131 



silver ; but as silver is the currency of the country, when the Mexican 

 dollar is worth 24 pence in London, the amount of our debt in silver 

 would be equal to our sterling debt, that is : $114,675,895.40 added to 

 our debt will make a grand total in Mexican silver of $317,900,902.78. 



BANKING. 



Banking in Mexico is in its incipient state. The National Bank of 

 Mexico, established in the City of Mexico in 1882, with its branches 

 in the principal cities of the country, has a monopoly for the issuing of 

 notes in the capital which is only shared by such banks as were in ex- 

 istence before the National Bank of Mexico was chartered, like the 

 Bank of London, Mexico, and South America, established during the 

 French intervention in Mexico and recently remodelled under the 

 name of the Bank of London and Mexico. The Mortgage Bank of 

 Mexico enjoys that privilege also. 



On June 3, 1896, a general banking law was issued by the Mexican 

 Congress, which establishes the conditions under which banking insti- 

 tutions can be organized ; but, of course, that does not affect the rights 

 of the National Bank and other banks in the City of Mexico which 

 had been chartered before the date of that law. 



Formerly, owing to the expense and dangers of transportation, it 

 was difficult to transport money from one place to another, and there- 

 fore exchange between cities in Mexico was very high, sometimes even 

 ten per cent, from one city to another in the country. The rate has 

 been reduced considerably since the railroads were built, but it is still 

 quite high. To draw money from the City of Mexico to the City of 

 Oaxaca, for instance, and vice versa, costs now one per cent, each way ; 

 when money is required to be sent to smaller places the expenses are 

 much higher, as it is necessary to send a man to the nearest town 

 where the money can be placed by the banks, and pay to him a large 

 commission the expenses sometimes reaching ten per cent. To keep 

 up this rate of exchange the National Bank makes its bills payable at 

 a certain place so that they cannot be paid at any other. 



Banking is very profitable in Mexico. The following is a statement 

 of the earnings and dividends of the National Bank of Mexico, which 

 began with a capital of $3,000,000, increased since to $6,000,000, hav- 

 ing now a reserve fund of $5,500,000, and is owned almost exclusively 

 by Mexicans, being the fiscal agent of the Government : 



