USA > Texas > The history of the republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the present time; and the cause of her separation from the republic of Mexico > Part 13
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"8. The period during which the conversion, according to article 2 of this decree, can have effect, shall be from the date of publication of this decree in London, during one year, after which period no further conversion can be effected.
"9. During the said period, and until December 31, 1839, the holders of bonds of the consolidated fund shall have the right to exchange them, either at the time of receiving them from the agents, or thereafter, for land warrants of an equal amount, with an addition of 10 per cent., at the rate always of four acres per pound sterling. But after the 1st of January, 1810, although the right is still retained to the holders of converting the said bonds into land warrants, with the like addition of 10 per cent., it shall be at the rate only of three acres per pound sterling.
" 10. Finally, foreigners who, in virtue of their land warrants, shall come to establish themselves on their properties, shall ac- quire from that date the title of Colonists, and shall participate, they and their families, in all the rights and privileges which the laws grant, or may grant, to any others of the same origin, and under the same conditions ; but it shall not be permitted to one individual to hold more than one square league of 5,000 yards of land capable of irrigation, four square leagues superficial of land fit for cultivation, and six superficial leagues of pasture land ; and the enjoyment of the mines which may be found on the lands so granted, shall be subject to the regulations of the general ordinances of mines.
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MEETING OF THE MEXICAN BONDHOLDERS.
" It is accordingly ordered, that the present decree be printed, published, and circulated, and carried into effect.
"Given at the palace of the general government, in Mexico, April 12, 1837.
"JOSE JUSTA CORRO."
On the receipt of this decree by the Mexican agent in London, a public meeting was held on the 9th of August, 1837, when the following agreement was entered into between the Mexican agent and the Mexican bond-holders.
"AGREEMENT.
" A public meeting of the holders of Mexican bonds having been held, pursuant to public advertisement, at the City of Lon- don Tavern, on the 9th of August, 1837, for the purpose of taking into consideration the decree of the Mexican government in relation to its foreign debt, dated in the city of Mexico, the 12th of April last, communicated by Messrs. F. de Lizardi and Co., the agents of the Mexican government in London,
"It was Resolved, ---
" That a committee of bond-holders be appointed to examine and consider the terms and conditions of the above-mentioned decree, and to report their opinion thereupon to a future general meeting of the bond-holders.
" The said committee having accordingly attentively considered the terms of the said decree, a further general meeting of the bond-holders was held at the City of London Tavern, on the 5th of September instant, when it was agreed, so far as regarded the bond-holders then present, that the terms of the said decree should be accepted, subject to the modifications recommended by the committee.
" And the said modifications having been submitted to the . M 2
--
--
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MEETING OF THE MEXICAN BONDHOLDERS.
consideration of A. de Yturbide, Esq., the Mexican minister at this court, they have by him been assented to, on behalf of his said government.
" In accordance, therefore, with the same, the following agree- ment has been drawn up and entered into by the special committee of the Mexican bond-holders on the one part, and A. de Ytur- bide, Esq., representing the said Mexican government, and F. de Lizardi and Co., the agents of the said government in London, on the other part, as the stipulations under which the conversion of the existing Mexican bonds into the new consolidated 5 per cent. stock is to be effected.
" I. The first article of the said decree is accepted and agreed to without modification, and is as follows :---
" There shall be created a national consolidated fund, with . interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, with the sole and determinate object of converting thereinto the entire foreign debt, if it shall appear to the present creditors advantageous so to do, and to fund it in the manner set forth in the following articles, to which effect Messrs. F. de Lizardi and Co., of the city of London, are hereby named and appointed the agents of the re- public for said operation ; and they shall, in the name of the Mexican nation, emit the corresponding bonds of the said national consolidated fund in pounds sterling, payable in London, on the Ist of October, 1866, with interest coupons in the margin for each half year, until said date. These bonds shall moreover be countersigned by the minister plenipotentiary of the republic in London, or by his representative.
