# Appleton's Guide to Mexico/Chapters 30 to 54

XXX.
Maps and Surveys.
Baron Von Humboldt was the first scientific traveler who made extensive astronomical observations and barometric measurements in Mexico. He determined the latitude and longitude, and the elevations of various cities and towns throughout the country. He also published charts and sketch-maps in his immortal work on New Spain.
No complete topographical survey of Mexico has ever been made, and we need not say that it would cost far more than the National Government could afford to pay in the present state of the finances.
The best atlas of Mexico has been compiled by Señor A. Garcia Cubas, being entitled El Atlas metódico de la Geografía de la República Mexicana.
The Mexican National Railway Company has published a large map, and Rand, McNally & Co., of Chicago, and Colton, of New York, have issued pocket-maps, of the Republic.
Several excellent maps have been prepared in France and Germany.
A good topographical map is published by Victor Debray.
A map of the heart of Mexico, including the mountains of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, has been printed in New York, and is on sale in the shops of the Mexican capital.
A complete map, on a large scale, will soon be a possibility, considering the extensive surveys of the various railroads throughout the country. The boundary-lines of the public lands have never been determined, and the lack of accurate surveys is sadly felt at the present time. During the Spanish domination the grants to individuals were practically unlimited, as the grantees took possession of ​immense tracts of land without defining the metes and bounds.
It is to be presumed that the Federal Government will authorize a general survey of their public lands at an early day.
XXXI.
Stock-Raising.
Soon after the Spanish Conquest, horned cattle, horses, donkeys, sheep, and hogs were exported in large numbers to Mexico from the mother-country. At the present time more attention is devoted to rearing horses, mules, and donkeys than to other animals. The Mexican horse is of small stature, but possesses great endurance, and resembles the Arabian breed. The mules in Mexico are inferior in size to those of the United States, but are said to be capable of doing more work than the latter. Donkeys were introduced into New Spain by the priesthood, to take the place of the porters for carrying merchandise. (See chapter on labor and wages.) Cattle and sheep may be raised advantageously in most of the States of the Republic. The northern States, especially Chihuahua, afford the best grazing-land. Several English companies have recently purchased large stock-ranges in Tamaulipas, Nuevo-Leon, and Sonora.
Excellent pasturage may be found in the valleys of Toluca and Orizaba. The former is noted for a superior breed of hogs. The greater part of the region that is used for grazing lies on the table-land. Most of the arable land in the tierra caliente and tierra templada is employed for agricultural purposes. The haciendas of El Salado and Cedres, in the central part of Mexico, are among the largest stock-ranches in the Republic. Artificial ponds and tanks for watering animals are common throughout the country.
​Cattle-raising bids fair to become an important industry in Northern Mexico at an early day. The mildness of the winters admits of the stock feeding on the pastures, and there is no danger of losing the herd by a snow-storm. The natives are good herdsmen. It may be remarked, however, that marauding bands of Indians occasionally make raids on the stock-ranches, involving great loss to the owners. Ranches are usually sold by the sitio, which is equivalent to 4,428 acres. It is said that several large cattle-ranches in Northern Mexico are for sale at present. (Vide next chapter.)
XXXII.
Weights and Measures.
The French metric system of weights and measures has been adopted in the Republic of Mexico, but in the rural districts the inhabitants have not done away with the old system (although it is no longer the legal one), of which we give a sketch.
MEXICAN LAND-MEASURES.
(Translated from the Ordenanzas de Tierras y Aguas.)
The Mexican vara is the same as the vara of Castile, and is divided into thirds or foot-fourths, sixths, and thirty-sixth inches. It equals 3313 inches, American measure.
Fifty Mexican varas make a measure called a cordel.
A Mexican league contains 100 cordels, or 5,000 varas.
The league is divided into halves and quarters. The half-league contains 2,500 varas.
Sitio de Ganado Mayor (sitio, a farm for raising cattle).
—The form of a sitio de estancia de ganado mayor is a square whose sides measure 5,000 Mexican varus. The area of a sitio is 25,000,000 square varas, or 4,428 acres.
​Criadero de Ganado Mayor (place for breeding animals). —It is a square equal to a fourth part of a sitio de ganado mayor, whose sides measure 2,500 varas, and contains an area of 6,250,000 square varas.
Sitio de Ganado Menor (farm for raising sheep or goats). —The form of a sitio de estancia de ganado menor is a square whose sides measure 3,33313 varas. Its area contains 11,111,11119 square varas.
Criadero de Ganado menor.—It is a square whose sides measure l,66623 varas, and its area contains 2,777,77779 square varas.
Caballeria de Tierra (3313 acres American measure).—The form of a caballeria de tierra is a rectangular parallelogram whose north or small side contains 552 varas, and whose greatest length is 1,104 varas. Its area contains 609,408 square varas.
Media Caballeria de Tierra.—It is a square whose side measures 552 varas, and contains 304,704 square varas.
Suerte de Tierra (lot of ground—a chance).—It is the fourth part of a caballeria de tierra, and the same figure, whose long side measures 552 varas, and 276 in width. It contains 152,352 square varas.
The Caballeria de Tierra is also divided into twelve fanegas of good seed-oats. The fanega is equal to three American bushels or a superficies of 8-5624 American acres.
Solar de Tierra (ground on which a house is built—town-lot).—Any parcel of land less than a suerte.
Solar para Casas (for houses, mills, and markets).—It is a square of 50 varas—2,500 square varas.
Fundo Legal (a piece of ground which is cultivated; town site).—It is a tract of land whose form is a square of 1,200 varas on each side, and contains an area of 1,440,000 square varas.
Porcion.—Porcion is a measure sometimes used. It is a tract of land 1,000 varas wide and 16,000 varas long.
​Labor (a cultivated field).—A square containing 1,000,000 square varas, or 177 acres.
Texas Measure.—League and labor, 20,000,000 square varas, or 4,605 acres.
To find the number of acres in a given number of square varas, divide by 5,046, fractions rejected.
THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH SYSTEMS OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES COMPARED.
The unit of the metric or French system of weights and measures is the metre, which is equal to 39.37 inches.
The Measures of Length are:
| 1 | millimetre | = | .03937 | inch. |
| 1 | centimetre | = | .3937 | " |
| 1 | decimetre | = | 3.937 | inches. |
| 1 | metre | = | 39.37 | " |
| 1 | decametre | = | 32.809 | feet. |
| 1 | hectometre | = | 19.8842 | rods |
| 1 | kilometre | = | .6213 | mile. |
| 1 | myriametre | = | 6.2138 | miles |
Measures of Surface.
| 1 | square centimetre | | = | | .155 | square inch. |
| 1 | square decimetre | | = | | 15.5 | square inches. |
| 1 | square metre or | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 10.764 | square feet |
| 1 | centare | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 1.96 | square yard. |
| 1 | square decametre or | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 3.954 | square rods. |
| 1 | are | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | .0247 | acre. |
| 1 | square hectometre, or 1 hectare | | = | | 2.471 | acres. |
| 1 | square kilometre | | = | | .3861 | square mile. |
Measures of Volume.
| 1 | cubic centimetre | | = | | .061 | cubic inch. |
| 1 | cubic decimetre or | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | .0353 | " |
| 1 | litre | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 1.0567 | liquid quart. |
| 1 | cubic metre, or 1 stere | | = | | 35.3165 | cubic feet. |
Measures of Capacity.
The litre is the unit of capacity, both of liquid and of dry measures, and is equal in volume to one cubic decimetre.
| | | | | | Dry measure | Dry measure | | | Liquid measure | Liquid measure | Liquid measure |
| 1 | centilitre | = | | | .61 | cubic inch | | = | | ·338 | fluid oz. |
| 1 | decilitre | = | | 6 | ·10 | cubic inches | | = | | ·845 | gill. |
| 1 | litre | = | | | .908 | quart | | = | 1 | ·0567 | quart. |
| 1 | decalitre | = | | 9 | ·081 | quarts | | = | 2 | ·64175 | gallons. |
| 1 | hectolitre | = | | 2 | ·837 | bushels | | = | 26 | ·4175 | " |
| 1 | kilometre, or stere | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 28 | ·37 | bushels | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | 264 | ·175 | " |
| 1 | kilometre, or stere | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 1 | ·308 | cubic yard | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | 264 | ·175 | " |
| 1 | myrialitre | = | | 283 | ·72 | bushels | | = | 2,641 | ·75 | " |
Measures of Weight.
