Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 50 Part 1.djvu/809

 49 Stat .3071. 43 Stat. 1730. 48 Stat. 1844. 43 Stat. 1722. 49 Stat. 3128. 49 Stat. 149 . 75T$ CONGR ESS, 1sT SESSION-CH. 758--AUGUST 25, 1937 Where as the said Sp ecial C laims C onventi on of A pril 24, 1934, provides that the jurisdiction in and validity of the claims found by the said committee to be general claims shall be determined in each case when examined and adjudicated by the Commissioners or Umpire in accordance with the provisions of the G eneral Claims Convention of September 8, 1923, and the protocol of April 24, 1934, or the Special Claims Convention of September 10, 1923, and the protocol of June 18, 1932, in the event it shall be found by the Commission ers or Umpire to have been improperly el imi- nated from the special claims settlement ; and Whereas ce rtain claims filed with the said Special Claims Com- mission, United States and Mexico, established by the said con vention of Sep tember 10, 19 23, were foun d by the said com- mittee to be general claims but have not yet been the subject of any determination by the said General Claims Commission ; and Whereas the said Special Mexican Claim s Commission, established in pursuance of the said Act approved April 10, 1935, expires by the terms of the said Act on August 31, 1937 ; and j Whereas, by the terms of the protocol of April 24, 1934, between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, the said General Claims Commission expires on October 24, 1937, and the two Governments have undertaken, upon the basis of the oint report of the members of the said Commission, to conclude a conve ntion for the final disp ositi on of the claim s pen ding befor e the said Commission, the said convention to take either the form of an agreement for an en-bloc settlement of the said claims or the form of an agreement for the disposition of the clai ms upon their individual merits by reference to an umpire ; and Whereas the committee provided for in the Special Claims Conven- tion of April 24, 1934, found that the amount to be paid by the Government of Mexico in settlement of the special cl aims compre- hended in that convention was $5,448,020 .14, it being understood that the sum thus determined was susceptible of increase after express decision of the General Claims Commission in case the said Commission mi ght decide to be within th e jurisdicton 1 of the Special Commission any one or more of the claims which the said committee found to be general claims ; a nd Whereas the said Special Mexican Claims Commission, in the event that the total amount of the awards made by it upon all claims is greater than t he amount whi ch the Govern ment of Mexico has agreed to pay to the Government of the United States in satisfac- tion of the claims, is required by the said Act approved April 10, 1935, to reduce the awards on a percentage basis to such amount ; and Whereas, in the circumstances set forth, it is not now possible to ascertain which, if any, of the claims found by the said committee to b e general clai ms will be fo und by the sa id General Cla ims Commission to be special claims, nor what will be the amount of the total en-bloc settlement pr ovided for in the said Special Claims Convention of April 24,1934 ; and Whereas payments on awards of the said Special Mexican Claims Co mmissio n from funds p aid to the Gov ernment of th e Unite d States by the Government of Mexico under the Special Claims Con- vention of April 24, 1934, should not, in justice to the beneficiaries, be deferred until the question of the jurisdiction of the claims now pending before the General Claims Commission, by virtue of the class ifica tion of su ch cl aims as ge neral clai ms by the joint committee, shall have been finally determined in the manner pro- vided for in the said convention of April 24, 1934, or in the said protocol of the same date ; Therefore be it So in original.