520 



MEXICO. 



eluding the affiliated conferences and missions ; 

 (b) the United States, including its missions and 

 mission conferences ; (c) Australasia, with Poly- 

 nesia and its other missions ; (d) Canada, with its 

 mission." The churches represented in the Con- 

 ference were therefore requested "tp consider 

 whether such concerted action be possible, and, if 

 so, by what means and in what way." A scheme 

 for the erection of a bronze statue of John Wes- 

 ley in the city of Washington was approved, and 

 a committee was appointed to further it. Fra- 

 ternal delegates to the Presbyterian Council of 

 1892, to be held in Toronto, Ontario, were pro- 

 vided for. A memorial was addressed to the com- 

 missioners of the Columbian Exposition against 

 opening the fair on Sunday. Resolutions were 

 passed on the subject of social purity, against im- 

 moral legislation, and urging that men of noto- 

 riously immoral life should not be allowed to 

 occupy places of public trust and authority ; ex- 

 pressing sympathy with movements for the abo- 

 lition of the opium traffic in Asia ; and the fol- 

 lowing on the subjects mentioned in it : 



This Conference views with deep concern the sub- 

 tile and persistent efforts of the Roman hierarchy to' 

 make its power felt outside its own proper sphere in 

 many lands, to the detriment and danger of the civil 

 and religious liberties of the people. 



This Conference recognizes with satisfaction the 

 fact that the Roman Catholic laity have in notable 

 instances had the courage and the wisdom to with- 

 stand the unwarrantable pretensions of their ecclesi- 

 astical superiors, and the Conference further disclaims 

 any intentions to seek for itself or the churches it rep- 

 resents a single privilege which it would not readily 

 concede to all others: but it feels bound to remind 

 the members of these churches of the sue red rights and 

 privileges they enjoy, won for them by the sacrifices 

 and fidelity of their forefathers, and to call on them to 

 unite with the members of other Protestant churches 

 in maintaining their great inheritance of freedom, 

 and handing down the same intact to the succeeding 

 generations. 



A pastoral address was issued to the ministers 

 and members of all the Methodist churches 

 throughout the world. 



African Methodist Union. A meeting of 

 representatives of the African, African Zion, and 

 Colored Methodist Episcopal Churches was held 

 in Washington during the session of the Metho- 

 dist (Ecumenical Conference, in favor of frater- 

 nity and organic union. Resolutions were passed 

 favorable to organic union The bishops of the 

 several churches represented were requested to 

 present the subject to their several annual con- 

 ferences and to advocate the appointment of a 

 commission concerning it ; and a committee was 

 appointed to publish accounts of all matters in 

 connection with the Conference. 



MEXICO. A federal republic in North 

 America. The legislative power is vested in the 

 Congress, consisting of a Senate, in which each 

 of the 27 States and the Federal District is rep- 

 resented by two members elected indirectly for 

 four years, and of the Chamber of Deputies, the 

 members of which are elected biennially by direct 

 popular suffrage. One half of the Senators retire 

 every two years. The Congress meets on Sept. 16 

 for general legislative business, and adjourns on 

 Dec. 15, unless the session is prolonged thirty 

 days more. On April 1 it comes together again, 

 and till May 31 is occupied with auditing the ac- 

 counts of the previous finanjial year and passing 



the budget for the year to come. The President 

 of the United Mexican States is chosen for four 

 years by an electoral body created by the general 

 suffrage. The President has the right to appoint 

 and remove the seven Secretaries of State. Gen. 

 Porfirio Diaz entered on his second term as Presi- 

 dent on Dec. 1, 1888. The Cabinet at the begin- 

 ning of 1891 was made up of the following mem- 

 bers: Secretary of Foreign Relations, Ignacio M. 

 Mariscal ; Secretary of Finance, M. Dublan ; Sec- 

 retary of War and the Navy, Gen. Pedro Ilino- 

 josa ; Secretary of the Interior, Manuel R. Rubio ; 

 Secretary of Justice and Public Instruction, Joa- 

 quin Baranda; Secretary of Public Works and 

 Commerce, C. Pacheco. In June Benito Gomez 

 Farias became Minister of Finance, and Manuel 

 Fernandez Leal was appointed Secretary of Pub- 

 lic Works. Colonization, and Industry. On July 1 

 a new department, that of Communications and 

 Commerce, was created, of which Manuel Q. Cosio 

 was made Secretary. 



Area and Population. The area of Mexico 

 is 751,664 square miles. About 19 per cent, of 

 the native inhabitants are of pure Spanish blood, 

 ,38 per cent. Indians, and 43 per cent, of mixed 

 blood. The great majority of the people profess 

 the Roman Catholic religion, which has, however, 

 no legal advantage over other forms of faith. 

 Monastic orders are not allowed, marriage is a 

 civil contract, and religious societies are forbid- 

 den to hold land. Education in most States is 

 gratuitous and compulsory. There, were 10,726 

 elementary schools in 1888, with 543,977 pupils, 

 besides a great number of intermediate schools, 

 colleges, and professional and technical schools. 



Finance. The Federal Government derives 

 its revenue from import and export duties, 

 stamps, and internal taxes on certain articles of 

 consumption and from contributions levied on 

 the individual States. The States levy direct 

 taxes, and have hitherto imposed excise duties on 

 imported and domestic merchandise. In 1891 a 

 revision of the system of State taxation was taken 

 in hand with the design of doing away with the 

 duties on imported articles. The Federal rev- 

 enue in 18!)0-'91 was estimated in the budget at 

 $41,770,000, and expenditure at $38,452,804. The 

 foreign debt, contracted in London and Berlin, is 

 16,500,000, consisting of 10,500.000 of 6-per- 

 cent, bonds issued in 1888 for the purpose of re- 

 deeming the old defaulted debts at the rate of 

 40 cents on the dollar in accordance with an ar- 

 rangement concluded with the creditors in June, 

 1886, and of a further loan of 6,000,000 obtained 

 in September, 1890, to enable the Government to 

 pay off arrears of railroad subventions. The 

 internal debt, as far as it has been converted, 

 amounts to $31,500,000. In 1890 Congress au- 

 thorized the Minister of Finance to arrange a 

 compromise with the holders of the old Spanish 

 bonds of the nominal amount of $14,000.000. 

 The Federal revenue increased from $14,882,366 

 in 1868-'69 to $32,385,981 in 1888-'89. In 1889-90 

 the expenditure was $36,765,895, of which the 

 items were $12,449,693 for army and navy, $6,- 

 145,555 for public works. $5,910,370 for financial 

 administration, $5,400.003 for the debt, $3,553,- 

 428 for the interior, $1,350,471 for education and 

 worship, $1.009.036 for legislation, $465,095 for 

 justice, $432,695 for foreign relations, and $49,- 

 849 for the executive. 



