564 



MEXICO. 



No budget for 1865 has been published by 

 the Imperial Government, and the above 

 figures cannot therefore be substantially veri- 

 fied. Other estimates place the annual ex- 

 penses at about $42,000,000. But all accounts 

 agree that the expenditures for the current 

 fiscal year will more than double the amount 

 of receipts, and that under the present Govern- 

 ment it will be impossible to meet the annual 

 deficit otherwise than by loans. As has been 

 previously stated, the Emperor Napoleon sent 

 to the assistance of Maximilian an able financier, 

 M. Langlais, to extricate him from his embar- 

 rassments. He at once proposed, as one of the 

 first reforms to be instituted, to reduce the large 

 appropriation annually made for the support 

 of the imperial establishment ; and unless these 

 economies were acceded to, refused to accept 

 the office of Minister of Finance, which he was 

 expected to fill. The Emperor was equally op- 

 posed to this species of reduction, and for a 

 time all schemes of retrenchment failed. Mean- 

 while the imperial treasury was so nearly 

 drained of funds, that in December a loan of 

 $300,000 was thankfully received from Marshal 

 Bazaine, on account of the French Government, 

 to meet current demands ; and measures were 

 in progress to secure another European loan of 

 $100,000,000. Finally, the Emperor acceded to 

 the demands of M. Langlais, who thereupon ac- 

 cepted office, and proceeded to institute several 

 important financial reforms. At the close of 

 the year his plan had not been fully developed, 

 but it was understood that be intended to cut 

 down the personal expenses and civil list of the 

 Emperor to $3,000 per day, and to do away 

 with several superfluous ministries which en- 

 tailed a useless expense. At this moment it 

 would seem that the existence of the Imperial 

 Government depends upon the negotiation of 

 the new loan. Should that fail, it is supposed 

 that a general forced loan will be resorted to, 

 which, it is feared, would lead to an uprising 

 of the people. 



In October the Republican Government of 

 Mexico through its agents, John "W. Corlies 

 and Co., put into the New York market a 

 loan of $30,000,000. Faithful payment of 

 the bonds and interest was guaranteed by the 

 General Government of the republic of Mex- 

 ico and of the States of Tamaulipas and San 

 Luis Potosi, and was declared to be further 

 secured by the special pledge, having the effect 

 of a national mortgage, of 5,000,000 of 

 acres of agricultural and 500,000 of min- 

 eral lands in the States of Tamaulipas and 

 San Luis Potosi. The agricultural lands thus 

 pledged are estimated at the value of from 

 one to fifty dollars per acre, and the mineral 

 lands at the minimum value of one hundred 

 dollars per acre, which would make the aggre- 

 gate specific security, at the lowest price, 

 amount to $55,000,000. Mr. Romero, the 

 Mexican minister at "Washington, certified 

 that the loan had been authorized in No- 

 vember, 1864, and was duly offered by the 



proper agents. At the close of the year the 

 bonds were reported to have had a fair sale. 

 A resolution was about that time offered in 

 Congress that the United States Government 

 should pledge itself for the payment of the loan, 

 but no action has yet been taken upon it. 



Whatever may be the fate of the imperial 

 sway in Mexico, the country undoubtedly owes 

 to it the present vigorous prosecution of the 

 line of railway which is to unite the capital 

 with Vera Cruz. Throughout the year this 

 work, surpassing in the magnitude of the diffi- 

 culties to be overcome almost any road ever 

 projected, was pushed forward with great ac- 

 tivity, and it is now estimated that the portion 

 between Puebla and the city of Mexico will bo 

 completed in the summer of 1866. A section 

 from the capital to Chalco, thirty-six miles in 

 length, was successfully opened in October. 

 This road, which, after leaving Paebla, passes 

 through Orizaba on its way to the coast, is 

 under charge of an English company, who have 

 sub-let a portion of the work to a French com- 

 pany. Another line, from Puebla to Vera 

 Cruz, passing through Jalapa and Perote, has 

 also been projected ; also a road from Guaymas 

 to Libertad on the Gulf of California. The 

 Emperor has granted to Messrs. Clute and Co. 

 the right to establish three lines of telegraph, 

 viz. : from Guanajuato to Mataraoras, passing 

 through San Luis, Saltillo, and Monterey ; from 

 Matamoras to Vera Cruz, passing through Vic- 

 toria, Tampico, and Tuxpan; and from San 

 Luis to Durango, passing through Aquas Ca- 

 lientas, Zacatecas, Fresnillo, and Sombrerete. 

 These are in addition to one already projected 

 between the capital and Vera Cruz. In De- 

 cember an imperial decree granted to J. Stan- 

 ley Keeling the right for ten years to run a line 

 of steamers between Vera Cruz and New York. 



During 1865 the United States Government 

 continued to be represented in the city of Mex- 

 ico by W. H. Corwin, acting charge in the ab- 

 sence of the Hon. Thomas Corwin, the reg- 

 ularly accredited minister to the constitutional 

 Government. No minister was accredited by 

 the Imperial Government to the United States ; 

 and from official expressions of the State De- 

 partment, it may be presumed that none would 

 have been recognized. In compliance with a 

 resolution of the House of Representatives, 

 adopted December 18th, requesting "informa- 

 tion in regard to steps taken by the so-called 

 Emperor of Mexico, or by any European power, 

 to obtain from the United States a recognition 

 of the so-called empire of Mexico, and what 

 action has been taken in the premises by the 

 Government of the United States," the Pres- 

 ident sent to Congress an elaborate diplomatic 

 correspondence, from which it appears that on 

 July 17th the French minister, M. Montholon, 

 called at the Department of State and informed 

 Mr. Seward that a special agent had arrived 

 from Mexico, bearing a letter from Maximilian 

 to the President of the United States, with 

 papers making certain explanations relative to 



