164 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



outside of the gates, that a revolver hung conveniently near the head 

 of his iron bedstead, while another was suspended from the wall, in 

 close proximity to the little table on which his meals were served ; and 

 also bv the following remark, called out by a suggestion from one of 

 the visitors, that a rug on the hard, unattractive red-tile floors would 

 seem to be desirable : " If you had to examine your bed every night, 

 to see that a scorpion or centiped was not concealed in its coverings, 

 the less of such things you had to turn over the better." 



According to information furnished on inquiry, the hours of labor 

 in this typical Mexican cotton-mill were as follows : " help " work from 

 daylight until 9.30 p. m., going out a half-hour for breakfast at 9.30 

 a. m., and an hour for dinner, at 2 p.m. ; Saturday night the machinery 

 runs later. The spinners earn from thirty-seven and a half to fifty 

 cents per day ; weavers from six to seven dollars per week. On hear- 

 ing these statements, one of the visiting party, more interested in hu- 

 manitarianism than in manufactures or economics, involuntarily re- 

 marked, " Well, I wonder if they have got a God down in Mexico ! " 

 There were present at this visit and inspection a representative of one 

 of the large cotton-factories at Fall River, and one of the best recog- 

 nized authorities on mechanics and machinery, from Lowell, Massachu- 

 setts ; and the judgment of these experts, after taking all the facts into 

 consideration, w r as, that if this Mexican cotton-factory, with all its 

 advantages in the way of hours of labor and wages, were transferred 

 to New England, it would, in place of realizing any profit, sink a hun- 

 dred thousand dollars per annum. And yet the proprietor of this 

 mill (Don Rubio) and his family are reputed to be among the richest 

 people in Mexico. 



The adoption of the theory of " free trade," or " protection," as 

 the basis of a national fiscal policy, does not appear to have as yet 

 interested, to any extent, either the Government or the people of 

 Mexico ; and it is doubtful whether, since the country achieved 

 its independence from Spain, it has ever been seriously discussed or 

 considered by anybody. Under the tariff act in force in 1882, there 

 were one hundred and four specifications of articles which could be 

 imported free of duty including vessels of all kinds, machinery, 

 and most railroad equipments and cars and eleven hundred and 

 twenty -nine specifications of articles subject to duties, nearly all 

 of which (only thirty-two exceptions) are simple and specific. No 

 other rule seems to have been recognized and followed in imposing 

 duties on imports than that " the higher the duty (or tax) the greater 

 will be the accruing revenue " ; and the ad valorem equivalents of many 

 of the apparently simple and moderate duties levied on imports into 

 Mexico are consequently so excessive that the average rate of the 

 Mexican tariff is probably greater than that adopted at present by 

 any other civilized country. All domestic manufacturing industries 

 that could be exposed to foreign competition as, for example, the 