The gramme is the unit of weight, and is equal to a weight of a cubic centimetre of distilled water.
| 1 | centigramme | | = | | | ·1543+ | grain, troy. |
| 1 | decigramme | | = | | 1 | ·5432+ | "" |
| 1 | gramme | | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 15 | ·432+ | grains " |
| 1 | gramme | | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | | ·03527+ | ounce, avoirdupois. |
| 1 | decagramme | | = | | | ·3527+ | " " |
| 1 | hectogramme | | = | | 3 | ·5274+ | ounces, " |
| 1 | kilogramme or kilo | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 2 | ·6792 | pounds, troy. |
| 1 | kilogramme or kilo | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 2 | ·2046+ | "avoirdupois. |
| 1 | myriagramme | | = | | 22 | ·046+ | " " |
| 1 | quintal | | = | | 112 | | " " |
| 1 | tonneau or ton | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 22 | ·046+ | " " |
| 1 | tonneau or ton | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | = | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 1 | ·1023 | ton. |
N. B.—Except the table of the metric system, the preceding part of this chapter is taken almost verbatim from Castro's Republic of Mexico.
XXXIII.
Labor and Wages.
Slavery existed in Mexico before and after the Spanish Conquest, but it was abolished soon after the establishing of Mexican Independence. Formerly convicts worked in the cotton and woolen factories in company with free laborers; and Humboldt, in his Political Essay on New Spain, has spoken of the injurious effect of this system on the latter class.
Labor is now abundant throughout the Republic. In some of the larger cities the supply is greater than the demand. Skilled labor is rare among the natives, but they are capable of learning any trade. European labor has not thus far been largely introduced into Mexico. American negroes have been imported to a limited extent for the purpose of railway-construction.
The peons or day-laborers may be divided principally into two great classes, i. e. , those engaging in mining, and those who are employed on farms and ranches. The former class are much better workmen than the latter. They are not migratory in their habits, and will often remain in one mining district for a lifetime. The miners and millers work about seven hours daily. They are usually peaceable, and receive better wages than the agricultural peons. The latter are, as a rule, lazy and indolent. In the tierra fria and tierra templada they work from daylight to sunset, with a siesta at noon, while in the tierra caliente the hours of labor are from 5 to 11 a. m., and from 3 to 6 p. m. Women do not generally work in the fields.
A third class of workmen is employed in the factories and hotels, and by the railways. Male and female operatives obtain employment in the former.
A considerable number of the Indian population act ​as public porters on the highways. Men and women engage in this occupation, and they use alpen-stocks while walking. An ordinary porter will carry a load of one
hundred and fifty pounds for a distance of twenty miles daily. All kinds of merchandise are transported on the backs of porters.
During the eighteenth century the Spanish priests are said to have imported donkeys or burros in large ​numbers to take the place of porters in carrying burdens (see p. 102).
The laboring classes of Mexico are exceedingly jealous of the introduction of labor-saving machinery. They regard it as an unwarranted means of preventing them from earning a living. Two recent events will serve to illustrate the antagonism of the peons to modern improvements.
Soon after the adoption of the compressed air-brake on the railroads of the United States, the Mexican Railway Company discharged several of their brakemen and introduced this improved brake on their trains. The company's servants rebelled against this system, and stole the stop-cocks from the air-pipes, thereby compelling their employers to reinstate them.
Recently the owner of a large hacienda purchased an outfit of American agricultural implements. His peons saw in them an unjustifiable interference with their own methods of farming, and in the course of a few weeks the enlightened hacendado discovered to his surprise that his stock of instruments had been destroyed. These facts are significant, but fortunately the intense feeling against new inventions and improved machines is confined to the lower classes.
The following table of wages will be found useful for reference. It is taken from Consul-General Strother's annual report for 1882, the figures being approximately stated:
| Carpenters, per day | $1 00 | to | $1 50 |
| Blacksmiths, per day | 1 00 | to | 2 50 |
| Upholsterers, per day | 75 | to | 1 25 |
| Shoemakers, per day | 75 | to | 1 50 |
| Book-binders, per day | 75 | to | 1 00 |
| Turners, per day | $ 75 | to | $1 00 |
| Farriers, locksmiths, silversmiths (generally included in blacksmithing), per day | 75 | to | 1 00 |
| Tinners, per day | 75 | to | 87½ |
| Plumbers and gas-fitters, per day | 75 | to | 1 00 |
| Pattern-makers, molders (in foundries are paid by the piece), gilders, per day | 75 | to | 1 25 |
| Coach-makers, per day | 1 50 | to | 2 00 |
| Harness-makers and saddlers, per day | 75 | to | 1 00 |
| Stone-masons, stone-cutters, brick-layers (all under the same heading), per day | 75 | to | 1 25 |
| House-painters, per day | 75 | to | 1 25 |
| Quarry-men (paid by the piece), common laborers (peons), per day | 37½ | to | 50 |
| Porters, or cargadores, a course, per day | 12½ | to | 50 |
| Plasterers, plain and ornamental (per day) | 1 25 | to | 1 50 |
| Tailors (equivalent to per diem) | 1 00 | to | 1 50 |
| Hatters (equivalent to per diem) | 87½ | to | 1 00 |
| Cigar-makers (chiefly women), per diem | 50 | to | 1 00 |
| Seamstresses (per diem) | 37½ | to | 50 |
| Cotton spinners and weavers, woolen spinners and weavers (paid by the piece, equivalent to per diem) | 1 00 | | |
| Factory-hands (per day) | 50 | to | 75 |
| Engine-drivers (per day) | 1 00 | to | 1 50 |
| Stokers (per day) | 87½ | to | 1 50 |
| Railway conductors (per day) | 1 00 | | |
| Machinists (per day) | 1 00 | to | 1 75 |
| Printers (equivalent to per diem) | 1 00 | to | 2 00 |
In the trades and occupations which may have been omitted in the above list, the current wages of journey-men will be found to vary but little from the average given. Skilled workmen from abroad are now frequently imported at conventional prices much higher than the foregoing.
N. B. — Foreigners intending to employ native laborers are strongly advised to put them under the control of a ​“boss" who speaks the Spanish language, and who is familiar with their methods of work. The peons are amiable, and will generally give satisfaction with proper management; but they are exceedingly vindictive, and, if maltreated, will take vengeance on their oppressors at the first opportunity.
XXXIV.
Wines and Liquors.
According to Prescott, the Aztecs manufactured pulque, and were in the habit of becoming intoxicated by its use. This is the case with their posterity, the Mexicans of the present day. The great national beverages are the various kinds of pulque, mescal, or tequila, and aguardiente, or brandy.
Pulque is the fermented sap of the maguey plant (Agave Americana), which is extracted from the heart as follows:
The stem of the plant is cut short, and a deep incision is made into the heart of it. After removing the surrounding leaves, the stalk is hollowed for several inches. The sap is gathered from this cavity two or three times daily, by means of an acocote. This instrument acts like a pipette. It consists of a long gourd, to each end of which a piece of sharp horn is attached. The peon inserts one end into the liquid, and, placing the other in his mouth, extracts the sap by suction into the body of the gourd. The juice is emptied into a jar or skin, which is carried on the back, and then it is taken to the cellar and allowed to ferment. A single plant of maguey will generally yield eight cuartillos, or one gallon, of sap in a day. The juice when extracted is termed agua miel, or honey-water.
​Pulque is of a milk-white appearance, and resembles beer slightly in taste.
