adjacent lands in adjudication may do so by purchase,
in accordance with the provisions of the present law.

Art. 15. On and after the date of the passage of



196 COLOMBIA

the present law the issue of territorial bonds is absolutely
prohibited.

Art. 16. The titles or bonds of public lands, in circulation,
must be recorded in the Department of Public Works within
the term of one year from the promulgation of this law. In
order to render it easier for the holders to make this registra-
tion, it shall be sufficient for them to exhibit their bonds to the
Municipal Treasurer of the respective district in which they
reside, and said official shall forward a statement to the
aforesaid department containing the following :

(1) The name, domicile, and nationality of the holder.

(2) The kind of bond, stating the date of issuance and its
origin.

(3) The amount of the bond.

Foreign holders of territorial bonds shall show their bonds
to the respective consul, and the latter to said department.

Art. 17. The final titles of adjudication of public lands
made either in exchange for titles or to agriculturists or colon-
ists must be recorded or registered immediately at the Depart-
ment of Public Works in order that they may be legally valid
afterwards. This registration must be made within two years
from the date of the promulgation of this law.

In order to avoid difficulties in making this registration
the same shall be made before the municipal treasurers of the
respective districts where the adjudicated lands are situated.

Art. 18. The municipalities shall enjoy the right of usufruct
of the public lands of their respective jurisdiction, with the
previous consent of the National Government, but this shall
not prevent their alienation and adjudication, which, having
been made, the right of usufruct shall cease.

Art. 19. The ownership of all public lands is in the Nation,
because of having recovered the absolute ownership over
those which belonged to the former States, in accordance
with the provisions of Section 2, Article 202, of the National
Constitution.

Art. 20. The titles of concession of public lands issued in
favour of said former States are hereby declared void, in
accordance with the law of the 19th of May, 1865, and Article
870 of the Fiscal Code with the exception of those which were
alienated before the issuance of the Constitution of 1886.



APPENDIX F 197

Art. 21. The adjudications of public lands in exchange for
titles already delivered in favour of companies or contractors of
certain public works, as a subsidy to the latter, shall not be
considered as final except in so far as the Government shall
declare that the contractors or concessionaires have complied
with the obligations by virtue of which the concession had been
made.

Art. 22. The Department of Public Works shall make
a statement of said adjudications, which shall be published
in the Diario Oficial.

Art. 23. In future no adjudications shall be made in
exchange of titles of the origin referred to in Article 21 unless
they have been duly recorded.

Art. 24. The free exploitation of National Forests is hereby
prohibited. The Executive Power is authorized to make
rules and regulations for the carrying out of such exploitation.

Art. 25. The Government is hereby authorized to create
agricultural boards or committees, the powers of which
shall be determined by Executive decrees.

Art. 26. All bonds paid shall be perforated, and in addition
shall be made void by a communication signed by the Secre-
tary of the Department of Public Works. The omission of
these requisites renders the chief of the respective division
responsible for the value represented by the bond and subjects
him to a criminal action for an attempt of a breach of trust.

Art. 27. Lands adjudicated to colonists and which have
not been cultivated owing to the last war will not be subject
to the provisions of Articles 7 and 13 of this law.

Given at Bogota on the 29th of April, 1905.

The President (of the National Constituent and
Legislative Assembly),

Enrique Restrepo Garcia.
The Secretary,

Daniel Rubio Parjs.

Executive Power, Bogota, April 29, 1095.
Let it be published and duly enforced.
[l.s.] R. Reyes.

The Secretary of Public Works,

Modesto Garces
14— (2948)



198 COLOMBIA

Decree No. 1113 of September 19, 1905, Relating to Law

56 of the present year, concerning adjudications of

Public Lands.

The President of the Republic of Colombia, in the exercise
of his legal powers, and

Whereas, by virtue of Law No. 56 of the current year some
of the provisions of the Fiscal Code, of the subsequent laws,
and of the executive decrees relating to the adjudication, sale,
and lease of public lands have been modified, and, consequently
the development of the former and the modification and
regulation of the latter, decrees :

Art. 1. The Nation transfers the ownership of public
lands as follows : By adjudication to agriculturists ; by
assignment to companies for the development of works of
public utility : to new settlements and to the settlers of
those already established, in exchange for bonds or titles of
concession, and to private parties by purchase for money.

