Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-02-23

The attitude of Mexico toward
other countries Is most likely TO be
that OF the delinquent debtor. Her
public men have had q great deal
Of work on their hands of late In
staving off the demands of England
and Spain, and In negotiating loans
with the United States. Her bonds
ought to be good, with all the re-
sources OF the country, partially-de-
vel0ped and undeveloped her
great coffee possibilities her i'm
mense and untouched wells Of pc
troleum-almost pure; her enOr-
nous and spontaneous growth OF
the hemp of the maguey; her
wealth of oranges, bananas, pines
and lemons her sugar-cane pro-
ducts, which are not half-developed
and then, greatest of all, her raines.
The mines of Potosi have been
yielding pure silver for centuries.
and who can say where is the end ?
Through the states of chihuahua,
Durango, Guerrero. Sonora, Guiana
juato and Pachuca in particular,
and all over the republic in general,
there are mines, mines, mines
yielding every class of precious
metals. In Queretaru, where Max
imilian was shot, there are extern
sive mines of opals, which are very
little esteemed.
But notwithstanding all these re-
sources and a thousand more. the
bonds of Mexico are nearly value
less. Some issues can be bought
from the unfortunate holders at less
than one per cent. on the dollar.
There is absolutely no prospect of
their ever being redeemed. The
causes of this are evidently, first
the profuse issue of the bonds. on
slight pretenses, aud often on what
have been false pretenses as an
issue of several millions to compa-
ny which was to thoroughly drain
the valley of Mexico, but which
only got rid of the bonds at any
price they would bring, and then
got out of the way. Second-the
unreliability OF the government.
Diaz could, at any time, make the
republic into any form he wished,
and all the people would support
him. And also, the tariff on the
imports is an enormous drawback
on their progress. Under the spe-
cious plea of protection to their
infant industries" they have al
most destroyed them-smothered
them in their cradle. For nothing
not even the machinery and ma
terials requisite to develop these
resources-can avoid the payment
of an almost prohibitory tariff-of-
ten two or three hundred per cent.
of its value. They ''protect" their
finished goods, and they "protect"
their raw material; they "protect
themselves against the pauper labor
of EurOpe'-
And the pay Of Mexican labOrer
is 25c. per day, and plain wooden
hat costs ten dollars, and every
thing else in proportion, and the
whole republic is owned by dozen
or two men.
Some great man, speaking of the
prosperity of the United States of
America, has said that the greatest
factor in this result has been the
undisturbed free trade existing be-
tween the different states. Even
this does not exist in Mexico; every
vegetable that a poor farmer brings
into the city-he living within the
borders of another state-has to pay
its tariff These duties are probably
not so great in law and theory as
they are practiced. Such vast ar
my of collectors are employed that
imposition is frequent and easy
not so much against the govern
ment as against the ignorant and
credulous natives. Each one of the
states OF the republic levies its own
separate tariff upon every article
brought within its borders, and in
addition to this the enormous tax
for the Republic at large has to be
considered and everything is tax.
ed. Therefore it is a manifest i'm
probability that any labOr-saving
and progressive machinery will be
transported into the interior of
Mexico where the fields for its use
are situated.
The Government exhausts nearly
every possible method of raising
money. Its internal revenue stamp
laws are outrageous. On every bill,
on every contract, and on every
document of every description in
volving transfer of money or money
values, before that transaction can
be made legal, revenue stamps
one cent for each twenty dollars or
less Involved, must be affixed and
on contracts, agreements and other
papers not involving money, soc.
stamp per page. Licenses are
granted to everyone of any trade or
profession, for various sums; and
no one carpenter, blacksmith,
dramseller or lawyer, can pursue
his avocation without such license.
It would be interesting to know
what disposition is made of the vast
sums OF money thus CLEANED, and
cleaned from countless other sour
ces but to this question there is Il
stereotyped reply in Mexico, con-
sisting of an elevation of the shout
ders to an angle of forty-five degrees,
a deprecatory spreading-out of the
hands, and the remark "Qnie'a Sa6e!"
There are certainly not sufficient
apparent expenses of Government
to warrant their hopeless debts.
Tho ravv ia NOT much better than |