Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06

there for Guadaiajara. and at Guadalajara
took q Pullman for the City OF Mexico.
Fully half the passengers in the sleepers
were Americans, and the talk was chiefly
of mines, ranches and railways.
Mexico City.
Mexico City Is changing so gradually
that its own dwellers, possibly. do not APP
preciate the transformation. Yet some OF
the old Spanish buildings, with their. enor-
nous, thick wallis have had to come down.
and the newer structures are really chang
ing the architecture Of the city.
The skeletons of structural steel meet
the eye at a dozen turns. The new post OF
fee building is almost finished, and 1t Is
purely italian in it's aspect The buildings
which the insurance companies and other
private concerns are putting up are not
quite so ornate. but they manage to com
bine some of the old Spanish solidity with
the steel framework. Out in the residence
districts the ancient architecture Is disap-
pearing almost entirely, and / have even
heard complaint that the plans of Ameri-
can city dwellings are followed too closely
for the climatic conditions. The asphalt
pavement has been extended from the
business district far out to most of the
suburbs.
took little time to inquire about So
cial or sociological prospects. and spent
some hours in strolling about the sections
of the city which house the poorer classes.
In the United States these quarters would
be called the squalid sections. 1t appeared
to me that among the poems or working
classes there was less of the puIque drunk
enness visible than during my stay In
Mexico two years ago Pulque Is the hq-
uor made from the cactus plant. 1t pro-
duces a sodden. scottish condition. 1t has
been the curse of the poems.
On my observing to one of the men who
are interested in these sociological Ques-
tions that there really seemed to be less
drunkenness among the poor he told me 1t
was not merely a seeming. but fact.
Rigid measures have been taken by the
government and the municipality to curb
the pulque appetite, both by limiting the
number of places in which the stuff Is sold
and by shortening the hours during which
it may be sold. These measures already
are bearing results, though they are car
ried out In the face of bitter opposition.
American interests in Mexico as repre-
sented by the individual American are ex-
banding steadily. The American colony in
the city not only has increased. but there
are more Americans scattered over the
country. Some of the mining enterprises
are undergoing that period when fresh as
SeSSmentS have to be made on the stock
holders. but the mines generally are pay
ing pretty we'll The Americans who have
gone into coffee and other forms Of tropi-
cal agriculture. I am certain from all the
testimony given me. are making marked
Roadway.
General business, was told in some Of
the banks and the big commercial houses.
is dull without being seriously depressed.
Foreign capital Is awaiting the adoption
of Mexico's proposed new financial policy.
Some of the recommendations of the diff
ferent commissions who have studied the
subject favor going Immediately to the
gold basis. but others hold that this is not
practicable. They advise the gradual proc
ess. The situation seems to be that the
method itself is not so important as that a
definite policy be promulgated by the gov
eminent, so that the uncertainty may be
ended. Mr. Limantour the secretary of
the treasury, has managed Mexican
finances SO well that there is universal
confidence he will promulgate a policy
which will be practical one.
CHARLES NJ. PEPPER.