THE UXMAL
| Decision Date | 11 August 1941 |
| Docket Number | No. 863.,863. |
| Parties | THE UXMAL. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
A. F. Christiansen, of Boston, Mass., and Sol C. Berenholtz, of Baltimore, Md., for libellant.
Warner, Stackpole, Stetson & Bradlee, of Boston, Mass., for claimant.
Francisco Costillo Najera, Ambassador of Mexico, pro se.
This libel in rem is brought against the Mexican Steamship Uxmal. It is alleged that the libellant, a stevedore, was injured while discharging a cargo of logs at Baltimore. Later the vessel was attached while in the port of Boston. After different attempts to assert the immunity of the Mexican Republic which were not adequate to question the jurisdiction of this court (see Compania Espanola de Navegacion Maritima, S. A., v. The Navemar et al., 303 U.S. 68, 58 S.Ct. 432, 82 L.Ed. 667; Puente v. Spanish Nat. State, 2 Cir., 116 F.2d 43), the Mexican Ambassador filed a petition alleging that the vessel was the property of the Republic of Mexico and was possessed and controlled by it, and employed in the public service of the Republic through the Henequeneros of Yucatan, an association organized under the laws of Mexico. (The Henequeneros of Yucatan will hereafter be referred to as the "Association".) In the meantime the Association had appeared generally, had represented that it was the owner of the vessel and as such claimant had secured her release upon a stipulation and deposit of $7,500, whereby the Association submitted to the jurisdiction of the court and agreed to pay the amount of any final decree and to satisfy out of the deposit any execution that might be issued in favor of the libellant.
The petition of the Ambassador was not filed until May 21, 1941, nearly a year after the libel was filed. The prayers are for dismissal of the libel and return of the deposit. Without any responsive pleading being filed by libellant, the case came on for hearing on the question of jurisdiction. I do not understand that libellant objected to the hearing, but he did object to the sufficiency of the petition for the intended purpose. He has entered into a stipulation with the Association and the Ambassador for the purpose of the matters presented at the hearing, in which it is agreed that the State of Yucatan is one of the Federated States of the United States of Mexico and that the exhibits attached to the petition are properly authenticated for admission as evidence. The exhibits attached are (1) a decree of the Government of Yucatan authorizing the formation of Henequeneros de Yucatan as an association, together with regulations relating to the purposes, powers and capitalization of the association and to its governance and qualifications, duties and privileges of members, and (2) a presidential decree granting to the Association the "use and benefit" of the vessel for the term of 20 years, reserving the right to temporarily repossess, at any time, the boat in case of national emergency, the Association to have "full freedom to organize the service and sailing lists of the boat in the manner it considers suitable for its needs." It was further agreed by the parties that when the alleged accident occurred, the boat had on board a cargo of mahogany logs; that when she was libelled she had completed a voyage from Yucatan to Plymouth, Massachusetts, carrying a cargo of sisal consigned by the Association to the Plymouth Cordage Company; that in the papers filed with the United States Customs at the Port of Plymouth, the Association was named as the owner of the boat.
It was also shown in evidence that the vessel was registered in Mexico as the property of the Republic of Mexico.
It will be necessary to make further reference to the provisions of the decree and regulations promulgated by the Government of Yucatan creating the Association.
The Association was organized under constitutional provisions which empowered the executive of a state to form with the producers of raw sisal and of sisal leaves an association in the public interest to operate under the protection of the State and with the intervention of the Federal Government. The Association was to "enjoy its own independent juridical personality, in accordance with" the Civil Code. There can be no doubt respecting its capacity to contract and to sue and be sued. Its object was "to sell directly in foreign markets the raw or manufactured sisal that its members bring to it and that is produced in Yucatan, and, furthermore, to supervise, govern, direct and regulate the sisal industry in its technical, economic and social aspects * * *." Among its powers were those of developing new sources of production and opening new markets for the fibre, and to protect and develop the said industry with all means within its power. It was expressly empowered to "attend to the establishment of a fleet of boats for the better distribution of the products." The capital was provided in part by its members, in part by the State of Yucatan and in part by the Federal Government. The membership of the Association was composed of producers of sisal and representatives (Ejidal Commissaires) of tenant farmers (ejidatarios) on Government land operating collectively (ejidos). The members were obliged to deliver to the Association all sisal and sisal leaves produced by them, and to receive therefor such advances as the Association might determine and their respective share in the annual distribution. The administration of the affairs of the Association was in the hands of an executive board, consisting of a chairman, vice chairman, and eleven board members. The chairman was the Governor of Yucatan. The vice chairman was a representative of the Federal Government. The board members were chosen by groups of members, nine of them by "ejidal" groups. The chairman and vice chairman together had the right to veto any resolution of the board...
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