MEXICO'S
DILEMMA
CARLWACKERMAN
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MEXICO'S DILEMMA
CARL W. ACKERMAN
-rOONIST's VIEW OF SENOR CABRERA
OST DOMINANT CIVILIAN OFFICIALS '
MEXICO'S
DILEMMA
BY
CARL W. ACKERMAN
AUTHOR OF "GERMANY, THE NEXT REPUBLIC? "
ILLUSTRATED
COPYRIGHT, 1918,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
MPANY
'\L SCIENCE
Bancroft Library
3 3X (0
INTRODUCTION
Mexico's Dilemma has three horns.
They are: 1. Financial ruin of Mexico and
internal disorders unless a loan is obtained. 2.
The possibility of subjugation to German influ-
ence with all of its liability for external strife.
3. Co-operation with the United States, England,
France and America.
What will Mexico do?
The answer is one which future events will de-
termine. In this book the author has tried to tell
what forces and influences are sharpening each of
the three horns. There are bandits, disloyal Mex-
icans, ambitious officials, patriotic citizens, honest
business men, Teutonic intriguers, spies, propa-
gandists, diplomats, millionaires, army officers
and I. W. W. firebrands at work. Is it any won-
der, then, that Mexico finds herself in such a
Dilemma!
Mexico has always been a home and workshop
for foreigners. Several thousand years ago the
Chinese settled in that country and, judging from
the relics which are found to-day, in and about
Mexico City, Chinese civilisation flourished there
for a few hundred years. Terra cotta relics are
found showing an unmistakable Mongolian type
COPYRIGHT, 1918,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
\L SCIENCE
.TOONIST S VIEW OF SENOR CABRERA,
OST DOMINANT CIVILIAN OFFICIALS
Bancroft Library
3 Sx ?
INTRODUCTION
Mexico's Dilemma has three horns.
They are: 1. Financial ruin of Mexico and
internal disorders unless a loan is obtained. 2.
The possibility of subjugation to German influ-
ence with all of its liability for external strife.
3. Co-operation with the United States, England,
France and America.
What will Mexico do?
The answer is one which future events will de-
termine. In this book the author has tried to tell
what forces and influences are sharpening each of
the three horns. There are bandits, disloyal Mex-
icans, ambitious officials, patriotic citizens, honest
business men, Teutonic intriguers, spies, propa-
gandists, diplomats, millionaires, army officers
and I. W. W. firebrands at work. Is it any won-
der, then, that Mexico finds herself in such a
Dilemma?
Mexico has always been a home and workshop
for foreigners. Several thousand years ago the
Chinese settled in that country and, judging from
the relics which are found to-day, in and about
Mexico City, Chinese civilisation flourished there
for a few hundred years. Terra cotta relics are
found showing an unmistakable Mongolian type
vi INTRODUCTION
of face, and, because a large number of art ob-
jects similar to those found in China have been
unearthed, archeologists conclude that Mexico was
once the foreign colony of the Chinese.
After the Chinese civilisation disappeared the
Aztec and pre-Aztec Indians dominated the land.
A few hundred years ago the Spaniards landed
and Mexico passed through a period of conquest
which ended with the execution of the Austrian,
Emperor Maximilian. And to-day, in Monteif!y
is preserved the rifle which was used at this ex-
ecution, preserved even by the Rebels during the
revolutions.
A few decades ago English, French and Ameri-
can capitalists went to Mexico to develop the
wonderfully rich resources, and Mexico under
President Porfirio Diaz became a great, inter-
nationally respected nation.
The revolution which overthrew Diaz drove
thousands of these foreigners from the country,
and the immigration of Germans and Austrians,
which had started earlier, increased until to-day
the Teuton strength is so great that Mexican
politics is interwoven with German intrigue.
Where a few years ago The Mexican Herald, an
English language newspaper, had a wide circula-
tion and commanded the respect and attention of
all foreigners, there is to-day a Deutsche Zeitung
von Mexico.
Germany is active in Mexico, honestly and dis-
honestly. The character of many of the German
INTRODUCTION vii
citizens there cannot be attacked and their hon-
esty cannot be questioned, but, as is the case in
the United States and in all countries where the
German Government intriguers have worked, all
Germans in Mexico are bearing the burdens of a
corrupt, dishonest, deceitful government in Ber-
lin. Most of the things which the Germans are
doing there, both against the United States and
against Mexico itself, are done at the direction
of Berlin. Who would have expected Mexico to
think of invading the United States to "get
back" American territory until it was suggested
to the German Minister in Mexico City by Dr.
Alfred Zimmermann, former Secretary of State?
What honest, intelligent Mexican favours war
with the United States when there is nothing to
gain for Mexico except flattery from Berlin?
What capable Mexican business man, or govern-
ment official, favours labour riots at Tampico to
cut off the oil supply which is bringing millions
of dollars to the Mexican Treasury? What is
there for Mexico to gain if the oil wells and
mines are destroyed? Mexico loses by such things V
and Berlin gains.
When I returned from Germany to America in
March, 1917, 1 found so many people asking what
the Germans were doing in Mexico that I pro-
posed to the Editor of The Saturday Evening
Post that I go to that country for the purpose of
making an investigation. It seemed to me that
public opinion in the United States was divided;
viii INTRODUCTION
that some people thought the German activity in
Mexico was no greater than, if as great as, that in
the United States, while others believed it much
more portentous.
In July, having my two passports in order, as
both an American and a Mexican passport were
needed, I left New York City for San Antonio,
Texas, where I met and talked with a large num-
ber of Mexicans, including Mr. Sam Belden, the
attorney for the Mexican Consul; Senor don
Manuel Amaya, Official Introducer of Ambassa-
dors in President Carranza's cabinet; General
Salinas and a Mexican physician from Monterey.
I remained at San Antonio until Ambassador
Henry Prather Fletcher and Mrs. Fletcher ar-
rived en route to Mexico City. Upon the invita-
tion of Senor Amaya I travelled on the special
train which took Mr. Fletcher to the Mexican
capital.
I crossed the International Bridge with the
official party and drove through the dusty streets
of Nuevo Laredo to the railway siding where the
train was waiting. That evening, after consider-
able delay bandits had destroyed a bridge just
outside the city reached Monterey, in company
with Mr. Randolph Robertson, Acting Consul-
General for the United States, and several Mex-
icans, including a Captain attached to the National
Palace.
The next day the train stopped at San Luis
Potosi. Ambassador and Mrs. Fletcher were en-
INTRODUCTION ix
terteined by General Barragan, the Governor of
the state, and his staff. At the banquet I sat be-
side Senor Montezuma, a direct descendant of the
famous Indian chief. From San Luis Potosi to
Mexico City we passed through a beautiful
stretch of country under armed escort.
In Mexico City I met members of the cabinet,
Mexican Generals, members of the Chamber of
Deputies, American and English business men,
bankers, newspapermen and others. I employed
a young Mexican student from the University of
Texas as an interpreter, journeyed about the city
and the suburbs, and studied, in every way possi-
ble for me, the social and political conditions in
the capital of the Kepublic.
