Still following the littoral of the Mexican Gulf, or rather the Gulf of Campeche, are the small States of Tabasco and Campeche, forming part of the frontier with the neighbouring Republic of Guatemala. The area of the first is 10,100 square miles, and population of about 175,000 inhabitants. This state possesses two of the principal navigable rivers of Mexico, the Grijalva, named after the first European to set foot in Mexico, and the Usumacinta, navigable for 180 and 77 miles, respectively. The flat topographical character of the state gives rise to various lakes and coast lagoons, but the anchoring grounds for ships are not generally in the nature of good harbours. The climate is hot, but often tempered by the winds blowing from the Gulf. Malaria is prevalent in places, but yellow fever has diminished or disappeared. The principal articles of export are the dye woods and timber, hides, coffee, tobacco, and rubber. Cocoa and sugar-cane are among its leading agricultural products. There is but one railway in this somewhat isolated state, its means of communication being principally by waterand road. The capital, San Juan Bautista, is situated upon the Grijalva river.
Campeche has an area of 18,000 square miles and a population of some 87,000 inhabitants, and its capital city of the same name, lying upon the coast, 18,000. This is also the principal port, and it is united by a railway to Merida and Progreso, in Yucatan. The principal rivers are navigable in the rainy season and for small boats generally. The soil is fertile and agriculture is the main industry, but is kept backward from lack of sufficient labour and means of communication. Attention is being turned to the cultivation ofhenequen, which has given favourable results in the neighbouring state of Yucatan. Irrigation is necessary for the crops in this region. The principal products, however, are the dyewoods—famous for their quality—and timber, including cedar and mahogany; sugar-cane, maize, and rice are produced, and the inevitablechicle—chewing gum—for export to New York, whilst the numerous fruits of the tropical zone are freely raised. The great tracts of virgin forests and unutilised resources of the state call for foreign capital, and the Americans are those who have responded principally. Chinese and Korean labour are employed to a certain extent, as well as Jamaica negroes. Some of the plantations have light railway lines, and several steam railways are projected or under construction. Shipbuilding is an old-established industry of this coast, and the first vessel to carry the Mexican flag to Europe was constructed, it is stated, at Campeche.
The State of Yucatan stretches over the greater part of the area of this remarkable peninsula, from which it takes its name. With its eastern part—the region known as the Territory of Quintana Roo—it is a neighbour of the British Empire, bordering as it does upon British Honduras, or Belize. To the south it adjoins the Republic of Guatemala. Its area is 35,200 square miles, with a population of about 300,000 inhabitants. Similar in character to the rest of the peninsula this state consists of one vast plain, of small elevation above the level of the sea, its flattopography being relieved only by a low range of hills towards the centre, running northwards into Campeche, whose greatest altitude does not reach 3,000 feet.
The capital city, Merida, lies in the north-west part of the state. This is a vast flat region of dreary aspect, unwatered by rivers or streams, arid and dry, stretching to the Bay of Campeche on the one hand, and the great Terminos lagoon. This desolate region, nevertheless, affords the main source of wealth of the state, and that for which it has become famous, thehenequen, or Sisal hemp, the valuable fibre-producing plant which grows there in millions. In this region are the curious wells, or natural ground-caves of water, which excite the notice of the traveller, and which appear to be connected with underground streams.
Other agricultural products are sugar-cane and cereals, whilst there are extensive woods of valuable timber, bordering upon Guatemala and British Honduras, including the famous dye-woods, and other classes for constructional purposes. In the southern part of the state also, there is a great zone of fertile land, crossed by various streams and rivers of small hydrographic importance.
The coast-line of the Peninsula of Yucatan is more than 600 miles in length, extending round three sides of the peninsula. The climate of the eastern coast is rendered torrid by the heat of the Gulf Stream, which sweeps between it and the island of Cuba. The principal port, Progreso, is an open roadstead where no shelter is obtained, the old abandoned port of Sisal being superior. Some score of miles off the north-east coast is the island of Cozumel, where Cortes first landed on his voyage of the Conquest. Yucatan contains the remarkable ruins of the Maya civilisation—a field of great research. These splendid remains of prehispanic architecture are of the utmost interest and beauty, and have received much attention from famous archæologists. The great forests of the state, extending over a large area of territory, are thehabitatof a varied fauna, including the panther,the tapir, wild boars, boa constrictor, crocodile, and other ferocious kinds, as well as deer, and a variety of bright-plumaged birds. Yucatan is without minerals, its geological formation being of the younger sedimentary rocks.
