I-Decree of May 20, 1904, relating to the tobacco stamp duty.

["Diario Oficial" No. 17, of May 20, 1904.]

ARTICLE 1. There shall be issued special stamps for the purpose of being affixed to native tobacco sifted, cut, in the leaf or for chewing. The value of the stamps shall be as follows: Two dollars the hundred for packets weighing net 100 grams and less; $5 the hundred for packets weighing net more than 100 and up to 250 grams; $9 the hundred for packets weighing net more than 250 and up to 500 grams; $18 the hundred for packets weighing net more than 500 grams and up to 1 kilogram.

The stamps referred to in this article shall be used in the following manner: A stamp of $2 the hundred for packets weighing net 100 grams and less; a stamp of $5 the hundred for packets weighing net more than 100 and up to 250 grams; a stamp of $9 the hundred for packets weighing net more than 250 and up to 500 grams; a stamp of $18 the hundred for packets weighing net more than 500 grams and up to 1 kilogram.

ART. 2. The stamps shall be with a stub ("talonaria") and the conterfoil shall be affixed to one of the ends or places where each parcel is closed and the stub to the other; the two separate parts of the stamp shall be obliterated by the official stamp, in such a manner that the obliteration extends on the wrapper on both sides of the stamp. The seal shall show the date of cancellation.

ART. 3. The same stamps shall be adopted for native snuff, and they are to be affixed in accordance with the formalities provided in the foregoing articles, save that for this purpose there shall be used a double quantity of stamps to that fixed for the packets of the different weights enumerated.

ART. 4. No tobacco or snuff shall be sold except in closed packets bearing on their wrapper the stamp corresponding to their weight.

ART. 5. In stamping foreign imported tobacco, whether sifted, cut, in leaf, or for chewing, stamps such as for the native tobacco aforesaid shall be used, save that these stamps shall be of a different color and amount to twice the value.

ART. 6. Importers of manufactured tobacco shall designate in the application made to the custom-house at the place of entry, in addition to the particulars required by article 5 of the standing regulations, the number of packets or containers of snuff, or of sifted, cut, leaf, or chewing tobacco, as well as the number of packets of cigarettes and cigars contained in each package imported. They shall further specify the net weight of each packet or container of tobacco, in order that the amount of the tax may be calculated and stub stamps issued for every imported package, case, barrel, etc.

ART. 8. Foreign snuff is subject to the same rules and formalities as the manufactured tobacco affected by the foregoing articles, but for the different packets in which it is imported into the country twice the number of stamps designated for a like weight of foreign tobacco, sifted, cut, in leaf, or for chewing, shall be used.

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS.

ARTICLE 1. This decree shall enter into force on the 1st of July proximo; all contrary provisions are hereby repealed.

II.-Law of June 8, 1904, in reference to merchandise imported through custom-houses in the Quintana Roo Territory.

["Diario Oficial” No. 33, of June 8, 1904.]

SOLE ARTICLE. For a period of one year, computed from the 1st of July proximo, the foreign goods specially designated in the decree of June 7, 1902, shall continue to be relieved from payment of import duties of every description and also from port dues when entering through the custom-houses situated in the Territory of Quintana Roo to be exclusively consumed in that Territory.

MEXICAN LOAN PLACED IN THE UNITED STATES.

The $40,000,000 loan of the Mexican Government has been awarded to an American syndicate, of which Speyer & Co. are managers, and which has been competing for the loan with a foreign syndicate composed principally of the leading Paris banks. The syndicate which has taken the new loan includes the Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Equitable Life Assurance Society, the Guaranty, Union and Central Trust companies, the National City Bank, Harvey Fisk & Sons,

Lazard Frères, and some of the other leading financial institutions and private banking houses of New York, as well as the First National Bank of Chicago, the Girard Trust Company of Philadelphia, and the Old Colony Trust Company of Boston. Speyer Brothers, of London; L. Speyer-Ellissen, of Frankfort; the Deutsche Bank, of Berlin, and Teixeira de Mattos Brothers, of Amsterdam, through whom the bonds will be placed in Europe, are also interested.

The loan amounts to $40,000,000 United States gold. The bonds run for fifty years and carry interest at 4 per cent annually. They are in denominations of $1,000, principal and interest payable in New York, and also payable in pounds sterling, reichsmarks, and francs. The sinking fund provides that during the first five years a certain proportion must be drawn at par and interest. After that time the purchases must be made annually in the open market until the bonds sell above par and interest. The loan is issued largely to refund maturing obligations. Eighteen million five hundred thousand dollars is to be used to pay off the same amount of 4 per cent Treasury notes of the Mexican Government maturing in 1905 and 1906, previously placed by Speyer & Co. and Speyer Brothers. About $7,500,000 is to be used to pay off the Vera Cruz and Pacific and Oaxaca railways subsidy bonds, leaving about $14,000,000 to pay for public improvements, such as harbor works at Salina Cruz, Coatzacoalcos, and Manzanillo.

