executed the plans were gone over on the ground and the condemnation of the lands was made. It was then that the advantages and the errors of the project appeared, and with them the delays and difficulties in the progress of the works, the claims of the contractor, and the necessity of making additional appropriations which extended the time of termination and which increased the calculated cost of the work. With such a system it is impossible to have a good Administration, because the Government should know beforehand, with sufficient approximation and within reasonable limits, the amount of the works which it undertakes, all these considerations being of such gravity that they are sufficient to impose the going over of the plans on the ground previously, even in contracts which are executed under the system now in force.

In the one proposed in the present decree the defects and errors of the project can not have such important consequences. There is no obligation contracted by the Administration, and the latter is at complete liberty to correct or perfect the project at the time and in the manner which it deems most convenient, advertising and contracting for the execution of the work after it has been fixed and when the ground has been determined on and its value estimated as approximately as possible.

Another reform, although less important than that of previously going over the plan on the ground, must also be specially mentioned. The cases of force majeure, as they are defined in the articles of conditions of 1861 and in the Regulations of June 17, 1868, are the source of continual claims and of interminable proceedings, which impede the business of the Administration and prevent the progress of the works, and which can not be resolved by general rule with the assurance of absolute certainty. It is necessary to determine with exactness the magnitude and importance of a passing event which does not leave behind it other visible marks than the damages which it occasions, and which must be described many months after it has occurred, and by means of the declaration of witnesses, who, while they may be competent because they know the facts, are not ordinarily so, in order to appreciate the details; and it is just in such cases in the majority of instances that the declaration of force majeure is founded. It is well known, on the other hand, how weakly public interests are defended in investigations of this kind when opposed to private interests, and experience of this kind proves it, it being very rare that the proceedings of such investigation do not result in declaring the propriety of the claims of the contractor. The complication of the system and the irregularity in the decision disappear if the declaration of force majeure is made to depend, not so much on the magnitude or the fact of the occurrence as on its nature. In this manner the number of the proceedings is considerably reduced, and the necessity for investigation is avoided, because cases of public notoriety are in question; and if any circumstances should demand it, the investigation shall be concerning the occurrence of the accident and its extent or reality. Of course, in this manner the contractor may be charged with damages which were actually suffered by the Administration; but this is the hazardous part of the contract, and those who go to the bidding shall be careful to ascertain if, given the conditions in which the work is to be executed, the prices of its various parts and that part of the ex

penses which may be unforeseen in the estimate are sufficient to cover that possibility.

In this manner an important novelty is proposed, which the subscribing Secretary has already had the satisfaction of introducing in the articles of particular conditions which were made in the public bidding for the construction of the building for the School of Mines; it is the insurance of the lives of the workmen, at the expense of the contractor, who may have to labor on the work thus publicly sold.

This novelty, already known and used by some of the more advanced nations of the world, is demanded by transcendental conditions of a social character, now more than ever worthy of being attended to by every thoughtful Government; and it is also imposed by the duties incumbent on the Administration of granting to the less educated classes reasonable protection, which, without injuring the rights of others, protects them, cooperating with the efficacy of the law, which also individually protects them.

Lastly, a few other slight alterations have been introduced, contained in orders not in force, suggested both for the purpose of clearing up doubtful questions and for establishing rules and precepts, the necessity of which has been demonstrated by practice.

Aside from all these changes, the order of the articles of 1861 has been preserved, as also as many provisions thereof as are compatible with the new system, so as not to change, except in that which is absolutely indispensable, a document which has already been in force for twenty-five years in the contracting for public works, and which is no more than the amplification of what was approved in the year 1846.

Based on the foregoing considerations, and in accordance in all essential points with the report of the Consulting Board of Roads, Canals, and Ports, the undersigned Secretary has the honor of submitting, for the approval of Your Majesty, the following plan of articles of general conditions for the contracting for public works. Madrid, June 11, 1866.

Madam: At the Royal Feet of Your Majesty.

ROYAL DECREE.

EUGENIO MONTERO RIOS.

