d fférent pour son clergé, l'entente entre le Patriarcat Grec et la Sublime Porte pourrait être très vite rétablie. Quant à la tranquillité publique elle est ici parfaite pour le moment, et il ne paraît pas probable qu'elle sera troublée pendant les fêtes de Noël-même si les églises ne seront pas ouvertes jusqu'alors. Cependant sur ce point je ne veux et je ne puis pas émettre un jugement trop absolu, des circonstances imprévues pouvant surgir telles à changer tout à fait la situation. J. E. Blunt, Esq. J'ai, &c., [Continued in Vol. LXXXIV.] S. PECCHIOLL COLOMBIAN LAW, approving the Contract of December 10, 1890, between the Colombian Government and Mr. Lucien N. B. Wyse on behalf of the Liquidator of the Universal Panamá Canal Company, for the Construction of a Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, across Colombian Territory-Bogotá, December 26, 1890. (Translation.) THE Congress of Colombia Decrees: Sole Article. That the Contract reforming that of the 23rd March, 1878, for opening an interoceanic canal across Colombia territory, concluded between his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs and M. Lucien N. B. Wyse, as special attorney of the Liquidator of the Universal Panamá Canal Company, be approved in all its parts; which Contract runs as follows: : "Antonio Roldán, Minister for Foreign Affairs, duly authorized by his Excellency the President of the Republic, of the first part, hereinafter styled 'the Government,' and Lucien N. B. Wyse, Commander in the Navy, Engineer, the original grantee of the interoceanic canal, and special attorney of the Liquidator of the Universal Panamá Canal Company, as appears by the power of attorney executed in Paris the 16th day of May, 1890, of the second part, hereinafter styled the grantee,' have agreed to reform the Contract of the 23rd March, 1878, for the opening of an interoceanic canal across Colombian territory, approved by Law 28 of the said year, in acordance with the following stipulations: "ARTICLE 1. The Government grants to the Liquidator of the Universal Interoceanic Panamá Canal Company an extension of ten years within which the canal must be completed and opened to the service of the public, under the following conditions: "1. The grantee agrees to transfer all the assets of the Company in liquidation to a new Company, which shall assume the work of completing the interoceanic canal. 2. The new Company shall be definitively organized, with sufficient capital for the purpose, and shall resume the work of excavation in a serious and permanent manner by the 28th February, 1893, at the latest. "3. The grantee, or whoever may represent his rights, shall furnish to the National Government in Panamá the sum of 10,000 dollars monthly, in Colombian (silver) coinage of 0.835 fine, for the maintenance of 250 men, whom the Government agrees to employ from the military garrison of the Department of Panamá, for the preservation of order and the security of the line of the canal during the work of excavation; and after the completion of the work, for the protection of the interoceanic transit. "In case the Company should require a greater number of men of the public forces, the Government may supply them for the said service from the military garrison of the Department; but the expenses occasioned by employing such greater number of men shall be likewise paid by the Company, in proportion to the terms hereinbefore established. "The Company is required to supply adequate lodgings for the troops, at points of the line where the Government does not possess them. "The concluding part of Article 8 of the original Contract is modified in accordance with the foregoing provisions. "4. Small vessels shall be permitted to navigate the lakes which may form part of the canal, under such regulations as the Company may draw up in relation thereto. The Company shall not be responsible for the risks attaching to such navigation. Regulations for the local police on the lakes shall be duly issued by the Government, with a view to the general interests of the enterprise. "5. The Company is required to re-establish the means of public transit, by bridges or ferries, as it may consider to be most practicable, at the mouth of the Rio Grande; and if, in consequence of the shipping traffic, the passage at this point is hereafter impeded, the Company shall re-establish the same between Emperadon and the Arraigan, to the satisfaction of the Government. "Art. 2. In addition to the waste lands granted gratuitously by the Contract of 1878, expropriations of lands, buildings, and plantations required for the canal and its annexes shall be made by the Government, at the cost of the Company, in conformity with condition 9 of Article 1 of the said Contract, approved by Law 28 of 1878. "Such expropriations shall be made with as little delay as the legislation of the country upon the subject allows; and the property expropriated shall be delivered at once to the grantee or the representative of his rights. "Art. 3. The Government also agrees to take the necessary steps to secure to the new Company the full possession of the lands belonging to the Company in liquidation which have been unlawfully occupied by private persons; and to obtain a judicial decision to the effect that no person has a right to any indemnity who, without previous permission, has built or planted on ground bought by the Canal Company in liquidation for the works of excavation or installa. tion, or for the deposit of earth, or of the refuse of its works. "Art. 4. In compensation for the services which the Government agrees to render in accordance with the two preceding Articles, the grantee, or whoever may represent his rights, shall pay to the Government 10,000,000 fr. in gold, and shall transfer to it, without further consideration, 