There are, June 30, 1903, 31 banks in Mexico, the most important being the Banco Nacional with a share capital of 20,000,000 dollars, reserve fund of 4,687,452 dollars, prevision fund of 3,000,000 dollars, and note circulation of 27,581,778 dollars; the Banco de Londres y Mexico, with capital of 15,000,000 dollars, reserve fund of 6,000,000 dollars, and note circulation of 19,300,000 dollars; the Banco Central, capital 10,000,000 dollars, reserve fund, 915,526 dollars; the Banco Internacional e Hipotecario, capital 5,000,000 dollars; and the Banco Agricola e Hipotecario, subscribed capital 2,000,000 dollars. The Central Bank, begun in February, 1899, in addition to carrying on the usual banking business, acts as a sort of clearing house for the numerous provincial banks. Money, Weights, and Measures. The silver peso or dollar of 100 centavos is of the nominal value of 4s., actual value variable (average 23 d. to 24d.). The 10-peso gold piece weighs 16 920 grammes, 875 fine, and thus contains 14 795 grammes of fine gold. The silver peso weighs 27 073 grammes, 9028 fine, and thus contains 24 440 grammes of fine silver. The standard of value is silver. There is no paper currency except ordinary bank notes. A new monetary system for Mexico is under consideration. The weights and measures of the metric system were introduced in 1884 and their use is enforced by law of June 19, 1895, though the old Spanish measures are still occasionally referred to. The old weights and measures 1 legua comun = 6,666 varas. Diplomatic and Consular Representatives. 1. OF MEXICO IN GREAT BRITAIN. Envoy and Minister.-General Pedro Rincon Gallardo. Second Secretary.-Aifredo Barron. Attachés.-Miguel de Yturbe, Edwardo de Béistegui, Martinez del Campo. Consul in London. -Adolfo Bulle. There are Consular representatives at Belfast, Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, Great Grimsby, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport, Southampton, Swansea. 2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN MEXICO. Envoy and Minister.—George Greville, C.M. G., appointed September 9, 1900. Secretary.-A. C. Grant Duff. Consul.-L. Jerome. There is a Consul at Vera Cruz, and Vice-Consuls at Acapulco, Chihuahua, Enseñada de Todos Santos, Frontera, Guaymas, Laguna de Terminos, Mazatlan, Progreso, San Blas, San Luis Potosi, Santa Rosalia, Soconusco, Tehuantepec, Tepic, Tuxpa, and Tampico. Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Mexico. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. Anales del ministerio de fomento, colonizacion, indústria y comercio. 8. Annual Mexico. Anuario Estadestico de la Republica Mexicana. Annual. Mexico. Boletin del ministerio de Fomento de la República Mexicana. Annual. Fol. Mexico. Boletin semestral de la estadistica de la República Mexicana, á cargo del Dr. Antonio Peñafiel. Annual. Mexico. Censo General de la Republica Mexicana, Verificado el 20 Octubre, I895. Mexico, 1900. Comercio exterior de Mexico. Annual. Fol. Mexico. Cuadro geografico, estadistico descriptivo é historico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. A. G. Cubas. Mexico, 1889. Datos mercantiles. Annual. Mexico. Estadística general de la República. Annual. Mexico. Les États Unis Mexicains: Leurs Ressources, &c. Par R. de Zayas Enriquez. Mexico, 1899. Memoria del Secretario del despacho de Fomento, &c. Annual. 4. Mexico. Mexico: A Geographical Sketch. Bureau of American Republics. Washington, 1900. Foreign Office Reports, Annual Series and Report on Cotton Manufacturing Industry in Mexico, in Miscellaneous Series. 8. London. Statistique descriptive et historique des États Mexicains de Garcia Cubas. 1889. Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions. 4. London. 2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. Boletin de la sociedad de geografía y estadistica de la República Mexicana. 8. Mexico, 1878-96. Bancroft (H. H.) A Popular History of the Mexican People. 8. London. Resources and Development of Mexico. San Francisco, 1894. Bonaparte (Prince Roland), and others, Le Mexique au Début du XXe Siècle. Paris, 1904. Brocklehurst (T. U.), Mexico To-day. London, 1883. Burke (U. R.), Life of Benito Juarez. 8. London. 1894. Campbell (Rean), Complete Guide and Descriptive Book of Mexico. Chicago, 1904. El economista Mexicano, weekly. Mexico. Enriquez (R. de Zayas), Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 1877-97. New York, 1899. Flint (H. M.), Mexico under Maximilian. 