Plain facts about Mexico, the country, states and cities, the people, the resources, government and statistics

PL AI N FACT S AB OUr

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA

SAN DIEGO

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT
MEXICO

LONGITUDE 105 *'-^' F*01

"— ^^njjuj^jr - Q U .Li t *"••
rtAngel T E R V ^ NT E P E C

PLAIN FACTS
ABOUT MEXICO

THE COUNTRY, STATES AND CITIES

THE PEOPLE, THE RESOURCES

GOVERNMENT AND STATISTICS

BY

GEORGE J. HAGAR

WITH MAPS

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

Copyright, 1916. by Harper & Brothers
Printed in the United States of America
Published August, 1916

C-Q

CONTENTS

CHAP. PACE

I. NATURAL AND RACIAL FEATURES AND POPULATION i

II. AGRICULTURAL AND MINING INDUSTRIES .... 19

III. MEXICO'S GREATEST NATURAL ASSET 31

IV. COMMERCE, BANKING, AND FINANCE 36

V. TRANSPORTATION, TELEGRAPH, AND TELEPHONE COM-

PANIES 44

VI. CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 49

VII. STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE FEDERATION . . 56

VIII. AMERICAN INVESTMENTS 74

INDEX 79

FOREWORD

'T'HIS is a convenient summary of the salient
•*• facts regarding Mexico's natural, racial, and
economic features and plans of government and
finance. In a brief compass easily available for
the busy man this book aims to answer the ques-
tion, "What is Mexico?" History and internal
troubles are not touched upon. It is a matter of
immediate importance to have at hand the basic
facts regarding the great republic to the south of
us with which we are necessarily intimately asso-
ciated. This bird's-eye view of natural, racial,
economic, industrial, and institutional conditions
will answer questions which indicate a lack of a
convenient vade mecum regarding a country of
vast possibilities.

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT
MEXICO

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT
MEXICO

NATURAL AND RACIAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

'"THE Republic of Mexico occupies the north-
•*• western portion of the isthmus which con-
nects North and South America and the south-
western extremity of North America. It lies
between 14° 30' and 32° 40' north latitude and
between 86° 45' and 117° 5' west longitude, being
thus in almost equal parts within and without the
tropics. Its maximum length is 1,950 miles;
extreme width, 750 miles; narrowest point, the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 120 miles; Atlantic coast-
line, 1,727 miles; Pacific coast-line, 4,574 miles.
Mexico is about three times as large as Austria-
Hungary, and nearly four times as large as
France, or equal in extent to Great Britain and
Ireland, France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

combined. Exclusive of a number of outlying
small islands, its area is about 765,535 square
miles. It is bounded on the east by the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, on the south and
southeast by Guatemala and British Honduras,
on the west and southwest by the Pacific Ocean,
and on the north by the United States.

The boundary line between Mexico and the
United States was established by treaties in 1848
and 1853, and is now 1,833 miles in length, 1,136
of which are covered by the Rio Grande from the
Gulf of Mexico inland. Under the Gadsden
Treaty of 1853, the line is formed on the north-
east by the Rio Grande from its mouth up to
Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican side, opposite
El Paso, Texas; then extends parallel with lati-
tude 32° to about longitude 108° 40', where it
drops to Espa, whence it extends in a parallel line
to Nogales; then ascends northwest to near the
confluence of the Rio Gila with the Colorado;
and then extends due west to the Pacific, termi-
nating a little to the south of San Diego, California.

Mexico is divided by nature into three regions,
each of which is marked by different features.
The first comprehends the parts lying to the east
of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which is crossed
by the meridian of 95° west longitude, and called
the Eastern Region. The second extends from the
meridian of 95° north latitude in a curved line to

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

the mouth of the Rio del Norte on the east (26°
north latitude), and to the confluence of the Rio
Gila with the Colorado (3 2° 45' north latitude)
on the west, and comprises the Central and North-
ern Region, or Anahuac, as it was known long
before the Spanish conquest. The third, or Lower
California, comprehends the peninsula of that
name on the west of the Gulf of California.

The Eastern Region. — This comprehends the
peninsula of Yucatan, the western declivity of
the tableland of Guatemala, the plain of Tabasco,
and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Along the
northern and western shores of Yucatan the
surface is flat and sandy. The level country ex-
tends to a considerable distance inland, and the
center of the peninsula is occupied by a long and
comparatively narrow tableland inclosed by two
ranges of low hills. From the ridge which traverses
this tableland the surface descends rather rapidly
to the west till it meets the plain of Tabasco,
north of 17° north latitude. The surface here,
being furrowed by numerous watercourses, is
a succession of ridges of hills and valleys rather
than an inclined plane. The climate is in general
healthful, and, according to the different elevations
of the surface, many of the productions of the
West Indies may be profitably grown.

The plain of Tabasco is more than 250 miles
long, and extends inland from 50 to 120 miles.

3

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

Its surface is level and the soil alluvial. Being
very fertile, the surface exhibits much heavy forest
growth. Agricultural activities are seriously crip-
pled by much of the surface being under water
for several months during the rainy season. Still
large quantities of maize, plantain, manioc, cocoa,
vanilla, and indigo are obtained, besides some
coffee. The plain is watered by a considerable
river, the Rio de Tabasco, and its two branches,
Usumasinta and the Grijalva. The Rio de Ta-
basco rises in the eastern corner of the tableland
of Guatemala, and, flowing in a direction generally
north by west, forms a considerable cataract south
of 17° north latitude, where it descends from the
tableland. Above the waterfall the river is navi-
gable for canoes, and below it for larger craft.
The Usumasinta joins the Rio de Tabasco a few
miles above the mouth, after a course of more than
300 miles. The Grijalva rises in the range of hills
in Guatemala, between the towns of Totonicapan
and Gueguetenago, and runs with many bends in
a northwest direction, in a wide valley, till it
issues from it near the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,
where it turns to the northeast by a bold sweep,
and receives the name of Rio de Tabasco. After
having joined the Usumasinta it falls into the
Gulf of Mexico near Frontera, after a course of
about 350 miles.

This plain occupies the northern portion and
4

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

about one-half of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
The southern half comprises a mountain ridge
and a smaller plain. The southern plain, known
as the plain of Tehuantepec, is about twenty-five
miles wide, and extends along the Pacific from the
boundary of Guatemala to some distance west of
the town of Tehuantepec. It has a very hot and
rather dry climate, and the soil, though not dis-
tinguished by fertility, is capable of producing
several tropical plants. The plain is traversed
by the Chimalapa River, which descends from the
Cerro Pelado, and is navigable to San Miguel de
Chimalapa, a distance of about thirty miles. On
the same Cerro, but within the northern ridges,
rises the Rio Huasacualco, which, breaking through
some of the ridges, is joined by numerous small
rivers, which descend from the western declivity
of the tableland of Mixtecapan, and soon becomes
a powerful river, though it is not navigable on
account of rapids or cataracts. After it enters
the plain of Tabasco there is no further obstruc-
tion to navigation, excepting that its mouth, in
the southwestern recess of the Gulf of Mexico, is
closed by a bar and shoals.

The Central and Northern Region. — This sec-
tion in its natural features exhibits great variety.
The eastern coast is low and sandy from the Punta
de Rocca Partida (18° 40' north latitude) to the
mouth of the Rio del Norte (about 25° 45' north

5

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

latitude) . It extends in a continuous line, without
being broken by inlets or bays, and its only har-
bors are those formed by the mouths of the rivers,
and even these are only unsafe roadsteads, as the
rivers of this coast, between 18° 40' and 22° north
latitude, with the exception of the Rio Alvarado,
have little water except in the rainy season.
North of 22° north latitude several rivers of con-
siderable size fall into the sea, but except at their
mouths the coast cannot be approached by vessels,
as it is lined by long, low, and narrow sand-banks,
which lie parallel to and from two to six miles
from it.

The surface adjacent to the shores, and from
three to ten miles inland, is very low, but is de-
fended from the sea by sand-hills rising from 50
to 200 feet high. There the soil is sandy and al-
most destitute of vegetation. Back of this tract
the surface rises gradually to the foot of an ex-
tremely steep ascent, which constitutes the eastern
edge of an extensive tableland farther west. The
land between the shores and this ascent is about
sixty miles wide south of 22° north latitude;
farther north it widens to about 150 miles; and
as it approaches the northern boundary it rises rap-
idly toward the interior, attaining an elevation of
from 2,500 to 3,000 feet at a distance of only fifty
miles from the sea.

This tract is comprehended in the "hot coun-
6

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

tries" (tierras calientes). Here the seasons are
divided into the winter, or season of north winds,
lasting from October to April, and the summer, or
season of the breezes. The mean heat of the
winter season is 71° P., but during the north
winds (los nortes) the thermometer sometimes de-
scends to 60°; the mean temperature of the sum-
mer season is about 81°, and in July and August
it is about 82°; and the mean annual heat of the
tract is 77°. This section is well adapted to the
cultivation of all tropical products, and, as its
soil, with the exception of the sandy shores, is
possessed of considerable fertility, it yields rich
crops of maize, bananas, pineapples, oranges,
manioc, coffee, sugar, cocoa, and, under irriga-
tion, rice.

The Remarkable Elevation. — The steep ascent
which bounds this tract on the west rises in some
places in terraces which lie between the declivities,
and in such places the ascent occupies a consider-
able space; but in other parts it rises from 5,000
to 6,000 feet in a distance generally not exceeding
ten miles in width, and frequently much less. The
acclivity is so steep that on the whole line, nearly
600 miles, there are only two places where it is
practicable for carriages, viz., at Jalapa, near
Vera Cruz (19° north latitude), and at Saltillo,
west of Monterey (26° north latitude). This
ascent constitutes the outer edge of the elevated
2 7

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

plains of this region. The edge itself is lined by a
continuous series of hills rising in general only to
a moderate elevation above the tablelands, but
some of them attain a great height, as the Coffre
de Perote, near the road leading from Vera Cruz
to Mexico City, which is 13,415 feet above sea-
level, and the peak of Orizaba, which attains a
height of 17,373 feet-

These plains are divided into two parts by a
range of mountains which traverses them in a gen-
eral eastern and western direction, called the
Sierra Madre. This chain begins near the eastern
edge, about 21° north latitude, west of Tlacolula;
continues in a west-by-north direction to San
Felipe, 21° 40' north latitude, where an offshoot
branches southward; declines to the north-north-
west west of San Felipe; then has its continuity
broken into isolated ridges, as the Sierra de Alta-
mira, about twenty miles east of Aguascalientes,
and the group of mountains which contain the
mines of Zacatecas; and reappears as a mountain
range a short distance west of Zacatecas, and
occupies a width of 100 miles from east to west.
The mountains of La Encarnacion rise more than
10,000 feet above the sea and those inclosing the
plain of San Felipe are probably as high.

Great Elevated Plains. — The elevated plains
which spread out west of the steep ascent occupy the
greatest part of the surface of Mexico. They are

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

widest between 19° and 20° north latitude, where
they occupy 360 miles from east to west. This ex-
tensive tract of country is divided into four plains
unequal in extent, and separated from one another
by ranges of hills which rise from 500 to 2,000 feet
above their base. The most eastern plain has the
city of Tlaxcala nearly in its center. The surface,
which is pretty level, is from 7,000 to 7,500 feet
above sea-level. Two lofty but isolated peaks, the
Cerro de Pizarro and Mount Malinche (14,636
feet) are near the road which leads from the sea to
Mexico City. A sterile tract, known as El Mai
Pais, occupies about one- third of this plain. The
chain of hills which divides the plain of Tlaxcala
from that of Tenochtitlan contains the peak of
Istaccihuatl (15,704 feet above sea-level) and the
celebrated volcano of Popocatepetl (17,884 feet),
the latter the highest mountain in Mexico. The
plain of Tenochtitlan, west of Tlaxcala, is about
7,480 feet above sea-level; farther west is the plain
of Toluca, which is somewhat smaller in extent;
in the southern chain is the Nevado de Toluca,
15,160 feet above sea-level; and at the extreme
west of the plains is that of Michoacan, which ap-
proaches the Pacific within about thirty miles.
Nearly in the center of the last plain is the Lake
of Patzcuaro, famous in the history of the ancient
kingdom of Michoacan, whose capital, Tzintzon-
tzan, was built on its banks. Toward the western

9

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

extremity of the plain of Michoacan is the lofty
peak of Tancitaro.

