Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/591

Rh coast-guard fleet was on the stocks, and in 1851 the navy had with this indirect addition swollen to seven vessels, five of them manned by 133 sailors, besides an imposing staff of officers, and with 19 guns.

To compensate for the reduced strength of the regular army, greater attention was given to the militia, now divided into local and mobile, the former embracing all able Mexicans between the ages of 18 and 55, the latter composed of a proportion corresponding to six per mille of the population, and liable to serve beyond the state where enrolled, although not for a period exceeding six months. When leaving the place of residence for a day or more, the militia received the same pay as the regular troops, from state funds unless employed on federal service, in which case the state deducted their allowance from money due the supreme government. They were therefore entirely at the command of the states, and in sympathy with them, forming a powerful element for supporting demands against the federal authorities. The duty demanded even from the constantly employed mobiles, known also as the federal reserve army, was comparatively easy; especially as they were commanded by officers of their own election, and those who chose to enlist naturally preferred this service to the regular. Many states neglected to issue proper regulations for the militia, and but few chose to enforce them; so that great laxity prevailed, and this was increased by the loose character of the substitutes provided by those who could purchase exemption. A special allowance had to be made for equipping thirty-four companies of mobiles in the northern