Chapter LVII: Section 88 (6)

Notwithstanding the very positive agreement contained in the
first article of this treaty, that the Emperor of Russia will
"restore Manchuria completely to China," the publication of
its terms excited new and greater distrust of the designs and
the action of the Muscovite Power. It was seen that Chinese
authority, for the time being, would be pushed out of
Manchuria so completely, and that of Russia would be
established so firmly, that any future restoration of the
former was improbable, to say the least. Moreover, the entire
exclusion of all people except Russians from any share in the
development of Manchurian resources was exceedingly offensive
to the money-making desires with which the whole western world
is looking toward the great decaying empire of the East. That
such an exclusion should extend beyond Manchuria, even to
Mongolia, Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan and Turkestan, as set forth
in the above report of the pending treaty, was an idea at
which capitalistic circles in Europe and America stood aghast.
{301}
Very soon there was denial that the exclusiveness asked for by
the modest Russian went farther than the bounds of Manchuria;
but, even as thus limited, it roused strenuous protest from
the Press of the western world, if not from the governments.
What diplomatic action was taken by the Powers in general is
not known at the time of this writing; but the United States
remonstrated to China (see CHINA: A. D. 1901, MARCH-APRIL,),
and, as stated by the British Foreign Minister, Lord
Lansdowne, in Parliament, on the 28th of March, the British
and German governments did the same. The Chinese government
was nerved accordingly to resist the Russian demands, though
Li Hung-chang appears to have urged submission to them. The
contemplated treaty was not signed.

Before and after this determination the Russian government
maintained that it had no ulterior designs in the arrangement
it sought with China. Lord Lansdowne, in the speech to
Parliament referred to above, spoke as follows of the
assurances he had received from Count Lamsdorff, the Russian
Foreign Minister: "He told us that it was the object of the
Russian Government 'to arrange with the local civil
authorities the terms of a "modus vivendi" between them for
the duration of the simultaneous presence of Russian and
Chinese authorities in Southern Manchuria, the object being to
prevent the recurrence of disturbances in the vicinity of the
Russian frontier and to protect the railway from the Russian
frontier to Port Arthur.' And he told us that his government
had 'no intention of seeking this guarantee in any acquisition
of territory or of an actual or virtual protectorate over
Manchuria.'"

Similar assurances are reported to have been given to the
American government, on the 4th of April; and, for the time
being at least, the Manchurian question has ceased to be
disturbing to the "Concert of the Powers."

MANCHURIA AND MONGOLIA.

The following information concerning Manchuria and Mongolia is
taken from notes made in 1897 by Colonel Browne, Military
Attache to the British Legation at Peking: "The area of
Manchuria is computed to contain no less than 362,310 square
miles, or just three times as large as that of Great Britain
and Ireland. It is divided into three provinces, of which the
most southerly, Feng-tien or Shên-king, with its capital at
Mukden, has for several hundred years formed an integral part
of the Chinese Empire, and is consequently more opened up and
more densely inhabited than the two northern provinces, which
were regarded until the beginning of this century as waste
lands, outside the pale of civilization, fit only for the
transportation of criminals. Though the old palisades have
long disappeared, their trace still marks the boundary between
Manchuria and Mongolia, and the gateways on the main roads are
still used as posts for the collection of transit dues. These
places may be recognized by the termination 'mên' (a gate),
such as Fa-k'u-mên, Fa-ta-ha-mên. The province of Kirin and
its capital bear the same name, while the huge northern
province of Hei-lung-chiang has its seat of government at
Tsi-tsi-har. It is generally said that the Governor of
Fêng-tien (Mukden) occupies somewhat the position, as regards
the two northern provinces, as a viceroy in China holds
towards the provinces comprised in his Viceroyalty, but this
does not appear to be so, except in his capacity as High
Commissioner for the defence of the three Manchurian
provinces. The Governors of the three provinces are styled in
the official Gazette by the same title of Military Governor of
the Provincial Capital and Tartar General of the Province, but
the Governor of Fêng-tien holds the more honourable post,
because Mukden is an Imperial city, within its walls is an
Imperial Palace, without its walls the tombs of the founders
of the Manchu dynasty. It has also, in miniature, Boards
similar to those at the capital for regulating ceremonies,
punishments, and civil appointments; in short, all the
theoretical paraphernalia to carry on the government of the
country, should the Emperor visit this quarter of his
dominions. … The great grain and bean producing area in the
three provinces is contained in a strip of country, extending
from the Treaty Port of Newchwang to 30 miles north of
Pei-tuan-lin-tzu. To the west of this belt of arable are the
Mongolian steppes, all in grass, but fading away into sand as
they merge in the great desert of Gobi; to the east is a hilly
or mountainous region, in which the only large cultivated area
is that watered by the River Hwei-fa, an affluent of the Upper
Sungari; elsewhere the cultivated areas are small, such as
those at Mergen, Tsi-tsi-har, the Valley of the Yen, and at
Sansing, Ninguta, Hun-chun, and Omoso. Exclusive of patches of
cultivation in remote districts and valleys, the great
cultivated area may be estimated to amount to 16,000 square
miles, or about one twenty-fourth of the total area of the
country. To what extent under improved communications,
drainage, and more favourable conditions generally, the
cultivated area is capable of expansion, it is difficult to
say. … The population of Manchuria has been variously
estimated from a few millions by the Chinese to as much as
25,000,000 by Europeans. A Russian engineer, who has travelled
all over the country, estimates it as between 10,000,000 and
15,000,000. … Before I received these figures I had arrived at
a somewhat similar result by taking the cultivated area at 700
per square mile which gives a population of 11,250,000, and
assuming 2,500,000 scattered throughout the more remote
districts, or a population in all of about 14,000,000. What
proportion of these are Manchus is also a vexed question to
which no definite answer can be given. Certainly the Manchus
are in the minority, for though there are several towns almost
wholly Chinese, I know of no town in which it is not
acknowledged that the Chinese form more than half the
population. The Manchus are nearly all concentrated in towns;
there are Manchu villages, but they are small, possibly their
numbers amount to between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000, or about 20
per cent. of the population. The chief appointments in
Manchuria are, without exception, held by Manchus, the
descendants of the conquerors of China. In four centuries of
ease and sloth they have lost the wild courage, the spirit of
adventure that inspired them to overrun China, and the
hardihood and skill at arms that brought success to their
venture. But if they have lost the warlike instincts of their
savage ancestors, they have retained all their pride, their
ignorance, their cruelty, and their superstition. All these
qualities a Manchu possesses far in excess of the liberal
share that nature has bestowed on the Chinese.
{302}
It is true that skill at arms still nominally opens the door
to military preferment, but such arms and such skill! Shooting
arrows from a moderately strung bow when cantering on a pony
is a test which displays neither skill, strength, nor
endurance. Even according to Chinese ideas they are ignorant.
… As regards their privileges, the Manchus pay no land tax;
but in so far as I have been able to ascertain, the opinion
generally held, that they are all pensioned by Government, is
erroneous. … But though the mass of the Manchus receive no
pension, nearly all are in pay as hangers-on at Yamêns,
body-guard to officials, soldiers, care-takers at the Palace
or Imperial tombs, and similar posts. The emoluments are
small, just sufficient to enable the man to support his family
without working, or making his way in the world as an ordinary
Chinese must do. Formerly the Manchus did not intermarry with
Chinese women, but at the present time this custom is
frequently broken through, though of course no Chinese would
be permitted to marry a Manchu woman. The Manchus, especially
the dependents, hangers-on, and soldiers, are great opium
smokers, and a very worthless class; probably intermarriage
with the Chinese will prevent the extinction of the race,
which, were the present dynasty to fall, would be speedily
absorbed, for, without being propped up with State assistance,
it could not on its merits hold the position it does at
present. As regards the Chinese, few of the rich merchants
make Manchuria their home. They come to the country for a
definite number of years, and the same applies to their
agents, managers, and staff generally, who leave their
families in China. The settlers, on the contrary, have made
the country their home. They are a fine, healthy, and vigorous
race. Driven from China by poverty or famine, they regard
Manchuria as a land flowing with milk and honey. … Whether it
be the rigour of the climate which softens their manners, or
the absence of the Chinese Mandarin, or living under the sway
of an alien race which humbles their pride, or a combination
of all these elements, it is difficult to say, but the people
are far less hostile to the foreigner than those in China
proper. …

