MEXICO. 



371 



ence to the Methodist churches is similar to that 

 of the Pan-Anglican Synod to the Anglican 

 churches. But the Conference differs from the 

 Synod in the fact that it is composed of represen- 

 tative ministers and laity. It has no authority 

 over the constituent churches, but affects them 

 powerfully by its discussions, its tone and influ- 

 ence. 



"From this you will see that your suggestion 

 respecting a possible union of the Methodist with 

 the Anglican Church raises vast and far-reaching 

 issues. Of the many millions of Methodists repre- 

 sented here probably six-sevenths live in the 

 United States and portions of the British Empire 

 in which there is no establishment of religion by 

 law. Of the remaining seventh a very large ma- 

 jority would not consent to part with the perfect 

 independence now enjoyed by the churches to 

 which they belong under the sole headship of 

 Christ our Lord. You will see how powerfully 

 this fact bears upon your suggestion. 



" But a great and more permanent difficulty lies 

 in the way. We are not aware that any consti- 

 tuted authority in the Church of England has ex- 

 pressed the willingness of that Church to recog- 

 nize the validity of the ministry and sacraments 

 which we possess and cherish. That being so, any 

 consent of ours to a movement toward corporate 

 union with the Anglican Church would be an 

 acknowledgment of an invalidity and inferiority 

 of our church order, which our convictions would 

 not allow us to make. 



" None the less do we appreciate the courtesy 

 and kindliness of your communication. We pray 

 that God may richly bless the efforts of yourself 

 and your brethren for the spiritual and social 

 uplifting of the population of this country. We 

 are ready to cooperate with our Anglican breth- 

 ren in all good works so far as the beliefs and 

 practises of your Church will allow, and we wish 

 to maintain the traditional policy of the Meth- 

 odist Church, expressed by Wesley himself in his 

 famous phrase, ' We desire to be the friends of 

 all and the enemies of none.' I am, my dear 

 Lord Bishop, yours very obediently, 



" T. BOWMAN STEPHENSON." 



A report on statistics of the world's Method- 

 ism embodied estimates that in the Western sec- 

 tion there were 42,064 itinerant preachers, 46,884 

 local preachers, 6,437,361 church-members, 62,030 

 churches, the value of their church property was 

 $180,179,850, and they had 62,489 Sunday-schools, 

 582,929 teachers and officers, and 5,091, .897 Sunday 

 scholars. In the Eastern section 6,276 ministers, 

 58,413 local preachers, 27,077 churches, 1,221,824 

 members, 20,750 Sunday-schools, 273,415 leaders 

 and officers, and 2,175,623 scholars. The totals 

 in both sections were 48,334 ministers, 104,786 

 local preachers, 7,659,285 members, 61,228 Sun- 

 day-schools, 361,392 officers and teachers, and 

 7,077,079 scholars, showing increase in ten years 

 of 5,131 ministers, 17,891 local preachers, 280*Sun- 

 day-schools, and 442,979 scholars, and a decrease 

 of 17,825 teachers. Estimated whole number of 

 adherents, 24,899,401; valuation of Church prop- 

 erty in the Western section, $180,000,000; in the 

 Eastern section, $120,000,000. 



MEXICO, a federal republic in North America. 

 The legislative power is vested in the Congress, 

 consisting of a Senate of 56 members, 2 from each 

 State and the Federal District, and a House of 

 Representatives containing 227 members, 1 to 

 40,000 of population, the Representatives elected 

 for two years, the Senators for four years, by the 

 votes of all respectable adult male citizens. The 

 term of the President is also four years. Gen. 



Porfirio Diaz was elected IVf-sid.-ni. in 1S7*;, and 

 has been reelected live time>, il, ,- nn 



July 9, 1900. The Cabinet \\-.\ Hie 



beginning of 1901 as follows: Seen 

 for Foreign Affairs, I. Mariscal ; fr (in 

 Gen. M. Gonzalez Cosio; for Justi'-c -,\> 

 Instruction, J. Baranda; for Foment o, M. 

 dez-Leal; for Communications and Public V. 

