than in 1912-4, and imports thence 110% greater. American trade was about 85% of the total, the United Kingdom ranking second. The chief commodities exported in 1920 were sisal, crude petroleum, copper, raw cotton, hides, coffee and lead. Imports were manu- factures, as of iron pipe, cotton cloths, flour, sugar, motor vehicles, lard, shoes and lumber. In 1912 the sale of Yucatecan henequin was put under control of a comision reguladora on a plan similar to that for Brazilian coffee valorization. Sales from 1915 to_ 1918 amounted to 2,205,425 bales of 380 Ib. each, a yearly average of 735,141. From 1916 to 1918 production decreased 100,000 bales yearly, due to disorders and labour shortage. Exports from Progreso to the United States in 1917 were $35,881,988, consisting of chicle, coffee, henequin, hides, logwood, etc.
Agriculture.^Production was unequal, due to war, drought and lack of capital. In 1918 exports of products and live stock were valued at $74, 253, 500. Banana exportation rose to an annual value of $5,000,000. The normal maize crop, 1 10,000,000 bus., is less than the consumption. Two crops, followed by one of wheat, are pro- duced in some areas. Chihuahua in 1920 produced 44,000,000 Ib. more maize than was needed for local consumption. The barley crop is about 7,000,000 bus.; rice, 1,250,000 bus. The frijole (bean) crop, worth $7,500,000, is locally consumed. Garbanzos (chick-peas) exported from Guaymas in 1918 totalled 25,000 tons, worth $4,500,- ooo. In 1919 32,742 tons were exported. The cotton crop of 1918 was 71,266 bales. The 1919 and 1920 crops were poor, due to pests and climatic factors; 90% of the cotton is produced in the Laguna district of Coahuila and Durango. About 90,000 bales are used in Mexican factories, operated by foreigners. Vanilla-bean export in 1919 was 197,403 kgm., worth 2,333,264 pesos. Sesame, orajonjoli, in rgig was produced to the extent of 20,000 tons, worth $150 to $200 per ton. Sugar production, as much as 160,000 tons before the revolution, after a temporary fall had risen to 110,000 in 1920. Only I -45th of the possible sugar land is used. The republic could produce 7,000,000 tons. Coffee decreased only in the rebel district of Vera Cruz. The normal crop is from 77,000,000 to 1 10,000,000 pounds. In 1919 Mexico imported 1,000,000 Ib. of Brazilian coffee from the United States. Tobacco production, normally 11,000,000 kgm., was 2,000,000 in 1919; the 1920 crop was estimated at three times that figure. Guayule rubber in 1918 amounted to 2,656,769 Ib., worth $1,004,561. Before the revolution there were 5,000,000 head of cattle, 800,000 horses, 300,000 mules, 250,000 asses, 5,000,000 sheep, 4,000,000 goats and 600,000 hogs. In 1920 it was estimated that stock had decreased 75% since 1910, although there had been some increase since 1917. Meat prices rose 100% in 1919- 20. Hides were exported to the United States. Lumber mills are increasing. In 1917 Chihuahua produced 19,500,000 ft. from the Madera and Pearson mills. Mahogany from the south is annually worth $600,000. Twenty-five varieties of hard-wood and cedar annually produce $1,000,000.
Mining. There was marked resumption of production in 1918 and 1919. Low prices in 1920 reduced operations to high-grade ores. In 1918 exports were worth $34,716,000; in 1919 -$10,577,393. I" 1 1919 there were 5,804 mines of silver, 1,800 of gold, 988 of copper, 1 1 8 of lead and 73 of zinc. A new law of mining imposts was decreed June 27 1919. In the same year the Japanese began to buy iron-ore deposits. Coal is produced only in Coahuila, though there are deposits in Sinaloa. Mineral production in the leading lines for 1916-9 was as follows (in kgm.):
Metals
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1916
1917
1918
1919
Gold Silver . Copper Lead . Zinc Antimony . Tin Tungsten .
11,748 926,142 28,411,248 19,970,986 37,449,226 828,767 292 12,250
23,543 1,306,988 50,985,923 64,124,752
14,757,333 2,646,544
9,214 187,637
25-313 1,944,542 70,223,454 98,837,154 20,698,995 3,268,546
13,537 149,486
22,944 1-949,673 50,893,612
67,378,353 8,665,413 627,704 2,117 29,292
Molybdenum, manganese, mercury, arsenic and amorphous graphite were also extensively produced.
