Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 8, 1908

File No. 4033/4–6

Minister Beaupré to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Buenos Aires, April 7, 1908.

No. 723.]

Sir: Referring to the department’s instruction No. 154, dated January 21, 1908, in regard to the estate of the late Frank Bates, an American citizen, who died in Mendoza in 1906, I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of a note, together with translation of same, received from the minister of foreign affairs in reply to one which I addressed to that ministry on the subject.

In his note the minister states that private property can not in any way be confiscated by the State, and refers to article 17 of the Argentine Constitution, which reads as follows, to support this statement:

Private property is inviolable, and no inhabitant of the nation shall be deprived of what belongs to him, unless by judicial decision, founded on law. Condemnation for public use shall be regulated by law, and the payment of the indemnification shall be made previously. Congress alone shall have the power to impose the taxes referred to in Article IV. No personal service shall be required of anyone, except when provided by law or by judicial sentence, founded on law. Authors or inventors are the exclusive owners of their works, inventions, or discoveries, for the length of time established by law.

The penalty of confiscation of property shall be forever (forbidden in the Argentine criminal code. No armed body can make requisition or demand assistance of any kind.

The minister further states that if Bates died without heirs, and that if no claim to the estate has been made by interested parties, that the treaty of friendship, navigation, and commerce between the United States and the Argentine Republic provides for such cases in its Article IX, and he indicates the steps to be taken by the consul general before the proper authorities, in order that, in conformity with Argentine law, he may intervene in the possession, administration, and judicial liquidation of the estate of the deceased for the benefit of the creditors and legal heirs.

In regard to the department’s further inquiries as to the usual procedure in the administration of the estates of persons dying intestate in this country, whether Argentine or foreigners, both of American and other nationalities, a lawyer, who was consulted in the matter by the legation, states that if a foreigner dies in the Argentine without heirs, the consul has the right to take personal charge of all papers and documents, and to take preliminary measures to protect the estate. He should also address the judge, requesting that the heirs be notified, and if he sees fit, an executor named. The judge thereupon orders the proceedings to be published in the official papers during 30 days, directing the heirs and creditors to appear. If, at the end of this period, no heirs or creditors present themselves, the judge declares the estate unclaimed, and the same to be turned over to the national council of education, if the death has occurred in the capital, and to the provincial government, if it has occurred in the provinces. It should be added that the 30 days mentioned above is merely a nominal period, and is for the preliminary proceedings in the settlement of the estate. In fact the period is rather indefinite, and frequently the judge is not able to declare the estate unclaimed for some years owing to developments in the preliminary proceedings. Should the estate pass into the hands of the national council of education, or the provincial government, as explained above, both of these bodies are obliged to return the said estate, in the same condition as received, should any legitimate heirs present themselves within 30 years to claim the same. After this period of 30 years the estate escheats to the State.

The above rule applies to all foreigners as well as Argentines dying intestate in the country.

In regard to the Bates estate it would seem that a reasonable construction of Article IX of the treaty of friendship, navigation, and commerce referred to above, and of the note of the minister of foreign affairs, gives the consul general the right to apply to the local authorities for the possession of the estate.

The minister for foreign affairs uses the word “confiscation “in his note, and some of his deductions are based upon the proper definition of that word, and therefore irrelevant; whereas, in my note to him (copy of which is inclosed herewith), I used the words “escheat” and “forfeit,” having an entirely different significance.

I am, etc.,

A. M. Beaupré.

[Inclosure 1.]

Minister Beaupré to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

American Legation,
Buenos Aires, March 20, 1908.

Mr. Minister: Acting under instructions from my Government, I have the honor to bring to the attention of your excellency’s Government a matter in regard to the settlement of the estate of one Frank Bates, an American citizen.

The above-mentioned Bates died in Mendoza on November 8, 1906, leaving certain moneys in the London and River Plate Bank of that city, which moneys, it appears, having been unclaimed for more than one year would now, according to Argentine law, escheat, at least provisionally, to the Republic.

I am directed to bring this case to the attention of your excellency’s Government, with the object of obtaining possession of this estate through our consul general in Buenos Aires, under the provisions of article 9 of the treaty of friendship, navigation and commerce between the Argentine Republic and the United States; and if this can not be done to request such an exercise of the central power of the Argentine Government as will effect a delay in any proceedings now pending looking toward the forfeiture of this estate, in order that I may communicate with my Government.

I avail myself of this occasion to renew, etc.,

A. M. Beaupré.

[Inclosure 2—Translation.]

The Minister for Foreign Affairs to Minister Beaupré.

Argentine Republic,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Buenos Aires, April 4, 1908.

Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive duly your excellency’s note of March 20 last, in which my attention is called to the settlement of the estate of one Frank Bates, an American citizen, who died in Mendoza in 1906.

In the above-mentioned note, your excellency, referring to article 9 of the treaty of friendship, navigation, and commerce between this Republic and the United States, requests that the consul general of the latter country in Buenos Aires may be given possession of the property left by Bates, or that the Argentine Government take measures to delay the proceeding in regard to the settlement of the estate, on the supposition, as your excellency’s note states, that the property will be confiscated by the Argentine Government in conformity with its laws.

Regarding this last statement, and in order to dissipate any doubt or uneasiness which your excellency may have in regard to the case referred to in your note, I beg to state that there is no Argentine law—nor can be any law—which authorizes or gives ground for belief that private property is subject to confiscation in any case whatsoever—even provisional—in favor of the State, as the law concerning property established by the Constitution of the Republic in its article 17 is sufficient guarantee.

If, as your excellency states, the American citizen Bates died in the Province of Mendoza without heirs, and without any claim having been made by interested parties, the same article of the treaty cited by your excellency, and which provides for the case, marks the proceeding which ought to be pursued by the consul in question before the proper authorities, in order that, in conformity with Argentine law, he may intervene in the possession, administration, and judicial settlement of the property of the deceased for the benefit of the creditors and legal heirs.

Having shown what is the attitude to take in the case referred to in your note, it only remains to avail myself of the opportunity to renew to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.

E. S. Zabellos.