Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-02-23
Mexico and Her Railroads.

Ne1c orleans Ptcdgune.
Santos Benavides, an American citizen,
born on Texan soil under Mexican SOW
ereignty, writes from Laredo, Texas,
| January "a, 1882, first rate letter to the
Galveston Ne1s, primarily concerning
General Francisco NarajO, the new Min
lister of War, and incidentally referring
to three other prominent soldiers: Gen
eral Porfrio Diaz, ex-President; General
| Manuel Gonzalez, President; and General
| Geronimo Trevino, in charge of the
northern frontier embracing the States
of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon
and Chihuahua. He assures us that
there is not one among them who does
not bear in grateful recollection the
| timely assistance given by the Govern
ment of the United States to their
struggling country in the hour of their
greatest ueed. Becoming enthusiastic
in the consideration of evidences of good
will which he recapitulates, he bursts
into the following eloquent passage,
which is well worth reading:
at is a grand result that, under such
happy auspices, the portals of Mexico
| Open-nOt to line or lines of railroads
but to the vast railway system of the
| OultNu CbdlCS duh tuC NdubOdSy d1Nl luCll
connecting links with Europe and the
world at large. The rich and tropical
products of the south, the seml-trOplcal
| yield of the north, and the elevated
| plateau of the central belt, where the
isOthermal lines curve far below the
lower parallels of the temperate zone
with cooling and healthful effect, will
induce a strong tide of immigration.
The rich soil, adapted to the cultivation
of coffee, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco,
rice, and all the cereals, await the plow
and enterprIsing farmer. 1t again has
rivals in the mines of coal, IRON, lead,
copper, silver and gold, known,
many of them, and worked years
ago in primitive fashion,
which hardly more than disturbed their
outcrops, and but await new machinery,
drift or tunnel to drain them, or new
appliances superior to the old, to smelt
the stubborn ores, and so yield untold
wealth to the hardy adventurer Yet,
rich and attractive as these are, there is
vast field still flor enterprise and CAPT
tab in this almost virgin land so destitute
| of factories of all kinds; for the rattle of
the grist mill, the whirl of the threshlng
machine, and the swift turning of the
cotton gin, together with the digging
and delving in the mines, will be hushed
| by the roar of the furnace, the noise of
the rolling mill, and the resOunding
blows of the trip hammer, for coal and
iron abound continuously and in in
exhaustible quantities, and their pro-
| ducts are in great demand"
In this interesting connection we take
pleasure in reminding the reader of the
wonderful expansion of our commerce
with Mexico during the past fiscal year.
| Our imports of merchandise from
| Mexico during the fiscal year
ending June Both, 1881, amounted to
| IS. 81 SOP, and our exports OF merchan-
disc TO Mexico to $11, III 238, showing
Il very fair balance in our favor The
| figures for the fiscal year ended June
Both, 1880. were 81. 200 593 imports, and
| SO, 065, 974 exports. No longer ago than
the fiscal year 1856 we imported So
149 573, and exported only 81 7O6. IT'S.
This increase of 1877 per cent in our do
mestic exports of merchandise to Mexico
has occurred in FIVE years, dur
ing which we have not had
the advantage of railroad COM
municatiOn even so far as to the Rio
| Grande frontier Our roads already
penetrate above sixty miles south of Ell
| PasO, and, slight as is the advantage, the
movement of commerce will feel it this
year. The fact that so large portion
of the gain in our exports has been made
in the last year, shown by the figures
above. is evidence of the vitalizing power
| of railroads, for it is undoubtedly the
result of actual railroad building and
prospective railroad communication com
bined Next year our trade with Mexico
will begin to bound, like the Fauna in
Millions ode of spring:
She forward bounds, yet fears too swift to
bound,
And trembling hides. yet wishes to be found.