A COUNTRY POST-OFFICE.
"While we are considering public matters," wrote Frank, "let us look at the Postal Department. There are about 1200 post-offices in the republic, or one for every 8750 inhabitants; in the United States we have a post-office for every 1200 inhabitants, or seven times as many as Mexico in proportion to the population. The number of pieces of mail matter handled in a year in Mexico is an average of two to each inhabitant, while in the United States the average is fifty-one. The Mexican mails are increasing in importance every year, and will continue to do so as the people become better educated. The extension of the railways causes many new post-offices to be established, and also many telegraph offices. There are more than 20,000 miles of telegraph and 500 telegraph offices; 14,000 miles of telegraph belong to the Government, and the remaining portion is the property of private companies, railways, and individuals.
"If you want an example of progress look at the railways. Mexico had 379 miles of iron roads in 1879, while in 1887 it had 3962 miles open for traffic, including 92 miles of city and suburban lines. The length of railway completed and in operation at the end of 1888 was something more than 4600. Competent authorities say that by the end of 1889 the length of railways in operation in Mexico will exceed 5000 miles. A great many concessions for railways have been granted by the Government for lines that are not likely to be constructed in the life of the present generation. At one time there seemed to be a mania for railway concessions, and the holder of a permission to build a line over an impracticable route, between two insignificant points, believed that he would be able to sell it for a fortune to an English or American corporation.
"Newspapers and other publications have increased in the last few years, but not as rapidly as have the railways. The number is constantly changing, new publications being started and old ones discontinued; and sometimes the starting and discontinuance are very close together, as is the case in other parts of the world. Altogether there are about 300 newspapers in the republic, and of this number fully one-third are published in the capital. Mexico City has as many newspapers as New York or Chicago in proportion to its population, but their circulation is not by any means as large; Mexican publishers are not obliged to stretch their consciences by making affidavits every morning as to the hundreds of thousands of copies they printed on the previous day, or the hogsheads of ink they used for each edition. But though they may not print and sell as many copies as the New York dailies, it is certain that the Mexican papers are steadily gaining in circulation and influence, and the future is full of promise for them.
COMPOSITOR FOR "THE TWO REPUBLICS."
"The capital city has a daily paper called The Two Republics, which is printed in English; it is specially interesting to strangers, as it has a list of the things and places they wish to see, and contains time-tables of the railways. Sometimes it has special despatches from the United States and other parts of the outside world, but as it has no competitor and its circulation could not be greatly increased by a large expenditure, it wisely studies economy to an extent that would not succeed in New York. There's a weekly paper called The Mexican Financier, printed in English and Spanish; it circulates all over the world, and is an excellent authority for everything relating to railways, banking, and commercial matters in general. The Financier discusses important questions relating to the affairs of the Government, attacks abuses of every kind, and suggests ways in which the prosperity of the country and the welfare of the people may be improved.
"The French population is large enough to have a daily paper in its own language, and the Germans have a weekly one. There are twelve or fifteen dailies in Spanish, and they represent all shades of politics. Generally it pays better for a newspaper to be on the side of the Government than against it; but some of the opposition papers are profitable, and edited with much ability. The style of opposition writing here is to attack very savagely, and sometimes the editors find themselves in prison on account of the bitterness of their editorials and their sweeping charges against public men and measures. Some of the editorials we have read since we came here surpass anything in New York or Chicago papers in the heat of political campaigns, and that is saying a great deal. The editor-in-chief of El Monitor Republicano served a sentence of seven months in the Penitentiary for a too free use of his pen. He was charged with exciting sedition; he was ably defended, and his case was carried to the highest court in the country, which affirmed the decree of the lower courts.