On the north the tablelands just mentioned bor-
der on others of a similar character. On the
south the surface descends rapidly and very irregu-
larly, except where it borders on the plain of
Tlaxcala. This plain is joined on the south by
that of Mixtecapan, which stretches to the Pacific
and terminates with high mountains. North of
20° north latitude is the tableland of Queretaro,
which extends to the ridge of the Sierra Madre.
That portion which lies east of 100° west longitude
is in general about 6,500 feet above sea-level, and
its surface is broken by single groups or short
ranges of hills which rise from 1,000 to 1,500 feet
above the plain. This region contains numerous
productive mines, and its central section com-
prises one of the richest agricultural districts in
Mexico. This portion is 100 miles long and 30
miles wide, has numerous irrigation canals, and is
especially productive in maize and wheat. Sterile
tracts occur here and there, either covered with
stones and then called pedregal, or with lava and
called mal pais. A considerable part of this tract
cannot be irrigated to advantage, though rather
fertile, and is used mainly for pasture. On this
tableland are many barrancas, or depressions in
the surface having a steep declivity and descend-
ing frequently 1,000 feet below the general sur-

10

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

face. These depressions are sometimes three or
four miles wide and still longer; their climate is
considerably milder than that of their environ-
ments; and they are the sites of several small
towns.

Climate of the Tablelands. — The climate of the
main tablelands varies in proportion to their ele-
vation above sea-level. In those of Tenochtitlan
and Tlaxcala, which are nearly equal in this re-
spect, the mean summer temperature is 62°. In
winter the thermometer generally ranges between
45° and 47°, and sometimes, though rarely, de-
scends below 32°. In summer it never exceeds
75° in the shade. On the tableland of Toluca,
which is the most elevated, the air is so cold during
the greater part of the day that the thermometer
generally varies between 42° and 46°. On the
tablelands of Valladolid, Mixtecapan, and Micho-
acan, which are considerably lower than that of
Tenochtitlan, the mean annual temperature
varies between 66° and 68°. All of these sections,
being more than 5,000 feet above sea-level, are
locally called "cold countries" (tierras frias).
The seasons here are only two, that of the rains
(estacidn de las aquas] and the dry season, or sum-
mer (el estio). All of these tablelands have rather
an arid soil, which can only be utilized in the cul-
tivation of grain where it can be watered, and
even this advantage is not to be depended on for

ii

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

steady relief, as many of the rivers disappear in
fissures of the rocks. The sections that are ele-
vated from 2,500 to 4,000 feet above sea-level,
such as the broken region lying between the table-
lands of Tenochtitlan and Toluca and Michoacan
on one side, and between the tableland of Mixte-
capan on the other, and the uneven plain of Jalisco,
are called tierras templadas. Their mean annual
temperature is between 75° and 78°, and they have
nearly a continual spring, as the difference of the
temperature in the colder and hotter season does
not exceed 8°, or at the utmost 10°. These tracts
produce the principal tropical fruits and the sugar-
cane in abundance, and have a healthful climate
all the year round.

The Sierra Madre Region. — The country which
is bordered by this range on the south and west is
a plain nearly 700 miles long, and from 100 to 300
miles wide, terminating on the northeast on the
banks of the Rio del Norte, and at the Sierra de
las Espuelas, the most northern offset of the Sierra
Madre. The soil about San Luis Potosi and in
the Valle del Maiz, which lies on the banks of the
Rio Tamoin, a tributary of the Rio Panuca, is
quite fertile, and a great portion of this region is
utilized for pasture. The northern section is less
favored by nature, especially as it suffers greatly
from the scarcity of rain, which in the southern
portions is far from being abundant, and north

12

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

of 27° north latitude is very rare. The soil here
holds a great portion of carbonate of soda, and the
section contains numerous dry salt lakes, from
which large quantities of the carbonate have been
obtained for use in the manufacture of soap. All
the rivers which water this region rise along the
eastern declivity of the Sierra Madre, and, running
northward, are lost in some basins having no com-
munication with the sea, with the exception of the
Rio Conchos, which rises with several branches
between 26° and 28° north latitude, and falls into
the Rio del Norte, near 31°. The cultivable land
in this section is limited to the river-bottoms,
which extend from two to four miles along the
banks and produce maize and other grain. Cotton
is grown in the valley of the Rio Nasas, and there
are extensive vineyards in the vicinity of the Lake
of Parras. The country between the Sierra Madre
and the Pacific is divided naturally into two dis-
tinct regions, which may be designated as the
plains of Cinaloa and the hilly region of Sonora.
The former extends between 24° and 28° north
latitude, and the latter between 28° and 32°.
The plains are perfectly level ; only hills of moder-
ate size divide them from the Sierra Madre; and
their soil is a sandy clay, almost without a pebble.
The rains usually set in about June 24th, and last
approximately two months, and the greatest heat
is experienced before the rains, from the month

13

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

of March, when the country is exceedingly parched.
Sonora, which begins at some distance north of
the Rio Mayo, has a tract of low and level land
along the sea, but it soon rises to some elevation,
and then extends nearly on a level many miles
inland. Between the high hills that parallel the
Sierra Madre are fertile valleys, watered by nu-
merous rivers. As this part of Mexico is within the
temperate zone, it partakes of the great changes
in temperature which commonly occur in such
countries, the thermometer ranging during the
year between 30° and 95°. The winds from the
Rocky Mountains are frequently freezing in char-
acter. The summer is exceedingly hot, and the
high temperature continues for several months.

The Lower California Region. — The third natu-
ral division of Mexico is a peninsula separated from
the mainland by the Gulf of California, and ex-
tends from Cape San Lucas, 22° 45' north latitude
to the northern extremity of the gulf v 32°, where
it is bounded by the State of California. It is
approximately 770 miles long and from 30 to 120
miles wide, and has an area of 58,400 square miles.
This region may be considered as a continuous
mass of high, bare, and steep rocks, with numerous
ravines intersecting them. With few exceptions it
hardly contains any level ground that can be called
a valley. The mountain ranges are, structurally,
a continuation of the Sierra Nevada of California.

14

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

Nearly all tracts that contain cultivable land are
on the eastern declivity of the mountains. The
western side generally sinks with a rapid descent
to the Pacific, and the shores are steep and rocky.
The climate is exceedingly dry and hot ; the vege-
tation is very scanty; some fruits, maize, and
manioc are cultivated; and some minerals of
commercial value are known to exist, though only
a few have been systematically worked. With
the thermometer rising frequently to 100° F. and
occasionally higher, Lower California may be con-
sidered one of the hottest regions of America.

Racial Features. — It is difficult to give anything
like a reliable analysis of the various races con-
tributing to form the Mexican nation as it is.
They may be divided vaguely, however, into
three sections : the Spaniards, descendants chiefly
of the conquerors of Mexico, with a sprinkling
of other Europeans; the native Indians, some
forty or fifty tribes in all; and the mixed popula-
tion arising from a blending of these two. It is
believed that the mixed population (mestizos} con-
stitute about one-half of the entire population, and
the Indians about one-third. The Mexican Ind-
ians are locally declared to be among the most
pacific and gifted of their kind, attaining great
distinction in scholastic and industrial pursuits,
and forming by no means the least valuable sec-
tion of modern Mexico's progressive citizens. The

15

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

STATES

AND

TERRITORIES

Area
Square
Miles

Population,
1910

Capitals

Aguascalientes
Campeche

2,969
18,086

118,978

8<;,7Q<

Aguascalientes
Campeche

Chiapas

27,222

4^6,8l7

San Cristobal

Chihuahua

80,074.

40^,26=;

Chihuahua

Coahuila

63,728

^67,6^2

Saltillo

Colima

2,27^

77.704

Colima

Durango

42,26s

4.36,14.7

Durango

Guanajuato

JO. 04.8

1.07^.270

Guanajuato

Guerrero

24,QO6

60^,437

Chilpancingo

Hidalgo

8,S7S

641,80=;

Pachuca

Jalisco

77 486

i 202 802

Guadalajara

Mexico

8.Q4Q

Q7<J.OIQ

Toluca

Michoacan

22. 6^6

001.640

Morelia

Morelos ....

2 734.

170 8l4

Cuernavaca

Nuevo Leon

32.670

•268 020

Monterey

Oaxaca

3<;,383

I.O4I.O3<

Oaxaca

Puebla

12 2O4

I O02 4^6

Puebla

Queretaro

4402

24?. CI C

Queretaro

San LuisPotosi. ..
Sinaloa

24,OOO

27, ^s^

624,748
323,400

San Luis Potosi
Culiacan

Sonora

76 610

262.^4^

Hermosillo

Tabasco

10,072

183,708

S. Juan Bautista

Tamaulipas

32,268

240,2^^

Ciudad Victoria

Tepic (Ter ) ....

IO Q<\I

171 8^7

Tepic

Tlaxcala

T.CQC

183,80=;

Tlaxcala

Vera Cruz

20.28'?

1,124,^68

Talaoa

Yucatan

iS,^"?

^^7,020

Merida

Zacatecas

24,467

47^,86^

Zacatecas

L. California(Ter.)
Federal District. .
Quintana Roo

58,328

579
16,638

52,244
719,052
9,086

La Paz
City of Mexico
Santa Cruz de

Total

765,535

15,063,207

16

NATURAL FEATURES AND POPULATION

peons are laborers, originally agricultural, who
belong to probably the lowest order of intelligence
and activity, and are practically in a state of
servitude, though slavery does not nominally ex-
ist in Mexico. Many of the mestizos are farmers
and ranchers, operating on a more or less extensive
scale. The term leperos is applied to habitually
idle and vicious persons.

The foreign population, according to the census
of 1910, comprised 29,541 natives of Spain;
28,639 °f the United States; 21,334 of Guatemala;
13,203 of China; 5,264 of Great Britain; 4,604
of France; 3,827 of Germany; 3,478 of Cuba;
2,907 of Turkey; 2,595 of Italy; 2,276 of Japan;
1,546 of Africa (Arabs); and 5,433 of all other
countries — in all, 116,527.

Area and Population. — The table on page 16
shows the area and population of the States and
Territories of the federation, as ascertained by the
census of 1910, together with the capital cities.

The population in 1900, as reported by the cen-
sus, was 13,607,259; hence there was an increase
of 1,455,948 in the decade following. Of the total
in 1910, 7,504,471 were males, 7,655,898 females,
and 116,527 of foreign birth. An official estimate
in 1912 gave a total population of 15,501,684.

