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NATIONAL ARTILLERY FOUNDRY

The manufactures and repairs made by this Establishment for different agencies of the Department are as follows:

Construction work..
Repair work....

CENTRAL GARAGE

.$444,375.67
220,413.09

This Establishment has 115 vehicles (auto trucks, automobiles, motorcycles, and tow-cars) which can give an average of a thousand hours daily service. The shops of the Establishment have been increased to eleven, each one with a full equipment of the necessary machinery and tools for its work. In the warehouse there are materials to the value of $100,000.

Among the improvements in equipment the Establishment has made, are: an air-compressor which is being installed, the installation of an "Ohio" machine in the Mechanical Shop, and other secondary implements.

NATIONAL TANNERY AND DEPENDENT SHOPS

Improvements and repairs of no little importance have been made in the various shops and bureaus of this Department.

The Establishment received the sum of $675,468.78 and production amounted to $859,201.86, the balance belonging to orders begun in August 1921, and now finished.

GENERAL STOREHOUSE FOR MILITARY HOSPITALS

1,425 orders (213 more than last year) were filled by the different warehouses, totaling in value $563,530.43.

NATIONAL MUNITIONS AND ARTILLERY LABORATORY

The war material constructed in the Establishment was valued at $82,210.70; repairs $195,977.34; renewals and improvements $5,105.30; giving a grand total of $283,293.34.

From August 1. 1921 to July 31, 1922 the manufacturing cost of a cartridge was $0.15625, which was reduced during the period from June 1st to July 31st to $0.12675, thus saving $0.0295 per cartridge.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE NATION

SUPERVISION OF THE PUBLIC MINISTRY

In accordance with Article 102 of the Political Constitution, the AttorneyGeneral has presided over the Federal Public Ministry in all matters committed to it by Law, intervening personally not only in all those cases where this Article requires it, but also in others in order to lend them in this way their true importance. In addition, he has fulfilled his position as Legal Adviser of the Government in all cases submitted to his consideration by the Administrative Secretariat and Departments.

AGENTS OF THE FEDERAL COURTS

By means of the Agents of the Federal Courts, 3,264 suits have been entered, of which 795 were brought to a conclusion; and 10,739 suits for defense, of which 5,752 were settled.

There were 169 suits instituted for infractions of the Federal Elections Law, and in this regard the respective Agents were instructed, in cases of accusations against Deputies and Senators-elect who had already received credentials, to limit their activities to gathering of proofs of these infractions, but to refrain from proceeding against the accused until the Electoral College should have decided as to the validity of their credentials.

The Executive, believing that those guilty of the crime of rebellion should suffer the full consequences of their criminal acts, and therefore, that they should compensate the nation for the costs of the campaign for reestablishing peace in the Republic, instructed the Attorney-General to constitute a civil court (parte civil) composed of representatives of the Federal Public Ministry

in the twenty-three rebellion cases so that sufficient assets would be assured to cover the costs. This has been done in the suits instituted against the rebels Francisco Murguí, Carlos Green, Juan Currasco, Celso Zepeda, Manuel Lárraga, and Cástulo Pérez and in the cases of Félix Díaz, Pablo González, Esteban Cantú and some others, the assets are being examined.

CONSULTING SECTION

The National Attorney-General's Office, with the aid of the Consulting Department, intervened directly in six suits brought against the Federal Authorities, among which was the claim brought by the State of Vera Cruz against the General Congress to have the Supreme Court declare unconstitutional the Decree which increased the qualifications indicated by the Constitution for Deputies and Senators to the same Congress. The AttorneyGeneral's Office found that although the Decree is anti-constitutional, and violates the sovereignty of the states, the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to issue a general decision on this decree without destroying the equilibrium that ought to exist between the Federal Authorities.

The Labor Law on the sharing of profits promulgated by the State of Vera Cruz gave rise to many suits for protection and made necessary a detailed study of that law. The Agents of the Federal Courts of Vera Cruz were instructed to try to obtain "protection" only in so far as the provisions of that Law are at variance with the Federal Constitution.

Five periodicals were condemned for going beyond the limits which Article 7° of the Constitution sets to the liberty of the press, and as was explained when the condemnations were made, it was purely a question of punishing crimes clearly defined by the respective Penal Laws.

