The army consists (1904) of infantry, 15,661; cavalry, 7,002; artillery, 1,722; other services, 3,314; total, 27,702, inclusive of officers. The total fighting strength, including reserves, is stated to be 120,500 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, and 6,000 artillery. Every Mexican capable of carrying arms is liable for military service from his twentieth to his fiftieth year. There is a fleet of 2 despatch vessels (launched 1875) and 2 unarmoured gunvessels (launched 1874), each of 425 tons and 425 horse-power, and severally armed with a 4-ton muzzle-loading gun, and 4 small breech-loaders. A steel training cruiser, the Zaragoza (1,200 tons), was built at Havre in 1891; two gunboats, the Tampico and the Vera Cruz, were launched in September, 1902, at Port Elizabeth, N.J. The fleet is manned by 198 officers and 965 men.

Production and Industry.

Mexico has been estimated to contain 479 square leagues of forest, 18,134 square leagues of mountain-land, and 4,822 square leagues of uncultivated land. The climate and soil are fitted for very varied produce, but, as regards crops usually grown in cold countries, agriculture is in Mexico in a very primitive condition. The public lands are disposed of in accordance with the laws of July 20, 1863, and March 26, 1894. They are surveyed and demarcated by public companies which receive one-third of the area surveyed, the remainder being offered by the government to private purchasers or colonizing companies. In the 5 years 1898-1902, 556 titles to lands were issued embracing an area of 1,231,595 hectares, valued at 1,308,509 dollars. There are 32 colonies, or agricultural settlements, of which 9 with 2,187 colonists have been established by the Government, and 20 with 3,723 colonists by companies or persons authorised by the Government. The Government is stated to have advanced (in 1903) 50,000 dollars on 25 years' credit towards the purchase of lands to be colonised by 200 Boers within 3 years, these colonists to be exempt from military service and taxation. Danish and other colonies are being promoted similarly.

The chief agricultural products in 1902 were :—

Large numbers of cattle, sheep and other animals are reared in Mexico. On June 30, 1902, according to official statistics, there were in Mexico 5,142,457 head of cattle, 859,217 horses, 334,435 mules, 287,991 asses, 3,424,430 sheep, 4,206,011 goats, and 616,139 pigs, the whole being valued at 120,523,158 dollars, or about 12,052,3167.

Mexico is rich in minerals, gold, silver, platinum, lead, iron, copper, quicksilver, tin, cobalt, antimony, sulphur, coal, petroleum, being either worked or known to exist. Of 952 productive mines in 1902, 114 were in the State of Sonora, where the output of ores reached the value of 41,144,070 dollars; 62 in Chihuahua the output being valued at 13,617,315 dollars; 107 in Durango with an output valued at 10,724,012 dollars. Mining is carried on in 24 of the 30 States and Territories, nearly all the mines yielding silver either alone or in combination with other ores. The total value of the output of ore is given as 103,732,149 dollars ; the number of persons employed was 85,333 (including 556 women and 4,625 children).

The quantities and values of the metallurgical products in 1902 were as follows:

:

The value of the gold output (at 675 416 dollars per kilogramme) and of the silver output (at 40·915 dollars per kilogramme) in 5 years were:

There are three mints and eight Federal assay offices in Mexico, and every producer is free to have his bullion coined, the mints receiving 4.62 per cent. for gold, and 4.41 per cent. for silver. Mining operations, whether for gold and silver, or other metals, as lead, copper, tin, zinc, are carried on under the provisions of the mining law, which came into force July 1, 1892. Important metallurgical works are carried on at San Luis Potosi, Monterey, Durango and Aguascalientes.

In 1902 there were in Mexico 1,973 distilleries producing 6,863,756 gallons

of spirit annually; 155 cotton factories with 35,947 looms, 1,150, 608 spindles, and 70 stamping machines for printing calicoes, the consumption of raw cotton having been 27,628,366 klios., and the production 1,879,329 kilos. of yarn and 10,428,530 pieces of cloth. There were in the same year 701 tobacco factories which turned out 371,791,006 packets of cigarettes, 75,467,644 cheroots, 62,900, 722 cigars, 22 packets of snuff, and 25,456 kilogrammes of tobacco for pipes.

