The New Mexico 



an industry, its total valuation being 

 considerably greater, but its export 

 value beingless than thepreeious metals. 

 Farming on a large scale has been quite 

 profitable, the price of corn, the chief 

 article of food of the masses, being usu- 

 ally twice as high as in theUnited States, 

 as it is protected by a heavy duty . The 

 production of sugar, on large planta- 

 tions, is also a profitable industry, but 

 the yield is barely sufficient for the 

 home consumption; and although pos- 

 sessing a large area of sugar-producing 

 lands, the country has as yet never been 

 an exporter to any considerable extent. 

 The most promising agricultural indus- 

 try for development is coffee culture, 

 there being vast areas well adapted for 

 it, and its exportation has considerably 

 increased of late years. Many of these 

 lands have recently passed into the 

 hands of American companies and citi- 

 zens, and quite an impetus has been 

 given to these enterprises, as well as 

 others for the development of rubber. 

 But most of these enterprises are still 

 in the incipient stage, their permanent 

 profit not yet having been fully demon- 

 strated. 



EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ADVANCE- 

 MENT 



Did time permit much might be said 

 of the social advancement of the people 

 under the Diaz regime. In the past 

 twent}'-five years special attention has 

 been given by the Government to ed- 

 ucational matters, particularly to the 

 public primary schools, which are now 

 maintained in every political district. 

 Their influence and the general pros- 

 perity are beginning to be felt in the 

 elevation and intelligence of the masses. 

 Newspapers are more widely circulated 

 and read. Twenty-five years ago the 

 circulation of the most widely read 

 newspaper scarcely reached 15,000 cop- 

 ies, and that was regarded as phenom- 



enal. Newspapers today issue fifty to 

 sixty thousand copies, and they are 

 read largely by the common people. 

 The wages of mechanics in the capital 

 and along the lines of railway have in- 

 creased fifty per cent, and the working 

 classes live in greater comfort. 



As illustrative of the quickened moral 

 standard of the people, a strong tem- 

 perance movement has been organized 

 in the City of Mexico and has extended 

 to the other important cities. During 

 my recent Stay in the country, it was 

 being visited by one of the officers of 

 the Woman's Temperance Christian 

 Union of the United States, and though 

 it was quite unusual in that land for a 

 woman to appear on the platform, this 

 lady in her crusade against intemper- 

 ance was received with enthusiasm, 

 gratuitous use of the largest theaters 

 was tendered her, she was introduced 

 by the governors of states, and given 

 free access to the public schools. 



For a generation past Mexico has oc- 

 cupied the most advanced position of 

 any of the Latin-American states re- 

 specting religious toleration, absolute 

 freedom of worship being guaranteed 

 by the constitution and enforced by the 

 government. The mass of the people 

 are devout Catholics, but the present 

 archbishop is a man of liberal views, 

 and he has done much to reconcile the 

 people to the new order which Juarez 

 established after the long and bloody 

 war against the clerical party. The 

 Protestant movement at first evoked op- 

 position and violent outbreaks, but all 

 that has passed, and its propagandism 

 is peacefully tolerated in all parts of 

 the land. Compared with the Catholic 

 Church, its adherents as yet are few in 

 numbers, but it has exerted a marked 

 influence on that church. The morals 

 and education of its clergy have been 

 raised. The necessity of more preach- 

 ing is recognized, pews are being intro- 

 duced, the churches are cleaner and less 



