security has inspired confidence among classes who have not had an opportunity to prove the integrity of banking institutions. On the other hand, the business houses and commercial element incline to the use of bank drafts on important centers, even in effecting payments at places unprovided with regular banking facilities, as merchants can generally be found who are willing to discount such paper as a part of their business. Nevertheless, postal money orders are also sometimes utilized in transferring funds to smaller towns and rural communities served by postoffices; the domestic postal money order in Mexico, therefore, performs a very useful function as an extension of the inadequate banking system of the country, and plays an essential if modest role in aiding the development of trade. POSTAL MONEY-ORDER BUSINESS BETWEEN MEXICO AND UNITED STATES The exchange, during the year 1923, of 19,575,479 Pesos ($9,787,739 U. S. Currency) by postal orders between Mexico and the United States represented a much larger movement than in any of the four preceding calendar years-in fact, an increase over 1922 of 10,552,573 Pesos, or 116 per cent. The same relative growth occurred in both directions from 1919 to 1923, notwithstanding the falling off that took place in the intervening years, notably in 1921. Of the 1923 business, 81 per cent was in favor of Mexico, that is, represented money orders issued in the United States for payment to persons in Mexico. From a conversation had with the Chief of the Postal Money Order Section of the Mexican Federal Postoffice Department, it appears that, whereas funds sent to the United States by postal order are mostly in payment of small consignments of merchandise intended for consumption in Mexico, the movement of funds through postal agencies from the United States to Mexico is responsive more to the fulfilment of family obligations of Mexican residents of the United States toward their dependents in this country. 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 Tabasco . Torreon Matamoros . Pachuca . 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 specific 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 |