Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/564

544 to the dilatoriness of the United States government in encouraging steamship service, enjoyed an unrivalled monopoly of it on the Atlantic side, giving her a corresponding preponderance in trade with Mexico; but in 1860 and 1861 congress was at last aroused, and with such satisfactory results that at the present date the steamships plying between Mexican and United States ports are owned and controlled by American companies. The effect on the trade between the two countries is evidenced by the fact that the United States receives by far the greater portion of the exports from Mexico.

During the first administration of Porfirio Diaz, great impulse was given to the establishment of steamer lines. When he assumed office there were but three lines subsidized; at the end of his term there were eight. In 1883 the first national enterprise for transatlantic navigation was undertaken, and a company was organized under the title of the Mexican Transatlantic Steamship Company. Three iron steamers, each about 4,000 tons burden, were built, and run monthly between Vera Cruz, England, and Italy. The company obtained a large concession from the government under contract to convey immigrants to Mexico at low rates.