The Territory of Quintana Roo, before mentioned, was separated from Yucatan, due to its long possession by the Maya Indian tribes, who, however, have now been overcome, and are under peaceful control. The population is only about 3,000. The topographical formation is similar to that of Yucatan, great calcareous, undulating plains of recent geological times. The climate is hot, tempered at times by the sea breezes and the heavy rains. There are no streams, except the Hondo river, flowing into British Honduras, but the land is watered to a certain extent by thecenotes, as the rain-water deposits in the calcareous rock are termed, which supposedly are connected with subterranean streams. This territory is the home of the descendants of the Mayas, some of the most intelligent of Mexico's aboriginal people to-day, and they long resisted, and until a few years ago, the control of the Mexican Government. The territory borders upon British Honduras—Belize—and the supplying of arms by British traders to the insurrectionary people a few years ago caused much trouble to the Mexican Government and became the matter of diplomatic discussion. All this is now duly settled, and the region is in a tranquil state.
The remarkable variety of natural products and conditions of the states forming the Federal Republic are thus shown. Each state has its proper machinery of government, civil control, and education, and each is working out its own destiny, slowly, but surely, in conjunction with its neighbours of the Federation.
Financial rise of Mexico—Tendencies toward restriction against foreigners—National control of railways—Successful financial administration—Favourable budgets—Good trade conditions—Foreign liabilities—Character of exports and imports—Commerce with foreign nations—Banks and currency—Principal industries—Manufacturing conditions—Labour, water-power, and electric installations—Textile industry, tobacco, iron and steel, paper, breweries, etc.—Railways—The Mexican Railway—The Mexican Central Railway—The National Railroad—The Interoceanic—Governmental consolidation—The Tehuantepec Railway—Port of Salina Cruz—Other railway systems.
The rise of Mexico, within a few years, from the position of a poor and somewhat discredited state to that of a nation with a regular budget surplus, and a credit in European markets which provides her with loans without other security than her good faith, has been very generally acclaimed as the beginning of a new era in the Spanish-American world.
Previous to the year 1893 it had never happened in the history of Mexico that the nation's income exceeded its expenditure. The country had always spent more than it earned, and year after year its budget showed heavy deficits, with an ever-menacing condition resulting thereon. But that unfortunate state belongs now to past history, and since the weathering of the storm of the silver crisis of 1894 Mexico has had no relapse, and the budget has shown an unbroken and increasing balance in favour of the Treasury. This satisfactory financial condition is partly consequent upon the general world-march of commerce and the era of progress which hasdawned for the Spanish-American world generally. It was time that such should occur! But, apart from these general causes, or rather closely allied thereto, as regards Mexico, has been the efficient political administration which the country has enjoyed, and the able financial control of its resources and revenue. The name of the presiding genius of the financial department of Mexico's administration has become well known in financial circles connected with Mexico—Señor Limautour—and this chapter would be incomplete if it were not recorded. As Secretary of Hacienda, or Department of Finance, this cautious and able statesman has been the instrument for his country's financial progress, for the stability of Mexico's internal government has, of course, impulsed the advent of foreign capital into the country, in the form of investments in railway, mining, and industrial enterprise.
Mexico's credit and prosperity thus satisfactorily established, the country is enabled to move with a certain spirit of independence as regards its foreign financial transactions. The last year or so have shown a marked tendency on the part of the Government to consider their position as regards foreign capitalists, and to act to the end of obtaining greater benefits for the nation from the exploitation of the country's resources, which has principally been carried on by foreign capital. No one who views the matter disinterestedly will see cause for complaint in this attitude. It is a poor philosophy which would permit the mines, fields, and railways of a country to be drained of their wealth only for the benefit of foreigners. On the other hand, of course, railways and mines would never have been opened up without foreign capital, and the distinction between national philosophy, and ingratitude, must always be an important consideration for Spanish-American countries.
