to be in one of these five countries, the country chosen shall be assigned a surcharge of only twenty-five per cent of the units. a) To apply the table of quotas, the most recent official data in possession of the Inter-American Indian Institute as of July first of every year shall be taken. b) The Governing Board of the Inter-American Indian Institute shall change the number of units to correspond to changes in the census figures. The Governing Board shall also, when it deems it necessary, change the amount of each of the 102 equal units into which the budget is divided to Icorrespond to any change in the total amount of the budget of the Institute. The Governing Board is also authorized to modify the distribution of units among the participating nations. c) The quota of each country shall be communicated before the 1st of August of each year to the member Governments, and should be paid by them before the 1st of July of the following year. The quota of each country corresponding to the first year shall be paid within the six months following the date of ratification of this Convention. ARTICLE VI The Administration of the Institute shall be entrusted to a Governing Board, an Executive Committee and a Director, in accordance with the terms set out in the following articles. ARTICLE VII 1. The Governing Board shall exercise supreme control over the Inter-American Indian Institute. The Governing Board shall be composed of one representative-preferably an expert-, and by a substitute from each of the member nations. 2. When any five nations shall have ratified this Convention and shall have appointed representatives on the Governing Board, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Mexico shall call the first meeting of said body, which shall thereupon proceed to elect its own Chairman and the Director of the Institute. 13. One year after the Governing Board has thus been organized, it shall hold a Special Meeting for the purpose of electing the permanent Executive Committee, in the manner set forth in paragraph 2, Article VIII. The members of the Executive Committee during the aforesaid one year period as well as those of the permanent Executive Committee shall be ex officio members of the Governing Board. The Director of the Institute shall serve as Secretary of the Governing Board. 4. Votes in the Governing Board and Executive Committee shall be by countries. Each country shall have a single vote. 5. Delegates representing a simple majority of the member States shall constitute a quorum at meetings of the Governing Board. 6. The Governing Board shall hold ordinary general meetings every two years and such extraordinary general meetings as may be convened by the Executive Committee, with the consent of the simple majority of the member States. 7. The Governing Board shall have the following functions and duties, in addition to those mentioned above: a) Appoint the Director of the Institute in accordance with the conditions set forth in paragraph 1 of article IX. b) It shall study and approve the plan for organization and operation of the Institute submitted to it by the Executive Committee. 11318 11320 11322 11324 11326 c) It shall approve its own by-laws and regulations and those for the Committee and the Institute. 1d) It shall submit to the consideration of the member Governments, through diplomatic channels, any modifications it may be desired to introduce in the functions of the Institute. e) It shall determine the general financial basis of the Institute and audit its accounts, directly or through its representative or representatives. f) It shall promote the assembly of International Conferences of experts for the study of technical problems of common interest to member States; to this end it may request of the respective Governments that they appoint experts to represent it at said Conferences, which shall meet at such places and dates as the Governing Board may determine. ARTICLE VIII 1. The Executive Committee shall be composed of 5 regular members. They shall be citizens of different countries participating and must be preferably persons well acquainted with the "Indian Problem" or well informed in sociological matters. Each one of the five states represented in the Executive Committee shall appoint a substitute to act in the absence of the respective member. 2. Regular members shall be elected for a period of five years, and the election shall be so arranged that their number shall be renewed to the extent of two fifths on one occasion, and three fifths on the succeeding one; to this end, of the first members so elected, three shall hold office for five years and the other two for three years. Both the permanent and the alternate members can be reelected. 3. The Director of the Inter-American Indian Institute shall ex officio be a member of the Executive Committee, and act as the Secretary of this Committee with the right to be heard but without the right to vote. 4. The Executive Powers of the Institute are vested in the Executive Committee, under the control and direction of the Governing Board, and will, as a general rule, be exercised through the instrumentality of the Director. 5. The Executive Committee shall have the following functions and duties to perform: a) To decide on the general plan or program for the work of the Institute. b) To draw up the Institute's annual budget, to determine the remuneration for the staff and the terms of retirement and pensions for the latter. c) To appoint special commissions that shall be charged with the study of any matters coming within their purview. d) To authorize the publications of the Institute. e) To submit an annual report to the participating States, on the progress of the work and on the revenue and expenditures of any kind of the Institute; a similar report shall be laid before every ordinary meeting of the Governing Board. f) To call extraordinary meetings of the Governing Board, with the consent of a simple majority of the member States; to organize and hold in agreement with the 1Governments or entities concerned, any meetings, conferences and international assemblies that the Governing Board may promote. 6. When the Governing Board is integrated as set forth by this Convention, the provisional Executive Committee appointed by the Patzcuaro Inter-American Conference on Indian life shall submit to it a report and it shall continue in office for a period of one year, as established by Article VII, paragraph 3, but subject to the provisions of this Convention. The Standing Committee of the aforementioned Conference shall cease to exist when the Governing Board is integrated and the functions thereof shall be vested in the Executive Committee. ARTICLE IX The Director 1. The Director of the Institute must be a person admittedly competent in Indian Affairs and possess a comparative knowledge of Indian problems in the various American States. He shall retain office for 6 years. He shall be the Head of the Institute, and shall answer to the Executive Committee for its satisfactory progress and operation. 