed of a president and four members, to be named by the Federal Executive. The said Commission shall, in turn, name the secretaries and other employees required for the proper handling of its work.
• Article 3.—The present law covers claims which are based on damages caused:

  I. —By revolutionary forces or those recognized as such by the legitimate governments which may have been established in the Republic upon the triumph of the respective revolution.

  II. —By forces of those same governments in the exercise of their functions during the struggle against the rebels.

  III. —By forces composing the old Federal Army up to the time of its dissolution, and

  IV. —By outlaws or rebels, when proof is presented that the damage caused was brought about in consequence of any act, negligence, or omission, blameable to the legitimate authorities charged with affording protection. There shall be no indemnification in the case to which this paragraph refers in the event that the person suffering the damage committed any voluntary act signifying an express recognition of the authority of the rebels or outlaws, or of an intention to assist them against the legitimate authorities.

• Article 4.—The benefits of this law shall not be extended to the authors, accomplices, or concealers of the crimes committed against the constitutional order in the month of February, 1913, or against the Government emanating from the Constitutionalist Revolution. This exception includes all persons who may have shown themselves to be enemies of the Revolutions of 1910 and 1913 and of the new Constitutional order.
• All the authorities and public employees of the Federal or local governments are under the obligation of assisting the Commission in its respective investigations.
• Article 5.—Claims under this law, may be based upon: the destruction of private property, the requisitioning of funds, property, animals or merchandise, or any other damages suffered in respect to property, on condition that the claimants shall not already have been indemnified in some other form. As regards property, no claims shall be admitted for losses, that is, for deprivation of profits expected.
• Article 6.—Damages caused by death or injury shall be cause for indemnification, in case the same shall not have been brought about by imprudence or provocation chargeable to the victim. The estimate of damages caused by death shall be made by the Commission in accordance with the Laws of the Federal District Penal Code, based on the age, civil status, nature of occupation, state of health, and property of the victim.
• Article 7.—Claims shall be presented in writing, in Spanish, stating therein correctly, the name of the individual or firm, nationality, residence, the places and dates of the occurrences originating the claim and the persons who may have participated therein, and the nature of the damages suffered and the amount in national gold claimed as indemnification.
• Article 8.—The procedure to be followed in handling claims shall be determined by governing regulations, in conformity with the following bases:

  I. —The Commission shall receive all claims which may be presented, examine them carefully, and if they fulfill the basic requirements prescribed by this law, it shall declare the claim accepted.

  II. —It shall request of the respective authorities the information it deems expedient with a view to deciding whether the claim is in order or otherwise, or to fix the amount of indemnification to be considered. During the course of these proceedings, the proofs which the interested parties may offer or submit shall be received.

  III. —The Commission may accept any kind of proof which, in its judgment, is humanly sufficient to produce conviction in the concrete case, even though the same may be different from that stipulated in the Laws of Procedure, or even though it may not possess the force of evidence in conformity therewith, the same being left to the rational judgment of the members of the Commission, but the fact that the same may have been taken into consideration in any concrete case shall not serve as a precedent for the forced acceptance thereof in other analogous cases.

  IV. —When the reports and proofs referred to in the preceding paragraphs have been received, the file shall be shown to the claimant in order that he may submit in writing a statement of what he considers proper in defense of his rights.

  V. —Based on the evidence on file, the Commission shall draw up a report proposing an appropriate decision.

  VI. —The report in question shall be communicated to the interested party, in order that he may state in writing his conformity therewith or his reasons for nonconformity.

  VII. —This last requirement having been complied with, the file shall be submitted to the President of the Republic, through the Department of Hacienda, for final decision, in cases not involving foreigners who may have stated their nonconformity with the report of the Commission, as in the latter case, the procedure shall be that outlined in Articles 12 and 13 of this Law.

• Article 9.—It shall be understood that the fact that the claimant applies to the Commission in the administrative form established by this Law, precludes him from the right of handling the same claims through judicial channels.
• Article 10.—Foreigners shall attach to the document in which the claim is formulated, evidence in proof of their nationality, and those who do not do so shall be considered Mexicans for the effects of this Law.
• Article 11.—Foreign claimants who may have proven themselves to be such, and who do not accept the findings of the Commission, may present their views either directly to the Commission, or through diplomatic channels.
• Article 12.—The findings of the Commission with regard to the claims of foreigners, which may have been objected to by the interested parties, shall be submitted to an Arbitration Committee composed of three members, of whom one shall be appointed by the President of the Republic, another by the diplomatic agent of the country to which the claimant belongs, and the third by common agreement of the first two. If this latter should not be possible, the Executive shall also appoint the third member, choosing him from among the nationals of a country having no claims to make for account of damages caused by the Revolution. The appointment of arbiters shall not include diplomatic or consular agents.
• Article 13.—The Arbitration Committees spoken of in the preceding article shall handle exclusively the case for which they may have been appointed, unless the Executive may have entered into international agreements for the formation of Mixed Permanent Committees to handle all the claims of the nationals of any given country.
• The Arbitration Committees shall decide by majority vote, and their decisions shall be final.
• Article 14.—Indemnities payable to railway enterprises or to other public service corporations, which may have been taken over or expropriated by the Government for military operations or by reason of the abnormal conditions which have prevailed in the country, shall not necessarily be subject to the Claims Commission, but the indemnities which shall be payable to them may be stipulated by means of agreements entered into through the appropriate departments.
• Article 15.—The right to present claims for damages caused from November 20, 1910 to the date of this Law, shall terminate on the 1st of September, 1920. Those arising out of damages which may be caused in the future shall terminate one year after the occurrence giving rise to the claim may have taken place.
• Article 16.—Claims arising from the Revolution of 1910 which may have been submitted to the Consultive Commission created by virtue of the Law of May 31, 1911, shall be considered as having been presented in due time, and shall be handled by the new Commission, taking the files in the state in which they may be at this time, and continuing the handling thereof in conformity with this Law and its Regulations.
• Judicial and administrative investigations made during the usurpation régimes, shall be revalidated or otherwise, in each case, totally or partially, as the Commission may judge proper.
• Article 17.—A special law shall determine the form and conditions of payment of the indemnities decreed by virtue of this Law but those resulting from death or injury shall be paid in cash as promptly as they may be approved by the Executive.

Transitory

• Article 1.—The Commission shall consider its labors to have been ended when, for a period of three months, no new claims shall be presented. In this case, the Claims Commission shall continue its labors for the sole purpose of deciding upon claims presented,—and upon conclusion of the same, it shall be dissolved. The claims which for any reason may not have been presented prior to the dissolution of the Commission, and which may not have been barred, may be presented to the Department of Hacienda, in case the interested party chooses the administrative channel.
• Article 2.—This law shall become effective the day of its promulgation.

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

Given at the Palace of the Federal Executive Power, in Mexico on the 30th day of August, 1919.

V. Carranza

23. Not printed.
24. Decree printed in Foreign Relations, 1918, p. 793; despatch not printed.
25. Substituted for file translation.
26. Foreign Relations, 1913, p. 955.