No. 63. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA, Habana, May 25, 1899. The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: I. Hereafter the so-called votos reservados, of the justices of a court, who do not agree with the decision of the majority, shall be public, and shall be recorded in the book of decisions in the same manner as the decision itself, but the dissenting opinions shall be signed only by the dissenting justices. II. Such dissenting opinions shall hereafter be known as votos particulares, and shall be entered in the original records in the same manner as the judgments and immediately after them. When the interested parties are notified of the judgments, they shall likewise be informed of the votos particulares given in the case. III. The above provisions shall apply to dissenting opinions in all rulings of the court. The manner of recording such opinions, and of notifying interested parties, shall be the same as that usually followed in such cases, except that dissenting opinions shall be signed only by the dissenting justices. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: The municipal court of Quiebra Hacha, in the district of Mariel, province of Pinar del Rio, is hereby abolished, and the jurisdiction of the municipal court of Mariel is extended to include the limits formerly embraced by the court of Quiebra Hacha. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. No. 66. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION of Cuba, The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: I. Hereafter civil marriages only shall be legally valid. The contracting parties may conform to the precepts of whatever religion they may profess, in addition to the formalities necessary to contract the civil marriage. II. The officials in charge of the execution of the laws respecting marriage shall not accept as legal the written license or consent of the parent, when the same shall have been taken before an ecclesiastical notary, nor shall any such certificate be accepted which is not attested by the civil functionaries. III. Clergymen of the different religious denominations represented in this island, in performing the ceremony of marriage, shall not be required to take other action than that imposed upon them by their respective religious beliefs; but the performance of this ceremony shall have no civil effect. IV. All marriages heretofore solemnized in the island of Cuba shall be deemed and adjudged to be valid and the validity thereof shall in nowise be affected by any want of authority in the person solemnizing the same, if consummated with a full belief on the part of the persons so married, or either of them, that they were lawfully joined in wedlock; Provided, That such marriage shall be duly recorded within a period of one year from the date of this order. Record of such marriages shall be made upon presentation of satisfactory proof thereof. V. The said marriages shall be proved by the presentation of documentary evidence of the same. If no such proof can be furnished, the fact of the marriage may be established in the form prescribed in articles 2001 to 2008, both inclusive, of the Law of Civil Procedure; by the declaration of the functionary performing the ceremony, and of the witnesses thereto; or by such other proofs as the law allows. VI. The regulations to be observed in recording marriages under this order will be issued by the secretary of justice and public instruction. VII. The fee for performing the ceremony of marriage shall be $1 in United States money or its equivalent. VIII. All decrees, orders, laws, or parts thereof in conflict with the provisions of this order are hereby revoked. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. No. 67. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA, The military governor of Cuba directs the publicɛ tion of the following order: I. So much of the decree of July 20, 1882, as extends the provisions of Article XIV of the Penal Code of Spain to the island of Cuba is hereby revoked. II. The provisions of Article XII of the Penal Code of Cuba shall apply to all crimes and misdemeanors which may be committed by means of printing, engraving, or other mechanical means of publication. III. The directors and editors of all periodicals as well as the printers thereof, whether occupying these positions permanently or temporarily, shall be civilly and criminally responsible, under the preceding article, for everything published in such periodicals, while they are acting in the said capacities, and whether or not said writings, drawings, articles, or paragraphs be signed; provided the same be not published in the performance of official duty. The responsibility of the author is in nowise diminished by the terms of this order. The term printer, as used herein, will be construed to mean the head of any establishment wherein the printing, writing, engraving, or publication has been done. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. No. 68. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION of Cuba, The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: I. Total pardon is hereby granted to all persons convicted of crimes made punishable under chapters 1 and 2 of Title V, and Titles VI, VII, and VIII of the Military Code of Spain. II. Total pardon is hereby granted to all persons convicted of the crimes mentioned in book 2, chapters 1 and 2, of Title I, and Titles II, III, IV, and V, of the Penal Code of the Spanish Navy. III. Total pardon is hereby granted to all persons convicted of the crimes specified in book 2, of the existing Penal Code, chapters 1 and 2, Title I, Title II, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and those specified in article 269 of chapter 6, Title III; those specified in articles 343, 344 of chapter 7, Title IV, and chapters 5 and 6 of Title VII. IV. All cases wherein proceedings are pending for any of the above-mentioned crimes will be forwarded to the proper audiencia for suspension and record. Audiencias shall likewise direct the suspension in like cases of the proceedings now before them and shall at once place at liberty all persons accused of the said crimes. V. All persons now serving sentence, for any of the above-mentioned crimes will be at once set at