The works described in this paper were carried out under a guaranteed
concession granted by His Excellency, General Bernardo Reyes, Governor
of the State of Nuevo Leon, to Messrs. James D. Stocker and William
Walker, of Scranton, Pa. The concession is dated October 19th, 1904, and
is for 99 years from that date; the works for a complete water and
drainage system were to be finished in 3 years from the time of their
commencement. Before the works were designed and begun, the concession
was acquired by Mr. William Mackenzie, of the firm of Mackenzie, Mann
and Company, Limited, of Toronto, Ont., Canada, who, on May 4th, 1906,
organized the Monterrey Water-Works and Sewerage Company, Limited
(Compania de Servicio de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey, S. A.), under the
laws of the Dominion of Canada, of which company he is President. Mr.
Mackenzie is also President of the Monterrey Railway, Light, and Power
Company, Limited, which was constructing the street railways of
Monterrey concurrently with the water-works. Under the provisions of the
concession, the Government appointed a Financial Interventor, who had
authority to examine and check the company's expenditures, and also a
Technical Inspector to examine and report on the construction. The
duties of these officials also apply to the operation of the system when
the construction is finished. The Government has the right, after the
system has been operated 40 years, to purchase the entire property,
subject to 6 months' notice, for a sum equal to 16-2/3 times the average
annual net proceeds during the 3 preceding years. This right may be
exercised at the end of 40 years, or at the end of any 10-year period
thereafter, up to 99 years from the commencement of operations.