The average value of postal money orders purchased in Mexico for payment in the United States during the past five calendar years was 65 Pesos ($32.50 U. S. Currency), and of those issued by United States postoffices for payment in Mexico, 61 Pesos ($30.50 U. S. Currency). INSIGNIFICANT POSTAL MONEY ORDERS BUSINESS WITH REST OF WORLD It will be apparent, from the following tabulation, that the postal money-order movement between Mexico and other countries than the United States is relatively insignificant, although a slight increase over 1922 may be noted in such business during 1923. CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE IN MEXICO American Chamber of Commerce.. Mexico City, D. F. . Monterey .Tampico, Tmps. CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE IN MEXICO CITY Confederacion de Camaro de Comercio. Camara de Comercio, Industria y Agricultura. Camara Regional de Comercio Camara Nacional de Comercio, Agricultura e Industria. Camara Nacional de Comercio, de la Comarca Lagunera. Camara Local de Comercio.. Camara de Comercio Camara de Comercio Camara Nacional de Comercio. Camara Nacional de Comercio Acapulco Aguascalientes .Ameca . Atlizco Campeche . Cuautla Ciudad Juarez ...Colima .Cordoba . Chihuahua .Guadalajara ...Durango Gomez Palacio .Guaymas . Hermosillo .Huauchinango Irapuato .Jalapa .Leon Mazatlan Matamoras ...Merida Monterey Morelia .Nueva Laredo . Orizaba Parras . Puebla . Saltillo San Luis Potosi Matehuala Pachuca Queretaro Tampiquena Tabuacan . Toluca Torreon Tulancingo Tuxtla Gutierrez . Uruapan .Veracruz Zacatecas SECTION IV-LAND AND AGRICULTURE CONCESSIONS: A BRIEF ANALYSIS* By H. N. BRANCH, LL.B. Definition: A concesión-or to use the common English rendering a concession-is a privilege granted by the state to do certain acts which may not be performed as a matter of common right by all members of the community. These privileges fall naturally into two main divisions: (1) Those relating to the public domain; (2) Those dealing with public utility services. Thus they cover the enjoyment of waters, the grant of lands, the development of mines, the construction and operation of railroads, telephones, etc. There is another class of grants to which the term concessions has been somewhat loosely applied. We refer to certain contracts whereby the Government granted individuals or corporations special tax immunities, in return for the assumption of specífic obligations. Among these may be cited an agreement to build a smelter of prescribed capacity; an agreement to invest a stipulated sum in the extraction of subsoil products from privatelyowned lands, etc. This system became indeed such an integral part of the policy of the Diaz régime for the economic development of Mexico that a law, known as the new industries act, was passed to this end. It took the form of an enabling act, that is to say, prescribed the general conditions with which every applicant for these privileges was called upon to comply. The measure was the means of the establishment of many small industries which could not otherwise have taken root in Mexico. The constitution of 1917 has struck a death-blow at the system, for Article 28 forbids all "exemption from taxation." Concessions are not peculiar to Latin-America. Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence defines a franchise as "a particular privilege conferred by the sovereign power of the state and vested in individuals. It will be evident from the definition that no difference exists between the concesión and the franchise. While the term franchise is perhaps more strictly confined to the special privilege to do a certain thing, its meaning has now been extended to embrace the document authorizing and defining the exercise of the privilege. But the confusion of terms does not stop here, for another is also commonly used in the latter sense. We refer to charter, which has by general use largely superseded that of franchise to designate the evidence of the privilege. *Printed in this section because of the dependence of all industries devoted to the development of Mexico's natural resources upon the official grants known as concessions. Reprinted from the 1920-21 Year Book. The history of concessions in Mexico, as will be shown later, has yet another point in common with the charter system in force in the United States: both have progressed from the special grant to the general enabling act. Power of Granting: We pass now to the more practical question of the province of the federal government and of the states, respectively, in granting concessions. Several factors have contributed to the subordination of the states to the federation which is observable in Mexico. There the states came into being simultaneously with the federal government. Accordingly, the sphere of action of the federal government in Mexico was not limited in the same sense in which its powers were circumscribed by the federal constitution of the United States. Strong