MEXICO-continued. by the official newspaper, so as to give notice to anyone who thought he had a right to oppose it. The person making the denunciation was also, within four months from the date of making it, to have a working opened at the place of the denunciation in which an expert could recognise the peculiarities of the deposit, as well as its strike and dip; and, if the owner of the soil required it, the value of the land occupied, and the damages which might be occasioned were to be paid over under the superintendence of the mining authority before possession was taken (Art. 65). When the workings were open, and without waiting for the completion of the four months from the date of the denunciation, provided the term of the publication was past, an expert was appointed to measure and mark the boundaries of the mine, and to prepare a report and plan, upon which the Deputy of Mines decreed the adjudication in favour of the person making the denunciation (Art. 66), and ten days afterwards possession was formally given to him (67). Possession might be taken by an agent appointed by letter (Art. 68). This differed from the case of the act of denunciation, which could only be made in the name of another by virtue of a legal power of attorney (Circular of the Minister of Public Works, December 16, 1886). In cases of denunciation for abandonment the publication was not to be commenced until the last previous possessor, if known, had been summoned and an opportunity given to him of opposing the denunciation, and in cases of controversy between two or more persons who might claim to have discovered a mine, the person who had registered his denunciation first was to be held as the discoverer (Arts. 71-5). In cases of opposition, if the intervention of the Mining Deputy did not put an end to the question it was to be remitted to the judicial tribunals (Art. 80). The employees and workmen of a mine were prohibited from denouncing other mines within a distance of 800 metres from such mine without the consent of the owner of such mine (Art. 72). A demasia, or space between mines in which there was not room to form a new claim, might be awarded to one of the adjoining mine-owners, who should have denounced it, or divided between the claims which it separated (Art. 111). If a mine-owner had so far advanced in his underground workings as to have passed out of the limits of his claim either along the vein or transversely, he might continue his working whenever he was in free ground, and might acquire the same by denunciation, provided that no concession should exceed double the measurement first granted (Art. 114), and when a mine-owner arrived at the boundary of his claim with any working that was yielding ores or products, he might continue onward even in another MEXICO-continued. claim; being, however, obliged to give immediate notice to the Mining Deputy and to the owner of the claim, and thenceforward to divide with the latter the produce and the costs of the working, if such working was profitable, under penalty in case he should not have given the notice of paying the value of all the produce, without deduction of cost, to the owner of the adjoining mine (Art. 117). Sales of As The mining property acquired according to the Mexican Mining Code of 1884 could be transferred freely, like any concessions. other real property, so long as the parties subjected themselves to the provisions of the law relating to mines (Art. 6). There was no provision against the acquisition of concessions by strangers, and numerous English companies have been formed to purchase and work mines held under concessions in Mexico. an illustration of the mode in which mining concessions have been there dealt with the undertaking of "The United Mexican Mining Company, Limited," may be referred to: "This company is interested in the San Cayetano, El Cubo, and Santa Cecilia properties, in the State of Guanajuato, Mexico. The San Cayetano property, which consists of twenty mines covering 770 acres, is worked by a partnership in which the United Mexican Mining Company holds 20-2693375 out of 24 shares. The El Cubo property, the freehold of which the company has now acquired, consists of eleven mines of an area of about 400 acres. The mines of Santa Cecilia were leased in March 1888, the terms being that the company should pay $5,200 for three-fourths of the rights, leaving to the lessors one-fourth share in the profits. This share was subsequently purchased for $11,000."―(Burdett's Official Intelligence, 1893.) concessions. Title VIII. of the Mining Code of 1884 provided for the formation of mining companies which were to be Union of governed by the provisions of the Federal Code except so far as such provisions were modified by the special provisions of the Mining Code. The special provisions required that the mine held by a company, whether made up of one or more claims, should be considered as indivisible, and to be worked in common, and the costs and products were to be divided according to agreement, or, in the absence of agreement, proportionably to the stock held by each person; that each company formed for working might acquire by denouncement four continuous claims on the same vein or deposit; that cach company should be constituted by a recorded contract containing the name and domicile of each of the partners, and the stock represented by each; that the mine should be considered as divided into shares, each partner having a right to one or several of such shares according to MEXICO-continued. agreement; that the death of a partner should not dissolve the company, his shares descending to his heirs; that shares might be transferred, and were to be considered as moveables (personal property) for all legal purposes, with a variety of other provisions regulating the constitution and management of companies, but which were only applicable in the absence of an agreement (Arts. 151-74). In connection with the subject of mining companies, the special provisions of the Mining Code of 1884 relative to the contract of habilitation or "avio" may be here referred to. "The contract for habilitation or avio' is one by which any party binds himself to furnish provisions or money for working a mine. The habilitator or ‘aviador' is the person who furnishes such aid to the mine. 'Barras aviadas' are shares in any mine that pay no assessments, though they have their proportionate share of the profits; such shares are often called 'barras viudas.' The shares that pay assessments are often called 'barras aviadoras.' A barra is always the one twenty-fourth part of a mine. When the latter is divided into lesser fractions, such shares are called 'acciones,' which may be 'aviadas' or 'aviadoras' as above."