404 



MEXICO. 



try are armed with Mauser rifles of 7 millimeters 

 caliber, the cavalry with carbines of the same 

 system, the artillery with Hange field-pieces of 

 7.9 centimeters caliber and Gruson mountain 

 guns. The war strength is estimated at 60 gen- 

 erals, 3,400 other officers, 120,000 infantry, 20,000 

 cavalry, and 6,000 artillery. Every Mexican be- 

 tween the ages of twenty and fifty is liable to 

 military service in case of war. 



The naval force consisted in 1901 of the de- 

 spatch steamers Democrata and Mexico, of 450 

 tons each, dating from 1875; the gunboat Inde- 

 pendencia and Libertad, each of 425 tons, about 

 as old; and the school-ship Zaragosa, of 1,200 

 tons, built in 1891. An armored river gunboat 

 has been ordered; and 5 first-class torpedo-boats, 

 an armor-clad vessel, 2 cruisers, 4 gunboats, and 

 2 transports were authorized to be built. The 

 Tampico and Yera Cruz, small gunboats, were 

 launched at Elizabeth, N. J., in 1901, and work 

 was begun on 2 cruisers of 1,800 tons. 



Commerce and Production. The production 

 of corn in 1899 was 32,927,278 hectoliters; of 

 wheat, 252,720 metric tons; of rice, 23,103 tons; 

 of beans, 3,288,847 hectoliters; of sugar, 68,607,- 

 652 kilograms; of panocha, 59,189,362 kilograms; 

 of molasses, 62,076,460 kilograms; of spirits, 

 1,117,877 hectoliters; of cotton, 22,487,517 kilo- 

 grams; of henequen, 118,878,440 kilograms; of 

 logwood, 45,422,946 kilograms; of cacao, 1,032,437 

 kilograms; of coffee, 37,609,264 kilograms; of 

 tobacco, 7,868,767 kilograms ; of fermented 

 liquors, 6,550,206 hectoliters. In the five years 

 from 1894 to 1898 inclusive titles of 1,818,657 hec- 

 tares of land were granted to companies which 

 surveyed and mapped public lands, receiving a 

 third of all they surveyed; settlers from 1893 

 to 1898 inclusive acquired titles to 756,592 hec- 

 tares, and 476,141 hectares were sold from 1894 

 to 1898 inclusive; colonists from 1896 to the end 

 of 1899 received 2,360 hectares. There were 13 

 agricultural settlements, containing 3,926 colo- 

 nists, which the Government established, and 12, 

 with 3,926 members, were founded by colonizing 

 companies and private individuals. 



There were 1,142 mines worked in 1899, of 

 which 84 produced gold, 278 gold and silver, 117 

 gold and other metals, 256 silver, 171 silver and 

 lead, 114 silver and other metals, 34 zinc, 34 cop- 

 per, 7 copper and iron, 20 lead, 6 lead with zinc 

 and iron, 40 antimony and cinnabar, 7 sulfur, tin, 

 and graphite, and 425 were not yet productive. 

 The value of ores produced was $89,044,000. The 

 number of workers was 106,536, including 1,288 

 women and 5,852 children. In the year ending 

 June 30, 1899, the quantity of gold presented at 

 the mints and assay offices was 5,986 kilograms, 

 valued at $4,043,374; of silver, 1,417,216 kilo- 

 grams, valued at $57,985,400; total value, $62,- 

 028,774. In addition to this there were exported 

 5.066 kilograms of gold, value $3,421,700. and 

 D52.939 kilograms of silver, value $38,989,491; 

 total value, $42,611,191. There were 2,211 distil- 

 leries in 1899, producing 864,858 gallons of spirits. 

 There were 118 cotton factories, with 468,547 spin- 

 dles, 13,944 looms, and 27 machines for printing 

 calico, consuming 57,201,573 pounds of cotton 

 and producing 3,795,446 pounds of yam and 

 9.875.764 pieces of cloth. The number of tobacco 

 factories was 721, and these worked up - 5,546,567 

 kilograms of tobacco. 