"Mongolia extends for 1,500 miles along the northern frontier
of China, and as its eastern border is coterminous with
Manchuria, a few words regarding the Mongols may not be out of
place in these notes. The race is said to come with the Manchus
from a common Tartar stock, but, except in colour and
features, there is little resemblance between the two races.
The Mongol is essentially a nomad, hating towns and houses. He
prefers to wander about the steppes, pitching his 'yourt,' or
felt tent, wherever water and pasture are for the time most
plentiful. As the nature of the country they inhabit prohibits
agriculture, the art is unknown among his people, who are
entirely engaged in tending their flocks and herds, ponies,
and camels. They are mere children in the hands of the
Chinese, who can outwit them as easily as a member of the
'confidence trick' fraternity outwits a rustic from the
shires. … A small portion of their territory is rented by the
Chinese on the west of the Provinces of Kirin and Fêng-tien,
of which it has now become an integral part. Kuan-cheng-tzu
was originally in Mongolia, and so are all the towns and
villages to the west of the palisade, of which the principal
are Mai-mai-kai (Fenghua), Ch'ang-tu, and Cheng-chia-tun.
Mongolia is the great breeding land for horses and cattle. At
first sight when travelling through the country one is
astonished at the enormous size of the troops of ponies; but
when one considers that this territory supplies Siberia,
China, and Manchuria with animals, it is easy to see that the
supply is not greater than the demand. … The Mongols are
governed by their hereditary Princes, Chinese authority being
maintained by Imperial Residents at Ching-hai, in Western
Mongolia (Ko-ko-nor), and at Urga, in the north."

_Great Britain,
Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command, China,
Number 1, 1899, pages 34-37)._

MANCHUS:
Increasing ascendancy in Chinese Government.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1899 (APRIL).

MANETHO, Vindication of the list of.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH; EGYPT: RESULTS.

MANHATTAN BOROUGH.

See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1896-1897.

MANILA:
The capital city of the Philippine Islands.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

MANILA: A. D. 1898 (April-July).
Destruction of the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.
Blockade and siege.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (APRIL-JULY).

MANILA: A. D. 1898 (July-September).
Capture by the Americans.
Relations of Americans with Filipino insurgents.
General Merritt's report.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).

MANILA: A. D. 1900.
Regulation of the sale of liquors.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER).

MANITOBA SCHOOL QUESTION.

See (in this volume)
CANADA; A. D. 1890-1896; and 1898 (JANUARY).

MARCHAND'S EXPEDITION.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER).

MARCONI, Guglielmo:
Development of wireless telegraphy.

See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: ELECTRICAL.

MARIANNE ISLANDS:
Sale by Spain to Germany.

See (in this volume)
CAROLINE AND MARIANNE ISLANDS.

MARITIME CANAL COMPANY.

See (in this volume)
CANAL, INTEROCEANIC.

MARITIME POWERS.

See (in this volume)
NAVIES; and WAR BUDGETS.

