sistence level, but they have ambition and work hard without losing their love of color and music and fiesta. Those at the bottom of the cultural strata live in the direst straits without resources or hope. It is estimated that perhaps two million of the rural population are in the last category. Illiteracy and poverty and disease are closely allied, and for that reason the Government is redoubling its efforts to bring fundamental education within the reach of all.

After the first impulse of colonization by the Spaniards in the 16th century, there has been little foreign immigration. The 1950 census enumeration showed a total of 182,707 foreign-born residents. Of that number 83,391 were from the United States and 37,540 from Spain. Two thousand or more came from each of the following countries: France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Poland, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Italy, China, Lebanon and Syria, Canada, and Guatemala. The increase by immigration was counterbalanced, however, by Mexican emigration.

All but a very small percentage of the Mexican people are nominally Roman Catholic. Some 330,000 Protestants were counted in 1950 and there were about 130,000 in all belonging to other faiths. A small Jewish community of 17,000 is located in Mexico City, but about half of these people were Mexican-born, their parents having been Sephardic immigrants in the first decade of this century. The fact that the dominant faith is shared by nearly the whole of the Mexican people, in and out of public life, would appear to be a unifying force, but the centuries-old conflict regarding the political and economic power of the clergy has never been resolved. The problem has its roots in the colonial period and the events leading up to the Reform Laws and Constitution of 1857, as well as in connection with conditions producing the Revolution of 1910 and efforts to carry out the provisions of the present Constitution. Although Church and State have been separated and education made secular, this schism in Mexican life seriously affects many aspects of the country's social and educational evolution.

Economic Development

Economic conditions in Mexico are as varied and complicated as the social situation. The prevalent standards of living may be indicated by the sections of the Government census dealing with food, clothing, and housing. According to these data, 131⁄2 million people (52 percent of the 1950 population) eat wheat bread and wear shoes, about 111⁄21⁄2 million (44 percent) eat no wheat bread and wear homemade sandals or go barefoot. (Infants under 1 year of age account for the remaining number.) Corn and beans are the food staples. While many homes are comfortable to palatial, more than half of the 5%1⁄2 million dwellings are primitive adobe or

reed structures serving only as elementary shelter. About 900,000 homes have running water, while 500,000 have no water service; 21⁄2 million have a well or tank for rain water, 11⁄2 million have a community water supply. About a fourth of the people live on ejidos, communal or cooperative farm villages with small individually worked plots. The ejido system, dating back to preconquest times, was instituted when the land monopoly of the Díaz regime was broken by expropriation and redistribution of some 76 million acres. About 62 percent of the land is still in large holdings, some of more than 2,500 acres, but the large haciendas and ranches are mostly in the north or other areas where the land is unsuited to small-scale cultivation.

The economically active population, according to official tabulations, numbers 8% million. More than half the workers are engaged in agriculture, cattle raising, or fishing; 1% million are employed as industrial labor; 684,000 are in commerce; 210,000 in transportation; 879,000 in service fields; and 355,000 in unspecified occupations. The per capita income averages about 2,250 pesos ($180 in U. S. currency) annually. Since the population is predominantly rural and too poor to provide a market for many things beyond the prime necessities, the nation's industries must depend largely for their outlet on the urban population. The Indians carry on their commercial transactions almost altogether in the markets, where a system of barter is used and little cash changes hands. One day each week the village square comes alive as the Indian families arrive to display their wares and exchange news. Some walk great distances up and down steep mountain trails, with men, women, children, and burros alike all heavily loaded.

These illustrations of economic conditions point to the difficult and numerous problems that confront the nation, but the whole picture must be viewed in contrast to pre-Revolutionary circumstances as well as in relation to modern Mexican ideals of material welfare. In the short space of 30 years, Mexico has moved with determination away from the semifeudal economy and the social order of privilege and peonage that had persisted into the twentieth century. The country is now in a decisive transitional stage in which possibly the tide has already turned in the direction of national prosperity.

Agriculture, although using the majority of workers, has not until recently produced the basic foods in sufficient quantity. In 1952 it was estimated that in order to overcome the scarcity the country would have to produce a minimum of 41⁄2 million tons of corn, 11⁄2 million tons of wheat, and 500 thousand tons of beans. The goal was reached in 1954–55, partly because rainfall was more abundant, partly because of increased irrigation, improved methods of cultivation, extension of the planted acreage, and a more liberal bank policy of agricultural credits. The increase in agricultural production, making Mexico self-sufficient in basic

foods, permitted storing a reserve of corn and beans, and yielded, in addition, more commercial or export crops, especially of cotton, coffee, and sugar. At the same time there was a surplus of 400,000 cattle for export. The gain in agriculture is but one example of the impressive progress that is being made toward increased national production. In his annual report to the Congress in September 1955, President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines enumerated percentages of increase in electric power production, manufacturing industries, mining, pertoleum production, railway freight loadings, passenger traffic, and volume of retail sales. By means of a loan to the Mexican Government by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1 billion, 125 million pesos ($90 million) are to be utilized for electrification, rehabilitation and construction of seaports, and erection of plants to produce fertilizers. The national budget, the largest in history, provides for the extension of railway and highway connections in order to interlock all existing routes into an integrated, widely ramified system. These improvements in communication are considered to be an indispensable means of agricultural, industrial, and social progress, for they will bring material benefits to the country at large and tend to elevate the cultural standards among many hitherto isolated segments of the population.