Before I left the United States I had encoun-
tered two classes of citizens, those who had faith
in the possibilities for good of the Carranza Gov-
ernment and those who violently opposed this
government. In Mexico I found quite the same
situation. Not only were the foreigners divided
in opinion but the Mexicans themselves, though
here those opposing the government were not as
pronounced in the expression of their judgment
for fear of Article 33 in the Mexican Constitution.
This article reads :
" Foreigners are those who do not possess the
qualifications prescribed in Article 30. They
shall be entitled to the rights granted by Chapter
I, Title I of the present constitution ; but the ex-
x INTRODUCTION
ecutive shall have the exclusive right to expel
from the Republic forthwith and without judicial
process, any foreigner whose presence he may
deem inexpedient.
"No foreigner shall meddle in any way what-
soever in the political affairs of the country."
From this section developed the phrase "to be
Thirty-threed, " meaning to be exiled without
trial or hearing, from Mexico.
From Monterey I travelled to Tampico on the
regular morning train which was crowded with
Mexicans, Indians and Germans long before the
hour of departure. Most of the Germans left at
towns along the line, but a few continued to the
great oil port.
In Tampico I had the assistance and the same
cordial co-operation from the Americans, espe-
cially the representatives of the oil companies,
that I had had in Mexico City. As I look back
now upon my contact with the Americans in Mex-
ico they appear to me to be, with only one excep-
tion that I can recall, all active, energetic business
men, who, far from being in that country to ' ' rob"
it are there working and striving for the same
things that business men, bankers, clerks and
labourers honestly strive for in the United States.
Early one September morning I boarded a large
oil tanker in Tampico harbour, crossed the Gulf
of Mexico to Sabine Pass, Texas, when that great
body of water was as quiet and smooth as a small
INTRODUCTION xi
lake. Arriving in Texas, and looking back upon
my experiences in Mexico, I felt that I had had an
opportunity of studying conditions at first hand,
not, indeed, as they were during the revolution,
but as they were then. Nothing, though, that I
know of changes like Mexico. What one day is
the situation the next day may not exist at all.
In the first article which I wrote for The Satur-
day Evening Post I spoke of the two policies
which faced Mexico : either Mexico could join the
United States and the Allies, at least to the ex-
tent of breaking diplomatic relations with Berlin,
or Mexico might stay out of this league of nations
and by so doing give the German propagandists
further opportunity of creating hatred, suspicionx
and fear between Mexico and the United States.!
In case of the latter event, should it continue'
long enough, no one can be sure that Mexico, under
German influence, may not some day be an enemy '
of the United States.
That is what I wrote in July, 1917. By mid-
November, the former Associated Press corre-
spondent in Mexico City had reached New York.
A letter from Mexico stated that he was exiled
because he wrote a series of articles for the
"A. P.," telling of the campaign which the Ger-
mans were conducting, in co-operation with the
bandit leaders, to prevent the Carranza govern-
ment from breaking with Berlin. The letter,
which I received, said the correspondent, whom I
had met while I was there, was tapped on the
xii INTRODUCTION
shoulder one night by a secret service agent and
told to leave the next morning for the United
States.
So it is in Mexico. Zimmermann is not alone
in his intrigues.
With the sincere hope that this book will help
Americans to understand Mexico as it is I sub-
mit it to the reading public. Everything, includ-
ing future peace between the two nations, Mexico
and the United States, and their mutual pros-
perity, depends upon our having a full under-
standing of the situation. This book does not pre-
tend to contain all there is to be known about
Mexico to-day but the author believes it to pre-
sent a true account of conditions and politics in
Mexico at the time of its writing.
I have employed in this book the major portion
of five articles written for The Saturday Evening
Post to which I have added considerable new ma-
terial. I am indebted to so many Americans and
Mexicans for assistance and information, some
whose names might be mentioned, others whose
names cannot be given, that I welcome this oppor-
tunity to thank them all.
C. W. A.
Bancroft Library
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ........... v
THE ZlMMERMANN NOTE
CHAPTER
I. A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW ....... 19
II. THE MEXICAN PUZZLE ....... 24
III. REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS ..... 48
IV. GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO .... 68
V. THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE ...... 98
VI. RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO . . . 117
VII. THE FUTURE ...... .... 136
APPENDIX ............ 141
A. FINANCIAL BILLS ........ 143
B. THE NEW MEXICAN CONSTITUTION . . . 153
C. MEXICAN RAILWAYS ....... 264
D. THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE . 273
E. THE LAST MEXICAN ELECTION 279
ziii
ILLUSTRATIONS
A MEXICAN CARTOONIST'S VIEW OF SENOR CABRERA
Frontispiece
PAGE
MEXICAN VILLAGERS WHO TURNED OUT TO SEE
SENOR FLETCHER 28
AMBASSADOR FLETCHER'S MILITARY ESCORT . . 28
COVER FOR THE GERMAN NEWSPAPER OF MEXICO 36
THIS WAS AT ONE TIME A BEAUTIFUL RESIDENCE 52
THE FAMOUS " SADDLE MOUNTAIN" OF MONTEREY 52
THE U. S. WARSHIPS AT ANCHOR IN TAMPICO HARBOR 70
AN OIL GUSHER AT TAMPICO 70
THE GUSHER OF THE CERRO AZUL OIL WELL 600
FEET HIGH 80
ANOTHER VIEW OF GERMANY'S LEADERS . . . 100
COVER CARTOON OF AMBASSADOR FLETCHER . . 112
TERRA COTTA HEADS FOUND BY PROF. NIVEN . . 122
AN AZTEC FAMILY TREE 122
PROFESSOR WILLIAM NIVEN 132
LIST OF THE PRESIDENTS OF MEXICO, GEN. PORFIRIO
DIAZ TO Lie. FRANCISCO GARBAJAL .... 162
XV
xvi ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF MEXICO, EULALIO GUTIER-
BEZ TO C. VENUSTIANO CARRANZA 178
THE RUINED RAILWAY DEPOT AND FREIGHT CARS
AT MONTEREY 266
A TYPICAL MEXICAN RAILWAY TRAIN 266
MEXICO'S DILEMMA
THE ZIMMERMANN NOTE
BERLIN, JANUARY 19, 1917.
To His EXCELLENCY, THE IMPERIAL
GERMAN MINISTER TO MEXICO.
On the first of February we intend to begin unre-
stricted submarine warfare. In spite of this, it is our in-
tention to endeavour to keep the United States of Amer-
ica neutral.
If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alli-
ance on the following basis with Mexico: That we shall
make war together and together make peace. We shall
give general financial support, and it is understood that
Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mex-
ico, Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for
settlement.
You are instructed to inform the President of Mex-
ico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it
is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the
United States, and suggest that the President of Mexico,
on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan
suggesting adherence at once to this plan. At the same
time offer to mediate between Germany and Japan.
Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico
that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now
promises to compel England to make peace within a few
months*
ZIMMERMANN.
