MEXICO:  MEXICO  CITY.

141

Art.  12.  Independently  of  the  vigilance  spoken  of  in  the  following  article,
warehouses  which  are  permitted  to  receive  foreign  merchandise  on  which  the
customs  duties  have  not  been  paid  shall  be  subject  to  the  vigilance  of  the  custom-houses ­
  in  the  ports  where  they  are  established.  Likewise  relevant  provisions ­
  of  the  general  tariff  law  are  applicable  in  so  far  as  they  do  not  conflict
with  this  law,  and  also  regulations  of  a  general  character  which  may  in  the
future  be  enacted  on  this  subject,  provided  they  do  not  conflict  with  the  contracts ­
  of  concession.
Art.  13.  The  concessions  shall  specify  (or  establish  the  bases  upon  which
shall  be  determined  later)  the  number  of  interventions,  warehouse  guards,  and
inspectors  which  the  treasury  department  shall  name  for  perfect  vigilance
over  the  operations  of  the  warehouses,  and  shall  also  fix  the  amount  which
the  owners  of  the  warehouses  shall  pay  into  the  general  treasury  of  the  nation
annually  to  cover  the  expenses  of  Government  intervention  and  vigilance.
Warehouse  guards  and  inspectors  shall  be  named  by  the  Government  only  to
supervise  the  operations  of  the  warehouses  referred  to  in  the  last  paragraph
of  the  preceding  article.
Art.  14.  The  franchises  which  the  general  law  on  the  subject  authorizes  for
institutions  of  credit  in  the  matter  of  taxes  shall  be  extended  to  general  warehouses, ­
  as  also  shall  the  certificates  of  deposit  and  hypothecary  bonds  issued
hy  them  be  included  among  the  documents  mentioned  in  article  124  of  said  law.
Art.  15.  In  addition  to  the  franchises  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article,
general  warehouses  shall  be  exempt  from  the  payment  of  customs  dues  on  all
construction  material  and  machinery  required  for  their  establishment  and  for
the  railroad  tracks  in  the  interior  of  the  warehouses.  This  exemption  shall  only
he  in  force  until  January  1,  1905,  and  shall  be  used  in  accordance  with  the  regulations ­
  issued  or  to  be  issued  by  the  treasury  department.
Art.  16.  General  warehouses  may  establish  rail  connections  with  the  railroad
stations  or  docks  in  the  places  where  they  exist,  but  on  the  condition  that  their
owners  shall  be  subject,  in  the  construction  and  use  of  said  tracks,  to  the
general  law  and  regulations  governing  railroads  and  to  the  department  of  communications ­
  and  public  works.
Art.  17.  The  tariffs  for  storage  and  all  other  charges  to  the  owners  of  the
merchandise  for  its  care  and  sale,  as  also  the  regulations  fixing  the  relations  of
the  company  with  the  public,  shall  be  submitted  for  approval  to  the  treasury
department,  and  without  its  approval  can  not  be  effective.
Art.  18.  A  regulation  shall  fix  the  conditions  which  the  buildings  and  annexes
must  have  for  the  perfect  conservation  of  the  effects  stored,  as  also  to  facilitate ­
  the  diverse  operations  in  connection  with  the  handling  of  the  merchandise,
hliis  regulation  shall  prescribe  the  interior  arrangement  of  the  buildings  and
the  obligation  of  the  concessionaires  to  construct  habitations  and  an  office  for
the  employees  of  the  custom-house,  when  the  warehouses  are  intended  for  the
storage  of  merchandise  on  which  the  customs  dues  have  not  been  paid.  In
every  case  the  plans  for  construction  shall  he  submitted  for  the  approval  of
the  treasury  department.
Art.  19.  At  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  the  contractor  in  case  it  lapses  the
Government  shall  have  the  right  to  buy  the  buildings,  lands,  machinery,  and
°ther  property  of  the  warehouses,  and  the  price  which  it  shall  pay  shall  he
fixed  by  experts  in  the  manner  provided  by  the  law  of  expropriation  for  public
Use,  but  taking  into  account  not  the  estimated  value  of  the  business  but  the
Actual  value  of  the  properties  in  their  existing  state,  and  on  the  understanding
that  if  the  Government  has  ceded  gratuitously  any  lands  or  buildings  for  the
establishment  of  said  warehouses  they  shall  not  be  computed  in  fixing  the
v !ilue  of  same,  and  that  if  the  cession  was  made  in  the  form  of  sale  or  by  other
binding  title  only  the  actual  amount  which  the  Government  received  therefor,
Provided  the  lands  and  buildings  have  not  deteriorated  in  value,  shall  be  computed. ­

Art.  20.  In  the  concessions  shall  he  stipulated  the  capacity  of  the  warehouses ­
  which  must  he  constructed  and  in  actual  use  in  two,  five,  and  ten  years,
Counting  from  the  date  of  the  concession,  and  failure  to  comply  with  the  obligations ­
  which  this  article  places  upon  the  concessionaires  will  cause  the  forfeiture ­
  of  the  concession.
In  case  of  forfeiture  the  company  shall  he  responsible  to  the  Government  for
fi>e  payment  of  the  customs  dues  on  the  effects  which  have  been  imported  free
°f  dues  by  virtue  of  the  franchises  of  this  law,  and  shall  forfeit  the  amount
fixed  as  a  penalty  in  the  concession,  which  amount  shall  he  not  less  than  5  per
cent  of  the  nominal  capital  of  the  company.  This  amount,  in  bonds  of  the  public