History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 6/Chapter 21

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER XXI.

MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND FISHERIES.

1800-1887.

Effect on Mining of the Revolution — Subsequent Policy of the Government — Effect of Mining on Agriculture — Mine Management and Routine — Mining Districts — Minor Metals — Mints — Development of National Manufactures — Banco de Avío — Patent Laws — Cotton Factories in the Colonial Period — Woollen Industry — Other Manufactures — Silk, Paper, Crockery, and Glass — Tobacco and its Utilization — Fisheries — Food-fish — Pearls — Tortoise Shells — Sponges — Whaling — International, National, and State Exhibitions.

The prospects of mining were full of promise, when, early in the century, a cloud overspread this and other industries,^[1] in the form of the political agitation, which after ten years of warfare brought to an end Spain's domination in Mexico. The first blow for independence was struck, not at the capital, but in the region of Guanajuato, and the revolution demolished in a few years what had occupied nearly three centuries in building up.^[2] From 1814, with the exception of the districts of Catorce, Zacatecas, and Sombrerete, scientific mining was almost wholly suspended. Mining was carried on, however, after a fashion, by men of the lower classes, generally called buscones, gambusinos, or searchers, who to the injury of the mines worked the upper levels or spots abandoned in better times, and sold the metal at low prices to wealthy men, who put it away until better times when they could carry it to the mint.

I have spoken elsewhere of the mining laws enacted by the Spanish crown in 1783 and subsequently.^[3] The government of the regency in 1821, after Mexico became independent, passed on the 8th of February, 1822, a law reducing the taxes on silver and gold, and the coinage dues; quicksilver, both native and foreign, was exempted from imposts, and blasting-powder for mining purposes was to be supplied by the government at cost and charges.^[4] These measures could not at once restore confidence, or bring back the capital which the wholesale emigration of Spaniards had removed from the country. In order to remedy the difficulties, it was decided to abandon the old Spanish policy of excluding foreigners. A law was accordingly passed^[5] repealing the Spanish restrictive laws, and granting to foreigners the privilege of becoming share-holders in mines, for the working of which they furnished the requisite means; but it was not permitted them to file claims either for new or old abandoned mines. No sooner had this law become known in Europe than several associations were formed, especially in England, to take advantage of the privilege thus conceded. But in the majority of cases, from ignorance of the country, the parties exhibited a lack of judgment in their eagerness to possess themselves of mines, which in former years had been profitably worked, regardless of their actual condition at the time of making their contracts.^[6] It was during the most depressed period of the mining industry that Lúcas Alaman^[7] secured the coöperation of English and French capitalists, who formed themselves into the United Mexican Mining Company, having in view, mainly, to renew operations in the Cata mine, in which he was personally interested. It was but natural that. such companies should turn their attention to Guanajuato. Hence the above named, and another association called the Anglo-Mexican, acquired shares in the most prominent mines of that district, particularly in the Valenciana, the draining of which by the latter was begun in 1825.^[8] In September of the following year, the outlay had already reached $672,000, when the task was given up as impracticable. The United Mexican Mining Company, which had renewed work on the Rayas mines, second only to the Valenciana, fared somewhat better. The expenditure of $412,000 for draining was repaid by a good production of ore. But the yield never reached the possible maximum. In fact, at the expiration of the contract in 1841 it was not renewed. The same company had contracts in other mines, whose results were indifferent.^[9]

Unfortunately, the same fickleness so noticeable in former years in the general policy of the government prevailed in regard to revenue from mining — reducing the duties and imposts one day, only to excessively augment them when least expected. The consequences of such instability were the repeated frauds against the treasury by the clandestine exportations of precious metals, and the derangement of the mining business.^[10]

After the promulgation of the constitution of 1857, which did not confer on the general government power to legislate on mining, only two states, Hidalgo and Durango, framed a special mining code. The others merely adopted isolated measures. Oajaca, in 1873, declared free of taxation all capital exclusively invested in mining, on the mines and reduction-works, metals taken out in any form, upon their transit through the interior, or on their exportation, machinery, quicksilver, iron, blasting-powder, dynamite, and everything else for conducting the industry. Men engaged in mining were likewise exempted from military and municipal service. Puebla, between 1880 and 1882, also enacted liberal laws for the promotion of this branch of business. In most of the states, however, it was heavily burdened. The national constitution being amended in December 1883, the general government obtained power to issue a mining code for the whole republic.^[11] It will have been noticed that mines in Mexico are a peculiar species of property belonging to the government, which, without entirely throwing off its domain over it, grants the mines to private persons or corporations desirous of working them. Any intelligent person, by a little industry, and by the observance of certain prescribed rules, may acquire the ownership of a valuable property.

The mining industry has a direct and fruitful influence on agriculture. Miguel Velazquez de Leon, a very competent authority, urgently recommended it to the fostering care of the government. He favored its exemption from taxation, on the ground that its development naturally led to that of agriculture and other industries; arguing, moreover, that gold and silver were the only available articles of exportation of the central mesa, and it was expedient to procure foreign markets for them. A small mill yielding a gross amount of $4,000 provides labor for many men, not only in the works themselves, but in the field, road, etc. It consumes the products of agriculture, and feeds trade and other industries.^[12]

Each mine in Mexico has an administrator or superintendent, in whose charge is the management of the whole business. He has several assistants, who, in their turn, have a number of subordinates.^[13] Payrolls are covered every Saturday, the men receiving a portion of their wages in rations, and the balance in coin.

The ore once sorted is put in bales of 150 pounds each, and carried on mule-back to the hacienda or reduction-works by the arrieros. The sortings at the mines into several sizes are called respectively gavarro or broza, or stones as large as an egg or apple, granzas or tierras de labor, which are chips from blasting, or assorted. Their richness is also taken into account at the assortment, the gavarro or broza being the first and richest; the second follows, and the piedra comun and tierras de labor are the lowest. After the ore has been reduced to powder, it is made into a pasty substance, and then placed in the patio in great heaps of from one to twelve, and even twenty, tons, where it is subjected to the process of amalgamation by the old Medina system. The second step is to concentrate the sulphurets; the third to produce the plata fuego, or fire-silver, in cakes. The ores are worked very closely, 97 to 981/2 per cent of their assay value being extracted, though consuming much time and losing a great deal of quicksilver. Another method in general use is that of smelting. The first and second groups of ores, known respectively as colorados and negros, are amalgamated; the ligas or polvillos, or sulphurets, are smelted. In later times lixiviation or leaching has come into use. The leaching process by means of hyposulphate has not been long practised in Mexico. Many mills in Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Lower California have taken out their barrels and pans, and replaced them with leaching tubs.^[14] The metalliferous line unites two important mineral centres — Guanajuato and Hidalgo — having a mean direction of north-west 45 degrees south-east. Near this line are the most important and best known mining sections in the country — Zacatecas, Fresnillo, Sombrerete, Durango, San Dimas, Guarisamey, Gavilanes, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, and states of Mexico and Oajaca; near it also, on the west, are the mining districts belonging to Sonora and Sinaloa, Bolaños, El Oro, Tlalpujahua, Angangues, Sultepec, Temascaltepec, Zacualpan, and Tasco; and on the east, Batopilas, Catorce, Ramos, Charcas, San Pedro, Guadalcázar, Zimapan, El Chico, Pachuca, and Real del Monte.^[15]

The states of Guerrero, Mexico, and Oajaca have deposits of native gold, respectively in the districts of Tepantitlan, Oro, and San Antonio. There are auriferous placers in several localities of Chihuahua and Sonora, and in Ixtapa, of the state of Mexico. The silver of several districts contains gold. Of such are Guadalupe y Calvo, Guadalupe de los Reyes, and Parral in Chihuahua, twenty-three in Durango, the Tasco in Guerrero; most of the silver mines in Guanajuato have gold, chiefly those of Rayas, Monte de San Nicolás, Sirena, and Nayal; Pachuca and Zimapan in Hidalgo, Etzatlan in Jalisco, four in Mexico, Angangueo and Tlalpujahua in Michoacan, Ixtlan and Peñoles in Oajaca, Tetela del Oro in Puebla, Doctor in Querétaro, San Pedro in San Luis Potosí, seven in Sinaloa, Promontorios and Minas Nuevas in Sonora, and nine in Zacatecas. There is native silver in the districts of Batopilas in Chihuahua, Guanajuato, . Pachuca, and Zacatecas. Argentiferous and platiniferous ores are found in the district of Jacala, or Santa María de Álamos, in Hidalgo.^[16] Most of the gold and silver ore in Mexico is found in veins.