-(Translation by Mr. R. E. Chism). The essential feature of this contract of "avio" was that the person undertaking to provide for the necessary expenses of the working of a mine acquired the right of reimbursing himself from the products of the mine by way of preference over all other creditors, except those of workmen for their wages. If there were several aviadors the preference was to be given to the last. Under the law of 1884, such contracts had to be publicly registered. If the habilitator failed to advance the sum required for wages at the proper time, the miner might sell any goods or tools available, and the habilitator had to bear any loss which might ensue. The law also provided that in sales or contracts with respect to mines there should not be in any case a right to recission on account of wrong, nor to the action of integral restitution (two forms of Spanish legal procedure which are said to have formerly constituted traps especially dangerous to foreigners). In other respects the contract of habilitation was to be governed by the agreement of the parties, though, in the absence of special agreement, certain rules were laid down by the Mining Code (Arts. 175–87). As before observed, a mine was to be considered abandoned and might be awarded to anyone who might denounce Forfeiture of conces- it if it had not been worked by six miners employed underground for a period of 26 weeks in any one year sions. (Art. 50). MEXICO-continued. The ownership of any mine was also liable to forfeiture, and might be awarded to anyone who might denounce the same 1. When, from its bad condition, the lives of the workmen should be in peril, or when any material workings should be in a ruinous condition. 2. When through bad ventilation the health of the miners should be injured, or the lighting of the mine should be impeded. 3. When the drainage of the mine should have been suspended for 26 weeks in any one year. Notice, however, had to be given to the owner of the denounced mine, who was entitled to have a time granted not exceeding six months within which he could remedy the cause of complaint (Art. 59). If, within such time, the cause of complaint had not been removed, the mine was at once to be put into the possession of the denunciator, provided that he had previously given a bond to the satisfaction of the Mining Deputation for the cost of establishing the drainage, or of the work which ought to have been done, and which he had to commence to execute within one month and complete within six months of taking possession, under risk of losing his rights (Arts. 59–60). working Title VI. of the code of 1884 contained precise regulations Manner of as to the mode of working mines, which had to be properly ventilated and protected in the manner specified mines. by the code; and in order to secure the fulfilment of the regulations, the authorities were directed to exercise proper vigilance by means of Mining Deputies, mining engineers, or of any agents they might find it convenient to employ (Arts. 119– 21). Drainage of mines and Title VII. of the code of 1884 also contained specific provisions as to the establishment and maintenance of "adventurer" tunnels, or galleries, either for the drainage or the working of mines. These tunnels tunnels. might be constructed by mine-owners or others by way of denunciation, and subject to previous approval by the mining administration, and the owners of such tunnels had various rights and advantages, and particularly a right to contribution from the owners of mines, which might be drained or worked by means of the tunnels towards the expense incurred, but no such contribution was payable in respect of ventilation. As before observed, a concessionnaire had the right of occupying with the consent of the administration, not only within, but also outside the area of his concession, all land necessary for the working of his mine, on the sole Mining easements. MEXICO-continued. condition of paying in advance the value, fixed by experts, of the land occupied, and of the damage which might directly result from such occupation (Art. 95). Works of ventilation, drainage, &c., might be carried on through adjoining mines with the permission of the Mining Deputy, who had to be satisfied that the proposed works would be useful and would not result in damage to the adjoining mine-owner (Art. 115); if during the execution of such works any ore or products of value should be met with, the mine-owner carrying on the work had to give notice to the Deputy and the owner of the adjoining mine, and had to divide with the latter the profits and losses of working such ores and products if the working was profitable until such time as he met with the working in the adjoining mine, after which the mine-owner carrying on the work could only do so for the convenience of his own mine (Art. 116). Roads opened in any mine might be used by the owners of any other mines in the same mineral district, on payment of a proportion of the cost of maintenance, to be fixed in default of agreement according to the user (Art. 16). Mining adminis The industry of mining was under the direction of the Ministry of Public Works (Fomento), which was represented in the capital of the Republic by a Corps tration. of Engineers and Miners, and in each mining district by Mining Deputies (Arts. 18-21). The latter were elected for two years (being eligible for re-election at the end of that period) by the miners in the locality, who had been registered on their own application as having been for one year, before the date of the inscription, owners, or aviadores, or mining engineers, with residence in the district, or, having been previously inscribed in some other district, had acquired property in the particular district in which they applied to be registered. The election was by ballot. The Mining Deputies themselves had to be inscribed miners and Mexican citizens. The Mining Deputies exercised the governmental and economic functions assigned to them by the code, particularly as to acts of adjudication, protection, and declarations of desertion and forfeiture, and they were assisted by secretaries and graduated experts, and were entitled to receive certain specified fees for the duties which they performed (Tit. II. of Mining Code and Chap. II. of Decree of 28th Nov. 1884). The Mining Deputies had to see that the conditions of the code and the police regulations relative to the working of mines were fully carried out, and with that view they were obliged to visit or order to be examined whenever they might deem it necessary, and at least once in two years, |