Chapter 262.
1,057 words·~5 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-20/chapter-262-580225·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 262.— AN ACT to provide for the distribution of the awards made under the convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico concluded on the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight.June 18, 1878. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Distribution of moneys received from Mexico under treaties.15 Stat., 679.19 Stat., 642. That the Secretary oi State be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to receive any and all moneys which may be paid by the Mexican Republic under and in pursuance of the conventions between the United States and the Mexican Republic for the adjustment of claims, concluded July fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty eight, and April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six; and whenever, and as often as, any installments shall have been paid by the Mexican Republic on account of said awards, to distribute the moneys so received in ratable proportions among the corporations, companies, or private individuals respectively in whose favor awards have been made by said commissioners, or by the umpires, or to their legal representatives or assigns, except as in this act otherwise limited or provided, according to the proportion which their respective awards shall bear to the whole amount of such moneys then held by him, and to pay the same, without other charge or deduction than is hereinafter provided, to the parties respectively entitled thereto.
And in making such distribution and payment, due regard shall be had to the value at the time of such distribution of the respective currencies in which the said awards are made payable; and the proportionate amount of any award of which by its terms the United States is entitled to retain a part shall be deducted from the payment to be made on such award, and shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States as a part of the unappropriated money in the Treasury. Sec. 2. That out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,Appropriation to pay awards against United States, deducted, etc. a sufficient sum is hereby appropriated to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the Secretary of State of the United States, in gold or its equivalent, the equivalent of fifty thousand five hundred and twenty-eight dollars and fifty-seven cents in Mexican gold dollars, and 145 FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 262, 263. 1878. ten thousand five hundred and fifty-nine dollars and sixty-seven cents in American gold coin, and eighty-nine thousand four hundred and ten dollars and seventeen cents in United States currency, said sums being the aggregate in said currencies respectively of the awards made under the said convention of July fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, in favor of citizens of the Mexican Republic against the United States, and having been deducted from the amount awarded in favor of citizens of the United States, and payable by Mexico, in accordance with article four of the said treaty; and that said sums, when paid to the Secretary of State, as aforesaid, shall be regarded as part of the awards made under the said treaty, to be paid or distributed as herein provided.
Sec. 3. That out of the payments and installments received fromExpenses commission, how to he deducted. Mexico, as aforesaid, on account of said awards, and out of the moneys which shall be received by the Secretary of State under the provisions of this act, the Secretary of State shall, when and as the same shall be received and paid, and before any payment to claimants, deduct therefrom and retain a sum not to exceed five per centum of said moneys awarded to citizens of the United States, until the aggregate of the amounts so deducted and retained shall equal the sum of one hundred and fourteen thousand nine hundred and forty-eight dollars and seventy-four cents, being the amount of the expenses of the commission, including contingent expenses paid by the United States in accordance with article six of the treaty, as ascertained and determined in pursuance of the provisions of the said treaty; which said sums, when and as the same are deducted and retained, shall be, by the Secretary of State, transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, and passed to the account of, and be regarded as, unappropriated money in the Treasury.
Sec. 4. That in the payment of money, in virtue of this act, to anyDebts of distributee to United States. corporation, company, or private individual, the Secretary of State shall first deduct and retain or make reservation of such sums of money, if any, as may be due to the United States from any corporation, company, or private individual in whose favor awards shall have been made under the said convention. Sec. 5. And whereas the government of Mexico has called the attentionAwards charged with fraud. of the government of the United States to the claims hereinafter named with a view to a rehearing therefore be it enacted, that the President of the United be and he is hereby requested to investigate any charges of fraud presented by the Mexican government as to the cases hereinafter named, and if he shall be of the opinion that the honor of the United States, the principles of public law or considerations of justice and equity, require that the awards in the cases of BenjaminB.
Weil.La Abra Silver Mining Company. Weil and La Abra Silver Mining Company, or either of them, should be opened and the cases retried, it shall be lawful for him to withhold payment of said awards, or either of them until such case or cases shall be retried and decided in such manner as the governments of the United States and Mexico may agree, or until Congress shall otherwise direct. And in case of such retrial and decision, any moneys paid or to be paid by the Republic of Mexico in respect of said awards respectively, shall be held to abide the event, and shall be disposed of accordingly; and the said present awards shall be set aside, modified or affirmed as may be determined on such retrial: *Provided*, That nothing herein shall be*Proviso.* construed as an expression of any opinion of Congress in respect to the character of said claims, or either of them.
Approved, June 18, 1878.