Art. 2. The Nation recognises in favour of agriculturists
the right of ownership referred to in Article 1 of Law No. 56
of the present year, said agriculturists being obliged, how-
ever, to obtain the traditional legal title by virtue of the final
adjudication and the actual delivery decreed after the proper
proceedings.

Art. 3. Plantations, by virtue of which the right to the
acknowledgment of ownership by the Government is acquired,
must have been established previous to the application for
adjudication, in accordance with the provisions of the laws
and decrees concerning the matter.

Paragraph. The plantations established subsequent to the
adjudications for any other reason, when the lands again
become the property of the Nation, entitle the persons who
have established them only to an indemnization in conformity
with the civil laws relating to the interpretation and rescission
of contracts.

Art. 4. When, contiguous to cultivated public lands, there
are no uncultivated lands of sufficient area to complete the
equivalent to which the agriculturists are entitled to, only
the existing lands shall be adjudicated, and in case there are
several adjacent colonists, said uncultivated lands shall be



APPENDIX F 199

distributed in proportion to the extent of their cultivated
lands without reserving any portions thereof for the Nation.

Art. 5. If the uncultivated lands which, in accordance with
Article 11 of Law 56 already quoted, should be reserved
for the Nation adjacent to those adjudicated to the agricul-
turists are not sufficient to complete an area equivalent to that
adjudicated, only the excess shall be reserved to the Nation.

Art. 6. The grantees and the present owners or holders
of any title of public lands must grant in favour of the new
colonists or denouncers the right of way they may seek
through such lands, provided the interested parties should
justify or prove such need before the municipal board.

Art. 7. The municipal boards shall cause to be recorded
in the registry of real property of the respective district
the public lands which have not been cultivated, the adjudica-
tions of which are previous or subsequent to the time when
Law 48 of 1882 became effective ; shall cause said lands to
be appraised, and shall impose on them the proper tax ; this
to be done in accordance with Article 13 of Law 56 of 1905.

Art. 8. Whenever the municipal board has knowledge that
there are, within its municipal territory, uncultivated public
lands which have been adjudicated after Law 48 of 1882
became operative, it shall cause an ocular inspection to be
made, and when such fact is verified the board shall
communicate it to the Department of Public Works.

Art. 9. The provisions of Article 7 of Law 56 already
cited and the provisions of the preceding article are applicable
to public lands which have been adjudicated after the passage
of the aforesaid Law 48, should the cultivated portion not
bear the proportion prescribed in Article 12 of the Decree No.
832 of 1884.

Art. 10. By virtue of the right of usufruct, enjoyed by the
municipalities in accordance with the law of the public lands
not yet adjudicated, the respective municipalities may
administer them by leasing them or permitting private
parties to use them, but of an area not exceeding 1,000
hectares nor for a period of time greater than five years.

Art. 11. From the date on which this decree becomes
operative, all the licences and authorizations gratuitously
conferred by the authorities for the use of public lands that



200 COLOMBIA

have not been adjudicated shall be void. Consequently,
the municipalities shall recover the lands referred to in this
Article.

Art. 12. In the ten years prescribed by Article 7 of Law 48
of 1882 for establishing in the adjudicated lands some agricul-
tural or cattle industry, the time of the disturbance of the
public peace during the last war shall not be counted.

Art. 13. Persons to whom public lands have been adjudi-
cated after Law 29 of April 19, 1873, became operative, where
there have already been discovered coal mines or deposits,
shall communicate this fact to the Department of Public
Works within six months counting from the publication of this
decree, with the understanding that if they fail to comply
with this requisite they shall not have the right of priority in
the contracts for the exploitation of said mines or deposits
as the Government should make.

Art. 14. The prohibition contained in Article 11 of Law
56 of 1905, as a special and subsequent provision, prevails
over all contrary provisions.

