tries, which was not the case,[1] as neither money, machinery, nor raw material could be procured as cheaply as in Europe, and the Mexican population lacked number, compactness, industry, and intelligence. The government made glowing reports on the progress of manufactures, which was attributed to the aid of the bank, but it all proved fallacious upon the destruction of the bank by its own founders.[2] The effort made was not, however, entirely fruitless, several companies having been organized, which laid the foundation of manufacturing industry in Mexico.[3]
Patent laws have been from time to time enacted to promote improvements in methods. Any product or manufacture, or means of producing, previously unknown in the country, became entitled to the benefits of the law. In granting a patent for introduction, preference has been given to the inventor holding a patent obtained from a foreign government.[4]
The manufacture of cotton goods during the Spanish rule existed to some extent in New Spain, notwithstanding the special favor shown by the government to fabrics of the mother country. There were factories in Querétaro, Tezcuco, Puebla, Tlascala, and Huetzotzingo. The business did not, however, attain great importance. Its progress was slow, and more as a need resulting from foreign wars.
- ↑ Some coarse woollen and cotton fabrics were the only productions, and the prospect was that even these would soon cease to be made. Mora, Revol. Méx., i. 40-1.
- ↑ The bank had loaned in specie and in imported machinery $1,176,234, to develop several industries. Mex., Mem. Min. Int., 1838, 16-17, 33-72; Suarez y Navarro, Hist. Mex., 326. The funds were in many instances misapplied, and in two or three years the bank's capital had disappeared. Since March 1883 the govt had used much of it. Richthofen, Mejico, 278-9.
- ↑ La Constancia, an appropriate name, was one set up in Puebla by E. de Antuñano and others. Mex., Mem. Min. Ext., 1835, 20-3; Alaman, Mem. Agric. é Ind., 1943, 19; D'Orbigny, Voy. Duex Ameriques, 413; Anduñano, Doc. Hist. Industrial, 1-31.
- ↑ Arrillaga, Recop., 1832-3, 87-9; Méx., Legis. Mex., 1832, 193–6; Galvan, Ordenanzas, 48–50. The number of patents issued from July 16, 1853, to June 30, 1857, was 61; they were for the respective terms of 5, 6, 10, and 15 years. Silíceo, Mem. Fomento, 104-11, and annex lvi. 51-73; Diario Debates, 9th Cong., iii. 314-16; Riva Palacio, Mem. Fom., 1877, 526. Nearly 220 petitions for patents were presented from Dec. 1, 1877, to Dec. 31, 1882. Mex., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1884, 437-42; Mex., Financier, Feb. 9, 1884.