" II. The second article of the said decree to be modified as follows :--
" The holders of the bonds now in circulation of the foreign debt proceeding from the two loans effected in London at 5 and 6 per cent. interest, shall have the power to convert the said bonds, as well as the coupons thereof, not paid and due, into the bonds of the new consolidated fund, under the following conditions : ---
" 1. The bonds bearing 5 per cent. interest, shall be received at par.
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MEETING OF THE MEXICAN BONDHOLDERS.
"2. Those bearing 6 per cent. interest, shall be received at the rate of 1123 for 100.
"3. Coupons for interest due on both loans, shall be taken at par.
" 4. For the bonds offered for conversion, there shall be given in payment one-half of the amount in the bonds of the consoli- dated fund, bearing 5 per cent. interest, and the other half in de- ferred bonds, to commence to bear interest from the 1st of October, 1817, at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, and which deferred bonds shall be at all times receivable in payment of vacant lands in the departments of Texas, Chihuahua, New Mexico, Sonora, and California, at the choice of the purchaser, at the rate of four acres for each pound sterling ; and when de- ferred bonds are applied in the purchase of lands, interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum shall be allowed from the 1st of October, 1837, up to the day on which the holders are put in possession of their lands ; and, on so doing, the accruing interest shall be credited, and the quantity of lands thereby acquired, augmented in proportion ; always, however, under the condition that possession shall be taken in the manner expressed in article 5 of said decree.
"III. The third article of the said decree is modified as follows :-
"Interest on the national consolidated fund shall be payable in London, half-yearly, on the 1st of April, and on the Ist of October, of each year. The bonds of the first series to com- mence to bear interest from the 1st of October, 1837, -- those of the second series, from the 1st of October, 18.17; and for the better securing the punctual payment of the said interest, the Mexican government shall appropriate irrevocably thereunto, one-sixth part of all the custom-house duties of the ports of Vera Cruz and Tampico (Santa Anna Tamaulipas). This portion of the duties to be received from the administrators of the customs by two commission ers, to be appointed by the Mexican govern- ment, one of whom to be nominated on the recommendation of the agents of the bondholders in the city of Mexico. These
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MEETING OF THE MEXICAN BONDHOLDERS.
commissioners to transmit, by every English packet, to the agents of the Mexican government in London, the aforesaid funds-the commission to be paid to the said commissioners for this service, by the Mexican government. If from any cause, any of the dividends shall not be paid in London, within ten days from the date of the same falling due, the holders of coupons, which may so remain unpaid, shall have the right to present them to the agents of the said republic in London, and to demand of them a certificate, countersigned by the Mexican minister at the said court ; and the said certificate shall be received as cash in the payment of duties, to the extent of one-sixth part of all payable at the maritime custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico. The agents of the republic in London shall be bound to issue such certificates, when thereto required by the holders of coupons which may not have been paid when due. Each pound sterling of the amount of said coupons shall be estimated at the rate of five dollars, and the amount of each certificate shall be augmented to the extent of 10 per cent., in full compensation of all difference of exchange and all expenses.
"IV. The fourth article in the said decree, referring to land warrants, forms no part of this agreement ; but the deferred bonds to be issued, shall contain a clause or clauses which shall stipu- late that the Mexican government, when thereto required, shall grant to the bearer of the said bond full right of property and complete possession in the number of acres of land, corresponding to the amount of the said bond, with the accruing interest thereou, at the rate of four acres of land for each pound sterling, of which full and complete possession shall be given by the competent authorities, on presentation of said deferred bond.
" V. The fifth article of said decree is modified as follows :- The deferred bonds may be transferred from one person to another by delivery, without endorsement ; but after the lands, to which the bond gives right, are taken possession of, and a title granted, such lands can thereafter only be transferred by public act of sale in legal form.
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MEETING OF THE MEXICAN BONDHOLDERS.
" VI. The sixth article of said decree to be modified, by sub- stituting the words deferred bonds for land warrants.
