No. 1059. In the city of Bogota, Department of Cundinamarca,
Republic of Colombia, on the 11th of July one thousand nine
hundred and nineteen, before me, Augustín S. García, third
Notary of this Circuit, and the witnesses of this instrument
Messrs. Guillermo Novoa and Rafael E. Rodríguez, adults, over
twenty-one years of age, residents of this city, of good
standing and in whom rests no legal impediment, appeared Doctor
Marcelino Arango, Minister of Government of the Republic, in
whose official character I give faith, and Doctor José María de
la Vega, in his character as legal agent of the Company known as
The Central and South American Telegraph Company, domiciled in
the city of New York, both men, in their majority, and residents
the former of this city and the second of Cartagena, whom I
personally know, and set forth:
That by means of the present they put in public writing the
contract formed by the Ministry of Government, in the name of
the Nation, with the said de la Vega in his said character, and
which refers to the permission to establish, maintain, and
operate a submarine cable uniting the city of Cartagena and the
other ports of the Atlantic littoral with the All America
cablegrafic system; a contract which was approved by His
Excellency the President of the Republic under date of the 2nd
of July in course, previous favorable opinion given by the
honorable Council of Ministers, and which says “verbatim”:
“The undersigned, to wit: Marcelino Arango, Minister of
Government, with the authorization of His Excellency the
President of
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the Republic, party which shall hereafter be called the
Government, and José M. de la Vega, in name and
representation of The Central and South American
Telegraph Company, in accordance with power issued in
New York, on the 14th 01 December one thousand nine
hundred and eighteen, before Notary Public Frank Simon,
duly authenticated, party which shall hereafter be
called the Company, declare the following contract to
have been formed:
Article I. The Government
concedes to the Company permission for the term of
twenty (20) years, counting from the fifth of March of
the present year, to establish, maintain, and operate a
submarine cable uniting the city of Cartagena and the
other ports of the Atlantic littoral with the All
America cablegrafic system, so as to connect the new
line with the submarine cable system of Venezuela,
providing that that nation is in accord with it.
Paragraph. The Cartagena station must be established and
operating with regularity the service for which it is
intended within thirty-three months, counting from the
date of the definite approval of the present contract,
saving in the event of superior force or unforeseen
circumstances.
Article II. The Government
concedes to the Company the free use of such shores
bordering on the sea which are the property of the
Nation and which are not already especially disposed of,
for the sole purpose of laying the cable and
constructing the buildings indispensable for the
Administration of the same, within the time fixed in
Article I.
Article III. The Government
agrees to transmit over its telegraphic lines all
messages for private individuals which may be delivered
to it by Agents of the Company and those which from the
interior are directed to be transmitted by cable,
collecting the cost of transmission in accordance with
the tariffs which are established or may be established
in the future for telegraphic despatches from the
interior.
Paragraph I. The Government does not assume any
responsibility in relation to the Company for any delays
which may occur in the transmission of the despatches
concerned in this article.
Paragraph II. The accounts between the Government and the
Company, by reason of the service of which this article
treats and of the official despatches which are
transmitted by the cable, will be liquidated at the
expiration of every six months.
By special agreement between the parties the manner of
liquidating said accounts will be determined in such a
way as to enable the Government to take such action as
will assure their exactness.
Article IV. In case of foreign
war or of internal trouble, or of anything, which in the
judgment of the Government and communicated to the
Company or its agents, may constitute imminent peril,
the cable service in Colombia will remain under the
vigilance of the Colombian authorities and the
Government will be able to subject to official
censorship the despatches which may have been
transmitted by the cable or those from abroad for
delivery in the country. The Company will be obliged to
respect the decisions of the official censor.
Paragraph. The Company or its agents, without the
necessity of prior censorship, will abstain from
transmitting or delivering private messages which may
harm the peace or security of the Republic
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or its
international relations, or compromise its neutrality.
In case of doubt they will consult with the
Government.
Article V. The Company
obligates itself to receive, transmit and deliver all
telegrafic despatches coming from any point whatsoever
of the Republic of Colombia and addressed to any point
or place included in the system or cable lines of the
Company, for a price which in no case will exceed that
fixed in the tariff by way of Buenaventura or of that
which the Company may have fixed or may fix for the most
favored Republic of South America.
Paragraph. The official despatches of the President of
the Republic or the person entrusted with the Executive
Power, and of his Ministers and agents in the interior,
will be given preference in regard to the time of their
transmission, and the cost will be liquidated with a
reduction of fifty per cent (50%) of the price stated in
the tariff. The official despatches of the Diplomatic,
Consular and Fiscal Agents which may be sent from abroad
will enjoy an equal reduction.
The Company will perform its despatch service in
accordance with its regulations and those of its
associated companies.
Article VI. If the Government
requires it, the Company will admit in its stations one
or two students designated by the Government itself for
the purpose of making a study of cable communication,
without any obligation on the part of the Company of
paying them any salary.
The Company obligates itself to give preference, in the
case of an equality of circumstances, to the employment
in its stations of [off] the
Colombian Atlantic coast, to individuals of Colombian
nationality.
Article VII. The permission
which by this contract is conceded to the Company does
not imply an exclusive privilege or right, nor prejudice
the rights acquired by other persons or companies, and
the Government remains at liberty to contract for the
establishment of other cables or other classes of
communications, or to concede permission to establish
them and to use the territorial waters and shores,
providing that such contracts, permissions, or
concessions do not constitute exclusive privileges or
rights.
Article VIII. With regard to
the financial security the Enterprise of which this
contract treats is not to be considered as an official
Enterprise, nor will the Government have to contribute
in any way to its establishment.
Article IX. The Company assures
the fulfillment of the obligations which it contracts by
the present instrument with a deposit of five thousand
pesos ($5,000) in legal tender or Colombian Internal
Debt Bonds, placed in one of the Banks of this city. The
Government will be able to dispose of the deposit in
case the caducity of the contract is declared.
Paragraph. The interest which this deposit may produce
belong[s] to the Company.
Article X. The Company will
maintain in the capital of the Republic a legal agent
with all necessary powers to represent it in every
subject related with the fulfillment of this
contract.
Article XI. The Company
renounces its right to diplomatic intervention with
regard to the rights and duties arising out of the
contract, except in the case of a denial of justice, as
defined in the terms of Article forty-two (42) of the
Fiscal Code (Código Fiscal).
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Article XII. The Company will
not have the right to transfer this contract to another
person or Company without the permission of the
Government, and in no case will it be able to transfer
it to a foreign Government.
Article XIII. This contract may
be declared administratively expired by the Government,
outside of the provisions fixed for every contract by
Article forty-one (41) of the Fiscal Code, if the
Company does not give the cable service within the term
fixed by Article I, with the restrictions therein
expressed, and if during the time of the contract, the
new line having been once installed, there occurs any
interruption of the service for a period of nine months,
or various periods of more than one month the sum of
which will make nine months (9) within a period of three
years.
Article XIV. This contract to
become valid only needs the approval of the President of
the Republic, with previous consent of the Council of
Ministers.
For consistency two exact copies are signed, in Bogota,
the eighteenth of June, one thousand nine hundred and
nineteen.
Marcelino
Arango
José M. de la
Vega”
Council of Ministers—Bogotá, 2nd of July
1919.
In its session of the 21st of last June the honorable Council
issued a favorable opinion in regard to the terms of the
preceding contract.