Mescal is also prepared from the maguey. The leaves are pressed in a mill, and the juice that runs out is distilled. Tequila is similar in taste. It is distilled from a small species
of maguey called the zotol, which grows largely in Jalisco, especially near the town of Tequila, whence its name. Both mescal and tequila are transparent liquids.
Aguardiente is distilled chiefly from sugar-cane juice, but it is sometimes made from the juice of the grape. ​Besides these liquors, there are numerous others that the stranger rarely hears of except in the rural districts, such as charape, chicha, jobo, peyote, tecuin, tepache, tuba, etc.
Pulque is made principally in the States of Mexico, Hidalgo, and Tlaxcala. The center of population being in this part of Mexico, accounts for the immense cultivation of the maguey in these adjoining States.
Mescal comes for the most part from Jalisco, Sinaloa, Puebla, Hidalgo, and Michoacan. Aguardiente is made chiefly in the sugar-growing States of Vera Cruz, Morelos, Michoacan, Jalisco, Mexico, Oaxaca, Yucatan, and Coahuila. Pulque is usually transported from the haciendas in sheep-skins; and mescal and aguardiente are carried in kegs.
The liquors above mentioned, however, are not the only ones which Mexico produces. The soil of the country is adapted to the culture of all kinds of grapes. Red and white wines are manufactured in comparatively small quantities, most of the native wines coming from the States of Chihuahua and Coahuila. But nearly all the wine consumed in Central Mexico is imported from France and Spain by merchants in Vera Cruz. Red wine is sold at from seventy-five cents to one dollar per quart bottle.
A limited amount of beer is also produced. It is made chiefly in the States of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Vera Cruz, Puebla, and the Federal District. Much St. Louis (Missouri) beer is imported, and sold at the high price of three reales per bottle in the northern part and four reales in the southern part of Mexico. The cocoanut-wine comes for the most part from Michoacan, Yucatan, and Campeche.
The following table, from Señor Busto's Estadística de la República Mexicana, shows the amount of wines and ​liquors produced in the year 1879, together with their value:
| WINES AND LIQUORS. | Pounds. | Dollars. |
| Brandy from grapes | 1,169,467 | 114,453 |
| Brandy from sugar-cane (aguardiente). | 42,498,737 | 2,052,150 |
| Beer | 22,128,999 | 768,703 |
| Mescal of Tequila | 19,835,200 | 1,176,000 |
| Common mescal | 11,336,080 | 570,646 |
| Pulque "tlachique" | 168,146,213 | 323,232 |
| Fine pulque | 220,468,880 | 3,935,995 |
| Common pulque | 23,124,360 | 330,301 |
| White wine | 4,866,859 | 1,154,196 |
| Red wine | 7,765,380 | 1,508,475 |
| Wines and various liquors | 4,717,361 | 941,021 |
| Cocoanut-wine | 290,367 | 34,341 |
| Total | 526,349,903 | 12,909,513 |
XXXV.
Cigars and Tobacco.
Smoking is universal in the Republic. The Mexican smokes at the theatre, in all public conveyances, in the shops, during meal-time, and even in church. Cigarettes (cigarrillos) are consumed in about the same quantity as cigars (puros). Mexicans when about to smoke will always offer cigarettes to by-standers, whether they are acquainted or not, and the refusal to accept will generally give offense.
The cigars made in the State of Vera Cruz are, perhaps, the finest in the country. They are very cheap. Choice cigars can be purchased at six pesos a hundred. The brand known as La Giralda is mild and very popular. Owing to the low price of tobacco, even the poorer classes smoke immoderately. The “weed" is used by men, women, and children.
Early Spanish historians tell us that tobacco, called ​pycietl by the ancient Mexicans, was known to them before the Conquest. They were in the habit of smoking pipes and taking snuff. The Government derives a large revenue from the sale of tobacco. Mexico consumes about $18,000,000 worth of it annually.
Tobacco is not exported in considerable quantities, but Mexican cigars are generally found in New York and a few of the larger cities of the United States. (Vide chapter on agriculture for an account of the tobacco-culture.)
XXXVI.
Manufactures.
When the Spaniards invaded Mexico, in 1519, they found the Aztecs possessed manufactures of considerable merit. The latter wore escaupil—a kind of armor made of quilted cotton, thick enough to be impenetrable to the light missiles of aboriginal warfare. The wealthier chiefs, however, sometimes donned a cuirass made of thin plates of gold or silver, and wooden helmets.
Soon after his arrival at Vera Cruz, Cortes sent cotton fabrics as presents to the Emperor Charles V. Historians tell us that cotton was perhaps grown, but certainly manufactured, in Mexico as early as in any other civilized country. The Spanish chroniclers of the time state, that the Aztecs made large webs as fine and delicate as those of Holland; that they wore cloths of different figures and colors, representing various animals and flowers; that feathers oftentimes made a part of the texture; that they manufactured mantles, gowns, and bed-curtains; and that a handsome cloth was also manufactured by taking the finest hair of the rabbit and spinning it into thread, after which it was interwoven with cotton.
​The oldest cotton-factories are to be found in the city of Texcoco.
The Aztecs were familiar with the art of reducing silver, lead, copper, and tin. The process was, however, easy and simple. They formed an alloy of the two last-named metals, and wrought tools of bronze. With these implements they were able to cut not only metals, but, with the aid of fine sand, the hardest substances—as basalt, porphyry, amethysts, and emeralds (vide Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, vol. i, pp. 138, 139).
Besides making textile fabrics, working in metals, and hewing stone, the ancient Mexicans molded pottery on a large scale, and manufactured from the maguey (Agave Americana) a variety of articles, such as paper, thread, and cords from the leaves (which were also used to thatch roofs), pins and needles from the thorns, and pulque from the fermented juice of the stem.
Owing to the restrictions imposed by the Government, manufactures did not thrive during the rule of the viceroys. Still, the cotton and woolen factories were preserved, the metals were reduced from the ores, and soap, wax, sugar, pottery, pulque, and a few other articles were produced. The frequent revolutions and the instability of the Federal Government since the War of Independence have greatly retarded manufacturing industry. Fuel being exceedingly scarce, steam is even now rarely used in the factories and reducing- works; but water-, mule-, and man-power are generally employed. In his long tour through the Republic in the winter and spring of 1883, the author noticed only one sugar-mill, one silver-reducing-mill, two cotton-factories, and a flour-mill, that were run by steam. In the latter case an aqueduct was in course of construction to conduct water to the mill as a motive power. On account of the configuration of Mexico, there is abundant water-power just below the border of the tierra fria and in some parts of the great ​plateau. Few things, comparatively, are manufactured at the present day. The establishment of industrial schools, however, in the cities of Guadalajara, Mexico, Puebla, and Orizaba, and recent industrial expositions in these cities, have given an impetus to domestic industry. The Hercules cotton-mill at Querétaro furnishes employment to 1,400 operatives (for description, see Section V). It is by far the largest mill in Mexico. A few others have been erected by French and German capitalists in the central part of the Republic.
A company has recently been organized at Mapimi, in the State of Durango, to manufacture cotton goods at a place known as Ojo de Agua. The region affords fine water-power, and the factory will be started with forty looms. Small tread-mills are used extensively in making woolen cloths and blankets or zarapes. There are a few small silk-factories.
Although the data are wanting to give an accurate list of all the manufactures of Mexico, together with their amount and value, we will take the following figures from Señor Busto's great work on Mexican statistics: The number of factories in Mexico is 99; their value in machinery, $4,690,776; and in buildings, $4,816,999—making a total of $9,507,775. They contain 258,458 spindles and 9,214 looms. Their annual consumption of cotton amounts to 258,962 quintals, and of wool to 59,240 arrobas. The number of operatives employed is 12,346.
The manufactures of the country may be concisely stated as follows: Cotton and woolen goods; hats of straw and felt; leather-work of every kind; soap; wax, either in the form of candles, matches, or ex votos; silk; glass; furniture; pottery; marble-work; rope; palm-leaf work of all kinds, as matting, baskets, brooms, brushes, etc.; a few ​kinds of paper; diligences and carts; flour; sugar; chocolate; indigo; tiles; and adobe, or sun-dried brick; also wine and liquors, which are described in a separate chapter (vide p. 115).