MARITIME WARFARE, Convention relative to.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

MARRIAGE LAWS, Hungarian.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1894-1895.

{303}

MARYLAND:
New election law, establishing a qualification of the suffrage.

A new election law, said to have been driven through the
Legislature by partisan pressure, and for the purpose of
disfranchising the majority of colored citizens, was passed by
both houses on the 20th of March, 1901. It is said to be
"considerably more fair than the North Carolina and similar
laws in States farther south. It disfranchises by means of
regulations which practically make it necessary for a voter to
be able to read his ballot. The illiterate are denied any
assistance when they go into the booths, and all emblems are
omitted from the ticket. The color line is not drawn. It is
believed that there are about 32,000 negroes and 16,000 whites
who will not be able to vote under this law. Practically all
of the negroes are supposed to be Republicans, while it is
estimated that the whites are divided about evenly between the
parties."

MASHONALAND:
Embraced in Rhodesia.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1894-1895.

MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1897.
Recovery of the original manuscript of Governor Bradford's
History of Plymouth Colony, sometimes called "The Log of the
Mayflower."

"It has long been well known that Governor Bradford wrote and
left behind him a history of the settlement of Plymouth. It
was quoted by early chroniclers. There are extracts from it in
the records at Plymouth. Thomas Prince used it when he
compiled his annals, Hubbard depended on it when he wrote his
'History of New England,' Cotton Mather had read it, or a copy
of a portion of it, when he wrote his 'Magnalia,' Governor
Hutchinson had it when he published the second volume of his
history in 1767. From that time it disappeared from the
knowledge of everybody on this side of the water. All our
historians speak of it as lost, and can only guess what had
been its fate. …

"In 1844 Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, afterward
Bishop of Winchester, One of the brightest of men, published
one of the dullest and stupidest of books. It is entitled 'The
History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America.' It
contained extracts from manuscripts which he said he had
discovered in the library of the Bishop of London at Fulham.
The book attracted no attention here until, about twelve years
later, in 1855, John Wingate Thornton … happened to pick up a
copy of it while he was lounging in Burnham's book store. He
read the bishop's quotations, and carried the book to his
office, where he left it for his friend, Mr. Barry, who was
then writing his 'History of Massachusetts,' with passages
marked, and with a note which is not preserved, but which,
according to his memory, suggested that the passages must have
come from Bradford's long-lost history. That is the claim for
Mr. Thornton. On the other hand, it is claimed by Mr. Barry
that there was nothing of that kind expressed in Mr.
Thornton's note, but in reading the book when he got it an
hour or so later, the thought struck him for the first time
that the clue had been found to the precious book which had
been lost so long. He at once repaired to Charles Deane, then
and ever since, down to his death, as President Eliot
felicitously styled him, 'the master of historical
investigators in this country.' Mr. Deane saw the importance
of the discovery. He communicated at once with Joseph Hunter,
an eminent English scholar. Hunter was high authority on all
matters connected with the settlement of New England. He
visited the palace at Fulham, and established beyond question
the identity of the manuscript with Governor Bradford's
history, an original letter of Governor Bradford having been
sent over for comparison of handwriting.

"How the manuscript got to Fulham nobody knows. Whether it was
carried over by Governor Hutchinson in 1774; whether it was
taken as spoil from the tower of the Old South Church in 1775;
whether, with other manuscripts, it was sent to Fulham at the
time of the attempts of the Episcopal churches in America,
just before the Revolution, to establish an episcopate here,
—nobody knows."

_George F. Hoar,
address, May 26, 1897,
on the Return of the Manuscript to Massachusetts._

After the discovery of the manuscript, several attempts to
bring about its return to America were made: by Justin Winsor,
in 1860, and again in 1877; by Mr. Motley, in 1869; and by
others. At length, Senator Hoar, after delivering an address
at Plymouth, in 1895, on the anniversary of the landing of the
Pilgrims, went abroad, with his interest in the matter warmly
stirred up, and took steps, in concurrence with Ambassador
Bayard, which led to the enlistment of potent influences on
both sides of the sea in favor of the restoration of the
precious piece of writing to its proper home. There were many
difficulties in procuring the necessary legal authority for
the surrender of the manuscript by the Bishop of
London,—difficulties not created wilfully, but by questions
and processes of law; but they were all overcome, with kindly
help from everybody concerned, and, on the 12th of April,
1897, the coveted manuscript book was formally delivered to
the United States Ambassador, Mr. Bayard, for conveyance to
the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was
delivered by Mr. Bayard in person, on the 26th of May
following, in the presence of the Senate and the House of
Representatives of Massachusetts, sitting together in the
chamber of the latter, with many guests invited for the
occasion. The ceremonies of the occasion included the address
by Senator Hoar from which the above account is taken.

The manuscript volume is now deposited in the State Library of
Massachusetts at Boston. A new edition, carefully reproducing
the text of the history from it, with a full report of the
proceedings incident to its return to Massachusetts, was
printed in 1900, under the direction of the Secretary of the
Commonwealth, by order of the General Court. The following
remarks on the manuscript are from the Introduction to that
edition:

"By very many it has been called, incorrectly, the log of the
'Mayflower.' Indeed, that is the title by which it is
described in the decree of the Consistorial Court of London.
The fact is, however, that Governor Bradford undertook its
preparation long after the arrival of the Pilgrims, and it
cannot be properly considered as in any sense a log or daily
journal of the voyage of the 'Mayflower.' It is, in point of
fact, a history of the Plymouth Colony, chiefly in the form of
annals, extending from the inception of the colony down to the
year 1647. The matter has been in print since 1856, put forth
through the public spirit of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, which secured a transcript of the document from
London, and printed it in the Society's Collections of the
above-named year."

