The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-02-04
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are chosen by the people thereof in
stead of by its legislature. In general,
the limits of the powers and rights OF
the Federal and State governments, re-
spectively, differ little from ours. The
law has been codiied, the Code Napol-
con being the law of the land.
The population of Mexico is about
twelve millions, of which six millions,
or one half, are full blooded Indians,
four millions mixed whites and Indians,
one and one-half millions native whites,
probably two hundred thousand Amer
leans from the United States and one
hundred thousand Europeans, one hun
dred thousand other foreigners includ-
ing Chinese, soma ninety thousand
mulattoes and only ten thousand ne-
groes. These are round numbers, but
approximate the mark. Spanish is the
recognized national language, but the
majority of the nation still use the
various Indian dialects of their ances-
tors. The Catholic church has been
stripped of it's privileges and a large
portion Of it's property, and the politi-
cal influence it formerly enjoyed is
rigidly repressed, but as yet there are
comparatively very few Protestants.
Prior to the anti, clerical revolution in
1859, the Catholic church owned more
than one-third of all the property in
the country.
The area of the Republic of Mexico is
about seven hundred and fifty thou
sand square miles, equal to fifteen
States the size of North Carolina, or
nearly seventeen times the size of New
York. The largest States are in the
north-Chihuahua eighty. eight thou
sand square miles, Sonora seventy-six
thousand, and Coahuila sixty-three
thousand; but these are very thinly
populated, having only two to three
people to the square mile. The smallest
State, TIascala, has less than sixteen
hundred square miles of territory, be,
ing larger than Rhode Island, but
smaller than Delaware. The most
populous States are Jalisco, with one
and a quarter millions, and Guanejuato,
which has also passed the million mark,
The least populous States are Colima
with seventy thousand and Campeachy
with ninety thousand. The States are
divided into departments, counties,
cantons, etc. The boundary line be
tween Mexico and the United States is
eighteen hundred miles in length.
Mexico lies between the eighty seventh
and one hundred seventeenth meridians
of longitude and between the fifteenth
ard thirty-second degrees of latitude,
the northern part being in the same
latitude with Georgia and u Gulf
States. The central and southern parts
are in the latitude of Hindostan, Siam,
Arabia and Upper Egypt. The shape
of the country roughly resembles a
cornucopia with its mouth to the north,
which may possibly prove significant.
The great bulk of the territory of the
republic is a high central plateau,
averaging seven thousand feet above
sea level. This descends abruptly on
the east to the Gulf OF Mexico, and
slopes more temperately to the Pacific.
This causes a division of the country
into three zones. The Terra Caliente,
Gulf and the Pacific; here are grown
coffee, sugar, bananas and other trop-
zeal fruits. The great central plateau
is called Terra Frids or frigid zone,
and the slopes on either side TERRA
TamplGdH or temperate zone, for in
one days travel, passing down the
mountains, the traveller a e every
variety of product and feel correspond
ing changes in temperature. The rainy
season varies in different localities, but
roughly speaking embraces the months
from June to October, while during
the rest of the year rain very rarely
falls. A clear sky prevails, as a rule,
the entire year except for a few hours
or the during the rainy season.
The second tallest mountains in
Popocatapetl, which, towering to the
height of nearly eighteen thousand
feet, hangs over the city and valley of
Mexico, while Orizaba, Is. 314 feet high,
and midway to Vera Cruz from the
capital, looks down upon the scorching
sun burnt plains of the TERRA CdIiente,
with the smooth summit of the noun,
tain shining like FURNISHED steel, in a
covering of eternal snow and ice.
Orizaba, which is a half mile higher
than Mont Blanc, the highest peak in
Europe, is the eliminating point of the