"VII. The seventh article of the said decree shall be modified, by adding the stipulation, that the Mexican government, in addi- tion to the general hypothecation contained in said article, shall specially set apart, by a public decree, twenty-five millions of acres of government lands in the departments having the nearest communication with the Atlantic, and which may appear best suited for colonization from abroad. The said lands to be speci- ally and exclusively held open for the location of deferred bonds. When lands are applied for in exchange, and if sold by the Mexi- can government, the produce thereof to be appropriated to the redemption of the said bonds.
" VIII. The eighth article of the said decree is agreed to without alteration.
" IX. The ninth article of the said decree to be considered as cancelled.
" X. The tenth article is adopted without modification.
"XI. On the 1st of April, 1848, and subsequently half-yearly, the payment of the interest on the said deferred bonds, or such part thereof as may then remain unliquidated, shall be regularly made by the agents of the said republic in London, in the same manner as has been provided in respect to the first division of the bonds named in Article 2.
" XII. Although the Mexican government obliges itself to set apart one-sixth of the custom's revenue collected at the ports of Vera Cruz and Tampico, for the payment of the interest on these obligations, it is fully understood, that in the event of the same not being found equal to the required purpose, the whole reve- nnes of the state are to be responsible for the same, as provided in the original bonds ; and further, that the bonds issued under this agreement shall contain all the guarantees and securities granted to the bond-holders by the original bonds, besides the new special securities conferred by this agreement.
" XIII. All expenses attending the exchange of the said bonds are to be borne by the Mexican government.
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ACT OF THE MEXICAN CONGRESS.
" XIV. The bonds of the first class to be liquidated by the Mexican government on or before the 1st of October, 186G. Those of the second class on or before the 1st of October, 1876.
" XV. The original bonds presented for conversion are to be deposited in the Bank of England until the payment of the first dividend by the Mexican government, on the 1st of April next, when the same shall be delivered up to the agents of the Mexican government.
" Signed and delivered in London, this 14th? 1th { "A. "A. DE YTURBIDE, day of Sept. 1837, in the presence of " Chargé d'Affaires for the Mex. " E. J. de Landesa." Rep. London. " F. DE LIZARDI AND Co., Agents.
The modifications proposed in the foregoing agreement were confirmed by the following act of the Mexican Congress, and the President's Order in Council :-
" His Excellency the President of the Republic (ad interim) has been pleased to address me the following decree :-
"The President (ad interim) of the Mexican Republic to the inhabitants thereof: Be it known, that the General Congress hath enacted and decreed as follows :--
" ART. 1. The Agreement made with the holders of Mexican bonds in London on the 14th of September, 1837, is hereby approved.
" 11. For completing the conversion of the foreign debt, the term of one year more shall be allowed ; said term to be calcu- lated from the date of publishing this decree.
" III. With regard to the colonization which may be established under the present Agreement, the government must take care that the existing laws relating to emigration be enforced, as likewise any others that may in future be enacted, provided the same be not contrary to the tenor of the Agreement.
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ACT OF THE MEXICAN CONGRESS.
" IV. The government will also take heed that in conformity with the 6th article of the Agreement, no lands on the frontiers shall be granted to the subjects of the border states in the event of any bonds falling into their hands which they may be desirous of exchanging for lands under the provisions contained in the 5th article of the Agreement.
" V. The lands reserved by the decree of the 4th of April, 1837, in favour of the soldiers of the army of independence, shall be allotted by the government from the waste lands in the provinces of California and Yucatan. The other two reserves of lands mentioned in the said decrees retained at the disposal of Congress for future allotment in favour of the Indian tribes and nations, and of the soldiers of the army for the restoration of Texas, shall be distributed by the government in this manner ; to the former, the lands nearest the frontier, and to the latter, such waste lands as may be situate on the Gulf of Mexico, at the distance of at least twenty-five leagues from the sea.
" VI. The government is most strictly enjoined on its own re- sponsibility, that the lands be so divided among the emigrants as to prevent their too great concentration on one point : they are, therefore, to be located (the colonies) at some distance from each other, and as near to our own towns as may be convenient.