MEXICO'S DILEMMA
CHAPTER I
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
PEESIDENT LINCOLN'S words on Mexico,
sent in the form of instructions to the
United States Minister in Mexico City, true
as they must have been more than fifty years ago,
are just as true to-day. "For a few years past the
condition of Mexico has been so unsettled as to
raise the question on both sides of the Atlantic
whether the time has not come when some foreign
power ought, in the general interest of society,
to intervene, to establish a protectorate or some
other form of government in that country and
guarantee its continuance there, " wrote the Presi-
dent. He continued:
"You will not fail to assure the Government of
Mexico that the President neither has, nor can
ever have, any sympathy with such designs, in
whatever quarter they may arise or whatever
character they may take on. . . .
1 1 The President never for a moment doubts that
19
20 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
the republican system is to pass safely througl
all ordeals and prove a permanent success in our
own country, and so to be recommended to adop-
tion by all other nations.
"But he thinks, also, that the system every-
where has to make its way painfully through diffi-
culties and embarrassments which result from
the action of antagonistic^! elements which are a
legacy of former times and very different institu-
tions.
"The President is hopeful of the ultimate tri-
umph of this system over all obstacles, as well in
regard to Mexico as in regard to every other
American State ; but he feels that those States are
nevertheless justly entitled to a greater forbear-
ance and more generous sympathies from the
Government and people of the United States
than they are likely to receive in any other
quarter. . . .
"The President trusts that your mission, mani-
festing these sentiments, will reassure the Gov-
ernment of Mexico of his best disposition to
favour their commerce and their internal im-
provements.
"I find the archives here full of complaints
against the Mexican Government for violation of
contracts and spoliation and cruelties practiced
against American citizens. It is not the Presi-
dent's intention to send forward such claims at
the present moment. He willingly defers the per-
formance of a duty, which at any time would
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 21
seem ungracious, until the incoming administra-
tion in Mexico shall have had time, if possible,
to cement its authority. "
How many Americans there are to-day who feel
as apprehensive as did President Lincoln! How
many Americans ask to-day whether the United
States may not have to intervene in Mexico, after
all, to help establish peace and order!
In his International Law Digest, Professor
John Bassett Moore, former Counsellor of the
State Department in Washington, writes:
"On November 28, 1876, General Porfirio Diaz
issued a proclamation announcing himself pro-
visional president of the Republic of Mexico,
under the Plan of Tuxtepec. On January 19,
1877, intelligence having been received at Wash-
ington of the defeat of the forces of the rival
claimants Secretary of State Fish suggested that
if this should be confirmed by similar tidings re-
ceived at the City of Mexico, General Diaz * would
have no important adversary in arms and might
be regarded as the actual ruler of the country. 1
The question of recognising his government was
under the circumstances left to the discretion of
the Ajnerican Minister. In view, however, of the
unsettled state of affairs in Mexico, and especially
of the existence of controversies between the two
countries growing out of troubles on the Bio
Grande frontier, it was afterwards determined
22 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
that the Government of the United States, al-
though it was ' accustomed to accept and recognise
the results of a popular choice in Mexico/ would
in this particular instance 'wait before recognis-
ing President Diaz as President of Mexico until
it shall be assured that his election is approved
by the Mexican people, and that his administra-
tion is possessed of stability to endure and of dis-
position to comply with the rules of international
comity and the obligations of treaties. ' The Diaz
Government was officially recognised by Germany
May 30, 1877, by Salvador and Guatemala June 7,
by Spain June 16 and soon afterwards similar
action was taken by Italy. These were all the
powers then represented in Mexico, except the
United States. In his annual message of Decem-
ber 3, 1877, President Hayes stated that it had
been 'the custom of the United States when such
(revolutionary) changes of government have here-
tofore occurred in Mexico, to recognise and enter
into official relations with the de facto government
as soon as it shall appear to have the approval^of^
the Mexican people and should manifest a disposi-
tion to adhere to the obligations of treaties and
international friendship,' but that 'in the present
case such official recognition had been deferred
by the occurrences on the Bio Grande border.'
"Official recognition was given in May, 1878,
when a formal reception was tendered to a new
minister from Mexico and the President formally
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 23
replied to the letter of General Diaz announcing
the recall of the provisional representative. "
The events which followed the recognition of
President Diaz are familiar enough. The story
of events from 1910, from the overthrow of Diaz
to the recognition of the de facto government of
President Carranza, has been told in many ver-
sions. The past I shall leave to the reader's judg-
ment. My concern is with the present.
CHAPTER H
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE
TROUBLE and revolutions are two things
which can be started without money. It
doesn't require money to start a street
fight nor does it require gold to upset a nation.
This is not more true of any place than of Mex-
ico. The seven years of strife which the people
south of the Rio Grande have had are not due to
a fat treasury. But Mexico has reached the place
now where it knows that money is necessary to
end a, revolution.
More than a century ago when France was ex-
periencing the internal disorders which infest
Mexico a revolutionist remarked that "Revolu-
tions are not made with rosewater." To-day the
Mexicans will tell you that the evils of a revolu-
tion are not washed away with perfume, either.
This requires money.
Early in the summer of 1917 the Mexican Gov-
ernment invited Mr. Henry Breure, former City
Chamberlain of New York, and two expert ac-
countants, including Mr. Thomas W. Lill, who
spent nine years helping to reorganise the Philip-
pine Government, to establish business methods in
24
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE S5
the governmental departments. One day in July
the American commission went to Guadalajara,
the centre of the ranch section, with an official
escort of Mexicans. After dinner one evening an
American asked a representative of the Carranza
Government what the revolution had accomplished
for the Mexican people. The officer explained
what he thought the results of the revolution
would be, but the American pressed him for an
answer to his original question. Eeluctantly the
officer admitted that, so far, nothing had been
accomplished.
Mexico has reached the crossroad in the path of
the revolution. Since 1910 she has had nothing
but trouble and although it was not begun with
money it has cost the government and the people
millions of dollars in gold and property, thou-
sands of lives and the loss of her international
prestige which cannot be measured in pesos. To-
day most of the fighting is at an end. There are
bandits in some sections of the Republic, but their
raids are becoming fewer each month. Mexico
City, itself, is as busy and active as New York,
but there is a financial crisis, which, although not
evident upon the surface of things, is destined to
mark the climax of the revolution.
I arrived in Mexico in July to look at the politi-
cal, economic, social and revolutionary puzzle
from the inside. I saw many phases of it in
Monterey, San Luis Potosi and Mexico City, this
puzzle which is still puzzling Mexico. I have been
26 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
told that not even President Carranza knows how
it will be solved, although at least two solutions
are possible.
When I crossed the international bridge at
Laredo, Texas, and sauntered through the streets
of Nuevo Laredo, a midget donkey, carrying a
long-legged peon, trekked around the corner of
the telegraph office. The Mexican had to hold up
his feet to keep from dragging them in the dust.
The beast was so small, and the man so tall, that
head down it might have walked between his legs.
Jostling behind the pair was a small " express "
wagon such as American boys play with. It was
loaded with grass, sufficient for about one meal
for a hungry donkey. A string which the peon
held was tied to the wagon tongue. And the beast
was thus, presumably, hauling its load and food
to the hovel which was their home.
I described this incongruous sight to an Ameri-
can who was en route to Mexico with me, where-
upon he remarked :
"How typical of Mexico to-day the old Bibli-
cal ass, the American toy and the lazy peon.
