588 



METHODISTS. 



MEXICO. 



was appointed president. From the statistical 

 report it appeared that there were now within 

 the Conference 336 chapels, 901 preaching- 

 places, 106 European and 80 native ministers, 

 35 interpreters, etc.; 1,336 local preachers, 

 1,932 class-leaders, and 3,942 English and 18,- 

 874 native members, or 22,816 members in all, 

 with 8,836 on trial. The increase in the num- 

 ber of members was 823, of which the increase 

 of English members was the largest ever re- 

 corded in the country. The year had been a 

 very trying one for work among the natives, 

 and more than a thousand members of that 

 class had been lost by migration. ' The educa- 

 tional report showed that there were now 13 

 English and 250 native day schools, with 408 

 teachers and 14,862 pupils, of whom all but 

 704 Europeans are natives, and an average at- 

 tendance of 10,679. The number of Sunday 

 schools was 93 English and 180 native, having 

 18,180 pupils, of whom 7,419 were European 

 and 10,761 native. The Conference had a su- 

 pernumerary ministers' fund of 800, a con- 

 tingent fund of 128, and a children's fund of 

 3,207. The subjects were considered of es- 

 tablishing a South African Wesleyan Mission- 

 ary Society, and a mission press and connec- 

 tional book-room. Both schemes were referred 

 to committees for consideration during the 

 year. The Church is represented by the news- 

 paper, " The South African Methodist." 



VII. West Indian Wesleyan Conference. The 

 first meeting of the West Indian General Con- 

 ference of the Wesleyan Church was held in 

 Bridgetown, Barbadoes, beginning March 19. 

 The attention of the Conference was given to 

 the scheme for establishing the Coke Memorial 

 College in Antigua, and to the adoption of 

 plans for observing the centenary of West In- 

 dian Methodism in 1886. A memorial volume 

 is to be published on the occasion, to contain 

 biographical sketches of the men who helped 

 build up the church. The General Conference, 

 which is to meet once in three years, is com- 

 posed of two annual conferences, the Eastern 

 and the Western, each of which has its news- 

 paper organ. 



VIII. The Wesleyan Chnrch in Tonga. A seces- 

 sion has taken place in the Australasian Wes- 

 leyan Methodist Church, through the with- 

 drawal of the great mass of the church in 

 Tonga, or the Friendly Islands, from the An- 

 nual Conference to which they were attached, 

 and the erection of an independent church. 

 The trouble began in 1881, when a popular 

 missionary was recalled by the Conference au- 

 thorities, and a district chairman was removed 

 from his position. The revolt was led by the 

 King, and has resulted in the secession of about 

 seven eighths of the members to the new church. 

 No change is intended, either in creed or pol- 

 ity, but the churches will simply form an inde- 

 pendent Conference. It is said, however, on 

 the authority of the "Fiji Times," that perse- 

 cution has been instituted to force the people 

 to accept the new ecclesiastical organization. 



MEXICO) a confederated republic of North 

 America; area, 748,144 square miles; popula- 

 tion in 1883, 10,025,649. (For details, see the 

 u Annual Cyclopedia " for 1882 and 1884. ) 



Government. The President is Don Porfirio 

 Diaz, elected for four years, beginning Dec. 1, 

 1884. His Cabinet is composed of the follow- 

 ing ministers : Foreign Relations, Sefior Igna- 

 cio Mariscal ; War, Gen. Pedro Hinojosa ; Pub- 

 lic Works, Gen. Pacheco ; Justice, Sefior Joa- 

 quin Baranda ; Finance, Sefior Manuel Dublan; 

 Interior, Sefior Manuel Romero Rubio. The 

 Minister to the United States is Sefior M. Ro- 

 mero ; the United States Minister to Mexico is 

 Gen. Jackson ; the Mexican Consul-Genera] in 

 New York is Sefior J. N. Navarro. 



Sanitary. In November President Diaz, ac- 

 companied by the Ministers of the Treasury, 

 Public Works, and Interior, made a visit of in- 

 spection along the route of the proposed sewer 

 for draining the valley of Mexico. The plans 

 involve the construction of a canal from Lake 

 Tezcuco to Lake Zumpango ; then the water 

 is to pass through a tunnel five and a half 

 miles long. The estimated expense of the 

 work is $4,000,000. 



Finances* In June, 1885, the entire national 

 debt of Mexico, so far as recognized, was $125,- 

 000,000, involving an annual interest charge of 

 $4,500,000. The financial embarrassment of 

 the Government had been growing steadily 

 worse ; hence the President and his Cabinet 

 resolved on applying a remedy which, though 

 severe, it was hoped would give the Govern- 

 ment a chance to recover from its pecuniary 

 distress. By official decree of the President it 

 was announced, on June 22, that from the date 

 of the law all taxes in force should be paid in 

 cash or notes of the National Bank of Mexico, 

 and that custom-house certificates were no 

 longer receivable. The second article of the 

 decree provided that, for the purpose of with- 

 drawing from circulation notes and bills con- 

 stituting the floating debt, and to cover pend- 

 ing obligations, the Federal Treasury should 

 issue treasury bonds of the value of $25,000,000 

 at 6 per cent., payable in twenty-five years. 

 Provision was made for the issue of suitable 

 bonds with fifty-two semi-annual coupons, 

 these bonds to be made payable to bearer, the 

 National Bank of Mexico to undertake payment 

 of the interest on the new bonds and their re- 

 demption, the commission to be paid the bank 

 to be arranged hereafter. The decree con- 

 tained the following passage : 



It has been seen by the President that the probable 

 income of the ensuing fiscal year would not meet t 

 expenses fixed by the recent budget, and in ordei 

 equitably to apportion the necessary retrenchment 

 salaries of over $500 per annum are to be subjectec 

 discounts : On salaries of from $500 to $1,000, 10 per 

 cent. : on salaries of from $1 ,000 to $2,000, 15 per cent. ; 

 on salaries of from $2,000 to $6,000, 20 per cent. ; < 

 salaries of from $6,000 to $15,000, 25 per cent.; 

 salaries over $15,000, 50 per cent. Each offic: 

 whose salary is reduced receives from the treasury 

 a certificate of indebtedness covering the percentage 

 taken off. 



