3 182201957 9978
CZAR OF MEXICO
By CARLO DEFORNARO
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEG
3 182201957 9978
DIAZ
Czar of Mexico
AN ARRAIGNMENT BY CARLO DE FORNARO
With an Open Letter to
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Second Edition
(Revised)
PCBUSHED BY CARLO DE FORNARO
9 West 45th Street, New York
1909
SEPTEMBER, 1
NEW YORK
I N DEX.
1 . Warning 7
2. Letter to Roosevelt
3. Porfirio I, Czar of Mexico 13
4. A Review of the Life of Porlirio Diaz 15
Period i
" 2
" 3
" 4
5. The Morgue of P. Diaz 41
His Assassinations, His Victims.
The Massacre of Vera Cruz.
The Assassinations of General Ramon
Corona, of General Garcia de la Cadena
and of General Angel Martinez.
The Carnage of Orizaba.
6. The System. A Political Mafia. Its Results. 59
History of a Great Conspiracy.
7. Justice Under Diazpotism 79
IJelem The Mexican Bastille.
The Penitentiary.
The Correctional School.
The Department of Police in Mexico.
The Ley Fuga.
Quintana Roo The Mexican Siberia.
3. The Press in Mexico . . 10 1
9. Political Parties ,>'... ...117
10. Porlirio Diaz *. .. 13 i
1 1 . The Central American Question i 1 45
12. The Future and Possibilities of Mexi x> . i ;i
Of this book the following editions are going to be
published :
Mexico.
Central America.
In Spanish for
South America.
Cuba.
. Spain.
United States.
In English for
In French for
In German for
England.
Canada.
France.
Belgium.
Germany.
Switzerland.
Austria.
In Italian 1 Italy.
When I open a work on practical sociology relating
to a nation, without finding in it stringent criticism, since
there never existed bodies undeserving of censure in some
organ or function, I write down the name of the author
at dithyrambic and fraudulent and so as not to be caught
again I throw the volume into the fire to prevent further
harm to the soul of an honest man.
W. TODD, quoted by F. BULNES.
Warning.
This is to testify that I, Carlo de Fornaro, author
of this pamphlet, do not harbour the design of sub-
verting the Mexican Government, neither do I belong
to any revolutionary junta, nor do I plan the overthrow
of Porfirio Diaz in order to install myself in his place ;
that I am neither a "gringo" nor a Mexican and there-
fore cannot be inventing any sociopolitical, financial
and regenerating schemes; that I do not entertain
any grudge or ill-will toward the Mexican Government
or any individual in Mexico, since during my stay there
I was treated with the utmost courtesy, and even with
distinction.
I challenge and dare Porfirio Diaz to permit
the free sale of this book in Mexico: for if the
accusations herein are baseless, they can easily be
laughed away. However Porfirio Diaz will not laugh,
but will silently suppress the truth, inasmuch as a gov-
ernment as perverse as his own cloaks its doings
with the utmost secrecy. I am perfectly aware of
the risks incurred by this venture, now and in the
future, but I gladly shoulder all the responsibilities,
hoping that in a near day a high minded philanthropist
will be induced to create "a society for the prevention
of cruelty to Mexicans."
This pamphlet contains the truth and nothing
but the truth, so help me God!
Amen.
To Theodore Roosevelt.
In a letter addressed to James Creelman, March 7,
1908, thanking him for his article on President Diaz
in Pearson's Magazine, you affirm that among con-
temporary statesmen there is no one greater than
President Diaz, for he has done for his country every-
thing that a man humanly can do, and that Mr. Creel-
man has given to the American people the best and
most life-like picture that is known up to date of this
great President.
Now, I challenge all three statements as erroneous
and unjust, since they are based on information super-
ficial, one-sided and incomplete. Mr. Creelman's inter-
view and your letter of thanks to him, through their
Avide publicity, have done incalculable harm, for an
opinion, even if honest and sincere, is harmful if founded
on misinformation. Mr. Creelman remained only a
few weeks in Mexico that was superficial ; his article
spoke through the lips of President Diaz that was
onesided ; and his knowledge of the conditions, political
as well as historical of Mexico, was. incomplete and
amateurish, as his article proves. It was my good
fortune nearly three years ago to settle in Mexico City,
as one of the founders, one of the directors and Sunday
Editor of "HI Diario", which is now the first paper as
far as prestige and a good second as far as circulation
in the whole Republic of Mexico. In these years I
had the opportunity to observe the development of
events from our newspaper office like a doctor who
feels the pulse of a patient and I have watched the atti-
tude of the Mexican Government as represented by
President Diaz as a curious spectator peeps behind the
scenes at the workings of a theatrical company.
I have taken the trouble in these years to read
carefully and assiduously the history, of Mexico before
President Diaz's rise to power, and also during his
regime, through files of forgotten newspapers, pamph-
lets, and directly through the Mexicans, either friends
and admirers of President Diaz, or his enemies and
detractors and likewise through those who were in-
different to his political work.
After patient and mature reflection I have come
to the following conclusions : That President Diaz has
hot done all that was humanly possible, but all that
was inhumanly possible for a man to do.
That Mr. Creelman's picture of President Diaz is
not the best known representation of him, but it is as
the President likes to be represented: as the creator
and saviour of modern Mexico.
That in reality he is only a tyrant and a despot in
the fullest sense of the word, the creator of a political
system more cruel, more diabolical, more profound
than Machiavelli ever dreamed of in his "Prince", more
subtle and insidious than Loyold's order of the
Jesuits, more bloody and relentless than Abdul Hamid's
reign of terror and asassination ; more harmful and
perverse to Mexico than Caligula's sway over Rome.
President Diaz has never done anything for the
Mexican people except in so far as it could help him
to rise to power, to wealth and to international prestige.
He has stifled all the patriotic and pure ideals of
his people, keeping instead of the substance, a form,
an appearance which is only a mockery and an insult
to every intelligent person.
Therefore I say that he cannot and must not be
called a great statesman, for being essentially persona],
his work will logically die with him; that to designate
him as a great President is to reverse all our political
standards, for then Washington cannot be accounted
a great President, and Lincoln is not the great-
est, the purest, the highest ideal in statesmanship if
this man is considered great.
For President Diaz has sacrificed all the liberties
of the Mexican people to his personal ambition, ex-
10
cepting those of his henchmen, courtesans, favorites
and conspirators.
He has throttled and choked the three great bul-
warks of any civilized nation : personal liberty, the free-
dom of the press and common justice. For almost a
generation President Diaz has kept up the comedy of a
democratic, liberal, paternal and patriotic govern-
ment for the benefit of the unsuspecting civilized
nations; his press agents were the foreigners who in
exchange for concessions and privileges have given
back flatteries, lies, or silence pregnant with meaning;
his henchmen, at home and abroad, divided their spoils
among themselves like Pashas, and to the rest of the
Mexicans were given the bread crumbs from the
banquet table full of meat and drink, and if they growled
they were kicked into submission. Verily he has
fooled all the people some of the time, but he cannot
fool all the people all the time.
If your patience is as great as your good- will, read
these notes, for they are the result of honest and con-
scientious research. The writer of these lines has
broken away from his financial interests so as to be
completely free to tell the truth.
The only claim he makes for this work, is that it
shall be the first leaf in the volume for the future his-
tory of modern Mexico, which will have to be rewritten
by free men.
CARIX) DE FORNARO,
National Arts Club, New York.
ll
Porfirio 1. Czar of Mexico.
A great man should make great sacrifices and
kill his hundred oxen, without knowing whether
they would be consumed by Gods and heroes, or
whether the flies would eat them.
EMERSON.
Hero of a thousand and one battles, the Prince of
Peace, the Superman of Oaxaca, the Saviour and
Maker of Modern Mexico, the Cincinnatus of La Nona,
the great Lama of Chapultepec, General Porfirio Diaz
unconstitutional President of Mexico, now Emperor by
Divine Right, your day of reckoning has almost arrived !
Then history will judge his work for good or bad,
not by the assistance of his official press agents, his
intrigants, his parasites and lackeys; not by the
miles of railroads and telegraphs, by the seaports, the
public buildings and asphalt roads built on his domain,
nor by the battles he won or lost, or the multiple de-
corations swarming on his proud chest, neither by the
army or navy he created, or the myriads of concessions
sold to the foreigner, the fictitious prosperity of Mexico
and the Peace of the Land, which is only the Peace of
the Tomb, the Peace of Varsovia.
He shall be judged by all the liberties he has
torn one by one, deliberately, from the Mexicans,
by the political ideals he has crushed for the sake of a
peace which is beneficial only to the political mafia he
has created.
He shall be judged by the Justice he has sand-
bagged, in its stead to place puppets and helots of his
own; by the thousands of persons imprisoned, rotting
in the most infamous of jails; by the thousands of indi-
viduals murdered in cold blood without a trial or even
a formal accusation, like cattle driven to slaughter to
serve as a repast to his ravenous ambition; he shall be
judged by his eagerness to terrorize, while despairing
13
of love and esteem; his perpetual dread of revolt,
\vhich proves that his sway is only ephemeral.
He shall come to judgment for the butcher}' of
Vera-Cruz, for the assassinations of General Corona,
General Martinez, and General de la Cadena, for the
murders of all his rivals, big and small, for the
"red day" in Orizaba, for the scores of newspaper men
sacrificed to his Great Fear, his terror of Liberty, of
Justice and a Square Deal.
It was a great sacrifice, and the holocaust flamed
up to the skies and the smoke and the cinders rose up
red and grey in the semblance of Porfirio Diaz,
Hero of a Thousand and One Battles.
But history shall judge and blow the great Shadow
to the four winds.
14
A Review of the Life of Pofirio Diaz.
The whole life of Porfirio Diaz can be divided into
four distinct periods. The first period stretches from
his birth to the age of twenty -four, the second begins
when he ran away to join the opposition against Santa
Anna, up to 1867, ending with the death of Emperor
Maximilian; from 1867 till 1876 was the third, the
period of storm and stress which ended by the capture
of the presidency. The fourth from 1876 till 1908 is
the period of his continuous power with the exception
of the interregnum of General Gonzalez, (1880-1884).
THE FIRST PERIOD.
It is the period of incubation, the budding of the
wild flower, the evolution of the disciple of divinity into
the student of the law.
This "man of destiny," born to the humblest walk
of life in Oaxaca, 1830, from a Spanish father and an
Indian mother, rose to the highest power ever attained
in his country along the high road of warfare, revo-
lution and anarchy.
But his first footsteps were peaceful, almost com-
monplace; he was a good son, an industrious scholar
and an honest boy.
In the year 1 846 the city of Oaxaca had a little war
scare. They expected the American soldiers who were
advancing to the capital of Mexico to attack Oaxaca.
Therefore all the schoolboys enlisted. It was the
battalion, "Peor es Nada" ( "Worse is Nothing"),
mentioned seriously by such a comical name in the
local chronicles, (i ) Young Porfirio enlisted, too, but un-
fortunately the comic battalion never went to war.
There is nothing in the first twenty-four years to
give an inkling of the crowded events of his future life,
(1) P. Diaz. xxx. pag. 89.
15
the almost unattainable ambitions of his dreams,
and of all the romantic adventures worthy of a
dime novel.
No fortune teller, no prophet foretold him any-
thing and even he himself has admitted that his high-
est ambition as a boy was to be the colonel of a regi-
ment.
Psychological students of his life have attempted
to explain his success by the inherited qualities of the
two races, the Spanish and the Mixtec.
Atavism does not explain it, for there are many
thousand boys with Mixtec mothers and Spanish fathers
who never become anything, not even porters.
The explanation lies within himself : it is the per-
fect equilibrium between the brain and the will. It is
the logical explanation of the successes of the con-
querors, statesmen and leaders of men. With a little
more intelligence he would have become a successful
lawyer, with a little more imagination he might have
grown into a militant journalist or a promoter; with
too much will power he would have ripened from a
revolutionary leader into a bandit chief.
The Don Quixote in every man must be evenly
balanced by a Sancho Panza to insure a practical
success.
"A commonplace being, attentive and prudent
every day of his life, experiences very often the pleasure
of triumphing over men with imagination," says Stend-
hal.
THE SECOND PERIOD.
This is the quixotic epoch of his life. He was
battling for several ideals. He rebelled against the
despotism of Santa Anna, against the power of the
Church, the arbitrariness of the all-powerful governors,
the autocratic "jefes politicos", he fought for the ideals
of Hidalgo and Morelos, and "Mexico for the Mexicans",
for personal liberty and justice, until his desperate
16
struggles and his daring were acknowledged by his
old teacher in law, Benito Juarez. One fine day (2 Die.
1854) Porfirio ran away with a bandit named Estaban
Aragon, because he had refused to vote for that arch-
comedian and despot, Santa Anna, and the police were
on his tracks. On that fateful day he found his true
vocation. For almost twenty-two years he fought
almost unceasingly, in the first thirteen years for a
political ideal, in the succeeding nine years for the
presidency.
Therefore was he getting a practical lesson in
the art of war, in the organization of troops and cre-
ation of revolutions.
When still in the midst of the fray the War of the
Reform broke out. The liberal party which he had joined
emerged victorious against the Church and also lifted
the Indian President, B. Juarez, from obscurity into
the greatest personality in Mexican history. Then
came French intervention. P. Diaz and the liberal
generals contended against the disciplined French
troops, by guerilla warfare, in open battle, almost
naked, hungry, poorly armed, without help from the
United States, until at last they drove the French into
the sea and brought Maximilian to the executioner.
With the Emperor's death, the fate of the Church was
sealed.
THE THIRD PERIOD.
The young general who had fought for so many
political ideals was disappointed at the meagre recom-
pense meted out. The thorn of envy began to sting
and the patriot sacrificed everything in his mad rush
for supreme power. It was a tantalizing and im-
patient struggle against the impassive and adamant
Juarez.
Once he was caught and forced to appear before
Juarez, who said to him: "You deserve to be shot like
a rebel, but the country takes into consideration the
services rendered by you during the War of Interven-
17
tion. You are very ambitious and you shall be presi-
dent one of these days, but not while I live."
The first manifestation of Porfirio Diaz's ambition
for the Presidency became apparent in the year 1867,
when "General Escobedo was laying siege to the town
of Queretaro, and there came to him a commission
which to proposed the formation of a military party
whose leadership should be raffled off between Generals
Escobedo, Corona and Diaz, the one pointed out by fate
to carry the presidency, for it was not equitable, added
the commissioners, that Benito Juarez should con-
tinue to be President and reap all the benefits of the
triumphs when it was they who had achieved them at
the expense of their blood and the peril of their lives.
General Escobedo replied, saying that he was a soldier
and not a politician, that he had fought out of patriot-
ism, not out of ambition and that it sufficed that
the French had testified that they would never treat
with President Juarez, for him to think him worthy
of the Presidency at the hour of success, and that this
power should be held in the keeping of the great patriot
who had occupied that post in the sad hours of defec-
tion and defeat." (i)
This little lesson in patriotism and loyalty made
the conspiracy fall through.
From 1867 and for more than nine years General
Diaz plotted, conspired against, and resisted the le-
gal and constitutional Government of Mexico under
President Juarez and President Lerdo.
This now Prince of Peace-at-any-Price then broke
the peace of the land with his proclamations, which
today read like satirical pamphlets against his own
administration.
He persistently antagonized legal authority, and
started rebellions in the south, in the east and the west
and invasions from the United States into Mexico.
When Gen. Escobedo went after him at the head of
the Government troops, Gen. Diaz flunked, disbanded
(1) Rectificaciones Historicas. P. I. Calderon. Vol. 1. pag. 68.
18
his rebels, and ran back across the American frontier;
it all ended exactly in the same manner as the little re-
bellion started a few months ago from the border by
the Magon Brothers. Then it was Diaz Brothers & Co.
He failed repeatedly, started anew, was caught,
escaped, but madly he rushed on as if bitten by the tar-
antula of ambition, filling the whole country with
disorder, unrest, anarchy and disgust.
He was so utterly discredited that well-think-
ing and serious people compared him to the notorious
bandit chief and cazique of Tepic, Manuel Lozada.
This remarkable Indian, savage and cruel, was a
strong and interesting character. He had organized a
perfect dictatorship, his police and spy system were
perfect and he derived the funds for his administra-
tion from the custom house of Tepic, which he con-
trolled.
Being ambitious he made a plan, too, a Proclama-
tion, The liberating Plan of Lozada.
In a very short time he had organized an army of
8000 Indians, to capture first Guadalajara and then the
Presidency.
However, he was defeated at the battle of "La
Mojonera" by General Corona. The general impression
of the moment was condensed in a phrase uttered by a
lawyer who was watching the dust raised by the Indian
hordes approaching to attack Guadalajara: "Nothing
more was wanted, than a third Empire with Loz-
ada I." (i)
A popular phrase was repeated, "Man overboard,"
to ridicule the failure of General Diaz as a political
leader, when on his way from New Orleans to Vera-
Cruz (1876) to start the revolution of Tuxtepec, he
jumped overboard to save himself from capture by the
government troops. This selfsame Prince of Peace
who now poses hypocritically as the Protector of the
Constitution and Legality, then in the face of popular
defeat in three presidential elections, persisted in sub-
(1) P. Diaz. xxx. pag. 19.
19
verting public order and hampering the prosperity of
his country with his constant rebellions, only to satisfy
his personal ambition and insatiable greed.
In 1867 Benito Juarez received 7,422 votes for the
presidency.
In 1867, Porfirio Diaz received 2,709 votes for the
presidency.
In 1871, B. Juarez received 5,837 votes for the
presidency.
In 1871 P. Diaz received 3,555 votes for the
presidency, (i)
After the death of Juarez there was another elec-
tion and he was defeated again. (1872).
Lerdo de Tejada received 9,520 votes for the
presidency.
Porfirio Diaz received 604 votes for the presidency.
(2)
General Diaz was responsible for the "Motin" (the
Mutiny), the Plan of la Noria, the Plan of Tuxtepec, the
Plan of Palo Blanco. This last one resulted in the
overthrow of President Lerdo.
Under the heading "Motin" (Mutiny) El Siglo XIX,
an opposition paper, printed this news :
"According to our information the Plan consists
in assassinating General Alatorre when coming out of
the theatre, to proclaim as President, General Porfirio
Diaz and impose on the population an enforced loan of
$300,000 under the penalty of pillage." (3)
This mutiny failed, because an hour before the
realization of the complot it was denounced by an
officer of the same troop.
When the revolutionists ostensibly invited General
Diaz to lead another rebellion he answered :
"I resign myself to the sacrifice of my honor and
of my life, and if success crowns our efforts, I shall be
able to give new and evident proofs that / do not aspire
(1) Aurora y Ocaso. C. Ceballos. pag. 177.
(2) P. Diaz, xxx pag. 14.
(3) Aurora y Ocaso. C. Ceballos. pag. 38.
20
to the ostentation of Power and that I prefer to it the ob-
scurity of the Home." (i)
This was one of his usual, innumerable political
lies, for his personal ambition for power was so keen and
terrible that General Luis Mier Y. Teran synthetized
admirably the moral state of the Master of the Sword
in this phrase: "Porfirio Diaz or Death." (2)
The Plan of La Nona is so called because it was
written at the plantation of la Noria owned by General
Diaz, who signed this Plan November 1871. It was
considered so absurd and preposterous that even an
opposition paper of Mexico, "EL SIGLO XIX," said
about it, November 16, 1871 :
"The Plan of la Noria this name had been given
to a circular recently read by the Minister of the In-
terior as emanating from General Diaz. We have
heard several persons say that it is an apocryphal docu-
ment and certainly the most effective means of giving
weight to public opinion against General Diaz
and the revolution he is heading -was to attribute
to him a plan so full of political absurdities as the one
called the plan of la Noria. (3)
One of the first decrees of Lerdo after his election
was that of a general amnesty for all the political
offenders under arms at that time. (July 27, 1872).
General Diaz considered this amnesty as degrading
to himself and his fellow revolutionists, as he admitted
in a circular dated September 13, 187 2, from Chihuahua:
"I thought it opportune that the revolution should
accredit to the Government two persons of confidence
to enter into frank negotiations which would result in
peace and in the substitution of the degrading law
which purports to call itself an amnesty for another
one which should not lower our military dignity and
(1) Aurora y Ocaso. C. Oballos. pag. 208.
(2) Idem. pag. 287.
(3) Rectificacione* Historical. P. I. Calderon. Vol. 1. pag. 35
21
would not confuse us with the dissidents in the time of
the Intervention, as they have apparently tried to do. " (i )
On this occasion the rebel chief was outwitted by
the President diplomat, who succeeded in showing him
up as a traitor to his country. It was therefore natural
that peace loving people should have shown their
contempt at the unpatriotic behavior of General Diaz
by defeating him at the polls at the presidential elec-
tion of 1872. But a leopard cannot change its spots
and Porfirio Diaz in spite of his numerous flatterers
and pseudo-admirers is the same traitor to his coun-
try now as he was in the nine years of almost inter-
mittent insurrection and sedition.
Sooner or later he has perjured himself against
the Constitution, the Republic, the reform laws and
against non-reelection ; he has broken with the tenets
of his party, all the liberal principles he has professed,
and all the aspirations of his country.
He yearned to be a Washington and he became a
Latin-American Sylla; he wanted to enforce a liberal
paternalism and only succeeded in creating a rampant
Diazpotism. He hoped to emulate a Napoleon I, and
instead followed the footsteps of Caesar Borgia. He
expected to rule and he only terrorized. He even
imagined that he could deceive history and he only
fooled himself.
In his private conversations with strangers and
friends he wants to convince himself and others that
he always meant to be honest and self -sacrificing, but
that circumstances forced his hand the wrong way.
A year ago at an audience given by him to the
President of El Diario he said:
"In 1879, when I declared that I was opposed to
the reelection for the Presidency, / was sincere, but later
my friends begged me to remain in power for the good
of the country."
From this we must infer, logically, that he is not
sincere now, for the same friends are begging him at
(1) P. Diaz. xxx. pag. 21.
22
every fake re-election, to remain in power for the good
of the country.
In the year 1871, in the Plan of la Noria, the proc-
lamation against the government of Juarez, the first
lines read:
To THE MEXICAN PEOPLE
"The indefinite, forcible and violent re-election of
the federal executive has imperilled national in-
stitutions."
This comical appeal to the Mexican people from
this incipient satrap reminds one of the other Mexican
mandarin and traitor, Santa Anna, who used to sign
all his bombastic proclamations and letters: "Father-
land and Liberty!" In the famous plan of Tuxtepec
reformed at Palo Blanco, March 21, 1876, he proclaimed
under his signature:
"Article 2. The same law making the President
and the Governors of the States ineligible to the same
position will be maintained, this being a measure of
constitutional reform which we agree to sustain by all
the legal means afforded to us by the Constitution."
Again on September 16, 1879, President P. Diaz
made this declaration in Congress:
"It is not seasonable for the executive to express
his opinion on this matter, but I must solemnly pro-
test before Congress that 7 shall never sanction a candi-
dacy for re-election, because even if this was not forbid-
den by our code 7 shall always respect the principles from
which emanated the revolution initiated in Tuxtepec."