The following is the order of the best mines, by states and districts, from past history: In Guanajuato, the districts of Guanajuato and Villalpando; in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Sombrerete, and Fresnillo; in San Luis Potosí, Catorce, Cerro de San Pedro, and Ramos; in Hidalgo, Real del Monte (Moran, Pachuca), and Zimapan; in Jalisco, Bolaños; in Durango, San Dimas or Guarisamey, Topia, Guanacevi, and Gavilanes; in Chihuahua, Batopilas, Jesus María, Santa Eulalia, Cosihuiriachic, Guadalupe y Calvo, and Parral; in Sonora, Mulatos, Álamos, and Caborca; in Sinaloa, Guadalupe de los Reyes, Jocuistita, Rosario, Copala, and Pánuco; in Michoacan, Tlalpujahua, and El Oro; in Mexico, Temascaltepec, Sultepec, and Zacualpan; and in Guerrero et al., Tascoa and Tehuilotepec.^[17]

The district of Santa Fé de Guanajuato was the richest in Mexico, and had a steady production, seventy-five per cent of it coming from amalgamation and twenty-five per cent from smelting. It is believed that this district has produced from first to last $800,000,000 to $1,000,000,000.^[18]

The district de la Luz some years ago shipped over $200,000 of bullion weekly. Most of the mines are now abandoned. The state of Zacatecas has been the second in rank as a bullion producer. From 1548 to 1832 it yielded $2,120,000 a year, and in the next 35 years an average of $4,000,000 a year. Its wealthiest district bears the same name, whose great mines are the Veta Grande, Quebradilla, and San Bernabé. Its ores have been classified as follows: stephanite or prismatic black silver, argentite, native silver, black silver, dark ruby, chloride of silver, embolite, horn silver, carbonates, argentiferous galena, and tescatete. There is no gold except to the west of Zacatecas. The district of Fresnillo in the Cerro de Proaño produced in 1841 $1,025,113. With the coming of the railway its further success is assured. The district of Sombrerete has a large number of mines, the average yield of whose ore is $300 per ton. The past production of this group is veiled in doubt; but one half of the amount officially stated would be one hundred and fifty million dollars, which is probably correct. An American company is now operating in those mines. The district of Mazapil, it is said, yielded $50,000,000, which is probably true, for the workings and slag-piles even now give $50 per ton. It has been often raided by the Apaches, causing its abandonment for some time. Later it was worked by the New York Company, which sent there a 40-ton water-jacket furnace to reduce the ores. The state of San Luis Potosí was in former times the third bullion producer. Its greatest district was Catorce, yielding from $600,000 to $662,000 a year. In its best years it gave $2,804,000; in 1804, three and a half millions. The Purísima Concepcion, Padre Flores, or Zavala mines, and the Vicentin, have also been rich.^[19]

The state of Sonora is a vast mineral region, and its numerous mining districts are productive. In that of Babicanora, the Cármen mine is said to have produced $25,000,000 from 1820 to 1830, and the Babicanora mine has given $31,000,000. Sinaloa has the districts of Rosario, Concordia, Mazatlan, San Ignacio, Sinaloa, and Fuerte. The Guadalupe de los Reyes mine has produced $85,000,000. Its ore yields from $85 to $115 per ton, using no salt. The Tajo in Rosario has given nearly 200,000 tons, which at $60 makes $12,000,000. It produces 24 tons daily at $125 per ton. The Jocuistita is also quite productive.

The state of Chihuahua possesses many mining districts, the richest being San Pedro Batopilas in the Canton San Andrés del Rio. It is not possible to ascertain what its actual production has been,^[20] whether 100 or 300 million dollars. No district of Mexico has been so celebrated as this for its yield of native silver. It has been worked of late by the Consolidated Batopilas Silver Mining Company, under the energetic management of A. R. Shepherd. He produces about $70,000 per month. The district of Parral has yielded $60,000,000, and is the second richest in the state. The Santa Bárbara is next in wealth. The Santa Eulalia, or Chihuahua el Viejo, produced from 1704 to 1833 $344,000,000, and from 1835 to 1844 $17,109,652; no gold. The Santa Rosa de Cusihuiriachic was worked from 1666 to 1810, when it was abandoned because of the revolution. Its estimated production, smuggling included, has been from 60 to 80 millions. There are several other productive districts. The state of Durango has several famous districts, and others of lesser fame are yet new and untried. The Candelaria mine in the district of San Dimas paid $11,000,000 of fifths royalty on its products. The mine is now scientifically worked.

In Coahuila, the San Juan de Guadalupe, district of Santa Rosa, produces free-smelting ore, which has gone as high as $5,600 per ton. The Santa Gertrúdis and Pabellon have yielded rich native silver ores as high as $1,680 per ton. An American company is working them. There are ten others averaging $274 per ton. In the district near Castaños copper has been mined. There is also a great coal belt, which is thought to extend into Texas, and up into Missouri. Jalisco and Michoacan have likewise been well known for their productive mines. Guerrero has been truthfully called one extensive crust of silver and gold; the renowned Tasco mines are in its territory.^[21] In 1803 Tehuilotepec, Sochipala, Cerrodel Limon, San Estévan, and Cuautla only produced 495,000 ounces of silver annually.

The state of Hidalgo is one of the wealthiest in Mexico for mines. The famous districts of Pachuca, Real del Monte, and Moran are in its territory. The original owner of the Viscaina mine, after spending in 1760 about $2,000,000 on it, took out over $15,000,000 at small cost. For his donations to the king, he was made a count. From 1781 to 1819 the production was $10,000,000. It is asserted that the mine has produced in 300 years $200,000,000. An English company who worked it from 1824 to 1848 lost money. From 1849 to 1865, according to a partial record, there were 552,277 tons of ore taken out of the Rosario, yielding a clear profit of $12,057,490. The states of Mexico, Puebla, and Vera Cruz likewise possess valuable mines. Lower California has several mining districts, the chief being Real de Santa Rita, Mulejé and Triunfo. Aguascalientes possesses mining wealth.^[22] Campeche has none at all. Chiapas has some productive salt mines. The state of Colima is yet undeveloped.^[23]

The country is rich in deposits of other metals; namely, sulphate of silver in the districts of Guanajuato, Pachuca, Zacatecas, and Zacuálpan, in the state of Mexico; light ruby silver, red antimonial ore, in the district of Morelos, of the state of Chihuahua; dark ruby silver in Chihuahua, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas; refractory silver in Guanajuato and Zacatecas; argentiferous galenas in most of the mineral districts of the republic; muriate of silver in Catorce of San Luis Potosí, and Mina Verde of Sombrerete, in the state of Zacatecas; cinnabar of several varieties in Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas; iron in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Hidalgo, Mexico, and Jalisco; pyrites in Guanajuato and Zacatecas; lead in Hidalgo and Aguascalientes; pyromorphite, a variety of phosphate of lead, which by fusion becomes crystallized, in Morelos; carbonate of lead in Hidalgo and Querétaro; sulphurous copper in Aguascalientes; yellow copper in Michoacan, Chihuahua, and Jalisco; native and sulphurous bismuth in Zacatecas; carbonate of bismuth in San Luis Potosí; ochre of bismuth in Querétaro; zinc in the Tasco mines of Morelos; native sulphur in the volcanoes; precious stones, to wit: rubies in Durango; diamonds in Guerrero and in Tonalixco toward the sierra of Zongolica; topaz in the sierra de Canvas, San Luis Potosí; emeralds in Tejupilco, Mexico; garnets in Xalostro, Morelos, and in Chihuahua; fine opals in Querétaro and Hidalgo; common opals in Hidalgo; other stones in several states. Marble in Puebla, Querétaro, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, etc.; Mexican onyx or tecali in Puebla; gypsum in Tamazula, Jalisco; granite in Oajaca, Jalisco, Mexico, and Guerrero; porphyry in Chihuahua, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Puebla, Querétaro, and Zacatecas; and several other kinds of stones in many of the states; saline lands in Lower California, Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Valley of Mexico, Yucatan, and Zacoalco; copperas in Mexico, Hidalgo, and Michoacan. Coal, anthracite in Querétaro and Puebla; bituminous in Chamacuero of Guanajuato; and other varieties in Pueblo and Hidalgo;^[24] petroleum in Puerto Ángel of Oajaca; naphtha in Guadalupe Hidalgo of the federal district.^[25]

