No. 87.] No. 457. Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Mexico, December 31, 1873. (Received January 14, 1874.) SIR: The troubles in the State of Coahuila, between the governor and the legislature, continue, there having occurred during the past month further conflicts between the armed forces of the opposing factions, resulting in the defeat of the governor, who has sought the protection of the federal troops in occupation of Saltillo, the capital. The Congress of the Union has authorized the President to appoint a person, subject to its confirmation, to be intrusted with the administration of affairs in the State, and who will be supported by the federal army until elections have been held for members of the State legislature in the districts where vacancies exist, and until a full legislature may be assembled and settle the existing political disorders. The armed conflict in the State government of Yucatan also still continues, and federal troops have been sent to that State to restore peace. The most exciting topic which has occupied the attention of Congress during the present session has been the contract which the government entered into with the Mexican Railroad Company, operating the road from this city to Vera Cruz. The submission of this contract by the President to Congress for its approval elicited a strong opposition both to the terms of that instrument and to the present administration. After a bitter and protracted debate the contract was approved by a majority of five votes. It provides for a change in the tariff of freights, the extension of the Jalapa branch, appropriates $560,000 annually for twenty years from the receipts of custom-houses, to be paid the company, and other important modifications of existing legislation relating to that railroad. Hon. Leon Guzman, attorney-general of the republic, has tendered his resignation to Congress, on account of his opposition to the present attitude of the administration. The official journal of the government has announced that the Mexican minister at Washington has been instructed to make complaint to the Government of the United States in regard to the incursions into the State of Sonora, Mexico, of Indians from Arizona Territory. Señor Granados, chargé d'affaires of Guatemala, in this capital, has resigned his position, under instructions from his government; and he informs me that there is no probability that the vacancy will be filled until Mexico shall send a diplomatic representative to Guatemala. There are now in this capital permanent representatives of the Ger man Empire, Spain, and Italy, without the corresponding representatives from Mexico in those countries. I am, &c., No. 458. JOHN W. FOSTER. No. 91.] Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Mexico, January 7, 1874. (Received January 28.) SIR: I transmit herewith a copy of the annual report of the Mexican minister of finance, (Hacienda y crédito público,) Hon. Francisco Mejia, ..or the fiscal year ending June 30, 1873, which is very comprehensive, and presents a valuable compilation of statistical information. The total receipts of the national treasury for the year aggregate $20,271,460, of which the two principal items are, from import-customs, $9,265,700 and from stamps $2,217,274. The total expenditures are $20,689,345. The public internal debt is stated at $11,464,273. The foreign debt is recog nized in the report as follows: English, $63,498,130; convention, $4,351,348; Spanish, $7,400,000; Padre Moran, $800,000; American claims adjudged by the mixed commission, $401,685.19; making a total of $76,452,163.19, which the minister estimates as $8.48 per capita of the inhabitants of the republic. I have found no classification or specific mention of the bonds issued by the republican government during the war of intervention, and now held by citizens of the United States. The coinage of the republic for the year ending June 30, 1872, was $19,891,928, of which amount $18,864,936 was of silver. I am, &c., No. 459. JOHN W. FOSTER. No. 93.] Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Mexico, January 14, 1874. (Received January 28.) SIR Referring to my dispatch No. 91, January 7, transmitting a copy of the report of the Mexican minister of finance, I desire to direct your attention to the fact that although the report purports to set forth both the foreign and internal debt of the republic, there is no classification or mention of the bonds issued by the republican government during the war of intervention and sold in the United States, and which I am informed are mainly, if not entirely, held by citizens of the United States. Deeming the omission an important one, on the 27th day of December last I personally and informally inquired of Mr. Mejia, minister of finance, as to its cause; whereupon the minister informed me that a portion of these bonds were included in the statement of the public internal debt, though not specifically mentioned, and that the others were not included, for the reason that they had not yet been classified. He promised, however, to have prepared immediately a statement of all the outstanding bonds of the character referred to, which he would send to me by the 29th ultimo, but up to the date of closing this dispatch such statement has not been received by me. Inquiries have been made of me by citizens of the United States holding some of these bonds, but, in the absence of any instructions from your Department, I have not felt authorized to address the Mexican government upon the subject. No interest has been paid upon the bonds for a number of years. I am, &c., JOHN W. FOSTER. No. 460. No. 97.] Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Mexico, January 23, 1874. (Received February 13.) SIR: The seventh Congress of the Union terminated its first session on the 21st instant. I inclose herewith a translation of the address of. President Lerdo, read before that body at its adjournment. Among the most important acts of Congress was its approval of the contract made, by order of the President, with the Mexican company, for the construction of an extensive system of railroads, referred to in my dispatch No. 74, thus completing legislative action upon that subject. Congress has also granted an extension for one year of the concession to the Tehuantepec Railway and Canal Company. It has also approved a treaty of amity and commerce between Mexico and Italy, the ratifications of which are to be exchanged in this city on or be fore April next. Before its adjournment the President sent to Congress the nomination of ministers plenipotentiary to the German Empire and to Spain. The action of the federal government, referred to in my dispatch No. 87, has apparently pacified the troubles in the State of Coahuila. I am, &c., [Inclosure.] JOHN W. FOSTER. [From translation in the Two Republics.] MEXICO, Sunday, January 25, 1874. President Lerdo's speech. CITIZEN DEPUTIES: In the first period of your sessions, prorogued until to-day, by your patriotic zeal, as permitted by the constitution, you have considered subjects of great importance, which you have decided to the advantage of the republic. The longpending treaties which the executive celebrated with the King of Italy, concerning commerce and the extradition of criminals, have been approved by Congress, and will soon be ratified so as to go into operation as a law of the Union. The friendly relations which fortunately exist between the two countries will thus be rendered more intimate. The great work which cost such bloody sacrifices, the laws of reform, having definitively received constitutional sanction, now form an integral part of our institutions. This act, of the highest importance for the Mexican people, will ever be a title of glory for the seventh constitutional Congress. The intelligent discussion which has continued during your sessions upon some other reforms in the fundamental compact gives reason to hope that they may soon be terminated, aiding not only to perfect our system, but also to further develop the practice of liberal principles. Congress having scrutinized the popular election of magistrates of the supreme court of justice, the highest tribunal of the Union, to which the laws concede such high attributes, has been duly completed. The judicial organization in the territory of Lower California was insufficient for the vast extent of its territory, causing real damage to public interests. This evil has been remedied by the action of Congress, in establishing the new tribunals found necessary for so noble an object. The subsidy granted to the steamship line between Vera Cruz and New York having been renewed by Congress, this important means of communication will continue to exist, and will afford new advantages to commerce, and greater facilities for the movement of passengers between the extreme and intermediate points of that interesting line. A new line of steamers between Vera Cruz and Havana, which is to tonch at several ports of the Gulf, having also been subsidized by another decree, this line will ethciently serve to stimulate our mercantile relations with the island of Cuba and the exportation of our valuable national productions. The modifications made in the law of real-estate contributions have remedied defects shown by experience. Some disadvantages for the tax-payer have thus been abolished without damage to our fiscal interests. The admitted propriety of extending to a greater number of localities the benefits of the telegraph, inspired Congress with the resolution of establishing new telegraphic lines from Michoacan to Guadalajara and the ports of Manzanillo and San Blas, as also from San Luis to Zacatecas and Durango. The utility of these measures is unquestionable, as is also that of the decree for the canalization between the lagoons of Chijol and Tamiahua, in the State of Vera Cruz, These communications will develop an important trade. Among other beneficent measures taken by Congress, that relating to a road to Comanja, to facilitate the extraction of the abundant products of its iron-mines, deserves notice, as also the power given the executive to transfer to another company the concession for a railroad between Puebla and Matamoros Izucar, so important for that rich district. The period granted to the company which proposes to establish interoceanic commu nication across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, having been extended for a year, there is a new hope of the realization of so highly interesting a project, and one recognized as such by all the governments of the republic. The settlement of the new tariffs for the railway from Mexico to Vera Cruz, has been one of the principal subjects to which Congress has devoted its intelligent attention. If in this important matter all that could be desired was not obtained, there was at least obtained all that was possible for the purpose of stimulating the exportation of our productions, thus giving a new impulse to agriculture, which is the principal source of the national wealth, and which ought to be the most productive in the future. The executive having scrupulously examined the several projects that were presented for the interoceanic and international railway, gave the preference to the company lately formed, because it really offered the most favorable conditions. With the approval which Congress has given to this project, it has demonstrated its patriotic zeal for the realization of this enterprise which is of the highest importance, not only for the interests of our country, but for those of the civilized world which will take advantage of this means of communication between the great continents. The determination of Congress for the purchase of revenue-cutters will be very useful for the maintenance of order in our ports and the due protection of our fiscal interests. The differences which brought about a grave conflict between the powers of the State of Coahuila, reached a point which rendered indispensable the intervention of the federal authority. The prudent measures taken by Congress immediately produced the