(0
Every four years or so the old fox Porfirio passes
the word among his sycophants to disseminate the
rumor that the President is going to relinquish his
power, that he is tired and old and that he wants to
retire to private life.
Then crowds of his friends, the friends of friend-
ship, officially and unofficially start pilgrimages to
U) Dario Oficial. 16 Sep. 1879. Mexico.
23
Chapultepec or to the Palace and beg him, petition him,
entreat him to stay for another term, just for the good
of the country. And old Sly Boots, with tears of grati-
tude in his eyes, sacrifices himself because the Nation
wills it.
"When a ruler says: 'I want to relinquish Power,
but if the nation demands more sacrifices, I shall con-
tinue to sacrifice myself, this must be interpreted as
meaning: 'I have not the slightest intention of giving
up power, and those interested in my not relinquish-
ing it must take, even if in a ridiculous manner, the
name of the Nation, so that this one should appear
to entreat me not to forsake her. '
"This couplet has been sung in every century, by
all the ambitious ones and has been used as a joke for
farces, comic operas and funny papers." (i)
At the approach of the presidential election of
1876, the ever- ready Porfirio initiated another revo-
lution.
One of the accusations of the revolutionists against
the Government was: "That public suffrage had been
converted into a farce, because the President and his
friends by every illegal means, put into public places
those whom they call "official candidates" rejecting all
the independent citizens." (2)
The revolutionists did not wait until the term of
Lerdo was over, which would have been in November
30, 1876.
General Diaz gathered 5000 men and was met by
General Alatorre with 3000 men near the Hacienda of
Tecoac. The battle was a draw, for both generals were
afraid of each other.
Luckily for General Diaz the day was saved by the
timely arrival of General Gonzalez, who rushed like
a whirlwind against the enemy and thus the battle of
Tecoac was won.
(1) El Verdadero Juarez. F. Bulnes. pag. 668.
(2) Plan de Tuxtepec reformado en Palo Blanco.
24
The total number of deaths on both sides was
ninety-five.
After this rout President Lerdo, instead of fighting,
packed his trunks and ran away to the United States.
The only remnant of authority left in Mexico at
the flight of thelegal executive was Jose" Maria Iglesias,
one the triumvirs of the liberal government during
French Intervention.
Mr. Iglesias was a pure, honest patriot of the Caton-
ian type.
He was the President of the Supreme Court when
Lerdo left and as such he was constitutionally the
president ad interim.
On this subject the Plan of Tuxtepec said:
"Article 60. The Executive Power, without any
attribution excepting the administrative, shall be de-
posited, while elections are taking place, in the person
of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice or
the person of the magistrate discharging this function."
Mr. Iglesias went to Queretaro with his govern-
ment and while there entered into negotiations with
General Diaz. The parley took place by wire between
Iglesias and Justo Benitez, the representative of Diaz.
Benitez wired among other things :
"The unavoidable basis of all settlement must be
the Plan of Tuxtepec reformed in Palo Blanco as the
genuine expression of the national will. Do you
accept it?"
And Iglesias answered: "There being no vacilla-
tion on my part on such a capital point, I do not, nor
must I accept the basis which you qualify as unavoidable.
Everything which tends to divorce from the Constitu-
tion of 1857, shall be declined by me, who am the only
representative of legality." (i)
One of the conditions imposed by General Diaz to
Mr. Iglesias was :
"That General Diaz should be Minister of War in
the government of the temporary President;" an unac-
(!) La Question Presidential. J- M. Iglesias. pag. 391.
25
ceptable condition as Mr. J. M. Iglesias had declared
in his circular that neither he nor his ministers would
figure as candidates in the elections to come, a circum-
stance which General Diaz would not admit. So that
the revolutionary chief not only recognized the tem-
porary President, but likewise wanted to form part of
his cabinet. The recognition was made according to
Article 82 of the Constitution, and in keeping with this
article the pretentions of General Diaz were quite un-
precedented.(i)
This controversy on a fine point of legality and
constitutionality was well played by General Diaz and
his revolutionary band.
Nevertheless it resembled too much the argument
between the wolf and the lamb. As was to be foreseen,
negotiations fell through and the only remaining ves-
tige of legality had to flee for dear life into the United
States.
With this incident ended the nine years struggle
of Porfirio Diaz for the capture of the Supreme Power.
THE FOURTH PERIOD.
A Nation should never be given over to one
man, no matter who the man is, and whatever
the circumstances may be.
TRIERS.
A "pronunciamento" or a proclamation according
to the talented Mexican historian, C. Pereyra is: "the
form which the military organization took in Spain and
in the colonies; it is the intervention of the army in
public affairs, imposing itself by force. As the social
r6le of the army is the conservation and the defense of
the country, the pronunciamento constitutes a crime."
(2)
It was through the pronunciamento of Tuxtepec
that Porfirio Diaz rode into power, and consequently
through a crime.
As Napoleon Bonaparte could keep his crown only
(1) Las Supuestas Traiciones de Juarez. F. I. Calderon. pag. xxxvi.
(2) Historia del Pueblo Mexicano. C. Pereyra. vol. 2. pag. 60.
26
by the force of arms, so Porfirio Diaz held his own
autocratic power only by a series of political felonies.
A detailed account of all the atrocities committed by
his order and by means of his hired assassins would fill
three scores of large sized volumes. We shall, there-
fore, speak only of the most dastardly and character-
istic malpractices, so as to exemplify his mystifying
"pacific rule."
The metamorphosis of Porfirio Diaz from his first
term up to the present date is as unexpected as the
evolution from an indifferent and despicable worm into
a variegated and gorgeous butterfly.
He came into the presidency poor as a church
mouse but cunning as Ulysses; utterly discredited and
at the same time with a wealth of hopes and Machiavel-
lian possibilities; without any authority, albeit know-
ing he would have a lifetime in practical politics; lack-
ing national and international prestige, though prepar-
ing to create it with the help of financial juggleries and
artful self-advertisement; deficient in statesmanship,
nevertheless trusting that the country's wisdom would
gravitate round his chair of state.
He came into the first term almost as a suspicious
character. To illustrate his fact he loves to relate
to his friends how in the beginning he could not find a
self-respecting merchant to honor his notes or to lend
him money for the expenses of his administration.
It happened frequently when he walked down San
Francisco street in Mexico City, that his friends and
acquaintances would hasten into a side street or a shop
to avoid saluting him.
Intuitively he guessed that to be able to rule suc-
cessfully as a despot it is essential to follow Machia-
velli's aphorism: "It is not necessary for a prince to
have all the virtues which I have enumerated, but
it is indispensable that he appear to possess them." (i)
And so the wolf put on a sheep-skin and it de-
ceived the simpletons as well as the wiseacres.
(1) II Principe. N. Machiaveffi.
27
The following will show the evolution of the so-
called presidental terms served by President Diaz :
From 1876 1880 first period Revolutionary Presi-
dent.
" 1880 1884 Interregnum of Gen. Gonzalez.
" 1884 1888 second period Protector.
" 1888 1892 third period Consul.
" 1892 1896 fourth period Consul for life.
" 18961900 fifth " Anointed Ruler.
" 1900 1904 sixth " Imperator.
" 1904 1910 seventh " Great Mogul.
The graduation from the Revolutionary President
to a Great Mogul is quite startling to the ignoramus but
it is worth pondering over.
To reach the top of the ascending scale necessi-
tated thirty years of unremitting work of corrosive
destruction to all the liberties of the Mexican people
liberties for which they had fought for over sixty-five
years. It took Porfirio Diaz just half that time to
destroy these. It was eminently a secret operation,
the silent labor of the termit gnawing within a log of
wood while you are unaware of the destruction from
the outside. His first term was the cement foundation
for the building of imperial power. Even so he used
the term of Gen. Gonzalez to experiment on the result
of the initiatives of the payment of the famous English
debt, the government bank and the issue of the new
five cent nickel com into the currency.
Very deftly and with unerring knowledge of Gon-
zalez's greed, he suggested these initiatives while Min-
ister of Fomento (Department of Agriculture, Com-
merce and Manufactures), in his cabinet.
The government of Diaz was not leaving a red
penny in the treasury for his successor, M. Gonzalez,
notwithstanding that the income of the nation hi the
latter part of 1880 showed a considerable increase,
ascending to $22,276,845.00. (i)
(1) El Gen. Gonzalez ysu gobierno en Mexico. P. Quevedo y Zubieta. gpa. 123
28
At the end of his first period in 1879 he declared
against re-election, not that he was sincere, but simply
because his fellow revolutionists, plotters and rebel
generals who had helped him would not let him mono-
polize all the power and all the graft.
So they decided to put up in 1 880 for the presidency
a loyal man who would obey mandates of the party
unconditionally. The choice fell en Gen. Mier y
Teran. Unfortunately for them, Mier y Teran while
governor of Vera-Cruz obeyed only too well the order
of assassination of President Diaz on the famous 25th
of June 1879. (0 This dastardly act raised a
tremendous storm of indignation against Diaz's admin-
istration. That settled the candidacy of Gen. Mier y
Teran. Thereupon they chose Justo Benitez, ex-
secretary of President Diaz and his adviser and Meph-
istopheles during his revolutionary period. But Diaz
grew suspicious of the loyalty of Benitez and so they
picked out Gen. Gonzalez who, besides being his "com-
padre," compeer, was a soldier and would, therefore,
obey his orders implicitly.
Gen. Gonzalez was one among the innumerable
rebel chiefs wlio, since Mexico became independent of
Spain, have made a living through the medium of
revolutions. Without scruples, devoid of patriotism,
lacking the most elementary military training, the only
talent of these men, with few exceptions, was braver}'
on the battlefield. Their technical knowledge was
equal to that of Gen. Cartaux, who wrote to the General
Assembly in Paris his plan for capturing Toulon from
the English: "The general of artillery will bombard
Toulon for the space of three days, at the end of which
I shall attack it on three columns and then I shall take
it by storm." (2)
To these adventurers the presidency was symbol-
ized in the National Palace (the residence of the Presi-
(1) See corresponding page
(2) Memoirs of Napoleon I. De las Casas.
29
dent while in office) as with the Mohammedans, Mecca or
Medina symbolized Mohammedanism.
Their proclamations generally read: "This plan
shall be enforced as soon as the general in chief of the
regenerating army shall occupy the National Palace."
(i) Evidently they considered the nation and espec-
ially the treasury their own private property.
Porfirio Diaz was the associate and crony of these
filibusters, he absorbed their ways, their ambitions and
he succeeded where they had failed.
The administration of Gonzalez made a terrible
raid on the treasury of the nation, through the sales of
railroad concessions, colonizing schemes, the raising of
loans, the national bank, etc.
President Gonzalez and his ring milked the
treasury dry, up to the last day, when the President as
a farewell, took away $9,000.00 from the government
strong box. (2)
Among the ministers of President Gonzalez were
Ignacio Mariscal, Minister of Foreign Relations and F.
Landero y Cos, Minister of Finances. Both these men
were honesty personified.
Gen. Gonzalez, with the help of his evil genius
Ramon Fernandez (governor of the Federal District),
plotted to get Landero and Mariscal out. When the
nickel law came up for discussion in Congress, Gen.
Gonzalez sent orders to suppress the limitation for the
payment. The law was framed by Landero.
The Minister of Finances arrived in Congress
too late to interfere and as he understood the
meaning of the amendment, he tendered his resigna-
tion. But before leaving his portfolio he declared in
Congress: "We have in the treasury more than one
million dollars." (3)To those hungry wolves this state-
ment was like a call to plunder and pillage.
In the deal of the national bank the Parisian
(1) El Gen. Gonzalez y su gobierno en Mexico. F. Q. y Zubieta. pag. 91. vol. 1-
(2) Idem.
(3) Idem. pag. 225. vol. I.
38
bankers spent $1,000,000. in shares and $1,500,000. in
cash to buy off the administration, (i)
The loan for the payment of the English debt was
a scheme to make twenty million dollars, but (give the
devil his due) to allay public indignation the profits
were lowered to two million dollars. This, added to
the nickel law which flooded the whole country with
5 cent nickels, almost brought about a revolution. For-
tunately the presidential term was nearly over and
Porfirio Diaz stepped in as the saviour and the out-
going Gonzalez left in ignominy and shame, branded
as the ttila-President.
As soon as Gen. Diaz came into power hi his second
term "he soon did not think of anything else but him-
self, his idea being not to let any competitors deprive
him again of the presidency. After eliminating all
competitors he erected himself as a sort of a Providence
to the nation, legitimated by necessity. The first
thought made him mistrustful and terrible ; the second
thought, exclusive and jealous." (2)
To be able to rid himself of his rivals one by one,
it was necessary to own, body and soul, the courts, the
justice, the police and the army of the nation.
He began therefore to substitute for the whole
Department of Justice, from the Minister of Justice
down to the merest clerk, his own obedient tools.
Instead of the independent Governors who were for-
merly elected by the will of the people, he placed his
own men, ex-generals, ex-revolutionary chiefs, men
ambitious for the presidency, as a means of enriching
themselves. As Governors they had quite as good a
chance of acquiring wealth as if they were in the
presidential chair and with less danger of attracting
attention. As soon as he had his creatures in all the
important government places as Governors, Cabinet
Ministers, Senators, Congressmen, " jefes politicos," he
began his assault upon the Constitution ; he suppressed
(1) Idem. pag. 30. vol. II.
(2) Rectificaciones Historians. F. Iglesias Calderon. vol. I. pan. 39. 40.
31
the power of the press, killed personal liberty by arbi-
trary imprisonments and slowly made away with his
enemies by the aid of " accidents" and with the help of
the notorious "ley fuga" (runaway law), (i)
That Diaz's government is illegal is proved by the
fact that the Washington cabinet refused to recognize
it at first because of its revolutionary origin. (2) Only
in the year 1879 did the cabinet in Washington for-
mally recognize the Diaz government and despatch a
representative to Mexico. (3)
Porfirio Diaz thought, and not without reason,
that possession is nine-tenths of the law. To be able
to remain in power continuously it was imperative
to amend the Constitution. Diaz did this at the
end of his second term: at his bidding his parasites in
" Congress amended the Constitution so as to allow the
President two consecutive terms." (4) This not being
sufficient , " in his third term , Congress ' ' instructed by him ,
"solved the question for all time by abolishing every
limitation whatsoever." (5) After this affirmation of
power he was practically Consul for life and was at
liberty to do as he pleased.
Separate chapters will be dedicated to his assassina-
tions, to the muzzling of the press and to the perver-
sion of justice under his regime.
The much-talked necessity of having Porfirio Diaz
in power for the sake of peace is another fairy tale
invented by the president and his retinue of courtesans
to make a virtue out of a gigantic political graft.
Two of the best known writers and historians in Mexico
have discussed this argument in strong terms. Says
F. Bulnes: "Peace is not the cause of the progress in
Mexico; on the contrary, peace is the consequence of
the progress in Mexico." (6)
(1) See corresponding page.
(2) The Maker of Modern Mexico. P. Diaz. Mrs. A. Tweedie. pag. 280.
(3) Idem. pag. 283.
(4) P. Diaz. Mrs. A. Tweedie. pag. 337.
(5) Idem page 339.
(6) El porvenir de las naciones Hispano Americanas. F. Bulnes. pag. 270.
32
Mr. F. Iglesias Calderon quotes: "Two political
personages whose admiration for and adhesion to Gen.
Diaz are manifest and proverbial have declared sin-
cerely that the benefits which are attributed to the
present government are in reality due to the anterior
liberal governments. This is equivalent to commuting
merit into luck, as the simple lapse of time has de-
veloped the welfare born of the liberal government of
Benito Juarez." (i)
The partisans and admirers of P. Diaz claim as
proof of their assertion the present prosperity of Mexico.
That can be easily refuted.
The investment and development of foreign
capital mean to Mexico advancement and prosperity,
since the country is devoid of home capital. The
advancement of agriculture, irrigation and immigration
mean the welfare of Mexico. The present administra-
tion is not responsible for the initial investment of
capital in Mexico; it has never done anything for the
development of agriculture or for immigration and only
after thirty years of so-called prosperity has it begun
to give a thought to irrigation.
It goes without saying that neither invertion of
capital nor prosperity were possible in Mexico so long
as the political power and practically four-fifths of the
land were in the hands of the Church. Benito Juarez
achieved this herculean task with a courage and a per-
sistence which are admirable. He succeeded in doing,
in the latter 50*5, what Italy dared to do only in the
yo's and France but lately.
It took some time for Mexico to recover from the
effects of this terrible war and from the War of Inter-
vention. Precisely this same man, Porfirio Diaz, who
now is held up as indispensable to the prosperity of
modern Mexico, then, for almost nine consecutive
years, broke the peace of the land and interfered with
the advancement of his country by his farcical regen-
erating plans and criminal revolutions.
(1) Rectificaciones Hi<tericas. F. Iglesias Calderon. vol. I. page 24.
The first railroad line, from Mexico City to Vera-
Cruz, was finished during Lerdo's period. During the
term of Gonzalez the overflow of American capital
headed toward Mexico. Here I merely quote from an
author who wrote in 1884, "an unusual awakening
in the life of the country resulted as a first consequence
of the construction of the railroads this irruption of
American money was followed by the invasion of iron"
(i), and further "they are building twenty thousand
houses in Mexico City and the truth is that never since
the year of independence in Mexico up to the time
when the millions which came to Santa-Anna in pay-
ment for the dismemberment of the territory, and when
Maximilian came to Mexico with the money of Napoleon
III, had we seen in Mexico so much prosperity or such
attractive perspective of wealth and welfare." (2)
If Porfirio Diaz is so indispensable now because of
his probity and impartiality, why did he not prove his
honesty in 1880 when, instead of leaving money in the
treasury he left it drained to the dregs, notwithstand-
ing that "The national income for 1879-80 exceeded
the sum of $21,000,000." (3)
A year and a half of honest financial administra-
tion under Landero was sufficient to give the nation
over a million dollars of surplus in the national treasury.
Gen. Gonzalez did not make any pretence at honor-
able and philanthropic government, for as soon as the
honest minister of finances went out, the razzia or
raid, on the treasury began in an unchecked and
shameless manner.
On the other hand Diaz has always kept up the
appearance of a patriotic and upright government
although in his first term he classed himself in the
same category as Gen. Gonzalez and his freebooters.
Only after the third term, and when he was certain
that the presidency was in his keeping for a lifetime,
(1) El gobierno del Gen. Gonzalez en Mexico. F. Quevedo y Zubieta. page 141.
vol. I.
(2) Idem page 143 vol. I.
(3) P. Diaz. Mrs. A. Tweedie. page 282.
34
did he get a semblance of order in the department of
finances, for then, he evidently expected to fill his
pockets and those of his crew, at leisure.
The income as well as the expenditures of the
nation increased with years: "During the same year
(1891) they (the Diaz administration) spent all the
income of the federal rents which ascended to $37,000,
ooo. by more than $5,000,000." declared Matias
Romero in congress. (1892) (i)
Matias Romero who had been Mexican minister to
Washington during the French Intervention cannot be
accused of connivance with the administration, only
he was not a financier and he could not juggle with
figures as could Jose Y. Limantour. Those who suf-
fered most in the end were the Mexican people and par-
ticularly so the government employees. These
wretched individuals were not paid in cash for their
work until J. Y. Limantour became minister of finances.
Instead of cash, the officeholders received " alcan-
ces", a sort of I. O. U.'s, or notes payable on sight at
the treasury.
With some excuse or other these notes were not
honored until they were bought up by a firm of Ger-
man Jews, the Scherers, who purchased them at 40
and 50% off and as soon as they presented them they
were immediately paid by the Minister of Finances.
But from the beginning, Gen. Diaz was very care-
ful, very scrupulous in paying his soldiers regularly, as
he admitted in a toast at the military college in Chap-
ultepec: "The soldiers who fought with me loved me,
they were ready to sacrifice their lives for my life;
what had I done, to obtain this generous and self-
denying sacrifice, that -voluptuous sacrifice, to shed their
blood for my blood ? This only : they had all had the
conviction that I had not cheated them out of their
income." (2) -"/&4
In this toast Gen. Diaz practically confesses that
(1) Le N'acion. 8 Die. 1892.
(2) Rectificaciones Historicas. F. J. Caldcron. pag. 71.
36
he owes the loyalty of his soldiers, not to the righteous-
ness of his cause, but to the fact that he had paid them
regularly.
In his sixth term Porfirio Diaz, impatient and
weary of having to repeat the comedy of re-election
every four years, had another law enacted by the ever-
obedient Congress to amend the Constitution to extend
the presidential term from four to six years. This
Mexican Augustus, as F. Bulnes calls Gen. Diaz,
initiated another law "on April 24th, 1896, which
empowered the president to turn over his power to
whom he pleased and by the vote of Congress." (i)
After the Great Old Man had finished patching up
the Constitution of 1857 it resembled the dress of a
buffoon harlequin.
He has choked the independence of the press,
and has taken possession of Congress and of the army
and navy(?), as the governors and jefes politicos are
his slaves and justice his servant, he owns and directs
the most perfect political machine in the world.
Tammany Hall, in comparison with his machine, is a
pink tea; Russian autocracy seems tame with the Douma
at its heels; Abdul Hahmid has played his last trump
against the Young Turks; the fatalistic Persians have
turned Fate against the allmighty Shah; even Young
China has achieved the seemingly inconceivable, of
injecting reforms into the Celestial Dragon! All the
down-trodden nations of this planet of ours have given
the lie to history, to eminent principles, to inherited
privileges, and are slowly, joyously, breathing the pure
air of liberty. Mexico alone, stands enslaved by the
tyranny of one genial hypocrite, tied hand and foot to
the ambitious lust of this ex-bandit, hypnotized by
the shrewdest of political confidence men.
After having erected his power on an estuary of
blood, he acquired untold wealth with his political influ-
ence, commanded the flattery of his countrymen,
(1) Le Nation. 1 Die. 1902.
36
and has captured by stealth the admiration of foreign
nations. As a climax, Porfirio Diaz would decree the
homage of history to his memory.
Should he happen to relax his hold on power or die
like an ordinary mortal, history will rush in with a
vengeance and vomit forth the truth as from a " cloaca
maxima" to bury in the historical Potter's Field his
ridiculous fame as patriot, statesman and general.
When it is in the hands of a power annually to
choose from every million only ten innocent men, for the
purpose of killing them, everyone lives in a state of terror.
F. BULNES.
The Morgue of Porfirio Diaz.
His ASSASSINATIONS AND His VICTIMS.
Nearly thirty years ago Porfirio Diaz perpetrated
the infamous carnage of Vera-Cruz, on the 25th of June
1879. The Veracruzans and also the Mexicans have
never forgotten this date; and with all his pretence at
paternalism, his lies and hypocrisies Porfirio Diaz, like
a new Macbeth, cannot cleanse his hands of the blood
and the responsibility of this dastardly crime, which will
brand him in history as a second Caracalla.
The much vaunted "pacific rule" of this paternal
hangman has brought upon his head the hatred and con-
tempt of the Veracruzans, who despise him with all
their might.