Mexico, however, does not discourage foreign capital, but only seeks a proper control of her natural wealth. In earlier years the country was the happy hunting-ground of hordes of concession hunters, speculators, and financial jugglers, whose main object was to get something fornothing, and sell it for a round sum in Europe or America, and they were often successful. At that time Mexico wanted her railways built at any cost, but the situation has changed now, although not in a way to discourage reputable investors. This tendency to restriction has shown itself mainly in two directions: that of the recent consolidation of the railway systems, whose integrity was menaced by the attempted operations of certain American trusts and financial groups; and, later, by commercial conditions unfavourable to traffic returns. This brought about the decision of the State to acquire a controlling interest and voice in the ownership of the main railway lines, and this has been carried out by means of the purchase of stock in two of these lines, the Mexican National and Mexican Central Railways. These railways are two great arteries of travel, as elsewhere described, connecting the City of Mexico with the United States. This action of the Mexican Government, which is somewhat of a novel procedure, and an attempt to carry out the problem of State co-operation with private enterprise, is conceded to be advantageous to the interests of the two combined companies to a large extent, whilst it secures to the country the working of the lines in the interest of the country, and eliminates the possible element of "rate-war" competition. On the other hand, it is to be recollected that State ownership and working of railways is generally disastrous, especially in North or South America, where State enterprise tends to become a corrupt political machine. But it is far from probable that this condition will be brought about in this instance, and the operation will serve rather as an object lesson.
Another restrictive tendency is shown in the bringing forward, recently, of a Bill for the enacting of a law that mining property should only be acquirable by citizens of the Republic, and this, although it has been shelved, is likely to be brought forward in future years. Such matters are inevitable in the course of time, and the policy of inducing foreign capital to enter a newcountry, which is absolutely necessary to its well-being, has naturally to undergo some modification when such a country reaches a certain stage of development.
The present stable condition of Mexican Government finance is shown by the budget statements for the fiscal year 1908-1909, as presented by the Minister of Finance. The figures are as follows, in round numbers:—
As before stated, an annual surplus has been forthcoming since the year 1895, with some fluctuations. Out of these increasing surpluses large sums have been spent upon important public works, which have been elements for the commercial development of the country and its growing trade. In addition to this, foreign loans have been contracted for the completion of such public works. The loan of 1905, for the sum of 40 million dollars gold, was placed with bankers of London, New York, Berlin, and Amsterdam, the bonds being purchased at 89 per cent. of their nominal value, free of commission, carrying only 4 per cent. interest. It is interesting to compare this operation with Mexico's first loan, consummated in London in 1823, for 16 millionpesos, which was bought by the contracting firm at 50 per cent. But it is to be recollected that the Holy Alliance was at work then, and that the belief was rampant that Spain would recover her lost colonies![40]
40 Seepage 125.
If the position of Mexico's treasury is satisfactory, that of the general business of the nation is also upon an excellent footing, as shown by the returns for imports and exports. Those for the financial year ending June, 1907, are as follows:—
Whilst the figures quoted in these and the following tables for the fiscal year of 1907 may be looked upon as showing the normal condition and growth, the figures for 1908 have shown a considerable decrease, amounting to more than a million sterling on the imports, and more than half a million in the exports. In both cases, however, they are in excess of the amounts for the year 1906. The principal decrease is in the trade with the United States, and in fact, the fluctuation has been brought about by the monetary stringency that has prevailed in Mexico following upon the financial crisis in the United States, which has affected business to a considerable extent. It must take a year or so for these conditions to right themselves, but they are far from being permanent.
It is to be recollected that Mexico is called upon to pay large sums annually to the foreign holders of her National Debt, which calls for £2,400,000, and to the railway bondholders, in £2,500,000, and other amounts paid out as dividends by the banks to various private enterprises, a total which, of course, largely exceeds the trade balance due to exports, and which is covered by the investment of foreign capital in the country.
The character and value of the imported articles for the year and sum above given, which are instructive as showing the present wants of Mexico, are shown in the following table, year 1906-1907:—
The exports for the similar period, as detailed in the following table, with their values, show the wide range of Mexican products which are purchased by other countries. Fractions are omitted:
By the foregoing it is seen that the export of precious metal is equal approximately to half the total. Mexican silver coinage is exported largely to the Orient, and silver bullion to Europe; whilst among vegetable products the hemp exports take nearly half the total value. Mexico's principal market for most of her staple food and textile products is at home, so the export is small.
