Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/176

164 outside of the gates, that a revolver hung conveniently near the head of his iron bedstead, while another was suspended from the wall, in close proximity to the little table on which his meals were served; and also by the following remark, called out by a suggestion from one of the visitors, that a rug on the hard, unattractive red-tile floors would seem to be desirable: "If you had to examine your bed every night, to see that a scorpion or centiped was not concealed in its coverings, the less of such things you had to turn over the better."

According to information furnished on inquiry, the hours of labor in this typical Mexican cotton-mill were as follows: "help" work from daylight until 9.30, going out a half-hour for breakfast at 9.30 , and an hour for dinner, at 2; Saturday night the machinery runs later. The spinners earn from thirty-seven and a half to fifty cents per day; weavers from six to seven dollars per week. On hearing these statements, one of the visiting party, more interested in humanitarianism than in manufactures or economics, involuntarily remarked, "Well, I wonder if they have got a God down in Mexico!" There were present at this visit and inspection a representative of one of the large cotton-factories at Fall River, and one of the best recognized authorities on mechanics and machinery, from Lowell, Massachusetts; and the judgment of these experts, after taking all the facts into consideration, was, that if this Mexican cotton-factory, with all its advantages in the way of hours of labor and wages, were transferred to New England, it would, in place of realizing any profit, sink a hundred thousand dollars per annum. And yet the proprietor of this mill (Don Rubio) and his family are reputed to be among the richest people in Mexico.

The adoption of the theory of "free trade," or "protection," as the basis of a national fiscal policy, does not appear to have as yet interested, to any extent, either the Government or the people of Mexico; and it is doubtful whether, since the country achieved its independence from Spain, it has ever been seriously discussed or considered by anybody. Under the tariff act in force in 1882, there were one hundred and four specifications of articles which could be imported free of duty—including vessels of all kinds, machinery, and most railroad equipments and cars—and eleven hundred and twenty-nine specifications of articles subject to duties, nearly all of which (only thirty-two exceptions) are simple and specific. No other rule seems to have been recognized and followed in imposing duties on imports than that "the higher the duty (or tax) the greater will be the accruing revenue"; and the ad valorem equivalents of many of the apparently simple and moderate duties levied on imports into Mexico are consequently so excessive that the average rate of the Mexican tariff is probably greater than that adopted at present by any other civilized country. All domestic manufacturing industries that could be exposed to foreign competition as, for example, the