Two years ago the newspapers printed the news of
the execution of some political prisoners by President
Estrada Cabrera of Guatemala; they seemed to take a
special delight in printing long articles and editorials
on the subject. I heard several Mexicans remark:
"The newspapers are accusing Cabrera of exactly the
same crimes which Porfirio Diaz has committed on a
larger scale, not once but continuously and up to our
present day. This indignation against E. Cabrera is an
indirect denunciation of the policy of Porfirio Diaz;
for as we have no free press we express our opinion in
a roundabout fashion."
I shall quote part of a letter written by a charming
Mexican lady, in which this person reflects the feelings
of most of her intelligent countrymen in reference to the
executions in Guatemala :
"The public being at present exasperated against
President Estrada Cabrera of Guatemala and sympa-
thizing so deeply with the four brave ones who were
assassinated in so cowardly a manner, there comes to
my memory, the 2$th of June at Vera-Cruz, and I ask
41
myself if in Mexico, the perpetrator of that infamy, did
not inspire the same repulsion as Estrada Cabrera, and
likewise I ask myself, for the latter, could there be the
excuse of the influence of a powerful example. Trying
to imitate our cynic autocrat, Cabrera dazzled by the
wondrous success of his crimes, thought that maybe
at the end of a few years, as it has come to pass here,
he would have all the honours, all the incense of a terres-
trial divinity, and that imposing himself through terror,
he would attain as his neighbour to deification in life.
I insist that in the evils which oppress Guatemala
the worse part is due to the example of our despot."
In the first term of P. Diaz (1876-80) there was a
great deal of unrest and dissatisfaction in Mexico ; Gen.
Diaz had not kept his much advertised promises of the
plan of Tuxtepec ; as a matter of fact things were getting
worse than before; it was a case of falling from the fry-
ing pan into the fire.
The result was a plot to overthrow the Diaz admin-
istration and to put instead a "Restoration" of the
lerdist power.
These leaders plotted with little skill and less suc-
cess. At first the government showed a certain len-
iency toward the conspirators but there came a time
when they felt it would be advisable to chastise and
terrorize these enemies of the government.
The police searched the house of Don Felipe Rob-
leda on the denunciation of one of the conspirators.
They found under the rug of his room, papers referring
to the conspiracy and the list of the names of the
plotters.
These names were handed to Gen. Diaz who sent
the list of the names to Gen. Mier y Teran ordering him
to arrest the men implicated in the plot.
Gen. Teran had these men apprehended, he wired
the news to the president who answered laconically:
" Shoot them red-handed."
There was no reference in this telegram to a trial or
an investigation of the guilt of these men, but only a
42
peremptory order to kill on sight. Nine men were shot.
They were ; Jaime Rodriguez, Dr. Ramon Albert Hern-
andez, Antonio P. Ituarte, Francisco Cueto, Luis
Alva, L/oenzo Portilla, Vicente Capmany, J. A. Rubal-
caba and Juan Caro.
The head lines of a paper of that period: "Juan
Panadero" Guadalajara, 1 3th July 1879, rea d like those
of a modern yellow paper :
"A BACCHANALIA OF BLOOD. MURDERS COMMITTED
BY TERAN. NINE ASSASSINATIONS. EIGHT WIDOWS.
THIRTY-SEVEN ORPHANS. HORRIBLE DETAILS."
Vera-Cruz. June 29th, 1879.
A notice of the editors says :
"In this (correspondence from Vera-Cruz) you
will see to what a point has reached the savagery of the
actual usurper of the power and the profound contempt
in which they hold the life of man and of individual
guarantees when it is a question of the constitutional-
ists. From this day on Tuxtepecan and assassin will mean
the same thing if Porfirio Diaz protects the execu-
tioners of Vera-Cruz and leaves this unwarranted pro-
ceeding unpunished."
I merely quote from the same paper a few examples
of the manner in which the order of the president was
executed :
"As soon as Teran arrived at the barracks he
identified the person of Capmany and said to him:
"Are you D. Vicente Capmany?"
"Yes," answered the mariner frankly.
"Well, I am going to shoot you by order of the
president."
"You are going to commit a murder," answered
Capmany "for there is no reason for this, and my con-
science does not accuse me of any crime."
"Shut up! See here. Shoot this man!" ex-
exclaimed Teran.
43
"Sir, may I write some letters before I die? I
only ask ten minutes."
"Shoot him on the spot," shouted Teran, lust-
ing for blood.
Teran left barracks No. 23 and went over to No.
25. He called in Rubalcaba and Caro, officers there on
platoon, and Loredo and Rosello officers of the same
barracks and took them to barracks No. 23.
There he gave orders to shoot all four without
more ado or any pretense at trial. The last one (Caro)
having been loosely bound with ropes started to run and
the soldiers fired on him, killing one soldier on guard
and wounding two more.
The hyena called in A. Ituarte, a young man 28 to
30 years old.
"Are you Don A. Ituarte?"
"You know me very well," impassively an-
swered the victim.
"I told you twice to leave the city and that the
third time I would shoot you."
"That's right."
"Well, then I am going to shoot you on the
spot."
"All right."
Before leaving, Ituarte turned to Teran and said
to him: "Assassin"
Then canie the turn of Cueto.
"Are you D. F. Cueto?"
"You know it as well as I do."
"Shoot him" exclaimed Teran.
"I believe," said Cueto "that if I am guilty of
any crime, I should be judged first. Of what are they
accusing me?"
" You are conspiring."
"In this case turn me over to a judge, who must
be the district judge."
"There is no other judge than myself here, and
no law other than my command. Shoot him."
Later Don Luis Alba arrived :
44
"Are you going to shoot me too, Christian?" he
asked Teran, with whom he was on very friendly terms.
"1 11 do it this minute."
"Are you crazy? Don't you think that suf-
ficient blood has been shed? What am I guilty of?
What is my crime?"
"Silence!" yelled Teran " "You are conspiring
and it is necessary that you should die."
"I suppose that you have a proof of your
assertion."
" I do not need proofs other than my conscience."
"Then, you have no proofs, Christian, for you
have no conscience."
Hearing this, Teran gave him a push and shouted .'
"Shoot this man."
The victim then begged to be allowed to write to
his wife.
Said Teran :" Nothing will be permitted, you
are a lerdist, and to those nothing is conceded."
"Remember, sir, that the lerdists pardoned
your life, when you were caught with arms in hand."
"Muzzle this man and shoot him."
At this juncture there arrived at the barracks the
judge of the district Mr. R. Zayas Enriquez, whom
some neighbours had awakened and had begged to see
if he could prevent further slaughters.
Mr. Zayas Enriquez ran to the barracks half
dressed, and there had an angry discussion with Gen.
Teran who said to him;
"You are responsible for all this."
"I?" exclaimed Zayas in astonishment.
"Yes, you, because the other day when I turned
over to you Capmany and Portilla, you did not con-
demn them to hard labor."
"Because I am an honest man, Mr. Teran, and
I do not condemn without legal proofs; I am neither an
assassin nor a bailiff, only a district judge; I am here to
enforce and see that the law is enforced, not to defeat
justice."
45
" Well, what has been done, has been done."
"I hope that this bacchanalia of blood will end
here."
We know that Mr. Zayas prevented a continuation
of the slaughter, for it seems that Suarez and Galimie
were to follow the aforementioned victims.
At daybreak of the 25th, various ladies escorted
by a great many little children were wandering through
the streets stopping the passersby asking them about
their husbands.
"What do you know of Lorenzo?" questioned
the half crazed wife of Portilla (one of the victims) to all
who passed her, but no one dared tell her the sad
news.
The wife of Cueto lost her reason, and they are
afraid for her life; his mother is in Orizaba in agony.
The whole population is in mourning, and Teran
dares not leave the barracks.
Mr. Zayas in the name of Freemasonry, asked for
the bodies of Cueto and Capmany, both brother masons
but the bodies were refused him, and they were
buried in the potters field, in an unknown place,
carried there in a cart escorted by the police." (i)
There lives now in New York a Mexican gentleman
by the name of Rafael de Zayas Enriquez, who left
Mexico because of the political conditions there and on
account of the persecutions of J. Y. Limantour, whom
he had attacked in public speeches and in newspaper
articles. This gentleman who is a lawyer, an histor-
ian and a writer of great talent came to New York so
as to be able to write with freedom about actual condi-
tions in Mexico.
After over a year of work he finished a book
" Porfirio Diaz". It is a phsycological and philosophical
review of the life of the president. It is a clever and
subtle criticism, but not sincere, for it does not tell the
truth ; only every now and then does he make a feint at
(1) Juan Panadero. Guadalajara. 13 Julio, 1879.
46
it as with a foil ; but he is only playing, inasmuch as h
seems to be afraid.
Maybe he is apprehensive of the danger of the long
arm of Porfirio Diaz reaching him treacherously even
in this land of freedom.
It is quite probable that he knows what happened
two years ago. An article criticizing Porfirio Diaz and
J. Y. Ljmantour appeared in the World signed " A Mex-
ican". Shortly afterward two Mexican gentlemen
asked for the name of the author of that anonymous
article, offering money for the information. This was
refused by the management of the World as being
against newspaper etiquette. These gentlemen then
left in disgust but not without covert threats against
the unknown writer.
This same Mr. Zayas Enriquez was district judge
during the famous night of the 24th of June in Vera-
Cruz. He knows all the details of that affair, better
than anyone else in Mexico. Why did he not publish
the truth instead of trying to palliate the responsibility
of Gen. Diaz, as he knows that the only responsible
head was Porfirio Diaz and not Teran who was only a
despicable tool ?
The Diaz government was then very much alarmed
at the horror and indignation caused by that savage act,
and it had the impudence to make an official statement,
claiming that the murdered men had attacked the sol-
diers of the barracks and that in the accomplishment of
a military duty these had fired on the aggressors killing
them.
In that period Porfirio Diaz looked with a certain
respect on public opinion and therefore he hid under the
cloak of calumny to save Teran from punishment and
to ward off his head the stigma of Murderer.
To prove the absurdity of the calumny the bodies
of the murdered men were exhumed by Mr. de Zayas;
it was found that each one of these had, besides several
bullet holes in various parts of the body, one hole in
the temple, the finishing stroke, "le coup de grace'
47
which is only given to the people condemned to capital
punishment. One man only did not have this charac-
teristic bullet hole, as he had died instantaneously of a
wound through the heart. All the details of the exhum-
ation and investigation were set forth in a book pub-
lished by the attorneys of Teran in 1879. The govern-
ment bought all the copies but one, which copy came
luckily under my notice.
THE MURDERS OP GEN. RAMON CORONA, GEN. GAR-
CIA DE LA CADENA AND GEN. ANGEL MARTINEZ.
Porfirio Diaz knew that as long as there existed in
Mexico one or more generals with ambitions to the
presidency, his own dreams of a continuous power with
himself as the Archangel, could not be practicable but
might be an highly hazardous business.
As his own popularity had suffered a setback on
account of the Vera-Cruz murders, and not being then
quite powerful enough to dictate all the elections in all
the states with the bayonets of his soldiers, he resorted
to the method of cowards, that of assassinating his
rivals by means of "accidents", using either a crazy or
fanatical individual with a grudge against the selected
victim, or simply a salaried thug.
Gen. Corona was one of the most popular, magnetic
personalities among the generals of the war of Inter-
vention. He was brave, intelligent, frank and loyal.
During the first term of President Diaz he was sent to
Spain as a minister of Mexico. There, as it happened
everywhere he went, he became the favorite of the
Spaniards. Nevertheless as he was ambitious for the
presidency, he found a ready excuse in the attitude of
the Spanish Queen towards him to warrant his return to
Mexico. Gen. Corona was one of the generals who had
helped to capture Queretaro, and was therefore indir-
ectly responsible for the seizure and execution of Em-
peror Maximilian. The Spanish Queen being an Aus-
trian and a Hapsburg, snubbed him at one of the
official receptions.
48
On his return he was made governor of the State of
Jalisco, the first state in Mexico in wealth and
population.
He proved to be a very good governor, and was
the first one to lower in his state the "alcabalas" or
custom house duties which then existed in Mexico from
state to state and likewise from city to city, compli-
cating the fiscal administration and encouraging contra-
band.
His prestige as a governor and as a presidential
candidate increased at such an alarming rate that
Porfirio Diaz became frightened for his own supremacy,
and to ward off an imminent danger and to placate Cor-
ona's ambition promised him the presidency in the
following term, calculating on an " accident" to elimi-
nate him.
One night as Gen. Corona was going to the theatre
with his wife and children, he was attacked and stabbed
to death by an indian of the lower class. The murderer
ran away quickly round the block and there by quite a
strange "coincidence" was stabbed through the heart
by a mounted policeman and also wounded by some
foot policemen. The peculiarity of this "coincidence"
is intensified by the fact that the policeman who
stabbed the murderer was accompanied by a whole
squad of policemen who could not have seen the murder
of Gen. Corona but acted exactly as if they had seen it;
they did not intend to capture him alive, but killed
him speedily, for dead men tell no tales. The rumor
was disseminated purposely that the murderer had com-
mitted suicide.
As Ignacio Mariscal very appropriately said in ref-
erence to the murder of Gen. Barillas, ex-president of
Guatemala, who was assassinated in Mexico city by two
Guatemalian boys, on the iyth of April 1907, by order
af Gen. Lima, minister of war in Guatemala; "in this
class of crimes, for the difficulty which exists in proving
the real author of the deed, the sentence of public opin-
40
ion which declares President Cabrera the murderer of
Gen. Barillas, is sufficient."
Public opinion in Mexico points out Gen. Porfirio
Diaz as the assassin of Gen. Corona, Gen. de la Cadena
and Gen. Martinez.
Gen. de la Cadena was another ambitious general.
He was rash enough to tell the truth to President Diaz.
He realized his mistake when it was too late. He was
watched day and night, but played the sick man in his
house and did not receive anybody, his wife cooking
and bringing him his food personally. However they
did not discover that the woman servant in the house
was a spy of Porfirio Diaz. Gen. de la Cadena fooled
the chief of police so that when this worthy gentleman
went to the president to tell him that Gen. de la Cadena
had escaped, the president informed him when the
general had escaped and even where he was to be found.
Gen. de la Cadena tried to escape from Mexico
but he was caught near Zatecas and while trying to
change from one train to the other he was murdered
by a band of hired thugs. This elimination was put
on to the account of bandits.
The destruction of Gen. Martinez was accomplished
in exactly the same manner as in the case of Gen. Bar-
illas, or better said the murder of Gen. Barillas was an
imitation of the Martinez affair.
Gen. Barillas was a political refugee from Guate-
mala because of his presidential ambitions. In this case
Gen. Lima was the tool used by President Cabrera, and
as Morales the assassin of Barillas declared on the stand
in Mexico: "the order to kill comes from 'higher up',
from the government and I was afraid of what might
happen to me if I should disobey." (i)
Gen. Martinez was a doctor besides being a soldier
and a revolutionist, he had also been a partisan of Por-
firio Diaz in the revolution of Tuxtepec. He quarreled
with the President and thereupon sailed to Europe. On
(1) El Diario Ilustrado. 9 June 07. Mexico.
50
his return he settled in New Laredo, Texas, where he
was peacefully exercising his profession as a doctor.
One evening he was called ostensibly to attend to a
patient and on his way thither was waylaid and mur-
dered by a negro who immediately afterward crossed
the Mexican frontier.
In this instance Gen. Bernardo Reyes was the Gen.
Lima of President Diaz. A mayor engineered the am-
bush, and on the same day as the assassination of
Gen. Martinez sent a telegram to General Reyes,
Governor of Nuevo Leon, which ran thus: "Your
order obeyed."
The cases are parallel, with but this difference;
that in the Martinez affair no notice was taken, as the
murder was not known to be of a political nature; in
the Barillas murder, the press of Mexico and the Assoc-
iated Press gave it a world wide publicity. The
secrecy of the proceedings used by Porfirio Diaz, shows
only a few facets of his political conduct and then only
the best side, which is why he stands in the minds of the
uninitiated as a great statesman and a benefactor to his
country. Cabrera, on the contrary, through the pub-
licity of his deeds is execrated as a modern Nero. But
Cabrera excuses himself by claiming that he is only
imitating Gen. Diaz for whom he has nothing but the
most sincere admiration.
THE CARNAGE OF ORIZABA.
Just about two years ago the news was telegraphed
to Mexico that some strikers in Orizaba, (state of Vera-
Cruz) had pillaged and burned a store, but that after
the troops, sent by the government had shot a few
aggressive workingmen, everything became peaceful
again. Nevertheless rumors went round the city of
horrors committed by the soldiers by order of the pres-
ident. It was only after a very careful investigation
that I was able to get the details of the whole affair.
The strike in Orizaba was a capitalistic, not a work-
ingman's strike. There were then about 92 textile
51
mills in Mexico which paid altogether over two millions
and a half annually in taxes to the government. This
contribution the mill owners considered excessive;
accordingly they resolved to bring about a strike, so
as to be in a position either to shut down the mills and
dictate their own terms to the mill hands or to endea-
vor to goad the workingmen into such desperate
straits that they might provoke a revolution, which
would bring about a new state of affairs.
After the shooting in Orizaba the " El Diario" had
a visit from a man purporting to be a labor leader, who
wanted to know if we would stand by a conspiracy of
theirs, as the Diario had sided with them during
the strike while all the other newspapers had defended
the mill owners.
This man revealed a terrible plot, which consisted
in destroying by fire or dynamite all the mills operating
in Mexico, if the owners did not come to reasonable
terms. The Diario answered that it could and would
not even entertain such a thought, that it was in bus-
iness to publish news, not to incite revolutions or
encourage the destruction of property.
This incident shows to what a degree of bitterness
and distress the men had reached when they could even
suggest such a fiendish act.
The strike had started this way: In Puebla the
union had given orders to a mill to stop work ; this union
was assisted with money by the Orizaba mill hands who
were then working. The Puebla mill owners com-
plained of this to the proprietors of the Orizaba factor-
ies, on which these gentlemen shut down their mills,
thus cutting off the source of help of the Puebla work-
ingmen. By these tactics the Puebla union was
brought to terms and after this was effected the Orizaba
owners opened their mills again.
But there arose a new difficulty, as the Orizaba
union claimed better terms before going back to work.
This was refused and the strike began anew. Mean-
while the strikers had sent a commission to the president
52
to get his help and influence in settling their conditions
and demands.
Porfirio Diaz promised to help them, and to this
effect he sent a commission down to Orizaba. This
commission called a meeting in a theatre and promised
that if the workmen would go to work they would get
their demands.
The strikers accepted this compromise and went
back to work.
In the morning some of the women went to the
store of a Frenchman, who gave the factory hands
credit on victuals in exchange for checks distributed
instead of money by the mill owners. As the hungry
women went into the shop, this man began in-
sulting them and their families with vile and indecent
language. The women returned home and indig-
nantly related the happening to their husbands urg-
ing them to avenge them. Infuriated by the humilia-
tions, the hunger, the sacrifices undergone for the
sake of the strike, these men had their cup of bitterness
filled to the brim, and their anger vented itself on the
man who had added the drop which made it overflow.
They became unmanageable, and cursed by the women
as cowards and curs they attacked the shop, sack-
ing and burning it. The police had no trouble in
quieting and dispersing the mob, and through the
efforts of the jefe politico, who was very much liked
in Orizaba, the workingmen were induced to go
back to work peaceably. Everything was quiet again,
the offenders responsible for the assault and the
burning of the shop were arrested. The "El Diario"
was the only paper which had dared tell the truth
and in an editorial had put the responsibility of the
riot on the Frenchman. This man hastened to the
office of "El Diario" and had the impudence to offer
$5,000 for another editorial which would rehabili-
tate him. His request was politely refused.
Public opinion favored the strikers, and all be-
lieved that the whole affair had ended with the appre-
53
hension of the rioters. But notwithstanding the fact
that everything was calm and that the mill hands had
all gone back to work peaceably, President Diaz sud-
denly and unexpectedly gave orders to the sub-
secretary of War, to go down to Orizaba with
a few hundred soldiers. Mind you, everybody and
everything was perfectly tranquil and quiet, no
attempt had been made by the workmen to create
any further disturbance.
Notwithstanding this, the two official execu-
tioners hastened to Orizaba, and there posted their
soldiers in the mills behind pillars and walls. When the
men and women entered the different factories to go to
work, the soldiers started a murderous fusillade,
mowing down the helpless mass of humanity like a
pack of rabid dogs. The noise was terrific, the uproar
undescribable, the clamor of despair and horror from
the wounded and slaughtered people beyond human
description. It was a perfect pandemonium, not of
battle, but of a cruel, relentless, coldblooded man-hunt,
the massacre of innocent, helpless, unarmed men,
women and children. The cracking of rifles, the smoke,
the dust arising from stray bullets, the blood spurting
in torrents from gaping wounds; here and there pros-
trate bodies with their heads almost shot off, the brains
spattering walls and floors, made a picture, sickening,
revolting and unparalleled in the history of civilization.
Not content with this the commanders ordered the
soldiers to follow up their victory and the murderous
sharpshooting continued into the streets, the raking fire
was directed through the windows into the houses of
the workingmen who had sought refuge there, pursu-
ing the carnage of innocent women and children.
Further orders were given to the rurales* to hunt the
fleeing men into the country, into the fields, even
chasing after them into the mountains. But the
rurales who are used to all kinds of rough work refused
* Country Police
54
to obey the command to shoot helpless men and wo-
men, so orders were given to shoot the rurales too.
The number of victims amounted from 650 to 700.
On the same night of the carnage from 450 to 500
mangled corpses of the murdered workingmen and
women, were taken stealthily to the railroad station,
there laid on flat cars and covered with straw. The
conductor who was to drive this funeral train to
Vera-Cruz refused to do so. They found another
less scrupulous conductor who drove the train to
Vera-Cruz on to the wharf. The corpses were taken
from there in boats out into the bay and there thrown
into the sea as food for the sharks.
This was the finishing stroke of the most brutish,
the most craven and the wildest orgie of blood perpe-
trated in the annals of humanity; it was an insensate
Saturnalia of Gore, the luxurious rage of an impotent,
cowardly, sadic old despot.
Tyranny is evil, because it is impossible that under
it the genius of a people should develop and _have free
play
MAZZINI.
The System.
A POLITICAL MAFIA. ITS RESULTS.
When an individual or a group of individuals
creates a system, be it political, social or commercial,
they make themselves responsible for the good as well
as the evil consequences resulting from this system.
Porfirio Diaz is always itching for the flattery and
praise for the redundand prosperity in Mexico; but
upon his white head rests also the responsibility of the
nefarious effects of his political mafia, his legalized
black hand, the true, legitimate sons of his powerful
and abstnise, statesman-like cogitations.
When a ruler orders his vassals to murder at his
bidding, be they governors, jefes politicos or just his
friends, he is by professional etiquette supposed to
close his eyes or wink at their own private vengeances
and delinquencies. The jefe politico has been the most
useful tool of the government. "The most cruel instru-
ment of despotism of the low and tenebrous despotism
of the "ley fuga" without any doubt, the jefe politico
has been the most acute public calamity to Mexican
society (i) And the governors: "the majority of our
governors are cordially detested by the people of the
respective states.
