Decree No. 182., May 26, 1877

Decree No. 182.

J. Rufino Barrios, General of Division and President of the Republic of Guatemala, decrees:

• Article 1. A loan of $500,000 shall be raised on the largest capitals of the republic, payable in monthly payments of $100,000 each, half in silver and half in notes at par; the first payment to be made on the 15th of June next, and the others on the same day of the following months.
• Article 2. The government will give a bonus of 10 per cent, on all the payments made in coin, and it will also give it on those made in paper when this is at par in the market; it will also pay 1 per cent, interest a month on the whole amount subscribed.
• Article 3. Fifty thousand dollars in paper will be extinguished monthly, twenty-five thousand of this amount being of the present loan and the other twenty-five thousand the amount of paper destroyed monthly in the administrative offices of the republic in conformity with a former decree.
• Article 4. For the refunding of the capital and interests of the loan the income from spirits (native) is set apart, of which $75,000 shall be paid every three months, the first payment being made on June 30, 1878.
• Article 5. For the amounts lent, and their corresponding bonuses, bonds of the converted debt will be given. These bonds will be stamped with a special seal bearing the words, “Loan of 1877.” After the payment of the interests, these bonds shall be drawn by lot until they reach the rest of the amount destined to be refunded.
• Article 6. The distribution of the loan will be made by the governors (jefes políticos) in the fairest manner, according to the calculations they are able to make of the capitals of the contributors.
• Article 7. The payments shall be made in this capital in the office of the central commission of consolidation, and in the departments in the office of the governor.
• Article 8. The persons that resist the punctual payment of their respective amounts will thereby render themselves liable to the payment of double the amount which shall be levied on their property; in such cases the authorities must proceed in such a manner as to enforce the payment three days after the reqnisition.
• Article 9. The minister of the exchequer is charged with the execution of this decree.