Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/580

out the country.^[1] These lines are now in communication with the telegraphic systems of the United States.

In 1870–1 the government extended grants and promised aid in the laying of submarine cables,^[2] and in this manner Mexico became connected with the United States, Central America, and South America.

Street railroads,^[3] telephones, and electric lights are being introduced with a rapidity proportionate to other progressive movements in Mexico.

1. In 1881 the govt possessed 10,365 kilometres of wires; in 1884, 31,100 kilometres. Various laws were passed imposing penalties and punishments upon those who destroyed or disturbed the wires. Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., x. 10, 12-13; Mex. Col. Ley. D. C., 63-7, iii. 267-8; Archivo, Mex. Col. Ley., vi. 18-19; Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., ix. 188-9; Mex., Diar. Ofic., March 28, 1871, 3. For the earlier history of the telegraph in Mexico, consult Garcia Cubas, Escritos Liversos, 394 405; Orozco y Berra, Mem. Ciud. Mex., 222-6; El Cronista, S. F., May 17, 1884.
2. Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., xi. 449-51, 587; Mex., Diar. Ofic., Nov. 1, 1871, 1; Diario Debates, 6th Cong., i. 292, 302-7; ii. 237, 246, 236.
3. The street-cars are managed after a method of their own. Instead of starting one every five minutes, they run four every twenty minutes, more or less, according to the traffic, thus despatching trains instead of single cars.