MEXICO 



167 



where a good wine is made ; and mullierry plants 

 have been imported from Europe to develop the 

 silk industry. In Lower California a good deal 

 of Archil (q.v.) is collected, and chicle gum is 

 extracted and prepared in the forests along the 

 coast. But agriculture in Mexico is very poorly 

 developed. Primitive methods are followed by the 

 people generally, and the American plough has only 

 in a few localities displaced the crooked stick, 

 sometimes shod with iron, and lashed by raw-hide 

 thongs to the oxens' horns. There is, however, 

 some agricultural machinery in use on the larger 

 haciendas, or great landed estates. To their absen- 

 tee owners euch estates, in spite of the expense 

 of irrigation and the shiftless methods in use, 

 are said to return large incomes ; but the diffi- 

 culty and cost of transport are so great that in 

 many parts of Mi-xiro no more corn is grown than 

 BulKces to meet the wants of the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. Of maize, 128,222,000 bushels are 

 raised in an average year. The other principal 

 crops are wheat, 11,114,000 bushels; beans, 

 7,547,000 bushels ; barley, 5,787,000 bushels. The 

 value of the cotton crop averages 1,645,000, of 

 sugarcane 1,323,000, of hemp and coH'ee above a 

 third as much, and of tobacco a fourth. In 1889 

 henequen was exported from Yucatan to the value 

 of over a million sterling. 



.Minerals. Mexico is rich in minerals, many of 

 which have lieen worked from a very early date. 

 Silver-mining, especially, has been an important 

 industry ever since the conquest, and a consider- 

 able number of the mines are still worked at a 

 profit. Gold, though to a greatly less value, is also 

 produced. The coinage records, which date from 

 1537, and may be taken as substantially accurate, 

 show the production of the precious met&is, from 

 that year to 1884, to have lieen : gold, 114,384,204 

 dols.fsih .T, :t, lil.-),979,022dols. total, 3,220,363,226 

 dols. Copper U largely mined in some sections, 

 being found in a pure state in Chiapas and Guana- 

 juato, and elsewhere associated with gold. Other 

 important minerals are iron, including enormous 

 masses of meteoric iron ore, and the mountain a 

 mile from Durango, the Cerro de Mercado, a solid 

 iiM" cif magnetic iron ore ; lead, found associated 

 with silver ; and sulphur, zinc, quicksilver, plat- 

 inum, cinnabar, asphalt and petroleum, besides salt, 

 marble, alabaster, gypsum, and rock-salt in great 

 quantities. There are also said to be large de- 

 iHwits of coal, some of excellent quality, in various 

 localities ; but as yet little of it has been mined. 

 Throughout Mexico over 100,000 workmen are 

 employed in the various mining enterprises above 

 350 in number, and largely supported by American 

 and British capital. Formerly the Mexican ores, 

 especially argentiferous lead, were sent for smelt- 

 ing to the United States; but as the American 

 tariir became prohibitive, establishments were set 

 up on Mexican soil, to which in 1890 some Ameri- 

 can foundries and works also were transferred. 



Manufactures and Trade. In all Mexico the 

 nnmber of factories using steam power does not 

 greatly exceed one hundred. Very little labour- 

 isaving machinery of any kind has Ijeen introduced, 

 owing partly to the scarcity of fuel and water, and 

 partly to the difficulty of repairing expensive and 

 rmiiplirated machinery, usually on the haciendas 

 at any rate broken on purpose by the peons, who 

 are obstinately opposed to any change. In 1888 

 there were 98 cotton and 16 woollen factories in 

 Mexico, l)enidet 7 paper-mills and 2 potteries em- 

 ploying steam. Flour and unrefined sugar are also 

 prepared, and a large sugar refinery was erected at 

 Linares in 1890; while there are smaller special 

 manufactures, such as candles, glass, porcelain ; 

 and the extraction of heiiw|ucn fibre, too, is an 

 important industry. Bounties are offered by some 



states for the establishment of factories within 

 their bounds. But the handicraft production of 

 such articles as pottery, saddles, sandals, many 

 coarser textiles, the national hat, the sombrero, 

 and the national drinks, pulque, mescal, and te- 

 quila, all from the various plants of the maguey 

 family, is much more considerable. The great 

 bulk of the Mexican exports is always formed by 

 the precious metals coin, bullion, and ores ; yet 

 the amount of agricultural products and other 

 merchandise has greatly increased since the con- 

 struction of railways. Of these in 1860 there 

 were none; in 1880 there were 655 miles, in 1890 

 over 5500 miles open for traffic. The rapid con- 

 struction of these lines, most of which are in 

 English hands, has saddled the country with heavy 

 responsibilities ; the subventions payable to the 

 several companies in the year 1890 amounted 

 to 697. 000 about one-seventh of the govern- 

 ment's total income and the sum increases yearly, 

 in accordance with agreements entered into with 

 the companies. Moreover, the spread of the 

 railways has been made an excuse tor the almost 

 utter neglect of the roads, which throughout 

 Mexico were bad enough before. The tine high- 

 ways constructed by the Spaniards were allowed 

 to fall into destruction during the long civil ware, 

 and their present deplorable condition makes them 

 rather a hindrance than a help in the development 

 of the country. A still more serious obstacle to 

 internal commerce is the crushing system of inter- 

 state customs the alcabalas a heritage from the 

 days of Spanish rule ; they were abolished by a 

 decree of 1886, but in 1890 the British minister 

 reported that they still existed under various names 

 in the territories and federal district, and in most 

 of the states. Under the excise system, more- 

 over, nearly every possible product, every branch 

 of industry, every social function, even, is taxed ; 

 and a swarm of petty officials in everv city, town, 

 and hamlet see tnat nothing escapes its tax, from 

 a bag of seaweed or shavings to a funeral or a 

 fnnd.'ingo. In 1890 the fiscal gcndarmeria alone 

 cost four-fifths as much as the foreign office and 

 the judicial power together. Still, in sj>ite of these 

 impediments, the trade of Mexico within recent 

 years has steadily increased. During the period 

 1890-95 the exports advanced from 63,276,400 to 

 90,854,950 dols., and the imports varied from 

 30,000,000 to 45,000,000 dols. (=26d.). Of the 

 exports in 1895 the precious metals represented 

 53,000,000 dols. ; benequen, coffee, hides, woods, 

 tobacco, and vanilla came next. Nearly two-thirds 

 of the total trade is with the United States, and 

 one-fourth with Great Britain ; France follows at 

 some distance, and Germany yet further behind. 

 Home manufactures and the distribution of mer- 

 chandise are largely in the hands of foreigners. 

 Of late years a large number of French merchants 

 have settled in Mexico, and have nearly every- 

 where superseded the Germans, who controlled 

 most of the trade from 1850 to 1870. In 1888 

 there were 12,300 French in the republic, and 

 only 800 Germans, and the former had practi- 

 cally monopolised the dry-goods business of the 

 country, and were pressing their rivals closely in 

 other departments, such as hardware, in which the 

 Germans had secured the lead. Great Britain im- 

 ports from Mexico mainly mahogany, logwood, and 

 silver ore, and exports thither cottons, woollens, 

 and linens, iron, machinery, and coal ; in 1885-89 

 the value of the former decreased steadily from 

 724,847 to 465.994, while that of the latter in- 

 creased from 866,671 to 1,621,106. 



Government, Finances, <kc. The Mexican con- 

 stitution is closely modelled upon that of the 

 United States. The president, who is assisted by 

 six secretaries of state, is elected for four years, 



