that had its beginning in the early '80s. Along each stretch of line there grew up a productive area contributing to national wealth and to the strength and stability of the government, which had been far sighted enough to abandon the conservatism and prejudice of the former generation. Agriculture flourished as never before. Mining interests could market products that formerly had been valueless and for industries conditions were created that made possible local production in many lines, in more than household industries for the first time in history. [1]
The advantages, which the early years indicated, were continued and increased throughout the Diaz régime. Heavy freight could now be carried long distances, ore, lumber, sisal, all the articles of large bulk that enter into Mexican domestic and foreign commerce came to have value where they had none before. The railroads were one of the important links in the chain of circumstances that made the Mexico of the Diaz régime a possibility and seemed to guarantee that the republic had entered at last on a period of peaceful development that would not be easily interrupted. In international relations, too, the railroads had had a beneficent influence. The improved communications had turned a large part of Mexican commerce in a north and south direction. The United States had come closer to the republic, not only in time but in economic interest and in understanding.
- ↑ An excellent description of the effect of the railways upon Mexican development is found in Bernard Moses, Railway Revolution in Mexico, 1905. See also Luis Pombo, México: 1876-1892, Mexico, 1893, p. 52 et seq.