The government, with a view of obtaining full as well as reliable information on the hitherto hidden wealth of the country, appointed exploring commissions, and increased their number as far as the condition of the public treasury permitted it. Among the commissions a number were instructed to study the mining branch, two being sent to Michoacan, one to Guerrero, one to the states of Oajaca and Puebla, and one to the Huastecas. The special object of the last two was to survey and make a study of the carboniferous deposits. Some of the commissions rendered their reports between 1878 and 1882.^[26]

The rapid increase of mining products, and the great distance of the mines from the mint at Mexico, rendered it necessary to establish other mints, which at one time reached the number of fifteen.^[27] After this, only a small quantity of the precious metals reached the city of Mexico. The mint and refinery were leased to private persons in 1847 for ten years, and the lease was several times renewed.^[28] From 1804 to 1848 the total yield of gold and silver was $768,000,000, and the production from the latter year to June 30, 1877, $702,000,000,^[29] making $4,470,000,000. By the fourth table of the treasury department showing the coinage of the fiscal year 1877-8, it is seen that the amount of gold coined was $691,998, and of silver $22,084,204, or a total of $22,776,202; and taking one half, one semester's share will be $11,388,100, which deducted from the preceding sum leaves $4,458,611,900 for the production to the end of the fiscal year 1876–7. Adding the products of the seven fiscal years 1877–84, $171,043,661,^[30] we have a sum of $4,629,655,561, to which must be added the copper coined till 1882, $5,438,476, making the grand total $4,635,000,037.^[31]

In December 1881, the coining of nickel money was decreed.^[32] The people refused the coin because it was sold by the government in large amounts at a discount, while it was made legal tender only for a small amount. The question excited much comment by the press and the people in 1883.^[33]

 

The development of national industries early engaged the attention of the government. The minister of state, Lúcas Alaman, being opposed to the importation of foreign manufactures, and to the exportation of gold and silver, desired to see every branch of manufacture fairly started in the country. One of his schemes was the opening of industrial schools. To his influence was due the creation of a Banco de Avío, under government control, and with the capital of one million dollars, to afford pecuniary aid and machinery to manufacturers and agriculturists.^[34] The authors of the plan expected it would at once develop industries, which was not the case,^[35] as neither money, machinery, nor raw material could be procured as cheaply as in Europe, and the Mexican population lacked number, compactness, industry, and intelligence. The government made glowing reports on the progress of manufactures, which was attributed to the aid of the bank, but it all proved fallacious upon the destruction of the bank by its own founders.^[36] The effort made was not, however, entirely fruitless, several companies having been organized, which laid the foundation of manufacturing industry in Mexico.^[37]

Patent laws have been from time to time enacted to promote improvements in methods. Any product or manufacture, or means of producing, previously unknown in the country, became entitled to the benefits of the law. In granting a patent for introduction, preference has been given to the inventor holding a patent obtained from a foreign government.^[38]

The manufacture of cotton goods during the Spanish rule existed to some extent in New Spain, notwithstanding the special favor shown by the government to fabrics of the mother country. There were factories in Querétaro, Tezcuco, Puebla, Tlascala, and Huetzotzingo. The business did not, however, attain great importance. Its progress was slow, and more as a need resulting from foreign wars. Much the larger portion of the goods was not made in regular factories, but by itinerant weavers.^[39] In Indian towns, the inhabitants wove the fabrics they wore, the cost of the raw material being the only money they put into circulation.^[40]

Drawn into the armies were large numbers of weavers, as well as tillers of the soil. After the independence was secured, foreign trade became so much favored that manufacturing interests continued to suffer; indeed, though the government did something to revive them, and some cotton mills sprang into life in Victoria's administration, the industry did not acquire a healthy growth. In 1823 the factories were little better than prisons.^[41] The policy of protection to home industry was initiated in 1828, exempting from taxation all manufactures of the country, and also the raw cotton produced therein, and the twist or yarn made therefrom.^[42] The importation of raw cotton had been forbidden, and in 1836 the same rule was applied to ginned cotton, and in 1837 to cotton twist, the higher numbers of which were to cease coming in March 1838. The next step was to levy a heavy inland tax on foreign fabrics, and finally, the importation of common cotton goods was prohibited. This and other restrictive measures had been clamored for by cotton planters and manufacturers.^[43] Cotton manufacturers, for all occasional checks, went on assuming a healthful tone, and in 1843 there were 62 factories, with 106,718 spindles and 2,609 looms, in operation, making weekly 8,479 pieces of sheeting. The cotton produced being insufficient, leave was granted in May 1844 to import 100,000 quintals. Those efforts to build up the industry^[44] were abandoned in 1848. The government, on the ground that home manufactures could not compete with the foreign, discontinued the prohibitive system, and foreign fabrics were allowed to come in by paying duties. At the end of 1850 there were in operation 55 factories of cloth and twist in Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Mexico, and the federal district, Puebla, Querétaro, and Vera Cruz, besides no less than 10,000 looms scattered throughout the country.^[45] The fabrics were plain, worked, and print, the quality gradually improving. The price had been lowered, so that poor people could be clothed seventy per cent cheaper than prior to 1831.^[46]

After the fall of the dictator Santa Anna, the new rulers were disposed to afford every possible aid to home manufactures.^[47] By the law of August 4, 1857, a tax of 37½ cents a year was set on each spindle, the states being forbidden to tax factories or their products. In 1856 there were bitter complaints, because cotton thread of low numbers and common cloths and textures were allowed to be imported at lower duties than had been intended in 1850. The factories, it was said, were losing money; at any rate, their owners clamored for a return to the prohibitive system,^[48] denying that manufactures had been in a flourishing state since 1856. The statement by the opponents of the protective system, that the cotton factories had reached a point where profit was secured, was in 1879 declared an exaggeration. It was further claimed that a number of men, under the garb of manufacturers, were really smugglers. The real fact was, that from 1852 to 1879, with manta paying only four cents, factories had multiplied, the production had been enlarged, the fabric was much improved, and the price greatly reduced. Consequently, a much larger portion of the people went clad. In the days of protection and prohibition, the manta of Puebla weighed seven pounds; its texture resembled lattice-work; in 1879 it weighed more, and the texture was excellent.^[49]

The figures in the note show the approximate state of cotton manufactures in 1879. The well-known mills scattered throughout the republic were from 68 to 72 in number, producing fully 3,500,000 pieces yearly. All the factories also made cotton thread to the amount of 12 to 15 million pounds annually. There were many other mills whose names were not known. There were three factories in Mexico, three in Puebla, two in Durango, and one more elsewhere, making together 400,000 pieces annually of prints and Mexican calicoes.^[50]