"Each one of these people would make any sacrifice
to get rid of the governor of his State." (2)
But they cannot, as each governor is chosen by the
president as a reward for loyalty or as a sop to their
ambitions. Sometimes, but very rarely, they rule
justly and lawfully, but more frequently they graft,
murder and break all the ten commandments and all
the penal codes, knowing well that P6rfirio Diaz will
ignore intentionally all the outrages, spoilations, injur-
(1) Hacia donde vamos. Q. Moheno. pag. 39.
(2) Idem. pag. 15.
59
ies and foul play perpetrated by them so long as they do
not play politics against Porfirio Diaz.
A fair type of the unscrupulous, perverse, incom-
petent, stupid, all powerful governor is here dascribed.
I shall relate a characteristic example of his govern-
mental methods.
About the year 1891 the theme of all the conversa-
tions in Puebla was the rape of two young girls,
daughters of a German watchmaker named Weber.
Public opinion pointed out as author of this outrage
the Governor who, through his social and political
position kept himself beyond the reach of the law.
A newspaper man of Puebla took upon himself to
expose the details of the affair, calling attention to the
fact that the persons responsible for this act of saty-
riasis were a high functionary of the State and a very
rich Mexican gentleman. This writer drew upon his
head the ire and hatred of the allmighty governor, whc
awaited his opportunity to revenge himself.
Two thugs (one of whom was murdered later on)
in the pay of the governor, received orders to waylay
the newspaper man and " give him water", ' darle agua",
a term used in Mexico to designate official murder.
One night while the latter and several friends
were sitting round a table in a cantina there passed
one of the governor's secret police who seeing the
journalist, beckoned him aside to invite him to a
dance. He accepted the invitation, but as he had been
drinking heavily his friends begged him to remain with
them. But he gave no heed to this warning and
followed the would-be host who was accompanied by
another secret service man.
On their way they passed through a side street,
in which, by a quaint coincidence, there lived a sweet-
heart of the governor. There, almost under the window
of this woman the two cut-throats caught the news-
paper man, one pinning his arms behind, while the
other was stabbing him to death. So swiftly and
expeditiously was the deed committed, that the vic-
60
tim had no time to open his mouth to raise an alarm.
There was nothing which could give a clue to the
assassin.
In the morning the governor's sweetheart leaning
over her balcony witnessed the horrible spectacle
offered by the body lying on its back steeped in a pud-
dle of blood, eyes wide open, hands contracted, im-
bedded in the mud, in sign of the silent struggle waged
against his murderers.
Several papers in Mexico City, among which the
"Monitor Republicano" and "Gil Bias", treated the
matter extensively, but before it took a scandalous turn
the Governor sent there a congressman, who settled the
business with money, much money, and thus the Press
was silenced.
To exculpate himself before public opinion, the
Governor put forward as responsible for the double
abduction a friend of his, who offered to marry either
one of the girls. But neither of these two victims of
the lustful governor accepted the proposition.
Once upon a time there lived a governor, in Guana-
juato, who had heard of the great fortunes made by the
culture of silk worms. After laborious but inefficacious
reading of treatises on the subject, he became impressed
by one paramount and orthodox fact, that mulberry
trees were essential to the growth and culture of silk
worms. So he hastily proceeded to uproot the trees
in the alameda (public square) and mulberry trees
were planted in their stead. The mulberry trees grew
and expanded their emerald green foliage, while the
impatient governor made it his official duty, to inspect
the bonanza trees with care and amore. One fine day
after having scrutinized the leaves, he turned to his
aide-de-camp and exclaimed angrily; "They have
deceived me; here I have wasted money and time on
these mulberry trees and not one silk worm has made
its appearance as yet!" To think that this man was a
rival of P. Diaz.
The governor's power is almost supreme in his
61
state ; Porfirio Diaz is the Czar of Mexico and his gover-
nors are his grand-dukes.
"Each one of our governors, dreams in his sphere
of local government, to be a General Diaz in miniature.
From this follows their grotesque attempt to imitate
the model. There are governors who take their daily
cold plunge at 5 in the morning, because they know or
think General Diaz does the same and imagine that the
moral value of the president has its root in the ablu-
tions." (i)
There was wonderful specimen of the unconscious,
I should say amoral type of the Diaz governor. He
ruled long, too long for the long-suffering state of
Hidalgo; one term more and he would have owned
every square inch of that state. He confiscated
property on the slightest pretext; robbed, murdered
and destroyed everything and everybody interfering
with his greedy lust for possession and indisputable
power. The list of his official murders is formidable.
His pet enemies were newspaper men. These martyrs
of a hopeless cause were destroyed like flies on a
summer's day. One case among the many is so abject
and fearful as to challenge incredulity.
A newspaper man after repeated beatings insisted
upon showing up the unlawful official acts of the gov-
ernor. Finally he was beaten insensible and then
taken bodily into a brick-kiln and there was cremated
alive !
From this example one realizes the sinfulness of
putting so much power into the hands of ignorant,
greedy and unscrupulous men.
A great many of the horrors I am speaking of have
happened quite a while ago, but the situation instead of
improving, seems to deteriorate and corrupt all the few
good elements left.
The present government created by Porfirio Diaz
can be likened to a basket of apples; the fruit on top has
been rubbed and cleaned until it is glowing with colors
(1) Hacia donde vamos. Moheno. pag. 14.
62
and freshness this is for the benefit of the foreigners
and strangers; but should you lift the top layer of
fruit, you would be disgusted by the rotten, putrid and
fetid material lying underneath this is for the benefit
of the Mexicans.
Two years ago on a hacienda (farm), belonging to
the minister of justice, a young man discovered the
body of a man of the middle class, in a state of im-
pending putrefaction. The wounds were not those of
an accident and his valuables had been left untouched.
He reported the case to the judge of the district. The
judge was not opening an investigation or seeming to
take any interest in trying to clear up the mystery.
Nobody appeared to know the man nor the cause of
his death. The young man finally insisted on the
necessity of the judge's attending to his official duties,
whereupon the judge in self-defense showed him a
telegram from the federal government, advising him
not to investigate into the "accident".
The minister of justice was very indignant that
his hacienda was being used for such purposes, for
assuredly it was a diabolic invention to use the farm
of the administrator of justice for the cosummation of
a crime. But murder will out, and it was discovered
that the person responsible for the deed was none other
than the jefe politico who rid himself or rid the gov-
ernor of an enemy. This governor is a relative of
Porfirio Diaz.
An important sinecure is the governorship of
of the federal district; next to it comes the chief of
police of Mexico City.
About ten years ago they had a chief of police
whose evil ways brought about his own destruction.
But meanwhile he ruled outrageously and without fear
of intervention from the benign Porfirio Diaz.
This Chief of Police had fallen in love with a young
girl whom he expected to marry in the near future.
Now the confessor of this girl who was aware of the
63
character of chief, opposed his spiritual influence to
the marriage.
One night the poor padre was taken to the police
station; there he underwent a sort of a third degree;
they tied him to a bench and with a funnel forced
him to swallow enormous quantities of alcohol until
they had provoked a congestion. Thereupon he was
taken to the street and made to lean gently against
a telephone pole, where the police picked him up later,
as being ostensibly in a state of unconscious ebriety.
The unfortunate padre died of congestion and he was
buried in the common graveyard, as nobody had
recognized the dead priest.
When the family noted the disappearance of their
kinsman they realized who the unknown dead man,
was. The clerical press mentioned the incident in ex-
tenso, but no notice of it was taken by the authori-
ties, and the chief of police continued his artistic
career.
One of the machiavellian tactics of Porfirio Diaz
consists in having an heterogenous cabinet, that is to
say, a cabinet in which the ministers are of opposite
political ideas and are even inimical to one another, so
as to prevent any accord between themselves. That
is the reason that although there are no political parties
in Mexico, there exist political groups, headed by two or
three ministers who covertly war against each other.
Romero Rubio, Dublan,Pacheco, Baranda, Liman-
tour and Reyes have been the most prominent chiefs
of these groups, with the acquiesence of the President.
The most powerful of these chiefs has been and
still is Limantour, the financial partner of Porfirio Diaz ;
and when things have almost reached the breaking
point, the ministers who are enemies of Limantour have
been ousted in a fashion more or less scandalous. So it
happened with Baranda and also with Gen. Reyes.
General Bernardo Reyes is a man famous for his
cleverness and daring. Porfirio Diaz kept him for a
long time at the head of the state of Nuevo Leon where
64
he made a reputation as a skillful governor. But the
party of Limantour became too powerful and was so far
enboldened as to indicate Limantour as the successor of
President Diaz. The latter then called in General Reyes
as Minister of War, gave him ostensibly his protection,
so that in a short time he became the head of the
" Reyists" with Minister Baranda as a partner.
But according to the phrase of Porfirio Diaz,
General Reyes " learned too fast," as he had organized a
"phalanx," the "second reserve," which became popular
all over the country. Newspapers were started foster-
ing the candidacy of Reyes, making war to the knife on
Limantour and "creating very bitter feeling.
To give satisfaction to his partner Limantour who
is very useful to him, Porfirio Diaz dismissed Baranda
and Reyes from their respective ministries ; but as Reyes
was necessary to him as a check to the "cientificos"
as Limantour's party calls itself, he replaced Bernardo
Reyes as Governor of Nuevo Leon.
Reyes was, like all the governors are, disliked in
this State, for the many murders committed, for his
arbitrary and despotic character and other sufficing
reasons.
The inhabitants of Nuevo Leon wanted to shake
their yoke and conceived the brilliant idea of nominat-
ing a candidate of their own ; and for this purpose they
created electoral clubs and fostered the candidacy of
Don Francisco Reyes, an honorable man and popular in
the State.
The 2nd of April, 1903, on the eve of the elections,
the partisians of the new candidate organized a parade
according to law. Accompanied by a brass band, the
procession started from the alameda, heading toward
the centre of the city, with the hurrahs and shouts in
favor of Francisco Reyes. As they reached the princi-
pal square, in front of the governor's palace, a broadside
was poured into them by the police on the roofs of the
governor's palace and the adjoining houses, killing
many of the paraders, among whom were many
65
prominent citizens. In this manner was the proces-
sion stopped and the candidacy of his rival squelched.
To escape assassination the unfortunate opponent was
obliged to flee the same night to Mexico City, disguised
as a fireman of the locomotive which took him out of
Monterey. On his arrival in Mexico City, Mr. Francisco
Reyes complained to President Diaz who promised
him a fair trial and justice. The Press made a great
deal of noise on the subject and the Limantourists or
"cientificos" availed themselves of this occurence to
deal a death blow to General Reyes by accusing him
formally in Congress.
But the expected happened: Porfirio Diaz gave
orders to absolve General Reyes, and all the blame was
put on the unlucky paraders "who killed each other in
order to slander the distinguished General Reyes", who
triumphed in the elections and who, thanks to Porfirio
Diaz, continues to rule the State of Nuevo Leon in peace
as a lesson and punishment to the people
HISTORY OF A GREAT CONSPIRACY.
The correct heading for this chapter should be:
"the history of two great crimes, "for two men were assas-
sinated so as to efface the tracks of the conspirator who
had attempted to destroy the life of Porfirio Diaz. The
personage at the bottom of this mysterious plot is
known, and his name is whispered as a secret behind
closed doors, for the would-be-king is still a high
government functionary. He failed by the breadth of
a hair, by the turn of the hand, and two lives, the tools
of his ambition, were crunched to keep his own life
intact. Read carefully the proceedings of the trial,
follow attentively the scarlet thread running through
this wonderful maze of apparent contradictions and the
logical and evident solution of the riddle will jump at
you like a jack in the box when you touch the right
spring.
It is the tale of a crime for a crime, illustrative of
66
the dangerous and perverse system created by Porfirio
Diaz, which like a boomerang flew back and almost
knocked him off his throne.
On the 1 6th of September 1897, the anniversary of
the independence of Mexico, as customary, the Presi-
dent was walking from the National Palace to the
Alameda, escorted by the high functionaries of the
realm, and surrounded by his soldiers, when suddenly a
man broke the protecting line of bayonets, and rushing
at Diaz, ere anybody could stop him, struck him a blow
on the neck which staggered but did not fell him to the
ground. The astonishment and confusion were intense ;
a score of officers sword and pistol in hand were ready
to take the man's life as a swift punishment for his
daring. But the President commanded them to desist
from violence and to turn him over to the proper
authorities.
The individual responsible for this idiotic and
useless attack was a wretched, unbalanced, alcoholic
being by the name of Arnulfo Arroyo. He was taken
to police headquarters and there by order of the Chief
of Police was put in a straight jacket and a muzzle
clapped over his mouth. " More than once did Gover-
nor Rebollar order the removal of the muzzle and as
often did Velasquez put it on again." (i)
The evening of the aggression, the chief of police,
and the police inspector and the Chief of the Secret
Police had a confab with the Minister of the Interior,
with the following result: On his return to police
headquarters the chief of police gave orders to his ser-
vant to buy a dozen knives and commissioned the
police inspector to organize as perfect and lifelike an
imitation of a "lynching" as he could produce, with
Arroyo as villain and victim. The police inspector was
to be the stage manager, hero and the avenger of this
real tragedy, which consisted in picking out seven
"tigers" from the police force, disguising them as
(1) Historia del gran crimen. J. M. Rabago. pag. 31.
67
"pelados"*, arm them with the knives bought for the
purpose and then leading them on to an attack on
police headquarters where they were to lynch Arroyo
and then, when making their escape, to shout "Viva
Mexico" and "Down with Anarchy."
While on one side the police were preparing the
stage setting, the government and the minister of war
were trying to devise a means of destroying Arroyo in a
legal and constitutional manner. They unconsciously
attempted to make a case of lese-majesty out of it, but
the constitution naturally did not provide for that;
they tried to insist that the crime, which was not a
crime but only an obortive attempt, was of a military
nature. Unfortunately for this theory Arroyo was not
a military man; so they discovered that when he had
attacked the President, this one had been arrayed in
full dress military uniform; but when on looking up
the military code, it was found that the punishment
for such a crime was only two years of prison, the
officious wiseacres gave it up in disgust.
About twelve thirty the curtain of the show was
raised, the seven policemen or "tigers" masquerading
as "pelados" dashed smartly in an attack against po-
lice headquarters and entered the room of the prisoner.
The police on guard there having been disarmed before-
hand, made but a feeble resistance and desisted en-
tirely on recognizing some of their colleagues. Arroyo
was sitting on a chair in a straight jacket, helpless,
unable to defend himself, and the intrepid, indomitable
"tigers" went at their job like professional cut- throats,
"the stilettoes" penetrated the stomach, now the
thorax, again the lungs, mangling violently, passion-
ately, with incredible frenzy, the body of the victim
as it shook in lamentable impotence, the blood spurting
from the torn muscles and veins, and running on the
floor. Nine wounds were inflicted on that mass of
flesh the criminals labored impatiently, seeking only
the perfection of the stroke, the gross art of assassinat-
* Indians of the poorest class.
68
ing, aiming at the entrails, according to their rude
physiological knowledge. The victim gave a piercing
cry of horror, anguish and despair, a howl condensing
the force of an existence losing itself in endless night.
The assassins had their decorative coquetry, they
unfurled and fluttered the national flag shouted
"Viva Mexico." In this detail I was not able to
ascertain if it was an artistic improvisation of the
" matadores" or a thought of Velasquez who was invit-
ing the complicity of the country, (i) Then they fled
shouting "Down with anarchy". In police head-
quarters Sanchez fired, by order, a revolver, broke
several window panes so as to attract the curiosity of
the idlers and the attention of the Chief of Police who
was awaiting this signal. The belated persons who
were attracted by the noise were allowed to enter the
police station, some of the more timid were even
courteously invited to enter, and then they were all
arrested as dangerous and suspicious characters, as
authors and perpetrators of the crime.
Very soon afterward the Minister of War, an
asthmatic old man was apparently taking fresh air
on his balcony in the Independencia street, when an
officer of the police stopped under his window and
said: " I come to inform you from the Chief of Police,
that they have already lynched Arroyo." whereupon
the General lifted his hand deprecatingly and without
hesitation or astonishment said: "I regret it for the
honor of the country."
In the morning of the iyth the official paper
gave the news of the lynching, informing he publict
that a violent mob of men had killed Arroyo sweeping
everything before it, that only a few were under arrest,
strictly "incomunicados", and giving their names,
also a description of the weapons left in the room by
the fleeing lynchers.
The first impression produced by this extraordi-
nary news was one of terror. The story of the lynch-
(1) Historia del gran crimen. J. M. Rabago. pag. 45.
ing was a fable impossible of general acceptation and
produced only sardonic smiles that could be interpreted
as a lack of all belief that the "people"by a strange
novelty had dedicated itself to the exercise of justice,
(i) Nobody credited this macaberesque invention.
The President exclaimed "it is a pity, they have cut
the thread, and what is worse, it is shameful for the
country." Also when a commission of prominent per-
sons congratulated him on his miraculous escape from
murder he said "What I regret, is that we cannot
now claim that in Mexico they do not lynch." But
nobody, not even the President believed that Arroyo
had been lynched. The unofficial newspapers derided
the fable ; popular feeling became so intense and threat-
ening, that impelled by this tremendous pressure,
General Mena and J. Y. Limantour called a meeting
of the cabinet, resulting in a demand for an official in-
vestigation by Congress.
Congress met, and the justice of Mexico was notified
to bring to account the authors of this atrocious
and illegal occurrence. The police heads who had or-
ganized the outrage were shocked and surprised at
being constrained to enter the prison (Belem) as a
result of a service to "high politics." The young
lawyers defending the guilty policemen, argued that
all the prisoners with the exception of one had only
followed orders from their chief, as soldiers obey their
commander. They did excellent work, especially in
the cross-examination.
The chief of police was on the rack, he was ques-
tioned, cross-questioned, desperately trying to keep up
the silly farce of the popular lynching. Hopelessly he
fought truth and the evidence accumulating against
him and his flimsy fairy tale. At last suspecting that
the invisible hand which had directed him and the
influence on which he had counted was now powerless
to protect him, he divined that by an irresistible logic
of events he would be sacrificed as the scapegoat of
(1) Idem. pag. 56.
70
this tragic farce and realizing that the ground was
giving way under him, he lost his head, and trapped,
cornered like a wild boar by a pack of tenacious hounds,
turned round to fight for his last chance, the chance of
his life. Pale and trembling with excitement he rose
declaring that now he would tell the truth, the whole
truth, but the judge stopped him instantly, with the
excuse of the lateness of the hour, adding however,
that he could make his declaration the day following.
The next morning the news of his "suicide" was
published. Three days before, a newspaper had pub-
lished the same news, evidently as a tip that sooner
or later such an occurence must take place. The rest
and the seven "tigers" were sentenced to death,
but later, on a technicality, the judgment was com-
muted to six years imprisonment.
The inside history of this plot is as follows. Two
generals high in the army plotted a " coup d' e'tat", for
the purpose of installing themselves in power after the
assassination of Porfirio Diaz. They had the immediate
power of the country in their hands; the army was
under their direct orders and the police and the judges
of the Federal District were subject to them also.
They used the chief of police as their tool, bribed with
the promise of a governorship, and the former in his
turn used Arroyo for the purpose of assassinating the
President, though we cannot imagine what induce-
ments or arguments the chief could have employed
to convince Arroyo and urge him to commit such a
desperate and hopeless deed. Furthermore the chief
counted on an Indian, paid for that purpose, to watch
the President during his walk from the palace to the
alameda, with order to kill any person attacking him.
On the 1 5th of September Arroyo got drunk in Atza-
potzalco; he \vas arrested, and kept in jail overnight.
Next day, Arroyo still dazed by alcoholic fumes, un-
armed, for his revolver had been confiscated, felt never-
theless as if hypnotized by a tenacious will greater than
his own that impelled him to attack the President,
71
with the aforementioned result. The Indian however
came too late to fulfill his part of the work, as the
President suspecting a plot had interfered in time.
When Arroyo arrived at police headquarters they put
him immediately in a straight jacket and muzzled him,
being mortally afraid that the wretched creature would
" squeal" and betray him as well as the "men higher up"
for the chief alone never would have dared to plot
against the life of the President.
Therefore the prompt elimination of Arroyo was of
the utmost necessity and although the President was
desirous that Arroyo should not die, the system was
more powerful than his wishes. The lynching was the
hasty conception of excited and alarmed heads, for a
cool and calm reflection would have dismissed it as
absurd. Evidently none of the plotters counted on the
horror and indignation that such an act would arouse,
and the result was the trial and imprisonment of all
the lynchers, as well as of the chief of police. That
the life of this man was doomed from the beginning is
proved by the publication of his "alleged" suicide in an
official paper, either as a mistake or as a warning
that such an event might happen.
i~ After the official paper had given the false news
of the " suicide" of the chief three days before his
death, the Governor of the federal district, ordered
the "alcaide", inspector of the jail to start a minute
perquisition through the rooms and the person of the
prisoner, to see if he might not be concealing any
weapons. In spite of the careful search however,
nothing was found, yet the morning after the " suicide"
near the bed of the chief the revolver with which he
was supposed to have killed himself was strangely
discovered. On the very night, within an hour, within
five minutes of the "suicide," the police inspector was
sitting chatting with several men in a place in the
prison not far distant from the prisoner's cell, when
on some trivial pretext he arose and left the room,
returning and continuing the conversation after a
72
brief interval. During his absence 'a pistol shot was
heard in the cell of the chief of police the shot that
ended the life of the unarmed "suicide." Next day
the story of the "suicide" was circulated. Who else
but a powerful man could have forced a judge to re-
voke a death sentence and change it to six years im-
prisonment?
While there might temporarily be state secrets, it is
impossible that there should be national secrets, and the
only result of a purely official presentation of a country's
status is to lose credit as a government without helping
the country.
F. BULNES.
Justice Under Diazpotism.
Justice is the end of government; it is the end
of civil society. It ever has been and ever
will be pursued until it be obtained, or until
liberty be lost in the pursuit.
MADISON IN "THE FEDERALIST."
Mexico lost her liberty in the pursuit of justice.
The justice of Mexico lies hidden within the palm of a
political trickster, whom death must summon before
his closed fist will relax its fearful hold upon a crumpled,
wilted, and disfigured justice.
The political credit of a nation is expressed by its
justice, the independence of its courts, the incorrupti-
bility of its judges. The first questions a foreigner asks
about a nation will be "Are your investments safe? Is
personal liberty secure?"