On the proposal of the Secretary of Public Works, in accord with the Council of Ministers, in the name of my August Son, the King Don Alfonso XIII, and as Queen Regent of the Realm,

I hereby decree the following:

ARTICLE 1. The following articles of general conditions for the contracting for public works are hereby approved.

ART. 2. Their provisions shall begin to be observed in the contracts which from the date of this decree may be entered into by the Administration.

ART. 3. The articles of general conditions for the contracting for public works of June 10, 1861, and all other conditions which are in conflict with the articles which are approved by this decree for new contracts, are hereby repealed.

Given at the Palace on the 11th of June, 1886.

MARIA CRISTINA.

EUGENIO MONTERO RIOS,
Secretary of Public Works.

CHAPTER I.-General provisions.

ARTICLE 1. Contractors of public works may be Spaniards or foreigners who are possessed of civil rights, in accordance with the laws of their respective nationality, and partnerships and companies legally constituted or recognized in Spain. There are excepted

First. Those who have been criminally prosecuted, if any of them shall have been condemned to prison;

Second. Those who have failed in business, either by suspending payments or having their property attached; and

Third. Those who are shown to be debtors to the public funds in the capacity of taxpayers.

ART. 2. The person to whom the execution of a work or service for the same has been awarded shall deposit as a guaranty the amount prescribed by the articles of particular conditions which may have served as the basis for the award. This deposit shall be made in the place and within the time designated by the said articles of condition. ART. 3. The time fixed in the previous article shall not exceed thirty days, and within it there shall be presented by the person to whom the contract is awarded the receipt which shows that he has effected the guaranty referred to in the same article. In case of failure to do so, there shall, without any further proceedings, be a declaration of the invalidity of the award, and the person to whom the award was made shall forfeit the provisional deposit which may have been made in order to take part in the public bids.

ART. 4. Every contract for the execution of public works shall be made by a public instrument, which shall contain the beginning and the ending and the forms prescribed by existing legislation.

The body of the said instrument shall consist of: So much of the memorandum of bidding as refers to the proposal at the public sale, or rather the one which is declared the most advantageous; the order of award; an exact copy of the receipt referred to in the preceding article, and the addition of a clause or condition stating in absolute terms that the contractor obligates himself for the exact fulfillment of the contract, in conformity with the provisions of these articles of general conditions, of the particular conditions, of the technical conditions of the project, and of the plans and estimate. Previously to the execution of the instrument the contractor shall have signed, at the foot of said articles of particular and technical conditions and of the plans and of the estimate, his agreement thereto.

ART. 5. The contractor has the right to obtain copies, at his own cost, of the plans, estimate, and articles of conditions of the project. The engineers, if the contractor so requests, shall certify these copies after they have been compared.

ART. 6. Contractors are obligated to submit the decision of all questions arising with the Administration which might affect their contracts, to the Administrative Authorities and Tribunals, in accordance with the Law of Public Works, renouncing the rights of common law, and to the privileges of domicile.

ART. 7. These articles of conditions shall control in all matters which are not modified by the particular conditions of each contract.

CHAPTER II.-Execution of the work.

ART. 8. The Engineer, or the person charged with the inspection and supervision of the works, shall go over on the ground, in the presence. of the contractor, the line and survey of the same made before the public bidding or award, drawing a duplicate memorandum, which shall be signed by the Engineer and the contractor, showing that the survey is made in accordance with the approved project. This shall be accompanied with the plans and longitudinal and transverse profiles which may be judged necessary, in accordance with the character and circumstances of the land and of the work, also signed by the Engineer and by the contractor. One of these copies of the memorandum shall be annexed to the contract records and the other shall be delivered to the contractor, sending a copy thereof to the General Direction.

In case differences arise between the project and the comparison with the survey, the memorandum shall set them forth, and they shall also be noted on the plans and the proper profiles, all proceedings being suspended until the decision by the superior Authority, to whose knowledge the matter shall immediately be brought.