liberty on the order of the president of the audiencia of the judicial district in which they reside. This order shall be forwarded in the shortest possible time to the director of the penal establishment in which such persons may be serving sentence. VI. All persons who have been imprisoned by Spanish military or naval authorities, and of whose cases record can not be found, shall be set at liberty, provided their conduct has been good during the term of their imprisonment, and provided further, that the crime for which they were imprisoned is included in those referred to in the preceeding articles. To supply the missing record in these cases the several audiencias shall order the judges of the first instance to institute such summary proceedings as may be possible under the circumstances, report of which shall, when completed, be rendered to the audiencia for the necessary action. VII. The provisions of Article V hereof shall apply to all prisoners under confinement by order of Spanish military or naval authorities, record of whose cases can not be found, and concerning whom there is no record of crimes committed; such prisoners shall be set at liberty, but shall remain under the surveillance of the police for a period of one year. VIII. The provisions of this order shall apply to those only accused of the crimes mentioned in Articles I, II, and III hereof, and which were committed before the 1st day of January, 1899. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. No. 69. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA, The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: I. The order of April 24, 1899, whereby an extension of two years, terminating on the 1st day of May, 1901, was granted for the collection and enforcement of the obligations therein stated, and contracted before the 31st day of December, 1898, is hereby modified as specified in the following articles: II. Except as otherwise prescribed in this order an extension of two years terminating on the 1st day of May, 1901, is granted for the collection and enforcement on real estate, or its products, of all obligations, whether or not secured by mortgage, or any other security on real property; provided, that this extension shall not apply to liabilities contracted since the 31st day of December, 1898. III. The said extension shall be for one year only, terminating on the 1st day of May, 1900, on all obligations, whether or not secured by mortgage, where it may be necessary to enforce collection through levy and sale of city real property, or of rural property in a condition of normal production; but creditors may institute suit at law to collect interests due on all obligations, whether or not secured by mortgage, and on censos or ground rents, provided that said interests shall have accrued since the 31st day of December, 1898, and that in case of default of payment, collection shall be made on the rents only of said city property, or on the rents or products of rural property in a condition of normal production. IV. At the expiration of the said year of extension creditors shall be at liberty to institute suit to recover principal, interest, and costs due and unpaid on said date, or that may thereafter become due, without restriction or limitation of any kind, so far only as city property or the rural property mentioned in the preceding article is concerned. V. Property, either urban or rural, belonging to debtors who may have been declared bankrupt, or who may have made assignment for the benefit of creditors, shall not be protected from the action of creditors nor included in the benefits of the extension hereby ordered when the proceedings in bankruptcy or assignment for the benefit of creditors shall have been initiated prior to the 16th day of May, 1896. VI. In like manner, city or rural property in regard to which final judgment of judicial sale shall have been rendered prior to the 16th day of May, 1896, either in an ordinary action or in a special executive proceeding, shall not be exempt from the legal action of creditors who, as regards such property, may freely institute suit without restriction or limitation of any kind. VII. In like manner, the provisions of the extension granted shall not apply to rural property abandoned by its owners, nor to property left uncultivated during the remainder of the present year. Property will be considered thus abandoned in cases wherein the owner shall be absent from the country, without having provided, through the appointment of an attorney, manager, or any other similar agency, for the management and control of his property. VIII. It shall be lawful in all cases for creditors to take such judicial action as the law may entitle them to, so far only as may be necessary to secure their right of priority in regard to other creditors, through the attachment of the property and the record of such action in the registry books. Said judicial action, however, and the attachment of the property shall not confer on the creditor any right to prosecute his suit otherwise than as prescribed in this order. IX. The provisions of this order shall not apply to those debts for the collection of which the creditor may have obtained the control and administration of the property of the debtor in conformity with the provisions of article 1503 of the Law of Civil Procedure. X. All liabilities for costs, either incurred, or which may hereafter be incurred, in suits against debtors, shall be collected and enforced under the restrictions and limitations prescribed in this order, for the liabilities in which said costs may accrue. XI. In all proceedings against the products or rents of rural property, the creditor shall, at the time of filing his claim, present a statement from the alcalde of the municipality in which the property may be situated certifying that said property is in a condition of normal production. The alcalde issuing such certificates shall state therein the facts and grounds on which he bases his conclusions. If the alcalde should not think that the property is in the condition claimed by the creditors, he shall so state in writing. XII. Rural property shall be deemed in a condition of normal production when, besides the fact that its plant and machinery are in good condition, it shall have