postal Service, 123 



Mexico for the 27 fiscal years which elapsed from July i, 1869, to 

 June 30, 1896, and such data as it is possible to obtain for the ten 

 years which elapsed from July i, 1869,1.0 June 30, 1879. 



Cables. Up to 1887 there was no communication between Mexico 

 and foreign countries. In 1880 the Mexican Cable Co. built their 

 cables from Galveston to Tampico, Veracruz and Coatzacoalcos, on 

 the Gulf of Mexico, and a telegraphic line from Coatzacoalcos to Salina 

 Cruz, on the Pacific, which was extended to Central and South Amer- 

 ica. Cables had been laid between Jicalango and El Carmen and be- 

 tween the rivers Grijalva and Coatzacoalcos, and now through those 

 cables we are in direct communication with the United States and 

 Europe. 



POSTAL SERVICE. 



Our postal service has improved considerably of late. It was until 

 recently quite imperfect on account of the difficult and expensive ways 

 of communication. It used to be slow and so expensive that it was 

 almost prohibitory, and up to 1870 the single postage of a letter, weigh- 

 ing one quarter an ounce was 25 cents, and double for any distance ex- 

 ceeding sixty miles. After Mexico entered into the Universal Postal 

 Union, in 1870, the postage of letters for foreign countries was reduced 

 to 5 cents, and that reduction made it necessary to reduce the home 

 postage from 25 to 10 cents. Recently it has been reduced again from 

 10 to 5 cents. 



There were in the whole country, in 1883, one head post-office at 

 the national capital, 53 first-class post-offices, 265 second class, for 

 the most part inefficient, and 518 postal agencies, little better than use- 

 less. The entire service as it was being rendered at 837 stations. The 

 evils resulting from the very high postage were further aggravated by 

 the insecurity of the mails. The revenue of the postal department in 

 that year amounted to $817,244. 



The total number of post-offices and postal agencies in 1893 was 

 1448, and the mail pouches are now transported on railways over a total 

 distance of 10,000 kilometres, or more than 6000 miles. Over the re- 

 maining distances in the interior the mails are conveyed either by 

 stages or by foot or mounted carriers. 



President Diaz gives in his report of November 30, 1896, the follow- 

 ing statistics about our postal services : 



Post Offices. Postal Agencies. 



1877 53 269 



1888 356 719 



1892 356 1430 



1895 469 ,..1471 



1896 471 1500 