The manufacture of woollen goods during the Spanish rule mainly contributed to the prosperity of several places, such as Querétaro, Acámbaro, San Miguel, Zinapécuaro, and others, where the mills made large quantities of common cloths, blankets, frieze, baize, and mangas, or cloaks. The industry fell into decadence from the same cause that so injuriously affected the cotton business, though not to the same extent, as the government continued to clothe the troops with Mexican woollens.^[51] The number of woollen factories had greatly increased in 1845–6, the texture was improving, and the demand becoming larger. Early in the next decade the production had increased so much that the price of raw material rose considerably, and that of foreign woollen goods went down. In 1860 there were eight factories of cloths, kerseymeres, and carpetings, making the previous year 34,000 pieces, valued at $2,720,000.^[52]

Silk manufacturing in Mexico owes its life to the Manila trade during the colonial period. The industry progressed but slowly. In 1844 the works of Morelia were started; the products were excellent, and happy results were expected. The business became profitable during several years. There were in 1857 21 factories and shops engaged in preparing the material, producing about 100,000 pounds, and employing about 4,000 persons in spinning, dyeing, etc., and 4,000 more made silk, and silk and linen rebozos, many of them of surpassing excellence. The business continued to progress.^[53] In later years the factories of Mexico, Puebla, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Jalisco, etc., were making the best quality of goods, such as are used for ladies' dresses, kerchiefs, and scarfs, preferred to the foreign because of the superiority of the material they were made of.^[54]

A paper factory was successfully established in San Ángel, near Mexico, in 1825, and the next year the government exempted for seven years from excise duty all paper made in the country.^[55] Later two other factories started. The government then, and again in 1853, decreed that only home-made paper should be used in the public offices, and for stamping.^[56] In 1845 there were in the republic six factories of unglazed paper, producing a great deal more than there was a den and for by the newspapers. They then began to make writing-paper, the quality of which was gradually improved, and the price reduced very considerably. In 1860, eight establishments made 1,641,580 reams, valued $6,366,320.^[57] The industry has all along had the fostering care of the government.

Crockery, porcelain, crystal, and glass manufacturing, with government protection, gradually developed,^[58] attaining a commendable degree of perfection. In 1857 the number of crockery and glass factories in the country were five, employing 326 persons at the weekly wages of $910.^[59] In 1860 there were five factories of fine and three of common crockery, producing to the aggregate value of nearly one and a half million dollars, and four crystal and glass establishments producing to the value of $147,696.^[60] Earthen-ware of the finest quality has been made in New Spain from very early times.

There are no means of arriving at a correct estimate of the quantity of tobacco produced, nor of that actually manufactured in the country. Since 1765 the cultivation of the weed had been subject to the strictest supervision, the manufacture and sale being a government monopoly. But persons who had suitable land far away from that tyrannical inspection, more especially after the administration became unbalanced by the wars of independence, planted tobacco on a large scale in 1814 and 1815, and carried on their illicit business so boldly that the viceroy in 1816 ordered them to be vigorously prosecuted.^[61] After independence, the monopoly practically ceased for a while, but it was restored by the new government.^[62] In 1825 the factoría at Orizaba gathered about 20,450 bales, for which the planters received $1,151,684. In 1833 the estanco was again done away with, and the staple was exempted from primicias and tithes. This arrangement gave great impulse to the tobacco industry. But in 1837 the old system was restored, and the whole business of manufacture and sale was farmed out to a company; all the staple grown in the departments of Mexico, Puebla, Oajaca, and Vera Cruz was brought under it. Yucatan was exempted, but could send no tobacco to any other part of Mexico, except to deliver to the contractors.^[63] Vera Cruz emancipated herself from that thraldom in 1848 and 1849, but was subjected to it again by Santa Anna in 1854. After his downfall, a decree of January 21, 1856, suppressed the estanco, which has not been revived since. The importation of foreign manufactured tobacco, but not in the raw state, subject to duty was permitted. Under the free system the business revived, and it is found that in 1860 twenty factories produced the equivalent to a weight of 41,258,700 pounds valued at $16,503,480. In 1869 a large extent of country on the coast north and south of Vera Cruz was planted in tobacco, that of Tlapacoyam being of fine quality.^[64]

 

The fishing industry, though of sufficient importance to engage the statistician's attention, has been hitherto much neglected. The value of food-fishes caught on both the north and south coasts was, according to an official report of 1810, set down at $150,000. In 1811 the catch on the Yucatan coast for exportation, chiefly to Vera Cruz, was of about 100,000 pounds, which declined, however, prior to 1845. At various times laws have been enacted to encourage the business. In 1861 the culture of fish was declared free throughout the republic, and in 1872 a regulation was issued, making it free for all citizens of the republic to engage in fishing, and also in diving for pearls, and generally to take part in all marine business in Mexican waters. Mexican vessels occupied in the business were exempted from all taxation. Foreign bottoms, upon payment of tonnage dues, were to be granted temporary licenses of six months to fish in Mexican waters, and to establish drying and salting houses on shore. The crew of any one vessel never to exceed twenty-five. Other clauses in the law were for the preservation of order and the prevention of smuggling.^[65]

The different species of fish in Mexican waters, both fresh and salt, are very numerous. The industry was, on the sea, pursued mostly by men enrolled in the marine list; in the rivers, lakes, and lagoons, by Indians. It was estimated about 1860 that the business produced yearly two and three quarters million dollars, more or less, only for food-fishes. The shrimps taken in Acaponeta, Escuinapa, El Rosario, and Camaronera of Vera Cruz in October, November, and December, some 8,000 loads, are worth in the interior $480,000.

The pearl fisheries have been from the earliest times of the Spanish occupation a source of profit to the government and the people dwelling on the Pacific coasts of Mexico. In 1811 the Spanish government permitted the colonists to engage in diving for pearls. In the first quarter of this century an English lieutenant named Hardy made an unsuccessful attempt to fish pearl-oysters with diving-bells.

Pearls as well as tortoise shells are obtained at several places near Manzanillo; the coast of Petatlan, in Guerrero, is famous for its many banks of pearl-oysters, and its abundance of tortoise-shell turtle. Every year numbers of the inhabitants engage in diving for them, at some risk of life, as everywhere on this coast, and in the gulf of California, from sharks; but they are skilful at killing them. Pearl-oysters have been plentiful also near the Piedra de Zipegua, a reef of rocks north of Tehuantepec.^[66] The richest field, however, seems to be near La Paz, in Lower California, for details on which I will refer to the volume of this work that specially treats of that territory. It is understood that down to 1860 the pearl fisheries in Lower California and elsewhere, together with coral, oysters, clams, sponges, shells of all kinds, produced annually about $150,000. In 1874 the Mexican government permitted foreigners to participate in the trade, but under such onerous conditions that the native divers could have but little to fear from foreign competition.

The western coast, especially that portion lying between the gulf, the Three Marías Islands, and Cape San Lúcas, teamed with cachalots or spermaceti whales, which became, as early as the past century, a profitable business for English and American whalers, the Mexicans never taking any part in it. A decree was issued by the Spanish córtes, April 16, 1811, granting to the colonists permission to engage in all kinds of fishery on the coast.^[67]

Among the means employed by the general and local governments for the encouragement of national industry has been that of public exhibitions, of which several were held at different dates and localities. Some of those fairs were of a general national character, comprising works of art, natural and agricultural products, including domestic animals, and manufactures; others were limited to the industries of a single state. A number of the national fairs took place in the city of Mexico, and one in Aguascalientes. Of the former, special mention is made of those of 1849, 1850, 1853, 1854, 1856, and 1857. The one of the same class in Aguascalientes was on the 26th of April, 1853, the first general exhibition in the country, after those held in the nation's capital.^[68] The fair of 1850 was quite a satisfactory one in its results. That of 1853, called for since September 1852, did not meet the aspirations of the board having charge of it. Nevertheless, a large number of objects were exhibited.^[69]

The exhibition of 1854 was the best thus far, due no doubt to the efficacious efforts of the state governors and agents of the general government. From one called for 1856 much had been expected; but the political troubles made the transportation of objects difficult, and the exhibition was pretty much limited to products of the federal district and state of Mexico.^[70] Another invitation was issued for 1857, and the fair proved a very poor one, owing, doubtless, to the disturbed condition of the country. Still another was to take place in November 1859, but I can find no evidence that it took place. Indeed, Mexico was then in the throes of civil war.^[71] It is doubtful if any attempt was made in that direction during the succeeding years of war. In June 1865 the imperial government then flourishing at the capital decreed the establishment of a permanent board of exhibitions, protective of industries,^[72] which probably became a dead letter at the fall of the imperial régime.

