El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-19
RAILROADS DEVELOP MEXICO
By Robert Fl. Murray

was finished in 1876. Prior to its con
| StructiOn internal conditions were no
| such as to attempt even the most op
| timistic and venturesome railroad build
er or financier. Mexican affairs po-
litically and socially, were in such {
state as to make it appear that The
future OF the country. quoting a cele-
brated Irish bull, existed principally in
| the past. But with the assistance of 6
| liberal subsidy and certain exemptions
and privileges, the Mexican line be-
came the pioneer of the railroad sys-
tenn of Mexico. 1t always has been a
| profitable property.
Study of the history of railroad de-
! velopment in Mexico and the United
| States shows one advantage in favor
| of Mexico. The population was here
! before the railroads. In the develop
| ment of our western roads, the lines
penetrated desolate areas, into which
| the population had later to be attract
| ed by the roads. 1t was natural that
the first roads from the United States
into Mexico should traverse the broad
| central plateau that forms the roof Of
! the country and the way from Mexico
| City to the United States border. Thus
1 was formed the backbone of what is
| the Mexican railroad system of today.
| Construction along this route was easy
/ and cheap for the greater part of the
! distance. The difficulties came with the
| running of the lines at right angles
from the north and south lines, to
| reach the coast cities But this has
been accomplished, so that today direct
connections exist between the capital
and every port of consequence on the
Atlantic and the Pacific.
Many Separate Roads.
Figures prepared by Charles r. Hud-
son, vice president of the merger lines,
owned by the Mexican government.
show that there are approximately so
separate railways in the country, with
an approximate mileage of 1920.
There is almost one mile of railway to
each 1905 of population. The roads rep
resent an investment of between $780,
600. 600 and $500, 00O,O00 gold. The ap-
proximate mileage built by various ma
tions, but not necessarily with capital
from those nations,N is: American, $500
miles, or Sc percent; Mexican, 2100
miles, or IA percent; English and 9TH
ers, 1920 miles, or 20 percent.
From merely encouraging the build
ing OF railroads. Mexico, two years ago,
advanced to the commanding position
Of obtaining ownership, or control of
nearly onehalf of the approximate mile
age of the republic. This step was one
OF the inspirational strokes of Liman-
tour, the minister of finance. Also il
was in pursuance of a firmly seated
conviction on the part of the president
that II was desirable, economical and
patriotic that the rights of the people
in the railways be conserved so far as
possible. and that a defence be pro-
vided against the imposition of excess
sive rates through consolidation Of the
lines under private ownership. The de-
afno ~ 70
any possible railway monopoly. was
fastened by a more or less defined ru-
NOR that the Hartman interests were
planning to take advantage of the
financial difficulties of the Mexican
Central to gObble it up.
Purposes Of Merger.
The purposes Of the merger, as def
nitely set forth by LimaQtour in a re-
port to congress, were:
To safeguard the country from the
consequences that would ensue from the
impending absorption of its chief rouTss
of communication by one or more Of
the transportation systems of the
United States.
To improve Transports ton conditions
in Mexico from the points of view of
both the location of the lines and the
convenience and cheapness of carriage.
To facilitate the financial reorgan-
IdtlOil Oh the companies lnNOlNeO, which
lacked both pecuniary resources and
credit necessary for securing them, and
were to a certain extent incapacitated
for extending their systems further,
and hence from contributing to the de-
velopment of the natural wealth of the
country.
Evolved After Long Study.
Manifestly the idea lay dormant in
the brains of Diaz and Limantour for
several years before the coup was exc
cuted which gate the government sway
in the country. AS far back as 1902
the government had invested $4,000, 900
in the Interoceanic railway, a COMPETE
tor Of the Mexican railway between
Mexico City and Veracruz. In the fol-
lowing years the control of the stock of
the National railroad. one of the two
main roads connecting the capital with
the United States. was obtained by the
investment of $4,000, 600 1t had also
purchased control of the International
running to Ciudad Porfirio
Diaz. on the northern frontier, to Du-
range.
From this nucleus grew the CONSOLE
dation. BY exchanging the securities
which it already held for those of the
Mexican Central, extending from Ell
Paso to Mexico City, and creating q
large amount of common stock of the
merger company, which it took over.
the government found itself in possess
sion of full voting power and control
of the railway situation. The amazing
feature of the whole proceeding is that
the governments Interest in the CANT
tai stock of the merger lines was ac-
quired without expanding a peso of ac-
tual cash or Issuing certificates of in
debtedness, other than the obligations |
in guaranteeing the in |
terest on the general mortgage bonds.
The Merged Roads.
In the merger lines, the cornora te |
title of which is the National Railways |
Of Mexico, are included the Mexican |
Central, the National Railroad of Mex- |
leo, the Hidalgo & Northeastern rail- |
way the Mexican International and the |
with total mileage of
692S.
The government also owns. but has
not included in the merger. the Tehuan-
tepec National railroad. which is i'm |
from the consideration of the
United States, because of it's rivalry
with the Panama canal, and the Vera,
cruz & Isthmus railroad extendins
e-o,, CordOha on tho linz - -,