{304}

MASSACRES:
Of Armenians in Constantinople.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1896 (AUGUST).

MASSACRES:
Of Chinese by the allied troops.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST 5-16).

MASSACRES:
Of Chinese in Manchuria by the Russians.

See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA: A. D. 1900.

MASSACRES:
Of Christian missionaries and converts in China.

See (in this volume)
CHINA:
A. D. 1895 (AUGUST);
1898 (MAY);
1898-1899 (JUNE-JANUARY);
1899;
1900 (JANUARY-MARCH), (MAY-JUNE); and
1901 (MARCH).

MATABELES.
Matabeleland.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1894-1895; and
(RHODESIA); 1896 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

MATTHEW, The Gospel of:
Discovery of a fragment of an early copy.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: EGYPT: RESULTS.

MAYFLOWER, The so-called Log of the.

See (in this volume, page 303)
MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1897.

MAZET INVESTIGATION, The.

See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1899 (APRIL-DECEMBER).

MEAT INSPECTION BILL, The German.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (MAY).

MEDICAL SCIENCE, Recent advances in.

See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: MEDICAL AND SURGICAL.

MEHTAR OF CHITRAL, The.

See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1895 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

MEIJI STATESMEN.

See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).

MENA, The tomb of.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: EGYPT: RESULTS.

MENELEK II., King of Shoa and Negus of Abyssinia.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896.

MERENPTAH I., The funeral temple of.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: EGYPT: RESULTS.

MERRIMAC, The sinking of the collier, at Santiago.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-JUNE).

MERRITT, General: Report of capture of Manila.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).

MESOPOTAMIA, Recent archæological research in.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA.

MESOPOTAMIA:
Projected railways.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1899 (NOVEMBER); and
JEWS: A. D. 1899.

MEXICAN FREE ZONE, The.

"The Department of State has received through Consul-General
Barlow a report of the Free Zone, compiled by the Secretary of
the Treasury of Mexico, giving a history of the original
creation of the zone and defining its limits, and the
privileges and restrictions applicable thereto. The Free Zone
is a narrow strip of territory extending along the northern
border from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, with a
latitudinal area of about 12½ miles to the interior, and
embracing a portion of the States of Tamaulipas, Coahnila,
Chihuahua, Sonora, and the territory of Lower California. It
was established many years ago [1861] by the Central
Government, as a compromise or concession to the States
bordering the Rio Grande, as a protection against smuggling
from the United States. The principal cities of the zone are
Matamoras, Camargo, Mier, Guerrero, Laredo, Porfirio Diaz
(Piedras Negras), Juarez, and Nogales. The total population
does not exceed 100,000 people. According to the official
reports, there exist within the limits of the free zone no
industries worth mentioning, which is explained by the fact
that all industrial products manufactured in the zone when
sent into the interior of the country are required to pay the
regular duties charged on imports into the country; and, on
account of the protective tariff of the United States, it is
impracticable to export such products to that country. Thus
the manufacturing industries would have to depend upon the
home consumption, which is not sufficient to maintain them.
All merchandise imported into the zone destined for
consumption therein is admitted on a basis of 10 per cent of
the regular tariff duties, but such merchandise when reshipped
into the interior of Mexico is required to pay an additional
duty of 90 per cent, making, in connection with the 10 per
cent already paid, the regular tariff duty of Mexico. In his
report the secretary of the treasury, Senor Limantour, makes
this statement: 'Many distinguished financiers and eminent
statesmen are opposed to the Free Zone, but all recognize the
fact that, on account of existing circumstances in the
northern frontier, its sparse population, without resources in
agriculture, industry, or mining, the privilege could not be
abolished without compensation, and the problem lies in
choosing some other advantage without prejudice to the rest of
the country.'"

_Bulletin of the American Republics,
August, 1898._

"The franchise granted the Free Zone consisted, in the
beginning, in not levying any duty upon imported articles;
afterwards, however, some small duties, purely local, were
established, and the ordinance of 1887 established as a fixed
basis 3 per cent on the value of the duties according to
tariff—a basis which was raised to 10 per cent by the
ordinance of 1891. By subsequent decrees the duties were
raised l½ per cent for the municipality and 7 per cent for
stamps for internal revenue, the result of all this being that
the merchandise introduced into the Free Zone from abroad now
paid 18½ per cent upon the importation duties according to
tariff. … As the records of the frontier custom-houses of the
north make no distinction in the duties, those for the Free
Zone as well as those for the interior appearing in the same
classification, it is impossible to know exactly what the
treasury loses by the 90 per cent rebate on the duties of the
merchandise destined for consumption in the Free Zone; but,
admitting as an exaggerated estimate that the total
consumption of the Free Zone represents in duties $400,000
($177,600) a year, with the 10 per cent charge on this amount,
the average annual loss would be $365,000 ($162,060).

{305}

"The institution of the Free Zone obliges the Mexican
Government, in order to prevent the introduction clandestinely
into the interior of merchandise proceeding therefrom, to
maintain a body of fiscal guards at an annual expense of
$562,525.95 ($249,762). The guards of the custom-houses must
not be reckoned in this account; for these, with or without
the Free Zone, are necessary to prevent the smuggling which
would be carried on from the United States, and which is even
now done. In case of abolishing the Free Zone, it would not be
possible to completely suppress the fiscal guards; lessened in
number and with a distinct organization, they would have to be
maintained, especially since in case of their abolition the
entire duties would be charged (that is to say, 90 per cent
more than is now levied), and this would be inducement enough
to provoke attempts at smuggling. This body of guards, fiscal
as well as administrative, supplies the place of an interior
custom-house (although it does not levy duties), as it reviews
in certain instances the merchandise shipped through the
frontier custom-houses and in a military capacity guards the
roads leading to and from the frontier to prevent smuggling.
It has a system of fixed sections situated at convenient
locations between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific, and of
flying detachments continually patrolling the strip of
territory named. Experience has demonstrated the usefulness of
the body, for instances of smuggling by wagons, carts, or
animals can be said to no longer exist."