5,000,000 fr. in 10,000 paid-up shares of the new Company of 500 fr. each, free from all tax, and earning the same interest as the ordinary shares. The said 10,000 shares shall remain attached to their respective counterfoils until the ordinary shares shall have been fully paid up; but the Government shall have the right to alienate or pledge them whenever it may so desire, upon giving notice to the Company. "Paragraph. The grantee, or whoever may represent his rights, shall pay the 10,000,000 fr. to which this Article refers in five equal annual instalments; the first being payable three months after the definitive organization of the new Company for the completion of the canal, according to the second condition of Article 1 of this Contract. "From this sum shall be deducted the 2,500,000 fr., and the interest accrued up to the date of the approval of the present Contract, which the Government owes to the Company in liquidation on account of the loan of 1883; and this deduction shall be made beforehand, in order to determine the amount of the five annual instalments herein before referred to. By this arrangement the said loan shall be completely cancelled. "Art. 5. The Special Delegate whom the Government has the right to appoint in the Administrative Council of the Company by Article 20 of the existing Contract shall have in the new Company which may be formed for the completion of the canal the same privileges and attributes as shall be granted to the other Administrators by the Articles of Association of the Company; but neither the said Delegate nor the official Agent of the Government resident on the Isthmus shall have the power to publish anything relating to the business of the Company without the express authorization of the Company. "Art. 6. If the new Company for the completion of the canal is not organized, nor the work of excavation resumed within the period fixed by condition 2 of Article 1, the existing Contract shall determine, and the Republic shall enter into possession and ownership, without the necessity of a previous judicial decision, and without paying any indemnity, of the actual works of the canal and the annexes belonging to them, in accordance with Article 23 of the Contract of 1878. "Paragraph 1. It is understood that the Contract shall also determine, and that the provisions of this Article shall be fulfilled, if at any time before the 28th February, 1893, should the Company for the completion of the canal not have been formed, the legal representative of the Universal Interoceanic Canal Company in liquidation, or whoever should represent his rights, abandons the preservation of the works, property, and buildings belonging to the said Company which now exist on the Isthmus. "Paragraph 2. The preservation of the property referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be understood to be abandoned whenever the legal representative of the Universal Interoceanic Canal Company in liquidation, or whoever may represent his rights, shall remove the staff of employés now maintained on the Isthmus, or shall cease to make the necessary expenditure to prevent the loss or injury of the said property. "Paragraph 3. It is furthermore understood that the buildings, plant, works, and improvements which are to pass into the possession of the Republic in the events provided for in this Article, and in accordance with Article 23 of the Contract of 1878, shall be inalienable, and must be delivered over in good condition, except for deterioration caused by wear and tear, force majeure, or unavoidable accident. "Art. 7. Whenever the Company for the completion of the canal shall be legally organized, and have resumed the works in conformity with the provisions of condition 2 of Article 1 of this Contract, the Government shall adjudge to it the 250,000 hectares of waste lands in the Department of Panamá which by executive resolutions have been declared to belong to it, and shall deliver to it the respective title-deeds, provided always that the legal formalities in respect of the matter shall be complied with on the part of the Company. "Art. 8. The bond for 750,000 fr. given by the Canal Company in accordance with Article 2 of the existing Contract shall remain as security for the fulfilment of the obligations arising out of that Contract, and of those which the grantee undertakes by virtue of this present one. "Art. 9. All the rights and obligations created by the Contract of the 23rd March, 1878, for the opening of an interoceanic canal across Colombian territory, approved by Law 28 of the same year, shall remain in full force and virtue, without other limitations or modifications than those provided for in the present Contract. "Art. 10. The present Contract requires for its validity the approval of his Excellency the President of the Republic and that of Congress. "Done in duplicate, at Bogotá, the 10th day of December, 1890. "ANTONIO ROLDAN. "Executive Government, Bogotá, December 10, 1890. "Approved. "CARLOS HOLGUIN. "ANTONIO ROLDÁN, Minister for Foreign Affairs." Given in Bogotá, the 23rd December, 1890. JOSE JOAQUIN ORTIZ, President of the Senate. ENRIQUE DE NARVAEZ, Secretary of the Senate. MIGUEL A. PENAREDONDA, Secretary of the Chamber of Representatives. Executive Government, Bogotá, December 26, 1890. Let it be published and executed. CARLOS HOLGUIN. ANTONIO ROLDÁN, Minister for Foreign Affairs. LOI de la République Française, concernant le Régime des Sucres. -Paris, le 29 Juin, 1891. LE Sénat et la Chambre des Députés ont adopté, Le Président de la République promulgue la Loi dont la teneur suit: Article 1er. A partir du 1er Septembre prochain, et pour les campagnes suivantes, le rendement légal par 100 kilog. de betteraves mises en œuvre dans les fabriques de sucre indigène reste fixé à 7 kilog. 750 grammes. |