produced either in rent or products during the agricultural year of 1898 to 1899 more than 50 per cent of the amount of rents or products obtained from the said property in the agricultural year of 1894 to 1895. XIII. The certificate issued by the alcalde under Article XI of this order shall not be conclusive evidence of the fact therein stated, and it shall be lawful, therefore, for the debtor to submit his denial of said statements. The issue thus raised shall be tried according to the provisions for special or incidental proceedings, in articles 740 et seq., of the Law of Civil Procedure, and the action of the creditor will be stayed until final decision shall be rendered. The burden of proof as to the fact that the production of the property has exceeded the 50 per cent mentioned in Article XII of this order shall be on the creditor. The debtor shall submit his denial within ten days after the notice of the order of the judge issuing execution against the rent and products of the property in question. XIV. In the proceedings mentioned in Article XIII of this order no recourse may be had from the decision of the audiencia, which decision shall be final. XV. When city property, on the rents of which the creditor may have a right to enforce the collection of interest as prescribed in Article III of this order, is occupied by the debtor, or by some other person not paying rent, or which may be attached by another creditor without a preferent right, the creditor shall have the right to take such judicial action as the laws may entitle him to, in order so to administer the said property that it may produce adequate rents. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. No. 70. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA, The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: I. Hereafter ayuntamientos shall be charged with the execution of the provisions of the regulations published on May 30, 1882, to give effect to the law of weights and measures of July 19, 1849, and shall collect the fines specified in title 5 of said regulations as penalties for violations of the law. II. Ayuntamientos of provincial capitals, and towns wherein a district court holds session, may appoint and discharge their own inspectors of weights and measures. In other towns the secretary of the ayuntamiento shall perform the duties of that officer. III. The maximum compensation of the inspector of weights and measures shall be that designated by the tariff now in force, in Appendix 2, of the aforesaid regulations. This tariff shall not be increased except by special authority of the general government. IV. The metric system shall continue to be the standard in the island; but the use of the weights and measures of the country will be allowed, provided the cor responding equivalents may be expressed by them, as well also as the weights and measures of the United States of America. For the latter, the equivalents shall be those authorized by that Government. V. In matters relating to weights and measures ayuntamientos will be under the immediate direction of civil governors in their respective provinces and under the general supervision of the department of agriculture, industries, commerce, and public works. VI. All orders, decrees, laws, or parts thereof, in conflict with the provisions of this order are hereby revoked. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. No. 72. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA, The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: I. Hereafter and until further orders there will be a special commissioner for Cuba, with station in the United States, who shall receive an annual salary of $5,000. II. Gonzalo de Quesada is hereby appointed special commissioner for Cuba. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. No. 73. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION of Cuba, Habana, June 9, 1899. The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order: I. Hereafter the taxes levied on the slaughter of cattle and on slaughterhouses, referred to in rule 5, article 133 of the municipal law, will be regulated and collected throughout the island on the number of cattle killed and not on their weight. II. Hereafter such taxes shall not exceed $2 on each head of cattle, $1 for each hog, and 50 cents for each sheep or goat slaughtered in the cities of Habana, Regla, Guanabacoa, Marianao, Matanzas, Cardenas, Sagua la Grande, Puerto Principe, Pinar del Rio, Cienfuegos, and Santiago de Cuba. In all other municipalities the tax will be $1.50 for each head of cattle, 75 cents for each hog, and 40 cents for each sheep and goat. These taxes shall be payable in United States currency or its equivalent. III. All charges by municipalities for the use and service of their slaughterhouses and stock yards, as well as costs for the inspection of meats, shall be included in the taxes provided for in the foregoing article. IV. Any private person, association, or company may freely exercise the trade of butcher and vender of meat, and may construct for such purposes special buildings or slaughterhouses, with the necessary annexes, in the towns which belong to the first two of the classes enumerated in the list appended to this order, provided that the police and sanitary regulations be complied with in such private slaughterhouses, and provided also that at least 10 head of cattle be butchered daily in the same if they be within the municipal districts of Habana, Regla, Guanabacoa, or Marianao; 6 head if in the municipal districts of Matanzas, Cardenas, Sagua la Grande, Cienfuegos, Puerto Principe, or Santiago de Cuba, and 4 head if within the boundaries of the towns included in the third class of the above-mentioned list. In towns and cities belonging to the fourth class cattle may be slaughtered without limitation as to their number, provided that the police and sanitary regulations are complied with. V. Cattle slaughtered in the private slaughterhouses or places referred to in the preceding article shall pay to the municipality a slaughter tax not exceeding 75 per cent of the rates fixed by Article II. VI. Cattle slaughtered in rural properties or plantations for the use of persons residing therein shall be exempt from the payment of any tax. Pigs not more than |