Benson Latin American Collection
Rare Books and Manuscripts
Inventory
Collection Relating to the General Claims Commission, United
States and Mexico
Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project
November 1994
Introduction
The Collection Relating to the General Claims Commission, United States
and Mexico, was given to the Benson Latin American Collection by the
University of Virginia Library in January 1980. The collection was
described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in April 1994.
The physical extent of the collection is 2.5 inches. A finding aid is
available in the library. The documents are in English.
The suggested citation for the collection is Collection Relating to the
General Claims Commission, United States and Mexico, 1917-1926, Benson
Latin American Collection, General Libraries, University of Texas at
Austin."
History of the General Claims
Commission
The General Claims Commission, United States and Mexico, was constituted
under the terms of the General Claims Convention signed Sept. 8, 1923, in
Washington D.C. by the United States of America and the United Mexican
States. The convention, which took effect on March 1, 1924, was intended
to improve relations between the countries by forming a commission to
settle claims arising after July 4, 1868, "against one government by
nationals of the other for losses or damages suffered by such nationals
or their properties" and "for losses or damages originating from acts of
officials or others acting for either government and resulting in
injustice." Excluded from the jurisdiction of the General Claims
Commission were cases stemming from events related to revolutions or
disturbed conditions in Mexico. (The Special Claims Commission was
formed to address claims arising from events which occurred between
November 20, 1910, and May 31, 1920).
The Commission was composed of three members, one from the U.S., one from
Mexico, and one from a neutral country. During the period represented by
this collection, the commissioners were Cornelis van Vollenhoven, Genaro
Fernández MacGregor, Edwin B. Parker, and Fred Kenelm Nielsen (who
replaced Parker). The Commission met from 1924 to 1931 in Washington,
D.C. and Mexico City. Work resumed in 1934 under a new agreement and
format; the work of the commissioners ended in 1937, although final
settlement was not reached until 1941.
Scope and Contents Note
The collection is comprised of 46 decisions rendered in 1926 by the
General Claims Commission, one legal brief, and one report. The latter
two items constitute the series, Assorted Materials.
The majority of the decisions arose from claims for cases of wrongful
killing, denial of justice, unlawful arrest and detention, breach of
contract, and disputes over taxes. The legal brief was presented to the
Commission, probably in October 1926, by the Agent of the United States,
Clement L. Bouvé, and attorney Stanley H. Udy. Its subject was
Mexico's liability for damages caused to U.S. citizens by criminal acts
of Mexican citizens whom the Mexican government had failed to
prosecute.
Also present in the collection is an English translation of the December
1, 1916, report in which Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico and
Primer Jefe del Ejército Constitucionalista, presented his draft
constitution to the Congreso Constituyente, which Carranza had convened
to reform the Constitution of 1857. Appended to the report is a reply
from the president of the congress, Luis Manuel Rojas, accepting
Carranza's report and promising its approval.
Series
The collection was arranged into two series by the staff of the Mexican
Archives Project, which completed processing the collection in April
1994.
- Series, Decisions rendered by the General Claims Commission, February
4, 1926-December 6, 1926. Includes 46 decisions of the commission
(arranged numerically) and indexes to the decisions.
- Series, Assorted materials, 1916 and 1926?, 2 items. Brief of the
United States before the General Claims Commission, United States of
America and United Mexican States (Oct. 1926?); Report of Venustiano
Carranza to Congress, December 1, 1916, and reply by Manuel Rojas,
President of the Constitutional Congress (December 1, 1916).
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