MEXICO. 



501 



each of the colonies. They were brought to a 

 conclusion for South Australia and West Aus- 

 tralia in August, when at a meeting of the Meth- 

 odist Federal Council, representing the Wesleyan, 

 Primitive Methodist, and Bible Christian Confer- 

 ences, held in Adelaide, the plan of union was 

 adopted clause by clause and officially signed by 

 the presidents of the several bodies. It was un- 

 derstood that the union for those colonies should 

 go into effect on the first day of January, 1900. 



South African Conference. The latest re- 

 turns from the South African Conference (March, 

 1899) show a church membership of 51,98(5, with 

 22,544 on trial. The English missionaries num- 

 bered 127 and the native ministers 72, with nearly 

 200 evangelists. Six hundred and eighty-four 

 churches and 510 Sunday schools were returned. 

 MEXICO, a federal republic in North America. 

 The legislative power is vested in the Congress, 

 consisting of a Senate of 56 members, 2 from each 

 state and the federal district, and a House of 

 Representatives, con- 

 taining 227 members, 

 who are elected for 

 two years by the 

 votes of all respect- 

 able adult male citi- 

 zens. The President 

 is elected by colleges 

 of electors for four 

 years. Gen. Porfirio 

 Diaz was elected in 

 187-6 and again in 

 1884, and, the con- 

 stitutional disability 

 of a President to 

 succeed himself hav- 

 ing been removed in 



^^^ 1887, he has been re- 



elected three times, 



his last term ending Nov. 30, 1900. His Cabinet at 

 the beginning of 1899 was composed as follows: 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, I. Mariscal ; Minister of 

 the Interior, Gen. M. Gonzalez Cosio; Minister of 

 Justice and Public Instruction, J. Barranda ; Min- 

 ister of Fomento, M. Fernandez-Leal ; Minister of 

 Finance, J. J. Limantour; Minister of Communi- 

 cations and Public Works, Gen. F. Z. Mena; 

 Minister of War and Marine, Gen. F. B. Berrioza- 

 bal; Treasurer, F. Espinosa. 



Area and Population. The area of Mexico is 

 767,005 square miles. The population on Oct. 20, 

 1895, was 12,619,959. About 19 per cent, of the 

 people are white, 43 per cent, of mixed blood, 

 and 38 per cent, pure Indian. The number of 

 marriages registered in 1895 was 53,691 ; of births, 

 383,747; of deaths, 391,177. The educated white 

 class numbers about 2,000,000. About an equal 

 number of whites and half-breeds are partially 

 educated, and are employed as foremen and over- 

 seers in mines, farms, and cattle ranches. The 

 Indians, who do the manual labor of the country, 

 are illiterate and have but few wants, to supply 

 which they work hard but intermittently. Amer- 

 ican mine managers and engineers, business 

 agents, planters, ranchers, railroad officials and 

 employees, and skilled laborers of various kinds 

 have emigrated to Mexico in increasing numbers. 

 Finances. The total receipts of the Govern- 

 ment in 1898 were $52,748,712 in silver; expendi- 

 tures, $51,815,286. The budget estimates for the 

 year ending June 30, 1900, make the revenue 

 $54.913,000, of which $24,192.000 are derived from 

 import and export duties, $22,411,000 from inter- 

 nal taxes collected in the states, $2,931,000 from 

 internal taxes collected in the federal district and 

 territories, $3,907,000 from public services, and 



PORFIRIO DIAZ, 

 PRESIDENT OF MEXICO. 



$1,472,000 from the mint and patent office. The 

 total expenditure is estimated at $54,880,756, of 

 which $1,019,243 are for the legislative power, 

 $82,469 for the executive power, $449,451 for the 

 judicial power, $553,804 for foreign affairs, $3,904,- 

 0(51 for the Interior Department, $2,44(5,1 10 for jus- 

 tice and education, $818,42(5 for agriculture, 

 $6,162,078 for public works, $(5,2(55,717 for finance, 

 $21,021,042 for the public debt and pensions, and 

 $12,164,356 for war and marine. The revenue of 

 the states in 1896 was $14,971,057, and expendi- 

 ture $14,472,906; the revenue of municipalities 

 was $11,779,976, and expenditure $11,670,784. 

