Increase of trade during the year 1896-97.-The data given in the chapter on Foreign Trade contain detailed statements of the amount of commodities and precious metals exported from Mexico into the United States during the last ten years, and I refer, therefore, to the same, those desiring more detailed information on that subject.

I give, however, a statement of the leading merchandise imported from Mexico into the United States, during the last fiscal year, compared with the fiscal year ended June 30, 1896, embracing only such imports as are not specifically stated in the data taken from the official reports of the United States Statistical Bureau, and which appear on pages 176 and 177. The following data, also taken from the last official report of the same Bureau, shows a comparative increase of trade.

I also append a similar statement of some of the articles exported from the United States into Mexico during the last fiscal year, compared with the previous one, ended June 30, 1896, embracing only such exports as are not specifically stated in the data taken from the official reports of the United States Statistical Bureau, appearing on pages 178 to 183, and which I also take from the last official report of the same Bureau. When it is taken into consideration that the Mexican imports from the United States during the last fiscal year were made on a falling silver market, the annexed statement shows a considerable financial strength.

EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES TO MEXICO.

(Fiscal year 1896-97 and preceding year.)

Tropical Products Supplied by Mexico to the United States.-It will be interesting to state in what proportion Mexican imports of tropical products figure in the total imports of said commodities into this country.

From 1892 to 1896 the annual average of importation of vanilla beans into the United States was 205,197 pounds, of which Mexico furnished 142,727 pounds, or 69 per cent. Mexico receives for her vanilla crop, annually, $640,000 gold.

Mexico's average annual exportation of coffee to the United States for the past five years was 28,927,410 pounds, or 4.8 per cent., of the total American purchase of coffee, Brazil furnishing 70 per cent., Central America 7.6 per cent., Venezuela 6.4 per cent., and the British West Indies 1.1 per cent. There is plenty of room for the Mexican coffee-growing industry to expand. Mexico's fine flavored, mild coffees are steadily gaining in favor in the United States.

In henequen, or sisal grass, Mexico takes the leading place in the import trade of the United States, selling," of the total received there, 98.1 per cent. The average annual importation for the past five years was 50,129 tons, of which Mexico furnished 49,195, Cuba 277, British Australia 386, and all other countries 271. Mexico received a yearly average, during the five years, for her henequen, of $4,218,267, gold. All of which went to the State of Yucatan.

In sugar, Mexico holds but an insignificant place in the American. importation, which showed an annual average, during the past five years, of 3,827,799,481 pounds, Cuba furnishing 46.5 per cent. and Hawaii 7.9 per cent.

We could expand very largely our sugar production and supply this country with almost all of that product, but as sugar is produced in Louisiana and as Hawaii is likely to belong to the United States the protective policy of this country will not allow us to supply the United States with that commodity on a large scale.

Mexico is sending on an average every year, 1,400,000 pounds of wool to the United States. In 1892 she exported but 190 pounds.

The United States takes, annually, an average of 50,493,000 pounds of goat skins, of which Mexico furnishes 3,007,000, or 5.9 per cent. Of other hides and skins the United States imports 167, 993,000 pounds, Mexico's share being 4.3 per cent.

The cattle trade of Mexico with the United States increased considerably under the liberal provisions of the Wilson Bill, which taxed cattle with 20 per cent. ad valorem. The following statement shows how large the increase of that trade was under that bill :

Mexico has been for at least two years the most important source of supply to the United States for cattle purchased abroad, Canada furnishing, in 1896, cattle to the value of but $18,902, and the United Kingdom $6,684. The cattle trade is one in which American, as well as Mexican capital is embarked, but it will be considerably diminished if not completely destroyed under the highly protective tariff.

COINAGE.

In the chapter on Mining I gave a concise statement of the silver and gold coined in Mexico from the time of its discovery by the Spaniards to the fiscal year ended June 30, 1896, and it appears from the same that the total coinage of silver amounted to $3,398,664,400.

According to the report of the Director of the Mint (page 347) on the "Production of Precious Metals in the United States during

the Calendar Year 1895," the last one out as this paper goes to press, the total production of silver of the world from 1493 to 1895 is $10,345,688,700, the Mexican coinage being over one-third of the whole.

It must be borne in mind that that statement embraces, so far as Mexico is concerned, only the silver coined, and it does not take into consideration the silver used in the arts, which used to be a considerable amount, as almost every well-to-do Mexican had forks, spoons, plates and other table ware and household articles of solid silver. It does not embrace either such silver as was smuggled in bullion, which, considering the large extent of the Mexican sea coast, its scanty population and the general demoralization during our civil wars represents a very large amount. It can, therefore, be safely stated that the production of silver in Mexico, not coined, represents at least from one-fourth to one-third of the amount coined. Therefore, the production of silver by Mexico may be safely estimated at from $5,000,000,000, to $6,000,000,000, which is about one-half of the total product of the world.

The following statement shows the amount of silver coined by the several mints of Mexico from their establishment to June 30, 1895, stating the years in which the coinage was made:

I give a statement of the production of gold and silver in Mexico in the fiscal years 1879-1880, 1889-1890 and 1894-1895, which shows

a considerable increase in each of those years, and this statement only represents such amounts of the precious metals as were either exported in bullion or taken to the mints, and not the production that is otherwise disposed of.

PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN MEXICO IN THE FISCAL YEARS

1879-1880, 1889-1890 AND 1894-1895.

The following statement gives the exports of the precious metals from Mexico during the same years embraced in the preceding table.

EXPORT OF PRECIOUS METALS AND MINERALS FROM MEXICO IN THE FISCAL YEARS 1879-1880, 1889-1890 AND 1894-1895.