494 



MEXICO. 



XIV. METHODIST REFORM UNION: The fol- 

 lowing are the statistical returns of the Wes- 

 leyan Keform Union of England : Chapels and 

 preaching-places, 266 ; preachers, 603 ; preach- 

 ers on trial, 96 ; leaders, 554 ; members, 8,221 ; 

 members on trial, 294; schools, 175; teachers, 

 3,276 ; scholars, 18,210. 



MEXICO, a rep'ublic in North America. 

 President, Benito Juarez, a descendant of the 

 Indian race of Tapatecos, born in 1807; elected 

 President in 1861 ; reflected 1867, for the term 

 from 1867 to 1871 ; Vice-President and Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs, Lerdo de Tejada; Minister 

 of the Interior, M. Saavedra (1869) ; Minister 

 of Justice, J. M. Yglesias ; Minister of Finance, 

 M. Romero (December, 1867) ; Minister of War 

 and of Marine, General J. Mejia (July, 1867) ; 

 Minister of Public Works, B. Balcarcel. The 

 United States Government was represented in 

 Mexico, in 1870, by T. H. Nelson, envoy ex- 

 traordinary and minister plenipotentiary. 

 Don J. Mariscal (accredited August 11, 1869) 

 was minister of Mexico at Washington. 



The estimates of the area and population of 

 the republic have always been greatly at 

 variance. During the reign of the Emperor 

 Maximilian, a new division of the country into 

 departments was introduced, which has since 

 been abandoned, the Government having re- 

 established the old division into States, with 

 some slight modifications of their former limits. 

 The following table, said to be compiled from 

 the latest and most reliable reports, has been 

 published by Antonio Garcia y Cubas, in the 

 Boletin de la Sociedad de Geoff rafia y Stadlstica 

 de la Republica mexicana, 1869, No. 5: 



The population of the principal cities, ac- 

 cording to the same report, was : Mexico, 

 200,000; Guadalajara, 70,000; Puebla, 75,500; 

 Guanajuato, 63,000; Queretaro, 47,570; San 

 Luis Potosi, 33,581 ; Colima, 31,000 ; Morelia, 



25,000; Oajaca, 25,000 ; Merida, 23,500 ; Aguas 

 Calientes, 22,534; Campeche, 15,196; Toluca, 

 12,000; Pachuca, 12,000; Zacatecas, 15,427; 

 Durango, 12,449 ; San Cristobal, 10,475 ; Chi- 

 huahua, 12,000 ; Culiacan, 10,000. 



The budget for the year 1868-1869 esti- 

 mated the total revenue at $18,219,708, and 

 the expenditure at $18,694,438. In the mes- 

 sage of the President, however, the revenue 

 is reported at $13,750,000, and the expendi- 

 ture at $13,500,000. The public debt, on 

 August 1, 1865, amounted to $317,357,250. 

 The republican government does not consider 

 itself responsible for the loatfs contracted by 

 the Emperor Maximilian, nor does it sanction 

 the pledge of the customs duties made to the 

 creditors of the state by Maximilian, on July 

 30, 1866. In 1856, the entire debt was esti- 

 mated at $133,524,242, which included a for- 

 eign debt of $52,750,000. 



The army of the republic consisted, in 1867, 

 of from 30,000 to 35,000 men. 



The Cuadros Estadisticos (Mexico, 1870) 

 contain the following estimate of imports, ex- 

 ports, and of duties, during the six months 

 from July 1 to December 31, 1869 : 



Imports $3,539,020 I Import duty $3,212,304 



Exports 6,845,734 | Export duty 231,919 



The movement of shipping, during the same 

 period, was as follows : Entered, 306 vessels, 

 burden 242,536 tons ; cleared, 366 vessels, 

 burden 226,473 tons. 



After the completion of the railroad from 

 the city of Mexico to Puebla, thrown open to 

 the public on the 21st of September, 1869, the 

 entire length of railroads in operation within 

 the republic was 304 miles. The aggregate 

 length of telegraph lines amounted to 2,804 

 miles. A telegraphic line is now in course of 

 construction from Monterey to Mier on the 

 Rio Grande ; from thence it will be extended, 

 via Camargo and Reynosa, down to Mata- 

 moros. The intended connection with the 

 Texas line, on the Rio Grande, would place 

 Mexico in direct communication with the 

 United States telegraph system, and conse- 

 quently with Europe. Grants were given to 

 telegraph companies, in November, 1870, to 

 establish lines from Vera Cruz to Galveston, 

 from Vera Cruz to Minatitlan, and a line via 

 Yucatan to Cuba. A bill for the construction 

 of tne Tuxpan Railroad passed Congress during 

 its last session. 



The political situation of the republic in 

 1870 was very unsettled, the efforts of the 

 Federal Government being repeatedly par- 

 alyzed by pronunciamientos and revolu- 

 tionary movements in several of the States. 

 On December 30, 1869, a proclamation was 

 issued in San Luis Potosi against the General 

 Government by Generals Aguirre, Martinez, 

 and Laranaga, and the officers of their com- 

 mand, on the usual pretext that President 

 Juarez had acted contrary to the Constitution, 

 and had rendered no account to the people 

 during eleven years. The pronunciados there- 