There are two kinds of justice in Mexico; one for
the foreigner, another for the Mexican. Porfirio Diaz
learned by experience that most wars and foreign inter-
ventions in Mexico, have been brought about by the
legal wrongs and the arbitrary discriminations against
foreigners. Therefore he made it one of his political
commandments to treat foreigners as gingerly and
equitably as conditions might permit. The foreigner
brings into the country either money or energy ; he toils
and helps improve the economical conditions of the
land; he does not interfere in politics, neither has he
any ambition outside of enriching himself; when
oppressed or ill treated, he can always invite inter-
national complications and discredit the country by
appealing for redress to his consul or minister; on the
other hand to the Diaz regime, the native does not
represent the same direct advantages to the country
as the foreigner; the Mexican loves to play politics and
in this manner interferes with the power and ambition of
the despot. Justice is essentially by nature demo-
77
cratic, its verdicts are indifferent to caste, birth influ-
ence and wealth; it is therefore logical that that justice
in its purest sense cannot dwell in a nation ruled by a
satrap, since a one-man's rule is inherently of an aris-
tocratic type.
It was the crafty and canny policy of Porfirio
Diaz to offer: justice, fair play and special privileges to
the foreigner; to his henchmen immunity, license,
favors and protection; to the independent native
arbitrariness, injustice and chicanery.
Porfirio Diaz represents the two-faced Janus:
the front the face of a Minerva; serious, calm, just, pro-
found and noble; that is for the outsider, but, seen from
the back, for the Mexican, it is the mask of a Medusa ;
terrible, racked by fear and cruelty, a horrible thing to
behold in its petrified violence.
Porfirio Diaz has a business partner, a Spaniard,
who is very rich and a very shrewd and influential
man; it is a common occurence to see the judges of the
supreme court and of the federal districts courts danc-
ing attendance on this Spaniard to discuss with him
the resolutions of judicial affairs. These judges are cor-
rupt in a shameless and cynical manner; those who are
not corrupt and who try to do their duty always obey
the orders of all the satellites, of the minister and sub-
secretary of justice and of Porfirio Diaz whose merest
wish is a command. Take at random from the list
of the judges any one and you will get an idea of the
type of men dispensing justice in Mexico.
One is a native of Oaxaca. In eight years as a
judge has made a fortune of over one million dollars.
He is now president of the supreme court, has been a
magistrate, president of the debates and agent for the
government. He is a perfect type of the courtier,
lackey of the president. As the administration favored
the suppression of the jury system, he in an interview
gave out this argument against the jury system,
claiming that no matter what the jury's intentions
were, he could always induce it to indict according
78
to his views. It is a saying of his that there is no
other justice than the royal wish of the ruler.
Another, still a young man. Not quite a year ago
was trying a murder case, when one evening at a dinner
with friends he made a bet with the lawyer of the de-
fence, claiming that he would condemn the accused
man to death. The lawyer took him up and as a guar-
antee of good faith, asked for a written statement of
the bet, which consisted in the payment of a dinner
to the winner. A newspaperman got hold of the docu-
ment and published it with the story of the bet. It
created a great deal of scandal and indignation.
Everybody expected to see him dismissed from
the bar. But the unexpected happened ; the lawyer for
the defence went to jail for contempt of court, he
sentenced the accused man to death and won his bet
and he continues to dispense " justice" without molesta-
tion or even a reprimand from the minister of justice or
Porfirio Diaz. One of his judicial axioms is that every
man who is accused is a criminal and should therefore
be condemned.
Another has been under indictment on eleven
counts and in his tribunal they have committed real
horrors; notwithstanding which he always stays in
his place. In 1904 his staff of secretaries was im-
prisoned as they had stolen all the fines of the prison-
ers. The case was dismissed. Anybody with money
can fix his case with the judge. He laughs cynically
at Mexican justice and says that it is a " pamplina",
a chickweed, a trifle which feeds many people.
Another specimen of the representative judge is an
ex-lawyer who was sentenced to six years prison for
bigamy. After his term in Belem he came out as
the protector and defender of the poor. He committed
a thousand swindles, tricks and petty graft to such a
degree that even the sleepy vigilance committee had to
take some action against him. He was indicted on
several charges, but suddenly the case against him
was dismissed and he was appointed secretary of a
79
tribunal, judge, and government agent for the war
department.
BELEM THE MEXICAN BASTIW,E.
Where judges are corrupt one can easily imagine
what the jail or expiatory place of justice must be.
Belem, the Mexican Bastille, is more than purgatory.
It is hell ! It is not described in the books of travels for
travelers are not allowed to visit this place of torment.
The circles of Dante's Inferno corresponded to the
iniquities committed by the sinner; but compared to
Belem the Black Hole of Calcutta is a drawing room,
the Siberian jails philanthropic institutions and the
"piombi" or cells in the Doge's palace abodes of
luxury.
Belem is the superlative expression of Mexican
injustice, it is an example of the equity of Porfirio Diaz,
the Just, the True, the Impartial. Belem is not a jail,
nor a galley, nor a prison; it is Gehenna, Tophet, the pit
of Acheron ; it is an unmentionable disease on the body
of Mexican justice, a large infected sewer containing
vermin, filth, carrion, disease, pollution and depravity;
filled with jail birds, packed like sardines, and treated
like cattle. It is an abomination on the face of earth,
an human cess-pool, a foul, malodorous example of the
benevolent interest the old despot takes in matters
hidden from the view of strangers.
The Diaz government has spent millions for a park
and a drive in Chapultepec, for a model post office, a
classic telegraph office and a monumental house for
congress, it is spending from 8 to 10 million dollars for a
marble opera house, which will be a marvel to behold.
But the plans for a model jail as suggested by W. de
Landa y Escandon has been rotting for the last 6 years
in the archives of the government!
Belem which is about the size of half a New York
block, contains, that is, it is made to contain anywhere
between 5,000 to 6,000 men, besides 300 boys and 600
80
women. There is a room 180 square yards where 1800
men are supposed to sleep. They have to fight so as to
be able to lie down to rest, the weaker must sit up or
stand or lie on one another. Bugs, fleas, lice of every
description swarm in myriads and one flat blow of the
hand anywhere on the wall will crush hundreds of them.
The food is unfit for consumption, it is left sometimes
two or three hours exposed to sun or rain before it is
distributed. They permit the men to have a shower
bath in cold water, but they are left to dry themselves
the best way they can, for no towels are given, nor even
soap. The result of this state of affairs is the great
number of epidemics and the frequency with which the
inmates are afflicted with tuberculosis. On the yth of
October 1938 "El Diario" published the list of the
prisoners stricken with typhoid, in one day: 176 cases.
Next day no list could be had, the truth was suppressed
by the authorities. The prison wardens hold undisputed
sway, they are mostly inmates of the prison; they graft,
rob, commit every kind of villanous deed, brutalize and
sometimes beat to death the refractory prisoners.
Homo-sexuality is rampant and is encouraged by
the wardens; men and boys are used willingly or by
force for illicit intercourse, alcohol and even mari-
huana (an intoxicating weed), are used to facilitate
that purpose.
There is a vigilance committee composed of twelve
individuals who are supposed to see that there are no
abuses and violations of the law and the rules. They
visit the prison once every three or six months, but
more often they electrify their activities, as the coun-
lic of ten in Venice, only at the reception of anony-
mous letters sent by the prisoners themselves.
THE PENITENTIARY.
In spite of its clean and healthy appearance it is
a place of subtle and refined inquisition. The prisoners
are illtreated, illfed, illkept. In seven years 1275
people entered the penitentiary and 162 died. They
81
make the inmates work and pay the men one-sixteenth
of the pay of the lowest workingman. The wardens
as in Belem are all powerful, brutal, unjust. The dir-
ectors of the penitentiary add months of imprisonment
to the sentence of the prisoners on the sole information
of the wardens. The unfortunate prisoners have to go
around almost naked if they do not possess clothes, un-
less they are given to them by charitable persons.
Doctors visit the place every eight or ten days.
THE CORRECTIONAL SCHOOL.
This is called so by mistake, for it is properly a
school of vice and crimes, where minors serve their
terms. From there most of the boys come out full-
fledged thieves, pickpockets, homo-sexuals, bullies and
even worse. They are treated like animals and are
made to work without pay for the benefit of the
friends of the administration.
There is a term which you hear all the time in
Mexico when a man is sent to jail on a criminal charge
or otherwise: " Incomunicado" which means that the
prisoner is deprived of all intercourse with anyone
lawyers, friends or relatives. It is a powerful weapon
in the hands of the judges, or the prison authorities,
and in the case of newspapermen or poor foreigners who
would otherwise communicate with their representa-
tives.
A certain Manuel Batiz was left in Belem 4 months
"incomunicado" Juan Garduno 7 months, Luis Torres
2 years. Two years ago the newspapers published the
story of the discovery of a man who had been in Belem
for to years, waiting as he himself said, for an accusa-
tion of some kind. The Czar Porfirio Diaz in his infinite
kindness pardoned the poor man.
Here are some examples of the carelessness, incom-
petence and utter disregard of the first principles of
justice.
An inmate of the penitentiary, 16 years old, was
82
sentenced, although innocent, with scarcely a hear-
ing, to ten years imprisonment for homicide. He pro-
tested and asked for a trial or a hearing as he was
ready to prove his innocence and even to indicate the
real name of the murderer. They told him to shut up
or he would fare worse.
Another was sentenced to death for killing his
sweetheart. After n years of Belem the trial ended
and as he had been sentenced to death they commuted
the sentence to 20 years. But they did not count
the ii years served, so that in realty he is serving 31
years. When his lawyer spoke to the minister of
justice to rectify this injustice he answered Solomon-
like: "for those who are -within the law, everything; for
those who put themselves outside of the law, not even air!"
Another was sentenced to eight years for man-
slaughter. When his brother was caught 3 years later
as an accomplice, the case was revised and he was then
condemned to death. His lawyer went to see the
minister of justice to repeal the sentence, as being illegal.
The minister replied: "Generosity is an attribute of
weak men; strong men always use severity!"
Another case was that of a Frenchman, 45 years
old, who had drawn $50,000 on a Parisian bank, where
his note was not honored. As the case was a civil one
he was discharged by the court of jurisdiction. There-
upon the judge of the criminal court with a stroke of
the pen sentenced him to 9 years in prison. He was
transferred to the penitentiary where he was kept
rigorously " incomunicado" being therefore unable
either to defend himself or to communicate with his
minister.
Another, although innocent was sentenced to
12 years imprisonment. Later they discovered the
real culprit and then he was set at liberty with the
warning: "Don't make any scandal, or you'll be put
back in jail for life.
DEPARTMENT OF POLICE IN MEXICO.
Notwithstanding the corruption surrounding the
chief of police, who is a nephew of Porfirio Diaz, he is
the best man in the department and one of the best
men they ever had. He is a quiet man, is unassuming
and unostentatious, and tries to do what he conceives
his duty as he conceives it. Nevertheless, he is play-
ing his little part in politics, for Felix Diaz is a very
ambitious man. On the other hand the department
of secret police or better called the department of
detectives or plain clothes men, is composed of the
riff-raff, the dregs of criminal Mexico; among its mem-
bers are professional murderers and thieves.
The judges know so well the unconditional protec-
tion offered to them by Porfirio Diaz that they believe
and make the poor and unfortunate seekers of justice
believe that they are infallible.
Here is a case to illustrate my assertion. One
night some ticket speculators quarreled with some de-
tectives who promptly took them to the police station.
Next day they testified before a Judge who inquired
where they had their last drink before their quarrel.
They named a certain well-known restaurant. The
judge without investigating whether the bar was
closed imposed a fine of $^oo on the proprietor of
the restaurant. This man brought his witnesses and
even the policeman on the beat, who testified that the
bar was closed and that only the restaurant was open,
which was according to law. The secretary for the gov-
ernor of the district was not in the slightest degree im-
pressed by this array of evidence, but as the oracle of
the federal district he declared "Although I know that
you are right, it matters not, the word of the judge is
infallible."
We all know that there is a Pope who is infallible in
matters religious, but Mexico had to reveal to us infal-
lible judges.
Let us see now how far the infallibility of the judges
84
of the supreme court can stand the strain when it is a
question of influential and fearless foreigners.
A few years ago an electric lighting concern (a
Canadian corporation) needed a piece of land for the
installation of electric posts. The Mexican gentlemen
who owned the land saw in this a great opportunity to
hold up this wealthy corporation. This lot was almost
a parallelogram and the company needed for its purpose
only one corner, a triangle, about one tenth of the
whole. The owners of the land offered the whole lot
at say $x a square meter, but the president of the com-
pany declined to buy the whole, and offered instead to
buy the corner at the price stated. Then the afore-
mentioned gentlemen very cunningly decided to sell the
triangle, but at a price which would be equivalent to
that of the whole. This the president of the corpora-
tion refused to accept. The case was carried up to the
supreme court, which decided that the owners of the
land were in the right to ask such a price and con-
demned the lighting company to pay it.
The lawyer for the corporation came one morning
to see its president informing him that the case has
been decided against him, and that if he did not pay
the price agreed upon, the supreme court would con-
demn the property of the lighting company to pay for
the settlement of the case. The president of the corpo-
ration answered that he did not care what the supreme
court might do, as the case was a flagrant violation of the
law, and that if the condemnation should take place
the press of Europe and of America would publish this
news as a specimen of Mexican justice. The fright-
ened lawyer went post-haste to Mr. Limantour who real-
izing the international importance of the case in-
formed Porfirio Diaz about it.
The president had a hurried meeting with the
judges of the supreme court and the result was a rever-
sal of the case to the original equitable basis.
Moral: If you are at the head of a rich corpora-
tion in Mexico, even the supreme court will reverse its
85
judgments, but if you are only an insignificant restaurant
keeper, an unjust sentence will be called infallible.
Here is another incident illustrating how the poli-
tical camarilla in Mexico can and does sometimes get
out of the control of the iron hand of the Czar.
The same corporation, noticed that they were losing
enormous quantities of electric power. After careful
investigation they discovered that the leak happened
near a mill operated in the outskirts of Mexico City.
They tapped and measured the power at the pole near-
est to the mill and after having figured out, they found
that although the mill was lighted and run by electricity
the manager only paid for a fraction of the power,
which loss to the corporation amounted to $45,000. The
president of the corporation made his accusation to a
judge and sent out a warrant for the arrest of the
manager of the mill. Next morning some Mexican
gentlemen prominent in the finances and politics came
to see the president of the corporation begging him to
stop proceedings against the mill manager as a favor to
Gen. Diaz, adding that they were willing to pay the full
amount of the losses incurred by the corporation. The
president of the company accepted the settlement and
forthwith went to the judge who had taken up his case
asking him to drop it. The judge became arrogant and
refused to do this, accordingly the president began
making his accusation, naming all the directors and
owners of the mill interested in the affair. When the
judge heard the names of the influential and promi-
nent men implicated in the process, and realized the
importance of the whole business, he refused to go on
with the case. Then the president became angry at
this ignorant and foolish judge, he threatened to go
after him if he did not do his duty, whereupon the
judge reluctantly resumed the case. Next morning
there appeared in the company's office, togged up in
the full uniform of aide-de-camp, the royal valet to
the president, who informed the president of the light-
ing company that the president wanted him to know
86
that the emisary of the President was lying when he
asked for leniency hi the president's name in the
case of the tapping of the power of the mill. That it
would be agreeable to the president if the company
should continue the proceedings against the mill direc-
tors or owners.
The manager and assistant manager of the mill
were sentenced to Belem, the directors who knew about
the whole affair and were directly responsible for it
went scot-free. A year after the sentence the widow of
the manager of the mill came to see the president of
the lighting company, saying that her husband had
died in jail and begged for money to pay for the funeral
expenses and for her trip home back to Spain. The
president paid for the funeral expenses and for the
trip to Spain. Imagine his discomfiture when he dis-
covered later that the manager of the mill had not
died, but was in Spain healthy as may be and that he
had paid for the funeral expenses of a dummy who had
been impersonating the mill manager through the
political influence of the mill owners and directors.
LEY FUGA. (RUNAWAY LAW.)
The "Ley Fuga" or Runaway Law is no law at all
but a Mexican euphonism. It has been in practice
the last two or three generations. Bandits infected the
country like a plague, so when they were caught and
conducted from one place to another on trial, they
usually tried to escape and then they were shot.
This natural impulse to run away was cleverly used
by the governors, jefes politicos, etc., to get rid of their
enemies. For instance a prominent rancher or influen-
tial person wanted to get rid of an enemy or the lover
of a girl on whom they had cast their lustful eyes, then
they would simply accuse the unfortunate man of some
imaginary criminal offence. The accused was on some
pretext or other taken from one prison to another
from village to village. On the way, the rurales or
87
country police would let him go ahead and then
shoot him in the back. On their return to the village
they would declare that the prisoner had tried to
escape and that he had been shot in the attempt. If
they had to appear before a judge they would describe
how the prisoner had attacked them, shot at them and
while running away had been killed. To prove their
assertion they brought forward a grey hat perforated
by a bullet hole and a saddle with the same perforation,
according to testimony. The strange part of the affair
is that the same grey hat and the same saddle are used
over and over again in each case of the kind.
Originally the "Ley Fuga" was an unsuccessful
attempt to get rid of the bandits Porfirio Diaz got rid
of them by either having them shot on the spot or by
offering them better pay to enter the government ser-
vice as rurales. This way he gathered an excellent
corps of men, inured to all kinds of fatigue and strenu-
ous work and who kept the country in order. Porfirio
Diaz believed in the old adage that it takes a thief to
catch a thief.
There are no more bandits in Mexico, but the " Ley
Fuga" is still in full vigor; it is used for private ven-
geance, for political purposes and is one of the most
dangerous, cowardly and execrable weapons used by
Diaz and his political mafia.
QUINTANA ROO, THE MEXICAN SIBERIA.
Despotic Mexico without its Siberia would not be
complete or perfect as a political machine. But the
brain of Porfirio Diaz ever fertile in expedients and loop-
holes found a good excuse in the Maya rebellions in
Yucatan to cut about half of the state to make it a
federal district, so as to be able to keep there con-
stantly a few thousand soldiers. The Valle nacional is
used as the Russians use Siberia to send their political
prisoners, with this difference; that many prisoners
escape from Siberia to tell the tale, but no one sent to
88
Yucatan for a few years has ever come back. It is the
most unhealthy, marshy, feverish, and pestiferous spot in
Mexico. The chances against the prisoners are greater
than against the roulette wheel, with the two O's and
the eagle. If the execrable food does not kill you,
either a sun stroke, yellow fever or some other dreadful
tropical disease will do it. Should you, as a prisoner be
tough or lucky enough to survive, they apply another
form of the ley fuga to you. The officer or sergeant in
charge of the soldiers will make friends with you, and
suggest a very easy way of escaping; if you are inno-
cent or anxious enough to do so, the soldiers who are
always watching you, have orders to shoot you, even
if you should leave the rank and file to get a drink at
anearby fountain. If all the coaxing is unavailable, then
you are offered the means of committing suicide, but
should you refuse this kindness, then they help you to
kill yourself, or in plain English they assassinate you
without more ado, for a doomed man who will not take
a diplomatic hint, ought to be killed like a mere dog.
In 1904 a young man named Palomar Serrano,
aged 20 years, during the convention of the "Liberal
Jacobines" who were celebrating the anniversary of the
death of Juarez at the Arbeu Theatre, got up and said :
" I come to indict the great criminal Porfirio Diaz. ' ' He
had no time to say another word, as he was arrested by
order of the chief of police, next day, without any trial
he was sent to Yucatan for three years.
Here is another example of justice which reminds
one of the 1 2th century justice in the Italian principali-
ties.
A well known general, who lives in Mexico, had,
as they say, a misfortune in the family; his daughter
had eloped with the family coachman. The daughter
was sent back home and later married a very respec-
table officer. But the ambitious coachman was sent to
Yucatan where his bones are now rotting in the torrid
sun of Quintana Roo.
When a man of talent or of a certain political influ-
89
ence has attacked Porfirio Diaz or the administration in
articles or speeches, and he cannot be punished by the
ley fuga or exiled to Yucatan, they resort to several
underhand ways to discredit him.
Newspapermen are often arrested in the midst of
the night, without a warrant or an order from a judge,
just on the invitation of a police officer or a policeman.
The wife of a journalist was without news from her
husband for over a fortnight, until she appealed to the
director of El Diario for information.
A well known author and lawyer was writing a
book on the actual political situation in Mexico. As
soon as this was known to the authorities they accused
him of contempt of court. The case was not decided
either way, but was kept pending over the author's
head like a sword of Damocles.
As soon as the book was published and it was seen
that several prominent men in politics were attacked in
it, the case of contempt of court was fished out and the
man was indicted.
It is a frequent happening in Mexico to see a man
enter Belem on a trumped up charge and stay there a
year or longer. During this time the rumor is circu-
lated that the man has either stolen money or has com-
mitted some criminal deed. After a certain time the
person in question is brought before a judge and the
case dismissed for want of proofs, but the man is dis-
credited and ruined for life without appeal or redress
of any kind. A year ago at a vaudeville show an actor
impersonating a monkey, playfully put on his head a
cap of a policeman standing nearby. He was arrested,
kept in jail all day and fined $10. When they asked
the chief of police the reason for this severity he
retorted: "that the aforesaid action was derogatory to
the dignity of the police."
We shall see that the word "derogatory" is only
a felicitous rhetorical figure by the chief of police.
I shall mention two incidents which prove that
when the offenders are influential men, this most honor-
90
able police "derogates" and pockets the insults, as in
the Mikado.
A year ago the son of the minister of justice
slapped and insulted the chief of the secret police for
giving out a story of an amateur bull fight in honor
of some prostitutes. He was not arrested nor fined
nor even reprimanded.
Two years ago the son of a millionaire valet to
Porfirio Diaz, insulted, slapped and kicked a policeman
who had dared order him out of a cafe after the
closing hour. At the police station as soon as he
was identified he was released immediately. Next day
his father, who claims to despise all newspapers, came
to the office of El Diario and begged the director as
a favor not to give any further notoriety to the case, as,
he said " I have sent my son for a year to Paris, as a
punishment." Why not to Belem. ?
A few months later a young man, unfortunate
because his father was not a royal valet, com-
mitted the same offence against another policeman.
He was not sent to Paris but to Belem for two years.
Thus they mete out justice in Mexico, the land of con-
tradictions.
After thirty years of the corrupting, nefarious,
harmful and secretive work of the government on the
one hand and on the other of the official and unofficial
publicity of the wonderful progress of Mexico, Por-
firio Diaz felt that the time had arrived when the
the Mexican nation deserved the same standing as
foreign nations. He thought also, that the faith in
the ability and honorability of the administration
of Porfirio Diaz should be given a sort of vote
of confidence by foreigners in the matter of incor-
poration of large mining, agricultural and land com-
panies; foreign nations having shown their respect and
their admiration toward Porfirio Diaz by showering
medals and orders on him and on his family. Unfor-
tunately the foreign investor is more careful of his con-
91
fidence and money than foreign nations, so that when
Porfirio Diaz used his Minister of Fomento to initiate
a so-called mining law, the full, sin cere and almost frank
opinion of the foreign investor came back to the old
despot as a surprise and as a keen disappointment.
