Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/1146

 790

MEXICO

There are four mints and seven Federal assay ofl&ces in Mexico, and every jirodncer is free to have his bullion coined, the mints receiving 4 "62 per cent for gold, and 4 "41 per cent, for silver. Mining operations, whether for gold and silver, or other metals, as lead, copper, tin, zinc, are carried on under the provisions of the mining law, which came into force July 1, 1892. Important metallurgical works are carried out at San Luis Potosi, Monterey and Dnrango.

Iir 1893 there were in Mexico 2,899 factories for sugar and brandy; in 1896 there were 107 cotton factories with 13,660 looms, 448,156 spindles, and 13,826 horse-power, the consumption of raw cotton having been 53,273,397 lbs., about half of which had been grown in Mexico.

Commerce.

The following table shows the total imports and exports and the proportion of precious metals and other produce in the exjiorts of Mexico during the last five years

Years

Total Imports

Exports

Merchandise

Precious Metals

Total

1893-94 1894-95 1895-96 1896-97 1897-98

Dollars 30,287,489 34,000,440 42,253,938 42,204,095 43,603,492

Dollars 32,858,927 38,319,099 40,178,306 45,164,417 53,930,417

Dollars 46,484,360 52,535,854 64,838,596 66,182,077 75,042,332

Dollars

79,343,287

90,854,953

105,016,902

111,346,494

128,972,749

The trade of Mexico, including precious metals, is chiefly with the fol- lowing countries : —

Countries

Imports from

Exports to '

1896-97

1897-98

Dollars 21,490,604 8,105,696 5,435,698 4,781,821 2,039,132 1,750,541

1896-97

1897-98

United States

Great Britain

France

Germany.

Spain

Other countries

Dollars

22,593,860 6,881,701 4,989,082 4,003,263 1,983,794 1,752,395

Dollars 86,742,951 14,280,527 1,873,522 4,416.744 1,192,328 2,840,422

Dollars 94,974,616 14,775,638 5,320,016 6,995,733 1,231,342 5,675,404

The following table shows the value of the principal articles exported in the last two vears : —