The old-fashioned Don, accustomed to ox-carts, wooden ploughs, and a horde of men ready to serve him, no doubt views with dismay the changes being wrought by steam and electricity. The younger generation has been educated abroad, or in the States, and rather welcomes the innovations. The spirit of revolution and political unrest that prevailed for the first sixty years of the republic has lessened, even if it has not entirely passed away. Education and immigration have worked wonders in the country; and, above all, the establishment of a government that for almost a third of a century commanded obedience at home and respect abroad is responsible for the mutation in Mexico. It was an absolute republic and under a strong controlling hand. It was the family government applied to the state, for it was very paternal in its rule.
PRIMITIVE TRANSPORTATION
Mexico is a human country and is not without its faults. The greatest of these are, however, the result of conditions for which the present generation of nation-builders are not responsible. A transformation can not be wrought in a decade, nor in a generation. And yet the real accomplishments of the past twenty-five years in Mexico are marvellous. Americans who have lived there during that time wax eloquent in describing the great change for the better. Whereas formerly people hesitated to invest money for fear of political changes, investments in that country are now looked upon as safe, and Mexican securities are given a fixed value on the bourses of the world.
Modern luxuries and conveniences are being introduced everywhere. The people are simply installing in a hurry the things that other countries have been acquiring for the half of a century. Every city is bestirring herself, and electric light plants, modern sewerage systems and water works are being constructed as rapidly as things can move in this land of procrastination. Old and crude methods of power are being replaced by up-to-date machinery in mines and manufactures. Electric railways are replacing the mule tram lines, and the merry hum of the trolley is fast succeeding the bray of the long-eared motor just mentioned. Mexico lagged behind so long that she has had quite a distance to go, and it will be a long while before she can entirely catch up with the head of the procession. Material wealth is increasing. Better wages are paid, and the surplus is being expended for more and better goods. The wants of the great bulk of the people are so few, that it must be a long time before there will be a great change in their method of living; but their children are being educated, and that in itself works wonders in their uplifting.
For more than twenty years the finances of the government have shown a surplus. What a contrast to all the years of the republic before that time. In 1876 the total revenue of the government was but $19,000,000 silver. For the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1910, this had increased to $53,164,242 United States gold. From a yearly deficit a surplus has been evolved which annually amounts to several million dollars. The total cash in the treasury at the date of the above report amounted to $37,042,857 gold. This statement shows a healthy condition of affairs. The government now finds willing buyers for its bonds, and all its obligations have been met promptly for a number of years.
Finance Minister Limantour, who held that position for many years, proved himself to be a Napoleon of finance, and his reputation extended to every financial centre in the world. Establishing the gold standard was a great achievement. Just a few years ago Mexican silver varied from $2.05 to $2.40 for a gold dollar, and all business was unsettled as a result. Now the government has established a rate of exchange of two silver dollars for one of gold, and all this was done without any friction or disturbance. It is to be hoped that the new administration will maintain the same high standard of financial integrity that has been handed down by its immediate predecessor.
The foreign trade of Mexico runs into big figures. The total extra-territorial trade of the republic for the year ending June 30th, 1910, amounted to $227,456,025 in United States gold. Of this amount $130,023,135 represented exports and $97,432,890, imports. Of the exports $78,260,037 were of mineral products, while vegetable products were less than half that amount. An analysis of the imports shows by far the largest items were included under manufactured articles, such as machinery, textiles, chemical products, etc. Arms and explosives imported exceeded a million and a half dollars in value, thus showing that the government and people were even then preparing for the struggle to follow. By far the largest proportion of exports and imports was with the United States. Imports from the United States amounted to the tidy sum of $56,421,551, an increase of twelve million dollars over the preceding year, and the exports to the United States were $98,432,859, an increase of almost an equal amount. The United Kingdom is the nearest competitor in the foreign trade with our neighbouring republic. While the imports from the United States showed an increase of twenty-four per cent. over the preceding year, the increase from the United Kingdom and Germany was only twelve and eighteen per cent. respectively. Imports from the mother country, Spain, were less than three per cent. of the whole.
In the matter of trade, as is shown by the trade statistics, the United States is easily the predominant factor. The proximity of the country has probably been the cause of this, as it has led Americans to investigate the natural resources and invest money in railroads, mines, public works and many other enterprises. The same influence can be seen in the banking interests. There are a number of very strong banks in Mexico, of which the Banco Nacional, or National Bank of Mexico, is the most influential. This bank was established in 1881, at a time when the financial condition of the country was anything but prosperous, and its growth has been continuous and at times almost phenomenal. This bank and one other are the only institutions that have the privilege of issuing bank notes in the Federal District, although some banks in other parts of the country have the same privilege. The Bank of London and Mexico, originally a British concern, but now owned by French capital, ranks next in importance, although it is very closely followed by the United States Banking Company, an American enterprise with a number of branches throughout the republic. There are many other banks, some of them under the banking laws of the republic, and others private enterprises, which gives Mexico very good facilities for the transaction of all kinds of banking and commercial business. In 1893 there were only eight banks in the entire republic, but now there are more than sixty. They have a circulation of nearly $100,000,000, and a capital in excess of that sum. The American influence, and the banks controlled by Americans, have aided greatly in the development of business between the two countries, and it is the writer’s belief that similar establishments throughout the rest of Latin America would be one of the greatest aids to the extension of American influence and commerce that could be devised.