By far the greater part of Mexico's trade is done with her northern neighbour, the United States, and the following table shows how the various countries of the world rank in their commerce with the Republic, according to the figures for the year 1906-1907, in £ sterling, with fractions omitted.[41]
41 Adduced from the "Mexican Year Book, 1908."
Thus the commerce of Mexico is seen to be in a satisfactory and growing condition, and it may beexpected to develop steadily, as the large unworked areas of minerals and agricultural land become opened up by both native and foreign capital, towards which there is an increasing tendency to investment.
Banks and Currency.—The chartered banks of Mexico are considered to be solid institutions, and their past history has been a creditable one. The leading banks are: the National Bank of Mexico, with a capital of £3,200,000, and reserves of £2,675,000; the Bank of London and Mexico, capital £2,150,000, reserve fund, £1,500,000; the Mexican Central Bank, capital £3,000,000; and various other mortgage and commerce banks, clearing house, &c.; whilst throughout the state capitals are the respective chartered banks of such states, as the banks of Chihuahua, Yucatan, Durango, Zacatecas, &c., &c. The total capital of all Mexican banks is given as nearly £20,250,000. The currency of Mexico is now established on the gold basis. Previous to the year 1905 a bimetallic system had always prevailed in Mexico, a gold and silver currency; and as Mexico was one of the largest producers of silver in the world she had naturally encouraged the use of the white metal, whose coinage at the mint was free; whilst the demand in the Orient for Mexican dollars was a stimulant to the production of these. The fall in the price of silver was, to a certain extent, beneficial rather than inimical to Mexican industry, as it had the effect of stimulating home manufacture in a country whose raw material and labour was paid for in silver. This would have been permanently beneficial had the value remained constant, but the continual fluctuation in the price had an unfavourable effect on commerce, and a monetary commission decided that the gold basis should be adopted, and this became law accordingly; the Mexicanpesoor dollar being of a value of half an American dollar, or equal to approximately 2s. of British currency.
Principal Industries.—These have already been spoken of in the chapters dealing with mining and agriculture. There are throughout the country more than 150metallurgical establishments, native and foreign, which treat the mineral ores from the mines, either by amalgamation, lixiviation, or smelting. The principal smelting works are those of the American Smelting and Refining Company, of New York, with a copper smelter at Aguascalientes of 2,000 tons daily capacity, and others at Monterrey, Chihuahua, and Durango, well-equipped modern establishments; the Compañia Metalurgica Mexicana, also of New York, with a large plant at San Luis Potosi, and other enterprises in various parts of the country engaged in the production of gold and silver bullion, copper matte, lead, zinc, &c. A good deal of ore is still exported, nevertheless, in a crude state, amounting in 1907 to a value of £1,700,000. The Mexican Chamber of Mines, founded in 1906, is a useful institution in connection with the mining industry.
The cheap labour and abundant raw material are conducive to Mexico's development in manufacturing; and a further element is that of the abundant waterpower which exists in certain sections of the country. Several important hydraulic and hydro-electric generating stations exist, among them being the Santa Gertrude's Jute Mills of Orizaba, developing some 5,000 horse power, operated by British capital; the Vera Cruz Light, Power and Traction Company, Ltd., also British; the Atoyac Irrigation Company, native capital; the Anglo-Mexican Electric Company of Puebla; the Puebla Tramway, Light and Power Company, a Canadian enterprise of great extent and promise; the Mexican Light and Power Company, also Canadian, which absorbed several existing native and foreign enterprises. Connected with some of these important and generally prosperous hydro-electric installations the name of a well-known British firm[42]figures prominently; the builders of the great valley drainage work and the re-constructors of the Tehuantepec Railway and harbour works, and the Vera Cruz harbour works, and other matters of magnitude.So if, as has been stated elsewhere, British trade in Mexico is declining, it is at least satisfactory to show that British capital and enterprise has established and profited by some of the greatest engineering and public works Mexico has ever possessed; which will always remain as monuments to British thoroughness. Other hydro-electric stations are those of Guadalajara, at the famous falls of Juanacatlan, operated by native capital; the Guanajuato Light and Power Company, an American concern, with a transmission line 100 miles long.
