Mexico: Mexico city. 
139 
publication of the law, customs regulations, and warehouse regula 
tions. 
I inclose also a translation, by L. C. Simonds, associate editor of 
the Mexican Herald of this city, and published serially in that news 
paper, of the essential changes in the custom-house rules of Mexico 
which went into eifect July 1 last. The publication of the transla 
tion of these amendments has not been finished, but since the matter 
inclosed herewith covers the most important features I have deemed 
it wise to transmit such part of it now. 
James Russell Parsons, Jr. 
City of Mexico, January 9, 1905. 
WAREHOUSES IN MEXICO. 
(From former United States Vice and Deputy Consul Conley, Mexico City, Mexico.) 
Warehouses for the storage of merchandise on which the customs 
dues have not been paid have only recently been established in 
Mexico by the Mexico and Veracruz General Storage Warehouses (In 
corporated), a company in which American capital is largely inter 
ested and which was organized principally through the efforts of 
Americans. The law governing such institutions went into effect 
July 1 last, and the company is therefore just now getting under 
way in this class of business. Inasmuch as the passage of this law 
marks an epoch in the mercantile development of Mexico some 
account of it will be interesting. 
Under date of June 29, 1901, the Central Bank of this city, the 
Mercantile Bank of Veracruz, and the Anglo-Mexican Banking Com 
pany obtained a concession from the Mexican Government for the 
establishment of general-storage warehouses in Mexico under the 
general banking law of March 19, 1897, such institutions being con 
sidered institutions of credit. This concession, which is for forty 
- years from March 19, 1897, was turned over to a company styled the 
“ Almacenes Generales de Depósito de México y Veracruz, S. A.” 
(The Mexico and Veracruz General Storage Warehouses, Incorpo 
rated), with a capital of $2,000,000 Mexican currency (January 1, 
1905, one Mexican dollar is equivalent to 46.8 cents United States 
currency). This company acquired by purchase a warehouse from 
the Droguería Belga in this city, another property from the Com 
pañía Linder, and by lease warehouses which had been used before 
by the Hidalgo, the National, and the Mexican railroad companies, 
and part of a building which had been used by the custom-house in 
this city, and is to acquire by lease a warehouse now used by the 
Mexican Central Railroad in this city. These properties are all in 
the vicinity of the custom-house in this city, and have been or are 
being remodeled for the use of the company. The company has at 
present something over 20,000 square meters (23,920 square yards) 
of storage room in this city, which will shortly be increased by about 
5,000 square meters (5,980 square yards)'. 
Extensive improvements are being made by the Mexican Govern 
ment at the port of Veracruz, and the railroads entering that port 
contemplate the construction of extensive terminal facilities there in