Among the state fairs of a limited character, I find mention of those held in Toluca, 1851-2, 1870-1; Aguascalientes, 1851, 1852, 1856, 1857, and 1871; Zacatecas, 1853; Yucatan, 1865, at which Carlota, Maximilian's wife, was present. Puebla in 1857 decreed that an annual exhibition of the natural and industrial products of the state should be held at her capital.^[73]

Busto in 1880 gives an account in detail of the exhibitions held at Mexico in 1875, at Mérida, Yucatan, in 1879, and at Puebla in 1880. Mexico has been invited to take part in the several world's exhibitions, but she did so only at those held in Paris in 1855, and in Philadelphia in 1876,^[74] at both of which she was quite respectably represented by her natural and industrial products, etc. At the Paris fair she had 107 exhibitors, among whom were awarded four medals of first class, eight of the second, and seven honorable mentions. There were, besides, awarded one gold, four silver, and three bronze medals to the members of the Mexican commission.^[75] At Philadelphia the result could hardly have been more satisfactory, for there were 73 diplomas and 47 medals awarded to the Mexican exhibitors, besides an extraordinary diploma to the Mexican government. Among the awards were 15 for objects coming within the nomenclature of manufactures.^[76] The republic has likewise been creditably represented at the exhibitions held at Saint Louis and Chicago, in the United States, in 1879–80. A project to hold an international fair at the city of Mexico in 1880 met with much favor from both the federal and state governments, as well as from congress; but after some consideration it was abandoned. Since that time the Mexican republic took a prominent part at the international exhibition of New Orleans in 1884-5, her agricultural and industrial products, as well as her specimens of the fine arts, being awarded due meed of praise, and numerous medals, and other marks of recognition.^[77]

 

 

