Government, the contractors shall agree to submit themselves to the Cuban judges and tribunals, and in no case may they allege their status as foreigners or bring any claims against the Cuban Government except before the national tribunals. "Article 13 shall be drawn to read as follows: "Consumption tax on gasoline, petroleum, and other products. "ART. 13. The proceeds of a tax of 10 cents per gallon on the consumption of gasoline or any other product imported from abroad which is used in substitution therefor in all the national territory, the customs duties on the said products being reduced to the amount of 1 cent for each gallon. The national executive is authorized to establish, if he shall deem it in order, and in such amount as he may deem advisable, a consumption tax on petroleum and its derivatives, and in an equal manner, on the coal consumed in the national territory, the customs duties now in force being reduced to such minimum as the executive may fix. The proceeds of the taxes which may be established in accordance with the foregoing paragraph shall be applied, first, to cover the decrease in the general budget of the nation resulting from the reduction of the customs duties previously mentioned, and the balance to create a special fund which shall be called "National irrigation and agricultural development fund," which shall be applied solely and exclusively to preparing and carrying out a plan of irrigation and agricultural development in the national territory, the executive being authorized to adopt such regulations as he may deem advisable for the better and more efficient accomplishment of this purpose, especially to establish the manner of reimbursement to the said fund, by the parties benefited, of a part or all of the cost of the work. There shall be constructed in the city of Habana, on land reclaimed from the sea along the water front of the bay, and charged to this fund, a building adequate for the purpose of holding therein periodical national exhibitions, preferably agricultural and industrial, or great conventions.' 6 "Article 18 shall have the following paragraph added thereto: When in notarial documents of creation of property rights, the parties agree that no interest shall be charged, or agree upon a rate of interest so low as obviously to demonstrate an intention of evading the tax, the nation shall have the right to collect the tax, calculating in such cases as the rate of interest for assessment and collection, that of 7 per cent per annum.' Article 20 shall be drawn to read as follows: Period of the taxes. ART. 20. The taxes specified in articles 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 are established with a temporary character and shall be in force for a period of not more than 20 years from July 15, 1925, or until such time as the works to be performed shall be wholly paid for and the contracts entered into by the executive for the financing thereof shall be entirely liquidated, at which time the collection of the taxes shall cease.' The taxes specified in articles 12 and 13 shall be of permanent character and shall be especially applied to the following purposes: (a) The taxes specified in article 12 and in the first paragraph of article 13 shall be applied to preserve and improve the works constructed, especially the roads. (b) The taxes which may be established in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph of article 13 shall be applied principally to preserve and improve the works accomplished in accordance with the third and fourth paragraphs of said article. Article 22 shall have the following paragraph added thereto: The system of reimbursement for the city of Habana, established by article 21 of this law, and the systems of other reimbursements and assessments established in article 22 shall be applicable also to the other works included in the publicworks plan, especially the highway and irrigation works, for which purpose the national executive is authorized to issue such regulations and orders as may be advisable for the better and more efficacious reimbursement by private parties to the nation of the cost of the works, as compensation for the benefits or improvements which private property may receive by reason of said works, including the amplification to the extent he may deem necessary of the zones subject to expropriation. The national executive is authorized to establish "National monuments," issuing such regulations and orders as he may deem advisable for the best and most efficacious protection of the said monuments, whether they be of historic, artistic, or