42 S. Pearson and Sons, Ltd., London.
As to thetextile industry, the cotton mills are amongst the foremost in the world, and their large capacity and splendidly-built factories are a source of surprise to the European or American traveller. A large number of these mills are actuated hydraulically or hydro-electrically. In 1907 there were 142 mills throughout the country in operation, employing 33,000 operatives, with 694,000 spindles, and 23,500 looms. Of these mills 35 are in Puebla, 12 in the Federal District, 11 in Coahuila, 14 in Vera Cruz, and the balance in the other states, whether upon themesa centralor upon the Atlantic or Pacific slopes. Among the most important of these industries may be named the Industrial Company of Orizaba, whose output in 1907 reached a value of £850,000, with a profit of £255,000 to its French owners; the Vera Cruz Industrial Company, profit £84,000; Atlixco Industrial Company, Puebla, French owners, profit £89,500; San Antonio Abad Company, State of Mexico, Spanish owners, profit 8 per cent. paid in 1907 upon its capital of £350,000; and numerous other lesser, but profitable concerns, scattered about the Republic. The amount of cotton used by the Mexican mills in 1907 was 36,700 metric tons, and the total value of the output was £5,168,000. Thus is shown how important for Mexico is her textile industry.[43]
43 These figures of dividends are from the Mexican Year Book, 1908.
Other enterprises are the Santa Gertrude'sJute Mills, and the Aurora Jute Mills; the San IldenfonsoWoollen Factory, the Mexico linen factory, silk factory andothers—all of which are dividend-paying industries, of 7 to 12 per cent.
Thecigarette factoriesof Mexico are among the best-equipped and largest in the world. The foremost of these are the "Buen Tono" factory, with a daily output of four to five million cigarettes; and the "Tabacalera," with a daily output of four million cigarettes. There are in addition 480 other factories throughout the Republic, and others for the manufacture of cheroots, cigars, snuffs, and cut tobacco. The Mexican products cannot, however, compete with the Cuban brands in favour as yet.
As to thesugar millsthere are more than 2,000 of different magnitude in the country, the largest being in the States of Morelos, Vera Cruz, and Sinaloa, and these are equipped with modern appliances. The production of Mexican sugar for 1907 was 119,500 metric tons; of molasses 68,300 tons; and of rum 567,090 hectolitres.
Iron and Steel factoriesare represented mainly by those of Monterrey, owning extensive coal and iron deposits, and operating with a capital of £1,000,000, founded in 1900. The rolling plant produced in 1906 structural iron, steel rails, bar iron, and wire to the amount of 24,500 metric tons. The company has suffered severe drawbacks, and this output represents but a quarter of its capacity; but it is expected that the enterprise will work its way on to financial success. The Encarnacion Iron Works, in the State of Hidalgo, which have been operating since 1850, produce bar iron of various kinds; and the Apulco Foundry, in the same state, turns out pig-iron, castings, and machinery. Other concerns are the San Miguel Iron Works, in the same State, and the Comanja Iron Works, of Guanajuato. All these four enterprises are owned by an Englishman.
OfPaper Millsthe San Rafael factories in the State of Mexico are the leading enterprise. This is situated in a well-wooded and well-watered region near the foot of the snow-capped mountains, Ixtaccihuatl, and produces some 20,000 metric tons of paper perannum in much variety, from the finest to the cheapest kinds. The company owns large forest areas for pulp making; its capital is £700,000, and it paid a dividend in 1907 of 8 per cent., it is stated.
An industry which has very recently come into being is that of extracting crude india-rubber from theguayuleshrub, which abounds in a wild state over vast areas in the northern plains. There are more than twenty factories engaged in this new industry, and, in addition, quantities of the shrub are exported.
Other industries are thesoap worksof La Laguna, manufacturing soap and cotton-seed oil and cake from the products of this important cotton-growing district. Adynamite factorynear the same region—at La Tinaja—operates under a special concession from the Government. Acement worksat Hidalgo, of 50,000 tons annual capacity, has been started.
Breweries.—A number of breweries exist, as those in the capital, and at Monterrey, Toluca, Orizaba, Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Cuernavaca, &c;, and these generally produce good beer such as supplies the home demand in general, and has largely killed imports of the foreign kinds. Of flour mills 400 establishments supply flour, whilst the meat-packing and cold-storage business is represented by the Mexican National Packing Company, of British control, in Michoacan, the centre of a livestock industry. This is the only modern establishment of its kind. It was opened in 1908, and is an important enterprise.