Of smuggling, "there are two divisions to be made, as follows:
Smuggling to the interior of the Republic and smuggling to the
United State, of America. The first was at one time of
importance, since it was practiced on a large scale. Bands of
smugglers, resorting at times to violence, conducted
merchandise to the interior, but since the Republic entered
the period of peace the Government has been able to take
measures to end this illegal traffic. The custom-houses, which
formerly scarcely produced enough to pay the employees, now
render from $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 annually from import
duties.

"Smuggling from Mexico to the United States of America has
never been practiced to any great extent."

_United States Consular Reports,
August, 1898, page 619._

----------MEXICO: Start--------

MEXICO: A. D. 1892-1895.
Boundary surveys.

The international commission which had been engaged since 1892
in resurveying the incorrectly marked boundary between Mexico
and the United States from San Diego, California, to El Paso,
Texas, finished its work in 1895. Another commission began in
the same year to resurvey the remainder of the boundary, along
the Rio Grande from El Paso to the Gulf.

MEXICO: A. D. 1895.
Boundary dispute with Guatemala.

There was a quite serious threatening of war between Mexico
and Guatemala in 1895, consequent upon a disputed boundary
line. The mediation of the United States brought about a
settlement, which gave the disputed district to Guatemala, and
provided for an arbitration of indemnities, the United States
Minister to Mexico being selected as arbitrator.

MEXICO: A. D. 1895.
Census of population.
Its distribution.

"The population of Mexico appears to be, from our … census …
in 1895, 12,570,195, which would give 16.38 for each square
mile; but from my personal knowledge of the country, I am
quite sure that it is not less than 15,000,000. It is very
difficult to take a correct census in Mexico, because there is
not the proper machinery in operation for that purpose, and
especially because a great many districts are inhabited by
Indians, who are impressed with the fear that if they inscribe
themselves in the census they will be taxed or drafted into
the military service, and they try to avoid registration.

"A great many of our people live in such remote districts that
they are practically cut off from communication with other
portions of the country, and in fact are almost isolated; and
this constitutes still another difficulty in the way of taking
a correct census. … The upper lands being the healthiest, most
of the population in Mexico is settled in the central plateau;
a relatively small portion lives in the temperate zone, while
the torrid zone is very thinly populated. I imagine, at a
rough calculation, that about 75 per cent. of the population
make their abode in the cold zone, from 15 to 18 per cent. in
the temperate zone, and from 7 to 10 per cent. in the torrid
zone.

"From the synopsis of our censuses, … it appears that the
population in Mexico has duplicated during the last century,
and although that increase does not keep pace with the
increase in the United States, because this has been really
wonderful, it compares favorably with the increase in other
countries."

_M. Romero,
Mexico and the United States,
volume 1, pages 89-90
(New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons)._

MEXICO: A. D. 1896.
Amendments to the Constitution.

See (in this volume)
CONSTITUTION OF MEXICO.

MEXICO: A. D. 1896.
Re-election of President Diaz.

By a popular election held on the 28th of June, 1896, followed
by a vote of "electors" cast July 13, Porfirio Diaz was chosen
President of the Republic of Mexico for a fifth term of four
years, to begin December 1, 1896.

MEXICO: A. D. 1896 (July).
Abolition of inter-state taxes.

The following announcement was reported in May, 1896, by the
United States Consul-General at the City of Mexico: "'All the
States and Territories having approved the amendment to the
constitution prohibiting any interstate tax on commerce
(alcabalas), Congress has passed the bill, the President has
signed it, the Diario Official has published it, and it will
soon be promulgated by "bando." as the Vice-Presidency was the
other day. The law takes effect July 1.' This tax has been in
existence for many years in Mexico, and has been a source of
much embarrassment to internal and external trade. Its repeal
meets with general approval, although some of the States will
be compelled to seek other modes of taxation to replace the
money heretofore obtained by this interstate tax."

_United States Consular Reports,
June, 1806, page 354._

{306}

MEXICO: A. D. 1896-1899.
Revolts of the Yaquis.

The Yaquis, one of the native tribes of northwestern Mexico,
taking their name from the river, in Sonora, on which they
dwell, have been in frequent revolt. In 1896, and again in
1899, some of the tribe were fiercely in arms, excited, it was
said, by a religious enthusiast, Teresa Urrea, who claimed a
divine mission and obtained boundless influence over her
tribe, as a saint. She was expelled from the country by the
Mexican government, but stayed on the border, in United States
territory, and continued to stir up hostilities. Though
repeatedly beaten by the government troops, with heavy loss,
their late rising was obstinately persisted in for many
months; but early in 1900 their chief, Tetabiate, was slain,
and a few sharp engagements after that time seems to have
brought the revolt, practically, to an end. A writer in the
California magazine, entitled "The Land of Sunshine" (July,
1899), says of the Yaquis that they are "the backbone of the
population of Sonora. They are the best workmen in the
republic, commanding from 10 to 20 per cent. higher wages in
many localities than Mexican or other Indian labor. There is
not a lazy bone in the Yaqui body. They are a peaceable,
law-abiding people when justly treated. From time immemorial
they have been hunters, miners, and tillers of the soil. They
have the nomad instinct in less degree than almost any other
Indian tribe."

