MEXICO. 



MICHIGAN. 



015 



pany such a strip of unoccupied public lands as 

 may bo raqnirea for the lino, and in addition 

 one half of tho unoccupied public lands that 

 may be found within one league from each side 

 of the railroad. Lands are also granted for 

 the sites of wharves, docks, and other improve- 

 ments required in the harbor of Coatzacoalcos 

 and the Upper Lagoon, at which point the com- 

 pany is bound to construct and maintain two 

 lighthouses of the first class, which shall, how- 

 ever, be the exclusive property of the Govern- 

 ment. The privilege of erecting a line of tele- 

 graph is also accorded by the grant. To aid 

 in the construction of these improvements, the 

 Government, in addition to other stipulations, 

 binds itself to give to the company a subsidy of 

 $12,070.50 for each mile of railroad built, and 

 agrees not to grant a subsidy to any other en- 

 terprise of a similar character on the same line 

 for a period of twenty years, although the right 

 is reserved to authorize the construction of a 

 canal. The subsidy is to be paid on each sec- 

 tion of five kilometres upon its completion 

 and its approval by the Department of Public 

 Works, 10 per cent, interest to be allowed in 

 cases of any delay in such payments. The 

 grant is limited to ninety -nine years, and at the 

 expiration of that time the railroad and tele- 

 graph, with stations, depots, and other works, 

 and the proper complement of rolling-stock, 

 are to be turned over to the Government in 

 good order, upon the basis of a careful appraise- 

 ment and inventory of the property. The en- 

 terprise under the terms of the grant is to re- 

 main exclusively Mexican, and the company, 

 though formed abroad, is to be regarded as if 

 created in the Mexican Republic and organized 

 in accordance with Mexican laws; and those 

 engaged in the enterprise in no case will be en- 

 titled to plead the rights accorded to aliens, 

 and will have no power to enforce their rights 

 otherwise than before Mexican tribunals. Such 

 of the work as can be conveniently done in this 

 country will be executed here, in order to avoid 

 the expense of more costly labor in Mexico. It 

 is stated that the cost of the entire work will 

 not exceed $5,500,000, which estimate is be- 

 lieved to be considerably in excess of the ac- 

 tual amount necessary to open the road, well 

 supplied with the requisite appliances for the 

 performance of its business. The climate is rep- 

 resented as salubrious, the thermometer ranging 

 throughout the year between 60 and 80 ; the 

 country is productive, has easy grades, and 

 presents no unusual or serious obstacles. Tho 

 route, it would appear, will materially shorten 

 all lines of communication and facilitate the 

 transmission of traffic between the principal 

 ports of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 



A contract was signed on December 2, 1879, 

 between the Governor of the State of Yucatan 

 and Messrs. R. G. and O. G. Canton of Me- 

 rida, for the construction of a railway from 

 that city to Peto, passing through Ticul and 

 Tekax. 



President Diaz, in his message to Congress 



at its spring session, which opened on April 

 1st, alluded to the signing of a contract by the 

 Minister of Public Works for the laying of a 

 submarine and overland telegraph from a Gull 

 port of the United States, aloug the Mexican 

 coast, touching at the various intermediate 

 Mexican ports, and crossing the Isthmus of Te> 

 huantapec to the Pacific coast.* 



Referring to the United States, General Diaz 

 complained that the instructions to General 

 Ord, to pursue raiders across the border, were 

 still in force, in violation of the treaty of 1848 ; 

 and expressed the hope that the United States, 

 " in obedience to the dictates of justice and in 

 the interest of commerce," would revoke said 

 instructions, which were at variance with the 

 spirit of international law. 



A few symptoms of and one or two overt 

 attempts at revolution occurred in the course 

 of the year. The leader of one of the latter 

 was General Negrete, commander-in-chief of 

 the Mexican army. General Diaz, on learning 

 of the movement, set out at the head of 3,000 

 men in pursuit of Negrete ; and in this, as in 

 all other instances of the kind, Diaz manifested 

 his capacity to quell disturbances as fast as they 

 arise. 



The all-important question at issue in politi- 

 cal circles was that of the fast-approaching elec- 

 tion for President of the Republic. The principal 

 candidates were Sr. Vallarta, President of the 

 Supreme Court of Justice, whose term of office 

 expires two years later than that of Diaz ; Sen- 

 ator Bonitez ; General Trevifio ; Gonzales, Min- 

 ister of War immediately preceding Pacheco, 

 and the Government candidate ; Sr. Riva Pala- 

 cio; Sr. T. G. de la Cadena ; and lastly, though 

 unavowedly, General Diaz himself. 



Mexico has entered into the Postal Union. 



MICHIGAN". The Legislature met in regu- 

 lar biennial session January 1st, and continued 

 in session until May 31st. The number of pub- 

 lic acts passed was 268 ; of local acts, 408; of 

 joint resolutions, 34; of concurrent resolutions, 

 19. 



The laws regulating the liquor-traffic were 

 revised. The new legislation leaves every deal- 

 er to assess himself, instead of, as before, impos- 

 ing that duty upon the regular assessing officers 

 of cities, townships, and villages. 



An act to establish a State Reform School 

 for Girls appropriates $30,000 for grounds and 

 buildings, and to pay the current expenses. It 

 is to be governed by a board of control consist- 

 ing of four women and two men. Girls be- 

 tween seven and twenty years of age can be 

 committed to it till the age of twenty -one, who 

 have been convicted of disorderly conduct, or 

 of any offense not punishable with imprison- 

 ment for life, and apprenticed to suitable per- 

 sons on giving evidence of reformation. 



An act was also passed to establish a sepa- 

 rate school for the blind, appropriating $35,000 

 for the year 1879, and $10,000 for the year 



* For other telegraph statistics, see u Annual Cyclopaedia" 

 for 1673. 