happiest results, affording an assurance that within a very short time constitutional order will be entirely re-established in that state. The reports presented by the cabinet ministers contain the administrative history of the past two years. They will serve, not only to make known the acts of the government, but also to facilitate the continuation of the improvements commenced, the undertaking of other new ones, the remedying of evils discovered, and the development of the important elements which our country possesses. We may hope for much under the auspices of the peace happily maintained throughout the nation. We cherish flattering hopes that public order will not be disturbed, resting upon the good sense of the Mexican people, and its well known desire to devote itself to social progress. Receive, citizens, deputies, my sincere congratulations, because during your brief retirement from your legislative tasks, you will enjoy the satisfaction of having labored with the most intelligent and patriotic zeal for the happiness and prosperity of the republic. No. 98.] No. 461. Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Mexico, January 24, 1874. (Received February 13.) SIR: The question which has more prominently occupied the attention of the Mexican Congress, the President and his cabinet, and the public press, than any other for more than two years, has been that of a governmental concession for the construction of a national system of railroads. As the Department of State has been heretofore advised, before the adjournment of the last Congress in May, 1873, a contract was made between the Mexican government and Mr. Edward Lee Plumb, as the representative of the International Railroad Company of Texas, for this purpose. During the session of the present Congress just closed, the contract with Mr. Plumb was revoked, and a new one made, by order of the President, with a company claiming to be Mexican in its organization and interests, but which in fact is composed of six Mexican citizens and eight foreigners. This latter contract has been approved by Congress, and it now has the full force and validity of the legislative sanctions. The action of the Executive in this matter caused much comment in the public press, and evoked a debate in Congress on the relative merits of American and European enterprises, and on the political policy of granting to any American company a concession to construct railroads in Mexico, and connect the railroad systems of the two republics. Hon. Ramon Guzman, chairman of the committee of industries, which reported the contract made by the Executive with the so styled "Mexican company," in advocating its adoption in the chamber of Congress, maintained that it was contrary to the political as well as commercial interests of Mexico to grant a concession for the construction of railroads in this republic, to an American company, asserting that it was much safer to intrust such construction to European management and capital. He also insisted that it was dangerous to the interests of Mexico to have the railroad system of the United States extended into Mexican territory, as it would be used to facilitate another invasion of this country, attributing to the United States the same spirit of territorial aggrandizement and hostility which he alleged caused the war of 1846-47. This speech (although I am informed materially modified) has been published in the official organ of the government, with favorable editorial comments, and, in view of Mr. Guzman's position in Congress and his reputed confidential relations with the administration, his declarations are considered as specially significant. I am gratified, however, to inform you that these sentiments were not permitted to remain unanswered in the chamber. Hon. Estanislao Cañedo, a distinguished deputy, and a gentleman of intimate and personal acquaintance with American and European affairs, in an able and eloquent speech repelled the unfriendly assumptions of Mr. Guzman, and vindicated American skill and enterprise, as also the friendly spirit of the Government and people of the United States. I inclose herewith an extract from that portion of Mr. Cañedo's speech which treats of the political relations of the two republics. I am, &c., JOHN W. FOSTER. [Inclosure.-Translation.} Extract from a speech delivered by Hon. Estanislao Cañedo, in the Mexican Congress, on the 10th of January, 1874, on the railway question. As the opinions expressed upon our international policy by the chairman of the con mittee are liable to receive an interpretation which would obscure the real state of public opinion, I will venture to insist further upon the character of our relations with the United States, acting in this respect upon the line of conduct which I have observed in previous Congresses, whenever reference has been made to this point of the highest interest, for the frank and loyal harmony which ought to exist between two sister republics, doubly united by the community of political and commercial interests. To judge of the present relations between Mexico and the United States by those of 1847, is to invoke an analogy which can exist only in the minds of those who do not remember the laborious transformation which has taken place in both nations during the past thirty years. At the date to which the orator has gone back, I would have been as uncompromising as he now is, and would have made every possible effort to remove my country from all contact with a nation whose government, not content with caressing at home that social plague called slavery, cherished the criminal design of extending it to our republic, and even to the whole of America. At that time the pro-slavery element, called democratic, was that which promoted conflicts with Mexico in order to extend its sphere of action, and to bear sway in our northern states, separated from the Mexican community by brute force. The object in view was not, as many suppose, to obtain a sterile increase of territory, but to incrust in the American federation new pro |