Population of Principal Cities and Towns. — The
following shows the population of the principal
cities and towns as reported by the census of 1910:

17

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

Aguascalientes 4 5, 198

Celaya 23,062

Chihuahua 39,7o6

Durango 32,263

Guadalajara 119,468

Guanajuato 35,682

Irapuato 21,281

Jalapa 24,816

Leon 57,722

Merida 62,447

Mexico City 471,066

Monterey 73,528

Morelia 40,042

Oaxaca 38,01 1

Orizaba 35,263

Pachuca 39,009

Puebla 96,121

Quer^taro 33,062

Saltillo 35,414

San Luis Potosi 68,022

Tacubaya 35,830

Toluca 31,023

Vera Cruz 48,633

Zacatecas 25,900

II

AGRICULTURAL AND MINING INDUSTRIES

A/TEXICO, through the ages, has become so
•*• ' •*• well known for its mineral wealth, notably
as a silver-producer, that foreign students of its
affairs have paid less attention to its agricultural
resources than its possibilities in this respect fairly
warrant. It is conceded that the agriculture of
Mexico has not yet been thoroughly systematized,
and that there is ample room in this line of en-
deavor for improvement and development. There
are immense areas adapted to the cultivation of
the staple cereals, and yet from the earliest times
of which records survive, all through the colonial
epoch and down to the present day, the country's
production of such crops has, at frequently recur-
ring intervals, proved insufficient for the needs of
its inhabitants. With Mexico's great variety of
climate it would seem that the country offers to
each intending settler a valley or a hillside where
he may be surrounded with just the conditions as
to climate and scenery which he desires. As before

19

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

indicated, Mexico is situated almost entirely within
the tropics, and hence the heat natural to such
latitudes is counteracted in a large part of the
country by the effects of altitude.

Climatic Zones. — It has been customary to di-
vide Mexico climatologically into three zones — the
hot country (tierra caliente) at an elevation not
exceeding 3,000 feet above sea-level; the tem-
perate zone (tierra templadd) at altitudes ranging
from 3,000 to 5,000 feet; and the cold country at
elevations exceeding that of 5,000 feet, up to
about 8,000. The hot lands are the lands along
the coasts, where the mean annual temperature
is about 82°-86° F., and where there are dense
tropical jungles, forests of mahogany and other
cabinet woods, and cultures that require a com-
bination of heat and humidity. The vegetation
in the lower altitudes of the temperate zone is
both of a tropical and a sub-tropical character, and
to this zone belong most of the typical hot-country
products of Mexico, such as cotton, rice, sugar,
coffee, fruits, and tobacco. In the higher region
of this zone the characteristic crops of a moderate
climate are cultivated with success, such as Indian
corn, wheat, and other cereals. As may be in-
ferred, from previous statements, some of the
Mexican States combine both climates within
their borders, so that a spectator can look down
from the regions of the pine into those of the palm

?o

AGRICULTURE AND MINING

and sugar-cane. The cold country, so called
locally, though much of it enjoys a mild and
equable climate, embraces the great central plain
or tableland on which Mexico City is situated,
at an altitude of over 7,000 feet above sea-level.
This is the region of the great haciendas, or im-
mense estates of the Mexican landed aristocracy.
A leading condition that has militated against
permanent prosperity of agriculture in this region
is the lack, in many cases, of the necessary capital
to cultivate estates to full capacity and to under-
take irrigation works and other needed improve-
ments. In the cold country all the cereals are
preferably, and some of them exclusively, culti-
vated, and it is the home of the great plantations
of maguey, from which pulque, the favorite drink
of the masses, is prepared. It is also the region
of periodical droughts, which, when they occur,
occasion insufficient harvests and necessitate the
importation of foreign cereals.

Grains. — Indian corn is grown in the States of
Jalisco, Vera Cruz, Guanajuato, Puebla, and
Oaxaca; wheat in the lowlands of Guanajuato, the
valley of St. Martin in Puebla, and the Toluca
Valley in the State of Mexico; barley in small
quantities in Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla, and the
Federal District; rice in Colima, Morelos, Vera
Cruz, and Tabasco; garbanzo, or chick peas, and
frijol, or Mexican beans — both staple articles of

21

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

food — in nearly all of the States, but more especial-
ly in Vera Cruz and Jalisco. As regards wheat and
corn, the production is generally insufficient for
the home consumption, and the Executive Govern-
ment is intrusted with discretionary power to re-
duce or remove the import duties when necessary.
The Government has already instituted a system
of State-aided irrigation and reclamation service,
the most notable undertakings of which are the
La Sautafia scheme for the irrigation of 2,000,000
acres in northern Tamaulipas, and the Chapala
scheme for the reclamation of 150,000 acres of
land at the eastern end of the lake of that name.i
The most pretentious of all projects under con-
sideration is that known as the Nazas irrigation
scheme, which comprises the building of a huge
storage reservoir in the San Fernandez Canon,
about forty miles to the northwest of Torreon,
for the conservation of the waters of the Nazas
River, thereby bringing under cultivation many
additional tracts of the fertile Nazas and Laguna
valley lands. The estimated cost of this scheme is
about $12,000,000.

Sugar -Cane. — Considerable progress has been
shown recently in the sugar-cane industry, and
there is a growing tendency to increase the acre-
age under cultivation and to modernize the ma-
chinery for manufacturing processes. This is
especially the case in the factories in the States of

22

AGRICULTURE AND MINING

Morelos, Michoacan, and Jalisco, and in this re-
gard the amount of foreign capital invested is
constantly increasing.

Rubber. — Wild castilloa is found throughout
southern Mexico and on the western coast lands
as far north as Tepic. The principal cultivated,
areas are situated in the Departments of Palenque
and Soconusco, in the State of Chiapas; the north-
ern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; the river
area of the Papaloapam and its tributaries; and the
coast territory of the State of Vera Cruz. At Tor-
reon, Gomez Palacio, and San Luis Potosi factories
have been established for the extraction of rubber
from the guayule shrub (Parthenium argentatum),
which grows wild in the mountain parts of the
States of Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Durango, and
Chihuahua. In view of a threatened exhaustion
of present supplies, considerable experimenting
is in progress for the artificial cultivation of the
shrub.

Cotton. — The principal cotton - growing region
of Mexico is situated in the Laguna district of
Coahuila and Durango, covering an area of ap-
proximately 200,000 acres, and producing prob-
ably 90 per cent, of all the cotton grown in the
country. The crop depends almost entirely on
the amount of water in the Nazas and Laguna
basins available for irrigation, as the average
annual rainfall is both insufficient and ill-timed
3 23

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

for its needs. It is estimated that the production
of this staple in Mexico yields about one-half
the amount required for use in domestic industries.

Fruits. — In the cultivation of orchard fruits, it
is a prevalent belief that there has been a retro-
gression both in the quantity and the flavor of the
output. There are sections in the Valley of Mexico
where the large huertas were once in flourishing
operation, supplying the markets of Mexico City
with pears, apples, peaches, and apricots of a
quality superior to that which they show at
present. Both the climate and the soil of Mexico
in the temperate regions afford every advantage
for the cultivation of such fruits, yet large quanti-
ties of pears and apples are annually imported
from California. Strawberries of the finest flavor
are grown all the year round in the neighborhood
of Irapuato, State of Guanajuato, and at points
in the Valley of Mexico. Indian fruit-growers of
San Angel have within the last few years under-
taken the culture of the raspberry, a fruit formerly
unknown in Mexico.

The oranges of Yautepec in the State of Morelos,
of La Barca and other districts in the State of
Jalisco, of Hermosillo in Sonora, of Montemorelos
in the State of Nuevo Leon, and of Zimapan in the
State of Hidalgo, are famous not only in Mexico,
but also in the United States. For the production
of the typical fruits of the tropics, such as the

24

AGRICULTURE AND MINING

pineapple, the guava, the banana, the mameh, the
luscious custard-apple, the mango, the different
and delicious varieties of zapote, the alligator pear,
etc., Mexico affords facilities equal to those of
the West Indian islands. At present the produc-
tion of marketable qualities of practically all kinds
of fruit is inconsiderable and wholly unsystema-
tized, and experts assert that there are promising
openings in the general line of fruit culture for
growers possessing capital, technical knowledge,
sound business judgment, and perseverance.

Coffee. — Formerly the State of Vera Cruz pro-
duced nearly all the coffee grown commercially in
Mexico, more especially in the districts of Cordoba,
Orizaba, Huatusco, Coatepec, and Jalapa. From
this center the cultivation gradually spread to the
adjacent States of Oaxaca and Puebla, where it
is featured by the Indians. The most productive
district to-day is that of Soconusco, in the State
of Chiapas, where the principal plantations are
operated by German capital. Coffee is also culti-
vated in Morelos, Jalisco, Tepic, and Michoacan,
but not on an extensive scale.

Live-Stock. — In live-stock interests, the horse is
not bred in large numbers, the mule being more
generally employed, as being hardier and better
adapted as a draft and pack animal. The varying
climatic conditions of the country have produced
breeds of cattle that have considerably departed

25

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

from the original Spanish type. Those of the
northern plateau are small, hardy, and long-
lived; in the south they are larger and better
nourished, owing to the permanent character of
the pasture, but less vigorous because of the heat
and insect plagues. The largest herds are to be
found in Chihuahua and Durango. Sheep-breeding
is largely confined to the cooler sierra districts, and
some attention is now being given also to the
breeding of goats, because of the local demand
for their skins. The big cattle-ranches of the
northern States are to a large extent in the hands
of wealthy owners, and can only be secured in
part or in whole by a considerable investment of
capital.

Mining Industries. — Mining is the most highly
developed and best organized of Mexico's indus-
tries, the importance of which is made manifest
by the fact that between 5 and 6 per cent, of the
world's annual production of gold, 30 per cent,
of silver, 6-7 per cent, of copper, and 12 per
cent, of lead is obtained within its borders. A
recent estimate gives the amount of capital in-
vested in the industry as $647,200,000, of which
$499,000,000 is American, $87,200,000 is English,
$10,000,000 is French, and $29,400,000 is Mexican.

Gold is largely produced as a by-product from
the silver-mining districts throughout the country,
the famous El Ora camp lying in the States of

26

AGRICULTURE AND MINING

Mexico and Michoacan. The best-known silver
camps are those in the Pachuca district of the
State of Hidalgo, the Guanajuato district, the
Santa Eulalia camp in eastern Chihuahua, the
Andres del Rio and Parral districts in the western
part of the state, the Catorce region of San Luis
Potosi, and the Zacatecas and Fresnillo camps.
The leading copper camps are the Green Cananea
and the Moctezuma in the State of Sonora, and
the Boleo in Lower California, and the principal
lead-producing camps are in the State of Chi-
huahua. The only exploited antimony deposits
are at Charcas and Catorce, in the State of San
Luis Potosi, and the bulk of the zinc output is
from the Santa Eulalia, San Isidro, Almoloya,
Parral, and Santa Barbara districts in the States
of Chihuahua and San Luis Potosi.

The only State at present producing commer-
cial coal "and coke is Coahuila, but development
work is in progress at coal-fields in Sonora, Oaxaca,
and Jalisco. There are numerous iron deposits
of commercial value, but most of them are unde-
veloped because of their inaccessibility. Those
in the northern part of the country are the best
favored for approach, and supply the requirements
of the iron and steel works in the States of Nuevo
Leon and Hidalgo. Sulphur is obtained exclu-
sively from the 'mines near Cerritos, in the State
of San Luis Potosi, and graphite from the Santa

27

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

Maria mines, about twenty miles south of La
Colorado, in the State of Sonora.

