calories needed for a normal person to perform his labor.[1]
In 1876, there were 416 miles of railroad in operation in Mexico; in 1910, there were 16,000 miles for which the Mexican government had paid $75,000,000 in subsidies.[2] These railroads for the most part traversed the sparsely settled northern portion of Mexico and were built to connect American enterprises with the United States. The more productive and thickly settled portions of south-central Mexico had relatively little railroad mileage.[3]
In 1884, a code of mining laws was adopted by the federal government which took the regulation of mines out of the hands of the states and, departing from the old Spanish-Mexican idea that ownership of surface and subsoil is distinct, provided that a person who secured title to the land should also have a right to coal, petroleum, and certain other minerals beneath the surface. The ownership of mines soon fell almost entirely into foreign hands,[4] and mineral production was greatly increased. Factory development was not so extensive and consisted largely of textile mills, smelting, and power plants. Industrial development was fostered by concessions to foreigners under special legislation, often granting monopoly privileges, exemption from taxes and from duties on imported machinery, etc. Banks were established with exclusive rights of currency issued, to the amount of two or three times their currency reserve, exemption from federal and municipal taxes, and the right to foreclose on mortgage securities by private action of bank officials without judicial procedure. These banks
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