File No. 412.00/55
The Ambassador in Mexico ( Fletcher) to the Secretary of State
Sir: With reference to the Embassy’s despatch No. 596 of the 7th instant,2 concerning a measure which was then under consideration in the Treasury Department to create a commission to pass upon claims for damages to persons and property growing out of the Mexican revolution from 1910 to 1917, I have the honor to report that the commission referred to, consisting of four Mexican citizens to be appointed by the President and to be under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Treasury, was provided for in a presidential decree issued November 24, to go into effect on that date.
The principal features of the decree are as follows:
The procedure to be observed in investigating a claim is to be prescribed by the Executive at a later date, but in accordance with certain basic principles mentioned in the decree. No claim will be considered [Page 793] for profits not made, but which would have been made had it not been for the condition of war in the country.
A claimant, in presenting his claim to the commission, surrenders the right to have it passed upon by the courts.
A foreign claimant is expected to accompany his claim with proof of foreign citizenship, and if he fails to do so, he will be deemed a Mexican and will be considered as having surrendered his right to present his claim through the usual diplomatic channels.
Stock companies organized under the laws of the Republic will be considered as Mexican, so far as their claims are concerned, although some or all of the stockholders are foreigners.
If a foreigner does not agree with the finding of the commission he may present his case either personally or through diplomatic channels, provided he has established the fact that he is a foreigner. The claim will then be submitted for arbitration to three persons, one to be selected by the President, one by the diplomatic representative of the nation to which the claimant belongs, and the third by the other two thus selected, or if they cannot agree upon a third, he will be selected by the President from among the citizens of a nation which has no claims growing out of the revolution. The arbitrators may not have consular or diplomatic character. The decision of these arbitrators may not be appealed from.
The decree further provides that a special law will prescribe the manner in which the funds for settling these claims are to be provided.
The text and translation of the decree will be forwarded to the Department as soon as it has been published in the Diario Oficial.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