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 the foreign commerce of the republic." An approximative estimate of the results for 1680 was as follows:

The precious metals—coin, bullion, and ores—always constitute the great bulk of what Mexico exports; and the proportion of agricultural products or other merchandise exported is surprisingly small. Thus, out of the total value of exports for 1884, estimated by Consul-General Sutton at $39,716,000, nearly three fourths, or $28,452,000, were credited to the precious metals, and only $11,264,000 to all other commodities; and, of these last, the largest proportion always consists of articles produced near the seaboard, or near the line of the City of Mexico and Vera Cruz Railroad. During recent years, and since the construction of the so-called American railroads, the increase in the exports from Mexico, of products other than the precious metals, has, however, been very notable, and is apparently progressive. But the fact that the exports of Mexico always largely exceed her imports, that the great bulk of the exports are always the precious metals, and that the excess of imports does not represent payment for interest to any extent on any national foreign indebtedness, naturally creates a suspicion that the whole (export) transaction is something abnormal; which may find an explanation in the existence of a class of wealthy absentee landlords, or proprietors, who, living permanently in Paris or Spain, draw rents, tolls, and profits from their Mexican properties, and invest or expend the same in other, or foreign countries. The bulk of the coinage of Mexico—both of silver and of gold—is exported almost as soon as it leaves the mints. Thus, although the average annual coinage of the Mexican mints from 1876 to 1880 was $22,524,694, and since then has been larger ($25,610,000 in 1881-82), the amount of coin in actual circulation in the country is believed to have never been in excess of $15,000,000 or $20,000,000. Much of the Mexican coined silver has, as is well known, been heretofore in large demand to meet the world's requirements for trade with China; but what has come back to Mexico for it in exchange is somewhat of a commercial puzzle.

In a report to the State Department (May, 1884), ex-Consul-General Strother thus briefly sums up the obstacles (heretofore noticed more in detail in this series of papers) which stand in the way of the future development of the commerce of Mexico. He says: "Topographically considered, Mexico labors under many serious disadvantages to commerce, whether external or internal. Her coasts on both oceans are broad belts of intolerable heat, disease, and aridity, and, except a few small seaport towns, are nearly uninhabited. On the whole extent of her coast-line there are but two natural harbors available