N. B.—None of these articles are exported to any extent.
XXXVII.
Native Productions.
This chapter is designed to supplement the preceding one on manufactures. The Indians of to-day make various articles that were in common use among their Aztec ancestors.
The plumaje, or feather-work, which is sold in the shops at the capital, resembles that made in Montezuma's time; but, instead of being interwoyen with a cotton web, the feathers are put together in various forms and attached to a card-board.
Different varieties of artificial birds are constructed in this manner, the gorgeous colors of the parrot tribe and the delicate down of the humming-bird affording excellent material for a beautiful model. Some of these birds are of life-size, but most of them are on a reduced scale. The modern Mexicans do not make knives, razors, and serrated swords of itztli, or obsidian, but the tourist may find fragments of this material on sale in the portales of the City of Mexico.
Pottery is manufactured on a large scale (vide preceding chapter). It comes mostly from Guadalajara, Uruapan, and Zintzuntlan. The Guadalajara ware is glazed and variegated in color. It is molded into all kinds of figures, many of which are artistic in design, and illustrate the national costumes. Aztec pottery is now very scarce.
​Numerous imitations are made, however, and travelers are cautioned against paying high prices for the spurious article. Rag figures dressed in Mexican costumes are sold extensively by the Indians. All kinds of baskets composed of gayly-colored fragments of the palm-leaf are cheap and abundant. The zarapes are described in the chapter on costumes. Every variety of leather-ware is made in the country. Besides leathern clothing and foot-gear, bridles, saddles, whips, etc., are manufactured, which are oftentimes of exquisite workmanship. The author saw a silver-mounted saddle belonging to a wealthy young hacendado that was valued at $1,000. It weighed forty pounds. The Mexican onyx, or tecali, is wrought into paper-weights and small vases, and even into mantel-pieces. The pale-green variety of this stone is very beautiful. Tourists are recommended to purchase ornaments of tecali either at Puebla or at the capital.
Choice embroidery (bordado) is made in Mexico. This work is done on velvet, silk, cloth, or muslin. Gold and silver thread is commonly used to embroider velvet and silk. The vestments of the priests are trimmed in this manner (vide chapter on the Church). Felt hats are usually adorned with silver thread. The most beautiful piece of native needle-work on exhibition is found on the throne of the Sala de Embajadores, at the National Palace in the capital. It consists of the Mexican coat-of-arms embroidered with gold thread on dark velvet.
Ladies wishing to purchase ornamental specimens of needle-work should have them made to order, as Mexican shopkeepers rarely have choice embroidery in stock. There is no fixed price for this class of work; accordingly, strangers are advised to bargain with the dealers.
Owing to the small number of artists, paintings which delineate Mexican scenery or costumes are seldom offered for sale. Photographs of the places of interest, both in ​town and country, and also of the national dress, may be purchased in all the large cities.
XXXVIII.
Jewelry.
Mexican jewelry has justly acquired a world-wide fame. When the Spaniards invaded the country, they acknowledged that the gold and silver-smiths of the Aztec Empire excelled those of their own land.
The precious metals were used in casting vessels, some of which were said to have been so large that a man could not encircle them with his arms.
Gems like opal, turquoise or chalcliihuitl, ruby, agate, heliotrope, and chalcedony, were mounted in gold; and artistic filigree- work in both gold and silver was made extensively.
According to the accounts of the early Spanish chroniclers, the ornaments worn by Montezuma must have been equal in elegance to many of the crown-jewels of the imperial families of Europe.
At the present day the traveler will not meet with any large specimens of silver-ware, excepting the exquisite service of Maximilian, which is on exhibition in the museum at the national capital.
The modern jewelers confine themselves principally to the manufacture of watches, chains, necklaces, brooches, pins, buttons, and other articles for personal adornment. The filigree-work in silver is worn extensively, but that of gold is seldom used.
Chapetas, or silver studs for hats, are made in large quantities. They are in the form of stirrups, revolvers, ropes, horse-heads, bull-heads, spurs, and other figures. These chapetas are fastened on either side of the crown ​(see chapter on costumes). Silver ornaments are sold at a low price, and they make handsome presents for tourists to purchase. The smallest and cheapest figures are ex votos in the shape of arms and legs.
XXXIX.
Theatres.
Theatres may be found in all cities and towns of the country. The Mexican has inherited from the Spaniard his love for the drama. Many of the plays put upon the stage are translated from the French, the number of native dramatists being very small. Many traveling operatic and theatrical companies visit Mexico in the winter season. The opéra-bouffe is given every year.
Sunday night is the most popular time to go to the theatre. The prices of admission are lower than in the United States. A seat in the parquet, or patio, generally costs one peso. Smoking is allowed there.
Ladies wishing to visit the theatres should procure tickets in a box or loja. They are plain edifices, with little interior decoration, and are commonly built with an elliptical auditorium, which has several tiers of boxes ranged one directly above the other, reminding the traveler of La Scala at Milan.
XL.
Music.
The Mexican people are very fond of music. There are excellent military bands in all the cities and garrisoned towns, where a pagoda is generally erected in the main plaza. They usually play three evenings in the week. ​when the "swell" population turns out to enjoy the music. Travelers will find pianos all over the country, even in towns 500 miles distant from a seaport or railway terminus. Violins and guitars are also used, the latter being common among the Indians and mestizos. Wandering street musicians are rare.
There is not much original Mexican music; the national hymn, consisting of ten verses, being the best known. It was written by Bocanegra, and set to music by Nunó.
The following is a metrical translation of the chorus and first two verses of the national hymn of Mexico:
CHORUS.
Mexicans, haste to fight and bleed! Make ready sword and bridled steed; Let the earth tremble to its core, Exulting in the cannon's roar.
First Stanza.
Oh, may the olive-branch of peace, Dear Fatherland, wave over thee; For writ in heaven, by God's own hand, Is thine eternal destiny. And if the foe, with foot profane, Invade thy soil, O sacred land! Each son of thine, a soldier born, The fierce invasions shall withstand.
Second Stanza.
Behold them plunged in bloody strife; The love which animates each heart Impels them on to give their life, And e'er count death the better part. The former exploits of thy sons, O Fatherland, remember now, And once again immortal crowns Of laurel shall adorn thy brow.
XLI.
Dances.
Mexicans are likewise passionately fond of dancing. Public balls (bailes) are frequent all over the Republic. In the capital they are held on Sunday nights, while in the smaller cities Saturday is the more common evening for them. Private balls are given by subscription in the principal cities, to which tourists may obtain invitations through some banker or merchant.
It is rare to have a tertulia, or evening-party, without dancing.
XLII.
Festivals.
The The festivals of Mexico were formerly of a religious character, but since 1856 they partake of a political nature. The following is a list of the principal holidays:
January 23. Santo of the King of Spain. February 5. Anniversary of the Constitution of 1857. February 22. Birth of Washington. March 14. Santo of the King of Italy. March 21. Birth of Benito Juarez. April 1. Opening of the session of Congress. May 5. Anniversary of the defeat of the French at Puebla. May 8. Birth of the Curate Hidalgo. May 15. Capture of Querétaro in 1867. May 31. Close of the session of Congress.
June 21. Capture of Mexico in 1867.
June 30. Anniversary of the reformation in Guatemala.
July 4. Independence of the United States.
July 18. Anniversary of the death of Juarez.
July 20. Independence of Colombia.
July 28. Independence of Peru.
July 30. Death of the Curate Hidalgo.
September 15. Independence of Guatemala.
September 16. Independence of Mexico.
November 15. Santo of the King of the Belgians.
XLIII.
Bull-fights.
The bull-fight, or funcion de toros, is the national fiesta of Mexico, and is one of the objectionable legacies of the Spaniards. Bull-fights take place on Sunday afternoons. The best performances are at Huisachal, a suburb of the capital. They are forbidden by law within the city limits. There are bull-rings (plazas de toros) in all cities and towns. Several of the larger cities have two. The rings in Mexico are commonly of wood, and are built in the form of an amphitheatre. The seats are classified into those in the shade (sombra) and those in the sun (sol). The former are, of course, preferable, and cost more than the latter.