Another writer makes this statement: "There are about three
hundred wild and rebellious Yaqui Indians hidden in the
fastnesses of the Bacatete Mountains, and some thirty thousand
peaceful Yaquis working all over Sonora—among the best workers,
the most successful farmers, and the quietest citizens in the
whole state. … There are few things in the history of the
native races of North America of such absorbing interest as
the career of the Yaqui Indians. The Spanish conquistadores
found them living in this country three hundred and fifty
years ago. They were a strong and stalwart race. Put a Yaqui
by the side of an Iroquois and you can hardly tell them apart.
Put a Yaqui and an Iroquois by the side of any other Indians
in North America, and their physical superiority is seen at
once. Compare them physically with all the other races of the
earth and you will find that they have few, if any, superiors.
The Yaquis were not, however, like their prototypes, the
Iroquois, dependent upon the chase for their food. From the
beginning they were not woodsmen, but farmers. Cabeza de Vaca,
after his long, romantic and perilous journey across the
continent, found great fields of Indian corn waving on the
Yaqui River as far back as 1636. When the early Spanish
missions were established in the Californias they obtained
their supplies from the agricultural Indians in the Yaqui
Valley, and many are the Spanish armies that have been saved
from starvation in times past by the Yaqui corn fields."

_W. S. Logan,
Yaqui, the Land of Sunshine and Health,
pages 15, 17._

MEXICO: A. D. 1898.
Completion of the great drainage tunnel and canal
of the City of Mexico.

"Mexico is finishing a great work, the drainage of the valley
where the capital city is located, which has required for its
completion nearly three hundred years and many millions of
dollars, and has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of
men. … The Valley of Mexico is an immense basin, of
approximately circular shape, with one extreme diameter of
about 60 miles, completely bounded by high mountains, and
having only two or three quite high passes out of it. No water
drains out of the basin. The surface of this valley has a mean
altitude above the sea of 7,413 feet and an area of about
2,220 square miles. Mountain ranges rise on every side, making
a great corral of rock containing dozens of villages and
hamlets, with the ancient capital in the centre. … Evaporation
is so excessive at certain periods of the year that malaria,
consequent on drouth, was far more dreaded by the inhabitants
than the periodical floods, and thousands perished annually,
so that proper drainage was an absolute necessity for the
preservation of health. Nearly fifty years before the
discovery of America, which took place in 1492,
Netzahualcoyotl saw the necessity for a drainage canal, and
commenced the work in 1450." The Spaniards, throughout their
rule, labored at projects to the same end, and sacrificed the
lives of vast numbers of the natives in the work, without much
result.

"Frequent floodings of the old Aztec city and of the Spanish
capital, situated almost at the lowest point of the valley,
were sure to come in times of unusually heavy rains. In early
days, when the Aztecs lived in the middle of Lake Mexico, when
their temples and wigwams were built on piles and the streets
were often only canals, the periodical overflows from the
upper lakes were a matter of small concern, though even then
the Nahua engineers were called upon to protect the city by
dykes. But when by evaporation, by filling in at the site of
the city, by lessened waters, due to the fissures caused by
earthquakes, Lake Mexico had disappeared, and the city had
come to be built on the spongy soil, above all, when the
short-sighted choice of Cortez had been confirmed and the
capital of New Spain had come to stand on the ruins of the
Aztec town, increasing rapidly in population and wealth,—it
became a serious matter that on an average of once in
twenty-five years the streets should be from two to six feet
under water for an indefinite time. …

"In 1866 the works now [1895] nearing completion were
commenced. A project proposed by Señor Don Francisco de Garay,
a well-known engineer of the city of Mexico, was pronounced
the most feasible. But the revolutionary struggle succeeded,
and for many years the work was relegated to the background. …
The present gigantic work cannot have been considered to have
been seriously undertaken, with a view of completion at any
cost, until the year 1885, when the City Council of Mexico
submitted a project to the Government to which they offered to
contribute largely in the event of its being adopted. A
special commission, with ample authority to deal with the
funds set aside for the work, was appointed by President
Porfirio Diaz. …

"The drainage works, when carried out, will receive the
surplus waters and sewage of the City of Mexico and carry them
outside of the valley, and will also control the entire waters
of the valley, affording an outlet, whenever found necessary,
to those which might otherwise overflow fields and towns,
rendering the soil stagnant and marshy. The work consists of
three parts—1st, the tunnel; 2d, a canal starting from the
gates of San Lazaro, and having a length of 47½ kilometres, or
43 miles; … and 3d, the sewage of the City of Mexico. …
{307}
As this paper goes to press, the drainage works of the Valley
of Mexico are practically finished, as the waters of the
valley have been for several years passing through the canal
and the tunnel to their outlet in the river which takes them
to the Gulf of Mexico, and the company with whom the canal was
contracted is now giving the finishing touches to the sides
and bottom of the canal and will deliver it to the Government
Board of the Drainage Directors in January, 1898. …

"The canal and six-mile tunnel through the mountain range have
a total length approaching 37 miles. The present works will
take rank with the great achievements of modern times, just as
the immense 'cut' of Nochistongo, their unsuccessful predecessor,
was the leader among ancient earthworks in all the world. The
completed system will have cost $20,000,000."

_M. Romero,
Mexico and the United States,
pages 266-280
(New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons)._

MEXICO: A. D. 1898-1900.
The results of twenty years of the presidency of Porfirio Diaz.
The wonderful advance of the Republic.