" VII. To obviate any inconvenience which may arise in the execution of the agreement with regard to the extent of land designated by the term acre, the government will take measures to ascertain the exact value of the acre compared with the land measure known in this country, and to adjust thereby the value of the land warrants issued by virtue of the Agreement. Signed, Jose Maria Garcia Figueroa, President and Deputy. Sebastian Camacho, President of the Senate. Mariano Aguilar y Lopez, Deputy and Secretary. Jose R. Malo, Secretary of the Senate.
" Wherefore I order the same to be printed, published, and circulated, and that this act of Congress be duly obeyed. Palace of the national government, Mexico, Ist of June, 1839.
" ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA. " To. D. Francisco M. Lombardo."
170
MEXICAN PRESIDENT'S ORDER IN COUNCIL.
" And to the end that the preceding decree be truly and exactly fulfilled, his Excellency the President, with the consent of the council of the government, orders that the following directions be observed :----
"PRESIDENT'S ORDER IN COUNCIL, RELATING TO THE ABOVE ACT.
" 1. Conformable to the extension of time granted by the 2nd article of the preceding act, the old bonds of 5 and 6 per cent., which may be presented for conversion, shall be liquidated up to the last day of September, 1837, and shall gain interest from the 1st of October of the same year.
"2. The deferred bonds which have already been issued, or which may be issued in virtue of the extension of term conceded by the above-mentioned Article II. of the preceding act, shall be admit- ted and received up to the 30th of September, 1847, in exchange for waste lands in the departments specified in the original Agreement.
" 3. The administrators of the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and of Santa Anna de Tamaulipas (Tampico) are hereby appointed to receive the sixth part of all the duties which may be received in their respective custom-houses, and to remit the same to Lon- don, agreeable to the stipulations contained in the 3rd article of the aforesaid Agreement. For the performance of this duty, a charge of 2 per 1000 shall be made upon the entire amount received at each custom-house, and this commission shall be equally shared (by the administrator) with the commissioner named and appointed by the government, according to the tenor of the 3rd article of the said Agreement.
" 4. And that the stipulations contained in the said article be exactly and truly fulfilled, the administrators of the custom-house of Vera Cruz and Tampico under their immediate responsibility, are directed to insist, from the date of publishing this law, upon the payment to them of the sixth part in hard money, of all sums received for duties in the said custom-houses, in the understanding that any order of the government issued prior to, or posterior to the date of this law, for the payment of any bill or draft issued
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MEXICAN PRESIDENT'S ORDER IN COUNCIL.
by the Treasury, shall be always construed without prejudice to the separation of the sixth part stipulated for, and specially as- signed by the said Agreement for the payment of the dividends.
"5. In case that funds required for payment of the dividends on the foreign loans should not be remitted to London in due time, and that it should be found indispensable to admit the cer- tificates which may be issued by the agents of the republic in London, countersigned by the Mexican minister to the Court of St. James's, the said certificates shall be duly admitted by the administrators of the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico in the manner, and with the conditions and formalities fixed by the 3rd article of the Agreement, and with the instructions detailed in this present ordonnance.
"6. If in any case the funds for payment of the dividends should not be timely received in London, and that in consequence thereof the agents of the republic issue certificates admissible for the sixth part of duties payable at the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico agreeable to the 3rd article of the treaty, such certificates shall be duly received and admitted in payment, and whatever funds may have been previously remitted to London shall be at the disposal of the supreme government.
" 7. For the proper safety of the funds which may be remitted to London by the administrators of the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico, for the payment of the dividends on the foreign debt, his Excellency the Minister of Finance and the agents of the republic shall take care to have the needful insurances effected.
" 8. The funds at present existing in the hands of Messrs. Baring, Brothers and Co., of London, intended for the payment of the dividends on the old loan of 5 and 6 per cent., shall be exclusively applied to the payment of the interest on this debt, which is to be remitted to London conformable to the conditions contained in the preceding agreement.