Most of the bull-fighters are Mexicans, but at the present time (1883) a famous Spanish maestro, named El Chiclanero, is “starring" in the Republic. Bull-fighters, or toreadores, are agile men, of rather slender build, and do not usually exceed the medium height. They seldom possess great physical strength, but are expert jumpers. They are divided ​into four classes: the espadas, or matadores, who kill the bull with a sword; the banderilleros, who thrust barbed darts into his neck; the picadores, who ride jaded Rosinante-hacks, and strike the animal with their lances; and the chulos and capas, who tease him with gayly-colored cloths, and assist the toreadores generally.
The bull enters the arena at the sound of a trumpet, and is in turn attacked by the above-named classes of fighters. When the persecuted beast falls from exhaustion and loss of blood, he is killed by the cachetero, who thrusts a small dagger into the nape of the neck, just above the spinal column. The body is then dragged out of the ring by a trio of mules, amid the deafening yells of the crowd, the band playing at the time. The carcass is sold to the butcher. Unlike the funciones of Spain, the horses are protected with huge leather covers, and the tips of the bull's horns are sometimes sawed off.
XLIV.
Cock-fights.
Cock-fights, or peleas de gallos, take place all over the country. The cock-pits are light pyramidal structures that are made of wood, with a thatched roof, and open at the base.
Cock-fighters, or galleros, are frequently seen in the streets, each carrying a game-cock, with a string tied to its leg. Sunday afternoon is the favorite time for cock-fighting.
Occasionally the inhabitants of rival towns will have a match, when representatives of each will send picked game-cocks to engage in the fight. The event is announced, weeks beforehand, by gaudy bills posted on the sides of the public buildings.
​It may be remarked that cock-fights are likewise common in the Territory of New Mexico, although bull-fights are unknown. The most popular season for cock- and bull-fighting is during Lent.
XLV.
Costumes.
The upper classes, especially the Government officials, in Mexico, have recently discarded the national costume, and now wear the European dress. Black coats and silk hats are as commonly seen on the Plaza mayor of the City of Mexico as on Broadway or Fifth Avenue.
There is a great variety of costumes, however, among the country gentlemen, and among both sexes in the lower classes. The Mexican hat, or sombrero, is the most prominent part of the national dress. It is either of felt or straw, and has a very wide brim. When made of the former material, the color varies from light gray to brown and black. The crown is trimmed with a silver band, and the brim is oftentimes heavily embroidered with silver thread. The cords around the crown are either single, double, or quadruple, and small silver ornaments called chapetas are attached to both sides of it. Straw hats are generally provided with puffed bands of the same material, and occasionally silver cords are worn on them. The peasantry wear plain straw hats and white cotton shirts and trousers. Cloaks of water-flags or palm-leaf strips are used by the Indians. They are impervious to the rain.
A zarape, or blanket woven either of woolen goods or of both wool and cotton, is worn in the early morning and in the evening. An infinite variety of patterns may be seen in these zarapes. Stripes of various shades of red, yellow, ​and brown, are the prevailing colors. Unlike the ponchos and mangas of Spain, the zarapes are thrown over the shoulder, instead of inserting the head through a hole or slit in the middle. However, some of the latter style of blankets are worn, especially by diligence-drivers and donkey-boys. Stage-coachmen also wear leggings embossed with large nail-heads.
Huaraches, or leathern sandals, fastened with straps over the instep and across the ball of the foot, take the place of boots or shoes among the lower classes.
The usual style of dress among the peasant-women consists of a white waist and skirt, with a blue scarf or shawl (rebozo). These simple colors remind the traveler of those adopted by Murillo in his paintings of the Virgin. Straw hats, like those worn by the poorer class of men, are donned by the women.
The ladies in cities are generally dressed in plain black, and without a bonnet. They carry black silk parasols and black fans. The mantilla is now generally disused. Since 1881 young ladies, especially in the City of Mexico, have begun wearing hats of foreign make and dresses of various colors.
The hacendados and country gentlemen usually wear suits of black cloth, consisting of a short Jacket with silver buttons, a waistcoat cut low, and pantaloons opening on the outside of the leg, with two rows of fancy silver buttons along the outer seam. A faja, or sash, which is commonly of a red color, is added to the costume, and the boots are made with high heels. This dress is worn in the tierra fria, and in the upper part of the tierra templada. In the tierra caliente the gentry wear plain white cotton suits with sombreros of felt or straw. In riding through ​the underbrush, chaparraleros, or loose leathern trousers, are worn over the ordinary pantaloons. Except in the large cities, swords or machetes are usually attached to the saddle-bow.
XLVI.
Lotteries.
Following the example of Spain, lotteries were introduced into Mexico many years ago, and are now an important source of revenue. Lottery-tickets are sold in all the cities by men, women, and children. They are found on the portales of the plazas, at the doors of hotels and cafés, and on the street corners. The Government receipts from lotteries were:
| In 1880-'81 | $32,856. |
| In 1881-'82 | 60,000. |
| In 1882-'83 | 800,000. |
XLVII.
Stores.
According to Prescott, there were no shops in the Aztec Empire. Goods and wares were sold in the marketplace. Fairs were held at short intervals, and the merchants were itinerant traders. Under the Spanish domination, the system was greatly modified. With the importation of merchandise from the mother-country came the gradual introduction of shops. They have undergone a great change since 1870. The shops usually have fanciful names, such as "The City of Paris," "The Azure Boot," "The Red Gown," etc.
While household ornaments, books, hardware, crockery, ​leather-work, and a few other articles, were formerly on sale in considerable quantities, wearing-apparel suitable for Europeans was almost unknown. A new era of trade has dawned upon the Republic since the introduction of American railroad enterprise. The foreign resident need no longer send to New York, London, or Paris for luxuries and fashions. All kinds of clothing can now be made at short notice; and preserves, canned goods, hams, wines, confectionery, and other articles which the European requires, are found in the shops. The finest mercantile establishments are in the cities of Puebla and Mexico. French is spoken in many of them. The shops on the Calle de San Francisco, on the Plateros, and on the Plaza mayor in the capital, are commodious, and contain a fine assortment of goods. Some of the clerks speak English. Strangers are charged exorbitant prices, so it is advisable to marchander with the salesmen.
XLVIII.
Pawnbroker-Shops.
These institutions are controlled by the Government, and exist in all the cities of Mexico. They are termed monte de piedad, or montepio.
There is a large monte de piedad in Puebla, and a central office with several branches at the capital. The articles deposited as security for loans in the pawnbroker-shops are chiefly wearing-apparel, leather-work, jewelry, and fire-arms. The Government officers set a price on goods forfeited to the montepio. If they are not sold within a few weeks, a second price is fixed. Should the articles fail to find a purchaser at the reduced valuation, they are appraised again. They are then kept for an indefinite period, till the third price is paid.
​Travelers can occasionally find rare and valuable objects at these shops. The bills of the national monte de piedad circulate at par throughout the country.
XLIX.
The Church.
Up to the year 1859 one third of all the real and personal property in Mexico was owned by the Church. Many of the finest buildings, as well as large tracts of land in the heart of the large cities, belonged to the clergy.
The bishops' palaces at Puebla and at the capital contain so many deeds, leases, etc., that they remind one of a county clerk's office, rather than the residence of a high ecclesiastical dignitary.
All churches and convents in Mexico are built of the most costly materials and in the most substantial manner. Lofty towers are usually added to the churches, and their façades are oftentimes exquisitely carved. (See chapter on architecture.) The interior decorations, paintings, furniture, and the services, are artistic in character. They were imported from Europe and transported by wagons for distances varying from one hundred to six hundred miles at great expense.
