bonds which shall be designated in the same regulation; it being the duty of the said auditor treasurer to draw up and present the accounts for each year, and to be accountable for the quicksilver which the establishment may have on hand. For the custody and security of the property there shall be a chest with four keys, each of the commissioners holding one, and the auditor treasurer the other. The regulations which the board shall draw up for the management of the property shall be founded upon these bases.

ART. 14. The Board shall not have power to invest the funds which may come into its coffers in any other objects than those prescribed by the present law, or those for which it may obtain the previous authority of the gov ernment. In the ordinary repairs of the building, or other extraordinary expenses, it shall only have power to expend, without such permission, not exceeding $250 per annum.

ART. 15. The Board shall transmit to the Supreme Government monthly statements of its cash account, and each year it shall transmit another of its general receipts and expenditures. The first are to be published every four months by the board, and the second annually at the proper period by the same board.

ART. 16. The Board shall have power to settle with the parties interested the business left pending by the late tribunal of mines, and which the estab lishment may at present hold; these transactions are to be submitted for the approval of the Supreme Government.

ART. 17. The privilege is granted to the same board that the mines of the establishment may put in operation in Tasco, may not be denounced during two years, and for that purpose the articles relative to the ordinance of mining are suspended in this case.

TITLE II.

Of the Quicksilver fund.

ART. 18. A fund shall be created destined to the acquisition of quicksil ver which the board shall manage, distributing it exclusively among the workers of metals at cost and expences. The said fund shall be formed with two thirds of the amount of the import duties, imposed upon linens and textures of foreign cotton, according to the decree of this date.

ART. 19. The Board may transfer the quicksilver with the corresponding guaranty, and on the terms established, by the regulation, being authorized, in order to render effectual the collecting of the duty, to have recourse either by themselves or by their agents, to the judges" de hacienda," in order that they may enforce upon the contractors a fulfilment of their obligations, and coerce payment from those who refuse to make it.

ART. 20. Every four months the board shall publish a statement of the issues of quicksilver, expressing the quantities sent to each mine, and the

names of the beneficiaries who shall receive it; and in case of complaint of partiality or injustice in the distribution, the supreme government shall decide; the said statement shall also comprehend a report of the quantities purchased by the board, and the cost thereof.

ART. 21. When the board may have succeeded in collecting a fund equivalent to twenty four thousand quintals of quicksilver, the portion assigned out of the proceeds of the increase of duties upon foreign linens and textures of cotton shall cease to be applied to this object, conformably with the appropriate decree of this date.

TITLE III.

Of the foundation fund and redemption.

ART. 22. The proceeds of the so called Real de Mineria, the active credits of the old tribunal, and those of the establishment which by this law is reformed, continue to be liable to the charges and obligations designated in the decree of May 20, 1826 in Art. 7, and shall continue to be scrupulously complied with.

ART. 23. Every four months there shall be made by the Board a partial redemption of debts from the amounts which have been realised, taking care as far as possible to concede the preference to which they are justly entitled, who as creditors to said fund, offer the most favorable terms.

TITLE IV.

Of the administration of justice in the affairs of mining.

courts.

Of the primary

ART. 24. The Governors of the departments, in concert with the Departmental Juntas, and having the previous approval of the Supreme Government, shall establish in each the number of tribunals of the first instance, which are necessary within their limits.

ART. 25. Each tribunal shall be composed of three territorial deputies, elected in the same manner as is prescribed in the ancient ordinance of mining; and of these three individuals, the first shall be the president of the court and the other two the associates.

ART. 26. Each of these three tribunals shall exercise in their territory the governing and economical powers committed to them by the ancient ordinance of the branch, and in judicial matters they shall also conform to the same ordinance, as respects simplicity and brevity in their proceedings.

ART. 27. In suits in which the tribunal may have occasion to consult with a counsellor, it shall be with the Judge of the first instance of the respective district.

ART. 28. Each tribunal of the first instance shall choose a secretary, and the clerks it may deem necessary for the despatch of the business of its secretaryship and of the court, specifying the salaries they are to receive, which it will report to the respective governors of the departments, in order that with their assent the determination to which the Supreme Government may consent, may be heard.

ART. 29. From the definite decisions pronounced by these courts, in which the amount in dispute does not exceed five hundred dollars, there shall be no room for appeal when the sentence of the court of the second instance is in conformity with that of the first, and the amount in litigation does not exceed two thousand dollars.

ART. 30. Besides the three persons who are to compose the court of the first instance, three others shall be appointed who shall act as consulters in all the governing matters in which the same tribunal may desire to hear their opinion, and they shall supply the place of the judges, in case of inability or resignation of the same.

Of the second and third instances and extraordinary appeals.

