OUR NEIGHBOR, MEXICO 



481 



AVKNIDA CINCO DE MAYO, CITY OE MEXICO, SHOWING MUTUAL, UEE BUILDING AND 

 THE UNFINISHED NATIONAL THEATER, WITH ALAMEDA GROVE IN BACKGROUND 



This avenue extends from the National Theater to the main cathedral 



ico in a distance of 192 miles* (but little 

 greater than that from New York to Bal- 

 timore), with a summit about 700 feet 

 above sea-level. The importance of this 

 Tehuantepec railroad is emphasized by 

 traffic valued at 70 million dollars, origi- 

 nating in or destined for the United 

 States, carried in 1910, of which 20 mil- 

 lion dollars was from Hawaii, mostly 

 sugar, fully 140,000 tons of this com- 

 modity being shipped to Philadelphia 

 (see also page 489). 



The saving of 1,100 miles of transit 

 and the enormous expenditures made for 

 modern docks and equipment to facili- 

 tate handling freight, is Mexico's claim 

 for preference over the Panama route. 



THE HISTORY OE MEXICO 



During nearly 300 years subsequent to 

 the conquest by Cortes, Spain dominated 

 Mexico, introducing arts — mainly, how- 

 ever, in connection with church archi- 



* The Isthmus of Tehuantepec was discussed 

 in the National Geographic Magazine of 

 December, 1910. 



tecture and embellishment — aqueducts, 

 and bridges, and provided education, 

 limited practically to the clergy or those 

 preparing for clerical duties. Industries, 

 except mining or such as produced mate- 

 rial to enrich the Crown, were generally 

 discouraged, and attempts by Mexicans 

 to raise or manufacture anything pro- 

 duced in Spain were repressed. 



A country whose resources had been 

 improperly developed, in fact retarded ; 

 whose people had been impoverished 

 to support a government in which they 

 had no interest or part, and to construct 

 and maintain a multitude of elaborate 

 churches and allied institutions, and who 

 had no experience in self-government, 

 was in a poor position to become inde- 

 pendent. 



But the Spanish yoke was so burden- 

 some, the enthralment of the Mexicans 

 so oppressive, the poverty of the people 

 so pronounced, and the resultant wealth 

 of the church so great, that a century 

 ago a bold effort for freedom was 

 started, which, after many vicissitudes 



