The National Library, which has a large and very convenient building and location in the capital, is a noteworthy institution. In its collec tion of more than 400,000 volumes are many rare books and manuscripts. Among these are works by early Spanish historians and scholars written before the art of printing was known. A very large proportion of the volumes in this library was originally the property of the church or of the priesthood and the books were confiscated by the government during the progress of the war of reform. Naturally many of them deal with religion, literature, language or history. Of similar character are most of the state libraries. While there are some 45 public museums in the republic many of which are quite extensive and all of which are exceedingly interesting and instructive, far greater importance attaches to the National Museum in the city of Mexico, than to all others combined. Although it has occupied its present quarters in the National Palace only since 1865, it was established in 1831, with the collections belonging to the Con servatory of Antiquities founded by Emperor Iturbide in 1822, and to the Royal University, to which Viceroy Bucareli y Ursula had in 1775 transferred the remnants of a most valuable collection of maps, hieroglyphs on skins, manu scripts, etc. These were consolidated under the name of the National Museum. Here the student of archrology, of ethnology or of any other department of the ancient history of the American continent, or of the peoples who have at different periods dwelt upon it, may find greater wealth of material for investigation and study than exists in any similar institution in the western world. While there are also a number of very important art collections in the principal state capitals, the National Gallery, in the city of Mexico, holds unquestioned pre eminence. Of literary and scientific societies there are many in Mexico. Every considerable community is the home of one or more of these associations, some of which have been in exist ence many years.
The Revolutionary party of 1910 was un reservedly committed to the education of the masses; but the burden was unloaded upoti the individual states and communities over which the federal government retained super visory rights but with no central control. The Constitutional party has shown itself strongly opposed to church control of schools of any kind, whether public or private. In Mexico the city schools are fairly good, while those of the towns and villages and the country districts are very elementary and poor. This is due to lack of funds for the maintenance of public schools and the difficulty of getting capable teachers for the salaries paid. The plan of organization of the Mexican schools is more French than American. Primary instruction covers four years and the high school course two. Four years of preparatory school duties lead to the university, which is much more academic in form than in the United States; so much so, in fact, that the work covered by the National University, as it is now constituted, was known, previous to 1913, as °the course of higher studies.° But the Revolutionary • party did away with the cabinet office of Minister of Public Instruction, giving to the arts depart ment of the university its old name of the National Preparatory School and erecting the post-graduate school into a university. Where
as previous to this all education had been with out charge, the new educational law exacts a fee of $5 a month in both the preparatory school and the university, with all their affili ated schools, like those of medicine, law, den tistry, engineering, etc. (17 Jan. 1916). For some years past the tendency of Mexican pub lic education has been toward the practical at the expense of the academic; and this tendency has been accentuated by the changes recently made. Military instruction is made obligatory; French and English have been reduced from a three to a two-year course and much attention is paid to manual training. To the General Direction of Public Instruction of the Depart ment of the Interior, re-established in 1914, is entrusted all educational matters pertaining to the Federation, which were originally handled by the Department of Public Instruction and Fine Arts. The General Direction of Fine Arts of the Department of Fomento (Promotion) has charge of all public libraries, national monuments, historical, arclizological, artistic and other remains; the National University, preparatory, normal and primary instruction, including the teaching of agriculture, com merce, industry, geology and manual training in the Federal District and in the territories. Rudimentary education and state colleges and schools are in the hands of the local authori ties which have their own governing bodies for this purpose. All companies having char ters from either the federal or state authori ties are, by virtue of this concession, obligated to provide schools and teachers for the chil dren of the people in their employ. The same law applies to plantations, ranches and agri cultural enterprises in general. This new law has worked fairly well and has been instrti mental in increasing largely the number of schools throughout the republic. In the state of Yucatan alone there were, in 1917, nearly as many school buildings as there were in all the republic in 1876. In others of the states under the control of the Constitutionalist party, the number had, in 1917, been doubled since 1910.
The National Preparatory School in Mexico City (the old arts department of the National University) is now, what its name indicates, purely a school to prepare pupils to enter upon' the study of some one of the professions. It is a little higher than an American college and considerably less than an American university. The National University includes the School of Higher Studies and the of law, medicine, engineering and odontobogy. It is governed by a university council at the head of which is the rector. Owing to the unsettled condition of the country due to the revolution, definite educational statistics are not available for the past Six years; but the gederal reports iskued by the Constitutional govermnest a steady increase in the efficiency of the Mx school system and an encouraging decrease z illiteracy in about two-thirds of the gab E the Union. More and better trained todm however, are urgently needed to carry an h work of general national instruction and h fight against illiteracy now under way. Be the battle is an uphill one; for the ilfiterne still count about 70 per cent of the total pia lation of the country.