314.115C43/183
The Minister in Guatemala (Geissler) to the Secretary of
State
Guatemala, November 4, 1929.
[Received
November 13.]
No. 2635
Sir: Referring to the Legation’s cablegram No.
143 of November 4, 2 p.m.,35 I have the honor to enclose a copy of my note dated
[Page 162]
November 2, 1929, setting
forth, with reference to previous correspondence, that it is agreed
between the Government of the United States and that of Guatemala that
the claim of P. W. Shufeldt against the Guatemalan Government shall be
submitted to Sir Herbert Sisnett, Chief Justice of British Honduras, as
arbitrator, and reciting the formula and the procedure; and I also beg
leave to transmit, with a translation, a copy of the note of the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, of November 2, in which, as briefly
reported in that cablegram, he stated that he accepts “the text
proposed” in my abovementioned note.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure 1]
The American Minister (Geissler) to the Guatemalan Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Aguirre
Velásquez)
Guatemala, November 2, 1929.
No. 96
Mr. Minister: Referring to previous
correspondence between the Legation and the Guatemalan Foreign
Office concerning the claim of P. W. Shufeldt against the Government
of Guatemala, which claim has been espoused by the Government of the
United States, it is agreed by the two Governments that this
question shall be submitted to Sir Herbert Sisnett, Chief Justice of
British Honduras, as arbitrator. The question to be submitted to the
arbitrator is as follows:
- 1.
- Has P. W. Shufeldt, a citizen of the United States, as
cessionary of the rights of Victor M. Morales I. and
Francisco Nájera Andrade, the right to claim a pecuniary
indemnification for damages and injuries which may have been
caused to him by the promulgation of the Legislative Decree
of the Assembly of Guatemala No. 1544, by which it
disapproved the contract of February 4, 1922, for the
extraction of a minimum of 75,000 quintales of chicle, in a
defined area in the Department of the Petén, the cession of
Nájera Andrade and Morales in favor of Shufeldt having been
made by contract of February 11, 1924 [1922]?
- 2.
- In case the arbitrator declare that Shufeldt does have the
right to having an indemnification paid to him by the
Government of Guatemala, what sum should the Government of
Guatemala in justice pay to the Government of the United
States for the account of Shufeldt?
It is proposed that the following procedure shall govern the
presentation and adjudication of the case by the tribunal, and the
payment of the award, if any:
- 1.
- The Tribunal shall sit at Belize, residence of the
arbitrator.
- 2.
- Each Government shall appoint one or more representatives
who shall have the authority necessary to appear before the
arbitrator and to represent it.
- 3.
- The first day of February 1930 is fixed as the day on
which the representatives of the parties shall present their
credentials to the
[Page 163]
arbitrator either in person or through their respective
Consular Officers. If they be in good and due form, the
arbitrator shall declare the proceedings open.
- 4.
- The representatives of the parties shall submit to the
arbitrator a written statement which shall comprise their
respective points of view in the relation of the facts, the
statements of the juridic points upon which their cause is
based and all the proofs which they may wish to present as
basis for their claims. They may be set forth in English or
in Spanish. The term, within which the statement of their
cause must be presented by the parties, is that of thirty
days counted from the time when the arbitrator declares the
proceedings open.
- 5.
- Each party shall deliver to the other party a textual copy
of its statements, allegations and proofs when the originals
thereof are submitted to the arbitrator.
- 6.
- Within sixty days counted from the day on which the last
of the parties presented the statement of its cause, in
conformity with Article 4, each party shall have the right
to present a written reply to the allegations of the other
party. A copy of that reply shall be delivered to the other
at the time of being presented to the arbitrator.
- 7.
- Within thirty days following the termination of the sixty
days’ period mentioned in Article 6, the parties may present
oral or written arguments to the arbitrator, summarizing the
proofs and arguments produced in the statements but no
additional evidence shall be presented except at the request
of the arbitrator.
- 8.
- Each Government shall have the right to exhibit all
documents pertaining to the subject matter of the
arbitration, and the original documents or copies certified
by a notary or public officials, whatever may be their
character and to request the production of such documents by
the other party.
- 9.
- The arbitrator shall have authority to establish such
rules of procedure as he may deem opportune and conducive to
the success of the arbitral proceeding, always provided that
they do not contradict the bases laid down in the protocol
of arbitration.
- 10.
- The tribunal shall keep a record of its proceedings. The
two Governments shall assign to the Tribunal such
amanuenses, interpreters and employees as may be necessary.
The Tribunal is authorized to administer oaths to witnesses
and to take evidence on oath.
- 11.
- The decision of the Tribunal shall be given within a
period of sixty days following the termination of the thirty
days’ period mentioned in Article 7. The decision, when
made, shall be forthwith communicated to the Governments at
Guatemala and Washington. It shall be accepted as final and
binding upon the two Governments.
- 12.
- Each Government shall pay its own expenses and one-half of
the common expenses of the arbitration.
- 13.
- The amount granted by the award, if any, shall be payable
in gold coin of the United States at the Department of
State, Washington, within one year after the rendition of
the decision by the tribunal, with interest at six per
centum per annum, beginning to run one month after the
rendition of the decision.
- 14.
- The honorarium and emoluments of the arbitrator shall be
as agreed upon in previous correspondence.
I avail myself [etc.]
[Page 164]
[Enclosure
2—Translation]
The Guatemalan Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Aguirre
Velásquez) to the American
Minister (Geissler)
Guatemala, November 2, 1929.
No. 11429
Mr. Minister: Referring to previous
correspondence between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the
Legation of the United States regarding the claim of P. W. Shufeldt
against the Government of Guatemala, espoused by the Government of
the United States, I am pleased to inform Your Excellency that my
Government accepts with pleasure the text proposed in the note of
Your Excellency and which contains the two aspects of the question
to be decided by the Chief Justice of British Honduras as
arbitrator, the text thereof being as follows:
[Here follows text of question to be submitted to the arbitrator, as
quoted in note No. 96, November 2, 1929, from the American Minister
in Guatemala to the Guatemalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, printed
supra.]
The Government of Guatemala likewise accepts the procedure to be
followed before the tribunal for the presentation of the case, its
decision and discussion and the payment of the indemnification, if
such be adjudged, and which is contained in the following
points:—
[Here follows text of procedure as set forth in note No. 96, November
2, 1929, from the American Minister in Guatemala to the Guatemalan
Minister for Foreign Affairs, printed supra.]
I avail myself [etc.]
