MEXICO. 



409 



Aw. 5. All persons pardoned, whatever may bo the 



penalty to \\liieli they may bo now subjected, will f>o 



liberty, ami it shall Hupernede en- 



he charges or trials which may be instituted 



ie crime* niontionod. 



AKT. 6. The present amnesty leaves untouched the 

 rights of third parties, :m<l those of the nation by the 

 effects taken from the public funds. 



. 7. Tho pard'iiit <!, although they return to the 

 full enjoyment of their civil and political rights, are 

 neither entitled to the right to return to employments. 

 s, grades, decorations, salaries, pensions, ana 

 - upon the public pawn-shops, nor for the pay- 

 ments or credits against the Treasury and other fa- 

 vors and emoluments of which they may now be de- 

 prived, according to the laws. 



AKT. 8. All the pecuniary penalties imposed shall 

 lit ted and have no effect. The goods embar- 

 goed or confiscated shall bo immediately returned to 

 the interested parties in the condition in which they 

 may bo found, provided that they may not have been 

 alienated. 



ART. 9. The Executive in carrying out this law will 

 indicate the term of one month, counted from the 

 promulgation in such capital of a district for the pre- 

 sentation of those pardoned who may be found with 

 arms in their hands. 



ART. 10. The individuals who,by failure of pre- 

 sentation in the time fixed by the Executive conform- 

 ably to the former article, shall remain excluded from 

 the present pardon, so also those whom the amnesty 

 does not comprehend, will be judged according to the 

 laws in force and by competent judges, and in no 

 case according to the laws of January 25, 1862, Jan- 

 uary 29, and August 16. 1863, and August 12, 1867, 

 which ore now declared definitely annulled. 



AHT. 11. The persons comprehended in the excep- 

 tions of article two will not be condemned to death 

 for the crimes committed up to date of publication of 

 this law, and those upon whom that penalty according 

 to article twenty-three of the Constitution ought to bo 

 imposed, will be commuted to greatest possible ex- 

 tent. 



GERONIMO ELIZONDO. President of Congress. 



GUILLEBMO VALLE, JESUS ALFABO, Secretaries. 



In compliance with that mentioned in article 

 nine of the foregoing law, the President of the 

 republic thought best to decree the following 

 order : 



GIVEN IN THE NATIONAL PALACE or MEXICO, ) 

 October 19, 1870. ) 



To Manuel Saavedra, Minister of Gobernation. 



ARTICLE 1. In the term of one month, counting from 

 the promulgation of this law at the capitals of each 

 district, the pardoned who may be found with arms 

 in their hands will present themselves in the federal 

 district before the governor of it, in the territory of 

 Lower California and the military district of Tepio 

 before the respective political chiera, and in the States 

 before the corresponding governors, or before the 

 political chiefs of the districts. 



ABT. 2. The political authorities of the districts 

 before whom the pardoned present themselves will 

 note down their names and the day of their presen- 

 tation, giving cognizance of it to the governors in 

 order that they may inform the Minister of Gober- 

 nocion. 



ART. 8. The presentation in every case can be made 

 by any of the legal means, but if it should not be 

 made personally it will be ratified afterward by the 

 same interested parties. Therefore I order that it 

 shall be printed, published, and circulated, for its ful- 

 filment. BENITO JUAREZ. 



The amnesty law was immediately carried 

 into effect, by the release from prison of Gen- 

 cT:il Negrete and many other late revolution- 

 ists. As the news became known throughout 



the republic, many insurgents, who hod been 

 secreted in the mountains and email towns, 

 reported themselves to the officers of the Gov- 

 ernment. 



Congress authorized the Governor of the 

 State of Mexico, Don Mariano Riva I'alacio, to 

 organize a company for laying a railway from 

 the capital to Toluca, with a branch to Cuan- 

 titlan, the road to be completed within six 

 years from the end of September, 1870. A 

 bill was also passed, granting to a company 

 the privilege of constructing a telegraph-line 

 from Yucatan to Havana. 



Mr. Nelson, the United States minister, ad- 

 dressed a communication to the Mexican Gov- 

 ernment, asking leave for the exploration of 

 the Isthmus of Tehuan tepee, by a commission 

 of American engineers, who should report re- 

 garding the practicability of opening an inter- 

 oceanic canal ; he also expressed a desire that 

 some Mexican engineers should take part in 

 the expedition. President Juarez immediately 

 gave the permission, and promised to name a 

 commission of engineers to assist in the survey. 

 The United States exploring expedition reached 

 the isthmus about the middle of November, 

 awaiting the arrival of the Mexican commis- 

 sioners. The latter left for the isthmus on 

 November 24th. Immediately after their arri- 

 val, the expedition started for Minatitlan, and 

 began their labors. 



On November 23d, Congress passed the bill 

 granting a concession to Messrs. Mason and 

 Wyatt, for the construction of three lines of 

 railroad one from Vera Cruz to some point 

 on the proposed line of the Tehuantepec Rail- 

 road ; a second from Lizardo or other point on 

 the above first line to Cuernavaca; and the 

 third from Cuernavaca, or some other point on 

 the second line, to Acapulcp, or some other 

 point on the Pacific Ocean, in the State of 

 Oajaca, Guerrero, or Michoacan. 



The session of Congress was brought to a 

 close on December 15th, when President Juarez 

 made a speech, in the course of which he stated 

 that the treaty of commerce and amity between 

 Mexico and Italy had been signed by the latter 

 power, and that both he and Congress deemed 

 the present a suitable time for Mexico to re- 

 sume her former relations with foreign powers. 



An insurrection, which had broken out in 

 the State of Guerrero, under the leadership of 

 Alvarez, threatened to assume alarming propor- 

 tions, but was represented by later reports to 

 be waning. 



Notwithstanding the continued prevalence 

 of insurrections, there were many evidences 

 of improvement. Schools were encouraged in 

 all parts of the country. Most of the State gov- 

 ernments favored the establishment of tele- 

 graphic lines. The Legislature authorized the 

 Executive to construct a line from Cnicatlan 

 to the frontier of Puebla via the Mixteca. In 

 Vera Cruz a committee was formed, under the 

 presidency of Governor Hernandez, for the es- 

 tablishment of telegraphic lines throughout 