Since the revolution all the progress Mexico made
under Diaz has disappeared. Mexico to-day is
stagnant. "
A few minutes later, however, I went through
the Nuevo Laredo freight depot with Mr. Ean-
dolph Eobertson, U. S. Vice Consul at Monterey.
Automobiles, food, machinery, household goods
and thousands of different manufactured articles
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 27
from the United States were packed within its
four walls awaiting transportation to various
parts of Mexico. More than two hundred Mexi-
cans were busy loading the freight cars on the
siding. In Laredo, Texas, according to American
officials, there are 250 freight cars loaded with
goods for Mexico awaiting shipping facilities.
In Monterey during April, May and June the
American consulate records show that the im-
ports and exports of that district were greater
than at any time in the history of Mexico.
According to the evidence in Nuevo Laredo and
Monterey, Mexico is not only not standing still
but is making vigorous business strides forward.
There are three ways of looking at Mexico.
One is to view the past with all its rape, murder,
robbery and banditry ; its destruction and misery.
The second way is to observe the present with its
grave problems, its ignorance and hatred. The
third way is to peer into the future with its un-
limited possibilities for ruin or success. I was
not in Mexico during its Eeign of Terror, but I
saw some of the results the razed cities, the de-
stroyed railroads and foreign property, the pov-
erty and evidences of atrocities. I went to Med-
ico to report the present and to narrate in a broad
way what may be expected in the future. It is the
to-day of Mexico which will determine the to-
morrow, and it is the to-morrow of Mexico which
will decide whether Mexico is to be ruled by Mex-
icans or whether the United States must intervene
28 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
to establish order and protect the business inter-
ests of her citizens and those of her Allies.
I went to Mexico on the Honeymoon Special
which took Ambassador Henry Prather Fletcher
and his bride to the ancient capital of the Aztecs.
From the sandy banks of the muddy Eio Grande
to the rainy plateau of Central Mexico Mr.
Fletcher travelled like a conquering hero. In the
receptions which were accorded him, if they were
not as resplendent as similar functions in the
United States, there was evident a good-will and
there was present more enthusiasm than had been
shown any Americans since the days of Diaz. Mr.
Fletcher's return was triumphant despite the fact
that the military salutes were crude and the music
even cruder. When the Ambassador crossed the
international bridge a Mexican cannon, hidden in
the bushes of Nuevo Laredo, saluted, but there
was a long time between shots. As the official
representative of the United States he should
have received nineteen salutations instead of five,
but the ambassador was so busy exchanging greet-
ings he did not notice this until I asked him
whether the embargo had been raised on ammuni-
tion for saluting purposes. It seems that because
of the famous Tampico incident the Mexicans are
not permitted to have fireworks.
Although the first band which greeted the envoy
played the "Star-Spangled Banner,'* the others
confined their music to Mexican pieces until the
train reached Queretaro. Then during an effer-
MEXICAN VILLAGERS WHO TURNED OUT TO
SEE SENOR FLETCHER
AMBASSADOR FLETCHER'S MILITARY ESCORT
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 29
r escence of enthusiasm, when the ambassador was
sing hugged by an unusually large number of
Mexican officials, the band played the Hesitation
r altz.
One travels through Mexico to-day with an
'exploradoro." Bandits are still operating along
te railroad lines and it is not safe to be without
" protection." The "exploradoro," which pre-
ceded the Honeymoon Special, was made up of
two armoured cars filled with soldiers. In two
day coaches on the Special itself were two groups
of soldiers. One car contained the soldiers trav-
elling with their families, in the other were men
in uniform. On the back platform of the private
car, which President Carranza used when he was
First Chief of the Constitutionalists, stood three
soldiers armed with heavy Mexican rifles. One
day when the train was nearing Mexico City an
American asked a member of President Car-
ranza 's staff about the Mexican rifles. The Cap-
tain replied they were "very good" except that
they were "easily overheated." Then, adding
that each gun was loaded with a minimum of ten
rounds, he lifted one of the weapons to exhibit
the ammunition. The rifle was empty ! He exam-
ined the second. It was just as harmless, and
when the third was opened the situation became
embarrassing. The guard on the rear platform
was without ammunition. The guard could not
be condemned because the Carranza Government
has needed the sinews of war and Mr. Fletcher
30 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
was just returning from Washington after hav-
ing persuaded President Wilson that the embargo
should be raised.
The bandits, however, which the ambassador
saw on the return to his post, were perfectly harm-
less and the ' i exploradoro " and ' * armed " soldiers
were not needed. At various points along the line
one sees bandits hanging from telegraph poles and
trees, swaying in the wind like pendulums. The
men who tied these fellows up did a good job of
it. They will not drop until they decay, when the
wolves will take charge.
From the Texas border to Monterey one sees
nothing but sand, cactus plants and dust. Along
the route there are " specks " where once stood
villages, villages which passed away during some
stage of the revolution. The depots and homes are
destroyed. The people, who remained, are like ani-
mals. They live in the ruins or under the blue
sky, day and night. They are clothed in garments
which after hard wear would have been discarded
five years ago by almost any one else. Many
children run with only a rag round their waists.
The women and men alike are barefooted, or, per-
haps to protect tender feet, some still have the
sole of a shoe which is tied to each foot with
strings. Almost all live by selling food to the
travellers who must go this way to Monterey and
Mexico City. Eggs, cheese, pancakes, water, milk,
coffee, beans the national dish and whatnot,
are peddled at so many centavos apiece. Here is
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 31
poverty without misery. These people are happy
and contented. They have never seen any other
living. They have no schools. There are no
churches. Civilisation to them is a railroad train.
Business is a railroad train. Life is but the hours
between trains.
As I stood on the siding at Queretaro one day
gazing at this awful aspect of life, a young Mexi-
can, who had been educated in the United States,
remarked to me :
"You know, if these people could go to the
states for a few years they would come back dif-
ferent people. They don't know any better. They
have had no opportunity. "
While the engine was taking water at Quere-
taro and I sauntered about the train I met an old
American railroader who had been working on
Mexican railways twenty years. Four thousand
dollars, his life savings, which he had invested in
a hotel in a town near there, disappeared one
night in a fire when the bandits came to burn and
plunder.
* ' These bandits, ' ' said he, ' ' will never stop until
there is food enough for all the people. There
would be no bandits if there was work for the men
and food for their families. You know what the
Mexicans say around here. Oh, I know them and
they don't know I'm an American or my life
would not be worth that" and he snapped his
fingers. "But I make good money and I travel up
and down these lines. You know these people say
32 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
that all the food in Mexico has to be sent to the
United States to feed the soldiers and that if the
United States had not gone to war there would be
plenty of food in Mexico. ' '
While we were standing in the sun's rays, an
old crippled woman with her blind daughter came
up begging for money.
" Don't give that old hag anything,'* said my
companion. "You know, she gouged the eyes out
of that kid so she could get more money begging.
Yes, sir. That's what she did. Blinded that little
girl of hers."
Then cursing in Spanish he kicked the sand with
his foot and forced her to wabble away. I mar-
velled at the flood of his words. It must require
twenty years' residence to be able to curse in
Spanish and do it properly. I had had a book
called "Spanish in a Week" for more than a
month and about all I could do was to buy a cigar
and order eggs and bacon.
