ital invested in the country. The greatest single American interest continued to be in the railroads, stocks and bonds of which were held to a value of $644,390,000. The estimate of money invested in mines had now risen to $223,000,000, and $15,000,000 or more was credited to each of the following: national bonds, smelters, bank deposits, rubber production, and the oil industry. Obviously, a development of investments on so large a scale was helping with the other changes in local conditions to bind the economic interests of the two countries together very rapidly and was giving an unprecedented stimulus to Mexican life.[1]
Next in value after American investments this compilation ranked those of British citizens. The total value of these properties was $321,302,800. The chief items were railways, national bonds, and mines. British citizens were stated to be the largest foreign holders of national bonds, timber lands, and tramways. Investments by them, like those by Americans, appear to have been rapidly increasing. It is to be noted that in these estimates the oil properties were still of small value compared to that which they have subsequently reached.
A detailed list of British holdings in Mexico, published in 1919, put the total at more than $500,000,000 American gold. The amounts, in various lines, were ap-
- ↑ Statistics from Daily Consular and Trade Reports, July 18 1912, p. 316. The estimates are reported to be based on government and state reports, directories of business houses, factories, mines, and smelters, La Mexique, the Mexican year-book, and numerous reviews, encyclopedias, and company reports. The Statist (London), November 29, 1919, gave "a little over 300 millions sterling" as the value of American holdings.