1. Detailed information on the subject to the end of the 18th century may be found in Hist. Mex., iii. 578-9, this series.
2. The mining population dispersed to participate in the events of the day, or fled from their homes, the general insecurity rendering further pursuit of their industry unproductive and often dangerous. Most of the buildings, machinery, and reduction-works were destroyed. This naturally envolved the disappearance of the rescatadores or purchasers and their capital. Facilities for obtaining supplies were frequently cut off. In evidence of Guanajuato's loss, we have that the production which had been 617,474 marks of silver and 1,842 marks of gold in 1808 had fallen to 73,983 marks of silver and 298 of gold in 1821. Ward's Mex., ii. 44; Mex., Mem. Min. Hac., 1870, 08; 1872, 68; Del Mar's Precious Metals, 147.
3. Under these laws was created the Colegio de Mineros. The plan was much improved in 1853 by the creation of the Escuela Práctica de Minas y Metalurgia, which lost its special character in 1867 on being converted into an Escuela de Ingenieros.
4. For details, see Ward's Mex., ii. 59-61; Alaman, Hist. Méj, v. 437-43.
5. Oct. 7, 1823. Mex., Col., Órd. y Dec., ii. 192; Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., i. 681; Eng. transl. in Halleck's Min. Laws, 403-5.
6. Some well-written remarks on the subject appeared in the Brit. Quart. Rev., 1827, 91 et seq., xxx. 167-70.
7. He had exerted himself as a Mexican deputy to the Spanish córtes, on behalf of protection to mining. In after years he rendered valuable services to manufactures in his country.
8. The undertaking was a laborious and costly one. The principal shaft was the largest and deepest of all Mexican mines. Duport, Mét. Préc., 215; Evins' Sister Rep., 197 et seq. The Valenciana's profits in 1808-9 were still $200,000; in 1823 they had been reduced to $4,000.
9. The English companies, having shares in mines of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Sombrerete, and El Oro, had invested since 1826 about $5,000,000, of which they had recovered in 1829 about $3,000,000. Alaman says that other companies lost all their capital. A German company was more fortunate. Burkart, Reisen, i. 100-2, 114-15; Niles' Reg., xxiii. 27, 228; Mex., Diario Ofic., Feb. 26, 1879. The immense losses sustained by the share-holders were mainly caused by the difficulties and expenses of transportation. Dahlgren's Hist. Mines Mex., 20.
10. It is not easy to ascertain how much revenue was derived from the mines in the present century. During the ten years from 1835 to 1844 it aggregated $1,988,899.
11. It was so done Nov. 22, 1884. Under this law, which went into operation on January 1, 1885, are exempted, for fifty years from its date, from all direct taxation, mines of coal in all its varieties, iron, and quicksilver, as well as the products thereof. The transit through the interior of gold and silver, in bullion or coined, as also that of other metals and of all mining products, is likewise made free from every kind of impost. Quicksilver continues free from import dues, and from all direct taxes. Mines, not of coal, iron, or quicksilver, are required to pay a single impost on the value of the products without deducting expenses, which are not at any time to exceed 2 per cent. This tax is levied for the use of the state within which the property is situated, or for that of the federal treasury if it should be within a federal territory, or in that of Lower Cal. This tax is to be fixed every year by the respective legislature, or by the federal congress, as the case may be. This tax is aside from the coinage duty. Mills and reduction-works pay no higher rates of taxation than other industrial establishments. The federal government receives 25 per cent of the taxes collected by the state under this law. Mex., Diario Ofic., Nov. 26, 1984. Full information on mining laws to Dec. 1883 is given in Ramirez, Riqueza Min. Mex., 723-47. Santiago Ramirez, the author of Riqueza Minera de Mexico, an 8vo of 768 pages, printed in Mexico, is a mining engineer; and for the preparation of this exhaustive treatise, had before him all the data in possession of the Mexican government, and of the Sociedad Minera. He also consulted the most noted authorities upon the subject.
12. It brings from abroad machinery and quicksilver; from the coasts, salt; from the sorting department, sulphate of copper; from the mints, coin; from the forest, wool and coal; from the soil, food for man and beast; and employs men in the transportation of its products as well as of the articles of consumption.
13. There are a head miner and his under-miners, called soto-mineros, or pobladores; the rayador keeps the tally; the velador is the watchman. I:1 the patio, or amalgamation floor, there is an overseer who superintends the ore-sorters. The head miner chooses his barreteros or hole-drillers, tanateros or packers of ore in zurrones or tanates, limpiadores or quebradores, or pepenadores, who are the ore-sorters. If the mine is wet, he hires an achichinque, or man to pack water out; and at times an ademador or timber-man. Miners generally do their own blacksmithing and sharpening of tools.
14. Mines have 10, 15, or 20 stamps. One has as many as 40. The rock is crushed dry, and passed through screens of from 20 to 30 meshes to the inch. The ore is then roasted in reverberatory furnaces with salt; after which it is placed in large tanks or tubs holding 8 to 10 tons, and a stream of clear water is turned on until the ore is covered, and kept running five or six hours. The water is then run off, and a cold solution of hyposulphate of soda is passed through the ore in the same manner, until it is seen that the solution carries no more silver. The precipitation of the silver is effected by adding a solution of quicksilver and sulphur, made by boiling lime and sulphur. This is done in the tanks by the ail of steam. After the precipitation, and the running off of the precipitating liquid, the silver remains in the forın of a sulphide. It is then put into canvas filters, and afterwards dried, when it is roasted in reverberatory furnaces to carry off the sulphur, and then melted into bars. When the operation is successfully performed, the bullion is 900 to 1,000 fine. The solution is pumped back into the tanks to be used again. See Historic Mines of Mexico, by Charles B. Dahlgren, machinist and mining engineer, a 4° of 220 pages, with engravings and maps, issued at New York in 1883. This book is what it purports to be, a review of the mines worked in Mexico during the last three centuries, compiled from the best sources, and based upon a personal experience of several years as a superintendent of mines in Mexico. Dahlgren has been enabled to bring into an available form a large mass of useful data. The maps show the mining districts and their relation with the lines of railway
15. The prolongation of this line northward runs to the E. of Guaimas through numerous and little known groups. Ramirez, Riqueza Min. Méx., 63.
16. The number of silver districts are as follows: in Chihuahua 15; Durango 33; Guanajuato 13, including the renowned Valenciana; Guerrero 4; Hidalgo 2; Jalisco 10; Mexico 7; Michoacan 2; Morelos, the San Juan de Dios; Nuevo Leon, the Minas Viejas of Villaldama; Oajaca 4; Puebla, the Tetela de Oro; Querétaro, the Doctor; San Luis Potosí 6; Sinaloa 26, some of which have proved immensely productive; Sonora 10; and Zacatecas 16, all very rich. These districts yielded all the gold and silver coined throughout Mexico from July 1, 1978, to June 30, 1879, namely, 547,324,905 kilograms of silver, and 1,029,519 kilograms of gold. Busto, Estadíst. Rep. Mex., ii. 2d pt 7.
17. About 16 of them have American machinery at work, either for hoisting, pumping, or reduction, or for all. The advent of railroads may entirely invert or change this order. Dahlgren's Hist. Mines Mex., 28.
18. The Rayas mine, next in importance to the Valenciana, is said to have yielded in 44 years about 87 million dollars. Rochi, Estudio Estadíst. Min. Guan., 1884, p. 18.
19. In the Mineral de Guadalcázar, ruined by the events of 1810 to 1821, about 103 claims were filed to 1878, most of them with the main view of holding the lands freely. The Concepcion was destroyed by a heavy rain.
20. The records suffered by fire, revolution, and time.
21. Tasco, Pachuca, Tlalpujahua, and Zultepec were the four mines first worked by the Spaniards.
22. The Asientos district was famous in 1714. Gamboa, Comentarios sobre las leyes de min. de N. Esp. The mines were worked by the Jesuits 1712-67.
23. Extensive information may be found in Dahlgren's Hist. Mines. Mex., 20-220; Busto, Estadist Rep. Mex., ii. 2d pt, 28-364, and 5th pt, 371–83, 42-7, 31; Ramirez, Riqueza Minera Mex., 295-618; El Minero Mex., no. ii. 135.
24. No knowledge existed of coal-beds in Mexican till 1854, when the first petition for a grant was presented to the government. Méx., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1884, i. 626 et seg.