The total value of imports in the year ending 

 June 30, 1901, was $66,083,451 in gold. The value 

 of exports of merchandise in 1900 was $79.031.336 

 Mexican; of precious metals. $71.025.024; total 

 exports, $150.056.360 Mexican in 1900 and $148.- 

 656,338 in 1901. The exports of mineral product - 



in 1901 were $97,924,498 in value, against $84,988,- 

 572 in 1900; of vegetable products, $36,149,110, 

 against $50,939,474; of animals, $11,495,129, 

 against $10,633,713; of manufactured products, 

 $2,395,044, against $2,813,687; of miscellaneous 

 products, $692,557, against $680,914. The bulk of 

 the trade in the year ending June 30, 1901, was 

 distributed among different countries as follows: 



The imports at the port of Vera Cruz in 1901 

 were $22,328,154 in gold, and exports $21,892,184 

 Mexican; imports at the port of Tampico were 

 $9,712,956 gold and exports $43,880,140 Mexican. 



Navigation. The number of vessels engaged 

 in foreign commerce entered at Mexican ports 

 during 1900 was 1,541, of 2,245,166 tons; in the 

 coasting-trade, 7,364 vessels, of 4,425,263 tons. 

 The merchant marine, including small coasters, 

 consisted of 17 steamers, of 3,961 tons, and 50 

 sailing vessels, of 8,445 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads in operation in 1901 was 9,600 

 miles. The Tehuantepec Railroad from Coatza- 

 coalcos on the Gulf of Mexico to Salina Cruz, 

 on the Pacific, 190 miles, completed as a Gov- 

 ernment undertaking in 1893 at a cost of $27,000,- 

 000 Mexican, has been operated at an annual loss 

 of $2,500,000. In 1897 the line was jeased to an 

 English firm, which with the aid of a subsidy of 

 $5,000,000 has improved both harbors, established 

 a line of steamers to England, and equipped the 

 railroad for a large interoceanic traffic. 



The post-office in 1901 handled 148,086.513 let- 

 ters and postal cards; receipts, $2,135,570; ex- 

 penses, $5,638,512. 



The telegraphs in 1900 had 42,843 miles of line, 

 of which the Federal Government owned 28,560 

 miles; number of despatches, 2,604,711. The 

 length of telephone-lines was 18,955 miles. 



The Yaqui War. The Mexican Government 

 in a guerrilla warfare which has lasted twenty- 

 four years, with only two intermissions of two 

 years, has not yet subdued the Yaqui tribe 

 in northern Mexico. In 1902 the war was waged 

 more relentlessly than at any previous time. The 

 Yaquis rebelled immediately after Mexican inde- 

 pendence in 1821, and whenever the Mexican au- 

 thorities attempted to impose their jurisdiction 

 a war resulted. The last long war was broken 

 by the peace signed at Ortiz in 1897, but the 

 Indians again renewed hostilities as soon as they 

 had repaired their strongholds, and since then 

 3,000 Mexican soldiers have been kept busy in a 

 final effort to reduce the tribe to submission. 

 The Yaquis are such brave and able fighters that 

 a band of 40 or 50 will hold off several times as 

 many Mexican soldiers. In 1901 they lost sev- 

 eral hundred braves, and in the first half of l!'i>- 

 their losses were still heavier. In a skirmish that 

 occurred in July in Sonora near Turin 35 of them 

 were killed, while the Mexicans lost only 5 men. 

 When beaten they hide themselves in the moun- 

 tains where the troops of Gen. Torres can not 

 penetrate. Their hatred of whites dates from 

 the time of the Spanish conquest, when they were 

 subjected to frightful cruelties, and yet were not 

 conquered. From 180.000, the estimate of tlieir 

 number at that time, they were reduced to 35,000 

 in 1821. five of their p'ueblo* having been de- 

 stroyed by the Spaniards during three centuries 



