Mexico of Today 



37 



pronounced to be the best by technical 

 commissions after long, conscientious, 

 and severe trials, and our artiller}- in- 

 cludes some pieces of a system invented 

 by one of its best officers. Colonel 

 Mondragon. 



The cavalry is composed of excellent 

 riders, very easy to find in Mexico, and 

 provided with horses selected expressly 

 for military service. 



The barracks are not as before — places 

 for keeping the soldiers — but schools 

 where reading, writing, and elementary 

 arithmetic and different trades are 

 taught. The troops are subject to the 

 strictest discipline, but at the same time 

 the inferior has always within his reach 

 the means to redress an injustice or to 

 prevent or have punished an ill-treat- 

 ment from his superior. The military 

 code has been one of the works to which 

 the government has particular!}' di- 

 rected its attention, to put it in perfect 

 harmony with justice and the republi- 

 can institutions ruling the country. 

 The ambulance and hospital branch re- 

 ceives continual additions to its equip- 

 ment, and is formed from many of the 

 best surgeons and physicians. Expe- 

 rience has proved its efficiency. There 

 are officers selected by the government 

 studying in foreign countries, and their 

 observations are applied to the improve- 

 ment of our army. 



Very recently the government has 

 issued a decree for the reorganization of 

 the army, with the object of keeping in 

 active service the same number of troops 

 we have now, but of supplying the means 

 to increase that force to the extent of 

 some hundreds of thousands in time of 

 necessity, and adding as a reserve the 

 whole nation in the case of a foreign 

 invasion. 



Our navy is in its infanc}^ but the 

 flotilla we have around Yucatan to pro- 

 vision the land troops and to cooperate 

 with them and to subdue those of the 

 Maya Indians who refuse to obey the 

 laws regulating a civilized community 



is rendering invaluable services. Little 

 by little the number and size of our war 

 vessels will be increased, as our govern- 

 ment never loses sight of that important 

 branch of national defense. 



To conclude, Mexico is a country 

 endowed with many natural gifts, ruled 

 by a wise government and republican in- 

 stitutions equal to the United States in 

 essential points, inhabited by 14,000,000 

 intelligent, peaceful, and industrious 

 people, remarkable for their natural cour- 

 tesy and hospitality, which is extended 

 to all without distinction of nationality. 



Mexico cultivates friendly relations 

 with the whole civilized world, and is in 

 the most intimate intercourse with the 

 Government and people of the United 

 States. 



The governors of the States, into 

 which the Republic is divided, cooperate 

 intelligently with the federal authorities 

 to establish and maintain all moral and 

 material improvements. 



There is a complete and constantly 

 improving system of public education, 

 uniform in the country, which is mak- 

 ing education compulsory and gratui- 

 tous, and the schools, nearly 13,000, are 

 attended by numerous pupils, and the 

 extension of elementary knowledge to 

 the lowest classes of our people is the 

 best proof of the methods employed. 



Industry'- in all its branches is growing 

 at a worderful pace, and the number of 

 manufactories is in constant progress 

 and their products are of a high grade. 



The means of communication are 

 numerous, there being in actual opera- 

 tion more than 9,000 miles of excellent 

 railroads, and more than 61,000 miles of 

 telegraphic and telephonic lines, and 

 different submarine cables for communi- 

 cation with every civilized nation. 



The national and international postal 

 system is now very good and growing 

 continually to a degree of great perfec- 

 tion. 



The national treasury is in a flourish- 

 ing condition, and we Mexicans can saj^ 