25. Busto, Estadíst. Rep. Mex., ii. 2d pt, 6-11. Further information in Ramirez, Riqueza Min. Mex., 147-92; Diaz, Biog., MS., 474-6; Frisbie's Reminisc., MS., 39; Oaj., Mem., 1858, 22-3; 1861, 64; Escobedo, Mem., 14-15, and docs. 20-2; Perez, Dicc. Geog., ii. 224-57, 302–6; Del Mar's Precious Metals, 151–2; Wyllie's Mex. Rept Finances, 10-12; Mex., Diario Ofic., Feb. 15 to Nov. 20, 1875, passim; Jan. 28, March 13, May 7, Sept. 13, 1876; Caballero, Alm. Hist., 145-55; Chimalpopoca, Informe Min. Comanja, 1-40; Gonzalez, Hist. Est. Aguascal., 3-4, 9, 471-86; Mex., Anales Fomento, 1880, ii. 331-404, 633-87; 1881, v. 293–609; Robertson's Handbook, 7-8, 55, 61-80; Mex., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1882, i. 447-637. The largest producers of pure silver in the fiscal year 1878-9 were the states of Zacatecas, 117.417,861 kilogr.; Guanajuato, 105.311,621 kilogr.; Hidalgo, 95.501,983 kilogr.; San Luis Potosí, 67.838,861 kilogr.; Jalisco, 34.222,216 kilogr.; Sonora, 32.917.049 kilogr.; Durango, 28.534,697 kilogr.; and Chihuahua, 27.925,958 kilogr. Sinaloa, Mexico, Michoacan, Oajaca, Guerrero, and Querétaro ranged from 11.705,015 to 230.72, The different systems employed yielded the following results: patio or amalgamation, 306.284,317 kilogr.; tonel, 24.503,843 kilogr.; lixiviation, 16.107,771 kilogr.; and smelting, 142.224,667 kilogr.
26. The commission in charge of Santiago Ramirez, intrusted with the exploration of Oajaca and Puebla, reported the results obtained in the districts of Matamoros, Acatlan, and Chiautla, in Puebla. It was also incidentally directed to explore the carboniferous deposits of the state of Tlascala, those of Tlaquiltenango in Morelos, Huetamo in Michoacan, Actopan in Vera Cruz, and to make a study of the coal of Tlaxiaco in Oajaca. The reports were published in the Anales de la Secretaría de Fomento. The two commissions despatched to Michoacan, besides procuring the discovery and examination of the coal-beds, were to study the metal deposits. Manuel Urquiza, the chief of one of them, made a report full of scientific and industrial data, which the governinent ordered published in the 7th vol. of the aforementioned Anales. Mex., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1884, i. 451-637.
27. There were eleven in 1987; namely, at Álamos, Culiacan, Chihuahua, Durango, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Hermosillo, Mexico, Oajaca, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas. Those of Guadalajara, Durango, Chihuahua, and Oajaca were administered for government account. The other seven were leased to private parties. That of Hermosillo was established in 1867, and that of Álamos in 1868. Ramirez, Riqueza Min. de Mex., 47-53; Mex., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1884, i. 638.
28. In 1866 it was still leased. The mint had been transferred to another building, where the coinage was begin on the 1st of July, 1850. The amount coined there from that date to Dec. 31, 1866, was $64,325,999. Orozco y Berra, Mem. Plano Crud. Mex., 168-71. According to the Balanzas del Comercio, published by the Real Tribunal del Consulado at Vera Cruz for the four years preceding 1810, there were exported $70,862,203, in which sum were represented gold and silver, manufactured and coined, to the value of $54,103,787, all else amounting to $16,758,416. The same document showed that in those four years the mint coined $94,210,201, that is to say, those $16,758,416 multiplied by 5.65, which makes it evident that the gold and silver coined represented six times the amount of all other branches of export. It was proved in the report read before that tribunal in January 24, 1817, that the annual products of all New Spain were $227,911,939, of which the mines yielued $192,192,000, or five sixths of the totality. Mem., Sobre la utilidad é in flujo de la minería en el reino. From Humboldt's official data we gather that the Spanish American colonies produced from 1492 to 1803 gold and silver valued at 4,035,156,000 pesos, registered, and the further sum of 816,000,000 pesos, not registered, making a total of 4,851,156,000 pesos; in which sum the mines of New Spain figured for 2,027,952,000 pesos; and the further sum of 972,048,000 pesos may be added for value not included in those computations, making a grand total of 3,000 millions. It is not known how much gold and silver had been obtained before the Spanish conquest. On one occasion Montezuma gathered the value of 7,000,000 pesos to be sent to Spain.
29. Denson's Mem., in Busto, Estadist. Rep. Mex., ii. pt 2, 12; Informe de Comisio. gen de tierras, in Ib. The coinage system was reorganized by decree of Nov. 27, 1867. Under this law the decimal system was established. The monetary unit was declared to be as heretofore, the silver peso or dollar, of the weight of 27 grams and 73 miligrams, and value of 100 centavos. It was to be coined in pieces of one dollar, and 50, 25, and 10 and 5 centavos. The gold coin was to be in pieces of 20 pesos with the weight of 33 grams, and 841 miligrams. There are also pieces of 10, 5, 21/2, and 1 dollar. The copper cent has the weight of 8 grams. Mex., Recop. Ley., i. 425-9.
30. Averaging $24,434,808 a year.
31. The figures for the last years are smaller than for the actual products, because the exportation of bullion and ore lowers the amount coined. Ramirez, Riqueza Min. Mex., 717-22; Mex. Financier, Jan. 31, 1885; Mex., Diario Ofic., May 21, 1883; Busto, Estadist. Rep. Mex., ii. 2d pt, 12; Rept Director Mint, 1880, 133–5; 1882, 27-8, 88–9, 101; Mex., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1882, 638–50; 1884, lxii.-iii.; Mills' Mex., June 1, 1884, 35; Garcia Cubas' Rep. of Mex., 25-7; Mex., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1884, i. 644-9.
32. It is impossible for the government and its officers to conduct business honestly. If one official does not steal, there are twenty who do — just as in all other republics.
33. The evil getting worse, the people took matters into their own hands, for which procedure they had the respect of all fair-minded men.
34. Such was the main object; but the aid might also be given to other branches. The bank's regulation was approved by government Oct. 5, 1835. Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., ii. 293-4; Arrillaga, Recop., 1836 (July to Dec.), 83, 243, 392–4; Banco de Avío, Inf. y Cuentas, Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 1832, 17-26, and 3-24.
35. Some coarse woollen and cotton fabrics were the only productions, and the prospect was that even these would soon cease to be made. Mora, Revol. Méx., i. 40-1.
36. The bank had loaned in specie and in imported machinery $1,176,234, to develop several industries. Mex., Mem. Min. Int., 1838, 16-17, 33-72; Suarez y Navarro, Hist. Mex., 326. The funds were in many instances misapplied, and in two or three years the bank's capital had disappeared. Since March 1883 the govt had used much of it. Richthofen, Mejico, 278-9.
37. La Constancia, an appropriate name, was one set up in Puebla by E. de Antuñano and others. Mex., Mem. Min. Ext., 1835, 20-3; Alaman, Mem. Agric. é Ind., 1943, 19; D'Orbigny, Voy. Duex Ameriques, 413; Anduñano, Doc. Hist. Industrial, 1-31.
38. Arrillaga, Recop., 1832-3, 87-9; Méx., Legis. Mex., 1832, 193–6; Galvan, Ordenanzas, 48–50. The number of patents issued from July 16, 1853, to June 30, 1857, was 61; they were for the respective terms of 5, 6, 10, and 15 years. Silíceo, Mem. Fomento, 104-11, and annex lvi. 51-73; Diario Debates, 9th Cong., iii. 314-16; Riva Palacio, Mem. Fom., 1877, 526. Nearly 220 petitions for patents were presented from Dec. 1, 1877, to Dec. 31, 1882. Mex., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1884, 437-42; Mex., Financier, Feb. 9, 1884.
39. The rebozo maker of Puebla, for instance, travelled about, and might be found with his spinning-wheel and hand-loom in different places, even at the distance of 300 miles; his stock consisting of about 20 lbs. of raw cotton, worth three pesos or less, to make one piece of manta, 32 varas long by vara wide, out of which he supported himself and his family.
40. According to statistics of 1817, the value of all manufactures in Mexico was computed at 61,011,818 pesos. Quirós, Mem. de Estatuto, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, i. 18.
41. Many of the workmen were criminals sentenced to labor in the obrajes, as the factories were called, and were rigorously treated. Others, by borrowing money from the owners, pledged themselves and their labor till it was reimbursed, which in most instances never was, and the workman became a peon for life. Bullock's Sic Months in Mex., 222-5; Tablas Estadist., MS., 43.
42. Arrillaga, Recop., 1828, 115; 1838, 277-8.
43. They were looked upon as necessary to save their interests. Mex., Expos. Cultiv. Algodon, 1841, 8-9; Bustamante, Gab. Mex., i. 13; Id., Voz de la Patria, MS., xiii. 38-9.
44. It had not been invariably nurtured tenderly. Some administrations, for the sake of getting a few millions, had disregarded it.
45. The value of factories, looms, etc., was $29,000,000, supporting 42,900 families, equivalent to 214,500 persons.
46. There were already made seven varas of manta for each one of the 7½ million inhabitants. Had there been a demand, three times that quantity could have been made with the machinery on hand. Observ. Fab. y Agric., 17-18.
47. Santa Anna had in 1853 levied a tax of 37½ cents on every spindle, promising it should be the only burden; but the political troubles forced several state governments to lay on more taxes, which increased the general depression, and this, added to the difficulty of procuring raw material, compelled many factories to close.