Procedure

Art. 15. In the sworn statements of witnesses in which
the facts referred to in Articles 2 and 4 of Law 56, to which
this decree refers, are proved, the witnesses shall state the
reason of their allegations, in the presence of the municipal
attorney.

Art. 16. The respective municipal solicitors shall give their
opinion in all cases, in which the municipal councils shall
present a resolution in the proceedings relating to the
adjudication of public lands.

Art. 17. The denouncer of public lands shall be jointly
liable with the surveyor with regard to the accuracy of the
survey and other requisites required by the laws and the
decrees in force concerning the making of the plans, said
responsibility consisting of the obligation to pay to the nation
the value of the excess land or the damages caused by the
mistake, as well as the expenses incurred in the correction
of the same.

Paragraph. This provision does not divest the denouncer
of the rights granted him to the excess land by Article 940
of the Fiscal Code.



APPENDIX F 201

Art. 18. The surveyor shall mark in the plan, and it shall
also be stated in the certificate of adjudication, the place
through which the necessary road leading to the adjacent
lands shall be established, whether the latter are private
or public lands, and which lack direct communication with
public highways, taking into consideration above all the
greatest convenience and the shortest distance.

Art. 19. All kinds of adjudications, whether they be greater
or less than 100 hectares, require, in order to be granted, the
drawing of the plan in accordance with the provisions of the
law in force.

Art. 20. The oppositions made to the applications for
adjudication by occupants of public lands without final
title shall be decided by the respective municipal council
simultaneously with the issuance of the decision by virtue
of which they are provisionally adjudicated. The application
made by persons who show titles to property granted before
the denouncement shall be decided upon by the judicial power,
to whom shall be sent the proceedings and to whom the
interested parties shall apply.

Art. 21. The evidence which the denouncers shall produce,
according to the provision of Article 7 of Law 56 of the present
year, relating to the failure to cultivate the public lands
adjudicated after Law 48 of 1882, shall consist of the actual
personal inspection by the mayor, accompanied by the munici-
pal attorney and a neighbour, who shall be a landowner in
good standing, at the expense of the interested party.

Art. 22. The denouncers of public lands, in exchange for
territorial bonds or titles of the origin referred to in Article
21 of Law 56, and of those lands which for any reason have
not been registered in accordance with said law in the
Department of Public Works, and whose applications are
being acted upon, may exchange the same for others of
different origin already registered, before any decision is
reached concerning the final adjudication.

Art. 23. The certificate which constitutes the title of
ownership, referred to in Article 9 of Law 56 of the current
year, shall be issued by the Department of Public Works
as soon as the latter receives the proceedings from the respec-
tive municipality, together with all the documents relating
to the ownership to be finally filed.



202 COLOMBIA

Art. 24. From the decisions reached by the municipal
councils, in the proceedings concerning the adjudication of
public lands, there shall be no appeal except from those
regarding temporary adjudications, of which the Department
of Public Works shall have cognizance.

Paragraph. In the administrative proceedings relating
to adjudication of public lands, applications for repeal shall
only be allowed once.

Art. 25. The decisions of the officials referred to in Article
5 of Law 61 of 1874 may be brought on appeal before the
respective provincial alcalde or prefect.

Art. 26. When the denounced public lands are situated in
two or more municipalities the interested party may apply
for the adjudication of the same to any of the municipal
councils they may select.

Art. 27. The notifications of the administrative decisions
in matters concerning public lands shall be personally made
to the interested party or parties whenever they apply to
receive the same, or through a decree in case they should not
so apply, which dercee shall be posted twenty-four working
hours on the day following the one on which said notifications
have been issued.

Art. 28. After a period of five days shall have elapsed from
the date of the notification the same shall be considered
finally settled.

Adjudications by Purchase

Art. 29. The purchase of public lands referred to in Article
4 of the aforesaid Law 56 shall be made either in exchange
for titles of concession already issued or by purchase in national
money.