After fifty-six hours of travel and delay, the
Honeymoon Special reached Mexico City.
The city to-day is surprisingly peaceful and
busy. Hundreds of automobiles and carriages
race through the streets there appear to be no
speed laws in force and Mexicans drive their cars
with the same enthusiasm that a child plays with a
new toy. The avenues Cinco de Mayo (the Fifth
of May), Francisco I. Madero and Avenida
Juarez are as busy as Broadway or State Street,
though the people look more like those along the
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE S3
Bowery and Halsted Street. Poor and peon, mid-
dle class and foreigner, rub elbows on the side-
walks as newsboys run through the streets with
extras.
But what incongruous sights one sees ! I rode
out the Paseo de la Keforma, the Eiverside Drive
of Mexico City, to see the palatial homes of the
Cientificos, those great houses where the old fol-
lowers of Diaz lived like monarchs. In the park-
ways along the sides of the street nurse girls were
wheeling the babies of the wealthy. On this thor-
oughfare there were no signs of poverty, although
the street pavement itself was a motly compound
of holes and pavement and the carriage bumped
and jostled from curb to curb. A little later I
walked up Avenida Juarez where beggars seem to
crawl out of every doorway. Not far from the
Spanish Embassy, a big palatial structure, I
paused at the barracks of the second infantry
regiment to listen to the band and to watch the
soldiers saunter here and there with nothing to
do but "kill time/' smoke cigarettes and talk to
their wives and children who are as numerous as
the soldiers themselves. On the curb, in front, sat
a big, fat Mexican woman smoking a brown cig-
arette. A baby, just able to walk, stood in the
street before her, sucking at its mother's breast
and punching it with its bony fists in an effort to
extract the morning breakfast. A soldier handed
the woman a cake. She tied this in a soiled hand-
kerchief where she carried her money and other
34 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
valuables and continued to puff at the cigarette.
In front of the National Palace two companies
of soldiers in impossible field uniforms, some bare-
footed, and all dirty, paraded behind a military
band.
People crowd into the shops. There is so much
business shop-keepers are as independent as an
American firm without competition. On the side
streets some policemen or boy-scouts are drilling
and receiving instructions from officers.
Aside from the newspapers and the posters in
the windows one would not suspect that there is a
war in Europe.
From the shop windows one learns that there is
a great war in progress, and one learns it from
the Germans. In many windows are large maps
of Europe showing Germany and the Central
Powers in red and the Allies in black. The neu-
trals are "yellow." The map is labelled: "The
Defensive War of the Central Powers." It is a
clever bit of German propaganda. Although only
about two out of every ten Mexicans can read and
write, all can understand pictures. This map,
even without a heading, tells a story which the
Mexicans can comprehend.
Another cartoon pictures a bull fight. All bulls
representing the Allies are defeated and the Ger-
man bull defiantly gazes at Uncle Sam, who is
standing at the edge of the ring. A man repre-
senting Mexico is standing beside Uncle Sam and
urging him not to get into the ring.
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 35
In several jewelry shops I saw placards, or
what were supposed to be photographs of "wild
men from Australia," and the label underneath
said : ' * These wild men of Australia are fighting
for England for the civilisation of Europe. "
There are more Japanese shops in Mexico City
than I had expected to find. Although there are
three or four in the business district, the big ma-
jority are in the suburbs. In offices throughout
the city one sees hundreds of Japanese posters,
advertising Nipponese goods. In the only foun-
dry in Mexico City which is making war munitions
is a big, modern Japanese factory, recently im-
ported from Japan. When the present govern-
ment found it impossible to obtain war supplies
from the United States, a Japanese commission
was invited to Mexico and this plant was erected
by the Far Easterners. The large wireless tower
near Chapultepec Park I saw being repaired. A
Mexican officer told me when it was finished it
would be powerful enough to communicate with
Japan. Although American observers have heard
this, they consider it improbable.
Six months before I arrived in Mexico the pres-
ent government was exceedingly suspicious of
Americans and especially of the United States
Government. When an American during my stay
there called upon a high government official and
discussed the question of a loan this official re-
marked :
"The American people and the Mexican peo-
36 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
pie are all right, but the governments are all
crooked."
To a great extent Ambassador Fletcher, who
speaks Spanish and knows the characteristics of
Latin peoples, has been able to re-establish confi-
dence in many circles, but his task is by no means
completed. There is a strong anti-American
sentiment in Mexico which is being augmented by
the pro-German propaganda. One morning I was
told in several places that the Allies were about
to be defeated and that Eussia was to join with
Austria-Hungary and Japan against England,
France and the United States. Every time I
passed the big German book store in Mexico City,
where German photographs and maps are dis-
played, the sidewalks were crowded with people.
In one window hung the same map of Europe
which one sees in many shop windows in Berlin
a gigantic chart showing the position of the
armies of Germany in the occupied territories,
a "proof" that Germany is winning the war.
The lack of confidence in the ability of the Allies
to defeat Germany and old suspicion of the United
States are the two things which hamper the lead-
ing Mexicans who are working for a closer rela-
tionship between Mexico and the Powers fighting
Central Europe. Most intellectual Mexicans, as
well as many government officials, realise that the
best interests of Mexico are with those of the
United States, France and England, but the preju-
dice of the people is difficult to overcome.
EOITQRES MOlLERHNOS.
Director: Enrique P<z Valencia
LIBRBRIA ALBMANA
A3/M *V*1M*
Sspeeial
Preclo de e*te Numero
CEJVT'A.VOW.
(lexico, IS deagostode 1917
COVER FOR THE GERMAN NEWSPAPER OF MEXICO
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 37
The question of what attitude Mexico should
ultimately take regarding the world war is very
closely connected with the Mexican puzzle to-day.
This problem is :
"How can Mexico obtain money?"
The first conclusion which the American experts
reached after two months' examination of the
Mexican records was that the nation was bank-
rupt. One of the officials began the dictation of a
report beginning with a statement to that effect.
Then when he tried to establish his conclusion by
facts, the facts failed him. So he finally concluded
that if the government is reorganised along scien-
tific business lines it will be able to weather the
present storm without financial aid from a for-
eign country. In coming to this conclusion, how-
ever, this authority was compelled to disregard
the foreign debt and foreign obligations of the
Mexican Government.
The records of the present government show
that President Carranza has asked Congress to
authorize three loans. The first, amounting to
150,000,000 pesos, is to be used to pay debts. The
second loan which Mr. Carranza seeks amounts to
50,000,000 pesos to be used to rebuild and recon-
struct the railroads. The third loan, for which
the authority of the National Congress is asked,
is for 100,000,000 pesos to establish a "bank of
issue."
Something of the financial crisis facing Mexico
may be gathered from these brief figures :
38 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
In May, 1916, the estimated revenue of the Con-
stitutionalist Government was four million pesos,
about two million dollars a month. Fourteen
months later the estimated revenue was 107,-
000,000 pesos annually, but the budget called for
an expenditure of 80,000,000 pesos more than the
income. The Carranza Government is operating
on a cash basis now and is spending more than
it is making, although government officials are
being paid only seventy-five per cent of their sal-
aries in cash. This deficit does not take into con-
sideration any of the foreign obligations.