patriotic character, as well as for the conservation of the natural wealth and beauty of the country.' "ART. 2. All other provisions and dispositions of the said law of July 15, 1925, are ratified by the present law, in all particulars which are not contrary to the modifications or additions aforesaid. "ART. 3. This law shall become effective from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic." I also certify that the said project of law was approved by the favorable vote of the 16 senators present, Messrs. Daniel Compte, Augustín Cruz, Horacio Díaz Pardo, Ricardo Dolz, Alfonzo Duque de Heredia, Lorenzo Fernandez Hermo, Wilfredo Fernandez, Carlos Gonzalez Clavell, Faustino Guerra, Modesta Maidique, Manuel Martinez-Moles, Manuel Vera, José R. Villalón, Rosendo Collazo, Celso Cuellar and Clemente Vasquez Bello, the three last named being secretaries and president, respectively, of this body, said number of votes constituting those of two-thirds of the total number of the members of this colegislative body at the date of approval of said project of law. And for the purpose of remission to the secretary of the treasury who has requested these presents to give effect to the deed for the financing of the general plan of public works, and in accordance with the order of the president, I issue these presents in Habana, the 21st day of February, 1930. Approved. CELSO CUELLAR DEL RIO, Secretary of the Senate. CLEMENTE VASQUEZ BELLO, (Here follows the seal of the presidency of the Senate.) I, Dr. Oscar A. Montero y Beldarrain, lawyer and notary of this city and district, with residence In the same, certify to the authenticity of the signatures of Messrs. Clemente Vasquez Bello and Celso Cuellar del Rio, who in their respective capacities as president and secretary of the senate of the Republic authorize the foregoing certification, because of the likeness which said signatures bear to those which they customarily use in all their acts, hereby making known that this certification has been delivered to me by Messrs. Drs. Mario Ruiz Mesa and Carlos Miguel de Céspedes, in their capacities as secretaries of the treasury and public works of the Republic, to be annexed to the foregoing document and form a part thereof. Habana, February 26, 1930. [Here follows the seal of said notary.] Dr. OSCAR A. MONTERO. REPUBLIC OF CUBA, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, PRESIDENCY (Here follows a rubber stamp which says:) "House of Representatives, 21 February, 1930. 028832." I, the undersigned, secretary of the House of Representatives, certify: That as appears in the minutes corresponding to the session held by this colegislative body the 25th day of June, 1928, registered at folio 147 of the minute book of the third legislature of the thirteenth congressional period, there was adopted among other things the following, a literal copy of which reads as follows: "On a vote by name ordered by the Presidency and by 84 votes in favor to 4 4 against, there was adopted the resolution to approve the petition for suspension of the rules presented by Messrs. C. Machado and others, in order to take up immediately the proposition of law presented by the same gentlemen modifying articles 10 and others of the law of the 15th of July, 1925. There voted in favor: Messrs. Aguiar, Aguilar, Albuerne, R. Alfonso, J. M. Alfonso, Elio Alvarez, Alvera, Alliegro, Aragonés, Ariza, A. Barrero, O. Barrero, Beltrán, Bosch. Bover, Bravo Acosta, Calás, R. Campos, F. Campos, Candia, Carrillo, Castillo, Cisneros, Cruells, Cuesta, Cueto, Echeverría, Espinosa, Finalés, Fundora, G. Montes, George, Gil, L. Grau, B. Grau, Haedo, Hernandez Dou, Hirzel, Infante. C. Machado, E. Machado, Madrid, Martinez Quiroga, Martinez Rivera, Menció, Mendoza, Meso, Milanés, Mola, Navarrete, Nuñez, Rafael Padierne, Ricardo Padierne, Parodi, Perez, Piedra, G. Pino, Ponce, Prado, Ramirez, Recio, Remedios, Rey, Reyes, Rio, Rivero, R. Barahona, R. Cremé, R. Ramirez, Rubio, San Pedro, Sardiñas, Sierra, Soto Izquierdo, Tomé, Torre, Trujillo, Urbino, Urquiago, Villalón, Villaverde, Alberni, la Guardia y Guás Inclá. There voted against Messrs. Castellanos, Cruz Ugarte, Wolter del Rio, and Zaydin. (Mr. George cccupied the presidency.) Without discussion the whole of said proposition of law was approved by vote by name, by 86 votes in favor and 4 against, there having voted consequently in favor two-thirds of the voting representatives. There voted in favor: Messrs. Aguiar, Aguilar, Albuerne, R. Alfonso, J. M. Alfonso, Elio Alvarez, Alvera, Alliegro, Aragonés, Ariza, A. Barrero, O. Barrero, Beltrán, Bosch, Bravo