Art. 30. In denouncing public lands for the purpose of
obtaining them by purchase, the denouncer shall state in his
application the amount he offers to pay for them, which shall
not be less than 50 cents gold per hectare for lands suitable
only for grazing stock, and $1 gold for cultivated lands, and
shall deposit 10 per cent, of the total price as a guarantee of
the fulfilment of his pledge.

Art. 31. Once the denouncement has been accepted
by the Municipal Council, the latter shall direct that the same
be made known by means of decrees, which shall not be less



APPENDIX F 203

than three in number, and which shall be posted in the most
public places of the municipality, stating therein the boundaries
of the land and the price offered, in order that, during said
term, those desirous of making better bids may do so.

Art. 32. After thirty days shall have elapsed without
anyone having made a better bid, and the decrees having
been added to the proceedings with the respective notice
of having been posted and taken down, the procedure shall
go on without further requisite.

Art. 33. If while the said decrees are posted there should
appear persons who offer to increase the price of the first
bid, and the denouncer should agree to make his bid equal
to the highest made, the proceedings shall be continued in
favour of the latter bidder.

Art. 34. If the denouncer should not desire to make his
bid equal to the one already made, and the highest bidder
should deposit in the municipal treasury 10 per cent, of the
bid made, the proceedings in favour of the latter shall be
continued, adding to the said proceedings the receipt of the
deposit.

Art. 35. Before reaching a decision concerning the final
adjudication in favour of the purchaser, the latter shall show
the receipt of having deposited in the National Treasury the
sum offered as value of the lands which shall be adjudicated
to him.

Sales of more than 1,000 hectares

Art. 36. Public lands exceeding 1,000 hectares in area
may be sold by the Government, provided the bids for their
acquisition are made directly to the Department of Public
Works, accompanied by the vouchers required for the adjudi-
cation of public lands in accordance with Law 56 of the present
year, stating the sum offered for the same.

Art. 37. The application, made in accordance with the
foregoing article, shall serve as a basis for making the bids,
and shall be made in accordance with the rules established
by the Fiscal Code concerning the sale of Government
property.

Adjudications for the Establishing of New Towns, and
made to New Settlers
Art. 38. The adjudication of public lands intended for the



204 COLOMBIA

establishment of new towns and to new settlers shall be made
after the National Government has made the grant of the land
necessary to the respective municipalities, in conformity
with the following articles :

Art. 39. The grant shall be applied for the respective
municipal councils, stating the number of hectares required
for the establishment of a new town, or for the new settlers,
with proofs as to the quality of the public lands in question.

Art. 40. In view of the application and of the proofs
attached thereto the National Government shall decide
whether the grants of public lands for the purpose indicated
shall be made or not.

Art. 41. After the grant has been made, the respective
municipal councils shall proceed to make the distribution
and adjudication to the settlers, using for that purpose the
provisions of Law 14 of 1870 and those of Decree No. 520 of
1878 with regard to the duties of the surveyor and of the
agrarian committees.

Art. 42. It is understood that the provisions of the fore-
going articles shall not impair the rights which settlers already
established on said lands have to solicit said adjudications.

Art. 43. Public lands containing heron roosts or sleeping
places for herons shall not in future be adjudicated, being held
to be leased to private parties who may so desire to lease them.

Registration and Annulment of Titles

Art. 48. The municipal treasurer, to whom the bonds
or titles of final adjudication are presented for registration,
shall write a note thereon, under his signature, stating therein
the number and date of the entry of the book wherein the
registration was made in the Department of Public Works,
as soon as he receives the data which should be sent him from
said Department, together with the proper voucher that the
said registration has been made, holding the titles while this
is being done.

Art. 49. The municipal treasurers shall forward to the
Department of Public Works the statements of the bonds
or titles of grants and the titles of adjudication presented
to them for registration, in accordance with the provisions
of Articles 16 and 17 of the aforesaid Law 56, and shall leave



APPENDIX F 205

a copy of said statement in a book which shall be kept
for this purpose.