It is the contention of the American experts and
of certain government officials that through gov-
ernmental economies this deficit can be cut down
so that it will not be "dangerous" and new bonds
can be issued to replace bonds held in foreign
countries.
The other view of the financial situation, which
I found the predominant one, is that the present
government cannot continue without the aid of
foreign capital. This would seem to be the belief
of President Carranza, too, inasmuch as he asked
the federal Congress for authority to raise 300,-
000,000 pesos, that is, $150,000,000.
On July 7th, 1917, El Universal printed the fol-
lowing message which President Carranza sent to
the Chamber of Deputies :
"To the Secretaries of the Chamber of Depu-
ties : for its Constitutional effect : I beg to send
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 39
you with this message a bill authorising the Ex-
ecutive to procure in Mexico, or outside, up to
100,000,000 pesos, gold, to found the sole bank of
issue authorised by the political constitution of
the Kepublic promulgated in Queretaro February
5th, 1917.
"Surely the Deputies will be persuaded that
one of the principal causes why agricultural, in-
dustrial and commercial development of the coun-
try have not proceeded with the quickness with
which the re-establishment of order might lead
one to suppose, is the almost complete disappear-
ance of credit, and the insufficiency of circulat-
ing medium which makes difficult the reasonable
operation of the economic activities of the Na-
tion.
"It is for this reason that the Executive be-
lieves it of imperious necessity to proceed imme-
diately to organise the sole bank of issue provided
in the political constitution of the Eepublic.
"THE BANKING SYSTEM
"The banking systems established by govern-
ments in the past, although in a way, long ago,
they fulfilled the necessities of the moment, were
established on a basis of absolute privilege in fa-
vour of capitalists without compensation for na-
tional interests and without foresight. The issues
of the banks never had reasonable and adequate
guarantees; some of them enjoyed express privi-
40 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
leges in regard to the amount of their issue; all
enjoyed the unjust privilege of exemption from
taxes and the odious power to apply special primi-
tive laws for their own benefit. The concessions
for the establishment of banks of issue were
granted without providing a logical and proper
co-operation between them, but giving rise to an
unreasonable competition ruinous for themselves
and for the Eepublic. The intervention which the
Government used to express in institutions of
credit never was more than merely nominal, and
among many other cases can be cited this: The
banks of issue figured their own shares of stock
among the securities that could be realised upon.
As a consequence of their unreasonable manage-
ment and of their bad organisation, the complete
failure of the old system of institutions of credit
could be foreseen when the international crisis
began in 1913. In effect the first manifestations
of revolution actually were enough to cause the
banks to ask the government of the usurper for
the privilege to suspend payments which was con-
ceded to them, in exchange for the privilege the
banks of issue made a large loan to the usurper.
"THE ECONOMIC SITUATION OF THE COUNTKY
"When the economic situation of the country
became grave and before the Constitutionalist
Government made any decrees at all on institu-
tions of credit, the situation was getting more
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 41
difficult every day until these institutions ceased
to properly operate and soon became merely spec-
ulators in the paper money issued by the Revolu-
tionary Government. At the time the bills had
already suffered considerable depreciation which
fluctuated between 60 and 90 per cent of discount
on nominal value.
"When the duties of the campaign permitted
the Government of the Revolution to fix its at-
tention on the financial organisation of the Repub-
lic a preliminary decree was issued fixing a period
within which the banks of issue must regulate
their fiduciary circulation in accordance with the
general principles of the law of institutions of
credit. As this decree was issued in Vera Cruz,
where the necessary estimates for knowing the
economic situation of each one of the banks in
detail was lacking, it was believed at the begin-
ning that many of them would be in condition to
continue their operations on complying with the
general banking law.
"When the Department of Finance came into
possession of the balance sheets of the majority
of the banks of issue it was seen that although
their reserves were in conformity with laws in
question in relation to their fiduciary circulation,
the banks were not in condition to continue opera-
tion because a great part of their assets which
went into large nominal figures in fact represented
an insignificant real value.
"As, on the other hand, the majority of the
42 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
banks of issue had assumed an attitude of open
hostility against the Government of the Revolu-
tion contributing to the depreciation of the gov-
ernment paper money and were conducting them-
selves in a manner against public interests
through speculations outside of their sphere of
action, the First Chief believed proper to make
more radical decrees to put an end at once to the
defective banking systems then expiring and to
leave the field open to a better organisation.
' l Therefore on the 15th of September last year
a decree was issued repealing all laws in force
until that date on institutions of credit and put-
ting the banks of issue under the direction of
Boards of Eeceivers which have been operating
them up to date.
"THE SOLE BANK OF ISSUE
"The Constituent Congress which met in Quere-
taro was perfectly aware of the need of substitut-
ing the defective banking system by another more
reasonable and in consonance with the economic
needs of the nation ; with the result that the new
Magna Charta provided for the establishment of
a sole bank of issue.
"The Department of Finance has been studying
since then the bill which in due time the Execu-
tive will submit to Congress on the organisation
of the sole bank of issue ; but as arrangements to
obtain new capital must consume much time, the
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 43
Executive believes it proper to use the time to
delay as little as may be the organisation of the
new institution of credit.
"PERFECTLY DEFINITE BASES
"Elemental prudence dictates that the new bank
of issue should begin its operation on perfectly
safe bases because it is the only manner in which
confidence and credit may return in healthy and
vigorous form to renew the economic life of the
Eepublic.
"If the Executive under my charge does not
immediately send to Congress concrete bases to
obtain the initial capital of the new bank, but asks
authorisation to negotiate with capitalists, it is
due to the fact that in the present financial con-
dition throughout the world, it is not easy to fore-
see the difficulties the Government may encounter
to induce capitalists to make an investment which,
although safe, will probably meet with a barrier
of prejudice and lack of confidence.
"DEFINITE PLAN OF ORGANISATION
"It is therefore necessary for the Executive to
determine in advance the possibility of obtaining
necessary funds for its establishment before sub-
mitting to the Congress a definite plan for the
organisation of the new bank. To carry the tem-
porary arrangements through the Executive needs
44 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
complete liberty of action, for even the determina-
tion of the opinion of capitalists and preliminary
arrangements may cause the early organising of
the new institution of credit to be changed. In
any case, the Executive will have the honour to
submit to the consideration of Congress before
carrying into effect the arrangements made with
capitalists together with the general law which
fixes the bases for the bank of issue. Mexico,
July 6th, 1917."
Commenting upon this message El Universal
said, editorially:
' * This was the only newspaper which upheld the
urgent propriety of creating a large stock of cir-
culating money for business and the commercial
and agricultural development of the country.
The foregoing message confirms the labour of El
Universal, in all its parts. Furthermore, and
this is the opportune time to say so, the sum asked
for by the government appears small to us, for
we believe it very difficult to obtain any money
from foreign countries without the previous pay-
ment of the coupons of our debt, and if this were
necessary, the amount destined for the sole bank
of issue would come out much less, and we believe
that if any foreign loan must be agreed upon, we
should strive resolutely to procure up to the sum
necessary to improve our credit in foreign coun-
tries and to solve economic difficulties in the in-
terior. "
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 45
In case the Mexican Congress authorises Mr.