Owing to disturbed local conditions, following
the resignation of President Diaz on May 25, 1911,
work was restricted or wholly suspended by many
of the mining and smelting companies of northern
Mexico. In the central and southern sections,
especially in the three great camps of Pachuca,
El Oro, and Guanajuato, conditions were such as
to favor a practically normal output, and the same
may be said of the smaller camps and mines in
the States of Mexico, Michoacan, Guerrero,
Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, and Jalisco. Re-
turns of the operating companies indicated that
the most prosperous of recent years was the fiscal
one of 1911-12, when the gold production was
valued at $49,905,115, and silver at $88,839,747.
The output of copper was 59,421 metric tons in
ingots; of copper ore, 121,441 metric tons; of lead,
116,758 metric tons; and of zinc, 42,257 metric
tons.

Manufacturing Industries. — Although some of
the industrial establishments of Mexico can chal-
lenge comparison with those of the most advanced
manufacturing countries, the industrial develop-
ment of the country is, as yet, only in its begin-
ning, and, generally speaking, Mexico is largely
dependent on importations. There is a weighty
demand for a scientific exploitation of the forest

28

AGRICULTURE AND MINING

resources of the country. The forests of the hot-
country States along the coast contain mahogany
and a great variety of other cabinet and dye woods,
while the extensive tracts of the temperate region
contain a good quality of pine and other timber,
suitable for carpentering and construction pur-
poses. Although timber and many varieties of
fibrous plants and other material suitable for pulp
and paper manufacture are found in various sec-
tions, paper and paper stock have to be imported
in large quantities to meet the growing demand
of the printing and allied trades.

It is estimated that about 25,000 tons of raw
hides are tanned annually, the chief center of this
industry being Mexico City and Leon. Modernly
equipped shoe-factories are in operation in Mexico
City, Puebla, Guadalajara, Mazatlan, Pantil,
Saltillo, and Monterey. Of approximately 150
cotton-mills, the larger and more modern are in
Mexico City, Puebla, and Orizaba. The com-
bined output of all these mills has reached a value
of $50,000,000 in a single year. The manufacture
of woolen goods is carried on in the States of
Mexico, Aguascalientes, Durango, Guanajuato,
Hidalgo, and Puebla; the largest plant is at
Tlalnepantla, in the State of Mexico. The only
silk-factory is in the Santa Maria district of Mexico
City, its specialty being the silk rebozo, or light
shawl so much worn by the women of Mexico.

29

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

Iron-foundries are numerous, and the quality
and abundance of the mineral make it possible for
them to turn out good work ; but in most of them
the product comprises little more than the smaller
agricultural implements and ordinary marketable
iron. The most important iron and steel producer
is at Monterey ; others are in the States of Hidalgo
and Jalisco and the Federal District. Almost
every State possesses both cigar and cigarette
factories, which consume the raw material pro-
duced throughout the country. Certain brands
of Mexican cigars are known and esteemed in
Europe, the best qualities being produced in the
State of Vera Cruz. A single factory in Mexico
City has turned out from 17,000,000 to 20,000,000
cigarettes daily.

Ill

MEXICO'S GREATEST NATURAL ASSET

H^HROUGHOUT the Gulf coastal plain, from
•*• southern Tamaulipas to Campeche, there are
indications of oil deposits, to a greater or less extent
derived from rocks of various ages in the shape
of surface exudations of petroleum or liquid as-
phalt. These vary in size from small seepages
a few inches in diameter to asphalt lakes a hundred
or more feet in diameter, such as those occurring
at Solis, Chijol, Cerro Viejo, or Cerro Azul.
The asphalt varies in consistency from a heavy
oil to various hard veins, and in certain parts of
the same region there are seepages of a paraffin-
base light oil.

The area over which seepages most frequently
occur is that part of the coastal plain between the
Rio Soto la Marina and the vicinity of Jalapa.
This area is roughly triangular in shape, being
bounded on the east by the Gulf of Mexico and on
the southwest and northeast by the front of the
great central plateau. It comprises, roughly, an

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

area of about 17,000 square miles. Tampico is
the most central point of any importance in this
district, and on account of its harbor, railways,
and position with regard to inland waterways, is
the distributing-point for the oil region.

Geologically, the oil of the Tampico region oc-
curs in the Oligocene, Eocene, and Cretaceous
formations, the oil-bearing rock being for the most
part a porous limestone ; and the oil-bearing rocks
of the isthmus region are of Pliocene and Pleisto-
cene age, the formation in which the oil occurs
being usually a true quartz sand.

The majority of oil-wells have been put down
on land leased from the Mexican farmers. The
leases are taken ordinarily for thirty years, a
yearly rental, commonly paid two or three years
in advance, and ordinarily from five to ten per
cent, of the oil, being the consideration. Ten-per-
cent, royalties prevail in the northern part of the
field, and five-per-cent. in the southern, except
near the best asphalt seeps. The money con-
sideration varies widely, according to the situation
of the land, and is constantly rising as exploitation
proceeds.

Since 1901 exploratory work has been systemati-
cally carried on in the southern part of the State
of Vera Cruz, and a single company is developing
and refining the products of the four fields of San
Cristobal, Soledad, Ixhuatlan, and Tecuanapa, all

32

The inclosures indicate fields controlled by various Companies

>• wells under operation

" pipe fines

•• railways
° - localities

The side of each square represents 20 miles

MEXICO'S GREATEST ASSET

on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and is similarly
engaged in the Macuspana district of Tabasco.

Most of the oils at present being produced are
heavy and more particularly adapted for use as
fuel, yet they contain valuable refining qualities,
and it is an interesting fact, locally, that fields
are now in the course of development where oils
of the same character as the best Pennsylvania
grades are found. It is believed, however, that it
will be as a source of fuel that the Tampico fields
will attain their greatest importance in the next
few years.

At the end of 1913 there were upward of twenty
separate fields in the Tampico region, either pro-
ducing oil or capable of such production. The
principal ones were Potrero del Llano, Tierra
Amarilla, Tanhuijo, and Alazan, controlled by the
Mexican Eagle Oil Company; Ebano, Chijol, and
Juan Casiano, controlled by the Mexican Petro-
leum Company; the Alamo, controlled by the
Penn-Mexican Company; the Papantla, controlled
by the Oilfields of Mexico Company; and the
Topila and Panuco Caracol-Salinas fields, in
which numerous operating companies were en-
gaged, among them the East Coast, the Waters-
Pierce, the Corona, the Producers, and the Gulf
Coast companies.

These various oil regions are connected with
tide-water through three river ports, Tampico,

33

PLAIN FA;CTS ABOUT MEXICO

Tuxpam, and Puerto Mexico. Tampico is situated
six miles west of the Gulf of Mexico, on the Panuco
River. Commencing at the jetties on both sides
of the river, and extending past the city, are
located the various tank "farms," loading-
wharves, and "topping "-plants of the Mexican
Eagle, Huasteca Petroleum, Pierce Oil, Standard
Oil, and other operating companies. Within six
miles of Tampico, steel tankage of fully 5,000,000
barrels capacity has been erected. Tampico is
the terminus of two branches of the National
Railways, one leading to Monterey, and thence
to the border towns of Laredo, Brownsville, and
Eagle Pass; the other, the San Luis Potosi section,
leading to the elevated central plateau; and it is
also the terminal of pipe lines owned by the
Huasteca, Mexican Eagle, and Tampico com-
panies. The Tuxpam port is situated five miles
west of the Gulf of Mexico, on the Tuxpam River,
where all freight has to be lightered on account
of shallow water. It is the terminal of the pipe
lines of the Mexican Eagle and Oilfields of Mexico
companies, and the principal loading-station of
the former company. Puerto Mexico is a modern
port, on the Coatzacoalcos River, where tank
steamers of the largest draught can be accommo-
dated. At Minatitlan, twenty miles up the river,
is situated the large refinery of the Mexican Eagle
Company, whose plant is connected by a branch

34

MEXICO'S GREATEST ASSET

line with the Tehuantepec National Railway, by
which easy access to the Pacific ports from Salina
Cruz is afforded. For the Atlantic service the
tank steamers are loaded partly at the company's
wharves at Minatitlan and partly at Puerto
Mexico, there being pipe-line connection between
the two stations.

There are several petroleum-refining plants, the
principal ones being situated at Minatitlan (Mexi-
can Eagle Oil Company), and at Tampico (Waters-
Pierce Company). The former company has a
daily input of 9,000 barrels; the latter of 6,000.
The products of these two refineries include naph-
tha, illuminating and lubricating oils, paraffin wax,
and asphalt. Fuel oil is used, not only on the rail-
ways, but also in smelting, mining, and industrial
plants generally.

IV

A I/THOUGH Mexico has an enormous sea-
•**• board, comparatively little of it is naturally
suited to the purposes of commerce. Of late con-
siderable progress has been made in the direction
of bringing the ports of the country into line with
the improved railway facilities and the growing
volume of trade, and to-day Mexico has some of
the finest and best-managed ports on the con-
tinent. The chief ports (with the States in which
they are situated) are Acapulco (Guerrero);
Altata (Sinaloa) ; Campeche (State of same name) ;
Ensenada (Lower California); Frontera (Ta-
basco) ; Guaymas (Sonora) ; Laguna de Terminos
(an island off Campeche) ; Manzanillo (Colima) ;
Matamoros (Tamaulipas) ; Mazatlan (Sinaloa);
Progreso (Yucatan); Puerto Angel (Oaxaca);
Puerto Mexico, formerely called Coatzacoalcos
(Vera Cruz) ; Salina Cruz (Oaxaca) ; San Bias
(Tepic) ; Santa Rosalia (Lower California) ; So-
conusco (Chiapas); Tampico (Tamaulipas); Tux-

36

COMMERCE, BANKING, AND FINANCE

pam (Vera Cruz) ; and Vera Cruz, the chief port
of the country (in State of same name).

In the fiscal year ended June 30, 1913, the de-
clared total value of the foreign trade amounted
to $496,177,956, to which imports contributed
$195,772,339, and exports $300,405,617. The
import trade was distributed as follows : From the
United States, $97,287,556; Great Britain, $25,-
900,093; Germany, $25,220,770; France, $18,-
337,956; Spain, $10,530,642; other countries,
$18,495,322. The export trade was: To the
United States, $232,035,708; Great Britain, $31,-
147,104; Germany, $16,438,019; France, $7,151,-
019; Spain, $2,182,827; other countries, $11,-
450,940. The export trade, classified by products,
was as follows : Mineral, $189,648,610; vegetable,
$85,942,954; animal, $19,837,832; manufactured,
$3,345,264; unclassified, $1,630,955. The import
trade comprised animals and animal products,
vegetable products, mineral products, textiles,
chemical products, wines and spirits, paper and
paper manufactures, machinery and implements,
vehicles, and arms and explosives.

The value of the total trade was distributed
by ports of entry as follows: Gulf ports —
imports, $147,315,298; exports, $216,014,630:
Pacific ports — imports, $10,002,736; exports,
$17,566,647: Northern frontier ports — imports,
$38,436,419; exports, $66,179,856: and South-

37

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

ern frontier ports — imports, $17,884; exports,
$644,482.

Official reports of the United States Department
of Commerce, covering the calendar year 1915,
showed: Imports of merchandise from Mexico,
$83,551,993, and exports of merchandise to
Mexico, $41,071,140, both figures representing the
values in American gold.

Banking System. — The decimal system was
adopted in Mexico in 1905, when a gold standard
and Government coinage were substituted for an
uncertain silver-standard and free coinage. The
unit was made the silver peso, 9027 fine, to con-
tain 24,438 grams of silver, the valuation to be
•75 grams of gold. The peso consists of 100
centavos. The coinage includes five- and ten-peso
gold pieces, the peso, fifty-, twenty-, and ten-
centavo pieces of silver, nickel coins representing
five and ten centavos, and bronze coins represent-
ing one and two centavos.