The operation is noteworthy in that this is the first loan placed in this country by any of the Southern republics, and is notable in that for the first time an important foreign loan is made payable in dollars, the custom heretofore having been to make the bonds payable primarily in pounds sterling.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC WITH THE UNITED STATES.

According to detailed statistics published by the Treasury Department of the Republic of Mexico, for the first half of the fiscal year 1903-4 (from July 1 to December 31, 1903), the railway traffic across the Rio Grande frontier between Mexico and the United States was as follows:

Ciudad Juarez.-Six thousand seven hundred and sixty-two cars, with 93,188 tons of merchandise, entered Mexico from the United States; 3,434 cars, with 54,944 tons of merchandise, crossed from Mexico into the United States; total traffic, 10,169 cars, with 148,132 tons of merchandise.

Ciudad Porfirio Diaz.-Four thousand two hundred and ninety-four cars, with 83,465 tons of merchandise, entered Mexico from the United States; 2,933 cars, with 4,256 tons of merchandise, crossed from Mexico into the United States; total traffic, 7,227 cars, with 87,721 tons of merchandise.

Laredo.-Eight thousand four hundred and eighty-two cars, with 229,409 tons of merchandise, entered Mexico from the United States; 970 cars, with 10,298 tons of merchandise, crossed from Mexico into the United States; total traffic, 9,452 cars, with 239,707 tons of freight. Nogales. One thousand two hundred and fifty-two cars, with 9,505 tons of merchandise, entered Mexico from the United States; 838 cars, with 12,246 tons of merchandise, returned from Mexico into the United States; total traffic, 2,090 cars, with 21,751 tons of freight.

A general summary of the railway traffic across the frontier from July to December, inclusive, shows that a total of 20,790 cars, with 415,567 tons of merchandise, entered Mexico from the United States, while 8,175 cars, with 81,744 tons of merchandise, crossed from Mexico to the United States, making a grand total of 28,965 cars, with 497,311 tons of freight.

In the corresponding six months of 1902 the total railway traffic across the Rio Grande frontier was as follows: Eighteen thousand seven hundred and seven cars, with 324,721 tons of merchandise, entered Mexico from the United States, and 9,137 cars, with 93,023 tons of merchandise, crossed from Mexico to the United States, thus making a grand total of traffic both ways aggregating 27,844 cars, with 417,744 tons of freight. An increase is thus shown for the six months' period of 1903 of 2,083 cars and 90,846 tons of merchandise, or 11.13 per cent increase in the number of cars and 27.97 per cent increase in the amount of freight.

The total railway traffic, both ways, between Mexico and the United States during the five fiscal years from 1898-99 to 1902-3, ending June 30 of each period, is thus given by the Treasury Department:

The Treasury figures refer only to freight cars and merchandise, hence passenger cars and passenger traffic are separate from the foregoing.

MINING STATISTICS FOR 1903-4.

The "South American Journal" of October 22, 1904, states that the mining products of the Republic of Mexico during the past fiscal year (1903-4) amounted to $150,000,000. Of this sum $82,300,000 falls to silver, $32,500,000 to gold, $19,600,000 to copper, and

$6,600,000 to lead. During the past three years Mexico has exported, mainly to the United States and the Far East, over $21,000,000 of gold, $128,000,000 of silver, gold value, and $400,000,000 of other metals, gold value.

COPPER PRODUCTION DURING THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF

1903-4.

The following figures, published in the "British Mining Journal" of October 29, 1904, show the production of copper during the first five months of 1903-4 in comparison with the same period of 1902–3 to have been as follows:

As will be seen, during these five months there has been an increase of $1,319,944, indicating that the exploitation of copper is constantly increasing in the Republic.

BOER COLONY IN THE REPUBLIC.

The "South American Journal" of October 29, 1904, states that the Boer Colony in Santa Rosalia, in the State of Chihuahua, has obtained possession of the hacienda Santa Rosalia, containing 80,000 acres, for the benefit of Boers already in Mexico and the influx that is expected to follow. Farming on a gigantic scale will be carried on. The project is under the management of General SNYMAN. He has purchased a 30-horsepower traction engine which will pull a gang of 10 plows and turn over an acre of ground in every mile traversed. Other agricultural machinery has been purchased to handle alfalfa satisfactorily. Under the terms of General SNYMAN'S contract with the Government he has to locate 50 families in the colony within the next three years, dating from January 1, 1904. There are now 18 families in Santa Rosalia. General SNYMAN says he will fulfill his contract within the next three months, and will probably have to secure more land to accommodate Boers who desire to locate in Mexico.

CUSTOMS RECEIPTS, AUGUST, 1904.

The following figures show the receipts at the various custom-houses of the Republic for the month of August, 1904, the collections for ordinary import duties being given separately for each custom-house