 Gen. F. Z. Mena; for War and Marine, Gen. l'< i 

 nardo Reyes; Treasurer, F. Espinosa. 



Area and Population. The area of Mexico is 

 767,005 square miles, including islands with an. 

 area of 1,420 square miles. The population in 

 1895 was 12,491,573, having increased from 9,908,- 

 011 in 1879. The proportion of whites in 1895 

 was 19 per cent.; of mestizos, 43 per cent.; of pure 

 Indians, 38 per cent. The foreign population was 

 50,888, of whom 11,331 were citizens of the United 

 States. Mexico, the capital city, had 329,774 in- 

 habitants. The number of marriages recorded in 

 1897 was 51,000; of births, 375,376; of deaths, 

 455,009. Registration, especially of births, is neg- 

 lected, and in 1898 it was made a legal condition 

 of the legitimacy of children. 



Finances. The revenue of the Federal Gov- 

 ernment for the year ending June 30, 1900, was 

 $64,261,078 in silver,- including temporary loans 

 and money raised on bonds for the payment of 

 railroad subventions; and the expenditure was 

 $58,309,934. For the financial year 1901 the ordi- 

 nary revenue was estimated at $58,234,000, of 

 which $26,868.000 were import and export duties, 

 $23,132,000 internal taxes levied in the federal 

 district and territories, $3,067,000 receipts from 

 public services, and $1,499,000 receipts from the 

 mint, assay-offices, and patents. The expenditure 

 for 1901 was estimated at $58,009,082, of which 

 $1,020,443 were required for the legislative, $82,- 

 469 lor the executive, and $515,224 for the judicial 

 power, $586,043 for foreign affairs, $4,328,879 for 

 the interior, $2,657,551 for the Department of Jus- 

 tice and Education, $952,283 for agriculture and 

 commerce, $7,415,476 for public works, $6,793,821 

 for finance, $20,372,992 for the public debt and 

 pensions, and $13,283,901 for the army and navy. 

 The revenue for the year ending June 30, 1902, 

 was estimated at $61,694,000, and expenditure at 

 $61,577,990. The receipts in 1901 exceeded the 

 estimate by $11,000,000. The foreign debt in 1900 

 amounted to 22,628,920 sterling. There were 

 also $140,000 of 6-per-cent. bonds outstanding pay- 

 able in silver. The amount of the internal debt 

 was $114,542,648 on June 30, 1899, besides a float- 

 ing debt of $953,619. 



The revenue of the states in 1898 amounted to 

 the sum of $18,930,608, and their expenditure to 

 $16,429,909. The revenue of municipalities was 

 $15,635,031, and expenditure $15,381,670. 



Commerce and Production. The production 

 of rice in 1898 was 20,718 tons; of beans, 5,264,269 

 hectoliters; of corn, 39,238,300 hectoliters; of 

 wheat, 235,342 tons; of sugar, 66,761 tons; of 

 panocha, 71,649 tons; of molasses, 65,206 tons; 

 of spirits, 1,063,804 hectoliters; of henequen, 66,- 

 230 tons; of cotton, 44,794 tons; of logwood, 74,- 

 777 tons; of cacao, 1,341 tons; of coffee, 16,100 

 tons; of tobacco, 43,524 tons; of fermented 

 liquors, 6,127,511 hectoliters. There were 1,693 

 mines in operation in 1898, of which 89 produced 

 gold only, 373 gold and silver, 172 gold with other 

 metals, 259 silver only, 168 silver and lead, 129 

 silver with other metals, 23 copper only, 7 copper 

 and iron, 20 lead, 3 lead with zinc and iron, 17 

 iron, 41 antimony and cinnabar, 7 sulfur, tin, and 

 graphite, and 385 were not developed. The ores 

 raised in 1898 were valued at $65,129,840. The 

 number of workers in the mines was 89,000. The 