ART. 31. The second and third instances which may occur in the business of mining, and the extraordinary appeals which may arise, shall be proven and decided in the superior courts of justice of each respective department, and in the courts designated by the laws, or which shall be hereafter desig nated.

Wherefore I order, that the same be printed, published, circulated, and carried into full effect.

Palace of the National Government, Mexico, 2d December, 1842.
JOSE MARIA TORNEL,
NICOLAS BRAVO,

Minister of War and Navy.

And I communicate the same to your Excellency, for your information and consequent action.

God and liberty.-Mexico, December 2d, 1842.

To His Excellency, the Governor of this department:

TORNEL.

And in order that it may come to the notice of every one, I order that it be published by Edict in this Capital, and in all the other cities, towns and places comprehended in this department, exposing it in the usual places, and circulating it among whom it may concern.

LUIS G. VIEYRA.

MIGUEL ZERES,

Secretary.

"Diario del Gobierno."-(Vol. XXVI. No. 2899, page 117.) Mexico, 31st May, 1843.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Government.

"Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, General of division, benemérito of the country, and president of the Mexican Republic to the inhabitants thereof: Know ye That it being consistent with my purposes to encourage whatsoever may contribute to the national advancement and wealth, and considering as one of the means most tending thereto, that of granting premiums and incentives to the important branch of the mines of quicksilver, so necessary for the working of the precious metals, the first branch of the industry of the Republic, without which the others can make no progress, having heard the report of the Committee on advancement of mining, in the exercise of the powers conceded to me by the seventh of the bases accorded in Tacubaya, and sanctioned by the nation, I have thought proper to decree as follows.

ART. 1. The royal orders of the 13th January 1783, 12th November 1791, 6th December 1796 and 8th August 1814, as to exemption from excise duties granted to the articles for the use of mines, are to be punctually observed in regard to the mines of quicksilver of the Republic.

ART. 2. No general or municipal impost shall be laid upon the quicksilver which may be derived from the possessions of the Republic.

ART. 3. Quicksilver shall be sold throughout the nation without permits, passes, or other custom house papers.

ART. 4. A premium of $25,000 is granted to each of the four first proprietors who shall extract in one year from the mines of the Republic, 2000 quintals of liquid quicksilver.

ART. 5. There shall be paid during three years for each quintal of quicksilver which shall have the above origin, the sum of $5.

ART. 6. The laborers in the mines of quicksilver, shall be exempted from all military duty, and from personal taxes.

ART. 7. The committee on advancement and administration of mining, will draw up the proper regulation for the distribution of the aforesaid premiums, paying them at maturity out of the fund designated by the 2nd article of the decree of 2nd December, 1842, and the 4th article of the decree of 17th February of this year: Therefore, I order the same to be printed, published, circulated and carried into full effect.-Palace of the National Government, Tacubaya, 24th May, 1843.

ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA.

JOSE MARIA DE BOCANEGRA,

Minister of Foreign affairs and Government.

FOREIGNERS.

DECREE.

October 7th, 1823,

Office of the Principal Secretary of State, Mexico. The Supreme Executive Power has directed to me the following de

cree:

The Sovereign Mexican Congress has resolved and decreed,

1st. That for the present, there shall be a suspension of the Law 12, Tide 10, Book 5; and of the Law 5, Title 18, Book 6, of the Collection of Castile; and also of the Law 1, Title 10, Book 8; and of the Laws comprehended in Title 27, Book 9, of the Collection of the Indies, together with the Article 1, Title 7, of the Ordinances of the Mines; which Laws enact that foreigners, in order to acquire and work Mines, on their own account, should be naturalized, or tolerated with the express permission of the Government. 2dly. This suspension only enables foreigners to contract with the owners of such mines, as are in want of capital, for supplying them with capital, in all the modes which are usual in such contracts, upon the terms that shall be most convenient to both parties, so that they may even acquire in property, shares in the concerns to which they supply capital; (hasta poder adquirir en propriedad acciones en las negociaciones que habiliten ;) such for eigners remaining liable, in all respects, to our Ordinances, concerning the working of the Mines, and the reduction of the ores, and to all the taxes and duties, subject to which the nation grants to its citizens the right of enjoying such property.

3dly. By consequence they are prohibited from registering new Mines, from denouncing those which have been deserted, and from acquiring a share in any Mine, except those to which they supply capital, under any colour or pretence whatsoever.

4thly. No alteration whatever shall take place for the present, in respect of the excise duties, and the law relating to quicksilver, which article is excepted from all duty; all others used in the Mines, remaining subject to the usual excise duties.

The Supreme Executive power are desirous that the above article should be generally understood and carried into effect, and order that it be printed, published, and circulated.