the French colony presented the Mexican people with a monument designed to commemorate the work of M. Pasteur in the Republic. The presentation of a monument to Mexico by Americans resident in the country was also significant of the good feeling which at that time existed between the neighbouring Republics. Conspicuous among the celebrities who assisted at the various fêtes was the figure of the ancient President Diaz, then regarded as the deus ex machina of Mexican prosperity and modern advancement. Mexico seemed to have every reason to rejoice at the consummation of her first century of existence as a Republic. Never since Cortés set foot upon her shores had she appeared so prosperous. To the foreigner it seemed that her laws were impartially administered; never had her relations with the outside world been so uniformly cordial. She evidently entered the second century of her Republican existence with a clear conscience, and with eyes directed unswervingly towards a policy of peaceful industry and commercial enlargement within her own borders.
The outlook of Mexico at the commencement of her second century of Republican activity was indeed roseate. Scarcely a month passed in which some new source of national wealth or possible revenue was not discovered. The new Mexican transport route across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was shown to be a splendid success, and seriously threatened the Panama Canal as a rival in trans-isthmian carrying trade.[1] Subsequent to its opening, the trade between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts went up almost by leaps and bounds; and its relative proximity to Galveston and New Orleans, two of the most important shipping centres in the United States, rendered it an undertaking of international significance. Eight steamship lines converged upon its Atlantic terminus, and it is only the expense of transhipment of goods which
- ↑ It may still seriously rival the Canal should the almost certain failure of the Culebra Cut necessitate a further reconstruction of the trans-isthmian waterway.
