Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/545

Rh to progress. In later years the factories of Mexico, Puebla, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Jalisco, etc., were making the best quality of goods, such as are used for ladies' dresses, kerchiefs, and scarfs, preferred to the foreign because of the superiority of the material they were made of.

A paper factory was successfully established in San Ángel, near Mexico, in 1825, and the next year the government exempted for seven years from excise duty all paper made in the country. Later two other factories started. The government then, and again in 1853, decreed that only home-made paper should be used in the public offices, and for stamping. In 1845 there were in the republic six factories of unglazed paper, producing a great deal more than there was a den and for by the newspapers. They then began to make writing-paper, the quality of which was gradually improved, and the price reduced very considerably. In 1860, eight establishments made 1,641,580 reams, valued $6,366,320. The industry has all along had the fostering care of the government.

Crockery, porcelain, crystal, and glass manufacturing, with government protection, gradually developed, attaining a commendable degree of perfection. In 1857 the number of crockery and glass factories in the country were five, employing 326 persons at the weekly wages of $910. In 1860 there were five factories of fine and three of common crockery, producing to the aggregate value of nearly one and a half million