12. Philadelphia, 1867. Glossop (Lady Howard of), Journal of a Tour in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, London, 1897. Gooch (F. C.), Face to Face with the Mexicans. London, 1890. Griffin (S. B.), Mexico of To-day. New York, 1886. Hamilton (L. L. C.), Hamilton's Mexican Handbook. London, 1884. Kozhevar (E.), Report on the Republic of Mexico. London, 1886. La Bédolliere (Émile G. de), Histoire de la guerre du Mexique. 4. Paris, 1866. Lumholtz (C.), Unknown Mexico. London, 1903. Lummis (C. F.), The Awakening of a Nation. New York, 1898. Moses (B.), Constitution of the United States of Mexico. Philadelphia, 1899. Ober (F. A.), Travels in Mexico. Boston, U.S., 1884. Pimentel (F.), Obras Completas [on Peoples, Languages, Literature, &c. of Mexico.] 5 vols. Mexico, 1903-04. Prescott (W. H.), History of the Conquest of Mexico. S. London. Ratzel (Fried.), Aus Mexico, Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1874-75. Breslau, 1878. Romero (M.), Geographical and Statistical Notes on Mexico. London, 1898.-Mexico and the United States. [A Study of their Relations.] Vol. I. New York, 1898. Routier (G.), Le Mexique de nos Jours. Paris, 1895. Schiess (W.), Quer durch Mexico. Berlin, 1902. Scobel (A.), Die Verkehrswege Mexicos und ihre wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. In 'Deutsche Geographische Blätter." Band X., Heft 1. Bremen, 1887. Tweedie (Mrs. A.), Mexico as I saw it. Wright (Marie R.), Picturesque Mexico. Through the Land of the Aztecs, or London, 1892. London, 1901. Life and Travel in Mexico. By a 'Gringo. MONACO. Prince Albert, born November 13, 1848; succeeded his father, Prince Charles III., September 10, 1889; married (1) to Lady Mary Douglas Hamilton, September 21, 1869;1 (2) to Alice Duchess-Dowager de Richelieu. Son by first wife, Prince Louis, born July 12, 1870. Monaco is a small Principality in the Mediterranean, surrounded by the French Departement of Alpes Maritimes excepting on the side towards the sea. From 968 it belonged to the house of Grimaldi. In 1715 it passed into the female line, Louise Hippolyte, daughter of Antony I., heiress of Monaco, marrying Jacques de Goyon Matignon, Count of Thorigny, who took the name and arms of Grimaldi. Antony I died in 1731, Louise Hippolyte only reigning ten months and dying in 1732. She was succeeded by her husband under the name of Jacques I., who also succeeded Antony I. as Duc di Valentinois, who was in his turn succeeded by his son Honorius III. This prince was dispossessed by the French Revolution in 1792, and died in 1795. In 1814 the Principality was re-established, but placed under the protection of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Treaty of Vienna (1815). In 1848 Mentone and Roquebrune revolted, and declared themselves free towns; in 1861 Charles III. ceded his rights over them to France, and the Principality thus became geographically an enclave of France, when the Sardinian garrison was withdrawn and the Protectorate came to an end. The Prince is an absolute ruler, there being no elective representation within the Principality. The administration is entrusted to a GovernorGeneral with a Secretary-General and a Secretary of State. There is a consultative State Council of 5 members appointed by the Prince. Municipal administration is in the hands of a maire and 2 assistants with a Commission of 5 members, all appointed by the Prince. In 1819 the Government adopted the French Codes and a Court of First Instance, as well as a Juge de Paix's Court. A Court of Appeal is constituted by the Prince's appointment of two Paris judges who act as such when necessary. The Principality has its own coinage which is current since 1876 in all the States of the Latin Union; it also issues its own separate postage-stamps. Towns: The area is eight square miles. Population, 1900, 15,180. Monaco, 3,292; Condamine, 6,218; Monte Carlo, 3,794. The ordinary revenue in 1904 amounted to 1,277,550 francs, and expenditure to 1,252,137 francs. Extraordinary revenue and expenditure for special purposes amount to 1,479,073 francs. There is a Roman Catholic bishop. No church, except the Roman Catholic, is allowed in the Principality. Exclusive of the 'guard of honour,' the troops consist of 5 officers and 70 men. Olive oil, oranges, citrons, and perfumes