Petroleum. Petroleum is produced in the Ebano, Panuco, Huasteca, Tuxpam and Tehuantepec-Tabasco regions. The area occupied by companies in 1919 was 4,064,870 ac.; their annual rents came to $3,449,033; several companies were paying from $200 to $400 per acre. The companies operating numbered 155. In Feb. 1919 114 new wells were being drilled. In 1920 there were 770 m. of pipe-line, with 2,000,000 bar. capacity; total wells, 1,103. The largest well, Cerro Azul No. 7, was capable of producing 370,000 bar. daily. Tanks numbered 902, with capacity of 50,000,000 barrels. Investments in Tuxpam and Tampico alone were estimated at $1,000,000,000. Export duties collected in 1917, $6,854,537; 1918, $10,135,992; 1919, $15,203,986. Export duties were first levied in 1914. Uncollected royalties, protested as confiscatpry, for 1918 and 1919 were $4,500,000. In May 1916 a monthly inspection tax of 150 pesos was fixed ; 50 companies out of 373 then operating refused to pay it. The duties in Aug. 1920 were $ .10 to $ .165 per bar. on crude and high-density fuel oils; on gasoline $ .09 per gal. ; on kero- sene, about $ .01 per gallon. Valuation was based on quotations of
American ports minus transportation costs. Dividends of the best- paying companies in 1920 ran from 24 % to 40 %, after deducting reserves. Production multiplied more than three times in seven years, or 54 times since 1907. Official figures for production are as follows:
Barrels
Barrels
1901 .
io,345
1911 .
12,552,788
1902 .
40,000
1912 .
16,558,215
1903 .
75-375
1913
25,696,291
1904 .
125,625
1914 .
26,235,403
1905 .
251,25
1915
32,910,508
1906 .
502,500
1916 .
40,545,712
1907 .
1,005,000
1917
55,292,770
1908 .
3,932,000
1918 .
63,828,326
1909 .
2,713,500
1919 .
80,557,229
1910 .
3,634,080
1920 .
153,797,036*
This 1920 figure is for exportation only, and not total production.
Refined oils were in 1920 34% of the total. The United States took 73% of the output in 1918. Exports in 1917 were worth $26,838,063, and in 1918 $70,278,776. President Carranza's oil decrees of Feb. 19, July 31 and Aug. 8 and 12 1918, which fixed taxes and royalties, controlled issue of titles, and established condi- tions of concessions, were resisted by operators as without con- stitutional authority and contravening acquired rights. Protests by Governments whose nationals were concerned, and suits at law by the companies, had not been settled in Nov. 1921, though a suit favourable to the Texas Oil Co. indicated the prospective amicable solution of the oil situation.
Foreign Investments. The Mexican Government in 1919 estimated investments in the republic as follows: American, $1,057,770,000; English, $331,302,800; French, $143,446,000; Mexican investments, $793,187,242; grand total, including those of other countries, $2,434,241,422. Claims for damage done to American investments are estimated at between $500,000,000 and $1,000,000,000.
National Debt. In 1908 the total internal and external debt was estimated at 44,101,607. On Dec. 31 1919 the external debt, including unpaid interest, was 69,792,229; the internal debt, '38,795,550 pesos. Middleton, in Industrial Mexico, stated the debt for 1919 at $350,181,047.47, besides the railway debt, which was $238,740,393 on June 30 1918, and besides unpaid interest to Jan. I 1919551,824,139. There is no completely authoritative state- ment of the debt. The International Bankers' Committee on Mexico, organized Feb. 24 1919, acts for the holders of Mexican securities. Rehabilitation of finances was discussed repeatedly in 1919, 1920 and 1921, but without action.
Banking and Credit. Banking in 1919 was practically confined to foreign-exchange transactions; commercial credits, mostly at 30 days, were increasing. Deposits were not sought. There was lack of confidence, due to the frequent revolutionary " borrowings " of prior years. American trade in 1919-20 was on a cash basis or on sight drafts against shipping documents. In 1913 there were 20 banks of emission, with assets worth $425,500,000; four mortgage banks, with assets worth $43,762,000; and six banks of promotion, with assets worth $83,000,000. There wene three other Mexican banks, six foreign ones, and the old colonial Monte de Piedad. Since 1914 there have been no banks at all in Mexico within the meaning of the banking law of 1897. Plans for a single bank of issue as a centre of nationalized reorganization have been under discussion since Sept. 1918. An initiative providing a new banking system was sent to Congress by President Obregon in Feb. 1921. The single bank of issue is to be accompanied by other special banks for commercial, industrial and agricultural needs. Other proposed legislation which might have indirect effects on economic conditions are the new agrarian law and the educational bill, both of which were sent to Congress in Feb. 1921. An executive decree of Jan. 31 1921 provided for the return to owners of banks declared in liquidation Dec. 14 1916. These banks were to be restored to activity or liqui- dated, according to their financial condition. The most important banks affected by this decree, and the amounts of their paper notes in circulation respectively, were the Banco Nacional de Mexico, 32,571,969 pesos; the Banco de Londres y Mexico, 26,256,141 pesos; the Banco Oriental, 21,831,349 pesos; and the Banco Mmero de Chihuahua, 8,001,619 pesos.
History. The decade 191020 was a period of attempted social revolution misdirected and unrealized. The closing years of the rule of Diaz were marked by events portentous of the troubles which ensued. The financial depression of the United States in 1907 was reflected in Mexico in 1908. Financial meas- ures, which included nationalization of the railways and re- organization of the banking system, placed a severe burden on the country. There were serious crop failures due to frosts and drought. In Oct. 1909 free importation of grains was decreed, and in April 1910 the President was authorized to expend a million pesos for importation of corn and beans. In the midst of these economic perplexities the centennial of Mexican independence
