the two-months' period within which the accused, in an extradition proceeding, must be conveyed out of the country, being reckoned from the day on which he is committed for extradition by the magistrate. The language of our statute (R. S., 5273) is as follows: Whenever any person who is committed under this title or any treaty, to remain until delivered up in pursuance of a requisition, is not so delivered up and conveyed out of the United States within two calendar months after such commitment, over and above the time actually required to convey the prisoner from the jail to which he was committed, by the readiest way, out of the United States, it shall be lawful for any judge of the United States, or of any State, upon application made to him by or on behalf of the person so committed, and upon proof made to him that reasonable notice of the intention to make such application has been given to the Secretary of State, to order the person so committed to be discharged out of the custody, unless sufficient cause is shown to such judge why such discharge ought not to be ordered. Accept, etc., (For Mr. Knox), ALVEY A. ADEE. BELGIUM. RIGHT OF AGRICULTURAL CORPORATION TO PURCHASE AND HOLD LAND IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. File No. 811B.5034. The Acting Secretary of State to the Belgian Minister. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I beg to transmit herewith, for your information, a copy of an opinion rendered by the Attorney General, dated April 29, 1910, upon the question presented by Mr. Ed. C. André, through you, as to the legal right of a Belgian corporation to purchase and hold a plantation in the Philippine Islands containing an area of 1,430 hectares. As will be observed, the Attorney General holds that under the law no foreign or domestic corporation authorized to engage in agriculture may purchase or hold lands in the Philippines in excess of 1,024 hectares. Accept, etc., [Inclosure.] HUNTINGTON WILSON. The Attorney General to the Secretary of State. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication o April 21, instant, in which you state: I have the honor to inclose copies of two notes addressed, respectively, to the minister of foreign affairs at Brussels by Mr. Ed. C. André, dated April 4, and to the Belgian minister at this capital by the minister of foreign affairs of his Government, dated April 17, and with them three letters from Mr. André, dated March 30 and April 4, addressed to you and handed to me by the minister of Belgium for delivery to you. These documents raise the question whether a Belgian corporation authorized to engage in agriculture may legally purchase and hold a plantation in the Philippine Islands containing an area of 1,430 hectares. The collateral inquiry is also presented whether, if the answer to the foregoing question is in the negative, an agricultural and commercial corporation created under Philippine law may take and hold the said plantation. You request an expression of my opinion on both of these questions. The act of Congress entitled "An act temporarily to provide for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes,” approved July 1, 1892, is the law still in force. By the seventy-fifth section of that act it is provided: That no corporation shall be authorized to conduct the business of buying and selling real estate or be permitted to hold or own real estate except such as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to carry out the purposes for which it is created, and every corporation authorized to engage in agriculture shall by its charter be restricted to the ownership and control of not to exceed one thousand and twenty-four hectares of land. ✶✶ The first clause of this section forbids the organization of corporations to conduct the business of buying and selling real estate. The next, recognizing the necessity of some corporations to hold real estate for the conduct of their business, denies the permission to hold or own any real estate except such as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to carry out the purposes for which the corporation is created. The holding of real estate, under this provision, is incidental to the main business of the corporation, such as manufacturing or trading. By no intentment can this apply to a corporation formed for the use or cultivation of land. By the next clause of this section it is provided: Every corporation authorized to engage in agriculture shall by its charter be restricted to the ownership and control of not to exceed one thousand and twenty-four hectares of land. Mr. André suggests, in one of the notes transmitted through you: "I am in doubt whether this refers to the rules and by-laws of the corporation or to the privilege granted to a company at being filed." This provision is not directory. It affects the very being of the corporation. It is an absolute prohibition of the power to hold land in excess of 1,024 hectares. This limitation was placed on the act after much debate and deliberation in the United States Congress, and it is repeated and emphasized in all the legislation upon this subject. These prohibitions in the organic act were embraced in the "corporation law" of the Philippine Commission, enacted by authority of the United States. By Article I, section 13, it is enacted: Every corporation has power (par. 5) to purchase, hold, convey, sell, lease, let, mortgage, encumber, and otherwise deal with such real and personal property as the purposes for which the corporation was formed may permit and the transaction of the lawful business of the corporation may reasonably and necessarily require, unless otherwise prescribed in this act: Provided. That no corporation shall be authorized to conduct the business of buying and selling real estate or be permitted to hold or own real estate except such as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to carry out the purposes for which it is created, and every corporation authorized to engage in agriculture shall be restricted to the ownership and control of not to exceed one thousand and twenty-four hectares of land. * * * Reversing the order in which the questions in your communication are presented to me, and replying to the second inquiry, I think an agricultural corporation created under Philippine law can not take and hold of the plantation described, or