Acosta, Calás, R. Campos, F. Campos, Candia, Carrillo, Castillo, Cisneros, Cruells, Cuesta, Cueto, Diaz Valdes, Echeverría, Espinosa, Finalés, Fundora, García Montes, Gil, George, L. Grau, B. Grau, Haedo, G. Hernandez, Hirzel, Infante, C. Machado, E. Machado, Madrid, Martinez Quiroga, Martinez, Rivera, Mestre, Menció, Mendoza, Meso, Milanés, Mola, Mora digo Navarrete, Nuñez, Rafael Padierne, Ricardo Padierne, Parodi, Pérez, Piedra, G. Pino, Ponce, Prado, Ramirez, Recio, Remedios, Rey, Reyes, Rio, Rivero, R. Barahona, R. Cremé, R. Ramirez, Rubio, San Pedro, Sardiñas, Sierra, Soto Izquierdo, Tomé, Torre, Trujillo, Urbino, Urquiaga, Villalón, Villaverde, Alberni, la Guardia and Guás Inclán. There voted against Messrs. Castellanos, Cruz Ugarte, Wolter del Rio and Zaydin. Article 1 of the project of law was approved by vote by name by 86 votes in favor and 5 against. Article 2 was approved by vote by name by 86 votes, all in favor, and also by vote by name article 3 was approved by 86 votes, all in favor, approving the proposal of Representative Carlos Machado Morales that it be sent directly to the Senate. Said 86 votes constitute two-thirds of the total number of the members of this colegislative body on the date of the approval of said project. And on the petition of Representative Octavio Barrero Velazco, I issue these presents, upon the authorization of the President, in accordance with the provisions in paragraph 8 of article 35 of the rules, in Habana, on the 21st day of February, 1930. Approved. Dr. JOSE ALBERNI. RAFAEL GUAS INCLAN, President. (Here follows the seal of the House of Representatives.) I, Dr. Oscar A. Montero y Beldarrain, lawyer and notary of this city and district, with residence in the same, certify to the authenticity of the signatures of Messrs. Rafael Guás Inclán and José Alberni, who in their respective capacities as president and secretary of the House of Representatives of the Republic authorize the foregoing certification, because of the similarity which said signatures bear to those which they customarily use in all their acts, hereby making known that this certification has been delivered to me by Messrs. Drs. Mario Ruiz Mesa y Carlos Miguel de Céspedes, in their capacities as Secretaries of the Treasury and of Public Works of the Republic, to be annexed to the foregoing document and form a part thereof. Habana, February 26, 1930. (Here follows the seal of said notary.) Dr. OSCAR A. MONTERO. No. 55. EXTENSION In the city of Habana, on the 5th day of March, 1931, before me, Dr. Carlos Alberto Saladrigas y Heredia, a lawyer and notary public of the notarial college and district of this capital, a resident thereof, as accidental substitute for my colleague, Dr. Regino Truffin y Perez de Abreu, and in his office of records, appear Mr. Mario Ruiz Mesa, Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Cuba, a native of the Province of Santa Clara, a Cuban citizen, of legal age, married, a lawyer, and a resident of this city; Mr. Manuel Lombillo y Clark, Secretary of Public Works of the Republic of Cuba, a native of Matanzas, a Cuban citizen, of legal age, married, an engineer, and a resident of this city; and Mr. Louis Samuel Rosenthal, a native of the United States of America, an American citizen, of legal age, a banker, and a resident of this city. CAPACITIES Messrs. Mario Ruiz Mesa and Manuel Lombillo y Clark appear in this act in the name and in behalf of the Republic of Cuba, hereinafter called "the Republic," and in their respective capacities of Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of Public Works, which high offices they now hold and by virtue of and in accordance with the power and authorization to them conferred by presidential decree dated March 2, 1931, by which they were designated for the execution of this deed, a certified copy of said decree being at the end hereof, to all of which I, the notary, attest. And Mr. Louis Samuel Rosenthal does so in the name and behalf of and in his capacity as attorney for the Chase National Bank, of the city of New 92928-32-PT 47 York, hereinafter called "the bank," a banking association organized and existing in accordance with the laws of the United States of North America, with its principal office in the city and State of New York and doing business in this Republic; under the power of attorney which said banking institution conferred in favor of Mr. William Ignayius Quealy, before the notary of the city of New York, Mr. John F. Brosnan, on the 30th of July, 1927, the original whereof, properly authenticated and with