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196 Mexican exports naturally fall. In buying merchandise from Mexico the countries ranked in the order named at the beginning. Under the stimulus of the high prices obtainable during the American Civil War the trade of the first two was greatly increased, and Great Britain shot far ahead of her competitors. At the end of the conflict trade values fell again and in 1867 the three were in the same relative positions as a decade before. Two years later, however, the United States passed Great Britain, taking a lead which was to be greatly accentuated by the opening of the railway era. By 1881 the United States held a share almost as great as that of the other two nations combined.

In the bullion and specie trade the United States took the lead earlier for reasons largely connected with the monetary policy of the country. In fact, by 1857 the bullion purchases of Great Britain and France were almost negligible. During the Civil War period the American share declined rapidly and the monetary legislation of the various countries in the years following made the course of silver shipments highly unstable. Beginning with 1876, shipments to the United States regularly exceeded those to either France or Great Britain.

Compared to the total import and export trade at the end of the first quarter-century of Mexican independence, the showing in the early '70s was satisfactory. Imports were somewhat less than 30,000,000 pesos in