MEXICO.                              
   765

  The investigating commission which was appointed for the States of Sonora
and
Chihuahua, after having finished their investigations in the former State,
are contin-
uing them at present in Chihuahua. As the six months' designated were not
sufficient,
the executive extended the time six months, according to the law. The labors
of this
commission, as also those which the commission appointed for the State of
Coahuila,
Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas, concluded successfully, will be very fruitful
in the just
defense of the rights and interests of the inhabitants of the frontier.
  The contracts subsidizing two lines of steamers for service at regular
intervals be-
tween several of our ports on the Pacific have become involved in difficulties,
which
the executive has sought to remove. The contracts having been renewed, the
service
of the steamers has been continued with decided benefit to'several of our
States which
have an important commerce with those ports, In due timethere will be submitted
to
Congress the extension which is thought to be necessary in the, term of one
of the con-
tracts, in order that, if it be thought proper, it may give its approbation.
  It has been announced that the service of a line of steamers between Vera
Cruz and
New Orleans, touching at Tuxpan and Tampico, will not only be begun within
the
stipulated time, but that the beginning will be anticipated in October next.
This serv-
ice will be very useful to the commerce of those three ports, by reason of
the greater
frequency of communication and greater accommodation of travelers.
  A contract has been made, subsidizing a new line of diligences from Tepic
to Guay-
mas. This line will extend about three hundred leagues through the whole
length of
Sinaloa, and a considerable extent of Sonora, with great benefit to the commerce
and
travel in those important States, and to the frequency and expedition of
the mails,
since, instead of two, there will be three weekly passages, reducing the
delay to half
the time until now employed.
  In order to facilitate commerce in an important part of Sonora, a custom-house
has
been established at the port of Libertad; as, also, one has been established
for the
same purpose at Tijuana, on the frontier of the territory of Lower California.
  There has been completed and in press, for presentation to Congress, the
plan of
reform of the mineral ordinances. Once decreed as federal law, besides its
beneficial
application to the territory of Lower California, it may be adopted by our
mining
States, in so far as it may contribute to the development of this interesting
branch of
the national wealth.
  As the publication of the code of procedure in criminal cases is connected
with some
modifications in the organization of the district tribunals, this subject
will merit, to
the extent Congress may think best, its intelligent consideration.
  Several States have adopted the views of the proposition which the executive
ad-
dressed to Congress respecting compulsory primary education. The advantage
of
attempting this in the district and federal territory will be considered
by the repre-
sentatives of the nation, since so much good is to be expected from the development
of primary instruction, the inexhaustible fountain of the intelligence of
the people,
and an element most efficacious for the consolidation of democratic institutions.
  Diligent care has been taken to better, so far as possible, by useful instruments
and
necessary apparatus, practical instruction in those branches which require
it, in order
that the ample theoretic instruction in the national schools of the second
grade may
be made the most beneficial.
  The experiment has also been tried of introducing into both the primary
and sec-
ondary schools of instruction suitable exercises for the physical development
of the
pupils. The wisdom of Congress will determine what it may think best touching
the
pending reforms in the law of public instruction.
  The time of the lease of the mint of Chihuahua having expired in August,
arrange-
ments were made at the proper time to receive it, so that, with the exception
of the
one in Mexico, the termination of whose lease still is delayed, the other
ten mints of
the republic are already administered by the government.
  The re-coining of worn money has commenced, in order to remedy the evils
caused
by its circulation. Efforts should be made at once to withdraw the old silver
coinage
of the smaller values, to the end that all the money may be uniform in the
decimal sys-
tem.
  Recently the cable communicating with the, island of Carmen has been laid,
con-
necting the telegraph line of Mexico, by Tabasco, with Campeachy and Yucatan.
The
executive omits no exertion that each day may advance more and more the lines
un-
der construction, and provides the materials for the extensive lines proposed,
that will
unite the capital of the repumblic with those States where telegraphic conmunication
does not yet exist, so useful to commerce, industry,.and all the branches
of public
service.
  Successful measures are being t~aken to finish the mole of Tumpico, and
the ca~nal
between the lakes of Chijol and Tamiahun, which will facilitate commerce
between
many toWns of the States of Vera Cruz and Tamaulipas. Also, the necessary
provision
has been made to comme~nce the canal between the river Armeria, and the lake
of