Mexico of Today 



153 



judgment, but the opinions of persons 

 and newspapers who have nothing to 

 expect or fear from Mexico. 



Some years ago I knew by sight a 

 tourist who went to Mexico City and 

 staid there exactly a week, not know- 

 ing, of course, a single word of Spanish, 

 and on his return home published an 

 article on Mexico, relating all his ro- 

 mantic adventures in the countr)', among 

 which was an attack by a band of rob- 

 bers on a stage coach where that remark- 

 able man was traveling. The captain 

 of this band was none other than a black- 

 eyed SeiT[orita,who practiced the danger- 

 ous and romantic vocation of highway- 

 robbery. All those adventures were 

 very entertaining, and their only fault 

 was not to have an\' existence except 

 in the fertile imagination of their in- 

 ventor. 



Within the past thirty years the means 

 of transportation have wonderfully in- 

 creased. Instead of sailing vessels and a 

 steamer every three weeks, there are now 

 two regular steamers every week and 

 many "tramp" steamers, and bj' land 

 we have four railroad lines connecting 

 the two countries. 



The configuration of the land of Mex- 

 ico is ver}' peculiar ; low near the coasts, 

 it ascends continually and very rapidh' 

 to the interior, until an altitude from 

 ■6,000 to 10,000 feet is reached above the 

 sea-level, arriving at what is called the 

 ''table land." 



Our capital, Mexico City, has an ele- 

 vation of nearh^ 7,400 feet — that is to 

 say, it is from Soo to 900 feet higher 

 than the highest peak of Mt. Washing- 

 ton, which has an elevation of 6,500 feet. 

 Although the cit}^ is only a little more 

 than 19 degrees north of the Equator, 

 it never experiences a tropical summer. 

 That a light overcoat is needed in the 

 evening at every season of the 3- ear is 

 seldom appreciated by foreign travelers, 

 who, under the notion of visiting a trop- 

 ical country, come provided onlj^ with 

 summer clothing, and thus often con- 



tract diseases consequent upon exposure 

 to the cold air. 



Not a single navigable river traverses 

 the whole country. This unfavorable 

 natural condition has necessitated the 

 building of many railroads at an enor- 

 mous cost over the mountainous soil. 



Our constitution is similar to that of 

 the United States in the main points. 

 Mexico is a federal republic, divided 

 into States and Territories ; the former 

 ruled by their particular constitutions, 

 and the latter directly governed by the 

 federal authorities. The executive is 

 appointed by popular election every four 

 years, but as the constitution prescribes 

 no limits for reelection, we all have had 

 the pleasure, and, in our opinion, the 

 good sense, of reelecting General Diaz 

 for the fifth term, ending on November 

 30, 1904. 



Perhaps some persons will not deem 

 it in accordance with republican ideas 

 to reelect a man so many times, but we 

 Mexican citizens answer that if it is not 

 in accordance with certain theoietical 

 principles, it is in perfect conformity 

 with that sense called comvion preci.sely 

 because it is so rare. 



The president of a republic is the attor- 

 ney , elected by the citizens to administer 

 for a certain period, under prescribed 

 rules established by the constitution, 

 their foreign and interior affairs. If we 

 find a person who performs the duties 

 imposed upon him with remarkable abil- 

 ity and honesty, as we Mexican citizens 

 believe that a man of that kind cannot be 

 very easily found, we renew our power of 

 attorney for another four years, leaving 

 intact the most severe maxims of repub- 

 licanism. 



This custom of changing as little as 

 possible those public officers who for the 

 performance of their duties require a 

 certain amount of technical instruction 

 and experience is very old in Mexico. 

 Even in the times when political parties 

 waged terrible war upon each other, caus- 

 ing frequent changes of administration, 



