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try; and whether a man has a thousand dollars or a million he can go there and make money if he exercises ordinary precaution and judgment, and if he makes up his mind to stand the discomforts of the country. It is a good country for the prospector, too, because there are no seasons against him, and there are many new fields entirely untouched; but he needs money enough to get there with and enable him to obtain the proper kind of outfit, and time to familiarize himself with the requirements of the law and select some district in which he wants to operate.

For the small capitalist, or for a small syndicate, there is no finer field for the organizing of small legitimate companies for the purposes of opening and working old abandoned mines, which are filled with débris or water, and which it will pay to clean out and work, and of which there are still many to be had. In times gone by they were abandoned because of the refractory condition of the ores, or lack of machinery, or want of transportation, all of which conditions have been removed. There is also a fine opening for capital for the exploration of the new gold-fields in the vicinity of Guadalupe y Calvo, in the range between Sonora and Chihuahua, in the State of Guerrero, and in many other localities.

There are in various parts of Mexico educated, experienced, and thoroughly reliable Americans to be found, who have lived a long while in the country, and know the language, the laws, and the people, and would be willing to give reliable information to young Americans wishing to go there.

PUBLIC DEBT.

The public debt of Mexico is represented by bonds drawing different rates of interest, some payable in gold and others in silver. In 1825, very soon after our independence, we contracted two loans in London, both for 10,000,000 pounds sterling, which we mainly used for buying war-ships and war material. On account of the disturbed condition of the country, the interest on that debt could not be paid punctually, and the bonds naturally fell to a very low nominal price. In 1851, after the war with the United States, we refunded that debt in new bonds, the interest of which was reduced from 5 to 3 per cent., which we expected to pay punctually, but the disturbed condition of the country made it impossible for us to do it. Finally, in 1888, the debt was readjusted and gold bonds bearing 6 per cent. interest issued, and as we have paid since punctually the interest, they have reached par.

We had issued bonds from 1849 to 1856 to pay claims of English, French, and Spanish subjects under certain conventions signed with those countries, and such bonds were exchanged at different rates for the 6 per cent. gold bonds of our foreign debt.

VOL. 19

To build the Tehuantepec Railway we negotiated in London, in 1888, another gold loan for 3,000,000 pounds sterling at 5 per cent. interest.

The subsidies granted to railway companies were payable in silver, with a percentage of our import duties, but as they amounted to a considerable sum their payment reduced the revenue considerably, and the Mexican Government contracted in London in 1890 a gold loan at 6 per cent. interest, with which it paid the subsidies due up to that date to most of the railway companies.

We had to issue besides in 1850 what we call domestic or interior bonds, at 3 and 5 per cent. interest in silver, and we had other indebtedness of several kinds, caused by loans and other sources when the revenue of the Government was not enough to pay its expenses. All such debts have been consolidated into new bonds of 3 and 5 per cent. interest, payable in silver. Such railway subsidies as were not paid out of the proceeds of the loan of 1890 have been paid with bonds drawing 5 per cent, interest, paying both capital and interest in silver.

It is very onerous for Mexico when it is on a silver basis to pay in gold the interest of its foreign debt, because we have to buy gold at current prices, and it costs us now more than double its current price. When silver was about 50 cents on the dollar, as compared with gold, 6 per cent. interest of our foreign debt, cost us 12 per cent., and of course the further silver is depreciated the greater will be the cost of paying the interest of our gold debts.

President Diaz gives in his report of November 30, 1896, the following data about the cost to the Mexican Treasury of buying exchange to place in London the funds to pay us the gold interest on our foreign debt :

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In the second part of this paper I will give a detailed statement showing the different kinds of bonds and obligations which constitute the Mexican debt, and here will only give the figures of the total amount, which are the following:

Sterling Mexican debt......

Debt payable in silver..

Total.....

.$114,675,895.49
88,549,111.80

$203,225,007.29

It is not possible to fix the exact amount of the debt of Mexico, either in silver or gold, because of the daily changes in the price of

silver; but as silver is the currency of the country, when the Mexican dollar is worth 24 pence in London, the amount of our debt in silver would be equal to our sterling debt, that is: $114,675,895.40 added to our debt will make a grand total in Mexican silver of $317,900,902.78.

BANKING.