centralization of power is indeed an historic fact in Mexico, and the long Diaz administration saw the federal power still further enhanced at the cost of state sovereignty. Thus, mining legislation was withdrawn from state control on December 14, 1883. Again, all interstate waters were placed under federal jurisdiction by the act of June 5, 1888. Accordingly, the action of the states in the matter of concessions is now confined to enterprises of an essentially intra-state character, and is almost negligible. A concession requires both legislative and executive action. The former is registered at times by means of special rules, and at others through general rules. In other words, two classes of cases present themselves: (1) Where an enabling act, uniform in operation and effect, exists; (2) Where no enabling act exists. The history of concessions in Mexico shows a steady trend toward the passage of enabling acts. In early railroad legislation each charter was the object of a special grant. These grants soon began to follow certain broad lines, which were particularized in the law of December 16, 1881. As Mexico developed and new economic problems arose, changes in the now almost standardized model became imperative; and the grant of railroad charters evolved gradually until it culminated in the enabling act of April 29, 1899. The same evolution is observable in the legislation on waters, mining, banking, etc. Although there was no special act governing the exploitation of timber and the extraction of rubber and other tropical wealth on national lands, the public lands law of March 26, 1894, empowered the executive to conclude contracts for the development of these resources. The broad power here conferred was later defined by administrative regulations which govern also hunting and fishery permits. Thus far only the legislative aspect has been outlined. It remains to consider the function of the executive. The development of the public domain always received special attention in Spain and Latin-America. It is not surprising then to find in these countries an executive department which has no exact counterpart in Anglo-American institutions. This department is known as Fomento, and has jurisdiction in general over all sources of natural wealth. To this department, therefore, appertain all concessions for the development of the public domain. To the department of communications and public works are referred concessions relating to railroads and the telegraph and telephone services, with the right of intervention by the department of finance and public credit, whenever a matter of subsidy or other money grant is involved. The procedure to be followed in obtaining a concession will now be outlined. Method of Obtaining: The first step consists in the filing of a petition with the proper executive branch, specifying the privilege it is desired to enjoy, e. g., the use of a certain volume of water for purposes of irrigation or water-power, the privilege to fell a specified number of trees within defined boundaries on national lands, the right to build and operate a railroad between designated points, etc. If the petition satisfy the requirements of form, the application is published in the Official Gazette, in accordance with the administrative regulations of the competent department. This publication affords an opportunity to any interested party to offer an objection, or to submit a claim, valid or alleged, against the granting of the concession. Furthermore, the applicant must show good cause, and his petition stand a rigid test of public interest. On the expiration of the term for protest, a more searching investigation of the genuineness of the enterprise and of the reliability of the applicant is undertaken; and not until its satisfactory conclusion is the concession granted. The regulation of these applications during the Diaz régime was the subject of increasing study. In the early days, it was common to grant "a railway concession to anyone asking for it without investigating the responsibility of the concern." Immense progress is recorded from this condition, and that prevailing in the later days of the Diaz administration. This is well exemplified by the conditions required for a petition for a concession under the water law of December 14, 1910. They are as follows: (1) Publication of the application in the federal and state official gazettes; (2) Assignment of a period of sixty days after last appearance for the filing of opposing claims; (3) Filing of bond to guarantee performance; (4) Appeal from this ruling to the courts. allowed either applicant or claimant, if exercised within thirty days; (5) Summary decision of suits instituted, the term for taking evidence being limited to forty days. The several conditions of the grant are now embodied in a contract between the executive and the concessionaire. This contract comprises a number of articles imposing reciprocal obligations and conferring reciprocal benefits. |