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 [Page 639]
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.]
[Page 640]
[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,
[Page 642] 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 [Page 644] 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.