This famous so-called mining law, was initiated
ostensibly for the purpose of preventing foreigners from
acquiring mining property in Mexico; but in reality to
force them to incorporate their companies, not as they
do now under the laws of the United States, England,
France, Germany, etc, but under Mexican laws and
under the jurisdiction of Mexican courts. A flood of
protests came from all over the world and also threats
that no more capital would be invested in Mexico under
this law. This stopped the propaganda of the law
w r hich was finally killed, the Minister of Fomento
taking all the odium for this initiative upon his
shoulders.
The foreign investor argued thus : We are willing
to invest our millions in Mexico for our benefit and
for the benefit of that country, but we will not take
any risks or chances at the hands of Mexican justice as
it now exists. Porfirio Diaz might be favorable and
equitable toward foreigners and foreign investments,
but a government which relies on one man for its justice
is not a stable government. What if Porfirio Diaz
should die and his system should continue? Who could
guarantee the honorability, equity and friendliness of
his successor toward foreigners and foreign capital?
Martyrdom is never barren, because every man sees
on the martyr's brow a line of his own duty.
MAZZINI.
The Press in Mexico.
A free press is the detective of a nation.
The press of Mexic > had to comedown to the level of
the Diaz government and with three exceptions, " La
Opinion" of Vera-Cruz, "La Revista de Merida" in
Merida, and El Diario del Hogar, Mexico, D. F., all
the newspapers are in the pay of the government or of
the governors, and if they are hostile to the government
it is because they belong to the conservative or clerical
party, which, in spite of the opinion of many Mexicans,
is still a very powerful and dangerous element.
Up to the first term of Porfirio Diaz there was a free
press. Even the constitution of 1824 in article 31,
allowed the publication of political opinions. The con-
stitution of 1857 said in article 7 "the press must re-
spect public life, morality and public peace. Trans-
gression of the law by the press shall be judged by two jur-
ies, one to determine the guilt, and another which shall
apply the law and indicate the penalty."
In this manner those who framed the law had fully
protected the press with two juries independent of each
other.
The Gonzalez administration reformed article 7,
precisely in the clause which the lawmakers had so care-
fully provided for the protection of the press. This
clause which I have underlined above, was reformed
thus: " The crimes committed by the press, shall be
judged by competent tribunals of the federation, or of the
states, of the federal district and the territory of Lower
California, according to their special legislation."
Just the little change, that the tribunals, or, better
said, a judge instead of two juries shall decide. It
looks like a trifle, but it was of the utmost importance
for the administration to have to deal with their own
corrupt judges whom they could command at will, in-
stead of two juries who might disagree or become in-
dependent.
"Since 1884 tne fr" ee press has been abolished and
newspapermen have suffered all possible and imaginable
vexations everything even censorship would be pre-
ferable to the actual state, where one does not know
when and how one transgresses the law." (i)
The same writer goes on to say:" But in Mexico
where everything is abnormal, there does not exist a
law applicable to the press. The government preferred
not to legislate about it so as to be able to oppress all
the better." (2)
While there is no law in Mexico against the of-
fences of the press, every such transgression can be put
down under the title: "Crimes against reputation."
of the penal code, third book, chapter one. "Injury-
Defamation Extra judicial calumny." Article 642.
" Defamation consists: in communicating deceitfully to
one or more persons, the imputation of a true or false
act, determined or undetermined, which might dishonor
or discredit or expose to contempt the person referred
to."
In this manner, everything from a newspaper
article to a telephone message, a sign or even a "hier-
oglyphic" (sic), is liable to be considered an act of de-
famation. In the United States and in other civilized
countries, you are not guilty under the libel laws if you
can prove your imputation. But in Mexico if you
accuse a public or private person, for example, of thiev-
ing and can prove it, you go to jail all the same. A few
years ago it happened that a newspaperman accused a
government official of embezzlement and actually
proved the charge. The official a well known general,
was dismissed from his post, but the newspaperman
went to jail for three months.
In most of the states the governors have enacted
(1) Una Campana Politica, Pag. 105.
(2) Una Campana Politica. Pag. 109.
96
special laws for the sake of muzzling, suppressing and
extirpating the press. Under the title of crimes
against reputation IX. the penal code of Yucatan says
that, "in the offences against the state; to prosecute, it
is not necessary that the slandered person should have
been mentioned by its full name, it is sufficient to indi-
cate the initials, or an incorrect and disfigured allusion
of the name, or by certain suggestions of time, place,
profession, manner, characteristic signs, etc."
In the case of any infraction of the law, by a news-
paper article, everybody from the proprietor, manager
or city editor, down to the office boy, often even the
newsboys, all are sent in a body to jail, and the type,
machinery, all the paraphenalia is dumped into the
street. This has happened innumerable times, not only
in every state of Mexico but also in the federal district.
Sometimes the newspaper editor and publisher, as in
Mexico generally the manager is both publisher and
editor, is advised to skip the city or the country, oftener
he does not receive any warning and then the whole
staff goes to jail. In Belem there is a hole called the
"editors cell" which is almost always inhabited by
journalists under accusations.
I once saw in Belem one of these martyrs, walking
about in his full dress suit he had been wearing when
arrested, and he had been in prison for three whole
weeks in that most inappropriate costume. Some of
the most irrepressible newspapermen continue doing
their work even in jail, with pen as well as with pencil.
Not satisfied with enacting all sorts of vexatious laws
against them, Porfirio Diaz uses his henchmen to per-
secute and hound newspapermen, after which he will
ostentatiously and magnanimously give orders to re-
lease them, then offer them money or places in the gov-
ernment, as congressmen or senators. Years ago he
founded an official paper paying for the machinery,
type, the building and even for the paper. To kill
all competition the price charged for this journal was
one Mexican cent, or half cent in American money and
97
consequently its circulation became larger than that
of all the other papers combined.
Not content with this, Porfirio Diaz created a mon-
opoly of the manufacture of paper in Mexico, by put-
ting up a high tariff on this product. As a result, the
price of paper in Mexico is nearly three times as much
as in the United States and is of very inferior quality.
This monopoly is in the hands of the government
"camarilla" which practically dictates to the news-
papers in Mexico. It is easy for them to kill a news-
paper; all they have to say, is that they are very sorry,
but cannot furnish you with paper on a certain day, and
that is usually the end of the publication.
To this arbiter of the press, representative of the
official press in Mexico, this ambassador of the press
for Porfirio Diaz, has been given this enormous power,
on condition that he should kill all competition, that is
to say, all the anti-administration papers. With un-
limited money at his disposal (the president himself
confessing to have spent for the paper over one million
dollars in ten years), with the protection of the czar,
and immunity as a congressman, the editor of this
paper disposed of his rivals.
About two and a half years ago, El Diario, an inde-
pendent newspaper was started. The people of Mexico
hailed it with delight, as a new Messiah ; they reasoned
that the founders and directors of the company being
foreigners it would give the newspaper an immunity
unknown to the Mexican press.
Mr. Hijar y Haro,who is now director of this paper,
who had been one of the secretaries of President Diaz
and later a paymaster in the army, is one of the most
remarkable men in Mexico. Utterly void of all of the
passions characteristic of the Latins, Mr. Hijar seems
more like an Anglo-Saxon, calm, dispassionate, ever
patient and ready to do justice, unbiased, without
prejudices or meanness of any kind ; his only flaw is his
unconditional admiration of Porfirio Diaz. I can ex-
plain this adoration only by his utter ignorance of the
98
political history of the president, as Hijar has passed
all his life in Italy where his father was in the diplomatic
service.
Hijar ran the paper as nearly as Jesus Christ would
have done it, with this distinction, that the Saviour once
got angry and drove the merchants out of the sanctuary.
Hijar never got angry and did not attempt to drive the
thieves from the temple of justice. Nevertheless under
this man's guidance, the paper acquired circulation and
a certain prestige, but lost its independence and became
a neutral, colorless news sheet.
The founder of El Diario, an Italian and ex-cub
reporter of the New York Press is quite as interesting
a type. Clever, assimilative, hard working, good look-
ing to a fault, fascinating to men as well as women,
this individual possesses many characteristics of both
the Neapolitans and the Mexicans; he is diplomatic, with
a bold front, but at the bottom of his heart as slippery
and timid as an eel, superficial as a tenor, with a
womanly intuition akin to talent, he has but a poor
knowledge of men and human nature and is petty in
his loves and hates. He started on a pittance and then
hypnotized an American banker to finance El Diario.
In less than two years El Diario has spent over
$650,000, it is now paying expenses. But at the begin-
ning this paper had to weather all kinds of storms.
The hardest blow to El Diario came from the official
press, which did its best to kill it at its inception. An
early director of the El Diario had bribed an em-
ployee of the telegraph office to furnish our paper with
the despatches from Guatemala, which the minister of
foreign affairs.Ignacio Mariscal, refused to communicate
to us.
When Ignacio Mariscal saw the telegrams from the
Mexican minister in Guatemala published in our paper
before he had even opened them, first he marveled,
and then began to institute proceedings against the
director of El Diario for purloining and divulging state
secrets. The director being a congressman, had to be
99
tried by his peers, that is to say congress. The case, as
customary was kept pending for several months, dur-
ing which our advertisers, expecting this to be the
death of El Diario, refused to renew their contracts,
but when it was known that Elihu Root was to
visit the country, on the day of his arrival in the capital
a spectacle was arranged by Porfirio Diaz, to show
this representative of the United States with what
justice, tempered with mercy, journalists were treated
in Mexico. The farce was exceedingly well played;
congress met, and the committee of congressmen who
were to pass judgment on the case, declared, that there
being no secrets in a republic there could be no state
secrets and therefore no accusation; and the director
was absolved by unanimous vote.
Later when El Diario started printing facts about
a sensational failure, there was a hurried summons for
our director Hi jar y Haro to go to the office of the
minister of finances J. Y. Limantour, who very politely
but firmly begged him to desist from "insinuations"
in the affair, promising that the court would bring
the culprits to the bar where they would be dealt with
according to law. But everybody, even the last cub-
reporter on El Diario knew that the culprit who had
robbed and failed for millions, was in hiding at the
hacienda of a partner of Porfirio Diaz; everybody
knew that the publication of the truth about the affair
would involve the camarilla of President Diaz and
Limantour in another small Panama scandal and that
the guilty man was not to be and never would be
brought to justice, and the courts have never touched
and never will touch this ticklish matter in spite of
Limantour's promises.
A short but polite note to the director of our paper
from the secretary of the president, always did the trick,
stopping our best stories We knew quite well that
the exquisitely polite request from the secretary of the
president was almost an order and equivalent to the
pencil of the censor.
100
When a certain Spaniard, keen, unscrupulous
a typical financial bandit, was arrested on the charge
of embezzlement, we received a visit from the man-
ager of the San Rafael paper monopoly, and were
asked not to publish the news of the arrest, and the
Diario complied, feeling that this request was prac-
tically a threat.
When El Diario thought of publishing, as a matter
of news, the names of the gilded youths, sons of the
most influential men in Mexico, with the story of a bull
fight they had held in honor of some low strumpets,
with the official assistance of the soldiers, police, and
firemen, these youngsters headed by the son of the
minister of justice and another man, millionaire and
amateur bull fighter, brought pressure on the manage-
ment of the paper monopoly to cut off our supply of
paper in the event of our publishing the story.
Once when El Diario published an account of an
outrageous and arbitrary imprisonment of all the
people at a dance even to the musicians of the orchestra ;
the chief of police called our director to his office asking
him if we had any grudge against him !
Any attack on any government department or any
official is taken as a personal insult, and very often a
duel follows.
When El Diario published a criticism of a work of
the minister of education Manuel Sierra, one of his secre-
taries came to the office asking how we dared criticize
his Honor the minister !
As soon as the President places a governor or any
man in a government position, these men seem to think
that they are there by the grace of God and do not
brook the slightest criticism, no matter how just.
Honest men have claimed that in a government
the officials must live as in a house of crystal; the Mexican
government officials know that they are living in glass
houses and they demand therefore that none should
throw stones at them. All you can do is to throw
bouquets at them; they accept all compliments, all the
101
flatteries, no matter how fulsome and coarse, and gush
over them like old maids when complimented on their
wilted charms.
If El Diario had accepted all the money offered for
stopping the campaigns it had started against greedy
and unscrupulous corporations, it would not now need
any help from the Mexican government.
The most aggressive and violent campaign was
conducted against a street car company, an American
company. The number of killed and maimed in a year
by the street cars reached the appalling figure of 765,
as the company refused to spend any money on fenders.
I suggested going after the cabinet ministers to force
them to bring pressure on the management of the cor-
poration, but at this suggestion the president and the
director of El Diario suffered suddenly from an attack
of cold feet, from which they have not yet recovered.
Although Porfirio Diaz and his clique and all the
governors have tried with all their might to eradicate
the opposition press, it always crops up as irrepres-
sible and incorrigible as ever.
They have beaten, kicked into submission, bought
off, and murdered hundreds of newspapermen; these
martyrs and heroes of a hopeless cause; and still the
tribe cannot be stamped out, to the disgust and des-
pair of the administration.
Before every fake reelection, which is enacted
every six years, like the military manoeuvres, there is a
general expedition over the country,- to capture, im-
prison and destroy all the independent newspapers,
in the manner of the police of New York, who arrest
all the pickpockets and thieves to be found in the city
before a holiday.
In 1902 to kill all opposition for the coming election.
The following newspapers were persecuted or subjected
to trial on various trivial excuses.
102
IN MEXICO CITY :
1 . El Hijo del Ahuizote.
2. El Paladin.
3. Onofrof.
4. ElAlacran.
5. La Nacion Espanola.
6. El Diario del Hogar.
7. El Universal.
IN GUADALAJARA :
8. Juan Panadero.
9. La Tarantula.
10. Diogenes.
n. Jalisco Libre.
12. LaLibertad.
13. El Correo de Jalisco
14. La Gaceta.
IN MOREUA :
15. ElCorsario.
IN HERMOSIUX>.
1 6. El Sol.
17. La Luna.
1 8. La Libertad.
19. El Democrata.
20. El Combate.
IN DURANGO.
21. La Evolucion.
IN IRAPUATO.
22. El Avance.
IN ZACATECAS.
23. El Sentinela.
IN PACHUCA.
24. El Desfanatizador.
IN GUANAJUATO.
25. El Barretero.
26. El Sable.
IN SAN Luis POTOSI.
27. La Opinion Publica.
28. El Demofilo.
IN MATEGUAI^A.
29. La Avispa.
30. El Democrata.
31. El Progreso.
IN MONTEREY:
32. La Democracia Latina.
33. La Redencion.
34. Justicia y Constitucion.
IN LINARIS. N. L.
35. El Trueno.
IN CHIHUAHUA.
36. La Voz de Altamirano.
IN TEZUITLAN. CA.
37. El Cuarto. Poder.
IN TAMPICO :
38. Balaraza.
39. Oja Blanca
This is only a partial black list of this newspaper
morgue. In this period coincides the persecution of the
liberal clubs, which in that year were suppressed by
General Bernardo Reyes, then minister of war, by order
of Porfirio Diaz.
On January 24th a Mexican Congressman, then on
his way to the north, left in San Luis Potosi, a well-
known Mexican General and Governor of a State,
who, accompanied by some soldiers disguised as
peasants, entered the political club Ponciano Arriaga
103
and there created a scandal for the purpose of having
the directors of this club arrested and landed in jail.
Thie club was recognized by all the other liberal clubs
(existing then in all the principal cities hi Mexico) as
the head and the centre of the confederation of all the
liberals.
In this manner Porfirio Diaz killed the liberal
organization at the source of power. This is also the
way the old hypocrite prepares for a general and unan-
imous election by the will of the people.
Napoleon Bonaparte who was a genius, declared
once that if he allowed a free press in France under his
regime, he would not last three weeks.
Porfirio Diaz who is not a genius, except for chi-
canery and inquisition, would last just about three days
with a free press in Mexico.
Bolivia represents for the president an ideal state
of affairs ; there, General Arce published a decree in the
" Diario Official" : "The Press is at liberty to write about
everything, excepting religion and the government."
The president's dream would be a press without
commentaries, just news from all over the world, and
what the government would kindly allow to be pub-
lished, with the addition of hymns and hosannas in his
honor
102
Anyone can be a pilot in fine weather.
BACON.
Political Parties.
When we say political parties we use a conventional
word, for in Mexico, as will easily be understood, there
are not and cannot subsist political parties, since for
more than thirty years the same individual has ruled
as absolute master. To the existence of political par-
ties there must concur a public spirit or opinion and
this Porfirio Diaz killed at the beginning of his political
career.
Mexican society was divided, during many years,
into two contending parties ; on the one hand the reac-
tionary party, headed by the clergy and supported by
the army, the Spaniards and by those who had aristo-
cratic pretensions ; on the other the liberal party, repub-
lican with revolutionary tendencies, represented by the
most talented men in the country, also the middle class,
which as everywhere, manifested the strongest impulses
and highest ideals.
The reactionary party, defeated by Benito Juarez in
the bloody contest called the three years war (1857-60),
brought about French Intervention and the lugubrious
experiment of the Empire, ending in the killing of Max-
imilian of Austria. With the death of the Emperor and
his two most prominent followers, the reactionary party
was vanquished and disorganized; nevertheless as the
clergy was still left standing, they took good care
to keep the fire glowing under the ashes, and in silence
and mystery began acquiring wealth and building anew,
without taking an active part in politics, but preparing
to become a powerful factor at the first opportunity,
that is to say when Porfirio Diaz shall die.
The liberal party became disorganized after the
triumph of General Diaz, and he has taken care to choke
it lingeringly, without killing it outright, as he needed it
107
to check the impetus of the reactionaries if they should
unmask their batteries.
The heads of the old liberal party disappeared
either by natural death or by assassination, as I have
shown; the rest are in a state of mental and physical
decrepitude. Generals Corona, Garcia de la Cadena,
Mejia, Regules, Escobedo, J. N. Mendez and all those
who figured in the campaigns against the reactionaries
and the Empire, are all dead, with the exception of
Porfirio Diaz. The apostles of liberty, Ignacio Ramir-
ez, Ignacio Altamirano,Guillermo Prieto, Riva Palacio,
Zamacona etc. have all perished during the long reign
of Diaz. Two men are left, Ignacio Mariscal and Felix
Romero, both are mumified, one in the foreign office,
the other in the supreme court. Both are honorable
and honest men, whose only blunder was to be deceived
by the Great Mystifier.
The clerical party keeps and increases its influence
by the press, having good newspapers in the capital and
in the states; on the other hand the liberal party has
lost its representatives in the press, some having been
sold to Porfirio Diaz and others having had to suspend
their publications on account of the persecutions of the
government; the only one which outlived them was "El
Diario del Hogar", leading a life full of tribulations and
anxieties, its heroic director Filomeno Mata having
suffered repeated imprisonments.
The following incident will exemplify the insidious
and treacherous ways used by the clericals to suppress
opposition or liberalism in their midst.
In 1901 a priest called Joachin Perez, 50 years old,
wrote to Monsignor Averardi , apostolic delegate, letters in
which he begged for the modification of the high tariff
for the administration of the sacrements. The petition
was signed by thousands of Catholics. Monsignor
Averardi diplomatically answered that he would con-
sult with the Pope. But instead of so doing, the Arch-
bishop of Puebla and the Monsignor, gave a private
dinner to Mucio Martinez, governor of Puebla, and con-
108
vinced him that Perez was hatching a political conspi-
racy. By order of the governor the unfortunate priest
was attacked in his parish at Alixco, at midnight,
beaten and then taken to jail. All his property and
chattels were confiscated and although suffering from
rheumatism, he was kept in confinement for over four-
teen months. Eventually through the efforts of his
sister who went to beg the intervention of her uncle
Ignacio Mariscal, he was freed.
A great deal has been said about the "Scientific
Party", this however has never existed as a party since
it does not deserve the name. It would be more ade-
quate to call this group of political speculators, united
to exploit the nation, the "scientific grafters".
This group is headed by J. Y. Limantour, the min-
ister of finances, co-worker, partner and accomplice of
Porfirio Diaz in all the unsavory deals. It is formed by
various improvised economists, who plagarized Leroy
Beaulieu and Auguste Comte in the most impudent and
barefaced manner. They are all clever and intelligent
though perhaps too much so. They form a sort of
Chinese wall around the minister of finances, who is
their Pactolus, so that anyone not of the ring cannot
bathe in its golden waters. They are lawyers, bankers,
and newspapermen, and no business of any importance
can be arranged with the government nor prosper in
the press, nor get justice in the tribunals, without sanc-
tion from this moneyed oligarchy. This group em-
boldened by success, pretended to elevate to the
presidency its chief Limantour, not on a political
question, but solely on a business principle, to continue
indefinitely and on a greater scale its work of exploita-
tion.
Here is the inside history of how Limantour lost
the vice-presidency through an indiscretion at a five
o'clock tea. The members of the "cientificos" or scien-
tific group had convinced the president of the political
necessity of visiting Europe and the United States in the
manner of Gen. Grant. The argument was that such
109
a trip would not only enhance the prestige of the
country by advertising the president's name all over the
world, but likewise the foreign nations would then see,
that Porfirio Diaz could leave Mexico in peace with
Limantour as vice-president.
President Diaz felt safe as far as Limantour was
concerned, expecting to leave Gen. Reyes in the war
office as a counter- weight on the balance of this political
game. But Limantour told the secret to his wife, who
in her joy could not resist confiding to some of her lady
friends "that the next five o'clock tea would take place
in the Castle Chapultepec." These two women ran
post-haste to relate the conversation to Carmelita Diaz,
the wife of the president. Carmelita, as she is called
by the Mexicans, was very much offended in her
dignity and vanity as queen of Mexico ; instead of com-
plaining to the president, she did the cleverest thing
possible, asking one of the best friends of Porfirio Diaz,
Governor Dehesa of Vera-Cruz, to see her; she repeated
the incident, adding that "if those people acted so super-
ciliously while still subordinates, what would they do
when they should be in power and Porfirio out
of the country?" She begged Dehesa to work in her
interest and also for his friend Porfirio. Dehesa per-
formed his task so well that he convinced the president
of his mistake, and the result was that Dehesa was or-
dered to call on Limantour to sign a statement revoking
his word.
In this "scientific group" figured for a long time
as an active lieutenant, a Rosendo Pineda, of whom
we will speak later. In opposition to this group is the
"Reyist party", which became prominent when its chief
General Bernardo Reyes was minister of war. The
antecedents of Reyes were not of the kind to make him
popular, for there are in his life bloody deeds which
render him even more fearful than Porfirio Diaz. But
Reyes is not a thief and if he tried to appear as a patriot,
a liberal and an ultra-mexican, he was the only man for
the moment who could be used to counteract the influ-
110
ence of the scientific party and Limantour, inasmuch as
he represented political ideals opposite to those of his
rivals. Reyes created the "Second Reserve", which
was a sort of national guard at the service and under
the will of the war office. In this second reserve were
permitted to join in an official character and with the
right to carry sword and uniform, all the citizens who
could prove by an examination that they had the rudi-
mentary knowledge expected from a second lieutenant.