Carranza to raise this amount there are but two
sources from which it might come. Either Ameri-
can hankers will take the bonds and sell them or
the United States Government will loan money to
the southern neighbour.
New York bankers will not loan money to Mex-
ico as long as conditions are unsettled and as long
as there is danger to American property and
American citizens in Mexico. These bankers will
not subscribe to a loan as long as they hold old
Mexican bonds which have had no interest paid
on them in six years and which are selling for
fifteen dollars each in the United States to-day.
This has been candidly explained to the Mexican
authorities.
On the other hand, the United States Govern-
ment cannot loan money to Mexico because this is
forbidden by the constitution unless Congress
passes a special act, and it is certain that neither
the administration will recommend such a loan,
nor that Congress would pass such an act. By
the terms of the act which enables the United
States to loan money to foreign governments dur-
ing the war it is particularly stipulated that funds
can be loaned only to Allies. This, too, has been
explained to the Mexican Government.
The easiest way and perhaps the most success-
ful way out of the present financial difficulties in
Mexico would be for that country to break off
diplomatic relations with Germany and join the
46 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
international league of nations, which will follow
this war, to establish the peace of the world.
Should the Carranza Government fall there are
on the horizon to-day no leaders, nor is there a
group of men, who could take hold and do as well
as the Carranza Government is doing. There are
rebel leaders in various parts of the country from
Villa in the north to Zapata in the mountains near
Mexico City and General Pelaez in the oilfields
outside of Tampico. Once this government falls,
terror will reign again in all parts of the country,
and as the United States and the Allies are almost
wholly dependent upon Mexico for oil and various
minerals, a state of anarchy in Mexico which
would interfere with the Allies' supply of these
valuable war necessities could not be permitted.
If the revolution should break out again the only
solution would be American intervention, which
would be not only costly to us but would divert to
a certain degree the energy of the United States
which it is so necessary to concentrate upon the
war in Europe.
No one knows this better than the Germans in
Mexico, and although they are "playing" the
present government they are also preparing for
the time when there may be trouble in Mexico
injurious to the United States. At present they
want to keep Mexico neutral.
The Carranza Government has been told offi-
cially that so far as the United States Government
is concerned it is not in America's interest for
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 47
Mexico to declare herself an Ally, but entirely in
the interests of Mexico. Whether President Car-
ranza and his government will realise this, and
whether, even if they do, they will be able to carry
through a break with Berlin, are unanswerable
questions. One must await developments.
" Will Mexico be a friend or a foe of the United
States!" That is to-day an insoluble puzzle.
NOTE: In Appendix A will be found the bills presented to the
Chamber of Deputies regarding the remedies for the financial
crisis as they were printed in El Universal.
CHAPTER in
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS
NEEDLE your way through the crowded
streets of Mexico City or motor to the sub-
urbs and you will rub sleeves, exchange
glances with, or pass along the road, rebels, ex-
rebels and honest soldiers. Saunter or drive
about the capital and you will see, face to face,
the individuals who present the biggest problem
of reconstruction in Mexico. You will encounter
a sufficient number of the army of 114,000 to con-
vince you that even if the payrolls are padded
there are large groups of men actually drawing
salaries.
In mid-August, 1917, a cousin of General Za-
pata, the bandit chief of the state of Morelos
where the sugar plantations are, surrendered with
"two thousand men" to the national government.
Those who wished to join the army of the Re-
public were permitted to do so. The week before
these men were bandits. Within seven days they
became soldiers.
Not all of the peons who join the national army
are patriotic, a fact which causes considerable
trouble in the country districts. Sometimes, after
48
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 49
the ex-rebels have been with the government
forces long enough to get new rifles and several
rounds of ammunition, they trek to the mountains
to be welcomed by their old chief with a hand-
shake and an enthusiastic hug, the customary cor-
dial greeting between Mexican friends.
One day while I was in Mexico City several
officials of the British Embassy were motoring
through one of the suburbs. Approaching a gar-
rison they saw a soldier, sitting on the curb, smok-
ing a cigarette. As they passed he shouted:
"Stop," and other words which were so mumbled
they could not be understood.
The automobile, which had passed the man,
backed to within a few feet of him and the chauf-
feur asked what was wanted. Instead of answer-
ing, the soldier, who was evidently intoxicated,
continued to puff, and gazed at the foreigners.
After waiting several minutes and receiving no
explanation the automobile advanced. Immedi-
ately the soldier jumped up, recovered his bal-
ance, and started towards the barracks for his
rifle. The Englishmen huddled into their seats,
the chauffeur added gasoline, and before the rebel
could fire the party was several hundred yards
away.
There being no other route to the city the for-
eigners had to return the same way three hours
later. Beaching the garrison they saw both sides
of the highway lined by a company of soldiers.
A captain, standing in the middle of the road, held
50 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
up his hand. The car stopped and the soldiers
stood at attention.
"Is this the automobile which was ordered to
stop a few hours ago while passing here?" the
officer asked.
The British officials expected a summary ex-
ecution, but, having experienced excitement be-
fore, decided to preserve their calm.
"Yes, Senor Captain," replied an Englishman,
"we were ordered to stop and we did. . . ."
His explanation was interrupted.
"All right, Senor," politely answered the offi-
cer. "I wish to inform you that discipline has
been maintained. You may go, gentlemen."
Soldiers still at attention, the automobile de-
parted, but the foreigners could not understand
whether they or the soldier had been disciplined.
Inquiries the next day disclosed that the soldier
had been shot for giving an order without orders
from an officer. Discipline was maintained by
execution.
It is not always the soldiers, however, who are
.to be blamed. I met the manager of a large Amer-
ican corporation who, for two years, had been
paying tribute to six generals. Their price for
"protecting" his property had been between three
thousand and seven thousand pesos, at intervals
determined by officers. Automobiles were then
being shipped into Mexico City by the dozens and
the generals asked this manager for six autos.
This manager telegraphed to Detroit for the cars
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 51
and expected to be able to pay the graft within a
very short time. A new use, indeed, for motor-
cars, but the manager and the company were satis-
fied because the cars cost, delivered in Mexico
City, about one-fourth of the amount of the
"protection" formerly rendered.
Friends of President Carranza will candidly
admit that the First Chief, when he was fighting
for recognition and authority, had to accept the
services of many undesirable men, both officers
and soldiers. Mr. Carranza and his intimate ad-
visors know that there are rebels and grafters in
office to-day. They realise that these men cannot
be ousted immediately and without cause. If the
present government were to expell from the army,
or imprison every officer and soldier who to-day
is not following orders, the government would be
overthrown even if the penitentiaries could hold
all the guilty. For this reason Mr. Carranza is
working slowly and quietly to eliminate these men
from his councils and from responsible positions.