In view of the happenings in the State of Vera Cruz on the fifth of July last-in which the Federal Army was insulted by members of the Syndicate of Tenants-instructions were issued to the Agent of the Public Ministry that he should proceed to clarify the situation and obtain the punishment of those responsible. The District Court, after decreeing the formal imprisonment of 82 individuals, declared itself unqualified, and so the judicial authorities of common jurisdiction have continued the investigation of the case.

As a result of the declarations which Señor Francisco Chávez, Police Inspector of the Huerta period, made public-in which he offered data for the clearing up of the murders of the President and Vice-president of the Republic, Francisco I. Madero and José María Pino Suárez, Senator Belisario Dominguez, Deputy Serapio Rendón, Gustavo Madero, and Adolfo Basso-the Attorney-General sent a lawyer to San Antonio, Texas, to consult with the Mexican Consul on the proceedings that he had initiated in his capacity of Agent of the Judicial Police for the investigation of these murders. Messrs. Deputies and Senators:

The brief account, which precedes, of the principal achievements of the agencies of the Executive, reveals clearly that the Republic is continuing its normal development along the road of prosperity and progress, with the aid of the new political and social principles consecrated by the Constitution of

1917.

The fiscal equilibrium which we have achieved without detriment to the public service nor recourse to extraordinary methods of taxation, is an evident proof that the economic crisis which the nation passed through, is merely a reflection of the intensely bad conditions existent in all the nations of the world.

The strict application of the new constitutional principles, the basis for exploiting petroleum and the recently signed agreement for the renewal of the Public Debt service, constitute the most eloquent testimony to the fact that the Federal Government has full knowledge of the duties and obligations of the Nation as a Sovereign State, and knows how to fulfill these obligations with all honor.

The general and unanimous indignation which the bold attempts at sedition provoked, and the rapidity and ease with which the Government of the Republic suppressed these acts, clearly indicate that they did not constitute

in any way the expression of a social malaise or the satisfaction of a just desire of the public, but rather were the shameful vent for the criminal tendencies of their leaders.

The impartial and conciliatory intervention of the Executive in the frequent conflicts between capital and labor has aided the harmonious progress of these vital forces of society. In this regard it is not impossible to hope that in the near future the social question in Mexico will find its natural and logical solution, freed from anarchical proceedings which are familiar even in the most cultivated countries of the world.

The press enjoys absolute liberty, such as it has not had perhaps in any other régime, and the Executive is pleased to state before this sovereign body that he will continue to grant it all the guarantees of the Law, in order that it may faithfully realize the social mission which belongs to it.

The general condition of the country leads the Executive to the conclusion and to the profound conviction that with the systematic development of the program of improvement that has been outlined, the absolute consolidation of our institutions will be guaranteed. He believes also that the just equilibrium between our social classes will result in the definite and assured peace of the Republic; and that the rectitude and good faith characteristic of the Federal Government, will constitute a firm safeguard for the dignity and autonomy of the Nation, and will of necessity remove at last every prejudice, every doubt, and every unjustifiable exigency which temporarily impedes the normal and free course of our diplomatic relations with certain other free peoples.

FINIS.

UNITED STATES-MEXICAN CLAIMS CONVENTION*

The United States of America and the United Mexican States, desiring to settle and adjust amicably claims by the citizens of each country against the other since the signing on July 4, 1868, of the Claims Convention entered into between the two countries (without including the claims for losses or damages growing out of the revolutionary disturbances in Mexico which form the basis of another and separate Convention), have decided to enter into a Convention with this object, and to this end have nominated as their Plenipotentiaries: The President of the United States of America;

The Honorables Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State of the United States of America; Charles Beecher Warren and John Barton Payne; and The President of the United Mexican States;

Señor Don Manuel C. Tellez, Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the United Mexican States at Washington;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the following Articles:

ARTICLE I

All claims (except those arising from acts incident to the recent revolutions) against Mexico of citizens of the United States, whether corporations, companies, associations, partnerships, or individuals, for losses or damages suffered by persons or by their properties, and all claims against the United States of America by citizens of Mexico, whether corporations, companies, associations, partnerships, or individuals, for losses or damages suffered by persons or by their properties; all claims for losses or damages suffered by citizens of either country by reason of losses or damages suffered by any corporation, company, association, or partnership in which such citizens have or have had a substantial and bona fide interest, provided an allotment to the claimant by the corporation, company, association, or partnership of his proportion of the loss or damage suffered is presented by the claimant to the Commission hereinafter referred to; and all claims for losses or damages originating from acts of officials or others acting for either Government and resulting in injustice, and which claims may have been presented to either Government for its interposition with the other since the signing of the Claims Convention concluded between the two countries July 4, 1868, and which have remained unsettled, as well as any other such claims which may be filed by either Government within the time hereinafter specified, shall be submitted to a commission consisting of three members for decision in accordance with the principles of international law, justice, and equity.

Such commission shall be constituted as follows: One member shall be appointed by the President of the United States; one by the President of the United Mexican States; and the third, who shall preside over the Commission, shall be selected by mutual agreement between the two Governments. If the two Governments shall not agree within two months from the exchange of ratifications of this Convention in naming such third member, then he shall be designated by the President of the Permanent Administrative Council of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague described in Article XLIX of the Convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes concluded at The Hague on October 18, 1907. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of any member of the Commission, or in the event of a member omitting or ceasing to act as such, the same procedure shall be followed for filling the vacancy as was followed in appointing him.

ARTICLE II

The commissioners so named shall meet at Washington for organization within six months after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, and each member of the commission, before entering upon his duties, shall make and subscribe a solemn declaration stating that he will carefully and impartially examine and decide according to the best of his judgment and in accordance with the principles of international law, justice, and equity, all *From the Congressional Record.

claims presented for decision, and such declaration shall be entered upon the record of the proceedings of the commission.

The commission may fix the time and place of its subsequent meetings, either in the United States or in Mexico, as may be convenient, subject always to the special instructions of the two Governments.

ARTICLE III

In general, the commission shall adopt as the standard for its proceedings the rules of procedure established by the Mixed Claims Commission created under the claims convention between the two Governments signed July 4, 1868, in so far as such rules are not in conflict with any provision of this convention. The commission, however, shall have authority by the decision of the majority of its members to establish such other rules for its proceeding as may be deemed expedient and necessary, not in conflict with any of the provisions of this convention.

Each Government may nominate and appoint agents and counsel who will be authorized to present to the commission, orally or in writing, all the arguments deemed expedient in favor of or against any claim. The agents or

counsel of either Government may offer to the commission any documents, affidavits, interrogatories, other evidence desired in favor of or against any claim and shall have the right to examine witnesses under oath or affirmation before the commission, in accordance with such rules of procedure as the commission shall adopt.

The decision of the majority of the members of the commission shall be the decision of the commission.

The language in which the proceedings shall be conducted and recorded shall be English or Spanish.

ARTICLE IV

The commission shall keep an accurate record of the claims and cases submitted, and minutes of its proceedings with the dates thereof. To this end, each Government may appoint a secretary; these secretaries shall act as joint secretaries of the commission and shall be subject to its instructions. Each Government may also appoint and employ any necessary assistant secretaries and such other assistance as deemed necessary. The commission may also appoint and employ any persons necessary to assist in the performance of its duties.

ARTICLE V

The high contracting parties, being desirous of effecting an equitable settlement of the claims of their respective citizens, thereby affording them just and adequate compensation for their losses or damages, agree that no claim shall be disallowed or rejected by the commission by the application of the general principle of international law that the legal remedies must be exhausted as a condition precedent to the validity or allowance of any claim.

ARTICLE VI

Each such claim for loss or damage accruing prior to the signing of this convention, shall be filed with the commission within one year from the date of its first meeting, unless in any case reasons for the delay, satisfactory to the majority of the commissioners, shall be established, and in any such case the period for filing the claim may be extended not to exceed six additional months.

The commission shall be bound to hear, examine, and decide, within three years from the date of its first meeting, all the claims filed, except as hereinafter provided in Article VII.

Four months after the date of the first meeting of the commissioners and every four months thereafter, the commission shall submit to each Government a report setting forth in detail its work to date, including a statement of the claims filed, claims heard, and claims decided. The commission shall be bound to decide any claim heard and examined within six months after the conclusion of the hearing of such claim and to record its decision.

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