El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-31
By FREDERIC }. aASKIN.

ture activities of the northern revolu-
tionists seem to be laid out along this
line since il extends from the terri
tori where the revolutionists now are.
the capital which tley expect to take,
and or to Guaymas, their ultimate
In the building Of the railroads OF
the country Mexico has been extremely
liberal with subsidies to those who
would undertake the work These
subsidies. have ranged from $4,000 TO
$4,000 a mile, and in return therefor
SO wears the road should become the
property of the government under an
agreed comp ensdtion. 1t IS certain
that without such subsidies, some OF
the important roads of the republic
never would have been built for the
day when they could be expected TO
return a profit on their whole COST
was so far distant as not to appeal 10
any investor. The traffic at best IS
rather light, the cities are rev anu
far between. and government aid was
absolutely necessary 1t is said that
the Mexican government has spent
over $4,000, 900 in aiding N the con-
struction of railroads ana port works
1t is probable, since the construction
of the Pacific outlet at ManzanillJ and
AMI the- Tehuantepec har5ors, that this
estimate IS far tCO low
What the ultimate outcome Of the
revolution is going to be no one can
forecast ard until that is decided no
one can safely predict what the rail-
road situation of the future is going
TO be Certain it is that the National
lines have Oeen heavily hit, and that
theic day OF suffering does not seem
10 h last.
The naturalization Of the railways
OF Mexico prCtably la been one OF
the things responsible for the success
OF the Mdde-o revolution and for the
prosperity of the Orozco counter revO-
luton. 1t was early decided that
wherever a Mexican could be used TO
as good advantage as an American
the Americans job should be given
him. Gradually the Mexicans learned
the mysteries Of railroad operation
and thousands of them became rail-
road men. They were rather more
wide awake than the average
Mexican laboring class, and soon be-
gan to think for themselves and TO
pass their doubts along to their in
different brethren. The awakening
made the masses ready for anything
that promised relief to them and con-
sequently ready for Intervention
Puts End to Construction
Until peace is again established and
on a firm footing. there will be little
more railroad building done in Mexico
While some mileage has been 0ullt
since the revolution began, and lit
tie is now under construction. 1t IS
dertaken before. AS it is Mexico, next
to the United States. has more rail-
road mileage than any other principal
country in the new world in proper
ton to area, and prior 10 the Madero
revolution they were all prosperous
The railroads of Mexico not only
have suffered from the direct effects
Of the revolution, but from the indi-
rect effects as well There has been
q vast falling off in the buying power
of the people. and a consequent re-
du-tion in the volume of traffic The
slowing up Of the mining operations
of the country has reduced the amount
of business, while the crop shortages
have written their story upon the bill
of fading records of the Mexican rail-
roads There are some who are hop
ing that the Revolution will soon be
a thing Of the past, and who believe
that its end will be the signal for the
beginning OF an era Of unprecedented
prosperity. There are others who feel
that it will take Mexico many year
to rally from the evil effects Of the
warfare that has been carried on for
two years already, and for which they
see no early end However that may
be il still remains that the govern
ment has suffered very heavily
through its stock ownership Of the
principal railways Of the country and
OrozcC has not yet finished his task