APPENDIX. I will insert in this supplement the following papers: 1st, my remarks delivered on March 30, 1891, at the fifth meeting of the American International Monetary Commission on the position of Mexico on the monetary question; 2d, a list of papers bearing on the silver question, printed by order of the Senate, from 1893 to 1898, published by the Senate on June 6, 1898; and 3d, comments on the Mexican Central Railway earnings in silver and reduced to gold, and on the deficit of that road to pay the interest of its bonded indebtedness. 1.-M. ROMERO'S REMARKS ON THE POSITION OF MEXICO ON THE MONETARY QUESTION. Remarks of M. Romero, delivered on March 30, 1891, at the fifth meeting of the American International Monetary Commission, on the position of Mexico on the monetary question : GENTLEMEN: While I shall cast my vote in favor of the propositions of the Delegates of the United States to this Conference, because I think they are advisable, and because they come from the representatives of the inviting country, still I cannot refrain from expressing my regret that said propositions were not introduced after some attempt had been made for all the American nations represented at this Conference to come to an understanding on the subject of a common coin. The American nations are all bimetallists, but they have adopted different ratios between gold and silver, and they have coins differing in weight and alloy, and, therefore, in my opinion, it would be desirable at least to arrive at some understanding which should secure the establishment of a common ratio between gold and silver, and a unit of coin of the same weight and fineness, even though the coin of each country should not be a legal tender outside of its own limits, in case it be found impossible to agree upon its being received as a legal tender in all the American countries. I, for one, would have had no difficulty in accepting the ratio of 1 to 15%, which prevails in the other countries of America, and I venture to presume that the United States might accept this same ratio, since one of its most distinguished Senators, well versed in financial and monetary matters, recently introduced a bill for that purpose, to which I imagine the country is not averse. In that case we might secure the advantage of at least having a uniform ratio in America to be the same as that prevailing in Europe. There is no doubt that an international agreement upon a common coin, to be a legal tender in all the contracting countries, would require the concurrence of the nations of the world to make it complete and work smoothly; but for the present it seems unlikely and quite difficult to obtain this concurrence, so far as England and Germany, and especially England, are concerned. This matter has been discussed several times in conference wherein Great Britain was represented, and she has never given her assent, and I see no new reason why she would give it now. I have been for some time of opinion that if all the American nations should reach an agreement which would secure to them a common coin, and especially if this were to be a legal tender in all of them, the effect of such agreement would be so marked in Europe, and especially in England, that it would be likely to induce that power to join in the agreement, as she could not afford to allow the United States to have commercial advantages in the American continent which she could not share. I am afraid that the advances the United States are making every day in the world as a commercial nation are hardly realized in this country; and I think that for this reason they are slow in taking the lead in some important commercial matters. Besides, all indications seem to show that one of the first acts of the Fifty-second Congress of the United States, which meets on the first Monday in December next, will be to authorize the free coinage of silver, and, in case that is done, all the objections they now have against the legal-tender clause of a common American coin will disappear. Would it not be more prudent, under such circumstances, to adjourn this Conference until the first of January, 1892, when this subject will, in all probability, have been decided by the Government of the United States. I beg to be allowed to grasp this opportunity to state the position of Mexico on this question, repeating, perhaps, what I previously stated on a similar occasion, as Delegate from Mexico to the International American Conference. Mexico is legally a bimetallic country, because we have both gold and silver coins, both being legal tender; but practically it is a silver nation, because all our business is carried on exclusively with silver, since, owing to the difference of the price in the markets of the world of both metals, all of our gold (and we do not yet produce much) is exported, while a considerable part of our silver remains in the country in the form of coin. I will mention, briefly, the disadvantages the depreciation of silver in the markets of the world produces in Mexico, and at the same time (be not astonished) the advantages accruing therefrom. The disadvantages are three : (1) An increase in the price in Mexico of foreign goods which has to be paid in gold. (2) A loss to the national treasury in the funds sent abroad to pay the interest on the Mexican bonds held in Europe, which loss is equivalent to an increase in the rate of that interest. (3) A loss to wealthy Mexicans living in Europe, when their capitals or revenues are sent to them, equivalent to the depreciation of silver, between twenty-five and thirtythree per cent. The depreciation of silver has not affected in any perceptible way the working of our silver mines, but, on the contrary, our production of that metal has considerably increased since 1871, when the depreciation began, although this increase is due, of course, to the construction of railways, to the long peace the country has enjoyed, and to the restoration of our public credit. I do not know of any silver mine where work has been stopped owing to the depreciation of silver. These disadvantages are, however, of but little account when