The industrial census of 1902 gives a list of more than 5,500 manufactories, including sugar mills, distilleries, potteries, iron and steel works, chemical factories, chocolate factories, ice factories, paper mills, leather workers, and a host of others. Minor industries, performed in cottages and homes, occupy a large number of people, such as the making of hats, pottery, saddlery, linen-drawn work, and so forth. Special franchises and exemption are given by the Government for the establishing of new manufacturing industries,which are encouraged by the Department of Fomento, and the field is not without attraction for foreign capital.
Railways.—In the chapter dealing with the natural resources and conditions of the various states, some details of the railway system have been given. Mexico's railways have been the principal agency for her development, both political and commercial, for, on the one hand, they have rendered possible the swift suppression of revolutionary menace, and, on the other, they have fulfilled their function as means of communication for goods and passengers. No country has ever showed the effects of the steadying influence of railways so markedly as Mexico. The close communication with the United States, so rendered possible, and with the Gulf seaboard, has also contributed to this end, and the railways of Mexico may be looked upon as safeguards for stability in a considerable degree. I will now give a briefrésuméof the principal railway lines and their general conditions.
The first line to put Mexico in touch with the outside world was the Mexican Railway from Vera Cruz to the capital. This work, having been much aided by the Maximilianrégime, was completed under President Lerdo, and inaugurated on January 1, 1873. The line is controlled by an English corporation, and the great engineering difficulties which were overcome, and the solidity of its construction, are such as are scarcely surpassed by any railway in the world, conditions which reflect credit upon its British constructors. The line is almost unique from a scenic point of view, ascending, as it does, from the Gulf Coast, among the stupendous mountain fastnesses of the Sierra Madre, to gain the great elevation of the plateau and the Valley of Mexico. The tropical regions passed through, and the rapid changes of climate encountered, as the train ascends, must be experienced to be understood, but the general character of the regions traversed has been fully set forth in these pages. One of the most remarkable places, from an engineering and scenic point of view, is the Maltrata summit, and only in a few places in the world—on thetransandine or transalpine railways, or the Denver line—is it equalled. From the gained altitude the passenger looks down upon the town, spread like a chess-board, thousands of feet below, as the train plunges around dizzybarrancas, over iron bridges spanning profound canyons, or along the curving road-bed cut in the solid rock of the mountain side. The names of many of the points passeden routebring back memories of the Conquest, and of those Homeric men who passed that way nearly four centuries ago, as well as of the Toltec and Aztec periods. From tide-water at Vera Cruz, the line crosses the coastal plain and plunges into a tropical forest, whence it climbs to 2,713 feet at Cordova, 4,028 feet at Orizaba, amid a delightful climate and surroundings, 5,151 feet at Maltrata, 8,000 feet at Esperanza, and reaches its highest point at Acocotla, near San Marcos, an elevation of 8,310 feet above sea-level. This, of course, is not high in comparison with the transandine Oroya railway of Peru,[44]which—the highest in the world—reaches 15,666 feet. The Vera Cruz line descends from the summit of the Sierra Madre to the Valley and City of Mexico, past the plains of Otumba and San Juan Teotihuacan, reaching the capital at an elevation of 7,348 feet above sea-level. The length of the line from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico is 264 miles, and with its branches to Puebla and Pachuca, &c., 321 miles—all of standard gauge. The total share capital for a line of this mileage is heavy, the whole of the stock and shares reaching £7,820,780. The general growth of Mexico's trade and the careful management of the line are causing an improvement in its financial condition. In January, 1902, a dividend of only 2½ per cent. was paid upon the first preference stock, and nothing upon the second nor upon the ordinary shares, whilst an increase in the following years, through 6 per cent. and 8 per cent., accrued to the first, so that for the last half-year of 1907, 8 per cent.—its full rate—was paid upon the first preference stock, 5¾ on the second, and nothing on the ordinaryshares. The returns at present are suffering from the results consequent upon the late financial crisis in the United States, which seriously affected Mexico.