The banking system of Mexico is based on a
plurality of banks of issue, with a single institution
at the center without numerous branches, but
maintaining a metallic reserve and supporting
local banks by rediscounts. This system is a
result of a complete reorganization of a prior one
by a law enacted in 1897. The Federal banking
system recognizes three classes of institutions —
banks of issue, issuing notes payable to bearer on

38

COMMERCE, BANKING, AND FINANCE

demand ; mortgage banks, issuing mortgage bonds
to cover loans on real estate ; and banks of finance
or promotion, issuing treasury bonds to cover
loans to industry and agriculture for short terms,
but longer than the term of the usual commercial
loan. The mortgage banks are of the usual type
existing in Europe — issuing bonds for even amounts
and for long terms, capable of easy transfer in the
open market. The difference between the banks
of finance or promotion and the mortgage banks
is mainly the term of their obligations, which was
limited by the Act of 1897 to a maximum of two
years and extended in 1908 to three years.

It is provided that the amount of the issues of
circulating notes shall not exceed three times the
paid-up capital of the bank, and that a reserve of
50 per cent, shall be held not against notes only,
but also against deposits payable on demand or
subject to withdrawal at not more than three
days' notice. This requirement is not so exacting,
however, as might appear, because the law does
not count as deposits the privilege given to bor-
rowers to draw upon the bank. All such "current
accounts," as they are called, even though the
depositors have the privilege of checking against
them, are specifically exempted from classification
as deposits.

Bank-notes are not legal tender, but circulate
only by voluntary acceptance on the part of the
4 39

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

public. They are required to bear on their face
the promise to pay the bearer in cash the amount
of the face value of the note. Notes must be re-
deemed at the head office of the bank or its
branches, but the branches are under legal obliga-
tions only to redeem the notes which they have
issued. The denominations of Mexican bank-notes
are limited to $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and
$1,000. The smallest of these denominations,
equivalent to $2.50 in American gold, leaves a
vacuum in the circulation for the use of the
silver peso, which for many years was almost
the only money of the country except the sub-
sidiary coins.

State banks of issue are under the direction of a
board of directors or council of administration
(consejos de administracidri), the authority be-
ing exercised by a majority, and the members of
the board being responsible at civil law for any
infringement of the provisions of the banking
law which has their sanction. The law of 1897
took several leaves from the banking history of
the United States, as well as of some European
countries, in requirements regarding publicity and
official supervision. It provides that the banks
shall publish monthly a cash statement which,
besides showing balances of accounts as required
by law, shall also set forth the amount of coin on
hand, the amount of notes in circulation, and the

40

COMMERCE, BANKING, AND FINANCE

amount of deposits payable on demand or on
notice of three days or less. Aside from these
monthly published statements, the banks are sub-
ject to the supervision of the Federal Department
of Finance.

There are seven chartered banks of the capital
(Mexico City); five independent banks of the
capital, and twenty-six chartered banks of the
States. A clearing-house for the banks was
founded in Mexico City in 1906, with a board
composed of the following institutions: National
Bank of Mexico, Bank of London and Mexico,
Mexican Central Bank, International and Mort-
gage Bank of Mexico, Mexican Bank of Commerce
and Industry, International Banking Corporation,
and the United States Banking Company. Several
other banks became affiliated with the clearing-
house. The banks of issue, on June 30, 1913,
had assets and liabilities balancing at $851,047,-
931; the mortgage banks, $87,524,531; and the
banks of finance or promotion, $151,443,133.

In 1900 the Federal Banking Act was supple-
mented by a law authorizing the establishment of
general bonded warehouses, in which imported
goods may be stored without payment of custom-
house duties as long as they remain in such ware-
houses. Warrants are issued by these establish-
ments which enable merchants to obtain loans
either from the issuing establishments, which for

41

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

this reason are classified as banks, or from the
other banks.

National Finances. — The Federal Treasury state-
ment for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1913,
showed: Ordinary revenue in cash, $120,958,902;
ordinary disbursements, $110,781,871; surplus,
$10,177,031; available cash balance, $13,049,638,
a reduction in a year of $42,236,905, owing to dis-
turbed conditions. The revenue was derived
from: (i) taxes on foreign commerce; (2) interior
taxes, payable in the Federal District and the
Territories; (3) special taxes, payable, similarly,
on real estate, professions, business licenses, flour
and pulque, inheritances, and other accounts; and
(4) taxes on public services and minor accounts.
The disbursements were for (i) the Legislative
Department; (2) the Executive; (3) the Judicial;
(4) Foreign Relations; (5) Interior; (6) Justice;
(7) Public Instruction; (8) Industry; (9) Com-
munications and Public Works; (10) Finance and
Public Credit; (n) War and Marine.

During the year there were paid $6,070,538 in
reduction of the national debt, and $18,890,086
on account of interest. The public debt out-
standing at the end of the fiscal year aggregated
$310,105,945, payable in foreign money; $134,-
197,810 payable in silver currency, and $666,986
a floating debt composed of uncollected balances
of previous budgets. The budget estimates for

4?

COMMERCE, BANKING, AND FINANCE

the fiscal year 1914-15 totaled $15 2,204,5
Recent national loans include one of 4-per-cent.
gold bonds, authorized amount, $40,000,000 in
United States gold, redeemable in fifty years,
negotiated in 1904; a 4-per-cent. external gold
loan, authorized amount, $111,000,000, intended
exclusively for the conversion or redemption of
the 5-per-cent. loan of 1899, redeemable at latest
in 1945, negotiated in 1910; and a 6-per-cent.
external gold loan, authorized amount, $200,000,-
ooo, of which $60,000,000 was placed in July, 1913,
by a group of French banks.

TRANSPORTATION, TELEGRAPH, AND TELEPHONE
COMPANIES

'"PHE mileage of railways in operation in
•*• Mexico approximates 16,000 miles. The
largest and most important system is that of the
National Railways of Mexico. This is not a State
undertaking in the sense that the Government
owns and operates the lines on its own account, the
Government only exercising its authority as an or-
dinary shareholder through its holding of a small
excess of 50 per cent, of the ordinary shares. The
Ferro carriles Nacidnales de Mexico, which is the
official title of the National Railways system, was
created by the merging of three important lines —
the National Railroad of Mexico, the Mexican
Central Railway, and the Mexican International
Railroad. These three companies were consoli-
dated into a single system in 1909, and subse-
quently the merged company purchased the Vera
Cruz & Isthmus and the Pan-American railways.
In addition to these owned lines, the National
44

TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE

Railways of Mexico operates under lease the Inter-
oceanic Railway and the Mexican Southern,
both British built and owned lines. The total
length of the National system, owned, controlled,
and operated, exceeds 7,000 miles. Other im-
portant systems are the Mexican Railway, with
a length of 520 miles, built with British capital
in 1873 ; the Southern Pacific of Mexico, an Ameri-
can road, with a length of approximately 1,000
miles, built and owned by the Southern Pacific
Company of the United States; the Tehuantepec
Railway, with a length of 184 miles, built by
S. Pearson & Son, Ltd., of London, for the Mexi-
can Government, and leased to it for operation
on a profit-sharing basis; and the Mexican North
Western, a British undertaking with 472 miles of
track.

The northern international boundary is crossed
at six points — viz., at Laredo, on the south bank
of the Rio Grande, begins the main line of the
National Railroad, which traverses Nuevo Leon
and San Luis Potosi to the City of Mexico; at
Ciudad Porfirio Diaz begins the International
Railway, which crosses the States of Coahuila and
Durango; at Ciudad Juarez begins the Mex-
ican Central and the Mexican North Western,
the former of which traverses the great central
uplands to the City of Mexico, with branches to
the Gulf and Pacific coasts; at Nogales, in Ari-

45

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

zona, the Southern Pacific begins, extending south-
ward through the State of Sonora and down the
west coast to Mazatlan; and from Alpine, on the
Rio Grande, the Kansas City, Mexico & Orienc
line is being extended across northern Mexico
to the port of Topolobampo on the Gulf of Cali-
fornia.

On the Gulf coast are four main ports of entry :
Matamoras, Tampico, Vera Cruz, and Puerto
Mexico. From Tampico lines of the Central
Mexican traverse the tropical lowlands to Mon-
terey, Aguascalientes, and Mexico City. At Vera
Cruz are the Gulf terminals of the Interoceanic
and Mexican lines, both of which extend to Mexico
City. A third line, the Vera Cruz al Isthmo, ex-
tends southeast, then south to the Tehuantepec
road, and thus connects Vera Cruz with the
Pacific coast. The Tehuantepec road, 'built to
handle freight between the Atlantic and Pacific,
begins at Puerto Mexico and extends to Salina
Cruz. The Pan-American road begins at San
Geronimo, on the Tehuantepec line, and is in
operation to the border of Guatemala. A new line
is being laid out from Santa Lucrecia, on the
Tehuantepec road, to Campeche, designed to link
the United Railways of Yucatan with the National
Railways system. The Mexican Southern Rail-
road extends from the city of Puebla, about 100
miles southeast of Mexico City, to Oaxaca, in

46

TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE

the State of the same name and thence about
sixty miles to Ejutla.

In addition to these trunk lines there are numer-
ous local ones of varying importance, built under
State or Federal concessions, and owned or oper-
ated by large mining and land companies, or by
public utility companies, such as the Mexico
Tramways and the Puebla Tramway Light and
Power companies.

All railways in Mexico have been built under
concessions providing for their ultimate reversion
to the Government, with compensation for rolling-
stock, buildings, and material on hand at the
time of transfer, and are operated under the
Mexican railway law, which was based on a
study of the railway legislation of various coun-
tries. There is a standing Railway Commission
which acts as adviser to the Minister of Communi-
cations, composed of nine members, five of whom
are nominated by the Government, two by the
railway companies, one by the associated cham-
bers of commerce, and one by the agricultural
societies.

Telegraph and Telephone Companies. — The
Mexican Telegraph Company, incorporated in
New York in 1878, has three cables in the Gulf of
Mexico from Galveston, Texas, to Vera Cruz, com-
prising about 2,100 miles, a direct cable line from
Galveston to Coatzacoalcos, 825 miles, and a

47

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

land line from Vera Cruz to Mexico City, and also
owns one-third of a cable from New York to Colon,
Panama, 738 miles. Its authorized capital is
$5,000,000, and its general office is in New York
City. The Mexican Telephone and Telegraph
Company, incorporated in Maine in 1905, oper-
ates 21 exchanges and about 12,000 telephones.
It has an authorized capital of $1,000,000, and its
general office is in Boston.

The interior telegraph and the postal services
are Government monopolies, both under the juris-
diction of the Department of Communications and
Public Works.

VI

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT

HTHE Constitution of the Republic of Mexico
••• was adopted in 1857, and amended in 1873,
1886, 1901, 1903, and 1904. It recognizes that the
rights of man are the basis and objects of social
institutions; that in the Republic all men are
born free; that no one can be obliged to render
personal service without a fair remuneration and
without his full consent; that no retroactive law
can be enacted ; and that under specific conditions
the President may suspend the constitutional
guarantees with the exception of such as safeguard
human life. Mexicans are defined as those born
within or outside of the territory of the Republic
of Mexican parents ; foreigners naturalized accord-
ing to the laws of the Federation; and foreigners
who acquire real estate in the Republic or who
have Mexican children born to them, unless they
manifest their intention of preserving their nation-
ality. The Constitution also defines Mexican citi-
zens as those who, besides being Mexicans of the
male sex, according to the above definition, pos-

49

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

sess the qualifications of being eighteen years old
if married, or twenty-one if unmarried, and have an
honest means of livelihood.