Banking in Mexico is in its incipient state. The National Bank of Mexico, established in the City of Mexico in 1882, with its branches in the principal cities of the country, has a monopoly for the issuing of notes in the capital which is only shared by such banks as were in existence before the National Bank of Mexico was chartered, like the Bank of London, Mexico, and South America, established during the French intervention in Mexico and recently remodelled under the name of the Bank of London and Mexico. The Mortgage Bank of Mexico enjoys that privilege also.

On June 3, 1896, a general banking law was issued by the Mexican Congress, which establishes the conditions under which banking institutions can be organized; but, of course, that does not affect the rights of the National Bank and other banks in the City of Mexico which had been chartered before the date of that law.

Formerly, owing to the expense and dangers of transportation, it was difficult to transport money from one place to another, and therefore exchange between cities in Mexico was very high, sometimes even ten per cent. from one city to another in the country. The rate has been reduced considerably since the railroads were built, but it is still quite high. To draw money from the City of Mexico to the City of Oaxaca, for instance, and vice versa, costs now one per cent. each way; when money is required to be sent to smaller places the expenses are much higher, as it is necessary to send a man to the nearest town where the money can be placed by the banks, and pay to him a large commission-the expenses sometimes reaching ten per cent. To keep up this rate of exchange the National Bank makes its bills payable at a certain place so that they cannot be paid at any other.

Banking is very profitable in Mexico. The following is a statement of the earnings and dividends of the National Bank of Mexico, which began with a capital of $3,000,000, increased since to $6,000,000, having now a reserve fund of $5,500,000, and is owned almost exclusively by Mexicans, being the fiscal agent of the Government :

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The following is a statement, from official sources, of the earnings and dividends of the Bank of London and Mexico. Up to 1891 it had a capital of $1,500,000, which was then increased to $3,000,000 :

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Recently the capital stock of this bank was further increased to $10,000,000, without any expense to the stockholders, as the reserve fund, which amounted to about $2,000,000, was used to complete the new capital, and was issued to the regular stockholders as a stock dividend. The balance to complete the $5,000,000 of new stock was offered to the public, the subscriptions amounting to $22,000,000, or $17,000,000 more than was wanted.

From this statement it will be seen that the existing banks are prosperous and in a flourishing condition, but the demand for increased banking facilities is such that new banks are being formed, and the operations of the old banks increased and extended in various directions.

PATENTS AND TRADE-MARKS.

Patents. On June 7, 1890, the present patent law of Mexico was issued, and its provisions are very similar to the respective laws exist

ing in this country.

Since the date of that law the following patents have been issued by our Department of Fomento :

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Trade-Marks.-On November 28, 1889, our present law regulating trade-marks was promulgated, and since then the following trademarks have been issued by the Department of Fomento :

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The mercantile marine of Mexico in 1895 comprised 52 steamers and 222 sailing vessels. The shipping included also many small vessels engaged in the coasting trade.

In 1893-94, in the foreign trade, 1237 vessels of 1,314,625 tons entered, and 1211 vessels of 1,296,834 tons cleared the ports of Mexico. In the coasting trade 7721 of 1,623,371 tons entered and 7708 of 1,592,754 tons cleared. In 1894-95, in the foreign and coasting trade, there entered 9575 vessels of 3,428,973 tons, and cleared 9557 of 3,359,684 tons.

In the statistical portion of this chapter I will give official information about the number of vessels and their tonnage, which have entered and cleared from Mexican ports in recent years, the nations from which they came, and other valuable data.

MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.

The standard of value is silver. There is no paper currency except ordinary bank notes.

The silver peso or dollar of 100 centavos is the unit of coin in Mexico.

The silver peso weighs 27.073 grammes, .902 fine, and thus contains 24.419 grammes of fine silver.

The 10-pesos gold-piece weighs 27.0643 grammes, .875 fine, and thus contains 23.6813 grammes of fine gold.

The weights and measures of the metric system were introduced in 1856; but the Indians and other ignorant people use the old Spanish The principal ones are these:

measures.

Weight.-1 libra=0.46 kilogramme, 1.014 lbs. avoirdupois.

I arroba=25 libras, 25.357 lbs. avoirdupois.

For Gold and Silver.-1 marco libra, 4,608 granos.

=

I ochava 62 tomines.

I tomin=12 granos.

20 granos 1 French gramme.

.-I vara-0.837 metre

Length.

2 ft. 8% English inches.

1 legua comun (1 common league) = 5,000 yards.
I legua marina (1 marine league) = 6,666 yards.

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