2. The Director shall decide upon the plans, work and activities of the Institute, within the general program marked out by the Executive Committee and the By-Laws referred to in Article VII, paragraph 7, section (c), and besides, the following powers and duties shall be vested in him: La) He shall, with the approval of the Executive Committee, appoint the personnel of the Institute. He shall endeavor, in so far as possible, applicants being equally competent, to distribute positions among nationals of the various member States. b) To manage the funds and property of the Institute and to administer the budget, provided that any special expenditures in excess of 150 dollars, United States currency, be submitted to the Chairman of the Executive Committee for prior approval, and those exceeding 300 dollars be submitted to the Executive Committee. 3. The Director of the Institute may communicate directly with any Governments and public or private institutions, in the name of the Institute, for the execution of any orders issued by the Executive Committee and by the Governing Board. 4. The Director shall attend, as a Consultant, the meeting of the Governing Board, of the committees appointed by the same and of the Inter-American Indian Conferences, for the purpose of furnishing the information that may be necessary. The expenses thereof shall be borne by the Institute. 11328 ARTICLE X National Indian Institutes 1. The nations subscribing to this Convention shall, on such date as they may deem advisable, and within their respective jurisdictions, organize National Indian Institutes.[1] The functions of said Institutes shall, by and large, consist in stimulating interest in and furnishing information about Indian matters to any persons and to public and private institutions. Such National Institutes shall further carry out any studies on these questions that may be of particular interest to the Nation concerned. 2. National Indian Institutes shall be affiliated to the Inter-American Indian Institute, to which they shall submit an annual report. 3. The financing, organization and regulations of said National Indian Institutes shall be matters falling exclusively within the purview of the respective Governments. 1 [A National Indian Institute for the United States of America was established in the Department of the Interior by Executive Order 8930, signed Nov. 1, 1941. 6 Federal Register 5613.] 11330 11332 11334 ARTICLE XI The official languages shall be English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. The Executive Committee shall authorize special translations into these and into American Indian languages when it may deem fit. ARTICLE XII Governments participating shall send to the Inter-American Indian Institute two copies of any official documents and publications in any way connected with the functions and aims of the Institute, to the extent allowed by the domestic legislation and practices of each country. LARTICLE XIII Mail and Postal Privileges The High Contracting Parties agree to extend to the Inter-American Indian Institute forthwith, the domestic and international postal privilege established by the Postal Union of the Americas concluded in the city of Panama on December 22, 1936, [1] and to ask the members of the Union who have not subscribed to the present Convention to grant to it the same privilege. ARTICLE XIV The expense of any studies or investigations especially agreed upon by one or two of the participating nations shall be borne by the countries involved. ARTICLE XV Each of the High Contracting Parties recognizes the legal entity of the Inter-American Indian Institute. ARTICLE XVI Signature and ratification 1. The Government of the United States of Mexico shall send to the American Nations a copy of the present Convention, so that they may, if it meets with their approval, express their adherence thereto. To this end any Governments so adhering shall furnish their respective diplomatic or spe-Icial representatives with the necessary powers to sign the Convention. As and when the Convention is signed by each of the States, they will submit said Convention to necessary ratification. 2. The original of the present Convention in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, shall be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Mexico and shall be open to signature by the American Governments from November 1, to December 31, 1940. The American Governments that after the 31st of December 1940, shall wish to subscribe to the present Convention shall make notification thereof to the Minister of Foreign Relations of the Government of Mexico. 3. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Government of Mexico, which shall 1 [50 Stat. 1657.] inform all the American Governments of the deposit of each ratification and the date thereof, forwarding to them the text of any declaration or reservation which may accompany them. 4. Any ratification which may be received after the present Convention becomes effective shall have effect one month from the date of the deposit of such ratification. ARTICLE XVII Denunciation 1. Any of the Participating Governments may denounce the present Convention at any time by notifying the Government of Mexico in writing to that effect. Such denunciations shall have effect, including the matter of quotas, one year after the receipt of the respective notification by the Government of Mexico. 2. If, as a result of simultaneous or subsequent denunciations, the number of Contracting Governments should be reduced to three, the Convention shall cease to be effective as of the date on which, in accordance with the preceding paragraph, the last of said denunciations becomes effective. 3. The Government of the United Mexican States shall inform all the American Governments of such denunciations and of the dates on which they become effective. 4. If the Convention should cease to be effective according to the terms of paragraph two of the present article, the Government of the United Mexican States shall notify all the American Governments of the date on which it ceases to be effective. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, after having deposited their full powers found to be in due and proper form, sign this Convention on behalf of their respective governments, and affix thereto their seals, at Mexico, D.F., on the dates appearing opposite their signatures. COSTA RICA 29 de noviembre de 1940. (L.S.) COSTA RICA CARLOS MANUEL ESCALANTE. 11336 |