The supreme power of the Federal Government
is exercised by a General Congress, comprising a
Senate and a Chamber of Deputies; a Judiciary,
consisting of a Supreme Court and various Circuit
and District courts; and an Executive, the de-
positary of the Supreme Executive Power of the
Federation, a single individual styled the Presi-
dent of the United Mexican States. The Congress
holds two sessions annually, from September 16
to December 15, and from April i to May
31, and a permanent committee of both Houses
sits during the recesses. The Senate consists of
two members from each State, elected for four
years, one-half of the body being renewed every
two years. Deputies are elected on the basis of
one member for every 40,000 inhabitants or frac-
tion exceeding 20,000 for two years. The Supreme
Court consists of fifteen justices, who are popu-
larly elected by "indirect ballot in the first
degree" for terms of six years. The qualifications
for election to the Presidency are: to be a born
Mexican citizen in full enjoyment of the rights as
such; to be over thirty-five years of age at the
time of election; to be a resident of the country
at the time of election; and not to belong to the
ecclesiastical state. The electors who designate

So

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT

a President also by the same method and at the
same time choose a Vice-President, who must
possess the same qualifications as the President.
The presidential term is six years.

Under the President the executive functions of
the Government are exercised by a Cabinet of
eight members, severally in charge of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and the Departments of the
Interior ; Justice ; Public Instruction and Fine Arts ;
Fomento; Communications and Public Works;
Finance, Public Credit, and Commerce; and War
and Marine.

Department of War and Marine. — According to
the Constitution, it is the obligation of every
Mexican to serve in the army or national guard,
but, so far, no law establishing and regulating
compulsory military service has been enacted.
Officially, the army consists of twenty-eight regi-
ments of infantry (in Spanish called batallones,
the term regiment being applied exclusively to the
cavalry and the artillery corps), two of which are
called regional regiments, employed for service
in the Territory of Quintana Roo, that part of
Yucatan inhabited by the subjugated Maya Ind-
ians; two incomplete regiments of infantry; two
regional companies of infantry, for service in
Lower California; a regiment of sappers and
miners; a squadron of Presidential guards; a
squadron of army gendarmes; fourteen regiments

51

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

of cavalry complete and four incomplete; two
corps of auxiliary militia, serving in the States of
Puebla and Sonora; a squadron serving as escort
for the Geographical Exploration Commission;
two regiments of mounted artillery; one regiment
each of light and mountain artillery; and a com-
pany serving machine-guns. The educational
establishments are the Military Academy at Cha-
pultepec; the Escuela Militar de Aspir antes near
Tlalpam ; a Naval Academy at Vera Cruz ; a col-
lege of practical military surgery; a veterinary
college ; and schools for the instruction of soldiers
in the rudiments of general knowledge in all the
barracks. The Rural Guards of the Federation
and the Fuerzas de Seguridad of the several States
are organizations under the jurisdiction of the
Interior Department to safeguard the highways
and to assure personal safety to wayfarers and
residents outside the centers of population.

Mexico has never attempted the organization
of a modern naval force. The few vessels she
possesses are intended for the purposes of instruc-
tion, patrol duty, and transport service. The
official roster enumerates the following vessels:
the corvettes Zaragoza and Yucatan, both training-
ships; the gunboats Bravo, Morelos, Tampico,
Vera Cruz, and Democrata\ and the transports
Progreso and Oaxaca.

Public Worship and Education. Religion. — The
52

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT

great bulk of the people are of the Roman Catholic
faith, but all religions are tolerated, and there is
no State church. Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
Baptists, Methodists, and Evangelicals have places
of worship, besides schools, seminaries, and benev-
olent institutions in Mexico City. Excepting the
Protestant edifices, the churches of Mexico, nearly
all of them built during the colonial epoch, are,
almost without exception, in the style of the
Spanish Renaissance, modified and in certain cases
vitiated by baroque or rococo features. The
Cathedral of Mexico, which occupies substantially
the same site as the great Aztec Temple of the
war-god Huitzilopochtli, was begun in 1573, and
dedicated in 1667, but the towers were not com-
pleted till 1791.

Education. — A law of 1896 established compul-
sary instruction in the elementary grades in the
Federal District and Territories for children be-
tween the ages of six and twelve years, such in-
struction to be given either at official or private
schools or at home, the enforcement of the law
being vested in vigilance committees composed of
prominent residents. In the various States and
Territories educational activities are established
and regulated by local enactment. For higher
education there are, in Mexico City, the following
institutions, in all of which instruction is free:
the National Preparatory College, National Col-

53

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

lege of Jurisprudence, National Medical College,
National School of Engineers, National College of
Agriculture and Veterinary Surgery, High School
of Commerce and Administration, National School
of Fine Arts, National Conservatory of Music and
Declamation, National School of Arts and Trades
for Men, School of Arts and Trades for Girls,
Normal College for Men, and Normal College for
Women. The attendance at the preparatory and
professional schools in the Federal District aver-
ages about 6,000 annually.

Museums and Libraries. — The National Mu-
seum, founded in 1865, contains collections illus-
trative of natural history, anthropology, ethnol-
ogy, archaeology, and Mexican history. Special
museums, containing collections indicated by their
titles, include the National Artillery Museum,
Museum of the Geographical Exploration Com-
mission, Museum of the Commission of Agricul-
tural Parasitology, Museum of Geology and
Mineralogy, Museum of Hygiene, Museum of
Anatomy, and Museum of the Agricultural So-
ciety. The chief public libraries in the Federal
District are the National Library, opened in 1884,
containing more than 365,000 volumes; Library
of the National Museum; and libraries of the
various executive departments of the Govern-
ment. There are also many libraries owned by
private scientific societies.

54

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT

Literary and Scientific Associations. — The chief
organizations of this character in the Federal
District are the Mexican Geographical and Statis-
tical Society, founded in 1833 ; National Academy
of Medicine, founded in 1874; Mexican Academy
of Jurisprudence and Legislation, founded in 1889;
Mexican Academy of Exact Physical and Natural
Science, founded in 1894; Associations of Engi-
neers and Architects, founded in 1883; Society
of Natural History, founded in 1878; Pedro
Escobedo Medical Society, founded in 1872; An-
tonio Alzate Scientific Society, founded in 1884;
Academy of the Spanish Language, founded in
1875; Mexican Geological Society, founded in
1903 ; and the Academy of Social Science, founded
in 1905.

VII

STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE FEDERATION

AA EXICO is 'divided politically into a Federal
•^ ' •*• District, twenty-seven States, and three
Territories. The following is a brief exposition
of the geographical location of these divisions and
of their economic interests; the area, population,
and capital city of each are given in the table on
a preceding page.

The Federal District. — This Territory, which
was set apart for the independent and exclusive
use of the Federal Government, originally formed
part of the State of Mexico, which marks its boun-
daries on all sides except the south, where it
touches the State of Morelos. Formerly divided
into one urban municipality and four rural pre-
fectures, under a law of 1903, it now consists of
thirteen municipalities, of which Mexico City is
chief. The city occupies a small plain in the
southwest of the Valley of Mexico. It is regularly
laid out, and is not only the political, financial,
and commercial center of the Republic, but is

56

STATES AND TERRITORIES

becoming an important manufacturing town. Un-
til recent years, on account of the lack of water
power and cheap fuel, it did not rank as an in-
dustrial city, but the development of electric
power and the possibility of transmitting it for
long distances has produced a remarkable change
in this respect. By the railways the city has
direct connection with nearly all of the State
capitals and the principal ports of the country.

Aguascalientes, a central State, is bounded on
all sides, except the south and southeast, by the
State of Zacatecas, and on the south and south-
east by the State of Jalisco. It occupies an ele-
vated plateau region extending eastward from the
Sierras Fria and Laurel. Although one of the
smallest States in the country, it is second only to
Vera Cruz in the large proportion of area under
cultivation, the products being generally those
of a temperate climate, as the staple cereals,
sweet-potatoes, chick-peas, and green peppers.
Gold, silver, iron, lead, copper, tin, sulphur, lime,
and gypsum are included in the mineral products,
and the mining industry is important.

Baja California, a Territory, is the peninsular
prolongation southward of the American State of
California, and is bounded on the north by that
State, on the east by the Colorado River and the
Gulf of California, and on the south and west by
the Pacific Ocean. A considerable part of the

57

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

Territory is owned by six large companies, who
have done no practical development. Sugar-cane,
maize, and tobacco are cultivated in a few places
for local needs; stock-raising is a profitable in-
dustry in the Ensenada district; and gold, silver,
copper, salt, sulphur, manganese, lead, and onyx
are among the known mineral resources, a few
only of which are worked. The Territory has no
railroads, and transportation is afforded by ox-
cart and mule-teams.

Campeche, a Gulf State, occupies the western
part of the peninsula of Yucatan; is named from
its principal forest product, polo de Campeche (log-
wood) ; and is bounded on the north by the State
of Yucatan, on the east by Yucatan and the
Territory of Quintana Roo, on the south by the
Republic of Guatemala, on the southwest by the
State of Tabasco, and on the west by the Gulf of
Mexico. The surface generally consists of heavily
forested plains, containing valuable dye and cab-
inet woods, except in the northern districts, which
are more open and well adapted for stock-raising
and general agriculture. The chief industries are
the cutting and exportation of logwood, the
manufacture of palm hats, hammocks, and tortoise-
shell articles, and stock-raising.

Chiapas, a Pacific coast State, is bounded on the
north and northeast by the State of Tabasco, on
the east by the Republic of Guatemala, on the

58

STATES AND TERRITORIES

south by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the
State of Oaxaca, and on the northwest by the
State of Vera Cruz. In the Sierras are many fer-
tile districts with temperate climate and great
agricultural promise. Mahogany and Spanish
cedar abound in the timber-lands; a fine quality
of tobacco for cigars and cigarettes is grown in
the Department of Simojovel; cotton thrives in
Tuxtla and Comitan, cacao in Pichucalco, coffee
and rubber in Soconusco, and apples, peaches, and
nectarines in the higher elevations, and pineapples,
custard apples, bananas, melons, alligator pears,
maize, and beans in the lower. The raising of
cattle, horses, mules, and swine is also an industry
of importance.

Chihuahua, a northern border State, is bounded
on the north and northeast by the United States,
on the east by the State of Coahuila, on the south
by the State of Durango, on the southwest by the
State of Sinaloa, and on the west by the States
of Sinaloa and Sonora. Four-fifths of this State
forms an upland plain, varying in height from
4,000 to 8,000 feet, and, although extensive sand
and alkali stretches are characteristic features,
many large tracts have been transformed into
agricultural and grazing lands by irrigation and
the sinking of artesian wells. The grazing of cattle,
sheep, and goats gives occupation to a large num-
ber of people, many haciendas comprising 1,000,-

59

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

ooo acres and upward, and from this industry is
secured a great part of the wealth of the State.
Statistics show 24,314,311 acres of land used for
grazing, 10,218,421 acres in forest, and 330,035
acres in farms under irrigation; value of staple
farm crops in a year, $5,712,698; of forest prod-
ucts, $2,429,568. Mining is the most developed
industry of the State, the products being gold,
silver, copper, lead, and iron. Other industries
of importance are cotton, woolen, and flour
milling, brewing, smelting and refining, and rolling-
mill and foundry work. Parral, fifty miles west
of Jiminez, on a branch of the National Railway,
is one of the most important mining districts of
the country, in which are situated the Minas
Nuevas, Santa Barbara, Almoloya, Roncesvalles,
and other notable camps.