The expenses of the comparison of the general survey, as well as the making of partial comparisons on the ground demanded in the course of the work, shall be at the expense of the contractor.

ART. 9. The acquisition of lands occupied by the work is at the expense of the State, but the contractor shall be obligated to pay its value, for which he shall be reimbursed by means of certificates issued by the Chief Engineer of the province, with a credit of 1 per cent by reason of the advance of the money.

ART. 10. The contractor shall begin the work within the time set forth in the particular conditions of the contract; he shall so carry them on, that within the various times set forth therein the corresponding part shall be executed, and shall finish them within the time fixed. In the execution, so far as the results of the plans and profiles of the project or of the survey which shall have been officially authorized are concerned, the provisions of the technical conditions and of the orders or instructions given by the Engineer, or by the subordinates directly charged with the inspection, shall be followed. The contractor may demand that these instructions or orders shall always be given; and this shall always be necessary when the technical conditions or the indications of the plans are attempted to be explained, interpreted, or modified. The contractor shall have in all cases right to complain of the directions given by subordinates to the Engineer, and of those given by the latter to the Engineer in Chief, who shall decide according to their judgment of what may be deemed just and

proper.

ART. 11. If in any case whatsoever, independently of the will of the contractor, the latter can not commence the works within the time fixed, or shall have to suspend them, an extension shall be granted for a time sufficient for the fulfillment of the contract.

ART. 12. From the time the works are begun until their final acceptance, the contractor or his duly authorized representative shall reside at a place near the works, and he can not absent himself there from without notifying the Engineer and leaving a substitute to give

orders, make payments, continue the works, and receive the orders which may be communicated to him. When this provision is violated, all the notices which are made in the office of the Alcalde of the town of his official residence, shall be considered valid.

ART. 13. The contractor, personally or by means of his agents, shall accompany the Engineers in the visits which the latter make to the works, whenever they may so demand. He shall see to it, in the same manner, that the proprietors or cultivators of the neighboring lands do not infringe with their labors on the zone devoted to the execution of the works, and that they do not deposit therein material of any kind, immediately notifying the Engineer of any infraction of these rules which may be observed.

ART. 14. The contractor can not refuse to admit the Engineers, Assistants, or Overseers in charge of the inspection of the work, nor demand that, on the part of the Administration, other experts be assigned for the inspection and measurements. If he believes himself to be prejudiced by the results of these inspections and measurements, he shall proceed as indicated in Article 10, giving the reasons of his complaint and the grounds therefor to the Chief Engineer, who shall either himself decide, or report to the Government; but in neither case shall the progress of the works be interrupted or disturbed for this

reason.

ART. 15. The number of laborers for the auxiliary measures necessary for the execution of the works shall always be in proportion to the extent and nature of those which have to be executed; and in order that the Engineers may be sure of the fulfillment of this condition, the contractor shall always give an account thereof when it is demanded.

.ART. 16. The contractor shall insure the lives of the laborers against all the accidents which may result from the work or be connected therewith. Those of the General Direction shall except those which may be declared to be imputable to the injured laborer by reason of his ignorance, negligence, or temerity.

The contractor shall make the insurance referred to in the preceding condition in the manner in which he may deem it convenient and under his responsibility, on the basis that, in case of the permanent injury of the laborer or of his death, the latter or his family shall receive an amount equal to the pay for five hundred working days.

The provisions of this condition govern in case that the laborer or his family renounces any other action for the payment of damages or injuries which they may have against the contractor.

ART. 17. For the lack of respect and obedience to the Engineers and subordinates in charge of the inspection of the works, or for conduct which compromises or disturbs the progress of the work, the contractor shall be obliged to dismiss his employees and laborers when the Engineer so demands, without prejudice to complaining to the Chief Engineer, in case no justifiable reason for the order is believed to exist.

ART. 18. The contractor shall be obliged to indemnify property owners for all damage which may be caused by the execution of the works, whether by the quarrying, by the removal of the ground for the building of embankments, or the occupation of the land for the formation of supports, and in order to accommodate shops and ma