The high altars as well as the stalls of the choir are beautifully carved, the former being usually gilded. Large organs are found in the cathedrals and principal churches, and occasionally the same building will have two of them on opposite sides of the choir. In the Morelia and Guadalupe cathedrals, there are silver railings around the edge of the high altar and leading thence to the choir. Many of ​the doors in the tabernacles are made of silver. The beautiful tecali, or so-called Mexican onyx, is used extensively for altars and fonts. (Vide chapter on Morelia, in Section IV.) Most of the churches are furnished with wooden settees. Prie-dieux are unknown.
A large number of the churches are rapidly falling into decay, and many of them are now used for business purposes, e. g. , barracks, warehouses, marble-works, etc. During his extensive tour through Mexico, in the winter and spring of 1883, the author saw but a single instance of a church undergoing repairs, viz., on the plaza of Indaparapeo in Michoacan. Several of the convents adjoining the churches are at present in ruins, while others have not been occupied for years, and some of them are now altered into hotels, as at Zacatecas and Monterey.
These institutions are crowded together into the cities and towns, none being found in the rural districts as in Europe. (Vide chapter on population.)
It is a universal custom to hang ex votos on the walls of the churches. They are either made of silver or wax, or consist of small paintings of the Virgin Mary.
Various notices invoking pater-nosters, or aves, for the repose of the souls of departed friends, or soliciting alms for certain purposes, are printed on paper of several colors and posted on the main door of the churches. Religious tracts, and ribbons giving the size of the head of some particular saint, are sold at the entrance to many of the cathedrals and chapels, especially during the lenten season.
A typical church-scene in Mexico is a number of men clothed in white-cotton garments, with zarapes of variegated colors on their shoulders, with broad-brimmed straw hats in their hands, and wearing huaraches, or leathern sandals, kneeling on a stone floor in company with women and girls, who are dressed in calico and wear a black shawl over the head and shoulders.
​The vestments worn by the priesthood while celebrating high mass are very costly, and consist of silken robes heavily embroidered with gold and silver thread. When appearing in the street the priests usually wear the ordinary cloth gown and cloak. It is, however, forbidden by law in some parts of the country, e. g. , in the Federal District, for the clergy to walk the streets in the garb of their order.
As regards the power of the Church in Mexico at the present day, it may be said that it is almost entirely lost, except in a few States like Michoacan. The politicians, however, make extravagant promises to the clergy, in the hope of securing their good graces in the elections. In the northern States the priesthood are becoming less influential from day to day.
Flag-staffs have been erected on the façades of the principal churches, from which the national colors are displayed. In the City of Mexico the ringing of bells is restricted by statute to the period of three minutes at one time; and the space of one half hour must elapse before they can be again sounded.
The hold of the Catholic clergy on the Mexican people is confined principally to the laboring classes. It is a common saying that, when a peon earns two dollars, he gives one dollar and forty-five cents to the priest, spends fifty cents for pulque, and supports his family on the remainder.
Among the more highly educated classes, the men are indifferent to religion, and oftentimes refuse to allow their wives and daughters to visit the confessional. They charge that the priest learns the pecuniary condition of the pater-familias through the female members of the household. In 1882 the clergy in the Republic were estimated to number ten thousand.
Notwithstanding the comparatively long period in which the Liberals have been in power in Mexico, the hostility between the Catholics and Protestants is as intense as ever.
​The priests still threaten to excommunicate peons who work on buildings or farms owned by the Protestants. Since 1870 the Liberal Government has favored the establishment of Protestant churches throughout the country. During the administration of President Juarez a fine parish church was presented to the Protestants in the national capital. Their missions have since been founded in the cities of Puebla, Cuernavaca, Zacatecas, and Monterey.
As recently as December, 1882, a collision took place between the Roman Catholics and Protestants at Zacatecas. The former attempted to demolish a chapel which was owned by the latter, when the military came to the rescue and dispersed the rioters with bloodshed. The State governments are generally disposed to protect the Protestants, and accordingly offer convict-labor to complete their houses of worship, when the peons can not be employed. In Chihuahua the Americans now attend divine service at the residence of the pastor, the Rev. Mr. Eaton.
N. B.—Foreigners, intending to engage in either mining or farming in Mexico, are strongly advised to conciliate the padre, as he is usually the most influential person in small towns and villages. Considering the influence of the clergy on the lower classes, discourteous treatment of the priest may result in the refusal of the peons to work for the offending individual.
L.
Jurisprudence.
The Roman law prevails in Mexico, and a code, based upon the Code Napoléon, has been adopted.
There is a written Constitution and a system of statutes ​for the Republic. Each State has also its own laws, which are administered independently of those of the Federal Government. Trial by jury occurs in criminal cases only. Felonies are punished by long terms of imprisonment, while the penalty for misdemeanors is generally a fine ranging from twenty-five cents to several hundred dollars. The former amount is the equivalent of one day's wages for certain classes of laborers.
Of late years, the authorities have ordered a great many brigands to be shot without a trial. In the State of Zacatecas, two hundred persons, who were known to be bandits, are said to have been killed in a single year.
Life and property are now as safe in Mexico as in the United States.
Europeans residing in Mexico complain of the system of keeping prisoners in close confinement for a long period without a trial. The prisons are damp and unhealthy, and the fare is of the worst quality.
The rules of practice for filing documents in the public offices are different from those of the United States. Original wills, deeds, mortgages, etc., must be recorded in blank books and deposited in the proper office. These are provided by the municipal government. None but interested persons can obtain copies of them. Deeds and other instruments executed as far back as the year 1540 are on file in the register's office of a few cities.
All deeds, leases, contracts, etc., must be executed before a notary (escribano publico).
Stamps must be affixed to all kinds of instruments, and a rubrica, or dash of the pen, must be added to a signature to make it legal.
At present aliens can take real estate by deed and devise, but they can not own land within twenty leagues of the frontier line, or less than fifteen miles from the coast, except by special permission of the Executive.
"Any foreigner who desires permission to own real estate within the above-mentioned limits, must address his petition to the Secretary of Public Works at the City of Mexico, accompanied by a report from the government of the State or Territory where the property is situated.
"The foreign proprietor of real estate forfeits his rights of possession under any of the following circumstances:
"1st. By being away from the Republic with his family for more than two years without permission from the General Government.
"2d. By residing outside of the Republic, even though he has a representative residing upon his property or in the Republic.
"3d. By transferring or conveying said property by inheritance or any other means to any person non-resident in the Republic.
"Any foreign property-owner, who may fall into any of the three conditions above stipulated, is compelled to sell his real estate to a Mexican citizen, within two years from the date of his absence from the Republic; or, in case he fails to comply with this prescription, the public authority will effect the sale of the property, depositing the proceeds of it to the order of the owner of the property. If said sale has been made by 'denouncement' of the property, one tenth of the proceeds shall go to the person who made the 'denouncement' and the balance to the absent foreigner. . . . Aliens who are members of a mining company that has either discovered or reopened any abandoned mine are exempt from these rules.
"Foreigners who have acquired real estate from private owners, or the Government of Mexico, are subject to all kinds of taxation, and are bound to do military duty whenever called upon to protect the property they have acquired, or preserve public order and tranquillity in the place where they reside, and are bound to take part in the elucidation of all questions that may arise in regard to said property, according to the existing laws, and before the tribunals of Mexico, without ever appealing to their rights of foreign citizenship, or to any intervention from a foreign power."
" Grantees of public lands are compelled to locate on their grant
at least one inhabitant for every two hundred hectares, who shall reside thereon without interruption during ten years, not being absent more than foir months during each year. In failing to comply with this clause of the law, they will forfeit their right to the land, as well as the price paid for it.
"Any person enabled to hold property by 'denouncement' of public lands can not obtain more than 2,500 hectares, by virtue of the law of limitation, until he has had possession of the land for ten years, and has complied with the other requisites of law, and those prescribed in the above clause."
These extracts from the laws of Mexico are taken from Castro's Republic of Mexico, pp. 188-190.