"9. To obviate the inconvenience which would be occasioned by the agents for the republic issuing certificates in duplicate, as regards their admission at the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico, they are hereby expressly prohibited from issuing any
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MEXICAN PRESIDENT'S ORDER IN COUNCIL.
such documents in duplicate, seeing that any risk of loss in their transmission must be for account of the owners, by reason that it is stipulated in the Agreement that the amount of the certificates shall be augmented 10 per cent., as full compensations for all costs and expenses to be incurred, and because the owners can protect themselves by insurance against the loss of their documents.
" 10. It shall be distinctly and clearly stated in the certificates issued by the agents of the republic, that the same shall be fully received and admitted at the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico of the bearer, as effective payment in hard money for the sixth part of any duties which he may have to pay. These certificates shall be drawn out with such marks and checks as may, in the opinion of the agents of the republic and of the minister plenipotentiary to the British Court, be considered neces- sary to prevent errors or fraud.
" 11. To the end that the admission of these certificates at the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico be conducted in a clear and distinct form, and with the view of avoiding any abuse or fraud which might be attempted to the injury of the nation, and of the creditors themselves, in addition to the entries made in the usual and ordinary books of the custom-houses, there shall be a separate and distinct book kept at each of the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico, for the sole object of entering these certificates : said book shall be paged throughout, and signed in the first and last page by the commissioners of the Treasury (the other pages having only the rubrica.)
" In this book are to be entered, in rigorous numerical order, the certificates as they may be presented for admission, in pay- ment of the sixth part of any duties, and which may be cancelled, expressing the date, amount, and number of such certificate, agreeable to the accompanying model.
" 12. Whenever any certificates shall have been admitted in payment of duties at the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tam- pico, the same shall be immediately cancelled and rendered unfit for circulation by cutting a piece out of the centre, half an inch in diameter ; and this shall be done in the presence of the adminis- trator, comptroller, and chief clerk of the custom-house, sending
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MEXICAN PRESIDENT'S ORDER IN COUNCIL.
by the first post a particular account thereof to the Treasury, from whence it will be forwarded to the minister of finance.
"13. For the better attainment of the objects contemplated in the preceding instructions, his Excellency the minister plenipo- tentiary to the court of St. James, and the agents of the republic in London, shall take especial care to give timely and punctual advices to the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico, and to the Minister of Finance, of all certificates issued by them, duly enumerating their numbers, dates, values, &c., the certificates must absolutely be issued in strict numerical order, which on no account whatever is to be altered or interrupted.
" 14. At the general treasury of the republic there shall be kept a paged book, whereof the first and last pages shall be signed by the minister of finance ; (the intermediate ones bearing his rubrica only ;) this book shall be expressly kept for the pur- pose of showing a clear and detailed account of the operations carried on at the Custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico, on the subjects previously detailed in the 10th article of the instruc- tions. For this purpose the administrators of those custom- houses will give timely advice of their proceedings to the general treasury.
" 15. Since it may occur that the certificates issued by the agents of the republic be presented indifferently at Vera Cruz or Tampico; to avoid any error or fraud, as also with a view to ascertain whether the whole interest on the foreign debt be co- vered or not, the administrators of these custom-houses are directed to communicate frequently with each other, advising the amount of certificates which may be presented at their respective offices, taking care to mention their numbers, date, value, &c. And should, at either of the custom-houses, any error or mistake be noted, or that any fraud be committed or attempted to be made, then advice thereof to be sent immediately to the general treasury and to the Minister of Finance to the end that the go- vernment may dictate such orders as may be required without prejudice to any proceedings which the administrators may have thought fit to institute before the proper tribunals.
---
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MEXICAN PRESIDENT'S ORDER IN COUNCIL.
" 16. For the true and faithful observance of all the stipula- tions contained in the 4th, 5th, and 6th articles of the Agreement, and of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th articles of the preceding act of congress, there shall be appointed with the least possible delay a committee of emigration under the immediate orders of the su- preme government, composed of three intelligent persons suitable for the office, who shall have the control of the land surveys, location of emigrants, and other necessary details, bearing in mind the end and purpose of the 6th article of the decree of the 12th of April, 1837, which has been admitted, and remains an integral part of the above-mentioned Agreement.
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