were illiterate; their lives for the most part were a dull and squalid routine; protection against disease was unknown; the agricultural methods were most primitive; the larger number still spoke the native dialects which had been used in the days of Montezuma; and over good stretches of the country the old tribal regime still represented the only form of political organization.

The one encouraging feature was that these Mexican Indians, backward as they might be, were far superior to the other native tribes of the North American Continent; in ancient times, they had developed a state of society far superior to that of the traditional Redskin.

Nevertheless, it was true that the progress of Mexico in the preceding fifty years had been due almost entirely to foreign enterprise.

By 1913, about 75,000 Americans were living in Mexico as miners, engineers, merchants, and agriculturists; American investments amounted to about $1,200,000,000--a larger sum than that of all the other foreigners combined.

Though the work of European countries, particularly Great Britain, was important, yet Mexico was practically an economic colony of the United States.