its translation into Spanish was protocolized before the notary of this city, Mr. Conrado Ascanio y Suarez, on August 22 of the same year, under No. 572, which power was delegated in its integrity by the said Mr. William Ignatius Quealy in favor of the appearer, Mr. Rosenthal, by another deed executed before the notary of this city, Mr. Francisco Garcia Montes, on the 14th of May, 1930, under No. 130, such power containing among others, the following faculties: "Second. To do business with the Republic of Cuba or with any Province, municipality, or other governmental department or subdivision thereof, and with its officials and accredited representatives, and to make by contract or otherwise any like negotiation with respect to any matter which affects or relates to the legal status of said bank in the Republic of Cuba, or its business, or with respect to the loaning of money or the granting of credits, or the ob taining or acceptance of concessions or privileges of any kind from said Republic, Province, or municipality or other governmental department or subdivision and to execute any and all contracts or engagements which may thus be made." I, the notary, certify that the extract agrees exactly with the Spanish trans lation of the aforesaid protocolized power, a certified copy of which I have before me in this act, without its containing any other clause or particular which amends, alters, or restricts the tenor of what is copied; Mr. Rosenthal declaring, under oath, for the purposes of what is provided in article 215 of the existing notarial code of Cuba, that the power protocolized by the afore said deed No. 572, as also the documents attached thereto, are authentic and the acts they contain true; that he is responsible to third parties for whatever damages might arise from said documents should they prove false; also that the power which he uses has not been revoked, suspended, or limited in any way. The appearers assure me that they are in the full enjoyment and exercise of their civil rights, and I, the notary, find them to have the necessary legal capacity for the execution of this instrument. STATEMENT All the parties appearing in their capacities aforesaid state: First. That the congress of the Republic, by means of an amendment introduced in the public-works law of July 15, 1925, which amendment was duly adopted and sanctioned by the national executive on July 24, 1928, and published in the Official Gazette on the 25th of July of the same year, directed the national executive to endeavor to have the public works authorized by the public-works law constructed before May 20, 1935, and authorized and empowered it, within the terms of the aforesaid amendment, to adopt the systems and procedures deemed most convenient for that purpose, and to enter into any credit transaction for financing such public works and their speedy completion, whether in a form similar to that adopted in the agreements made between the Republic and the bank by deed executed before the notary of this city, Mr. Conrado Ascanio y Suarez, on February 19, 1927, under No. 143, or in the form determined by the agreement entered into by deed executed on June 22, 1928, before the notary of this city, Mr. Regino Truffin y Pérez de Abreu, under No. 114, or in such other form as the national executive should consider most convenient or beneficial to the interests of the Republic; the said amendment likewise providing that the taxes to which articles 14 to 19, both inclusive, refer, which were declared by the public-works law to be of a temporary character, be extended and continue in force for a period not longer than 20 years, from the 15th of July, 1925, until the date on which the public works undertaken shall have been totally paid for and the contracts made by the national executive for financing the same are entirely liquidated. Second. That the national executive, in conformity with the powers and faculties conferred upon him by the constitution and the laws of the Republic, and in order to accelerate the completion of the public works already contracted for, pursuant to the general plan of the public-works law and the execu tion of the public works of greatest importance mentioned in such law, and such others of major importance mentioned in such law, as were between them considered by the national executive of public convenience, in order to have such works completed before the 20th of May, 1935, has granted, prior to that date, contracts for public works authorized by the said public-works law, and for the purpose of providing additional financing for the