In his interesting book on Mexico, entitled "The Awakening of
a Nation," written in 1898, Mr. Charles F. Lummis expresses
the opinion that, under the Presidency of Porfirio Diaz, that
country "has graduated to be the most compact and unified
nation in the New World"; that "she has acquired not only a
government which governs, but one which knows how to govern—
and contemporaneously a people which has learned how to be
ruled"; and he characterizes its government as "logical
paternalism—a scheme frightfully dangerous under a bad father,
incalculably beneficial under a good one." Two years later, in a
contribution to an elaborate "Review of the Nineteenth
Century," by many writers, which was published by the "New
York Evening Post," January 12, 1901, Mr. Lummis wrote:
"Before Diaz, the rich and ancient capital had spent two and a
half centuries and ten millions in vain attempts to relieve
its recurrent Hoods. Sewerage was unknown. Today the valley is
drained and sewered by a system nowhere surpassed. Electric
lighting, transit, and power-transmission are in vogue. Law
and order are of a proportion we may well envy. Public
education and individual scholarship have no call to blush in
any fair comparison with any land. Business is prosperous,
almost without individual exceptions. Factories of all sorts—
and some of the costliest and finest factories in the
world—have sprung up by the thousand. The comminuted bones of
a national spirit have knit as they never were before.
Nowadays, it is not Mexico, but we, who are 'fooled' when we
omit her from the category of the nations that count. She does
count; she will count far more. She has mastered anarchy, she
has triumphed even over free silver. She is busily engaged in
practising one of the first gospels and mottoes of the
American colonies—'Mind Your Own Business'—and is making a
magnificent success at it. It is a curious problem in the
philosophies of history, what shall be the outcome of a nation
which instead of being born rugged and growing old and easy, was
born old and in the last quarter-century has come into the
heritage of sturdy youth. For it is as a young nation, with
muscles still growing, that we must think of new Old Mexico."

Honorable John W. Foster, writing to the "New York Tribune,"
on the 9th of January, 1901, from the City of Mexico, where he
formerly resided for some years as United States Minister, has
borne similar testimony to the astonishing progress of the
country. "Since the advent of General Porfirio Diaz to power
in 1876," writes Mr. Foster, "there has been no foreign war
and no serious disturbance of an internal character, the only
exception being the outbreak of certain semi-independent
Indian tribes. In the previous fifty years of the existence of
the republic there had been as many presidents, the majority
of whom owed their existence to revolutionary movements. The
wretched story of Mexican history of that period is too
familiar to be repeated here. … In his inaugural address to
Congress last month, on being again installed as President, he
[president Diaz] referred to the achievements of Mexico in the
last twenty-five years, and modestly said that in it there
were no brilliant deeds to chronicle. From that notable
address I make this extract: 'If it were true that a peaceful
and laborious people have no history, the administration
period I am about to review would almost be devoid of history.
But, on the contrary, those nations that deserve to be called
happy in the only intelligible sense of the word, far from
being without a history, have a very glorious and interesting
one, if, besides being peaceful and laborious, they are also
progressive. That history is the history of their progress,
their achievements, their growing prosperity, of the
improvements of every kind which they have introduced—a
history which, in this modern age and the present constitution
of civilized societies, is as interesting as that of their
past and just as deserving of attention.'"

A report for 1900 by the British Consul at Vera Cruz is to the
same effect. The result of the recent elections he describes
as an assurance of prosperity and a guarantee of the foreign
capital invested in the country. Few countries, the Consul
observes, can boast of such rapid and beneficial reforms as
Mexico; these have, in a short time, prepared the way for the
development of her extensive resources, which are themselves a
sufficient assurance of the future. The finances have of
recent years been brought to a high state of excellence, and
commerce throughout the Republic has flourished. Foreign
capital has flowed in steadily, railway construction has
progressed, and other modes of communication have improved,
the telegraph and postal service have been reformed. The
improvement of inter-oceanic communication across the
Tehuantepec isthmus, with the harbors now being constructed on
both coasts, will revolutionize the foreign trade of Mexico.
It will take more than three years to complete the
reconstruction of the railway and to put the ports in a
condition to enable freight to be taken from the ship's side
at one port and placed alongside the ship at the other within
24 hours. The Consul thinks the route is destined to become
one of the principal thoroughfares of the world, competing
with all other routes between Europe and the Far East.

{308}

Of what has been done for public education in Mexico under the
Diaz government the following account is given in one of the
publications (1900) of the Bureau of the American Republics:
"Education in Mexico has been for many years the subject of
serious consideration on the part of the Government, on
account of the difficulty experienced in combating the
conservative ideas prevailing in the Republic. The main
obstacles have, however, been overcome, and the country to-day
enjoys the benefit of a liberal system of education, which is
administered under three branches—gratuitous, lay, and
obligatory. … The law making education compulsory was
promulgated March 23, 1888, but its enforcement was not
decreed at that time, and the first Congress of Public
Education was convened for the purpose of adopting such
measures as should tend to establish an efficient and uniform
system of education. This congress met on December 1, 1889,
and closed its sessions on March 31, 1890. … A second congress
was convened on December 1, 1890, which solved certain
problems on compulsory elemental education, fixed the methods
to be followed in the schools of superior primary education,
and settled matters pertaining to normal schools, preparatory
education, and special schools. As the result of this
congress, the law of March 21, 1891, was enacted, regulating
compulsory education in the Federal District and the
Territories of Tepic and Lower California, which law became
effective on January 17, 1892. …

"On May 19, 1896, the law of public education was promulgated,
its salient points being as follows:

Official primary elemental education in the Federal Districts
and Federal Territories was placed under the exclusive control
of the Executive; primary superior education was organized as
an intermediate educational system between elementary and
preparatory instruction. A general board of primary education
was created, charged to develop and maintain the same under a
scientific and administrative plan. Preparatory education was
decreed to be uniform for all professions, its extent being
limited to the study of such matters as are necessary to the
development of the physical and intellectual faculties and the
morals of youth, it being further directed that professional
education be reorganized, limiting it to technical matters
which pertain to the profession or professions to which each
particular school is devoted.

