554 



MEXICO. 



figures for the imports and exports would sug- 

 gest. 



In the year ending June 30, 1870, specie was 

 shipped as follows : 



Silver subject to duty $15,605,585 37i 



Silver free of duty, 729,922 00 



Gold 1,145,50665 



Total. $17,479,014 02J 



The annexed table shows the relative pro- 

 portion of imports from different countries : 



The duties collected in the year ending June 

 30, 1870, amounted to $17,303,945.45, of 

 which $8,274.572 were received at maritime, 

 and $9,029,373.24 at frontier custom-houses. 



The exports from the Yucatan peninsula 

 consist mainly of Sisal hemp, of which 4,231,- 

 055 Ibs., of the value of $270,814,061, were 

 shipped from Progreso (the port for Merida) in 

 the year ending September 30, 1873. 



The total value of the exports from Yuca- 

 tan in the year just mentioned, and the desti- 

 nation of the articles, are set forth in the sub- 

 joined table : 



Countries. Value. 



United States $326,012 16 



Cuba 165,496 14 



England 10,375 00 



France 5,518 00 



Total $507,401 30 



The value and sources of the imports into 

 Yucatan during the same year were thus : 



Countries. Value. 



United States $236,99373 



England 107,758 00 



Cuba, 44,381 49 



Germany 12,77800 



France 11,592 00 



Balize 1,012 00 



Total $414,515 22 



According to the latest official report, pub- 

 lished in November, 1873, the shipping move- 

 ments at all the ports of the republic, in 1870, 

 were as follows : 



French and two British lines of steamers ply 

 regularly between St. Nazaire, Southampton, 

 Liverpool, and the Gulf ports of Vera Cruz and 

 Tampico, touching at Havana, St. Thomas, 

 Martinique, and Santander. The British steam- 

 ers frequently call at New Orleans. An Amer- 

 ican line plies between New York and the 

 principal Gulf ports every 20 days, calling at 

 Havana and New Orleans, receiving a subsidy 

 of $2,200 per round trip from the Mexican 

 Government. Regular communication is kept 

 up between Acapulco and Panama and the in- 

 termediate ports of Mexico and Central Amer- 

 ica, and between Acapulco and San Francisco 

 and the intermediate ports of Manzanillo, Ma- 

 zatlan, and Cape San Lucas, by two American 

 lines, one of which has a subsidy of $2,500 

 per round trip, and the other $2,000 monthly 

 from the Mexican Government. In 1872 there 

 were 5,740 arrivals at, and 5,095 departures 

 from, Mexican ports. The Mexican merchant 

 navy comprises 1,029 craft of all sizes, 357 of 

 which are sea-going or large coasting vessels. 

 The railways of the republic are as follows : 

 Mexico to Vera Cruz ....................... 264^ miles. 



Branch,. Apizaco to Pnebla 

 Mexico to Tlalpam 



11 



Of the number of vessels entered, 362 were 

 steamers, and of .those cleared, 378. One 



......................... 



Vera Cruz (La Zamorana) to Medellin ...... 



Mexico to Guadalupe ....................... 4} 



* Mexico to Tacubaya and Popotla ......... 8% 



* Mexico to Atzcapozalco .................. 6J^ 



* Vera Cruz to Puebla via Jalapa t ......... 25 



Total ................................. 303% miles. 



The traffic on the Mexico & Vera Cruz 

 Railway amounts to about 240,000 passengers 

 and 184,000 tons of freight per annum; the 

 receipts are about $2,500,000, and the running 

 expenses average 60 per cent, of the receipts. 

 The line between Mexico and Atzcapozalco is 

 to be extended to Cuautillan and Toluca. 

 There is a line of horse-cars from Matamoras 

 to Paso de Santa Cruz. Among numerous 

 projected lines may be mentioned one from 

 Tuxpan on the Gulf to a port on the Pacific, pass- 

 ing by Mexico ; one from Puebla to Matamoros ; 

 and one from Mexico north to El Paso, to com- 

 municate with the United States railway sys- 

 tem. 



In May, 1873, a contract was made between 

 the Government and Mr. Edward Lee Plumb, 

 representative of the International Railway 

 Company of Texas, for the construction of 

 some railway lines in the republic ; but that 

 contract was revoked during the following 

 session of Congress,; and a new one, by order 

 of President Lerdo, made with a company pur- 

 porting to be Mexican in its organization and 

 interests, but the majority of whose members 

 are in fact foreigners. This new contract was 

 approved by Congress, but the measure eli- 

 cited bitter comments on the part of the public 

 press, and was the subject of warm debate in 

 the House. Senor Guzman defended the policy 

 of the Executive, and attempted to demon- 

 strate the inexpediency of linking the railway 



* Horse cars. 



t Completed to Tolome. 