carrying out of said public works, invited the bank to make a proposal to that effect to the Republic which the bank formulated in two documents dated the 30th of January and the 3d of February, 1930, respectively, and the 8th of the same month of February the secretary of the treasury duly accepted such proposal in behalf of the Republic. Third. That the national executive, acting in accordance with the powers conferred on him by the constitution and laws of the Republic, in view of the favorable report of the Secretary of the Treasury, by executive decree No. 189 of February 10, 1930, published in the Official Gazette of the same day, and in order to provide for payment to the contractors for work completed prior to the collection of the income appropriated for such payments by the publicworks law, accepted the aforesaid proposal indicated therein as the most beneficial one for the financing and rapid execution of the public works, created and authorized in proper form an issue of $80,000,000 principal of public-works bonds of the Republic and the opening of a $20,000,000 credit by the bank in favor of the Republic and in due form also intrusted to the secretaries of the treasury and of public works with the compliance with said decree and the execution of an agreement to carry it into effect, in all its details. Fourth, That the congress of the Republic, with the quorum required by article 59 No. 3 of the constitution-ratified and approved the aforesaid financial operation in its integrity and as it was accepted by presidential decree No. 189 of February 10, 1930, referred to in clause 3 preceding, and the law containing such approval, duly sanctioned by the President, was published and bore the date of March 5, 1930, in the Gazette of the same date. Fifth. That pursuant to the terms and conditions of the aforementioned proposal of the bank and those of the national Executive's decree cited, and in compliance therewith, the secretaries of the treasury and of public works, in behalf of the Republic, entered into an agreement with the bank by deed No. 34 of the 26th of February, 1930, before the notary of this city, Mr. Oscar A. Montero y Beldarraín, by virtue whereof the bank, amongst other things, placed at the disposal of the Republic a credit of $20,000,000 for a period of one year, as specified in said deed, against which credit and subject to the provision which regulated its use, pursuant to the same deed, the Republic could issue and deliver to contractors for the construction of public works, under the public works law deferred payment work certificates up to said amount of $20,000,000 for work done by said contractors under and by virtue of their respective construction contracts and accepted by the Republic, which certificates were to be numbered consecutively from 1 upwards; would be authorized in the name and behalf of the Republic by its secretary of public works; would be recorded in the treasury department; would bear as their date of issue the day on which they would be signed by said secretary of public works and would mature the 4th of March, 1931; would be assigned by the respective contractors to the bank which would pay their amount to said contractors; would bear interest at the rate of 52 per cent per annum on the fact value thereof, from the respective dates on which said amounts of principal were refunded to the bank by the Republic guaranteeing their payment in the same degree and on the same conditions as the bonds referred to in said deed No. 34 with a preferential title and lien on 90 per cent of the income collected from the taxes specified in articles 12 to 19, both inclusive, of the public works law, subject solely to the rights of the holders of the $20,000,000 principal amount of serial certificates issued under the existing credit agreements and sold to the public by the bank, pursuant to the deed executed on June 22, 1928, before the notary, Dr. Regino Truffin y Perez de Abreu, under No. 114 and by said deed No. 34 by which the Republic as additional security for payment of the aforesaid deferred payment certificates and interest thereon, likewise agreed to retain in its portfolio the $40,000,000 in bonds which the bank did not undertake to purchase, out of the $80,000,000 in bonds issued under the aforesaid deed No. 34 and apply the proceeds from the said retained bonds when and as sold, preferentially and in the necessary portion, to the payment of all sums advanced by reason of the credit and/or to the reduction of said credit and until all such sums should be paid and the credit be closed, |