county and city in the Middle-Western states, for whose service railroads were constructed, contributed something in the form of subsidies; and, as we shall presently see, the National Government gave enormous sums to the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific companies.
Similar conditions in Mexico produced similar results in railroad construction. But those who now seek to excuse their confiscation of all the great investments made by foreigners before or during the Diaz régime, have sought to charge Diaz and his government with the responsibility for all subsidies granted to Mexican railroads. In point of fact, the encouragement of railroad construction in Mexico by subsidy was entered upon years before Diaz came into power in 1876, and was an important part of the efforts made by the great patriot, Juarez, to improve native land and elevate the condition of his countrymen. A history of Mexico says:
"While it would be difficult to determine exactly the date at which Mexico emerged from her condition of insularity and took her place among the nations of the world, it would not come amiss to mention that under the wise administration of Senor Lerdo she certainly laid the foundation for her coming prosperity. That marvel of engineering skill, the Mexican Railroad, which had been in progress of construction sixteen years, was