Workingmen who could pass the requisite examina-
tions were also allowed to join this national reserve as
corporals and sergeants. The idea appealed to the
masses and awakened wonderful enthusiasm; all under-
stood the meaning of that move and the advantages
which could be derived at a moment's notice from such
an organization. But Limantour realized the impor-
tance of this stroke of policy and as I have said in
another chapter, Reyes was eliminated from the minis-
try and the second reserve was abolished immediately.
The "Reyists" reached the utmost of the resis-
tance and bitterness against Limantour and his "cienti-
ficos", in the campaign warred against them. They
started newspapers and attacked the "ring" with a
courage and a violence up to that date unknown to the
Mexican press. Many young men of talent and influ-
ence figured in the newspapers. The most prominent
of all was Rodolfo Reyes, son of General Reyes, a law-
yer of talent, fearless, energetic, cultured, with a spot-
less private life; he will rise to a high position in the
land when the conditions of the country shall have
changed, in spite of the fact that he is the son of Gen.
Reyes. I once asked him, his and his father's political
platform and he answered: "My father and I are
working each one for himself, although we have this
political ideal in common ; we object to mixing business
with politics."
The two sons of the then minister of justice, the
Baranda boys, were very audacious in their attacks.
ill
The most talented writers were Luis del Toro, Dr.
Francisco Martinez Calleja, Jose J. Ortiz, and Diodoro
Battalia; they published "El Correo de Mexico" and
"La Nacion", and certainly Mexico has never seen
such impetuous, masterly, caustic and forceful editor-
ials. Poor Limantour and his "scientific ring" were
raked mercilessly over the coals of publicity, and they
were stripped of their political hypocrisies to the very
skin and bone.
If a five o'clock tea spoiled the vice-presidential
chances of Limantour, the editorials of the two above
mentioned papers discredited him as a presidential
candidate in the eyes of the Mexican public.
In the group of the "Reyists" there was also a
minister, Joachin Baranda the most intelligent of all,
who exercised a great influence in the states of Cam-
peche and Yucatan, whose governors were his creatures.
Teodoro Dehesa, a sort of Mazarin. the most subtle and
clever of all the Mexican politicians, was governor of
Vera-Cruz, and General Abraham Bandala, nicknamed
"the Vandal", governor of the state of Tabasco, so
that " Reyism" dominated all the gulf states of Mexico.
With the exit of Reyes from the war office and the de-
struction of the second reserve, the shares of this group,
were lowered many points, until it went into a partial
slumber. When Porfirio Diaz created the vice-presi-
dency at the suggestion of Washington, the "scientific
party" again came into life, attempting to bring pres-
sure on the president so that he should designate Lim-
antour. Unluckily it was too late, for it had been proved
that this individual was disqualified from exercising
that function by the constitution and although the
constitution is no obstacle to Porfirio Diaz, he does
not violate it to favor a third party but only for his own
personal benefit.
The "Reyists" also tried to intrigue in Reyes'
favor, but Gen. Reyes understood the awkwardness
and untimeliness of the move and hiding under the
112
cloak ot military discipline, forbade his partisans to
imitate the tactless proceedings of the "cientificos."
Porfirio Diaz then freely and spontaneously "el-
ected" Ramon Corral for the vice-presidency, to the
utter amazement of the country, for Corral was an
unknown factor in politics, a sort of dark horse. This
new move brought about a fresh political situation,
and as it was thought that Corral would substitute his
protector, the desertions began. The "cientificos"
imposed as coadjutor to Corral, a Rosendo Pineda, the
Jago of the "cientificos", now Corral's Mephisto. This
Rosendo Pineda, is from Oaxaca; he was for several
years the private secretary to Romero Rubio (father-in
law of Pcrfirio Diaz) when minister of the interior, and
onsequently knew all the inside workings of local
politics. Lawyer of mediocre quality, indifferent as an
orator, he possesses nevertheless great audacity and
an insatiable ambition, having built up a false
reputation which he exploits to |the utmost of his
ability. Pineda with the cunning of an Indian and
the perspicacity of a lawyer, understood at once the
situation and instead of watching Corral to direct him
in conformity to the interests of the "cientificos",
made a deal with him, pitching his party overboard,
to bask and profit in the new rising sun of the political
horizon. Corral guided by his intuition and perhaps
by the counsels of Pineda, did not give much import
ance to the vice-presidency, limiting himself to be a
secretary in the presidential cabinet, blindly obedient
to his chief and attending to his private business,
which has yielded him an enormous fortune, and
waiting calmly for time to resolve the question. He
is not popular in Mexico; no man would be allowed
to become popular or to create a party of his own,
for Porfirio Diaz would start his underground ma-
chinery to destroy such a one.
Corral is in a most difficult position, second to a
man who does not permit any political star to outshine
his own sun. Nevertheless one cannot help admiring
113
his tact, his silence, the art of doing the right thing at
the right time, his ability to pilot the vice-presidential
skiff over the breakers which have destroyed so many
politicians. He is endowed with a sense of humor,
sagacity and character and he should be judged only
after he has been president. In the years I have
passed in Mexico I have heard many disparaging re-
marks and superficial judgments about the man ; only
once did I hear a true, just and imparcial appreciation
of him from a Mexican, a talented young liberal,
all the more remarkable as this man was not in politics
and owed nothing to Corral.
In short, there are no political parties in Mexico,
only small personal groups, which, circumstances per-
mitting, will be used as a nucleus to form real parties.
As a result of the perfidious declarations of Por-
firio Diaz to Creelman in Pearson's Magazine, assuring
him that under no circumstances would he accept
another presidential term, many Mexicans fell into this
trap, innocently believing the protestation of the old
fox, and began promoting the formation of parties to
take part in the next electoral fight. This electoral
struggle is an impossibility, because even if Porfirio
Diaz really should not crave reelection, he would never
consent to a man not of his own making sitting in the
presidential chair. What was self-evident to anybody
knowing the hoary old Michiavelli, happened, and that
is, that Porfirio Diaz graciously condescended to accept
reelection and in view of this, those who dreamt of
leading in the next campaign, are satisfied to accept
the job of head supers, orchestra leaders, and chiefs of
choruses, making believe they are organizing indepen-
dent political clubs, not to elect (?) a president, as this
is not even under discussion, but to elect the vice-pres-
ident designated by President Diaz. There is no
conduct more ignoble, more cowardly than that of these
sicarii who wish to appear before the people wearing the
seamless tunic of the apostles. Porfirio Diaz following
his wise system "that to divide is to rule" has made
114
Reyes believe that he might be the next vice-president.
Reyes answered this pretended offer in an very common-
place interview, putting himself unconditionally at the
orders of his superior. Seven editorials in " La Patria"
killed the candidacy of Creel; the only one left now is
Corral, who continues his policy of silence, in his shell,
like an Indian fakir.
Porfirio Diaz has no more idea of relinquishing
power, than I have of becoming president of Patagonia ;
he has no intention of slackening the reins of his iron
rule, to help the democrats or the liberals or the Mexi-
cans in general to learn how to govern themselves. He
will die in the presidential chair like an insect stuck on
fly paper. Meanwhile the work of evolution is slowly
but surely taking place, the younger generations with
higher ideals than those of Porfirio Diaz and his cronies
or the greedy " cientificos" are taking notes of the show
unfolding under their eyes. Young Mexico will have a
say, as soon as the storm of reaction shall have blown
away after Diaz's death. Two young men with talent
and devoted friends will then play a prominent part:
Rodolfo Reyes and Emeterio de la Garza. The latter
has all the attributes of leadership; he is loyal to his
friends, talented, a clever speaker and writer, excessive-
ly bold and fearless, intelligent and always ready to
face any situation, no matter how hopeless and dis-
couraging. As the noisiest always attract attention,
these two young men will impose themselves in spite of
their youth Others of the younger generation full of
talent, patriotism and honesty of purpose will help to
direct the future destiny of Mexico. Some of these are
Diodoro Battalia, the most talented orator and patriot
in the country, Diaz Miron, Joachin Clausel, Gabriel
Gonzalez Mier, Ignacio de la Pena, Carlos Percy ra.
The clerical party which has received its greatest
support from Carmelita Diaz during the present regime,
will have to look out for its laurels if it does not mend its
short-sighted ways, since a continuation of the old,
narrow-minded policy will have for effect a schism of
115
the liberal Catholics in Mexico from the mother church
in Rome.
The situation after the death of Porfirio Diaz will
be at the start a race for the presidency between Corral
and General Reyes, if Porfirio Diaz insists in putting
Corral as a vice-president. Corral will prove his mettle
in the first three weeks after the death of the president,
for the "cientificos" consider Reyes not only their
greatest enemy, but a danger and a menace to the
state. I have heard several of these "cientificos" talk
about Reyes's assassination, not only as an outcome
of the rivalry but as a political necessity. Now Reyes
knows this perfectly well and he lives on a mountain,
in a castle called " El Mirador" like a mediaeval robber
baron, ready to swoop on to Mexico like a bird of prey.
He is over 60 and is extremely ambitious to be presi-
dent ; if he has to choose between being assassinated or
snatching the presidency from Corral, the guesses might
be in his favor. Should he start from Monterrey with
25 men he would reach Mexico City with an army of
25,000. Nevertheless and no matter who will be presi-
dent, a continuation of the present methods is not pos-
sible and will not be permitted by the people in genefal.
They are all tired and sick of those perverse and injur-
ious methods, and if they have stood Porfirio Diaz so
long, it is not because of cowardice, but because they
expected him to die almost ten years ago, and being dis-
appointed in this, have not thought that the assassin's
dagger would help matters or improve their conditions.
Everybody is weary of this protracted, tiresome
farce of a perpetual, seemingly immortal, peripathetic
candidate for the presidency ; they are anxiously watch-
ing for a sign of mental and physical decay in the coun-
tenance of this apparently indestructible oppressor,
whose best ally has been death, for it refused to take a
life as helpful in exterminating lives, as conflagrations,
epidemics or earthquakes. They pray for an end to
this endless career and gaze at the lines and wrinkles
of that impassive mask for a prophecy of a speedy close.
116
"We have had enough of him" said a Mexican to
me once. " But" I exclaimed " he cannot possibly live
more than two years." "Don't deceive yourself ".replied
my friend "one of these days when Porfirio shall feel
the icy touch of death upon his shoulder, he will hastily
pick up a pen and publish a decree to live another twenty
years".
117
As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
PROVERBS. XXIII. 7.
You can't overturn a pyramid, but you can under-
mine it; that's what I have been trying to do.
A. LINCOLN.
Porfirio Diaz.
What manner of person is this Porfirio Diaz?
Official admiration and servility, sycophancy, at times
well-meaning eulogy and above all foreign ignorance,
have all contributed to the formation of an astonishing
legend, the creation of a surprising myth surrounding
this individual, so that a fair, searching and dispassion-
ate analysis seems almost like an iconoclastic attitude.
He has been labeled the greatest statesman of
modern times; more eminent than Bismark; superior in
generalship to Caesar, Alexander and Bonaparte; more
transcendental than Washington and Lincoln; purer in
his patriotism than Mazzini or Garibaldi; more subtly
diplomatic than Leo XIII or Talleyrand ; as God-like
as Christ, Buddha and Sri Krishna, and he has been
addressed as the greatest thing in America, beside the
Amazon and the Andes, (sic) . In 1 899 two Latin-Ameri-
can journalists had a discussion as to which would excite
greater public attention, the account of a great scientific
discovery or a eulogy on some great man. To test the
matter one published as news the story of a wonderful
invention affecting the cultivation of cane sugar, the
other published an interview with Tolstoy panegyrising
Porfirio Diaz. Both were fictions made out of the
whole cloth. The former passed unnoticed, but the
latter was reproduced in every paper in the land and
has been quoted in the life of Porfirio Diaz as a strong
argument for his continuance in power.
To an honest man all this indiscriminate lying,
coarse flattery is nauseating, to a humorous person it is
idiotic, to the intelligent it only proves the low mental
caliber of Porfirio Diaz and his sycophants.
Physically this man of destiny has been endowed
by nature with a perfection almost superhuman. He
has cultivated this gift by a wondrously laborious and
121
strenuous activity. Up to the age of 37 he fought
almost incessantly, thereby steeling his muscles, forti-
fying his constitution by a vigorous, sober and chaste
conduct of life. His Indian ancestry gave him the
brawn, the Spanish forefathers the brain capacity.
Middle sized, for the excellent proportion of his
limbs he seems tall. The hands and feet are large, his
gestures measured, calm. The forehead is low, sloping,
unintellectual, the eyes beady, piercing, at times kindly
and humorous, always observant and suspicious. The
nose deformed by the arched, dilated nares, resembles
that of a wide-nostriled, snorting horse after a gallop.
The chin broad with powerful mandibles, is set and mas-
sive as a tortilla grinder; ears large, ungainly, w r ith their
elongated lobes, characteristic of long-lived men and
races. White hair and mustache, the skin fair, with a
constant flush and hectic red patches.
Compare this description with his portrait at the
age of 37 or before, the transformation is marvellous,
well-nigh incredible. The earliest photos or daguero-
types represent a common, brutal, almost criminal
countenance. The shock of black hair, small drooping
moustache and chin whiskers, the swarthy skin, make a
composite picture of a well dressed pelado and a Japan-
ese valet. What with rubbing, scrubbing, showerbaths,
soap and human food he has changed from a greasy
condottiere into a full blown white czar, a cross between
a low-browed Bismark and an Aztec Cripi.
With a far-reaching purpose he sacrificed every-
thing to his all-absorbing ambition, and like a new
Saturn devoured the children of his desires as fast as
they appeared. His health, his energy, his time were
devoted to the one purpose ; what to other men are at-
tractions, distractions and amusements, were swept
aside when they did not fall in with his own line of
conduct. Gambling, smoking, drinking, women, the
theatres, the fine arts, sports, reading, leisure, he re-
nounced to concentrate his energies upon that great
game of politics and personal ambition, in which bril-
122
liancy often fails when a constant plodding, alert
attitude will bring success.
Politically an intruder and socially an outcast,
Porfirio Diaz slowly climbed the ladder by all available
means. His marriage to the daughter of Romero Rubio
belonging to one of the best families in Mexico paved
the way for social recognition ; he attached to his body
guard practically as a valet the proud and blue blooded
millioniare Pablo Escandon and married his own
natural daughter to one of the richest Mexicans in the
land. And this ex-maurader and political bandit,
whose father the popular legend points to as a priest,
whose mother was a Mixed Indian, whose natural
offspring he kindly introduced into society, whose son-
in-law is a notorious homo-sexual and whose brother-in-
law is an alcoholic lawyer and a fearless trollop hunter,
now poses as the arbiter of aristocracy in Mexico and
decides who-is-who among the upper ten.
He knew better however than to visit Europe and
America officially, thereby inviting the homage, the
curiosity and the judgment of foreigners, for his wife
gave him away once when she answered the insistent
query "Why Porfirio did not visit Europe?" "He is
afraid" she remarked "of cutting a poor figure," and
then suddenly recalling herself, "because he does not
speak foreign languages."
His private life for the last thirty years has been
spotless and although surrounded by all the luxuries he
has led a life simple as a hermit's; in food and drink
abstemious as an Arab, in a country where everybody
smokes he has been an exception, where alcoholism is
rampant he only tastes water, where everybody goes to
bull fights he stays at home; does not visit theatres
except at official functions, seldom hunts, never plays.
Private life, personal hygiene, hard work, physical and
intellectual economy have been concentrated for the
prolongation of power through the medium of a perfect
body.
All his time, spare moments, are taken up by his
123
special duties; he does not shirk official drudgery and
will attend the unveiling of a monument as punctually
as he will receive a caller. He will lend a patient ear to
petitions, demands, protestations, adultations; will re-
ceive foreign officials and visitors, ministers and consuls,
governors, jefes politicos, and will listen to all, silent,
attentive, inscrutable, spare of words, ambiguous in
his promises, deliberate in speech and in manner. With
a keen and instinctive knowledge of men, enhanced by
his long experience in office, he is also endowed with a
wonderful memory for names and faces, and is a walking
encyclopedia of all the people in Mexico; he keeps a
watchful eye on every enemy and friend, forgetting
sometimes but never pardoning.
When General Reyes of Columbia asked him once
if he considered Limantour a great statesman, he
answered: "No, because Limantour never forgets his
enemies, and in politics one must sometimes forget. ' '
After having disposed of his most dangerous rivals,
feeling that wholesale executions could not be the order
of the day, he commenced using all the rogues and some
of his enemies for his own ends, just as deadly poisons
sometimes are employed for medicinal purposes.
He was blest with a great common sense which
became distorted by the lens of personal ambition. If
selfish ambition warped his native common sense, fear
made him commit all the blunders of his political career.
Like all people quick to anger, he is not really fearless,
for as the jungle song says:" Anger is the egg of fear."
Fearful and therefore ever vigilant, he was saved from
destruction by this alertness, as the hare is preserved
from capture by his long ears.
He mistook cruelty for strength of character and
consequently was ever ready to terrorize for fear of
being thought weak. As a result of the outrageous
nickel law and the payment of the famous English debt
in the period of Gonzalez, there happened a mutiny.
"Knife them all" suggested Porfirio Diaz to Gonzalez.
But Gonzalez was not afraid.
124
Ambition and fear are the two passions which have
ruled Porfirio Diaz in his life-long political career. An
ambition, gigantic, ultra egotistic, venal, monopolizing
and personal; a fear, the result of this selfish ambition,
of a sneakish, pussillanimous and cowardly nature.
Last year on the i6th of September, as the Mexican
students desired to parade the streets of the capital,
they sent their representative, a Mr. Olea, to beg the
President's permission. Porfirio Diaz answered:
"Yes, but beware, for the Mexicans have revolutionary
tendencies lurking in their blood". Think of three scores
of youngsters parading unarmed, being a menace to
the republic, with 5000 soldiers, rurales and policemen
in the capital.
It is only by admitting this shameful well hidden
stigma on the apparently brave front of this man, that
we can logically explain such despicable and infamous
acts, as the massacre of Vera-Cruz and the carnage of
Orizaba. He was then, panic stricken, like a wanderer,
who shoots wildly at the fleeting phantoms in the night ;
he was so terrorized that the only means of relieving
his blue funk, was to terrorize in return.
Another characteristic of this wooden half breed,
painted to look like iron, is his facility to shed tears. I
had the opportunity to see him, tears rolling down his
cheeks at the recital of a romantic poem by a pretty girl
at a public function.
By his enemies he is nicknamed " El lloron de lea-
mole", the weeper of Icamole. He lost the battle of May
2oth, 1 876 against General C. Fuero and as this engage-
ment was supposed to decide his political fate, in his
keen disappointment and rage he furnished the disgrace-
ful exhibition of a general weeping over a lost battle.
When visitors, friends as well as strangers, gush
over his military exploits, his statesmanship, patriotism
and his generosity, then he thaws out and tears surge to
his eyes and run over as a frozen pond melts and over-
flows in springtime.
When Captain Clodomero Cota was sentenced by
125
the military tribunal to be shot, his father sought the
president, and on his knees, weeping, begged him to par-
don his son. Porfirio Diaz also was weeping, but lifting the
despairing man , uttered this ambiguous phrase ; ' ' Have
courage and faith in justice." The father left consoled,
believing his petition had been answered. But on the
following morning his son was shot. The tears of Por-
firio Diaz are crocodile tears.
What is even stranger in the make up of this moral
and intellectual chameleon is his sense of humor, which
according to the stories in circulation is very keen and
to the point.
When General Escobedo was imprisoned, his friend
complained to the President about the want of deference
toward this political victim, who was the most talented
military man during the war of Intervention and of the
Empire and an honor and a glory to his country. ' ' Yes"
mused the President " I agree with you and my great-
est wish is to see him in the Hall of Fame." Knowing
the fate of the other ambitious generals one can apprec-
iate this weird jest all the better.
The president's son-in-law came late to lunch
several times at the castle of Chapultepec. The third
time when he was still accusing his automobile of being
responsible for his lateness, the president said : " Don't
you know that the automobile requires gasoline and
not alcohol to run it properly." Mrs. A Tweedy once
asked the President how he conceived the first inspira-
tion to become president. Porfirio Diaz, innocent like,
answered "I never did I just drifted into the position
I now hold, and I often wonder how it ever came about."
This is a classic piece of humor and qualifies Porfirio
Diaz as candidate for the presidency of the Ananias
Club.
It is highly entertaining to see this unscrupulous
despot who "did all that in him lay, to live and strive
without moral principle" sermonizing prominent men
so as to bring them down a peg or two when they get
too bumptious or conceited.
126
As a Latin-American politician Porfirio Diaz has
established a standard and created a school. The
larger and more enlightened republics, Brazil, Chile
and Argentina do not copy his methods, their
government being an oligarchy tempered by dem-
ocracy ; but the heads of the smaller and more backward
states, Cabrera in Guatemala, Zelaya in Nicaragua,
Castro in Venezuela and Reyes in Colombia are his
slavish imitators. The last mentioned, Reyes even
thought it worth while to spend a year visiting Diaz to
get his methods at first hand.
Let us make a hurried survey of Porfirio Diaz's
work as a statesman. In the beginning of his power he
prepared for the recognition of his unconstitutional
tenure of office by acknowledging the English, French
and American claims or debts; this was certainly a
master stroke, for it enabled him to make more loans,
in the fashion of the man who pays his $5 debt to be
able later to borrow $20. He divined or followed the
axiom of Baron Louis: "A state desiring credit, must
pay everything, even its blunders."
His next move was the cultivation of amicable re-
lations with the United States. This policy not only
strengthened him abroad but also rendered impossible
the revolutions at the border. To continue untram-
melled as the Lord and Master at home he played an
intricate game of political chess, even cheating when the
opponent was not watching, till in the end there were
left on the board a king, a queen and a few pawns.
His ambition and the elimination of all his rivals
concentrated all their power in his hands, As Bulnes
says somewhere that a chaste and pure girl left alone
in a room with ten satyrs would be perfectly safe, since
these would be busy with fighting among themselves
but the danger would come were she left alone with one
satyr. So Mexico can be compared to a beautiful girl
who remained pure and free as long as several political
satyrs fought among themselves for possession of her,
but when Diaz came along and destroyed one by one,
127
in succession, all his ambitions and lustful rivals, the
nation then lost her purity and freedom and became
his slave and prostitute.
In other words Porfirio Diaz has done his enslaving,
corrupting, unpatriotic work so thoroughly that Mr.
Iglesias Calderon voiced the sentiment of many a
Mexican patriot when he said :" Without liberties we
run a more shameful danger than the dismemberment
of our country by force of arms, namely the treacherous
division of it by those who will barter the love of coun-
try for the love of liberty," and as Don Nicamor Bolet
Peraza says: "The great danger for the Hispano- Amer-
ican countries does not consist in the colossal military
power of the United States, but in its admirable liberal
political system which makes the conditions of an Amer-
can citizen so enviable to us." (i)
The political mistakes of Porfirio Diaz include his
indifference to the question of immigration, as by this
time an influx from Europe would have been a great
check against American Pacific conquest and Yankee
aggression. His impotence to take this great Latin-
American problem by the horns is proved by the small
number of Europeans in Mexico, and the compara-
tively large number (about 65000) of Americans now
living there. For "the question of immigration for
Mexico as well as for Chile, Brazil and Argentina is a
question of life and death ; to forget it is sooner or later
to invite destruction." (2)
His lack of patriotism is also shown in his utter
indifference to the educational question. The percen-
tage of illiteracy in Mexico reaches the astonishing
number of 84%.