Along with improvements in harbors, highways, and railroads, Mexico is opening up new air transportation to remote settlements. One such project, planned by Heli-Mex, S. A., will bring 208 villages in 3 southern states into a network which makes contact with the railroad and the Pan American Highway. A fleet of small planes and helicopters is already carrying passengers, cargo, and mail to jungles and mountains that are inaccessible by other means. This service, first started in order to carry the payroll safely and quickly to the oil fields, now uses 500 landing fields which have as yet few facilities. Some 28 subsidiary lines carry on intercity air service. The airport in México, D. F., which is ultra-modern, spacious, and complete in every way, is served internationally.

Increasingly aware of the importance of Mexico's mineral assets, President Ruiz Cortines recently recommended the creation of two Government agencies for their control and protection: the Superior Coordination Council, to have jurisdiction over non-renewable natural resources, and the Nuclear Energy Commission, with special jurisdiction over uranium deposits and other radioactive material. The Papaloapan Commission, established by Law in 1951, has a budget of 100 million pesos and a staff of 180 engineers and specialists to work in the Papaloapan River basin. This area includes about half the State of Oaxaca and parts of the States of Veracruz and Puebla. The Commission surveys the natural resources; directs the construction of dams and roads; organizes sanitation campaigns; and plans the development of education, agriculture, cattle raising, meat packing, etc., in the new communities that are

established. The Miguel Alemán Dam, now complete, irrigates up to 750 thousand acres. Some redistribution of the population will take place as a result of this and other large public works projects under way. The 1955 budget also provides for the construction of several additional irrigation systems to extend the acreage of tillable soil and for the construction of new hospitals, clinics, and schools. The petroleum industry, nationalized in 1938, is expanding rapidly. Discovery of new oil fields is expected to halt the evils of deforestation and erosion by providing abundant fuel. Consumption of gasoline is increasing and a new refinery plant in the State of Guanajuato is producing all types of lubricating oils, which formerly had to be imported. Industrialization is somewhat concentrated in the capital, but Monterrey, Saltillo, Guadalajara, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, and a few other cities are noteworthy for their manufactures and industrial growth. Mexico's movie industry. boasting four large companies, the Tepeyac, Churubusco, Clasa, and Azteca, has occupied first place among Spanish-speaking countries in recent years.

Although mechanized production is encouraged, particularly to utilize available raw materials, there is one field-that of the Indian handicraftsin which efforts are being made to preserve the ancient ways. Large numbers of artisans, estimated at 3 million, still work at least part time at the same crafts which were the marvel of the early explorers: featherwork, textiles, blown glass, pottery, fiber goods, jewelry of silver and gold and semi-precious stones, lacquered objects, leather goods, wood carving, straw mats and baskets, and many other beautiful objects. The quality and unusual diversity of the folk arts have withstood the turbulence of centuries, and post-Revolutionary Mexico has come to have a fresh appreciation of the high place that popular arts should have in the developing culture. Throughout the Republic, especially in the large market in Oaxaca, the array of handicraft gives evidence of the artistry and creativity of the indigenous peoples. A small factory in Yucatán, utilizing native mahogany and other fine woods, is producing furniture for export, but the native crafts would deteriorate or cease altogether if put on a mass production basis. The maintenance of the handicraft industry is related also to the tourist trade, a major source of income for Mexico. The dollar value of tourism grew from 65 million in 1945 to 158 million in 1951.

Another significant outgrowth of the Revolution has been the labor movement. The Constitution prescribes an advanced code of labor standards. Minimum wages are fixed every 2 years by Government boards, though the wage may vary according to locality, and wages above the minimum are set by individual or collective agreement. Labor is organized in four principal national confederations and several independent national unions, all of which have close political connections.

The social security system, so far applying chiefly to urban workers, provides for compulsory insurance of employed persons against industrial accidents, sickness, disability, old age, and death. Federal low-rent housing and consumers cooperatives also help the worker to become economically secure. Although peonage still exists, in practice, hacienda workers are protected by laws requiring that they be paid a minimum wage and have adequate living quarters, schools, and a tract for subsistence farming and grazing of domestic animals.

Educational History

INDIAN EDUCATION

From the abandoned cities of the Mayas it is known that they were advanced in astronomy, mathematics, architecture, and the arts, but their civilization was decadent when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico and little is certain about their education. Organized public education appeared among the Aztecs during the rule of Chief Izcóatl, who died in 1440. Details of the strict discipline and subject matter of the system are set forth in the Codex Mendocino, now in the National Museum.

All Aztec life was subordinated to religious ritual. Being the chosen people of Huitzilopochtli, war god and symbol of the sun, which dies every night and is reborn every morning after triumphing over moon and stars, it was their duty to provide his food-human blood—so that the sun would not cease to give light. Even the public festivals, featuring music, dancing, gymnastics, and ball games, had a religious significance. The main purpose of education therefore was to prepare boys to be priests or warriors and girls to serve in the temples. Those who through lack of position or capacity could not enter the State schools received no formal education outside the home.

Up to age 15 the sons were taught by the father and the daughters by the mother according to methods rigidly prescribed for each year. Children of nobles and poor alike had a diet of corn tortillas (tlaxcalli), were bathed in cold water, wore scant clothing, slept on hard beds, and did light chores such as carrying water or carding cotton. At age 7 the boys learned the father's trade and the girls took up spinning. Laziness was punished at age 8 by pricking with maguey thorns, and in succeeding years also by tying the hands and feet, whipping, and subjection to the asphyxiating smoke of dry chili peppers. By age 14 the boy had learned to row a boat, fish, and gather wood and herbs. The girl could spin, weave, grind corn, bake tortillas, and cook. Both were given moral maxims to instill reverence, respect for parents, consideration of the and invalid, devotion to duty, and horror of lying and idleness. The

poor