48. According to Lerdo de Tejada, the annual value of manufactures was estimated at 90 to 100 million dollars. Butterfield's U. S. and Mex., 63.
49. Diario Debates, 9th Cong., ï. 852-3.
50. Manta 3,500,000 pieces, value $10,000,000, capital invested $38,000,000; prints 500,000 pieces, value $2,500,000, capital invested $3,000,000; white goods 200,000 pieces, value $1,250,000, capital invested $2,000,000; total pieces 42,000,000, total value $13,750,000, total capital $43,000,000. Thread 8,000,000 lbs., value $2,500,000, capital $8,000,000; wick 1,000,000 lbs., value $250,000, capital $500,000; total value $2,750,000, total capital $8,500,000. rebozos 2,000,000, value $2,000,000, capital $2,500,000. Total value of Mexican manufactures in market $18,500,000. Value of property and capital invested $54,009,003. Diario Debates, 9th Cong., ii. 854-6. Statistical and other information on the cotton business for the years 1842-6, 1854, 1860, 1865, 1870, and 1870 May be found in Mex., Anales Min. Fom., 717-18; Id., Mem. Fom., 1865, 438-40; 1868, annex no. 22; Evans' Sister Rep., 03-5; Garcia Cubas, Rep. Mex., 28-30; Mayer's Mex. Aztec, ii. 112-4; Id., Mex, as it Was, etc., 312-6; Mex., Diario Ofic., June 18, 1871; Busto, Estad. Rep. Mex., 1880, table no. 2 et al.; Mex., Mex. Financier, June 21, 1884, 182-3; Zaremba's Merch., 38-140, pass.; Conkling's Guide, 165–6, 224, 261-3, 269.
51. Alaman, Men. Agric. é Ind., 28.
52. The fabrics were of good quality, but could not compete in European markets. Hernandez, Estadíst. Mex., 137. According to an account of 1868, the wool annually used by the large mills reached nearly three million pounds, while the smaller ones and hand-looms increased the demand perhaps another million. There were in 1879 about ten factories making yearly: Cassimere 1,500,000 varas, value $2,000,000, capital invested $3,500,000; barragan 2,000,000 varas, value $800,000, capital $1,000,000; carpeting 500,000 varas, value $500,000, capital $800,000; serapes 2,000,000 varas, value $1,000,000, capital $1,300,000; thread $200,000, capital $300,000; total value in market $4,500,000, total capital invested $6,500,000. It was stated by Deputy Pombo in congress, May 26, 1879, that the woollen progress was actually declining, and would soon come to an end. 'Y se puede asegurar que esta industria está tocando a su fin.' Diario Debates, 9th Cong., ii. 829. See also Busto, Estadíst. Rep. Mex., 1880, table no. 2.
53. In 1860, 186,967 doz. rebozos were made at an average of $10 apiece, and upwards of 45,000 lbs. of twist at $7 each. Hernandez, Estadist. Mex., 137-8.
54. Garcia Cubas' Rep. of Mex. in 1876, 28-30.
55. Mex., Mem. Min. Ester., 1825; Arrillaga, Recop., 1838, 62; Guia de Hac., v. 107-8.
56. Mex., Mem. Agric. é Ind., 22-32; Mex., Legis. Mej. (1853, Aug.-Dec.), 407-8; Mex., Mem. sobre Agric., etc., 1845, app. 17-19, and annexes 1-3, 6.
57. Mex., Mem. Agric. é Ind., 1846, 57-62; Hernandez, Estad. Mej., 137.
58. Abbot Cimeros of Guadalupe established the first factory about 1811. Cancelada, Ruina N. Esp., 32.
59. Mex., Mem. Agric. é Ind., 1843, 34-5; Mex., Mem. Coloniz. é Ind., 1851, annex 4; Arrillaga, Recop., 1836, 289; Silíceo, Mem. Fomento, annex lv., no. 18, 3d table; Mosaico Mex., iv. 245; Semanario Ind. Mex., no. 2.
60. Hernandez, Estad. Mej., 137.
61. Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, ii. 407; La Abispa de Chilpancingo, 1821, 15.
62. Mex., Col. Ley., Ord. y Dec., ii. 38; Gaz. Imp. Mex., ii. 732-3.
63. Hunt's Merchants' Mag., ii. 182; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, 408, 416. A computation in 1836 had set the average yearly consumption at about 85,988 bales of 1,753 lbs. each, which in the form of cigars and cigarettes were valued at a little over 14 million dollars, which should yield to the government some six millions of revenue. Prieto, Vic. Manif., 10-11. But it seems that in 1845, under the estanco system, it did not prove quite satisfactory.
64. Two Cubans had charge of the cultivation; 300,000 young plants had been placed in the ground at Tlapacoyam. Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, ii. 420. Several other branches of manufactures deserve notice. The following list shows the production and value of each in 1869. In later years their importance must have been greatly augmented. Iron-works 10, making 126,489,000 lbs., $7,589,376; matches 7, 28,935,514 gross boxes, $1,310,271; pianos 2, 146 instruments, $13,809; soap 32, 131,000 loads, $2,692,030; fine hats 6, 2,658,443 hats, $3,316,886; gold and silver lace 7, 4,612 pieces, $192,480; cannon foundries 3, 73 pieces, 223,400; caps 2, 12,800,000 caps, $12, 803; gunpowder 3, 2,825,lbs., $84,729; chocolate 13, 1,248,000 lbs., $780,000. Number of regular factories of all kinds in the country 207, producing $58,000,003. In this amount cotton and woollen goods made in regular factories count for only $10,103. We have already seen that in 1879 their value was $23,000,030. Shops of all kinds, at which goods were made, including hemp, flax, and maguey fabrics, 23,715, among them 85 printing-offices, some of them doing fine work. Furniture, carriages, gold, and silver jewelry of the finest kind, were also made. The computed value of goods placed in the list of manufactures proper, $53,000,000; of mechanical and liberal arts, $150,000,000; grand total, 208,000,000. Number of persons employed, 204,955 men, 22,114 women, 7,145 children, making a total of 234,105. Hernandez, Estad. Mej., 197–50. The following authorities also give information on the subject of manufactures: Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 448; Guerra, Rev. Nva Esp., ii. 541; Mendibil, Resúmen Hist., 103; Córtes, Col. Déc., ii. 51-2; Notic. Gen., May 29, 1329; Mex., Col. Dec. y Órd., 193-4; Arrillaga, Recop., 1830, 393; 1839, 158-9; Mex., Col. Leyes, 1929-33, 121; Mex., Col. Ley. y Dec., 1844-6, 30-8, 420-1; Mex., Legis. Méj, 1851, 105-6; 1855, 152-3; Mex., Col. Ley. Órd., 1850-1, i. 255-6; 1953, Sept.-Dec., v. 4-5, 134; 1555, Jan.-Aug., viii, 123-9, 305; Blazquez, Mem. Maguey, 1-32.
65. Noticioso, Gen. (1817, Nov. 19); Córtes, Col. Dec., i. 128; Mex., Col. Leyes, 1829-30, 786-7; Mex., Col. Ley. . . . Órd., Jan.-Aug. 1855, viii. 79; Archivo Mex., Col. Ley., v. 398–9; Dublan and Lozano, Legis. Mex., ix. 81; Sin., Boletin Ofic., June 11, 1972, 285–6.
66. Ward's Mex., ii. 593-4; Hermandez, Estad. Mex., 115–71; Soc. Mec. Geog., Boletin, i. 317; ix. 181-2; Brocklehurst's Mex., 42; Findlay's Directory, i. 261; Pfeiffer's Second Journey, 329.
67. Mex., Col. Dec. y Ord., 7-8; Mex., Mem. Sec. Est., 48–9.
68. Doc. Rel. la Espos., in Juicio de las Expos., no. 4, 1-39; no. 5, 1-12; El Español (1853, Mar. 26); El Universal (1852, Oct. 14); Gonzalez, Hist. Est. Aguascal., 198; 2a Expos., in Id., no. 9, 3–40; Discurso, Oct. 7, 1852, in Id., no. 9., 1-8.
69. Archivo, Mex. Actas, i. 392. The only first-class premium awarded was for a pair of revolvers made in Angangueo. Siliceo, Mem. Fomento, 112, and annex lvi. 79; Expos. Gen. Ind. Acta y Docs., in Juicio de las Expos., no. 8, 3-50.
70. Gold medals were awarded to iron from Santa Fé, and to crockery from the Niño Perdido factory. Silver medals to an iron chest, morocco, and Mexican silk. Cotton and woollen fabrics and carriages merely received honorable mention. Id., 113, and annex lvi. 151. Mex., Legis. Mej. (1856, Jan. to June), 517-8; La Nacion, Oct. 27, 1856; El Estandarte Nac., Nov. 16, 1856.
71. El Estandarte Nac. (1857, Mar. 17); Diario de Avisos, Aug. 3, 1859.
72. El Diario del Imp., July 4, 1865; Col. Ley. Imp., 65-7; El Eco Nac., Oct. 16, 1557.
73. Expos., in Juicio de las Expos., no. 7, 26, 44-5; El Univers, Nov. 5, 1850; Oct. 15, 1852; Mex., Diario Ofic. Aug. 5, 1870; Feb. 8, May 18, 1871; Gonzalez, Hist. Est. Aguascal., 194; El Español, Feb. 21, 1852; El Pensamiento, May 7, 1856; Diario de Avisos, Dec. 11, 1856; El Eco Nac., May 12, 1857; El Diario del Imp., Jan. 26, 1866; El Estandarte Nac., Sept. 14, 1857.
74. She was prevented from sharing in the London exhibition of 1851 by the cholera epidemic; and in the second of the same city and others, by war. Mex., Mem. Coloniz., etc., 28-30; Archivo Mex., Col. Leyes, vi. 310-11.
75. Escandon, La Industria, etc., 230-2; Rep. Mex. Catal. des Produites, in Juicio de las Excpos., no. 10, 1-54; Silíceo, Mem. Fomento, etc., 113, and annex lvi. 81-110.
76. Rive Palacio, Mem. Fomento, 1877, 531, 535-6; Anales Min. Fomento, 1877, Feb., i. 207-8; Busto, Estadíst, Rep. Mex., i. 31 pt 11.
77. Further information on Mexican manufactures may be found in Mancera, Informe, 1-145; Mex., Diario Ofic, Feb. 26, June 30, Dec. 19, 1876; Jan. 24, Nov. 19, 1878; Jan. 18, 24, 25, Apr. 8, May 14, 16, June 2, July 22, Aug. 16, Nov. 17, 19, 1879; Jan. 6, 1880; Aug. 10, Sept. 23, 1882; Anderson's Mex. St. P., 87-90; Voz de Mex., Feb. 1, 6, 1872; Feb. 21, Nov. 20. 1878; Jan. 23, 1879; Jan. 8, March 8, May 5, Oct. 31, Nov. 16, 1882; Mex., Mem. Sec. Guerra y Marina, 1877-8, 28-33; Mex., Anales Fomento, 1881, iv. 3-273; Valadez, Apuntes Estadíst., 1-138; Bárcena, Estudís pres. á la Sec. de Fomento, 1-415; Zac, Expos. Nac, 1-13; Caballero, Album Queretano, 32-75.