486 



MEXICO. 



hausted mines would develop new masses of 

 treasure now lying neglected. There is a school 

 of mines in the country, but, though in posses- 

 sion of a building, which alone cost 120,000, 

 it is not provided with means of affording the 

 most rudimentary instruction. It has a vast 

 chemical laboratory, wholly unprovided with 

 the apparatus which alone could give it any 

 value. In fact, those actually engaged in min- 

 ing pursuits belong for the most part to the na- 

 tive tribes, and are totally ignorant of mining 

 as a science, as well as of every other, worthy 

 object of human knowledge. They move about 

 from place to place, with their families, and are 

 invariably paid for their labor by a share in the 

 proceeds. There have been mines of iron and 

 tin, but they are now wholly neglected, and 

 those of silver are of the greatest importance. 

 They still produce more in amount than all the 

 silver-mines of Europe. 



Manufactures in Mexico are in a low state, 

 like every other branch of .industry. It was 

 the policy- of Spain to make her colonies, as far 

 as possible, dependent on herself for all supplies 

 of manufactured articles, while she proceeded 

 to drain off the natural resources of the coun- 

 try. With this view, the raising of silkworms, 

 and the cultivation of flax, and the vine and 

 olive, were strictly prohibited ; and yet, since 

 the revolution, there has been still less done in 

 the manufacture of woven fabrics than before. 

 Coarse woollen and cotton goods were pro- 

 duced in former times, but scarcely any are 

 made now. 



" One might have supposed," says M. Cheva- 

 lier, " that when the ports were thrown open 

 to the commerce of Europe, manufactories 

 would soon have been established in a country 

 where manual labor is cheap, where the work- 

 men are submissive and skilful at imitation, 

 where the soil produces the raw cotton, where 

 the Spaniards had multiplied their flocks of 

 sheep to a great extent, and where the rearing 

 of the silkworm might be carried on with aston- 

 ishing facility. The native Mexicans are, how- 

 ever, destitute of all spirit of enterprise, and 

 strangers seldom attempt any permanent es- 

 tablishment. A more than ordinary display of 

 industry would excite the jealousy of the na- 

 tives ; for nothing exasperates a Mexican more 

 than to see Europeans and North Americans 

 growing rich before his face." 



The articles actually produced by the Mexi- 

 cans are those of common use, and are of a 

 very indifferent quality. Leather, hats, glass, 

 and earthen ware, and some utensils of iron 

 and copper, are the principal objects of manu- 

 facture. Cigars are made to a large extent, 

 and coarse paper is produced. All tools and 

 machinery in use are old and clumsy, and the 

 people obstinately refuse to adopt the inven- 

 tions of more enterprising nations. 



For commerce, Mexico has an admirable sit- 

 uation, but aside from the fact that energy as 

 well as capital has to be supplied by foreign 

 merchants, the country suffers from several 



disadvantages. For a considerable portion of 

 the year her coasts are inaccessible, on account 

 of the violent storms which prevail, there are 

 very few good harbors when the coast is 

 reached, and on shore it is exceedingly un- 

 healthy along nearly the entire seaboard. 

 Moreover, the ascent from the coasts to the ele- 

 vated lands of the interior is so abrupt that the 

 construction of roads is difficult, and all trans- 

 portation is expensive. 



Under the Spanish regime a rigorous prohi- 

 bition system was kept up, and all European 

 imports were brought from Cadiz by vessels 

 chartered by the Government. In 1788, how- 

 ever, this system was relaxed, and private capi- 

 talists were allowed to take part in the com- 

 merce of the country. At this time the annual 

 exports amounted to about $19,000,000. After 

 the revolution the ports were opened to the 

 traffic of the world, and the Spanish merchants 

 for the most part retired to Cuba or their na- 

 tive country, before the enterprise of British 

 and American capitalists. The two leading 

 ports at the present time are Yera Cruz and 

 Tampico. The imports at Vera Cruz in 1860 

 amounted in value to 2,639,680; the exports 

 for the same year were 1,376,720. The value 

 of imports at the port of Tampico in 1863 was 

 559,692; the exports were valued at 888,- 

 829. The ports which are of less importance 

 are Matamoros, Coatzacoalcos, and Tabasco, 

 on the Gulf of Mexico ; and Guayamas, Ma- 

 zatlan, San Bias, Manzanillo, Acapulco, and La 

 Paz, on the Pacific. The annual imports at the 

 present time are probably about $25,000,000 

 in value, and the exports not far from the 

 same amount. 



Education under the old Spanish administra- 

 tion was placed entirely in the hands of the 

 clergy of the Catholic Church, and no other 

 means of instruction has been furnished by 

 the Government since. The old Government 

 made some efforts to encourage the study of 

 botany, chemistry, and mineralogy ; but the 

 unsettled state of the country since, together 

 with the unenterprising character of the peo- 

 ple, has prevented any considerable progress 

 in science or the 'arts. There was once a 

 school of fine arts in the country, but no trace 

 of it is to be found at the present time. There 

 is an institution called a Museum, but it con- 

 tains little of interest, except the portraits of 

 the Spanish viceroys from the days of Cortez, 

 and a few Aztec manuscripts. There are no 

 seminaries of superior education, and nothing 

 deserving the name of a school of law or medi-^ 

 cine. Education is on the whole more poorly' 

 provided for thus far under the republic than 

 it was under the selfish policy of Spain. This 

 is owing in a great measure to the constant un- 

 settled state of the country, the Government 

 having in fact hardly as yet passed its infancy. 



The original settlers introduced the Catholic 

 religion, which has ever since been the ordi- 

 nary form of worship of the people. It has no 

 very strong hold on the sentiments of the white 



