THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE  
The old-fashioned Don, accustomed to ox-carts, wooden ploughs, and a horde of men ready to serve him, no doubt views with dismay the changes being wrought by steam and electricity. The younger generation has been educated abroad, or in the States, and rather welcomes the innovations. The spirit of revolution and political unrest that prevailed for the first sixty years of the republic has lessened, even if it has not entirely passed away. Education and immigration have worked wonders in the country; and, above all, the establishment of a government that for almost a third of a century commanded obedience at home and respect abroad is responsible for the mutation in Mexico. It was an absolute republic and under a strong controlling hand. It was the family government applied to the state, for it was very paternal in its rule.
 
PRIMITIVE TRANSPORTATION
 
Mexico is a human country and is not without its faults. The greatest of these are, however,[457] the result of conditions for which the present generation of nation-builders are not responsible. A transformation can not be wrought in a decade, nor in a generation. And yet the real accomplishments of the past twenty-five years in Mexico are marvellous. Americans who have lived there during that time wax eloquent in describing the great change for the better. Whereas formerly people hesitated to invest money for fear of political changes, investments in that country are now looked upon as safe, and Mexican securities are given a fixed value on the bourses of the world.
Modern luxuries and conveniences are being introduced everywhere. The people are simply installing in a hurry the things that other countries have been acquiring for the half of a century. Every city is bestirring herself, and electric light plants, modern sewerage systems and water works are being constructed as rapidly as things can move in this land of procrastination. Old and crude methods of power are being replaced by up-to-date machinery in mines and manufactures. Electric railways are replacing the mule tram lines, and the merry hum of the trolley is fast succeeding the bray of the long-eared motor just mentioned.[458] Mexico lagged behind so long that she has had quite a distance to go, and it will be a long while before she can entirely catch up with the head of the procession. Material wealth is increasing. Better wages are paid, and the surplus is being expended for more and better goods. The wants of the great bulk of the people are so few, that it must be a long time before there will be a great change in their method of living; but their children are being educated, and that in itself works wonders in their uplifting.
For more than twenty years the finances of the government have shown a surplus. What a contrast to all the years of the republic before that time. In 1876 the total revenue of the government was but $19,000,000 silver. For the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1910, this had increased to $53,164,242 United States gold. From a yearly deficit a surplus has been evolved which annually amounts to several million dollars. The total cash in the treasury at the date of the above report amounted to $37,042,857 gold. This statement shows a healthy condition of affairs. The government now finds willing buyers for its bonds, and all its obligations have been met promptly for a number of years.
[459]
Finance Minister Limantour, who held that position for many years, proved himself to be a Napoleon of finance, and his reputation extended to every financial centre in the world. Establishing the gold standard was a great achievement. Just a few years ago Mexican silver varied from $2.05 to $2.40 for a gold dollar, and all business was unsettled as a result. Now the government has established a rate of exchange of two silver dollars for one of gold, and all this was done without any friction or disturbance. It is to be hoped that the new administration will maintain the same high standard of financial integrity that has been handed down by its immediate predecessor.
The foreign trade of Mexico runs into big figures. The total extra-territorial trade of the republic for the year ending June 30th, 1910, amounted to $227,456,025 in United States gold. Of this amount $130,023,135 represented exports and $97,432,890, imports. Of the exports $78,260,037 were of mineral products, while vegetable products were less than half that amount. An analysis of the imports shows by far the largest items were included under manufactured articles, such as machinery, textiles, chemical products, etc. Arms and explosives imported exceeded a million and a[460] half dollars in value, thus showing that the government and people were even then preparing for the struggle to follow. By far the largest proportion of exports and imports was with the United States. Imports from the United States amounted to the tidy sum of $56,421,551, an increase of twelve million dollars over the preceding year, and the exports to the United States were $98,432,859, an increase of almost an equal amount. The United Kingdom is the nearest competitor in the foreign trade with our neighbouring republic. While the imports from the United States showed an increase of twenty-four per cent. over the preceding year, the increase from the United Kingdom and Germany was only twelve and eighteen per cent. respectively. Imports from the mother country, Spain, were less than three per cent. of the whole.
In the matter of trade, as is shown by the trade statistics, the United States is easily the predominant factor. The proximity of the country has probably been the cause of this, as it has led Americans to investigate the natural resources and invest money in railroads, mines, public works and many other enterprises. The same influence can be seen in the banking interests. There are a number of very[461] strong banks in Mexico, of which the Banco Nacional, or National Bank of Mexico, is the most influential. This bank was established in 1881, at a time when the financial condition of the country was anything but prosperous, and its growth has been continuous and at times almost phenomenal. This bank and one other are the only institutions that have the privilege of issuing bank notes in the Federal District, although some banks in other parts of the country have the same privilege. The Bank of London and Mexico, originally a British concern, but now owned by French capital, ranks next in importance, although it is very closely followed by the United States Banking Company, an American enterprise with a number of branches throughout the republic. There are many other banks, some of them under the banking laws of the republic, and others private enterprises, which gives Mexico very good facilities for the transaction of all kinds of banking and commercial business. In 1893 there were only eight banks in the entire republic, but now there are more than sixty. They have a circulation of nearly $100,000,000, and a capital in excess of that sum. The American influence, and the banks controlled by Americans, have aided greatly in the development[462] of business between the two countries, and it is the writer’s belief that similar establishments throughout the rest of Latin America would be one of the greatest aids to the extension of American influence and commerce that could be devised.
The increase of manufacturing has been quite noticeable in recent years, and eventually will cause a diminution in the imports of certain articles. Quite a number of cotton factories have been established in certain sections of the country, and the labour has been found quite well adapted to that class of manufacturing. Establishments for the preparation and curing of meats have also been built under government concessions, while tobacco factories, which work up the very excellent tobacco grown in the country, and breweries have been established in many sections of the country. The Mexican tobacco is said by those who pose as experts to have a very excellent flavour, and by many is claimed to be superior even to the Cuban article. The product grown in the state of Vera Cruz has the best flavour, but a number of other states produce large quantities of the weed.
The greatest enterprise now operating in Mexico, excepting only the railroads, is the[463] Mexico Light and Power Company, a Canadian corporation. This group of men own the electric light and gas plants and the tramways of the City of Mexico, Puebla and a number of other cities. As a part of their enterprise they have built a great dam by means of which the waters of the Necaxa River are utilized for the production of the electricity. This is distant ninety-six miles to the northeast of the capital. Fed by springs this river becomes a good sized stream before it plunges over a precipice of four hundred and sixty feet, and a short distance beyond is one of a still greater fall. The main dam is one hundred and ninety-four feet high and about thirteen hundred feet wide, and contains an immense amount of material. It is built of stone and concrete. By means of this and the auxiliary dams a valley has been made into an immense reservoir, so that the dry season might be provided for when the natural flow of water would be insufficient. It is claimed that enough water can be stored to run the power plant through two years of continual drouth. The water is carried to the turbines by means of pipes which pierce the mountain, bringing to each turbine a stream of water six feet in diameter and carrying all the force of a drop exceeding one[464] thousand feet. The total transmission lines reach a length of more than two hundred miles, and the capacity of the plant is two hundred and fifty thousand horse power. At the present time this company supplies all the electric power in the capital, as well as several mining enterprises, and as soon as the plant is wholly completed, will supply Puebla and other cities. Its franchise is from the Mexican government and is in perpetuity. This simply gives an indication of what can be done in the development of the natural resources of Mexico. In a country where fuel is scarce and high priced, the value of the water power is accordingly increased. There are many other waterfalls awaiting development, and it only needs the necessary capital, and a combination of far-sighted men, such as those who compose the Canadian corporation above mentioned, to supply the great need of Mexico for cheap and satisfactory power.
 
