OUR NEIGHBOR, MEXICO 



503 



between stores on the street level may 

 give access to luxurious and richly ap- 

 pointed living apartments on the floors 

 above. In one home a course dinner 

 (and the number of courses is great) 

 will be served with the best viands and 

 all the equipments of wealth, while tor- 

 tillas and frijoles are the staple food of 

 the immediate neighbor. 



The light from a single candle may 

 dimly illuminate the smoky interior of 

 an adobe home, while the street outside 

 is ablaze with lights supplied by electric 

 current generated at a modern hydro- 

 electric plant, conveyed at high voltage 

 for 95 miles to operate an excellent sys- 

 tem of urban and suburban railroads and 

 supply illumination. 



The contrasts are not confined to the 

 cities, but are also pronounced in the 

 open or mountain country. 



The "Camino Real" paralleling the 

 railway brings into close association loco- 

 motives drawing trains of well-equipped 

 passenger cars, the pack-mule, the heavily 

 laden burro, the clumsy ox-cart with 

 cotton-wood slabs for wheels, and the 

 peon trotting along under burdens appar- 

 ently out of proportion to his physique. 



Far from rail or even wagon roads the 

 whirr of a sewing machine may come 

 from within a cane or mud hut, while 

 the master of the house (if it can be 

 so called) scratches the ground with a 

 crude plow or threshes his grain by driv- 

 ing animals over it. 



No extensive journey is necessary to 

 pass from the humble home of a weaver, 

 who with ancient hand-loom fabricates 

 serapes of neat design from wool which 

 he has carded, spun, and dyed by hand, 

 to a splendidly equipped mill of many 

 looms, operated by hydraulic or steam 

 power. 



In the sugar-growing country, wooden, 

 stone, or copper rolls operated by animal 

 power extract the saccharine matter 

 from cane and the excess molasses is 

 absorbed by a wad of mud, although a 

 few miles distant an hacienda with the 

 highest type of roller mills, vacuum pans, 

 and centrifugals produces large quanti- 

 ties of sugar of a superior character. 



The climate, too, has its extremes, for 

 on the highland one seeks the warmth of 

 the bed early, because of the chill night 

 air, but finds the sunny side of the street 

 too warm in midday. The lowlands have 

 days of intense torrid heat, preceding 

 others when a strong "norther" chills to 

 the bone. Months of drought, during 

 which little if any rain falls, are suc- 

 ceeded by intervals when rain may be 

 expected for a part of every day, the 

 precipitation being so heavy at times as 

 to produce serious loss by freshet condi- 

 tions. 



LARGE ESTATES 



Among the problems disturbing Mex- 

 ico are landed interests controlling enor- 

 mous areas, some utilized chiefly for 

 grazing or live stock, others for raising 

 sugar-cane, aguave (for the production 

 of pulque), henequen, rubber, etc. 



In the sugar country large amounts of 

 capital are invested in buildings to ac- 

 commodate machinery, much of which is 

 of high character, or for administration, 

 and in many instances elaborate church 

 structures are features of the haciendas. 

 Heavy amounts of Mexican capital are 

 invested in these large estates, in haci- 

 endas and industrial establishments ; but 

 the claim is made that relief from taxa- 

 tion on large unproductive areas retards 

 Mexico's progress and places unneces- 

 sary burdens upon developed properties. 



FOREIGN INVESTMENTS 



Much of the railroad development, 

 many of the better-equipped mines and 

 large industries are to be credited to for- 

 eign expenditures more than to Mexican 

 capital, the United States holding a lead- 

 ing position in these investments ; but 

 European countries and Canada have 

 supplied liberal sums, the aggregate of 

 foreign capital being reported as 1,000 

 million dollars. 



In Mexico City there are seven banks 

 chartered by the government, having 

 capitals totaling 35 million dollars, and 

 in most of the States are similar insti- 

 tutions with the privilege of issuing cur- 

 rency that passes at par on a silver basis, 

 which is 50 per cent of gold value. 