Coahuila, a northern frontier State, is bounded
on the north by the United States, on the east by
the State of Nuevo Leon, on the south by the
States of San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas, and on
the west by the States of Durango and Chihuahua.
The southeastern portion of the State is too moun-
tainous to be suitable for extended cultivation;
the plains in the northwest afford fine pasturage
for stock-raising; and in this district lies a part
of the famous Laguna region, which, from an
approximate area of 200,000 acres, produces
nine-tenths of all the cotton grown in the country.

60

STATES AND TERRITORIES

A considerable amount of the guayule shrub is
found in this State, which is worked up in the large
rubber-plants of the Laguna district, where seven
factories treat about 200 tons per day. The
mineral industry is important, the principal output
being lead, silver, zinc, and coal. At Las Esper-
anzas is mined the bulk of the native coal used in
the country.

Colima, a Pacific coast State, and the second
smallest in the confederation, is bounded on the
north and northeast by the State of Jalisco, on
the east by the State of Michoacan, and on the
south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Agricul-
ture and stock-raising are the principal sources
of wealth, the most important products being
sugar, rice, maize, palm oil, coffee, and cotton.
Iron, copper, and lead deposits are known to exist,
but there has been no systematic attempt to de-
velop them. Other products of commercial
value are lumber and salt.

Durango, a north central State, is bounded on
the north by the State of Chihuahua, on the east
by the State of Coahuila, on the southeast by the
State of Zacatecas, on the south by the States of
Zacatecas and Jalisco and the Territory of Tepic,
and on the west by the State of Sinaloa. The
most important agricultural region is included in
the districts (partidos) of Mapimi, Durango, San
Juan del Rio, and Papasquiaro, the products being

61

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

barley, corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, grapes, and
other fruits, leguminous plants, sugar-cane, and
cotton. Stock-raising is a flourishing industry,
especially in the districts of Durango, El Ojo,
Cuencame, Nazas Ind6, and Papasquiaro. Du-
rango is one of the leading mining States of
Mexico, the best-known camps being Guanacevi
(gold and silver), Velardena (silver, lead, and
copper), El Ojo and Inde (gold and silver), Bacis
and Sapioris (gold and silver), San Dimas (silver,
with gold), Promontario (tin), Coneto (silver, with
copper), and Mapimi (silver, lead, and gold). The
Cerro del Mercado (Iron Mountain) is an immense
deposit of iron close to the city of Durango.
Sulphur, rubies, and other deposits exist, but are
not worked.

Guanajuato, a central State, is bounded on the
north by the State of San Luis Potosi, on the east
by the State of Queretaro, on the south by the
State of Michoacan, and on the west by the State
of Jalisco. This State has an average elevation
of 6,000 feet and a semi-tropical climate. The
surface in the northern half is broken by two
mountain ranges; in the southern half it is cov-
ered by fertile plains, in which is situated the well-
known Bajio district, celebrated for its large pro-
duction of the staple cereals. Alfalfa, grasses,
and all other forage growths are green practically
the entire year. Herein is one of the richest min-

62

STATES AND TERRITORIES

eral areas in the country, producing gold, silver,
mercury, tin, iron, lead, argentiferous lead and
copper, bismuth, hematite, and sulphur.

Guerrero, a Pacific coast State, is bounded on
the north by the States of Michoacan, Mexico,
Morelos, and Puebla, on the east by the State of
Oaxaca, on the south by the Pacific Ocean, and on
the west by the State of Michoacan. With the
exception of the low coastal plain, this area con-
sists almost entirely of the spurs and offshoots of
the Sierra Madre range, rendering the valleys nar-
row and difficult of access. Agriculture is in a
backward condition; cereals are grown for local
needs only; and the chief exports are sesame,
cotton-seed, and copra. Cattle-raising is exten-
sively carried on throughout the State; a variety
of fruits is grown in the district around Acapulco;
coffee is very productive near the coast at Atoyac
and in the interior north of Chilpancingo ; and
about sixty mining companies are operating,
chiefly in the neighborhood of Iguala and along the
Balsas River, obtaining gold, silver, copper, and
lead.

Hidalgo, a central State, is bounded on the
north by the State of San Luis Potosi, on the
northeast by the State of Vera Cruz, on the east
by the State of Puebla, on the south by the
States of Tlaxcala and Mexico, and on the west
by the State of Queretaro. Here, in addition to

63

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

the staple cereals, subtropical products, such as
the orange and sugar-cane, are cultivated, and the
plains of Apam are famous for their maguey-
plantations. Silver-mining is the leading industry,
but deposits of iron are worked at Encarnacion,
Zacualtipan, and Apulco. It was at Pachuca
that Bartolome de Medina discovered the "patio"
process of reducing silver ores with quicksilver in
1557, and his old hacienda de beneficio is still to be
seen.

Jalisco, a Pacific State, is bounded on the north
by the Territory of Tepic and the States of Du-
rango, Zacatecas, and Aguascalientes, on the
northeast by the State of San Luis Potosi, on the
east by the States of Guanajuato and Michoacan,
on the south by the States of Michoacan and
Colima, and on the southwest and west by the
Pacific Ocean. This region is known as the
"granary of Mexico," because of the extent of the
cultivation of cereals. There is an upland district,
having an average elevation of 5,000 feet, where
some of the most fertile and prosperous agricul-
tural tracts of the country are to be found. Sugar-
cane is extensively cultivated in the valleys of
Zapotlan, Tamagula, and Ahualulco, and a high-
grade tobacco in Las Penas Valley. The cattle
industry thrives ; the maguey is cultivated for the
manufacture of a spirituous liquor known as
tequila; gold and silver are found at Hostotipa-

64

STATES AND TERRITORIES

quillo; copper ores at Etzatlan, Ameca, and else-
where; iron ore at Tula; and anthracite near Za-
potlan.

Mexico, a central State, is bounded on the north
by the State of Hidalgo, on the east by the States
of Tlaxcala and Puebla, on the south by the
Federal District and the States of Morelos and
Guerrero, on the west by the State of Michoacan,
and on the northwest by the State of Queretaro.
The Valley of Mexico has an average elevation
of more than 7,000 feet, and that of Toluca of
about 8,000 feet. The former has a cool and agree-
able climate ; the latter a cold climate. The prin-
cipal industries of this State are agricultural, the
production consisting of cereals, sugar, maguey,
coffee, and fruit. Stock-raising is also a profitable
industry. Other notable activities are the manu-
facture of cotton and woolen goods, flour, glass-
ware, pottery, bricks, wines, spirits, and pulque.
Mining yields gold, silver, lead, copper, antimony,
and iron.

Michoacan, a Pacific State, is bounded on the
north by the State of Guanajuato, on the north-
east by the State of Queretaro, on the east by the
State of Mexico, on the south by the State of
Guerrero and the Pacific Ocean, and on the west
by the States of Colima and Jalisco. It is almost
evenly divided by the eastern range of the Sierra
Madre into a northern portion in the center pla-

65

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

teau region and a southern portion broken up
into fertile valley and wooded ranges sloping
gradually to the Balsas River. The Pacific slope
and southern portion contain fine timber as yet
not developed; in the plateau region cereals, cot-
ton, chick-peas, tobacco, sugar, and coffee are
grown, chiefly for local needs. The mining indus-
try is important, principally centered at Tlalpu-
jahua (gold and silver), Angangueo (silver), In-
guaran (copper), and Coalcoman (iron).

Morelos, a central State, is bounded on the
north by the Federal District and the State of
Mexico, on the east by the State of Puebla, on
the south by the State of Guerrero, and on the
west by the State of Mexico. This State is essen-
tially an agricultural one, producing sugar (which
is the characteristic crop), rice, coffee, and the
chief cereals. Here are undeveloped deposits of
silver, lead, and iron.

Nuevo Leon, a northern State, is bounded on
the north by the State of Coahuila, on the north-
east by the United States and the State of Ta-
maulipas, on the east by the State of Tamaulipas,
on the south and southwest by the State of San
Luis Potosi, and on the west by the State of
Coahuila. Agriculture, mining, and smelting con-
stitute the principal industries. The chief prod-
ucts of agriculture are the staple cereals, sugar-
cane, and fibers; of mining, lead, zinc, and silver.

66

STATES AND TERRITORIES

There are a large number of sugar-mills, cotton
and woolen mills, smelting and iron and steel
works.

Oaxaca, a Pacific State, is bounded on the north
by the States of Puebla and Vera Cruz, on the
east by the State of Chiapas, on the south by the
Pacific Ocean, and on the west by the State of
Guerrero. This State covers the greater part of
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and its agricultural
products are of the usual tropical and sub-
tropical variety. The Valle National is a famous
tobacco region; near the State of Vera Cruz are
large sugar-plantations; mineral productions are
gold, silver, and onyx; coal and iron deposits are
known but undeveloped.

Puebla, a central State, is bounded on the
north and east by the State of Vera Cruz, on the
south by the States of Oaxaca and Guerrero, and
on the west by the States of Morelos, Mexico,
Tlaxcala, and Hidalgo. There are some 300,000
haciendas, with an annual production of $40,000,-
ooo, principally in the staple cereals, sugar, coffee,
and rice, and over forty factories engaged in the
manufacture of cotton thread and cloth and print
goods. Other manufactures include the famous
ornamental iron-work, ornamental tiles, wine,
beer, alcohol, starch, beds, cigarettes, chocolate,
spaghetti, glass, mosaic, tanned leather, and hats.
Mining is confined to copper, with some silver and

67

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

gold. Stock-raising flourishes here, and a large
export trade is done in hides and goat-skins.

Queretaro, a central State, is bounded on the
north by the State of San Luis Potosi, on the east
by the State of Hidalgo, on the southeast by the
State of Mexico, on the south by the State of
Michoacan, and on the west by the State of
Guanajuato. Agriculture is here undeveloped,
because of the uncertain rainfall and absence of
irrigation enterprise. Mining of gold, silver,
antimony, and cinnabar is of some importance.
In the central and southern regions are fertile
areas producing cereals, leguminous plants, to-
bacco, and sugar-cane.

Quintana Roo, is a Territory along the east coast
of the peninsula of Yucatan, from which it was
politically separated in 1902. There is little or no
agriculture. Near the coast the land is generally
thickly covered with mangrove and cocoanuts;
farther inland are found dyewoods of all kinds;
and still farther, cedar and mahogany. Chicle is
one of the principal articles of export. There are
valuable fisheries along the coast, and turtles and
sponges are abundant.

San Luis Potosi, a central State, is bounded on
the north by the States of Coahuila and Zacatecas,
on the northeast and east by the States of Nuevo
Leon and Tamaulipas, on the east by the States
of Tamaulipas and Vera Cruz, on the south by

68

STATES AND TERRITORIES

the States of Hidalgo, Queretaro, and Guana-
juato, on the southwest by the States of Jalisco and
Zacatecas, and on the west by the State of Zaca-
tecas. The State lies entirely in the central
plateau region, with an average elevation of 6,000
feet. Agriculture is as yet inadequately developed,
although the lands are fertile and the rainfalls
usually sufficient for the successful raising of
crops. Maize and corn are grown in the central
and western districts, and various tropical prod-
ucts in the eastern. Asphaltum and petroleum
deposits in the eastern and southeastern sections
are being actively developed. The mining out-
put, chiefly gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc,
has an average annual value of $8,000,000.

Sinaloa, a Pacific State, is bounded on the north
and northeast by the States of Sonora and Chi-
huahua, on the east by the State of Durango, on
the southeast by the Territory of Tepic, and on the
south and west by the Gulf of California and the
Pacific Ocean. The surface consists of a narrow
tropical coastal zone, a broad forested belt of
the higher ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental,
and an intermediate subtropical zone of an aver-
age elevation of 2,000 feet, where there are excel-
lent agricultural lands. The annual value of the
agricultural production approximates $8,000,000,
consisting chiefly of cereals, tobacco, and sugar.
Tomatoes are here cultivated extensively for

69

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

American markets. Stock-raising and the ex-
portation of hides are important; the forests con-
tain many valuable woods; and mining is the
chief industry of the State.

