such service, shall, for any such failure or refusal, be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. And the failure or refusal of any such person or persons to enter into such contract in due form, or, having entered into such contract, the failure or refusal to perform such service, shall be prima facie evidence in all actions or cases of prosecutions arising under this section that such failure or refusal was wrongful.

SECTION 57.

Combinations to prevent bids.

No contract for carrying the mail shall be made with any person who has entered, or proposed to enter into any combination to prevent the making of any bid for carrying the mail, or who has made any agreement, or given or performed, or promised to give or perform, any consideration whatever to induce any other person not to bid for any such contract; and if any person so offending is a contractor for carrying the mail, his contract may be annulled; and he shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 58.

Postmaster illegally approving bond, etc.

Any postmaster who shall affix his signature to the approval of any bond of a bidder, or to the certificate of sufficiency of sureties in any contract before the said bond or contract is signed by the bidder or contractor and his sureties, or shall knowingly, or without the exercise of due diligence approve any bond of a bidder with insufficient sureties, or shall knowingly make any false or fraudulent certificate, shall be forthwith dismissed from office, and be thereafter disqualified from holding the office of postmaster, and shall also be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 59.

Oaths of sureties.

Before the bond of a bidder for carrying the mail is approved there shall be, if required by the Director-General of Posts, indorsed thereon the oaths of the sureties therein, taken before an officer qualified to administer oaths, that they are owners of real estate worth in the aggregate a sum double the amount of said bond, over and above all debts due and owing by them, and all judgments, mortgages, and executions against them, after allowing all exemptions of every character whatever. Accompanying said bond and as a part thereof there may be a series of interrogatories, in print or writing, to be prescribed by the DirectorGeneral of Posts, and answered by the sureties under oath, showing the amount of real estate owned by them, a brief description thereof, and its probable value, where it is situated, and in what province or place the record evidence of their title exists. And if any surety shall knowingly and willfully swear falsely to any statement made under the provisions of this section, he shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than three years or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 60.

Use of official envelopes for private business.

Whoever shall make use of any official envelope authorized by law or the regulations of the Department of Posts to avoid the payment of postage on any private letter, package, or other matter in the mail shall be punished by a fine of three hundred dollars.

SECTION 61.

Offenses against foreign mail in transitu.

Every mail of the United States and every foreign mail shall, while being transported across the territory of the Island of Cuba, be taken and deemed to be a mail of the Island of Cuba so far as to make

any violation thereof or depredation thereon, or of fense in respect thereto, or any part thereof, an offense of the same grade and punishable in the same manner and to the same extent as though the mail was a mail of the Island of Cuba.

SECTION 62.

Omission to take oath.

Every person employed in any branch of the Department of Posts, whether permanently or temporarily, shall be required to subscribe to such oath as may be prescribed by the Director-General of Posts, but such person shall be subject to all penalties for the violation of the law relating to such service, whether he has taken such oath or not.

SECTION 63.

Courts having jurisdiction to take cognisance of crimes against Department of Posts, etc.

Judges of the First Instance and Instruction shall have and are hereby given jurisdiction and authority to take cognizance of the offenses herein enumerated, and hear testimony and make investigation as is now provided by law in other offenses, and if they shall determine from the evidence presented that there is probable cause to believe that the party accused is guilty of the offense charged against him, they shall admit such person to bail, or in default of good and sufficient bail, commit him to jail to await the action of the Criminal Court having jurisdiction of the matter, as hereinafter provided;

Provided, That the offense shall have been committed in any part of the province in which the judicial district of the judge is located;

That the accused shall have been apprehended in any part of the province in which the judicial district of the judge is located, although the offense may have been committed elsewhere, and

That the accused shall have been apprehended out of the Island of Cuba and brought into the province in which the judicial district of the judge is located, without respect to where the offense may have been committed.

SECTION 64.

Courts having jurisdiction to try offenses against Department of Posts.

Criminal Courts ("Audiencias de lo Criminal") shall have jurisdiction in all cases herein set forth when the offense shall have been committed in the judicial district in which the court now has, by law, criminal jurisdiction, or without reference to where the offense shall have been commited if the accused shall have been apprehended in said district, or if the accused shall have been brought into said district, provided he shall have been apprehended out of the Island of Cuba.

ADNA R. CHAFFEE.

Brigadier General, Chief of Staff.

Traducción.)

N. 115.

CUARTEL GENERAL, DIVISION DE CUBA

Habana, 21 de Julio de 1899.

El Gobernador General de Cuba ha tenido á bien disponer la publicación del siguiente Código Postal; el cual se declara, por la presente, promulgado en la Isla de Cuba, como ley que habrá de aplicarse en los asuntos de Correo de esta Isla.

Todas las leyes, órdenes, decretos ó partes de los mismos, vigentes en la Isla de Cuba, que se opon. gan á lo dispuesto en este decreto, quedan por la presente derogados.

SECCION 1.

Obligaciones del Director General de Correos,

El Director General de Correos de la Isla de Cuba, nombrado por el Postmaster General de los Estados Unidos, y sujeto á su autoridad, tendrá dominio y administración del Departamento de Correos.

Será su obligación establecer las oficinas generales, dependencias y servicio correspondiente, que, en su criterio, juzgue necesarios para la buena marcha de los asuntos del Departamento, y nombrar personas para servir. los cargos correspondientes, fijándoles su retribución, y está por la presente revestido de autoridad para separar á los funcionarios, cuando á su juicio lo requiera el buen servicio;

Para establecer oficinas de correos y suprimirlas cuando fuere necesario; nombrar y separar administradores y otras personas, cuyos servicios se relacionen con oficinas de correos, según sea necesario para la buena marcha del servicio;

Para nombrar todas otras personas destinadas