Bisbee daily review., 1910-09-04
(By Dr. James Douglas. in West
 Coast Magazine.)

It's mines were the bait which first tempted foreign capital to enter Mexico, but neither foreigners them selves nor their capital were welcome while Mexico was under Spanish rule. English commercial agents were allowed to reside in Vera Cruz. Their ostensibie duty was to man. age the African slave trade. which was exclusively in English hands. But as Spain made no iron or steel or woolen goods. these merchants carried on a profitable business m these commodities. Pablo Macedo in La Evolution Mercantil (page 35). es- inmates that in the last period of Spanish rule from 1796 to 1920 there were imported into Vera Cruz:
 Spanish and colonial goods, import ed from other Spanish colonies, $35.. 000. 900, of 1850 per cent
 Spanish goods. imported direct, SIP, 100000 or 43.4o per cent.
 Foreign goods, $111 800. 900. or 43.10 per cent.
 Total. $25s. 200 900, or 100 per cent But Spain carefully guarded her mines from all foreign intrusion They belonged to the crown, but the king (oy Section of Chapter K of the Royal Ordinance of the Mines). without seperating them from the royal patrimony," grants them Ito | subjects in property and possessions. ? under certain conditions. The pos sessor could dispose of his mine by will or legacy or sale. but only to Spanish subjects. (Charles Thomp- son's The Ordinances of the Mines. page 55)
 The Spanish republics of the West Hemisphere have all without excer- ton adopted the policy of distin- gushing between the ownership of the surface lands. which the state disposes of absolutely, and the own ership of the minerals, of which the state retains possession. All like wise continue, as did old Spain. to levy a percentage on the precious metals extracted. But all Spanish America has abandoned old Spain's selfish desire to reserve the enjoy ment of their mines to the Spanish subjects The first step towards re- vising in the direction of greater lib erality, the old Spanish code was the passage by the Mexican congress of the mining law of 1923. The new statute enacted that the repeal shall extend only so as to enable foreign CTS to contract with mine owners for supplying them with all the capital in all the modes which are usual in such contracts, upon the terms that shall be most convenient to both par ties, so that they may even acquire in property shares in the concern to which they supply capital"
 The famous mines of Mexico had yielded up to the beginning of tho last century s1.500 00o.0 But they had almost without exception, been closed when the revolution broke out | in 1SI0. In the interval between 1910 and the passage of the first en. abling act of 1923 they had become flooded, the primitive machinery by which they had been operated had decayed, and the mine owners had
 been impoverished by their struggle
 with Spain and by perpetual internal strife
 The permission to enlist foreign icapital was responded to in 1924 by three English associations, The United Mexican association" with a
 capital Of e24o,000, to build GUS
 tom smelter as well as to purchase
 mines (See Taylor's Selections, page lXD, the "Anglo-Mexican associates.
 with a e1,0O0,00O to work mines ir
 the Guanajuato district, including the celebrated valenciana, and the
 Purrissima in the Real de Catorce
 and the company of the 'Adyenturer:
 in the Mines of Real del Monte"
 Thus commenced. as soon as ever
 partial political stability was secured the influx of capital into Mexico
 Since then the mining laws have beer made so liberal that they hardly dis l criminate between foreigners and na tives. But they are based on tn, ! fundamental Spanish principle al
 ready referred to, that the stat, maintains perpetual ownership of thu
 minerals. Under Mexican law tn, , federal government leases the min , | eral ground but the tenants occu pancy Is secure as long as he pay - the rent and observes the other con ditions imposed. The common law which we derive from England, vest in the owner of the surface the owner ship Of ali beneath the surface Bu , it is a debatable question whethe . our system or the Spanish conserve , best the mineral resources, an, | makes the fairer return to the pec ple at large for the enormous value they give away for an insignincan
 price. when they sell outright thei mineral lands. The Mexican govern
 ment following Spanish preceden, derives additional revenue by taz ing the output. That being the la'