The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-25
HAS THE RIGHT ID 1 NAT|ONAL|zE 0|L LANDS IN MEXICO
So Holds Legal Authority in Defending Constitution Adopted at Quere-
 taiO in 1917
sv As,esi.t,d pr,,, ,

Mexico City. August 24.--AThe
 right Of the constituent leEfslator is
 almost unlimited and connot be
 checked. when. dealing. with. the
 public organization by rights nc-
 quired by private parties. Examples
 which have been cited are sufficient
 to demonstrate that when the con-
 stituent legislator has considered 1t
 of general interest to enact any
 law of retroactive effect he has
 done 50 even if he has passed over
 acquired rights of many years
 which have been sanctioned almost
 as rights inherent to man. The
 only fundamental question is thisi
 Is the public interest at stake when petroleum laws have been enacted? Evi- dsntly yes. Then the state has had the right to enact such laws.'
 These statements express, briefly and in part, the legal grounds upon which the Mexican government bases the right of the constituent assembly of Quere- taro, which enacted the Mexican con- stitution of 1917, to place in that docu- ment Article 27, nationalizing the oil lands. They also provide a defense for presidential decrees on petroleum, de- veloping Article 2, which foreign oil interests are attacking as confscatory.
 The statements themselves are taker from official documents given to the correspondent exclusively by Leon Sa linas, subsecretary of commerce and industry and at present head of that department and also chief of the pc troleum bureau of the department They supplement a statement given to the Associated Press by Senor Salinas or August 21 and form the preliminary drafts of summary furnished the Mexican Congress by the department oi commerce and industry for the com ing consideration of oil legislation.
 The defense of the retroactivity ot Article 27 and the subsequent presi- dential decrees as prepared by Attor. ney Dulles Eloroudy which forms part of the governments defense of its at titude on petroleum, continues in part as follows;
 The only serious article which ap- parently of great force is that declar- ing the petroleum law absolutely retro. active. This argument can be answered from two points. constitutional an6 common legislation"
 Regarding the first point, the the- ory hereby sustained is that the con stituent legislator can almost always establish in a country's constitution all legal principles which, in his judgment are good for the nation in such man. ner that whatever rights are eslab- lished by another anterior constitution, a new constitution can derogate them without difficulty.
 dain a nations form of government, regime of ownership. economic sys- ltems and so forth are not immutable, because as nations progress and rad iical evolution takes place in all the sources of it's products it is impossible that all legislation could be appropr.- ate to modern times"
 The document then quotes at length from Francois Laurents work on civil law. From the citations given the document draws the conclusion tha, the right of the constituent legislator when dealing with the public organ ization. cannot be checked by rights acquired by private parties. The claim is then made that a new constitution does not attack civilization. morale guarantees of life or natural rights in way that would cause social catas trophe. Continuing, the document says:
 "Article 27 of the ruling constitution has introduced a necessary reform in the Judgment of the legislators con- corning the regime of petroleum land ownership. Within the theory already expressed by the constitution. the con. gress of Queretaro was within it's mosi absolute right to introduce this reform and give the law retroactive effect This constitutional reform is consid- cred necessary for the benefit of ths majority and for society in general Sd that reform would result in the sta.a having in hand the means of develop. ing the petroliferous wealth on q