614 



MEXICO. 



circulating medium, but has almost entirely left the 

 country. It is now very difficult to purchase on short 

 notice in this city only a few thousand dollars in gold, 

 and it commands a premium of from 14 to 18 per cent., 

 according to the fluctuations of the London silver 

 market. Silver is by law an unlimited legal tender 

 for all debts, public and private. As indicating the 

 injurious effects on business aifairs of the depreciation 

 in the value of silver,_ I inclose herewith a communi- 

 cation which the Minister of Finance has addressed to 

 Congress, conveying to that body the telegraphic quo 

 tations of the London market, which have resulted in 

 placing foreign exchange at a premium of 22 per cent.* 

 For some weeks previous to the recent decline, ex- 

 change on New York ruled at 18 per cent. The main 

 object of the Minister's communication was to bring 

 again to the attention of Congress the recommendation 

 of the Executive, submitted to the last Congress, for a 

 repeal of the export duty of 5 per cent, which is now 

 charged by the Government on all silver, coined and 

 uncoined, shipped abroad, which repeal would reduce 

 the price of exchange to that extent. Mr. Komero, tho 

 Minister of Finance, has for many years been a strong 

 advocate of this wise measure of the repeal of all du- 

 ties on the exportation of silver and other natural 

 products ; but thus far the necessities of the national 

 and State Treasuries have defeated it. Besides the 

 export duty collected by the Federal Government, 

 there are heavy export taxes by tho States, coinage 

 duties and other charges, which add to the depressing 

 influence of the London market. A careful estimate 

 of tho taxes, duties, and various charges on silver 

 shows that it costs from 13i to 15t per cent, to place 

 the silver produced in the Mexican mines in London 

 or in New York. When it is remembered that silver 

 constitutes four fifths of the entire value of export 

 products of Mexicoj the effect of these heavy internal 

 taxes and the decline in value in London upon tho 

 general trade and business of this country can bo 

 easily estimated. In the present depressed condition 

 of all industries in Mexico, the late decline in silver 

 must be regarded for this country as a great national 

 calamity. 



The American industrial deputation, referred 

 to heretofore,t was cordially received at the 

 Mexican capital, and the exhibition of United 

 States manufactures inaugurated by President 

 Diaz, who said : 



It is a source of great satisfaction to me to accept the 

 invitation you have tendered me to inaugurate your 

 diminutive exhibit of North American merchandise 

 brought to this country for the purpose of augmenting 

 the commercial relations existing between our two 

 republics. This testimony, rendered to peace^ to labor, 

 and to progress, highly honors the Association or 

 Manufacturers or the United States. Far from your 

 having to thank the Government of Mexico for having 

 cooperated in the better discharge of your commission, 

 by offering you those attentions and facilities which 

 were due to you, the Mexican nation is thankful to you 

 for having come on this noble mission with the olive 

 of peace hi one hand and the torch of civilization in 

 the other. Ever since she conquered her indepen- 

 dence, Mexico has maintained her ports open to the 

 trade of the world. Following up the grand maxim ot 

 the great father of your independence, that honesty is 

 the best policy, I must state to you that, although the 

 fiscal legislation of this country still labors in part from 

 the colonial system, and can not be considered as the 

 most liberal in the world, it has continued and is con- 

 tinuing a progressive march of liberality, with the view 

 of stimulating the development of commerce, the foun- 

 tain of the wealth and prosperity of nations. Our 

 Constitution ordains that there should be no prohibi- 

 tions. The list of articles free of all duties, which has 



* Exchange on London and on New York was more than 

 nee quoted at 23 per cent, premium in the course of 1879. 

 t See " Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1878. 



been increasing day by day, comprises various objects, 

 such as machinery of all classes, in regard to which the 

 remarkable mechanical improvements in the United 

 States are such that very few countries can compete with 

 them. Although Mexico and the United States arc 

 neighboring nations, they are, unfortunately, very lit- 

 tle known to each other, and in each of them errors 

 and prejudices prevail in regard to the other. The step 

 that has been taken by the Manufacturers' Association 

 of the Northwest of your country, by sending you on 

 this mission, will doubtless produce, among other good 

 results, that of dispelling some of the many errors that 

 are entertained in the United States respecting Mexico. 

 As regards Mexico, you will always find her disposed 

 to cooperate in this work of civilization. The gener- 

 osity and nobleness of sentiments of her citizens are 

 proverbial, and she instinctively accepts all that is 

 good. As regards her Government, it suffices to say- 

 that all the administrations which have succeeded each 

 other since the triumph of the republic over the for- 

 eign intervention of 1867, whatever may have been 

 the points of internal policy on which they differed, 

 have strenuously endeavored to establish permanent 

 commercial relations with the United States. Nine 

 lines of foreign steamers trade to the Mexican ports ; 

 of these, four come from European ports and are sup- 

 ported by subsidies from their respective governments 

 or by the profits of their traffic ; the other five come 

 from ports of the United States, and are supported by 

 a liberal subsidy paid to them by the Mexican Trea- 

 sury, which, notwithstanding its impoverishment, de- 

 votes a not very inconsiderable part of its revenue to 

 sustain these lines of steamers. Without this aid you 

 would not have been able to come from your country 

 to ours by the route and with the rapidity you have 

 done. Thanks to these lines of steamers, the trade 

 between the two countries has somewhat increased, as 

 instead of $2,000,000, to which the commerce between 

 the United States and Mexico reached before the war 

 of the intervention, it now exceeds $10,000,000. 



At the end of the year there were 372 miles 

 of railroad in operation in the republic, the 

 principal line being that from Vera Cruz to the 

 capital.* Tidings were received in September, 

 1879, of the commencement of work on a new 

 line of railroad to cross the Isthmus of Tehuan- 

 tepec, from the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos 

 Kiver, 110 miles S. E. from Vera Cruz, to the 

 Upper Lagoon, an inland lake on the Pacific 

 coast. The length of the main line will bo 

 nearly 150 miles. The grant for the line was 

 made by the Government of Mexico in June 

 last to Edward Learned, of Pittsfield, Massachu- 

 setts. It required that the company undertak- 

 ing the work should deposit with the Govern- 

 ment, within six months of the date of the law, 

 $100,000 as a forfeit, and that it should have 

 imported upon the isthmus, prior to the expi- 

 ration of that period, railroad material of the 

 value of $200,000, or have made harbor im- 

 provements of the same value, in which case 

 the deposit might be substituted by mortgage 

 bonds of the company. The road is to have a 

 single or double track four and a half feet in 

 width, and is required to be completed within 

 three years from the date of the approval of the 

 contract; the company being required to con- 

 struct yearly, to the satisfaction of the Gov- 

 ernment, a section thirty -nine miles in length. 

 The right of way is 229'64 feet along the en- 

 lire route, and the Government gives the com- 



* For details concerning this line see " Annual Cyclopaedia" 

 for 1573. 



