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 : —
