I also have the honor to transmit herewith a memorandum on the status of
the Rumanian Mining Law prepared by Mr. Hamilton C. Claiborne, Secretary
of Legation.2 The embatic
land question is discussed on pages 22 to 24. From time to time this
memorandum will be used as the background for other despatches on the
Mining Law and kindred subjects.
[Enclosure]
The American Minister (Culbertson) to the Rumanian Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Duca)
Bucharest, January 6,
1926.
No. 152Dear Mr. Minister: My attention has been
called to a draft of a law, dated December 22, 1925, entitled
“Proiect de Lege pentru Interpretarea Art. 24 din Legea pentru
Reforma Agrara din 17 Iulie 1921,” passed last month by the Rumanian
Senate and now pending before the Chamber of Deputies which declares
that the subsoil of “Embatic” lands, “Terenurile in Embatic” is the
property of the State and that concessions agreed to by the owners
of “Embatic” lands are null and void. This draft of law, by its
terms, is retroactive, so that concessions obtained since July 17,
1921, the date of the Agrarian Law, are declared invalid.
The Constitution of the Rumanian State of March 29, 1923, Article 19,
and the Mining Law of July 4, 1924, Art. 256, declare that the
landowner may consent to a concession on his land if it is situated
in a Commune where normal exploitation has taken place since August,
1914. At the time of the passage of the Agrarian Law of
Expropriation July 17, 1921, “Lege pentru Reforma Agrara din
Oltenia, Muntenia, Moldavia si Dobrogea din 17 Iulie, 1921”, the
Rumanian Parliament decided that “Embatic” lands, that is, lands
held under perpetual lease, are expropriated in favor of the holder,
who thus became the landowner with the right to lease his lands
under the conditions shown above.
The question having been raised as to the ownership of the subsoil
rights of these lands, it was taken before the Rumanian courts which
overruled the contention of the Ministry of Agriculture and Domains
and established the principle that the holders of “Embatic”
[Page 903]
lands are the owners of
the subsoil rights thereof, and that they alone may consent to
petroleum concessions. This decision of the lower courts was
confirmed on February 29, 1924, by the Supreme Court (Curtea de
Casatie) Section II, decision No. 81.
Under this principle of law thus reaffirmed by the highest court of
Rumania, companies entered into valid contracts with owners of the
subsoil rights of certain “Embatic” lands, and by virtue of these
contracts such companies are now the legal owners under Rumanian law
of these subsoil rights.
However, on the motion of the Ministry of Agriculture and Domains,
the draft of a law referred to above has already passed the Senate
and is now before the Chamber of Deputies. If this bill becomes law
it would apparently impair the validity of contracts entered into in
good faith by these companies and it would abrogate vested rights
legally acquired under Rumanian law, affirmed by the Rumanian
Supreme Court. This validity of contracts will be defeated even if
the concessions approved after 1921 have been consolidated by final
judgment (Art. 260 of the Mining Law).
I take the liberty of bringing to Your Excellency’s personal
knowledge these facts as they have come to my attention. If they are
correct, the project of law, if enacted, would seriously prejudice
American rights entitled to protection under accepted principles of
friendly international relations. Necessarily therefore I look with
concern, in which I am sure my Government will share, upon the
proposal to enact such a law. A careful examination of the proposed
law will, I believe, convince Your Excellency that the provisions of
the law are not entirely in accord with the principles of
consideration for established rights.
Please accept [etc.]