of any other lands, more than 1,024 hectares. By the last paragraph of this same section 75 of the act of Congress it is provided: Corporations not organized in the Philippine Islands, and doing business therein, shall be bound by the provisions of this section so far as they are applicable. And by section 73 of the "corporation law" of the Philippine Commission it is enacted: Any foreign corporation or corporation not formed, organized, or existing under the laws of the Philippine Islands and lawfully doing business in the islands shall be bound by the laws, rules, and regulations applica ble to domestic corporations of the same class, save and except such only as provide for the creation, forma tion, organization, or dissolution of corporations or such as fix the relations, liabilities, responsibilities, or duties of members, stockholders, or officers of corporations to each other or to the corporation: Provided, however, That nothing in this section contained shall be construed or deemed to impair any rights that are secured or protected by the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, signed at the city of Paris on December tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight. This act was passed under the authority delegated by the organic act. Its provisions are declaratory of the limitations of that act. The restrictions upon the ownership and control of lands in the Philippine Islands by corporations are absolutely determined by this legislation. It is beyond the power of the executive branches of the Governments, either of the United States or the Philippine Islands, to authorize or permit corporations to own or hold lands in excess of the amount so designated. I am therefore of opinion that neither a corporation formed in Belgium to ac¬uire and possess lands in the Philippine Islands nor any other foreign or domestic corporation authorized to engage in agriculture may legally purchase or hold more than 1,024 hectares of land in the Philippine Islands. I have, etc., GEO. W. WICKERSHAM. TRANSIT OF FUGITIVE FROM JUSTICE IN COURSE OF EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS BETWEEN LUXEMBURG AND THE UNITED STATES. File No. 23700/7. Minister Beaupré to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Mr. Beaupré says he is notified by the Luxemburg Government of the arrest made in compliance with the telegraphic request of Wood, detective captain, of Chicago, at Luxemburg on March 24 of Nicholas Knepper on charge of larceny. Asks if extradition papers are being sent to the legation. 67942°-F B 1910 File No. 23700/7. The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Beaupré. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mr. Wilson informs Minister Beaupré that the extradition papers for Knepper, referred to in legation's telegram of March 31, will be sent on Saturday. File No. 23700/14. Minister Beaupré to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN LEGATION, The Hague, April 11, 1910. Mr. Beaupré asks if permission has been obtained from Belgium for the transit of Nicholas Knepper in accordance with article 4 of the Belgian law of 1874. File No. 23700/14. The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Bryan. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mr. Hale instructs Minister Bryan to cooperate with Minister Beaupré at The Hague, from whom he may obtain particulars, to secure permission from Government of Belgium for transit of agent and extradited criminal. File No. 23700/14. The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Beaupré. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Referring to legation's, April 11, relative to extradition of Knepper, Mr. Hale says permission for transit has not been obtained and instructs Mr. Beaupré to cooperate with the legation at Brussels to secure same, as agent is sailing on this date. File No. 23700/16. Minister Beaupré to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN LEGATION, The Hague, April 16, 1910. Referring to instructions of April 12, Mr. Beaupré says he has received a telegram from the legation at Belgium stating that on account of the lack of treaty provisions the authorities of Belgium require full extradition formalities and certified documents for a prisoner in transit, and that they suggest return of prisoner through German territory. Mr. Beaupré asks if department will obtain authorization for transit through embassy at Berlin. File No. 23700/16. The Acting Secretary of State to Ambassador Hill. [Telegram paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mr. Adee informs Ambassador Hill that extradition of one Nicholas Knepper will soon be granted by Luxemburg, and, as Belgian Government refuses transit of prisoner except on full extradition formalities, he instructs him to ascertain if the German Government will allow transit for agent and fugitive, and upon what formalities. Says particulars relative to Knepper case may be obtained from the legation at The Hague. File No. 23700/16. The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Beaupré. [Telegram paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mr. Adee acknowledges legation's April 16, and says embassy at Berlin has been instructed to request authority for transit of Nicholas Knepper. Minister Beaupré to the Secretary of State. No. 19, Luxemburg series.] AMERICAN LEGATION, The Hague, April 16, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the department's unnumbered instruction of the 31st ultimo, transmitting, to be certified and forwarded to the minister for foreign affairs of Luxemburg, the documents to be used upon the application for the extradition from the Grand Duchy of Nicholas Knepper, or Knuepper, charged with the crime of burglary in the State of Illinois and a fugitive from the justice thereof. Immediately upon the receipt of this dispatch and its inclosures on the 11th instant I made formal application for the extradition of the fugitive in question in the note of which I inclose copy, certifying the documents, to be used upon this application, in the form of which a copy is likewise inclosed. At the same time I cabled you asking whether permission had been obtained for the transit of Belgium by the agent commissioned to receive the fugitive and his prisoner, in accordance with Article IV of the Belgian law of 1874, reported to Not printed. |