PRIMITIVE PLOUGHING NEAR OAXACA
 
It is unfortunate for Mexico that mining has absorbed almost all of her energies, and agriculture has been allowed to drop into a secondary position. One cause for this has been the Spanish characteristic, as represented by the original conquerors, of seeking quick wealth instead of attempting to coax out of mother[465] earth the treasure that she possesses. There are labourers in plenty, if they are properly instructed, but the hacendados, as well as labourers, adhere to the most primitive methods. It has been said that “earth is here so kind that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest.” This is not true of all parts of the country, of course, for much of it is mountainous and of a broken character, but the statement will apply to large portions of the republic.
The government of Mexico has endeavoured to improve agricultural conditions by disseminating information as to scientific methods of cultivation, irrigation and fertilization, but very little of it has had a noticeable effect. The government has also distributed large quantities of seeds and plants with little effect. In most parts of the republic the land is tilled just as it was four centuries ago. It is really surprising that, in spite of these antiquated methods, the results have been so good as they are. As mentioned heretofore the wooden plough with a small iron shoe, which merely scratches the surface of the earth, is still used; men may be seen cutting wheat with the sickle, and much of the threshing is done by driving horses and mules around a ring covered with[466] grain, just as it was done in the old Biblical days. The winnowing is accomplished by tossing the wheat and the chaff into the air, and then the grain is hauled to the haciendas or markets in clumsy and ponderous two-wheeled carts.
A hacienda run upon modern American methods would certainly be a much more profitable enterprise than when conducted after this style. In a few sections of the country, one will find a plantation here and there where some new methods have been introduced and American machinery employed, but these are rare. Even in the Valley of Mexico, not far from the City of Mexico, the most antiquated methods will be seen employed at all times. The richness of the land and its cheapness has caused the floating of many land companies in the United States. They can show great prospects on paper, but the trouble is that many of them have been floated by unscrupulous men, who care nothing for the interests of the stockholders, but are looking simply for promoters’ profits. When the real buyers reach the land they discover that things are not as represented, do not find conditions of living to their liking, and in a very short time the whole enterprise is dropped. Many have probably[467] lost practically all of their savings. These things, of course, cannot be entirely guarded against, and they certainly fail to prove that Mexico is not a rich agricultural country. They simply demonstrate what fraud can be perpetrated upon people in a country where the land is teeming with fertility. Land values have undoubtedly advanced in the past few years, and some enormous tracts have been purchased by Americans, which are already showing profits for the owners.
There has been much criticism heaped upon the Mexic............