Sonora, a northwestern State, is bounded on the
north by the United States, on the east by the
State of Chihuahua, on the south by the State
of Sinaloa, and on the west by the Gulf of Cali-
fornia; is the second largest State in the country.
The surface is much broken by ramifications of
the Sierra Madre Occidental; the State is trav-
ersed by four rivers; the soil of the mountain
valleys is fertile; and the chief industry is mining,
the products being copper, gold, and silver, in
order of importance.

Tabasco, a Gulf State, is bounded on the north
by the Gulf of Mexico, on the east by the State
of Campeche and Guatemala, on the south by
Guatemala and Chiapas, and on the west by Vera
Cruz. It is essentially an agricultural State, the
principal products being sugar, cacao, rum, rub-
ber, coffee, corn, and cattle. Two navigable
rivers constitute the principal means of com-
munication. In the south and southeast are ex-
tensive forests, from which valuable timber and
dyewoods are exported.

Tamaulipas, a northern State, is bounded on
the north by the United States, on the east by the
Gulf of Mexico, on the south by the States of

70

STATES AND TERRITORIES

Vera Cruz and San Luis Potosi, and on the west
by the State of Nuevo Leon. The most fertile
agricultural districts are between the Sierra Madre
and the coast, in the southern part ; cattle-raising
is carried on principally in the northeast and south-
west; zinc and lead are found in the Victoria dis-
trict; and extensive petroleum deposits are in the
southern half of the State and the region tributary
to Tampico, the Mexican oil metropolis and the
second port of the country.

Tepic, is a Territory, bounded on the north by
the States of Durango and Sinaloa, on the east
and south by the State of Jalisco, and on the west
by the Pacific Ocean. It is chiefly concerned with
agriculture, wheat and other cereals, coffee, to-
bacco, and sugar being largely cultivated, and it
also has considerable gold, silver, copper, and
lead mining interests.

Tlaxcala, a central State, is bounded on the
north, east, south, and southwest by the State
of Puebla, on the west by the State of Mexico,
and on the northwest by the State of Hidalgo.
This, too, is an essentially agricultural State,
cereals and the maguey plant forming the chief
products.

Vera Cruz, a Gulf State, is bounded on the
north by the State of Tamaulipas, on the east by
the Gulf of Mexico, on the southeast by the
States of Tabasco and Chiapas, on the south by

6 71

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

the State of Oaxaca, and on the west by the
States of Puebla, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi.
Much of the chief industrial activity of this
State has already been outlined on a preceding
page under the caption of "Mexico's Greatest
National Asset." In addition thereto, it is to be
noted that the general agricultural production
has an average annual value of upward of $70,-
000,000, that a considerable trade is done in the
exportation of various fiber plants, that oranges
and tobacco are valuable articles of export, that
textile-mills lead in a long list of manufacturing
enterprises, and that, excepting petroleum, the
mineral resources of the state are practically un-
developed.

Yucatan, a Gulf State, occupies the northwest
part of the peninsula to which it gives its name,
and is bounded on the north by the Gulf of
Mexico, on the east and south by the Territory of
Quintana Roo, on the southwest by the State of
Campeche, and on the west by the State of
Campeche and the Gulf of Mexico. The surface
is loose soil, covering coralline limestone, which
permits of the rapid percolation and evaporation
of the rainfall, conditions exceedingly favorable
for the cultivation of the maguey plant, from
which the sisal hemp or henequen of commerce is
produced, and which is the principal source of the
revenue of the State.

72

STATES AND TERRITORIES

Zacatecas, a central State, is bounded on the
north by the States of Durango and Coahuila,
on the east by the State of San Luis Potosi, on the
south by the States of Aquasalientes and Jalisco,
on the west by the State of Jalisco, and on the
northwest by the State of Durango. It is entirely
on the central plateau, having an average elevation
of 7,700 feet, and its industrial life is nearly equally
divided between farming, mining, and stock-
raising.

VIII

AMERICAN INVESTMENTS

IMMENSE as is the wealth of Mexico in gold,
*• silver, and copper, it is richer in oil than all
the other minerals combined, and while oil is
found in many of the States, it is in the Tampico
and Tuxpam districts along the Gulf that its
greatest development has been reached. It is a
matter of record that the Standard Oil Company
alone made $240,557,197 in the period of 1882-96,
and $558,226,625 in the period of 1897-1906. Its
banner years were 1907-12, when its profits were
estimated at $802,507,552. At one time this com-
pany had practically a monopoly of production
in Mexico, but to-day its chief activity there is
the refining of oil. The sharp rivalry that existed
for many years between it and the English in-
terests has now nearly, if not wholly, ceased.

In 1916 there were forty-six companies operating
in this, the greatest of all oil zones, the largest being
the Mexican Petroleum Company, the Metropoli-
tan Petroleum Company (both American), and

74

AMERICAN INVESTMENTS

the Mexican Eagle Company (English). Edward
L. Doheny is at the head of the Mexican Petro-
leum Company, Richard Levering of the Metro-
politan Petroleum Company, and Lord Cowdray,
formerly Sir Weetman Pearson, of the Mexican
Eagle Company. Other large companies are the
Tuxpam and Ozuluama Petroleum Company
(George D. Cook & Co., New York), and the Shell
Company (English), the latest to enter the field.
The production of all companies is estimated at
from 300,000 to 500,000 barrels per day, and in
the single year of 1913 the total output was
24,574,500 barrels.

The following is a list of the American com-
panies having oil interests in Mexico: Mexican
Petroleum Company, Texas Company, Pierce Oil
Corporation, Gulf Refining Company, East Coast
Oil Company (Southern Pacific), Penn-Mex Fuel
Company, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey,
Port Lobos Oil Company (American Tobacco in-
terests), Freeport Mexican Fuel Oil Company
(Freeport Texas Sulphur Company), and the Tam-
pico Oil Company (John Hays Hammond in-
terests) .

It has already been noted that the estimated
total investment in the various mining interests is
$647,200,000, of which $499,000,000 is American
capital, $87,200,000 British, $10,000,000 French,
and $29,400,000 Mexican. The most important

75

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT MEXICO

of the American mining interests are in the copper-
fields, and are controlled by the Guggenheims,
J. P. Morgan & Co., and Phelps, Dodge & Co.
The principal American owners of the railroad
interests are J. P. Morgan & Co., Kuhn, Loeb &
Co., Speyer & Co., and Hallgarten & Co.

For business reasons it is impossible to give
even an approximate estimate of the amount and
distribution of American capital in the various
fields of investment in Mexico. Here are two
statements of such capitalization, both from
official sources, and both widely divergent, the
first claimed to be under, the second over, a reason-
able estimate. The first totals $450,000,000, and
comprises: Mexican Government securities, $30,-
000,000; Mexican railway shares and bonds,
$40,000,000; Mexican railways in course of con-
struction, principally the Southern Pacific, $70,-
000,000; mining and smelting interests, $150,-
000,000; rubber interests, $15,000,000; oil and
refineries, $40,000,000; lumber, $50,000,000; sugar,
$30,000,000; and miscellaneous (cattle, hemp,
real estate, etc.), $25,000,000.

The second statement (by Marion Letcher,
United States consul at Chihuahua) totals the
great sum of $1,057,770,000, and comprises: Rail-
way stocks, $235,464,000; railway bonds, $408,-
926,000; bank stocks, $7,850,000; bank deposits,
$22,700,000; mines, $223,000,000; smelters, $26,-

76

AMERICAN INVESTMENTS

500,000; national bonds, $52,000,000; timber-
lands, $8,100,000; ranches $3,150,000; farms,
$910,000; live-stock, $9,000,000; houses and per-
sonal property, $4,500,000; soap-factories, etc.,
$1,200,000; breweries, $600,000; miscellaneous
factories, $9,600,000; tramways, power, and elec-
tric-light plants, $760,000; wholesale stores,
$2,700,000; retail stores, $1,680,000; oil business,
$15,000,000; rubber industry, $15,000,000; pro-
fessional outfit, $3,600,000; insurance, $4,000,000;
theaters, $25,000; and hotels, $260,000.

Regarding the second statement, it should be
noted that Consul Letcher pointed out that the
figures indicated the par value rather than the
market value of the various securities included in
his report, and this will account in large measure
for the great difference in the totals of the two
statements. But they serve at least to indicate
the richness of Mexico's natural resources, the
vast amount of American and other foreign capi-
tal already invested, and the opportunities for
further development.

INDEX

Agricultural industries, 19. Eastern region, 3.

Aguascalientes, State of, 57. Education, 53.

American investments, 74. Expenditure, national, 42.

Area and population, 17. Exports, 37.
Army, 51. p

B

Federal Banking Act, 41.
Baja California, Territory of, Federal District, 56.

57. Finances, national, 42.

Banking system: Fruits, 24.

Banks, chartered, 41.
Banks of issue, 38.

Grains, 21.

Great elevated plains, 8.

„ i, G*. < nt e& Guanajuata, State of, 62.

Campeche State of, 58. Guerrero, State of, 63.

Capital cities, 16.
Central and northern region, 5.
Chiapas, State of, 58.

Chihuahua, State of, 59. w;,*ai«« <5tatp of 61

Climate of the tablelands, II. Hidalgo, btate OK, t>3-

Climatic zones, 20.

Coahuila, State of, 60.

Coffee, 25. Imports, 37.

Coinage, 38. Industries, agricultural, 19.

Colima, State of, 61. Manufacturing, 28.

Commerce, 36. Mining, 19.

Constitution, 49. Petroleum, 31.

Copper production, 27. Investments, foreign, 74~77«

Cotton, 23. American, 74.

j

Debt, national, 42.

Durango, State of, 61. Jalisco, State of, 64.

79

INDEX

Lead production, 27, 28.
Libraries, 54.
Literary associations, 55.
Live-stock, 25.
Lower California region, 14.
Lower California, Territory of,
57.

Manufacturing industries, 28.
Mexico, State of, 65.
Mexico's greatest natural as-

set, 31.

Michoacan, State of, 65.
Mining industries, 19, 26.
Monetary unit, 38.
Morelos, State of, 66.
Museums, 54.

N

National finances, 42.
Natural and racial features and

Navy°5i '*

Nuevo Leon, State of, 66.

Oaxaca, State of, 67.

Petroleum industry, 31, 74, 75.

Ports of entry, 46.

Principal cities and towns, pop-

Religion, 52.

Remarkable elevation, 7.
Revenue, national, 37, 42.
Rubber, 23.

San Luis Potosi, State of, 68.
Scientific associations, 55.
Sierra Madre region, 12.
Silver production, 27, 28.
Sinaloa, State of, 69.
Sonora, State of, 70.
States, area and population,

56-73-
Sugar-cane, 22.

Tabasco, State of, 70.
Tablelands, climate of the, n.
Tamaulipas, State of, 70.
Telegraphs and telephones, 44,

TepiJ; Territory of, 71.
Territories, area and popula-

Tla^'t gfate of, 71.
Trade with United States, 38.
Transportation, 44.

Vera Craz' State of- I1-
"

War and Marine Department,
o * •

Q Y

Queretaro, State of, 68. Yucatan State of 72

Quintafia Roo, Territory of, 68. 3 an' b1 o1' ?2'

R

Racial features, I, 15.
Railways, 44.

Zacatecas, State of, 73.
Zinc production, 28.

80

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