El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-12

, income is one of Limantour's strong
| points He can sit down and figure out
i what the country's revenue will be for
a year ahead with an accuracy that is
! almost uncanny. He brings the appro-
/ priations well within the lowest pos
| sible sum to which the revenues may
! shrink, through causes foreseen or I'M
| foreseen- Always the deficit is held at
| bay, even though the man who sits on
the lid Of the treasury happens to be
| caught with an abnormaIly diminishing
revenue, receding below the sum of the
estimated disbursements. Here is an
| example Last year Mexico began to
| feel sorely the widespread depression in
/ business, which began in 1907. Her in
come dropped off until 1T was nearly
S13.OO0,o00 less than 1T had been in the
previous fiscal year.
The estimates of revenue were S103,-
100000, but the actual collections were
only S9S,775. 600. or about s4,600,00 less
Was there deficit? There was not
! The surplus bobbed up serenely, as per
custom. When Limantour saw the
storm coming, he fell back upon that
comfortable nestegg of surplusses &C
cumulated in the fat years that had
gone before. BY transferring certain
disbursements from the, budget to the
reserve. IS was allowable under the
law he brought the year to close with
surplus OF s5.S0S, 1000, which was the
difference between the disbursements of
Ss3,0o0.o0o and the total revenues of
S99.000,000.
Diaz Nations Debt.
OF the dark days Of Mexico's financial
chaos, president Diaz not long ago gave
a vivid description when he said:
When in December, 1884, 1 again, by
the will OF the people, took charge Of
the supreme ma gistracy OF the republic,
my administration found itself
confronted with O debt to the banks of
81, 900. with considerable liabilities
to the railroad companies for Subyen-
lions and with notes TO private persons,
all secured by collateral, for $4,000 600.
The pay of the civil employees of the
government was at that time three
months in arrears, and the public ,
revenue was tied up, the receipts of the
federal district being in their entirety
pledged to the National Bank.
While as to the proceeds of the various
custom houses not more than 1858 per-
cent Of the total was available, even in
those customs houses the receipts of
which were less encumbered.
Diaz speedily compelled the taking Of
steps to handle tho country's foreign
debt in a manner more satisfactory to /
Mexico's creditors. Between 1884 and |
1890 she managed to borrow enough /
money to provide for her obligations, |
and to take over the control of the Te- |
huantepec railroad. The federaIiza ton |
OF this line, by the way, IS conceded !
to be one of the best Investments the |
country ever made. In another article /
something of the history and the i'm |
portance Of the Tehuantepec line, and |
of it's future. will be told
The silver Crisis.
\ Svpdicorec foolx final
toll OF Mexico's necessities In 1893, when
the silver crisis deprecated the value |
OF her mining products appallingly- |
She was forced to borrow s15,0o0,000 to |
make. ends meet. The underwriters got !
the issue of percent bonds at IS ga.
Since then she has been able largely to
dictate her own terms in borrowing 1
operations. The confidence of finan-
ciers in her credit and the respect with
which she is treated when she goes
into the money market can proceed, /
manifestly, only from one cause-inSis-
tence of the administration that internal
peace must be preserved. and the con-
fidence of the world that Diaz could /
enforce it.
1t Ia interesting to compare the per-
centages of the disbursements for gov
ernmental purposes for last year and /.
for a few years back, to show how |
Mexico has increased her expenditures
for education and peaceful purposes !
and reduced those for war. The figures
are from the financial statement fur
nished congress by the minister of fl !
nance in December last:
1904 1909
Public debt . 1885 27.S2 |
War 1888 1850 !
Communications and public
works ........... 1141 14.1s
Public instruction .. Ala 6.%
Public health, police and
charities ............ 2.45 1882
Mexico Not Extravagant.
Mexico has exhibited noteworthy
sanity is refusing to plunge into the
tempting extravagances of huge army
and navy establishments She does not I
need them, and so her budgets~have not |
been laden down with immense appro-
priationS for their increase and up
keep. She Is not keen on Dreadnaughts
and is quite satisfied TO let other ma
tons rule the wave. She spent last
year on her army, which has utility
principally as a national police force,
only S13,970,000, while her navy cost