in 1874 and 1875 afforded an opportunity to devote its attention to the duties of administration, and various constitutional changes were effected. Besides the passage of the reform laws already mentioned, a bill for the establishment of the chamber of senators was brought before the house, and passed November 6, 1874, to take effect September 16, 1875.[1] On December 1, 1874, a stamp-act was passed, substituting the use of stamps for the 'papel sellado,' the rates of which, while they increased the revenue, were burdensome to the people. This act was amended, with some relief to the public, in March 1876.[2]
In 1874, also, diplomatic relations were renewed with European powers, and ambassadors were sent to Paris and to the courts at Madrid and Berlin. Friendly relations with Great Britain were still interrupted, previous differences being further aggravated by the belief that the inroads of Indians into Yucatan, if not instigated by the authorities at Belize, were to a great extent owing to the unfriendly attitude of the British colony. During the commencement of this year a treaty was entered into with Italy for the extradition of criminals.
Owing to the religious uprising in Michoacan and the disturbed state of Querétaro, Guanajuato, and Jalisco, the president, in April 1875, asked congress to invest him with extraordinary powers in matters
- ↑ Diario Debates, 7° Cong., iii. 505-14. The legislatures of the states had been called upon in Oct. to declare their opinions relative to this reform. The result was that the legislatures of 18 states were in favor of it; namely, Aguascalientes, Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nuevo Leon, Querétaro, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlascala, Vera Cruz, and Zacatecas. The remaining states did not vote; at the same time they did not oppose the reform. In congress the bill passed with 118 ayes against 13 noes Riva Palacio, ut sup., 424.
- ↑ All kinds of documents had to bear corresponding stamps. The account-books of all business men, the diplomas of professors, engineers, dentists, lawyers, and physicians, were all taxed by this law. Even agriculturists' and master workmen's certificates were required to bear a stamp of the value of $5. A lawyer's or doctor's stamp cost $20. The respective tariffs of 1874 and 1876 will be found in Méx., Ley del Timbre, 1874, and Méx., Ley del Timbre reformada en 28 de Marzo de 1876.
