New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-07-11

HOW About Mexican B0n0aI
y ouestion--could you briefly aize me UP
Gould you refer ma to an appropriate
IKE ,Moodys Manual on such inAterial7
Mexico IL lightly in debt relative to It's
6 dsht resontcss AND relatively TO- TIE war
owing to the practical surencss OF Inter.
vention resulting. Prospects of Republican
nrmer dealing on Mexico finance. The
present low level Of all bond prices is in
tensi1sd In the case Of Mexico per cent
strengthening. exchange and tho possibility
OF three or four years wait for interest
rss .,nn,na from military interrogation.
cent safe in the long run. While I have
not even been able to find out II interest
mas oe en- ps ha iateiy feel inclined to put
would be pleased to have you compare this
long. pull Investment with Russian external mai
bonds. | put away 100000 Berlin I ner
cent at SIG and am Watching for more
Whether my inquiry turns out to be
acknowledge my pleasure in reading your
answers to other peoples Inquiries. It is
2 rMier from tho talk of present day Of
fco boy bond salesmen--E, S.
Answer-The United States of Mex
leo gold consolidated external ner
cent, due January /, 1866, were issued
June 2, 1899. The authorized amount
is s22,7oo,ooo (sl1o,os5, oooS; 1 issued
S9,967 ,260 ($48,292,711). The interest Is
payable January, April, July and Octos
Der !, in New York, at s4.85 per Mound
sterling; also in London. Ber1;n
Frankfort and Amsterdam. Princinai
ana interest. are payable free from ali
present and future Mexican taxes.
Iney are redeemable at par on any
January, May or July 1. The sinking
!und was calculated to retire the entire
sinking fund payments have been ''i ;n
default since July, 1914, as has the in
terest. AS security for the payment
OF interest and sinking fund the Mex.
lean government pledges 81 per cent NJ
us combined export and import duties
Inese pledged duties must in every
year exceed by at least 10 per cent tia
amount required for the interest and
sinking fund, and so far as this margin
Is Is not reached the government binds
user TO increase the quota of duties
4 % n ene necessary niece extent, The gold loan
dated December 1, 1904. The author
ized amount is $4,000, 900; outstand-
ing. $37,o37,b0o, principal and interest
Tree from taxes. Interest is PAYABLE in
New York. An amount equal TO 2>a25
pei, cent Of the total bonds issued was
TO be applied semi-annually to the pur-
Ghase OF bonds at not exceeding par.
Both sinking fund and interest are in
default since June, 1914 These bonds
are not secured. The Fitch Publishing
Gompanys Record of Government
Debts" will give you all the de Kills vou
desire, although we believe We have
given you the, essential points. While
we cannot perhaps agree with all YOU
predlct regarding the future of Mexico
1t appears to us that these bonds offer
very fair speculative Possibilities. In
terventlor in Mexico is not as simple q
matter as many seem to think. In the
nrst place, it should be remembered
mat no matter how friendly certain
I lac may be toward Americans the
Mexican people as whole would re-
sent and resist any intervention on our
part. We believe it was either Cen
eral Funston or General Pershing who
stated that it would require MANY
years, very large army and an enor.
nous expenditure of men and money
to accomplish successfully intervention
IN Mexico. And quite recently a we'll
known Mexican general stated, we
recoilect, that in the event of such a
proceeding, the armed forces of Mexico
would be disbanded. rather than con-
ce,entrated, and turned into guerrillas.
Even an administration which is
friendly to the United States would
not of necessity be able to control
the situation. The basis of all negoti-
ations for loans to Mexico by American
banking interests has been that our
agents be placed in charge of the ad-
mlnlstratlon and collection of the Gus
toms; Would Spanish pride agree to
tnls we think not. The main trou-
Bile with Mexico is that the people are
not fitted to govern themselves and vet
they have the highest type of govern
ment, a republic. Perhaps the most
optimism may be derived from the fact
that the present government in Mexico
appears to be friendly to the United
States. In order to develop her great
resources she needs new and foreign
capital. The Americans as nation
are greatly disliked in Mexico. There
can be no doubt of that. We are the
least popular and have had the worst
treatment accorded US of all the for
eign nations who have any interest
there whatsoever. On the other hand.
while conditions in Russia are chaotic,
there is no such antipathy toward our
people In Russia as there is in the
republic south of the Rio Grande.
There are but $75,00000O of Russian
external loans in this country. 1t is
our opinion that Russia will soon real
lze, no matter what her government
may be-, that the friendship Of this
country is essential to her progress. So
far as German bonds are concerned
we do not even attempt to forecast their
future. Germany has hard row to hoe,
with enormous indemnities to pay. She |
must increase her exports over her
imports to such an extent that the task
seems almost hopeless. 1t can be done,
however, if her people place their
shoulders to the wheel. For specula-
tive purposes (and they are ali spec
ulative in our opinion) we believe the |
Russian bonds offer the best possibili-
ties.
Kosciuszko Oil and Gas Company
Question-Can you give me any infor- |