are exported. The industries and trade are unimportant, and the revenue is mainly derived from the gaming tables. These are in the hands of a Joint-Stock Company which obtained a concession for 50 years from 1863, from Prince Charles III. In 1898 the concession was extended so as to expire at the end of 1947. In return for this extension the company agreed to pay to the Prince, in 1899, the sum of 400,000l., and in 1913 a further sum of 600,000l.; in 1907 the annual grant for the concession will be increased 1 The religious marriage was annulled by the Court of Rome (Papal Court) on January 3 1880, and the civil marriage declared dissolved by decree of the reigning Prince on July 28, 1880. from 50,000l. to 70,000l., in 1917 to 80,000l., in 1927 to 90,000l., and in 1937 to 100,000l. The capital of the Company consists of 1,200,000l. in 60,000 fully paid-up 207. shares. Consul-General for Monaco in London.-Th. Lumley. British Consul.-Alexander Macmillan (residing at Nice). BOOKS OF REFERENCE. Boyer de Ste. Suzanne (R. de), La Principauté de Monaco. 12. Paris, 1884. Playfair (Sir R. L.), Handbook (Murray's) to the Mediterranean. 3rd ed. 2 vols. London, 1890. Saige (G.), Monaco, ses Origines et son Histoire. Paris, 1898. 8. MONTENEGRO. (CRNAGORA-KARA-DAGH.) Nicholas I., Petrović Njegoš, born October 7 (September 25), 1841; educated at Trieste and Paris; proclaimed Prince of Montenegro, as successor of his uncle, Danilo I., August 14, 1860. Married, November 8, 1860, to Milena Pétrovna Vucoticova, born May 4, 1847, daughter of Peter Vukotić, senator, and Vice-President of the Council of State. Offspring of the union are three sons, Danilo Alexander, heir-apparent, born June 29, 1871; married July 27, 1899, to Princess Jutta (Militza) daughter of the GrandDuke of Mecklenburg Strelitz; Mirko, born April 17, 1879; married July 12, 1902, to Natalie Constantinovich, daughter of Colonel Constantinovich, great uncle of King Alexander of Servia; offspring, Prince Stephan, born August 27, 1903; Peter, born October 10, 1889; and six daughters,1 Militza, born July 26, 1866, married, August 7, 1889, to the Russian Grand Duke Peter Nikolaievitch; Stana, born January 4, 1868, married August 28, 1889, to George, Duke of Leuchtenberg; Helena, born January 8, 1873, married October 24, 1896, to Victor Emanuel, now King of Italy; Anna, born August 18, 1874, married May 18, 1897, to Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg; Xenia, born April 22, 1881; Vera, born February 22, 1887. In December, 1900, the Prince assumed the style of Royal Highness. His The supreme power has been retained in the family of Petrovic Njegoš, descending collaterally, since the time of Danilo Petrović, who, being proclaimed Vladika, or prince-bishop, of Montenegro in 1697, liberated the country from the Turks, and, having established himself as both spiritual and temporal ruler, entered into a religious and political alliance with Russia. successors retained the theocratic power till the death of Peter Petrović II. (October 31, 1851), last Vladika of Montenegro, a ruler of great wisdom, as well as a widely celebrated poet. He was succeeded by his nephew, Danilo I., who abandoned the title of Vladika, together with the spiritual functions attached to it, and substituted that of Gospodar, or Prince. At the same time Danilo I., to throw off a remnant of nominal dependency upon Turkey, acknowledged by his predecessors, obtained the recognition of his new title from Russia. In 1878 the independence of Montenegro was formally recognised by Turkey and the other Signatory Powers of the Treaty of Berlin. That Treaty closes the Port of Antivari and all the waters of Montenegro to the ships of war of all nations, and places the administration of the maritime and sanitary police on the coast of Montenegro in the hands of Austria. The following is the complete list of the Petrović dynasty, with their dates: Danilo Sava and Vassili. Vladikas or Prince-Bishops. 1696-1735 1735-1782 Danilo I. (Kniaz and Gospodar) Peter II. (Vladika Rade) 1830-1851 1851-1860 Nicholas I. (reigning Prince, nephew of the last) Former rulers of Montenegro possessed the whole of the revenues of the country, and, in fact, this system obtains still, although laws have from time 1 The Prince's eldest daughter, Zorka, who died in 1887, was married to Prince Peter Karageorgevitch, now King of Servia. |