Le Cap. Decree on titles of property approved at the imperial palace.

The minister of finance and of the interior, “Wishing to put an end to the abuses that have occurred in every part of the empire, by taking measures to assure to the true proprietors the peaceful enjoyment of their property, and to repress the illegal entries into possession that have taken place; considering that it is urgent to bring together all the scattered resources of the State and to form of them a body of revenue sufficient to meet the public expenditure and to maintain the considerable army that our state of war requires; having regard to article 1 of title II of the law of 28 May, which orders that children born out of wedlock, acknowledged before the present law, who have been put in possession of the property of their father and mother, in whole or in part, by whatever lawfully constituted authority, are bound to show anew, before the minister of Finance, the titles by virtue of which they were put in possession; having regard to the provisions of the aforesaid law, decrees as follows: Art. 1. From the 1st of August next, all proprietors without distinction are bound to present themselves at the secretariat of finance and of the interior, furnished with their titles of property or of entry into possession, from whatever authority, to have them verified, endorsed and registered for recourse if needed, and to be issued new entries into possession; they shall present themselves immediately afterward before the administrator of their division to have their said entries into possession registered. 2. Proprietors are bound to annex to their titles of property their petition, which shall state the number of documents they have produced and the nature of their affairs; the said petition shall remain deposited in the archives of finance for recourse. 3. Any individual convicted of having sought to deceive my good faith, whether by introducing counterfeit deeds or by lying subterfuges, shall be prosecuted with the full rigor of the laws. 4. The administrators of the military divisions are bound to draw up the general register of the proprietors of their divisions, according to the new entries into possession that shall be issued to them by virtue of article 1 of the said decree. No one may dispose of his produce until he has first complied with the present provision. 5. In execution of article seven of the method of leasing, the directors of the domains of the six military divisions shall draw up the general register of the leased plantations, in which shall be recorded the name of the leaseholder, that of the plantation, the kind of produce, the amount of the rent and the number of cultivators; the general register of recognized proprietors shall be drawn up in the same way; these registers serve to form the population tables and give an idea of the revenues of the empire. The directors of the domains are answerable for the execution of the present article within the shortest time, on pain of dismissal. They shall likewise be bound to present to me, with the said register, the list and yield of the leases of houses, ferries, salt pans and butcheries, and the resources of the State in mules, horses, oxen, etc., etc. The present shall be submitted to the sanction of His Majesty, for him to order upon it as he shall see fit. Approved as above, at the imperial palace of Le Cap, 24 July 1805, the 2nd year of the independence of Haiti. Signed, DESSALINES. The minister of finance and of the interior, signed, VERNET. Certified true copy, the secretary of the minister of finance and of the interior, signed, VASTEY.”