44 See my "Peru."
The Mexican Central is the next line in importance. It is a noteworthy feature of Mexico's relations in the middle of last century with its neighbour—the United States, that President Lerdo discouraged the idea of traversing the deserts of the great plateau with a railway, fearful of American political and commercial machinations, as showed by his famous axiom, which I have quoted elsewhere, relating to the intervening desert. To the broader outlook of President Diaz this line owes its being, upon a concession transferred to an Englishman, who was associated with American capitalists. A company was formed, and the railway—which was subsidised by the Government—was opened for traffic from the City of Mexico to the United States frontier at El Paso on March 22, 1884. To-day, with its numerous branches, one of which runs eastwardly to the Gulf Coast at Tampico, and another, westwardly to Guadalajara and beyond, with yet another to Cuernavaca, it is a large system of 3,823 miles. The construction was inferior to that of the Vera Cruz Railway, as it obeyed the cheaper and more rapid American method rather than the more enduring British. It is a standard gauge line. The route traversed by the main line of this railway adown themesa central, for 1,225 miles, passes through vast areas of dry and treeless plains and among numerous squalid hamlets, and here the unlovely side of Mexican life and travel is laid bare to the traveller. Nevertheless, these conditions alternate with those of the handsome and extensive cities of the plateau and with the great mining regions, all of which—in point of interest and value—compensate for sterility elsewhere. As for the branch line from San Luis Potosi to Tampico, it passes through the same remarkable tropical zone as the Vera Cruz line. The mountain scenery upon this route is impressive, with dense woods and fertile valleys giving place to the great cañon of Tamasopo. Thesame panoramic character attends it, of luxuriant tropical conditions spread out 1,200 feet below the train, with rushing torrents, towering cliffs, and strange and varied topographic changes. The branch which runs westwardly towards the Pacific Ocean from the main line, passes through Guadalajara and descends the Western Sierra Madre towards Colima at Tuxpan. A short distance only remains to be constructed in order to give a completed route to Manzanillo—the port upon the Pacific coast, which will form the terminus of what will then constitute a new transcontinental route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This is an exceedingly interesting journey, but a disastrous flood in 1906 set back the construction work. The branch line from the Mexican Central, which runs from the City of Mexico westwardly to the Balsas river, is destined ultimately to reach the famous seaport of Acapulco, on the Pacific Ocean. This port, indeed, is the best harbour on the Pacific coast of North America, after San Francisco in California. The line, however, is still far from reaching the coast. Cuernavaca, which is passed by this line, is some 75 miles from the capital, and the route lies through a scenic wonderland, reaching, at the summit of the Sierra Madre, an elevation of 10,000 feet above sea-level, and affording a magnificent view of the City and Valley of Mexico 2,500 feet below. Beautiful and historic, Cuernavaca was a home of Montezuma and a famous prehistoric centre until its capture by Cortes, and every Mexican traveller marks it as one of his objective points. The finances of the Mexican Central Railway have been in recent years often in an unsatisfactory state, and the consolidation of the line with the National Railway, under Government auspices, is expected to bring about a more favourable condition.
The National Railroad similarly traverses the great plateau, from Laredo, upon the United States border, to the City of Mexico. It was a subsidised narrow-gauge line, built under American auspices, and was opened for traffic in November, 1888. The inevitablewidening of the gauge to standard size took place, and was completed in November, 1903. The length of the main line is 800 miles; the shortest route from the United States border to the capital. The Interoceanic Railway, a British company, which forms part of the consolidated system now, will give it a line to Vera Cruz, whilst,viâthe International Railway, it has communication westwardly to the important city of Durango. Another branch line runs to Matamoros, upon the Gulf of Mexico. The line also traverses a portion of Texas.
The Interoceanic Railway is a main line from the capital to Vera Cruz, passing through the town of Jalapa, amid a region famed for its beauty and unique tropical surroundings; and the line was constructed and operated by British interests. It embodies 736 miles of line. Its original concession was designed for powers to run to Acapulco, on the Pacific coast; hence the name of the railway; but it does not nearly reach the coast, although it descends into and serves the fertile and picturesque State of Morelos, connecting at Puente de Ixtla with the Mexican Central Railway. From that point a branch line runs to Puebla, the second or third important city of importance in Mexico; passing near the famous town of Cholula, of Aztec and Toltec remembrance. The Interoceanic is now merged into the new consolidation arrangement.