obligates himself to facilitate in every way the State and Municipal services, likewise the fiscalization and collection of the revenues of the State and the municipality of Belém, contributing annually the sum of 60 contos toward the fiscalization expenses.

EXPORTS FROM PERNAMBUCO, MARCH, 1906.

The Boletim Mensal of the Commercial Association of Pernambuco publishes the following statistics of the export movement at that port for the month of March, 1906:

(Art. 83 of the Federal Constitution, Res. Imp. of October 29, 1857, and dispatch Ne. 8, of January 4, 1860.)

ARTICLE 1. The discovery and exploitation of beds of mineral or fossil substances existing in the territory of the State of Bahia shall be governed by the provisions of the present law. (Art. 64 and Art 65 of the Federal Constitution.)

CHAPTER I.-Preliminary provisions.

ART. 2. Deposits of mineral and fossil substances are classified, for legal purposes, as quarries and mines.

ART. 3. The following are considered as quarries: (a) Building material; (b) salt beds.

Sole paragraph.-Quarries are regulated by the laws in force.

ART. 4. All deposits of mineral or fossil substances which are not included in the category of quarries and which may be used in the industries or as fertilizers, are considered as mines.

ART. 5. Mining does not constitute an industry apart, from an economic or technical standpoint; it is subject to the same laws as are the other industries, with the exception of regulamentary measures safeguarding the public interest and individual safety.

ART. 6. Within the limits of his mine a proprietor has the right to execute any works or installations that may be required for its exploitation, without previous authorization, provided he does not impair the rights of third parties.

ART. 7. The Government of the State shall concede to proprietors of mines the right of disappropriation on account of public utility, of all lands, waters and other necessities, which may be indispensable for the exploitation of the mines, but they shall be liable to pay indemnity for the same.

ART. 8. The proprietor of a mine has the preferential rights to the concession of a waterfall in the State when required for mining purposes.

ART. 9. All damage caused to public or private property by the prospecting or working of mines shall be compensated by the individual or firm on whose account such work was undertaken.

ART. 10. No excavations can be made at a less distance than 30 meters from either side of the public thoroughfares, nor within a zone of 300 meters around villages, towns, and cities without the previous authorization of the Government.

Sole paragraph.-The same prohibition extends to a zone of 70 meters surrounding isolated buildings, including the walled inclosures, gardens, courts, and other dependencies of dwellings, and the neighborhood of public or private water supplies or mineral springs.

ART. 11. Mining work can not be carried on underneath an isolated building, nor when it may cause the destruction of forests.

CHAPTER II.-Superintendence and fiscalization of the mining

industry.

ART. 12. The superintendence and fiscalization of services relative to mining are under the control of the Department of Agriculture, Transportation, Industry and Public Works, which will exercise its administrative action through the Inspectorate-General of Lands, this Department in the future being known as the Inspectorate-General of Lands, Mines, Immigration, and Colonization.

ART. 13. The Government is authorized to contract with a mineralogist and a chemist for the service of Inspectorate-General, and to install a chemical and mineralogical laboratory in the central depart

ment.

ART. 14. The delegates of the Inspectorate-General of Lands mentioned in Article 208 of the regulations of Decree No. 18 of November 29, 1897, shall become delegates of the Inspectorate-General of Lands and Mines, and shall have the right, in case of extra service, to additional pay, which shall be allowed them by the Government.

CHAPTER III.—Ownership of mines.

ART. 15. Mines are considered as property of the Union and consequently not subject to the provisions of the present law, when situated:

(a) In territory required for fortifications, military works, and Federal railways.

(b) In lands of the State which by Federal law have been subjected to special legislation for the purpose of constructing arsenals or other military establishments and institutions for the Federal service. (Art. 34, No. 31, of the Federal Constitution.)

(e) In lands ceded to or purchased by the Federal Government. (Art. 72, sec. 17, of the Federal Constitution.)

ART. 16. The following mines belong to the State of Bahia:
I. Mines existing-

(a) In State lands. (Art. 72, sec. 17, of the Federal Constitution.) (b) In public lands which became private property after the enaction of law No. 601, of September 18, 1850. (Arts. 83, 64, 72, sec. 17, of the Federal Constitution; law No. 601, of September 18, 1850, art. 16, sec. 4.)

(c) In marine lands and lands formed by accretion. (Arts. 64, 65 of the Federal Constitution.)

(d) In lands given or ceded with the mining rights reserved. (Arts. 64, 65, 72, sec. 17; art. 83 of the Federal Constitution; law of October 20, 1823; decree of September 17, 1824.)

(e) In navigable or tidal rivers or those which have been made navigable within the State of Bahia. (Arts. 64, 65 of the Federal Constitution.)

(ƒ) In lands, the ownership of which has been legally established since the law No. 436, of August 23, 1861.