compared to the benefits we have received from the depreciation of silver, and which are the following: (1) As the Mexican commodities we export, such as coffee, indigo, hennequen, etc., are sold in the foreign markets in gold, they command now a higher price at home, where they are bought for silver, which really amounts to a bounty, when exported, equal to the difference between the actual price of silver at home and their price in gold in the markets of the world, which has been between twenty-five and thirtythree per cent. This bounty has produced the effect of considerably increasing the production and exportation of commodities which could not be exported before. (2) And perhaps the most important advantage has been to keep in Mexico a very large amount of money which formerly used to go out of the country as soon as coined, it being the only article of export with which imported foreign goods were purchased, thus leaving a very limited amount to transact the business of the country. The reason why this money does not go out now is because it has become more profitable to export commodities in the place of silver, which remains in the country in the form of coin, to the great benefit of business. It is natural that when the Mexican dollar loses from one fourth to one third of its value in Mexico by sending it abroad, that it should be kept in the country, and that in its stead other articles should be exported, thus considerably increasing the circulating medium in Mexico, to the great benefit of all; and the country, therefore, is perfectly satisfied with the present condition of things. (3) A great many rich men in Mexico, both native and foreign, used to realize on what they had in the country and send the proceeds to Europe, where they found a safer, if not more a profitable field for investment. But they cannot afford to do so now, because their capital would be reduced one third or one fourth; and as besides there is now perfect security to life and property in Mexico, and a large field for profitable investment has been opened by the building of railways and the consolidation of peace and order in the country, capital is entering instead of leaving Mexico. When these facts are taken into consideration, it does not seem strange that we are in no great haste to seek any change in the present condition of things, because the depreciation of silver has actually produced very favorable results. Yet, when we consider that silver has been for nearly three hundred years almost our only article of export, and that it now represents two-thirds of our total exports, we cannot be indifferent to any measure adopted, either by treaty or legislation, which may produce the effect of enhancing the value of that metal; and for this reason we might be willing to join in any agreement which may be likely to bring about that result, provided it would not materially affect our interests. We are peculiarly situated as regards our silver coin, possessing advantages that are enjoyed by no other country. This fact becomes patent when we consider the great demand there is for our silver dollar in the world, owing to its having a larger amount of pure metal than any similar foreign coin, and therefore commanding a higher price than any other dollar. We have, besides, a special market for our silver dollar in the East, where it has been used for many years as the national coin, and where it is in great demand. This circumstance causes us to be very slow to accept any changes in our own coin which may deprive us of those markets and those advantages. The preceding remarks will show the Conference that while Mexico is disposed to co-operate with her sisters, the American Republics, in any measures which would be beneficial to the interests of those concerned, she is not willing to accept anything which would not be clearly advantageous and useful to all, and she is in no particular hurry to change the actual condition of things. 2. LIST OF PAPERS BEARING ON THE SILVER QUESTION. Fifty-fifth Congress, 2d Session, Senate Document No. 286. June 6, 1898. Ordered to be printed. Mr. Chandler presented the following list of papers bearing on the silver question, printed by order of the Senate, 1893-1898. (Prepared in the Senate Library by Mr. Clifford Warden.) This list of papers bearing upon the silver question embraces the principal papers printed by order of the Senate during the period since the beginning of the Fiftythird Congress, 1893. It includes several important papers which were printed by order of the Senate during the consideration, in 1893, of the bill to repeal the silverpurchasing portion of the Sherman law of 1890. Subject. Congress. Session. Document number (Senate). * Give us free silver. An editorial printed in the New York Recorder, August 13, 1893. Production of gold and silver in the world since the discovery of America. Presented by Mr. Vest. Report of the commission appointed to inquire into the Indian currency, commonly known as the Herschell report on the coinage of silver in India, with the accompanying correspondence and testimony. *Letter from F. C. Waite to Hon. Henry M. * Letter from Ernest Seyd to Hon. Samuel Monetary systems and approximate stocks of Production of gold and silver in the world, 1792- No international bimetallism including Great Official statement of production of gold and silver *The currency problem, by J. Barr Robertson; a paper quoted from the Journal of the Society *The future of silver, by Eduard Suess, professor Census distribution of the gold and silver, by The evidence of a Crown colony on gold and silver prices-Bimetallism in relation to agricultural depression. Address delivered before the London Chamber of Commerce, July 24, 1894. Presented by Mr. Teller. * Published also in Coinage Laws of the United States, 1792-1894 (Fifty-third Congress, 2d Session, Senate Report 235). Subject. Berlin Silver Commission, 1894. Report of the Memorial of Anson Wolcott on the state of the national finances. Presented by Mr. Turpie. The real causes of agricultural distress. Papers. Resolution of the Camden County, N. J., Farm- |