Lawyers who have taken a degree are termed licenciados. The leading counselors of the principal cities can generally speak English. Very few foreigners have thus far begun the practice of law in the Republic. Excepting the Supreme Court at the capital (Suprema Corte), the court-rooms are open to the public. The judges sit from 9 to 12 a. m., and from 3 to 5 p. m. The Jurisdiction of the inferior tribunals (juzgados) resembles that of the county courts of the United States.
For further information on the laws of Mexico, consult the following Spanish works: El Protocolo, El Codigo, El Nuevo Escribano Instruido, Las Ordenanzas de Tierras y Aguas, and Las Ordenanzas de Mineria. The latter consists of mining laws.
LI.
Education.
Unfortunately, a Small portion only of the Mexican people are able to read and write. The number of ​illiterate persons can only be estimated, as there are no accurate census returns. We are of the opinion that it amounts to 6,500,000, or about two thirds of the entire population.
Colleges (colegios) have been established in the principal cities for many years. There are schools of the arts, of law, of medicine, and of science. The Colegio de Minería, or mining school, in the capital, was founded about the close of the last century. (See chapter on the City of Mexico in Part Second.)
The traveler should not, however, be misled by this term “colegio." It is often used in the rural districts as synonymous with "school," very much as it used to be in the Western States of the Union. Soon after the French invasion, a common-school system similar to that of the United States was introduced into Mexico. The English language is now generally taught, and even many business men are studying it with a private tutor. A few industrial schools have been established in the larger cities. Mexican children are said to be very docile pupils, and in the hands of good instructors they learn readily. Among the wealthier families, it is common for parents to send their sons abroad to be educated, as to New York, London, or Paris; and a few Mexican students may be found in the universities and mining schools of Germany.
Young women and girls attend only the parochial schools of the country, and the higher education is unknown among them. The completion of the American trunk-lines of railroad may tend to increase the number of young men who go to the United States annually to “finish" their education.
The following table is taken from Castro's Republic of Mexico, p. 200. It shows the number of public schools in the States and the Territory of Lower California, and the cost of their maintenance for the year 1880: ​
| STATES. | STATES. | Male schools. | Female schools. | Total. | Number of male pupils. | Number of female pupils. | Total number of pupils. | Annual cost of the schools. |
| 1. | Aguascalientes | 53 | 26 | 79 | 4,800 | 1,200 | 6,000 | $10,000 |
| 2. | Campeche | 43 | 14 | 57 | 8,600 | 700 | 4,300 | 15,000 |
| 3. | Coahuila | 70 | 30 | 100 | 5,230 | 2,127 | 7,357 | 26,000 |
| 4. | Colima | 18 | 17 | 35 | 1,452 | 1,502 | 2,954 | 18,000 |
| 5. | Chiapas | 78 | 12 | 90 | 2,125 | 500 | 2,625 | 10,000 |
| 6. | Chihuahua | 73 | 40 | 113 | 3,350 | 928 | 4,278 | 28,473 |
| 7. | Durango | 95 | 30 | 125 | 3,102 | 1,350 | 4,452 | 20,000 |
| 8. | Guanajuato | 176 | 145 | 321 | 10,754 | 7,045 | 17,799 | 81,386 |
| 9. | Guerrero | 392 | 28 | 420 | 13,006 | 1,755 | 14,761 | 34,965 |
| 10. | Hidalgo | 412 | 76 | 518 | 15,819 | 3,371 | 19,190 | 82,287 |
| 11. | Jalisco | 439 | 275 | 714 | 28,376 | 11,160 | 39,536 | 100,000 |
| 12. | Mexico | 887 | 181 | 1,068 | 41,321 | 10,245 | 51,566 | 187,216 |
| 13. | Michoacan | 154 | 89 | 243 | 7,000 | 3,200 | 10,200 | 52,756 |
| 14. | Morelos | 47 | 40 | 87 | 8,209 | 5,387 | 13,596 | 22,866 |
| 15. | Nuevo-Leon | 181 | 104 | 285 | 8,928 | 4,732 | 13,660 | 68,000 |
| 16. | Oaxaca | 234 | 47 | 281 | 16,420 | 3,296 | 19,716 | 50,982 |
| 17. | Puebla | 889 | 118 | 1,007 | 50,320 | 15,000 | 65,320 | 153,000 |
| 18. | Querétaro | 101 | 62 | 163 | 6,271 | 2,922 | 9,193 | 30,000 |
| 19. | San Luis Potosi | 183 | 56 | 239 | 9,486 | 3,690 | 13,176 | 40,000 |
| 20. | Sinaloa | 238 | 42 | 280 | 6,600 | 2,600 | 9,200 | 58,000 |
| 21. | Sonora | 80 | 25 | 105 | 3,500 | 740 | 4,240 | 20,000 |
| 22. | Tabasco | 48 | 17 | 65 | 2,695 | 525 | 3,220 | 20,000 |
| 23. | Tlaxcala | 176 | 18 | 194 | 8,109 | 1,550 | 9,650 | 20,000 |
| 24. | Tamaulipas | 60 | …. | 60 | 4,000 | …. | 4,000 | 10,000 |
| 25. | Vera Cruz | 580 | 149 | 729 | 20,021 | 5,937 | 25,958 | 218,985 |
| 26. | Yucatan | 163 | 39 | 202 | 8,659 | 2,643 | 11,302 | 50,000 |
| 27. | Zacatecas | 311 | 178 | 489 | 13,788 | 6,658 | 20,391 | 72,000 |
| | Ter'y of Lower California | 17 | 9 | 26 | 677 | 367 | 1,044 | 10,000 |
| Total | Total | 6,228 | 1,867 | 8,095 | 307,559 | 101,125 | 408,684 | 1,510,446 |
LII.
Newspapers.
About sixty newspapers are published in Mexico. Most of them are printed in Spanish, and some are in French and in English. In the City of Mexico there are several daily papers in Spanish and two in French. The Monitor Republicano, which has an edition of about seven thousand copies, is said to have the largest circulation, while that of many of the other newspapers does not exceed five hundred. One semi-weekly English paper, The Two Republics, and one weekly journal half in Spanish and half ​in English, The Financier, are also published at the national capital. A few American newspapers may be found in Chihuahua. All of them devote a large space to advertisements.
Under the administration of Santa Anna began the subsidy of the press. Subventions are now given to papers that can not be published except at a loss.
Formerly a special jury took cognizance of the offenses of the press, but a constitutional amendment passed in 1883 brings these offenses under the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts.
LIII.
Miscellaneous.
American consuls or vice-consuls reside at the following towns:
Acapulco, Batopilas, Camargo, Campeche, Chihuahua, Guadalupe y Calvo, Guaymas, Guerrero, La Paz, Manzanillo, Matamoros, Mazatlan, Merida and Sisal, Mexico, Minatitlan, Monterey, Musquiz, Nuevo Laredo, Paso del Norte, Piedras Negras, Progreso, Saltillo, San Blas, San José, San Luis Potosi, Tampico, Tuxpan, Vera Cruz, and Zacatecas.
There are no English consuls, but the British Government employs private agents.
Doctors intending to practice in the Mexican Republic should learn at least one language besides Spanish, i. e., either French or English.
Reliable interpreters can be found in the principal cities only.
The value of real estate is increasing in the large cities. The landlords are unwilling to sell unless at an exorbitant price; accordingly, foreigners intending to engage in trade ​or manufacturing will do well to lease property for long terms, instead of purchasing it.
| In 1881 the value of city property was | $109,684,376 52 |
| And that of rural property was | 181,873,994 04 |
| Total | $351,558,370 56 |
Americans in Northern Mexico, especially in Chihuahua, have been charged with a want of due respect for the local authorities. They have invested largely in mines and ranches, and are unwilling to be controlled by the laws of the country. On August 1, 1883, a dispatch from Paso del Norte to a New York journal disclosed a new scheme for the acquisition of a part of Mexico by the United States. The plan is as follows: When Congress meets next winter, the Americans in Chihuahua, said to number ten thousand, are to “pronounce" a dissolution of the relations of that State with Mexico, establish a local State government, and apply for admission to the United States. This scheme is discredited by those who are in a position to know the facts. It is to be hoped that every honest man in the United States, and, above all, that our Government, will sternly oppose this or any other scheme for despoiling our neighbors of their territory.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.
