Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/489

MEXICO 471 The lack of good roads, in a country whose topographical structure deprives it of navigable rivers, greatly retards its material develop- ment and prosperity. Large sums were ap- propriated in 1873 for new highways and for repairs on such as already exist. A network of telegraph wires, 4,345 m. in length in 1874, embraced all the states but Chihuahua, Sonora, and Chiapas, and 655 m. more were in process of construction. The central government owns 1,575 m. of the lines, and state governments 605 m. There are lotteries under the direc- tion of the government, and paying 10 per cent, of the proceeds into the national trea- sury. Mexico has a federal government, based upon the constitution of 1857, and strongly resembling that of the United States. The executive power is vested in a president elect- ed by universal suffrage for four years, hav- ing a salary of $30,000, and aided in the ad- ministration by a council or cabinet consist- ing of the ministers of the interior (goberna- ciori), foreign affairs, justice, public worship and public instruction, public works (fomento), finance, and war. These ministers are appoint- ed by the president. The chief justice of the supreme court unites with his judicial functions those of vice president of the republic. The legislative power resides in a congress, consist- ing of a lower house, the members of which are elected by universal suffrage for two years, each state being represented in the proportion of one member for every 80,000 inhabitants ; and a senate with two members for each state, elected by a plurality of votes in the congress of their respective states, and who must have completed 30 years of age. The congress is by law required to sit from Jan. 1 to April 15 in each year ; and a consejo de gobierno or govern- ment council holds sessions during the recess of congress. The predominant religion is the Roman Catholic ; but all other sects are toler- ated, by virtue of a law promulgated in 1873. The ecclesiastical hierarchy consists of three archbishops, of Mexico, Guadalajara, and Mi- choacan ; and ten bishops, of Puebla, Nuevo Leon, Oajaca, Durango, Yucatan, Chiapas, Lower California, Sonora, San Luis Potosi, and Vera Cruz. The revenue is mainly derived from customs, as will be seen by the following table for the years 1871-'2 and 1872-'3 : EXPENDITURES. 1871-'2. 1872-'3. Legislative $630,195 82 $964912 32 Executive . . . 28088 70 41 965 28 ' Supreme court 41 754 37 68 905 98 Circuit courts 27,942 10 39848 68 District " . 105443 32 185 549 30 Ministry of foreign rela- tions 110810 49 187 675 93 Ministry of the interior . . " of justice 1,859,220 67 557 105 12 1,823,429 77 778 878 80 " of finance 1,968947 01 2899581 48 " of war and navy. " of public works- Public debt 7,624,282 82 1,719,418 76 275188 27 7,427,891 60 1,243,628 71 432 894 16 Balance from preceding year. 218248 87 254969 73 Reserve fund 79 600 80 1 136 394 13 Provisional branches Sundries 2,450,029 81 1 054 888 88 8,648,176 20 909 647 42 Totals $18,246714 81 $20,939,363 89 REVENUE. 1871-'2. 1872-'3. Customs receipts $9,265,699 68 1,192,796 78 488,016 45 2,217,274 60 895.261 65 259,431 58 78,080 86 10.235 79 474.819 10 617,445 81 47,694 87 $9,076,709 74 1,741,622 91 471,228 75 1.734.894 54 505,438 88 159,484 13 65,864 11 7,078 68 265,440 22 284,586 27 22,078 27 Divers contri- ) VaA buttons }- A- f- Customs [district. Nationalized property . . . Mint Public instruction fund. . . Carriage tax Post office.. Sundries .... Arrears Totals $15,046,756 67 $14,338,926 50 The expenditures were as follows : There is no official report of the national debt. The loans contracted by the imperial govern- ment are in their entirety repudiated by the present government. The army comprises 22,387 men, viz. : 15,407 foot, 5,140 horse, 1,463 artillery, and 377 coast guards and inva- lids. The estimated total expenditure for the army department in 1872-'3 was $10,252,522 32, which would include an extraordinary ap- propriation of $2,628,239 50. Public instruc- tion is in a comparatively prosperous condi- tion ; the number of schools is steadily in- creasing, through the liberal appropriations of the central and the various state governments for the development of the system, and the cooperation of private individuals. The fol- lowing institutes in the city of Mexico are sup- ported by the central government: an ad- vanced school for girls, preparatory school, and schools of law, medicine, agriculture, engineer- ing, fine arts, commerce, and arts and trades ; besides which there were in 1873 in the whole federal district 338 schools of all grades, 103 being for females, and the total attendance be- ing 22,407, of whom 8,773 are females. Among these schools were 12 under the jurisdiction of the Lancasterian company, 6 under that of the benevolent society, the schools of the found- ling hospital and other charitable institutions, private schools to the number of 100, and three for adults, with 248 pupils, 148 of whom were females. In the other states there were 3,532 public schools, of which 3,498 were male primary and 29 male grammar schools ; the total attendance at all of them was 165,- 864, of whom 19,594 were females. The num- ber of public schools for adults was 23, with 935 male and 76 female pupils ; and that of the literary institutes 15, with 2,498 students. The history of Mexico may properly be dis- tinguished into ancient and modern ; and the latter is subdivided into two periods, the colo- nial and that of independence. Notwithstand- ing the numerous theories advanced concern- ing the primitive inhabitants of the country, all is still wrapped in profound obscurity. Tra- dition and the existing remnants of ancient structures point to a more remote and perhaps