grants of exemptions from taxes, made under a policy of public improvement. The central government and the states in the Diaz régime openly declared for this method of development and there was then no local or foreign opinion condemning it.[1] In spite of the widespread prejudice, which has been aroused in later years against any such contracts, the successors of Diaz have indicated a belief in its wisdom by holding out the same sort of inducements.
The freedom from taxation, which was the sum and substance of the typical concession, was an encouragement given to industry and commerce, a favor granted to persons who would establish new industries in the communities or open up a new national resource. The terms of many of the contracts in the states were long, running up to 25, 30, and even 50 years. In many cases, doubtless, these did represent too liberal a standard. Practically any sort of new enterprise could secure a grant. The list of the concessions in the various states at the end of the Diaz régime included widely contrasted enterprises such as theaters, fishing companies, ice factories, colonization enterprises, refining plants, flour mills, banks, liquor shops, and clothes factories.[2]
What amount of foreign capital has actually been invested in Mexico it is impossible to determine. Capital
- ↑ An example of the propagandist literature that has since arisen criticizing the granting of concessions is C. Fornaro (and others), Carranza and Mexico, New York, 1915.
- ↑ A list of the more recent concessions granted in the various states giving their terms is published in Memoria de hacienda y crédito público, correspondiente al año economico de 1 de Julio de 1910 a 30 de Junio de 1911, Mexico, 1912, p. 594.