Another great blunder was the failure of Porfirio
Diaz to cut the Gordian knot of Central American poli-
tics.
The lucky circumstance that the progress of Mexico
went hand in hand with the increasing fame of Porfirio
(1) Rectificaciones historicas F. Iglesias Calderon Pag. 75 Vol. 1.
(2) F. Bulnes. El future de las naciones Hispano Americanas.
128
Diaz induced the superficial student of Mexican politics
into the belief that the president was solely responsible
for all the benefits accruing from this wonderful pros-
perity. But Diaz and the clique which reflects his
ideals, are short sighted, puny, self-sufficient, petty and
local politicians, without any patriotic ideals; they are
only big frogs in a little pond.
The Central American question which should have
been solved ten years ago, remained in the air, not be-
cause General Diaz wanted peace in Mexico but because
he was afraid and was too old to fight. Ten years ago
he was 68 years old and therefore physically incapaci-
tated to successfully lead a campaign against Guatemala;
if he had sent another general to head the expedition,
in case of a victory Porfirio Diaz would have lost his
prestige and power.
Porfirio Diaz is not a military man in any sense
of t the word. He is more of a political affinity, a lillipu-
tian imitation of Cardinal Richelieu, ruling an impassive
king, which in his case is the Mexican nation. He has
all the sinuous, treacherous, underhand methods of the
militant prelates of the 1 2th century.
The account of his campaigns do not prove him to
be either a great strategist or a great tactician. He was
only a "beau sabreur", with as much strategical ability
as was required by a robber chief and his band to attack
and destroy a heavily armed and protected conyoy.
His fame as a general is another snowball which
was rolled down the mountain of Mexican military ex-
ploits by his official flatterers; it became a formidable
avalanche which at the bottom of the valley, under the
searching rays of history will melt into a shallow, dirty
puddle.
According to his official admirers he has won 41
battles, actions or engagements, he possesses moreover
14 government decorations and 13 foreign decorations,
among which is the first class order of the Liberator
from Venezuela.
The longer he stays in power, the more battles he
129
seems to be winning; they increase with amazing rapid-
ity. I can imagine the faithful and useful millionaire
valet, Colonel Pablo Escandon, stepping into the sanc-
tum of the chief, hand to forehead, heels joined together
in military fashion, reporting : " General, I beg to inform
you that you have won another battle " ' ' Which one ? ' '
says General Diaz. And then the glad tidings are
bruited abroad and jotted down on the official roll of
honor.
The battles of the 5th of May, 1862 and of the 2nd
of April, 1867 which are officially celebrated as great
victories of Porfirio Diaz, were never won by him. The
battle of the 5th of May was won by General Zaragoza,
and the action of the 2nd of April was forced on the
council of war by a civilian, Justo Benitez, his secretary;
the organization of this assault was made by General
Alatorre and Porfirio Diaz came into action at the tail
end of the engagement. The battle of Tecoac which
decided the fall of the Lerdo government w r as won by
the timely arrival of General Gonzalez.
What is left then to this hero of a thousand and
one battles? Only two bloody actions: the massacre
of Vera-Cruz and the carnage of Orizaba, victories,
worthy of him, which will be inscribed in bloody letters
in his pantheon of immortality.
We have seen his work as a statesman, patriot and
as general and we stand amazed at the impudence of
this misappropriated and plagarized political and mili-
tary fame, unheard of in the annals of history, and
verily we can say with Bulnes that the only marvellous
things in Latin-America are the lies.
Porfirio Diaz is old now, almost 80 years old, too
old to continue with usefulness and dignity in the chair
of state. Although de facto a Czar he was fain to be
called president, for the title of Emperor in Mexico has
a sort of hoodoo attached to it. Three Emperors were
killed in Mexico, Montezuma, Iturbide and Maximilian.
The days of the Czar of Mexico are numbered ; he is
slipping fast into decrepitude, physical and mental.
130
He is like the wolf who became the head of;the~pack
and kept his supremacy by the strength of his teeth;
the day the other wolves discover that their chief has be-
come toothless they tear him to pieces. And so it
might happen with Porfirio Diaz.
Now he is only a stuffed lion, a giant with clay feet,
and he could be pushed over with the little finger into
the ash-heap. Arid when he dies God bless his soul
with him will die the last political bandit in Mexico.
131
We knowjwhatjwe are, but know not what we may
be.
HAMLET. ACT IX. SCENB V.
The Central American Question.
American influence in the isthmus of Panama has
modified the whole status of Central American politics.
It has cast over the entire strip from the Rio Grande to
the Chagres River the shadow of the American eagle.
Events which formerly passed unnoticed, are now
scrutinized with attention and an eye to their bearing on
the future.
The whole situation of Central America is resting
on a flimsy basis, like an argument with a false premise.
The five Central American republics have no more busi-
ness to be independent of one another than the 27 states
of Mexico and the 46 states in the American union
would have.
In 1821 all the five ancient provinces of Spain
formed the Mexican federation which persisted up to
the fall of Iturbide (nth of May, 1823) which then
again separated with the exception of Chiapas which
remained with Mexico. Ever since, Guatemala, Salva-
dor, Honduras and Nicaragua have always been war-
ring against one another or getting up internal revolu-
tions ; and for a space of ninety years there has not been
one year of peace in the Central American isthmus,
except in Costa Rica which is rightly called the Switzer-
land of America. From 1821 till 1885 the struggle
centered around Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua
against Guatemala, which aspired to, and achieved
the material and moral sovereignty over the rest. But
in 1885 at the death of her President, Rufino Barrios, at
the battle of Chalchuapa, Guatemala lost her suprem-
acy, although she still exerts an isolated influence
alternatively over Salvador and Honduras. Nicaragua
on that date, not only recovered her moral indepen-
dence, but began aspiring to be the pivot of a move-
ment favoring a federal union of the five states.
135
As a matter of fact a Central American federation
is an impossibility, owing to the difficulty of creating a
purely federal army, because of the intense rivalry
among the respective governments which unfits them
for an " entente cordiale", and because it is a conflict of
personalities and a competition between unscrupulous
grafters.
The whole political situation of the last ten years
has been reduced to a personal struggle between the
President of Guatemala, Cabrera, and the President of
Nicaragua, Zelaya. They have both protected all sorts
of revolutionary schemes by the rebel exiles from the
other republics.
Zelaya, a doctor in medicine, educated in Paris, is
energetic and intelligent; Cabrera a lawyer, is not infer-
ior to him either in talent or will power; moreover the
latter's cunning and boldness are recognized even by
his enemies. It will easily be seen that such men are
not anxious to merge their supreme power into an ideal
federation, since that would mean the loss of exclusive
monopolies and schemes for personal enrichment.
During the twelve years that Cabrera has been in
power he has amassed a fortune of many millions of
dollars, thanks to the business enterprise of his partner,
a German-American Jew who gets a rakeoff on every
bag of coffee that leaves the country and who tried
to hold up the Pan-American railroad for $1,500,000
gold for the concession that the other states had
granted freely. Nor are all these ill-gotten gains in-
vested in the states from which they have been drained ;
Cabrera owns a fine hotel in Hamburg; Zelaya sends
his wife abroad every year, ostensibly to get new clothes
in Paris, but in reality with a bag of gold to place in
European banks. Verily to be President in Central
America is to be a cross between a bandit and the exe-
cutive of a huge department store.
The struggle would have been endless without the
intervention of the United States and Mexico It al-
ways begins with the romantic formula " right is might"
136
and will end by armed intervention. The United
States cannot but favor the absorbtion of Central Amer-
ica by Mexico, and this would have come about ten
years ago but for the policy of Porfirio Diaz which has
always been inert, cowardly and procrastinating.
In 1898 when there was danger of war between
Guatemala and Mexico, the state of Jalisco offered,
single-handed, with her own resources and men to
fight the former, and had the offer been accepted,
Jalisco would have succeeded, as it is the richest and
most populous of the Mexican states.
Since Guatemala's geographical position makes her
the key to the isthmus her annexation to Mexico will
end the chaotic state of affairs in Central America, for
then Mexico will control Honduras and Salvador and
therefore also Nicaragua.
Two Spanish journalists Segarra and Julia, who
made a trip from the Panama canal to the city of Mexi-
co, reported their experiences in lectures, newspaper
articles and books. They are agreed upon the fact that
railroad communications will help toward peace more
effectually than alliances or peace conferences. The great
work of pacification is being achieved by the Pan-
American railroad, a great deal of the success of which is
due to the efforts and diplomacy of its vice-president
Mr. Neelan.
Annexation which is the paramount issue will be
taken up again after the death of Porfirio Diaz and the
Mexican president or general who will solve it satisfac-
torily, will not only be the most popular man in his
country but will also make history in Central America.
137
The Last Mexican Massacre.
VELARDENA AFFAIR PROVED To BE WANTON SLAUGH-
TER BY OFFICERS OF DIAZ*
New light upon the killing of unarmed and unres-
isting Mexican citizens in the little town of Velardena,
not far from the city of Torreon, has at last aroused all
Mexico, and, in spite of the fact that the native press is
in deadly fear of telling the whole story, much truth has
leaked out showing that Diaz is as bloodthirsty in his
method of rule as was the last Sultan of Turkey.
The people of Velardena were holding a fiesta and
marching in procession when the local police attempted
to disperse them. Not succeeding in completely cow-
ing the populace, the troops were sent for, with the fol-
lowing result, as described in the "Mexican Herald" of
June 13, 1909:
"When the forces sent from Durango, comprising
seventy men of the Second Platoon, arrived at Velar-
dena, under command of Captain J. M. T., and of the
state gendarmes under the command of Commandante
O. M., all under the command of Lieutenant Colonel G.
G., the town was pacified. A detachment of rurales
had already arrived from Lerdo, commanded by Cor-
poral A. C., and the Cuencueme forces at the command
of Chief of Police L. E.
"In spite of the fact that the tumult was all over,
G. G, according to an important witness, was not satis-
fied in taking mere precautionary measures, but made
the statement that he had not made the trip as a
wild goose chase and that it would never do to re-
turn to Durango without shooting somebody. So he
commanded that he be shown a list of the principal dis-
turbers. From this list he selected Alejandro Murguia,
Antonio Reyes, Nabor Rocha, Felipe Flores, Doroteo
*This Chapter was added in July, 1909 after a careful revision of this book.
138
Hernandez, Isabel Arellano, Francisco Avitia, Jose
Nava, Bonificio Gonzales, Aurelio Cruz, Simon Lopez,
Alberto Perales, Sebastian Morales, Agapito Contreras,
and Pedro Madero, and commanded that they be shot
as traitors, from the back.
"The first four were executed by the state gend-
armes commanded by Commandante M. and the re-
mainder were shot by a squad at the command of Chief
of Police E.
"The executions were most horribly bloody. With
their arms tied behind them, they were shot in the most
cruel manner, and some of them were thrown into
ditches dug for their interment and buried alive. The
bloody instinct of E. showed itself in its most re-
volting form when he shot one poor fellow at less than
an arm's length, and while the miserable victim groan-
ed in agony threw him into the ditch by his feet.
"Captain Jose Maria Tello refused to obey the or-
ders of Colonel G. unless they were written. G. refused
to write the order and insisted on Tello carrying it
out. At that point Tello energetically refused, saying
he would be shot himself before he would carry out
the order.
"An important witness was Corporal Antonio Ca-
villo. He said that when he arrived everything was
quiet. Nevertheless Colonel G. G. said that it would
be impossible to return without doing something. Fol-
lowing this idea he had Commandante M. take a list of
the names of all the disturbers, and taking the list,
marked at random the names of those to be shot, with a
red pencil.
"Before the execution M. went in search of grave
diggers to prepare the ditches in which to throw the
victims."
139
The Financial System.
The "Cientificos" -A financial camarilla.
Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse.
PROVERBS.
The financial system of a nation is logically an off-
shoot of the political game; it is the top of the pyramid,
which cannot exist without the basis. If the government
be personal the financial department cannot be any-
thing but personal. Although Gaudin said that the fi-
nances of a nation were governed by the same princi-
ples as those of private individuals, there comes a time
when a finance minister who has been too long in power
unconsciously feels that the national treasury is almost
his private property and he finances accordingly.
For the last two decades we have heard nothing
but praise about the finance minister of Mexico, and
of course he has been called the greatest finance minis-
ter in the world. For the last sixteen years he has dic-
tated the financial policy of Mexico without interference
from a slavish Congress or even a board of directors, but
has only been responsible to Porfirio Diaz, w 7 ho, without
fear of contradiction, has been as great a financial genius
as Abdul Hamid.
The President is always busy playing his little
political game but always with one eye to the treas-
ury, knowing or divining instinctively that only a full
treasury can pay for a well equipped army, efficient
police force and 12,000 rurales which keep him in power
at the polls with the help of the glitter of bayonets.
That the credit of Mexico has risen in an extraor-
dinary manner is an undeniable fact and it can be said
truthfully that for the first time that country has
achieved real credit in the nation as well as abroad.
The settlement of the public debt imposed itself
140
on Mexico as an imperative necessity, as otherwise it
would have been impossible to create a treasury and
assure the credit of the nation. President Jaurez tried
to bring about a settlement of the debt in 1870, but his
project was refused by the bond holders of the English
debt. President I/erdo likewise tried it, but without suc-
cess. In 1880 Porfirio Diaz had succededin getting up
another project which was pigeon-holed on account of
the accession to power of President Gonzalez. The lat-
ter also attempted the settlement of this famous debt,
but it did not come to a head until June 23d, 1886,
when General Mena in cunjunction with the English
bond-holders agreed to a settlement of the debt.
The credit of Mexico not only started from that
date but it was the beginning of a series of loans which
increased in arithmetical progression. The result was
that the appetites increased with the large profits. The
salaried press tried to prove that the larger the debt of
a nation the greater its credit and welfare; that these
debts were a guarantee of peace, for then the nations
who were the creditors would be interested that peace
should continue and that the country should be devel-
oped. Like Ouvrard, Porfirio Diaz and J. Y. Limantour
imagined "credit as multiplying wealth. Enthusiastic
about the instrument without understanding its orig-
inal function, they believed credit to be a means of
creating riches, without realizing that work only is pro-
ductive and that credit is only a tool of transmission
which helps in the formation of wealth, credit being in-
capacitated in itself to originate it." (i)
The government tried to prove that all the money
invested in public improvements reverted to the nation-
al treasury in geometrical progression, and that in this
simple manner the debt would pay itself off without in-
creasing the taxes. So much was said and repeated by
the authorities in Mexico, in Europe and in the United
States that the Mexican government and, especially, the
minister of finance ended by convincing themselves
(1) Portraits of financiers. A. Liesse
141
that they were cleverer and keener than the most talent-
ed bankers and financial men in the world. If an idiot
were to tell you the same story every day for a year, you
would end by believing him.
On December 13, 1887, Congress gave submissively
the authorization for a loan of ,10,500,000. On the 4th
of May, 1 89O,the Executive was empowered to consolidate
and exchange the subventions accredited to some rail-
road enterprises. In virtue of this the government dealt
in a two -fold manner : first with the companies who were
creditors, and secondly with the representatives of the
different banking houses which had presented proposi-
tions to the President. The government decided in fa-
vor of Baron Bleichroeder with a loan of ,6,000,000.
The price of sale was 88f % and the interest was fixed
at 6%.
In May, 1 893, the Executive asked for authorization
to finish the settlement of the debt by means of oper-
ations convenient for this purpose. Limantour was
then minister of finance.
In 1893-94 new loans were contracted which had as
their object the settlement of the aforementioned debt.
They contained certain clauses which permitted the
emission of titles or bonds for .2,500,000 for the pur-
pose of settling and consolidating the floating debt con-
tracted on account of the failure of the crops for two
consecutive years, as well as the lowering of the price
of silver. The sum was increased to ,3,000,000 so that
the Executive could dedicate a part of the new bonds to
rescind the contracts with the mint and to conclude the
national railroad of Tehuantepec. With the aforemen-
tioned authorization the emission of a loan of ,3,000,-
ooo at 6% payable every three months, was contracted
with for Bleichroeder and the Banco National of Mex-
ico. In 1898 another loan was called for with bonds at
5% ; this loan was guaranteed by the turning over of 62%
of the Custom House receipts. In 1904 another loan
was contracted of $40,000,000 at 4%, nominally as
bonds, which were sold at 95%, interest to be paid
142
on it at 4.49%. Finally in 1908 another loan was called
for $50,000,000 for the sake of encouraging irrigation
and immigration. (?)
From all this, it results that the actual debt of
Mexico amounts to over $400,000,000. It is an inheri-
tance which will be left to the nation by the paternal
government of President Diaz and is the least of the
evils which he shall have to account for when God shall
recall him.
And, nota bene,all this has been done, not in times
of financial difficulties for the country, but while the in-
come of the nation was increasing year by year.
Year Income Expenses
1885-86 $27,810,909.. $3 8 ,93,353-
1886-87 $31,168,352 $31,536,205.
1887-88 $33,932,226 * $36,270,451.
1888-89 $34,334,783.- $38,572,239
1889-90 $38,486,601 ....... . .$36.765,906.
1890-91 $37,391,804 ...$38,439,488.
1891-92 $37,474,879 -$38,377,364-
1892-93 $37,692,293... ...$40,367,047.
1893-94 $40,211,747 --. $44,634,739-
1894-95 $43,943,699 ...$45,610,279.
In the fiscal year 1 895-96 the revenue of the nation
increased to $50,521,470. In 1902-03 they were $76,-
000,000; in 1907-08, $i 14,286,122. In 1895-96 the first
surplus amounted to $1,113,046, increasing with the
years. On June 30, 1903, the reserve funds formed by
these surpluses exceeded $30,000,000.
Last year, the first year of the panic, they admitted
a deficit of 20 million dollars ; this year it will be 40 mil-
lions.
The principal resources of the government are their
revenue established by an almost prohibitory tariff and
the product of the burdensome stamps revenue from
which is derived one-third of the income and which
gravitates principally upon foreign capital, so that the
day this foreign capital does not invest into Mexico there
143
will be an enormous financial unbalance, a famine
will follow and a panic such as no other country has
ever had. Then the wiseacres who now praise the gen-
ius of the minister of finance will be convinced that his
system is archaic, primitive, dangerous and deceitful.
In the last 25 years the rents of the houses have in-
creased 200%. Rice has increased its price 200%, sugar
beans, corn and all the staples have gone up from 125
to 250%. At the same time the salaries are about the
same as they were 25 years ago.
What is the financial genius of Mexico going to do
with an increasing deficit? Cover it up with more loans?
The situation in Mexico is similar to that of the man who
has turned over the management of his house to an
expert, who under the pretext of improvements has
borrowed money on the value of the house so that by the
time the owner wants to get into possession of his pro-
perty he finds that it does not belong to him any more
but to the owners of the mortgages. Likewise, Mexico
has been mortgaged to the foreign bankers who at the
death of Porfirio Diaz will own everything that is worth
having.
If the President could live another fifty years he
might possibly crawl out of the present financial crisis,
but as this is out of the question, he entertains the idea
of a continuation of his system by men of his own cre-
ation who, having enriched themselves under his rule,
would keep a tight lid on all the unsavory deals of the
past 25 years.
The "cientificos," led by the minister of finance,
have trailed the President in his financial raids like a
pack of "coyotes" in the wake of a wolf out hunting.
There is no business transaction of any magnitude, no
organization of any bank or trust company, nor the sell-
ing of a mining or any concession of any importance in
which these scientific grafters have not had a share, nor
is there a profitable business which they do not turn in-
to a monopoly. The manufacture of paper was turned
by them into a monopoly so that they might keep their
144
power as a sword of Damocles over the helpless news-
paper editors. Once upon a time an American asked
for a concession to manufacture dynamite, which is used
extensively in mining. He also asked for a tariff rate of
$200 a ton so as to protect his manufacture. But he
never did turn out a single pound of dynamite but im-
ported it all at a cost of 30 to 40 dollars a ton which in
his turn he sold to the consumer in Mexico at the rate
of $200 a ton. One of the powerful cientificos was back-
ing the American.
When the Mexican Meat and Packing Co. started
building slaughter houses and sold refrigerated meat
in Mexico, the rival houses did not go out of business as
was expected.
They invoked the aid of a powerful minister of
finance who informed the president of the meat packing
company that he had changed his mind about the exemp-
tion of taxes and that he would extend part of this ex-
emption over a period of 20 years if the meat packing
company would buy up all the slaughter houses in Mex-
ico City. The president of the corporation understood
the hint and asked for the price of sale. He had care-
fully priced all the rival slaughter houses and his fig-
ure with a large margin of profit was half a million dol-
lars. Imagine his consternation when the minister gent-
ly broke the news to him : Two millions and a half dol-
lars. The mayor of the city and some of the other cien-
tificos were in the deal.
Every cientifico is like a bridge that foreign invest-
ors must cross sooner or later to get any concession of
any value When there is a big law suit on hand (the
cientificos being mostly lawyers) one of them reluctant-
ly takes up the case, and wins it in exchange for a very
fat check. Any reform of the monetary or banking
system or of the tariff or anything connected with mon-
ey matters is put into the hands of a cientifico whose
greed is "as insatiable as the eyes of man, the belly
of a goat or the hands of a monkey."
They are a well drilled, clever, unscrupulous dis-
145
ciplined and tireless phalanx which swoops down on
every thing which smells of money as mice when attracted
by the odor of cheese.
When they cannot turn out an honest penny,
they lend it out at an interest which would make an
Amsterdam money lender blush in shame. The mayor
of a large city offered to lend money to the president of
a newspaper at 60% a year. Most of the banks in Mex-
ico are in the control of the cientificos and they lend
money at the rate of 15% and sometimes 18% a year.
But the end of all this grafting is nearing and many
of the cientificos and their associates are selling their
chattels and shifting their bank accounts to European
banks, following the lead of their chief, imitating thus
the rats who leave the ship as soon as it begins taking
water.
The people of Mexico who patiently curbed their
necks under the ruthless and maleficient yoke of the
Czar while there was work, food and good times, have
finally awakened to a sense of consciousness through
the pangs of hunger. For the first time in 30 years
there is an open and defiant opposition to the reelection
of the President, as the Mexicans realize that the
financial camarilla cannot be removed without the
elimination of the Czar himself.
There are already ominous signs of general un-
rest in the usually obedient press, at public meetings,
in the army and in the organization of anti reelection-
ist clubs all over the country. The whole nation is
seething like a mighty cauldron and a deep and re-
verberating rumbling is heard as before an earthquake.
When the storm comes Porfirio Diaz and his camarilla
will meet the same fate as that of Abdul Hamid and
his eunuchs. But they will not take notice but will
go on madly, greedily unconscious of their fate, for the
Gods first make mad those whom they wish to destroy.
146
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
A 000946173 2
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