II. Diamantiferous lands, in conformity with the regulations of June 23, 1875. (Treasury Department Instructions of May 22, 1895; law No. 51, of August 31, 1893, of the State of Bahia; arts. 64, 65, 72, sec. 17, 83, of the Federal Constitution; decree No. 5955, of June 23, 1875, Art. II, 9; law No. 2348, of August 25, 1873, art. 9; legislative resolution of October 25, 1832; law of September 20, 1823; law of December 24, 1734; dispatch of May 13, 1803.)

III. Mines which have been abandoned or which have not been worked in the time stipulated.

ART. 17. Mines shall belong to the municipal district in whose territory they are situated, save the restrictions specified in the preceding articles. (Art. 72, sec. 17, of the Federal Constitution.)

ART. 18. Mines on private lands belong to the owners of such lands, save the limitations established by articles 15 and 16 of this law.

CHAPTER IV.-Permission for prospecting.

ART. 19. Any citizen, national or foreign, may request permission from the Secretary of Agriculture to prospect for mineral or fossil deposits in lands belonging to the State, the request being granted when the character and responsibility of the pretendent are recognized

and he having indicated approximately the area he may require for his investigations, which may not exceed 1,000 square kilometers or 100,000 hectares.

Sole paragraph.-The request for permission to prospect will be entered in a register, stating the day and hour on which it was delivered to the Department of Agriculture.

ART. 20. This permit will become of no value if within one year prospecting work has not been begun, but the permission may be renewed, provided he produces valid reasons for not having begun the work, and provided there is no other pretendent.

ART. 21. If within the indicated area there should be land belonging to a private individual showing evidence of mines, the respective proprietor will be notified to carry out, on his own account and within the same time limit, the prospecting work on his land, or make a written declaration, in a book kept for this purpose in the office of the notary, hat he consents that the concessionaire carry it out.

ART. 22. The proprietor, who within the period of thirty days after notification does not make the declaration or who does not carry out the researches as stipulated in the preceding article, will be subject to a contribution to the revenues of the State of an annual tax of from one one-hundredth to five one-hundredths of a real for each square meter of his lands, counting from the expiration of thirty days.

ART. 23. In whatever case, however. of the consent of a proprietor to prospect on his lands, he has the right to secure himself against any possible damage to his property, by the deposit in advance of money or values agreed upon with the concessionaire, or which has been fixed by the Inspector of Lands, or by arbitration with the approval of the Inspector and with the right to appeal to the Government.

ART. 24. In lands and rivers belonging to the State prospecting shall always he free when carried out without deep excavations or the destruction of forests, the land laws of the State and the fishing and navigation regulations being respected.

CHAPTER V.-Registration of a discovery and preliminary conditions for working.

ART. 25. The registration of a discovery or of a mining invention must be made as a preliminary and necessary condition for its working and as a title of the rights of the inventor, in the subdepartment of lands of the district or in the Inspectorate-General.

Sole paragraph.—This is the only condition imposed upon proprietors, in order that they may commence working mines they may discover on their own property.

ART. 26. Registration shall be requested by a petition signed by the proprietor or inventor or his attorney, accompanied by a full

report, describing the situation of the mine, the surrounding country, the nature and thickness of the deposit, the prospecting work done, and the circumstances under which the mine was found and all other details which may demonstrate the veracity of the discovery or invention which it is proposed to register.

ART. 27. The person who shall first make a registration of an invention or discovery in the conditions of the previous article is recognized as the discoverer, to enjoy the advantages conferred by the present law and its legal effects.

ART. 28. After the registration has been made in the Inspectorate of Lands or in the subdepartment of the district, which should state. the exact day and hour in which the petition was presented, a certificate shall be immediately made out and delivered to the inventor or discoverer, which shall be the title of the rights of the inventor.

Paragraph 1. For registration the Subinspector of Lands shall receive the fee of 50 milreis when the petitioner is proprietor of the ground in which the mine is situated.

This amount shall be collected as revenue of the State when the registration is made directly in the Inspectorate of Lands.

Paragraph 2. All other registrations shall be charged a tax to be established in the regulations that may be issued for the execution of this law, with a minimum of 200 milreis and a maximum of 2,000 milreis, according to the nature and thickness of the deposit, first deducting 100 milreis as a fee for the Subinspector of Lands, when the registration is made through this official.

ART. 29. Within eight days from the date of registration the Subinspector of Lands is obliged to remit, with the necessary safeguards, to the Inspectorate of Lands and Mines, a copy of the same, examined and indorsed by the public notary of the district, in order to be entered in the book of general registration of mines in charge of this Department, should the same be in accordance with the prescriptions of the present law and its regulations.

This copy shall be accompanied by the memorandum mentioned in article 26, and shall be placed in the archives of the InspectorateGeneral.

Sole paragraph.-For want of compliance with the obligation imposed by this article the Subinspector of Lands will be subject to a fine not exceeding double the amount of the fees due to him for registration, as well as the penalty he may incur.

ART. 30. The registration being concluded, the discoverer of mines belonging to the State shall have the right to the ownership of the same, except in case of a diamond mine, on the following conditions: First. That he begin working the mine within the period of three years from the date of registration.