"By virtue of this law public education ceased to be in charge
of the Board of Aldermen (ayuntamientos) of the
above-mentioned sections. At the time of its promulgation the
municipality of Mexico contained 113 schools, supported by the
Board of Aldermen, 14,246 students being entered on the rolls,
with an average attendance of 9,798. Each State defrays the
expenses of public education, either with funds specially
appropriated for that purpose or with the municipal funds.

"According to statistical data, in 1876, there were throughout
the country 8,165 primary schools, with 368,754 students of
both sexes. In 1895 Government schools reached the number of
4,056, of which 2,189 were for males, 1,119 for females, and
748 for both sexes; municipal schools numbered 3,394—for
males, 1,754; females, 932; both sexes, 708. These comprised
7,380 primary, 32 secondary, and 35 professional schools, the
number of students enrolled being 310,496 males and 181,484
females (a total of 491,980), and the mean attendance 338,066.
The total cost to the Government and the municipalities for
the maintenance of these institutions was $3,973,738. In the
same year private schools to the number of 1,816 were being
conducted, 659 for males, 460 for females, and the remainder
under a coeducational system. In addition, 276 were supported
by the clergy and 146 by associations, the total number of
students enrolled being 68,879, of which 40,135 were males and
38,744 females. The total number of private schools was
accordingly 2,238, of which 2,193 were devoted to primary
education, 34 to secondary instruction, and 11 to professions.

"The statistics for 1897, which are the latest available, give
the following figures:

SCHOOLS. 1896. 1897.

Federal and State Governments. 5,852 6,141
Municipal. 3,218 1,953
Private institutions. 1,953 1,797
Supported by the clergy. 303 285
Supported by associations. 186 122

"Using the figures given in 1896 for Vera Cruz and the Federal
District as identical for 1897, it may be safely assumed that
on December 31, 1897, the public schools in Mexico (Federal,
State, and municipal) stood as follows:

Number of schools. 9,065
Students enrolled. 666,787
Average monthly attendance. 458,035
Private institutions. 2,361
Number of students. 92,387
Average attendance. 75,857

"The total expenditures for the support of Federal, State, and
municipal schools amounted in 1897 to $6,291,000. In addition
to the normal and primary schools, the Government also
supports the following institutions:
School of jurisprudence,
school of medicine,
school of agriculture and veterinary instruction,
school of engineers,
school of fine arts,
school of arts and trades for men,
and a similar institution for women,
school of commerce and administration.
National conservatory of music,
preparatory school,
schools for the blind, for deaf-mutes;
reform schools, etc.,

also 9 museums, and 17 libraries containing from 400 to
159,000 volumes. Beside the Government institutions above
mentioned, there are throughout the country 26 museums, 83
libraries, 32 scientific and literary associations, and 457
periodical publications."

_Bureau of American Republics,
Mexico: a Geographical Sketch,
page 313._

MEXICO: A. D. 1899 (May-July).
Representation in the Peace Conference at The Hague.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

MEXICO: A. D. 1900 (January).
Re-election of President Diaz.

President Porfirio Diaz was reelected on January 1, for
a sixth term of four years.

MEXICO: A. D. 1900 (October).
Census of the Republic.
Gains shown in five years.

Announcement was made from Washington, on the 24th of
February, 1901, that "complete official returns of the census
taken on October 28, 1900, received by the Bureau of American
Republics, shows that the population of Mexico is 13,570,545,
against a population of 12,632,427 [given by M. Romero as
12,570,195—see above] in 1895. The gain in five years was
938,118, or 7.43 per cent. due in part to the greater accuracy
of the latest enumeration. The Federal District, in which is
located the City of Mexico, is the most densely populated
portion of the republic, and contains 530,723 people.
{309}
The City of Mexico increased about 20,000 in five years, and
now has nearly 357,000 inhabitants. The population of seven
States, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Puebla. Vera Cruz, Oaxaca,
Michoacan and Mexico, is 6,995,880, or a little more than
one-half of the entire population of the country. The
population of the States of Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala,
Morelos, Tabasco, Aguas Calientes, Campeche, Colima, and the
territories of Tepic and Lower California, the total area of
which is more than one-fourth the entire country, is slightly
in excess of 1,380,000, or a density of only about 2.7
inhabitants to the square kilometre. The central and southern
portions of the republic are the most thickly populated, the
Western and Northern States being the most sparsely settled,
and the Gulf region, or eastern coast, contains a larger
number of inhabitants than the Pacific Coast region. … The
greatest percentage of increase is noted in the northern
States. These States, in addition to being good agricultural
districts, are enormously rich in mineral wealth, and the
large increase in population in this part of the country is
chiefly due to the rapid development of the mines of the
republic, the erection of smelters and manufacturing plants,
and to the general stimulus given to trade and commerce by the
construction of railroads and the heavy investments of foreign
capital in the republic."

----------MEXICO: End--------

MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD POPULISTS, The.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-November); and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).

MILAN, Ex-King:
His later years and death.

See (in this volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES (SERVIA).

MILAN: A. D. 1898.
Revolutionary outbreak.

See (in this volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-MAY).

MILES, General Nelson A.:
Operations against Santiago de Cuba.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE-JULY).

MILES, General Nelson A.:
Commanding expedition against Porto Rico.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: PORTO RICO).

MILES, General Nelson A.:
Charges against the Commissary Department, U. S. Army.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898-1899.

MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS:
Armies of Europe and America and their cost.

See (in this volume)
WAR BUDGETS.

MILLENNIUM, The Hungarian.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1896.

MILNER, Sir Alfred:
Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY), and after.

MILNER, Sir Alfred:
Governor of the Transvaal and British High Commissioner.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH COLONIES): A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).

MINDANAO.