Art. 50. The provisions of the articles above quoted do
not prevent the holders of bonds or titles of adjudication from
presenting them directly to the Department of Public Works
in order that they may be registered in that Department.

Art. 51. The Department of Public Works shall, for the
purpose of registering the titles or bonds of grants of public
lands in the order of dates, series, and origin, retain them the
time necessary to verify the greater number of one kind, with
the details relating thereto, and record them in one single
proceeding, issuing a provisional receipt to the parties
presenting them.

Art. 52. The inscription in the registration book shall be
made in an inverted order to that of the respective date of the
issue of the bonds or titles of grants.

Art. 53. If, on making the registration in the Department
of Public Works of the bonds or titles of grant or adjudication
presented for that purpose, it should be found that they belong
to the kind referred to in Article 21 of Law 56, before cited,
the registration shall not be made until it shall be proved by
the interested parties or until official proof is furnished that
the contractors or grantees have complied with the obligations
by virtue of which the title was issued in their favour or the
adjudication was made to them.

Art. 54. No title or voucher of adjudication of public lands
issued after Law 48 of 1882 became effective, and which has
been issued for a period greater than ten years, shall be
registered in the Department of Public Works until the inter-
ested party proves that the adjudicated land has been cul-
tivated to the extent prescribed by Article 12 of Decree No.
832 of 1884.

Art. 55. The titles or bonds of concession of public lands
which, at the time of registration in the Department of Public
Works, should prove to be counterfeit or to have been taken
from proceedings already concluded shall be perforated and
annulled, the owner thereof reserving to himself the right to
proceed against the person who may have sold or indorsed them.

Art. 56. The titles or bonds of concession of public lands
which, notwithstanding that they have been registered, are



206 COLOMBIA

counterfeit or have been stolen, shall be declared void by the
Department of Public Works and a description of them shall
be published in the Diario Ofwial (Official Gazette).

Art. 57. The titles or bonds of grants of public lands which
after the term fixed by Article 16 of the said Law 56 shall have
expired have not been registered in the Department of Public
Works are declared void, and shall not therefore have any
value whatever thereafter.

Art. 58. The bonds or titles of grants of public lands which
are the property of private persons deposited for any person
in the Department of Public Works shall be registered after
being duly examined and verified for the purpose of proving
their authenticity.

Paragraph. In case it should appear that said bonds or
titles are counterfeited or stolen the proper officials shall
proceed to void and perforate the same, the receipt issued for
them being thereby cancelled and annulled.

Art. 59. If a deposit has been made to guarantee the fulfil-
ment of the obligations contracted in favour of the nation
by virtue of contracts entered into with the Government, and
it should appear that the titles or bonds of the grant are
counterfeited or stolen, after the annulment of the same,
a new guarantee shall be required of the person contracting
the obligation.

Art. 60. For the annulment and perforation of the titles
which shall be carried out in conformity with the foregoing
articles, the proceedings prescribed in Article 26 of Law 56
of the current year shall be followed.

Art. 61 . Decree No. 832 of 1884, and circular No. 94 of the
15th October, 1884, are hereby amended, in so far as they
conflict with the present decree, as well as all other similarly
conflicting provisions.

Given in Fusagasuga, on the 19th September, 1905.

Let it be published and enforced.

R. Reyes.
The Secretary of Public Works,

Modesto Garces.



APPENDIX F 207

Work and Wages

Although the population of Colombia is undoubtedly very
scanty in proportion to the area of the country, there are
certain portions of the interior of the Republic where the num-
ber of inhabitants per square kilometre is almost comparable
to that of Belgium or Holland. There are therefore regions
practically uninhabited and uncultivated, and other regions
in which the population sometimes surpasses the productive
powers of the soil. Hence, where the population is numerous,
employers find all the hands they require and wages are low.
This is the case in the temperate and healthy districts, such as
the famous Valley of Tensa, the Valley of Pereira, and in high
and fertile districts, like the Plain of Bogota, and in the Valley
of the Rio Negro in Antioquia. In these districts the wages
of the ordinary workman do not exceed 35 to40centavos (gold).