Capital may be advantageously invested in Mexico as follows:
1. In cattle and sheep ranches.
2. In water companies for irrigation.
3. In the manufacture of paper. (There are but three or four kinds of paper made in Mexico. Nearly all the white paper is imported.) 4. In woolen and cotton mills. ​5. In the manufacture of hardware and machinery. (The duty on hardware is enormous.) 6. In the improvement of harbors and the construction of wharves. (Many of the harbors might, at a small expense, be rendered navigable for large vessels.) 7. In the organization of district-telegraph, telephone, and electric-light companies. (The former are unknown. There are a few of the others.) 8. In erecting hotels with all the modern conveniences. (First-class hotels are very rare.) 9. In the culture of sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton, and fruit. 10. In opening the numerous wells of petroleum, and in refining the article. (Two refineries have just been erected in the State of Vera Cruz. Petroleum is destined to be a great source of wealth to Mexico. In 1882, 1,300,000 gallons were exported from New York to Vera Cruz. The country is capable of exporting this commodity to Europe, besides producing enough for home consumption.)
We have omitted to name the mining of the various ores, as foreigners have invested largely in the Mexican mines.
STANDARD BOOKS ON MEXICO.
Clavigero, Storia Antica del Messico.
Bernal Diaz, Historia de la Conquista.
Sahagun, Historia Universal de Nueva España.
Veytia, Historia Antigua de Méjico. Herrera, History of America.
Solis, Conquest of Mexico.
Kingsborough, Mexican Antiquities.
Humboldt, Political Essay on New Spain.
Humboldt, Atlas de la Nouvelle Espagne.
Dupaix, Antiquités Mexicaines.
Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. ​Ward, Mexico in 1827.
Calderon de la Barca, Life in México. Prescott, Conquest of Mexico.
Chevalier, Mexico, Ancient and Modern. Wilson, Mexico and its Religion.
Wilson, History of the Conquest of Mexico.
Tempsky, Mitla, Adventures in Mexico, etc.
Buxton, Adventures in Mexico.
Bullock, Six Months in Mexico.
Brantz-Mayer, Mexico, as it was and as it is. Haven, Our Next-Door Neighbor. Lucas-Alaman, Historia de Méjico.
Zamacois, Historia de Méjico. The New American Cyclopædia, article on Mexico.
LIV.
What Mexico needs.
That Mexico may assume an elevated rank in the family of nations, two conditions are necessary: first, the education and elevation of the mass of her population; second, the development of her unequaled natural resources.
According to an eminent American statesman and diplomatist, "of the ten millions of people in Mexico, fully three quarters are Indians, two thirds of whom can not read, nor ever had an ancestor that could, who never slept in a bed or wore a stocking, and who are accustomed to live at a less expense per day than a farm-horse would cost in any New England State."
Comprising a territorial area sixteen times greater in extent than that of the State of New York, every variety of climate, and, consequently, every vegetable product ​which is found between the equator and the Arctic Circle, may be said to exist within her borders. Nor is this all. Besides having yielded one half of the existing stock of silver in the world, her mines are still believed to be the richest on the face of the globe. Her deposits of iron are unsurpassed in quantity and quality. To these are to be added every other metal which science has enumerated.
How, then, shall the matchless vegetable and mineral resources of the Republic be developed? That Northern enterprise, industry, and capital will become important factors in the solution of the problem there is little room to doubt. The introduction of the most approved agricultural implements and processes, as well as of the most approved methods of treating the ores, will, of course, increase many fold the productions in both departments of labor. Yet, under existing circumstances, such a result would be neither useful nor profitable. Indeed, without the opening of new fields of industry, and of new avenues for placing the surplus products in the markets of the world, an increase of production might even prove disastrous. In his recent elaborate publication entitled Railways in Mexico, Señor Romero, the Mexican Minister at Washington, pertinently remarks: “A year of good crops in Mexico is a real calamity in many of the agricultural districts, as the production in that year far exceeds the consumption of the immediate neighborhood; and grain can not be sent to any distance on account of the high cost of transportation."
Happily, the first and most essential step has already been taken to provide adequate means of transportation for all the surplus products of the country. The great lines of railway which are now rapidly approaching completion, together with those which have been begun under the auspices of General Grant, Mr. Gould, and other experienced railroad managers, connecting, as they do, with the roads of this country, will become an integral part of a ​system which is infinitely the grandest and most extensive in the world. Supplemented as these great avenues of trade and travel will be by innumerable turnpikes, which will form so many lateral tributaries, and for the construction of which the face of the country affords exceptional facilities, their influence will be felt throughout the length and breadth of the land.
But what Mexico needs, far more than the expansion of her physical resources, is the elevation of the toiling millions of her people. This result can only be achieved by their education, not alone in the lessons of the schools, but in the various branches of skilled industry and in social progress and enlightenment.
Thus far almost the only step which has been taken toward the intellectual culture of the young has been to provide schools for the training of the children of Spanish blood. Surely it requires no argument, in our day, to prove that the facilities for acquiring at least the elementary branches of education ought to be placed within the reach of every child, without reference to color, creed, or lineage.
This accomplished, the proper steps ought to be, and doubtless will be, taken to vest the ownership of the soil in its cultivators. The present land-tenure is what might reasonably be expected from the history of the country. Three centuries and a half ago the Spanish adventurers wrested it by force from the natives, and they and their descendants, almost without exception, have held it by the strong arm of power ever since.
Of all the lessons of history, none is more emphatic than that the ownership of the soil by its cultivators is essential to a successful and profitable agriculture. The history of France before the outbreak of the Revolution in the year 1789, the history of the British Islands, that of Ireland in particular, and our own experience as a nation ​during the existence of negro slavery, are all full of instruction upon this point.
It may, indeed, be doubted whether any other measure of public policy so imperatively demands a wise and liberal adjustment as the settlement of the land-tenure. If others than the Mexicans are to inhabit the country in the future, it requires no soothsayer to predict that this course will be found to be indispensable.
One of the first fruits of the diversified industry springing from the new departure will be better wages, better food, better clothing, and better houses for the toiling millions. Following these will come the intelligent participation of every adult male citizen in the administration of public affairs. That best of all guarantees for the preservation of civil liberty and social order—the co-operation of all classes of citizens for the protection of the rights of person and property—will come next in course. Revolutions and brigandage, which have so long been the curse and opprobrium of Mexico, will no longer be possible. A permanent government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," will do away these and all kindred abuses. Thus will a new impetus be given to the cause of free government throughout the world.
* ↑ The author saw an Indian carrying a large sofa on the road from the City of Mexico to Cuernavaca. It was fastened to his body by means of ropes and straps passing across his breast and forehead, and extending under his arms.
* ↑ These facts were related to the author by a station-master of the Mexican Central Railroad Company.
* ↑ In constructing railroads, the contractors introduced the wheelbarrow among the peons. They carried it on their heads when filled with earth, and it was found that more work could be done with the gunny-bag held on the shoulders.
* ↑ 29,003,744 pounds.
* ↑ 1,481,000 pounds.
* ↑ Much soap is made in Guadalajara, Puebla, and Mexico.
* ↑ There was no paper-factory up to 1803.
* ↑ Arranged for the author by E. E. J.
* ↑ Santo means the anniversary of the birthday of the saint after whom the king is named.
* ↑ The Spanish bull-rings are made of brick or stone.
* ↑ Sometimes spelled serape.
* ↑ The American consul at the capital informed the author that, in 1880, his wife was compelled to send to the United States for a bonnet, being unable to purchase one in the City of Mexico.
* ↑ The silver railing at Morelia was removed by the Liberal party during the Reformation.
* ↑ The chapel at Zacatecas was rebuilt by convicts.
* ↑ 49413 acres.
* ↑ 6,177½ acres.
* ↑ The Hon. John Bigelow.