Commerce.

The following table shows the total imports (in gold dollars) and exports (in silver dollars) and the proportion of precious metals and other produce in the exports of Mexico during the last five years :

The imports in 1903-04 consisted chiefly of mineral substances valued at 22,487,475 dollars gold; vegetable substances, 13,787,996; machinery, 10,622,476; textiles, 9,920,268; animal substances, 5,695,938; alcoholic liquors, 3,393,022; chemicals and drugs, 3,158,203. In 1903-04 the chief exports were as follows (in dollars silver) :

The trade of Mexico, including precious metals, is chiefly with the following countries :

The treaty of Commerce and Navigation of 1888 provides for "the most favoured nation treatment between the United Kingdom and Mexico.

The subjoined table shows the value of the trade between Mexico and the United Kingdom in each of the last five years, according to the Board of Trade returns :

Imports into U.K. from Mexico

Exports of British

511,160 472,184 263,506 305,206 737,709 produce to Mexico 2,017,540 1,998,263 1,550,568 2,170,945 1,840,466

The principal articles of import from Mexico into the United Kingdom in the year 1903 were mahogany, of the value of 50,3701.; logwood, 28,7437.; copper, regulus, &c., 414, 1007.; silver ore, 93,4937.; coffee, 4,2167.; oilseed cake, 23,5917. The chief exports from Great Britain to Mexico were : cottons, of the value of 532,2467. ; linens, 38,0117.; iron, wrought and unwrought, 340,5797.; machinery, 179,6027.; woollens, 93,6047.; coal, 168,1157.; chemicals, 105, 6831.

The imports of merchandise into the United States from Mexico, and the exports of United States products to Mexico in years ending June 30 were (in U.S. dollars) :

:

Imports into U.S.
Exports to Mexico

dollars dollars dollars dollars dollars 28,646,053 28,851,635 40,382,596 41,254,542 43,627,155 34,974,961 36,475,350 39,873,606 42,227,786 45,900,748

The chief imports and exports into and from the United States in 1902-03

The mercantile marine of Mexico in 1901 comprised 24 steamers of 7,957 tons, and 48 sailing vessels of 8,761 tons. The shipping also includes many small vessels engaged in the coasting trade. In 1902-3 in the foreign trade there entered 1,499 vessels of 2,716,794 tons.

In 1903 there were 12,070 miles of railway open, 9,400 miles being

lines of Federal concession, and 2,670 conceded by States. Of the total length, 5,890 had a gauge of 4 ft. 8 in., and the remainder a gauge of 3 ft. or less.

The total length of telegraph lines in 1903 was 45,397 English miles, of which 31,930 miles belonged to the Federal Government, 3,545 miles to the States, 2,448 to companies, and 7,474 to the railways. There were 437 Federal offices. Messages, 3,260,229 on Federal lines. The telephone had a network of 25,250 miles.

In 1902 there were 2,207 post-offices. The post, inland and international, carried in 1901-02 156,076,028 letters, postcards and packets. The receipts were 11,973,863 dollars, expenditure 14,474,814 dollars.

Money and Credit.

There are 3 mints in the Republic. Most of the silver exported is shipped in the shape of dollars, which find their way chiefly to China and the smaller communities in Indo-China and the Eastern Archipelago.

In 1903, with a view to monetary reform, a monetary census was taken with the following general results :

1 of the silver, the value of 2,971,811 dollars was in fractional coin. The following table shows the nominal value of the coinage of Mexican

mints for five years :

The coinage of bronze instead of copper was begun in December, 1899. From 1822 to June 30, 1903, the Mexican mints coined gold to the nominal value of 60,681,419 dollars; silver to the nominal value of 1,414,113,624.

On December 31, 1902, the foreign investments in Mexican banking mining, agricultural, mercantile and industrial undertakings amounted to 12,760,1207.; and in Mexican railways to 80,115,3007. These investments were most largely from the United States.