 The federal receipts are estimated for 1900 at 

 $56,140,000, and expenditures at $56,028,630. 



The national debt on Jan. 1, 1899, amounted 

 to $201,143,121, of which $108,555,100 represented 

 foreign loans. The foreign gold debt, formerly 

 paying 6 per cent, interest, was converted by ar- 

 rangement with German and American bankers 

 in July, 1899, into $111,929,500 of 5-per-cent. 

 bonds guaranteed by the customs, inconvertible 

 for ten years and redeemable in forty-five years. 

 Most of the bonds were placed in Germany, where 

 the old debt was mainly held, and the rest in the 

 United States and England. The 6-per-cent. 

 silver-currency bonds had all been redeemed by 

 the beginning of 1899 except $186,000. There is 

 a 3-per-cent. internal consolidated debt, which 

 amounted at the end of 1897 to $51,175,200, and a 

 5-per-cent. redeemable debt, the amount of which 

 was $35,781,400, issued for the conversion of rail- 

 road guarantee bonds and loans raised for har- 

 bor improvements. Of this, $8,000,000 were placed 

 in Germany in 1899. 



The Army and Navy. The standing army 

 consists of 22,605 infantry, 7,249 cavalry, and 

 2,289 artillery and train; total, 32,143 men, in- 

 cluding 2,068 officers. The war effective is 123,- 

 500 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, and 8,000 artillery. 

 Besides the active army, there are the auxiliary 

 troops, the active army reserve, and the general 

 reserve. 



The naval force consists of the steel cruiser 

 Zaragoza, of 1,200 tons, built in France in 1891; 

 2 old gunboats, of 425 tons, armed with 4-ton 

 guns; and 2 antiquated dispatch boats. An 

 armor clad, a cruiser, 4 new gunboats, and 5 first- 

 class torpedo boats are being added. 



Commerce and Production. The production 

 of Indian corn in 1896 was 25,833,503 hectolitres; 

 of wheat, 601,782 tons; of rice, 44,275 tons; of 

 sugar, 71,429 tons; of panocha, 62,688 tons; of 

 molasses, 52,749 tons ; of brandy, 5,663,757 hecto- 

 litres; of henequen, 531,319 tons; of cotton, 29,- 

 185 tons; of logwood, 67,853 tons; of cacao, 1,313 

 tons; of coffee, 13,254 tons; of tobacco, 15,875 

 tons; of rum, 328,986 tons. Large numbers of 

 cattle are raised in northern Mexico to be fattened 

 and slaughtered in the United States. The min- 

 eral products include gold, silver, lead, zinc, iron, 

 copper, quicksilver, tin, cobalt, antimony, sul- 

 phur, coal, and petroleum. About a third* of the 

 mining establishments, which numbered 3.167 in 

 1894, belong to foreign companies or individuals. 

 The quantity of gold brought to the mints and 

 assay offices in 1896 was 6,289 kilogrammes, value 

 $4,247,760; of silver, 1,314,849 kilogrammes, value 

 $58,044,820. The total value of imports in 1898 was 

 $43,603,492; of exports. $75,042.332 of precious 

 metals and $53,930,417 of merchandise. The value 

 of silver exported was $35,721.275; of silver coin, 

 $18.214,989; of silver ore. $11,137.996; of gold, 

 $6,364,308; of henequen. $11,564,519; of coffee, 

 $10,649,119; of cattle. $4.507,327; of tobacco, 

 $4,489,768; of timber, $3,597,069; of hides and 

 skins, $3,590,477; of zacaton root, $1.196,293; of 