Whether he will succeed is a puzzle the key to
which has not been found. There are Mexicans
and foreigners who will tell you that the Carranza
Government is as certain to fall as the buildings in
Mexico City are certain to sink; and this latter
fact no one doubts, as even the National Theatre,
the so-called "White Elephant " because its mar-
ble walls are uncompleted, is gradually sinking in
the mire upon which the capital is built. Others
will inform you that this government is gaining
52 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
strength every day and that if it receives financial
assistance nothing will be able to wreck it. But
all, pessimists and optimists alike, agree that the
greatest problems facing the government to-day,
excepting the financial, are the problem of re-
construction and the existence of the rebels.
Finance is, of course, the greatest problem, and
it is the more puzzling because the problems of
financing a nation like Mexico are not similar to
the problems of financing more civilised and en-
lightened countries. Selfishness and ignorance
play an even greater role in Mexico than pork-
barrel politics play in Washington!
One day I recall when the Chamber of Deputies
was in session a member called the attention of
the presiding officer to the lack of a quorum.
Those who have seen how well the U. S. House of
Representatives is attended during most of the
debates will understand such a situation.
The President of the Deputies summoned the
Sergeant-at-Arms and ordered him to send the
members to their seats. Meanwhile the proceed-
ings waited the arrival of the deputies. After a
long interval the Sergeant returned, reporting
that he was unable to procure a quorum.
1 1 Where are the members 1 ' ' inquired the Presi-
dent.
1 1 They are at the Cashier's window awaiting
their pay," answered the officer.
"Summon the cashier," ordered the President,
and when the latter reached the rostrum he was
THIS WAS AT ONE TIME A BEAUTIFUL RESIDENCE.
THIS IS THE REVOLUTIONARY REMAINS
THE FAMOUS "SADDLE MOUNTAIN" OF MONTEREY
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 53
told to close the pay window and not to open it
again during sessions of the Deputies.
And a quorum was soon present.
That incident illustrates one aspect of the
money problem in Mexico. An incident illustrat-
ing another aspect came to my attention during a
conference with a Canadian electrical engineer.
The company he represented desired to erect poles
to carry their feed wires from a plant near the
capital to another city. The line, as mapped, was
to cross a large plantation owned by Indians.
The concession was worth between five thousand
and eight thousand pesos to the company. The
engineer went to see the Indian. He offered him
four thousand pesos.
"No, no, Senor," protested the Indian.
1 ' Why not 1 ' ' asked the foreigner.
"No. No four thousand, Seiior," said the
owner.
"Well, how much then? What do you want?"
questioned the Canadian.
"If Senor will fill my sombrero and my son's
sombrero with pesos, silver pesos, I will give you
the concession.
"But," protested the engineer, "four thousand
pesos are much more than two hats will hold."
"No, no, Senor, no. You must fill my som-
brero and my son's sombrero with pesos."
And the foreigner returned the next day with
enough pesos to fill the two hats so that the coins
rolled over the sides. The Indian was delighted.
54 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
Two sombreros filled with pesos meant something
to him. Four thousand pesos, that sum was a
myth.
It is not the ignorance of the peons or the In-
dians, however, which makes the financial situa-
tion in Mexico difficult to solve. It is the igno-
rance of many officials and leaders regarding in-
ternational finance. So many Mexicans cannot
understand the relationship which should exist
between nations, although they have a clear idea
of money matters between individuals.
Discussing the problems of finance and recon-
struction with Mexican officials one is impressed
by the fact that so few of these can see the view-
point of the outside business man, the foreign
capitalist. Most Mexicans will say that because
of the rich natural resources of the country any
foreigner ought to be willing to loan money to
the government. The resources are here, many of
them still untouched, they will declare, and if for-
eign capital invests in Mexico, it should be pre-
pared to share prosperity or revolution with
Mexico.
The pacification of Mexico to-day presents in
many respects the same problem with which the
United States Government had to deal after the
Civil War. The Mexican bandits are, so to
say, the Ku-Klux Klan of this country. Generals
Villa and Zapata may be likened to the James
brothers. The difference is that in the United
States the bandits attacked American or national
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 55
property. In Mexico bandits destroy foreign
property. The most popular cry of the revolu-
tionists has been "Down with the foreigners who
exploited us." Thus our neighbour south of the
Eio Grande faces some of our problems of the
late Sixties with the added difficulty that when-
ever the highwaymen operate there it causes an
international as well as an internal crisis.
The operations of Villa, in the North have agi-
tated not only foreign business interests, but the
American people. What Zapata has done dis-
turbs the Mexicans the most, although he, too, is
opposed to foreigners.
The Carranza Government has sent several
military expeditions into Morelos in an attempt
to crush Zapata, As the soldiers marched through
the state in search of Zapata 's army they met
only the most peaceful citizens. No one knew
where Zapata was! No one had seen his army!
Zapata was clever enough not to fight. He or-
dered all his soldiers to bury their arms and
plough their fields. When the Carranza forces
left, the army appeared, and it was, and still is,
unsafe for any one to go through the state. The
government has attempted to stop shipments of
ammunition to Zapata, but this has not been suc-
cessful, as officers and soldiers in the govern-
ment 's army have sold munitions to Zapata. Now
the government, suspicious of certain officers and
men, is laying a trap for them, and if they are
caught they, too, will be " disciplined. "
56 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
Another demand of the revolutionists has been
for "land." Even the present government sym-
pathises with this demand, and the first endeav-
ours of President Carranza to fulfil promises
made during his campaign are being made in the
little belligerent state of Morelos. It is, in point
of size, the smallest state in the Union. When
the Spaniards settled in this country they gave
to each town and city what was called the
"ejidos." This was the granting of one league of
land around the original town or city limits to
the inhabitants to be worked by the community.
During the development of Mexico this league of
land has been given to outsiders or to farmers
having property nearby. Many towns have lost
their ' ' ejidos. ' ' This is particularly true in More-
los, and the "good" citizens of this fighting state
want back this land. So the present government
is attempting a new means of pacification. It is
returning this property to the community. Simul-
taneously the government is announcing that all
political rivals, who swear allegiance to the gov-
ernment, will be pardoned. While this movement
is having all the success the government antici-
pated, its progress can only be very gradual be-
cause Zapata, like the Germans, is a propagan-
dist. He is telling his followers that if they sur-
render to Carranza they will be executed. He is
warning the farmers that if they desert him they
will be downtrodden by the Americans. And the
people of Morelos are suspicious of "outsiders."
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 57
This anti- American part of the propaganda is
very popular. Even the present government, ac-
cording to many Mexicans, is too friendly to the
United States. Most of the newspapers of Mex-
ico City, even those that are pro- Ally in their war
sympathies, have a grudge against the United
States. El Democrata, the chief organ of the
Germans, prints more articles of hate about the
United States than any other newspaper. Some
American journals are most effectively aiding the
Germans in Mexico by demanding armed inter-
vention.
Redencion, another daily, seizes every oppor-
tunity to stir the slumbering Mexican against the
" Yankees. " On August 9th, 1917, it printed on
the first page a three column cartoon picturing a
nude woman, tied to a stake, representing the
revolution. The fire, kindled at her feet, repre-
sented the " enemy" of the revolution, and the
fresh logs which had been placed on the flames
were labelled: " Yankees, " "United States,"
"Friends of the Yankees, " etc. Government offi-
cials who are friendly to the United States, such
as Senor Don Luis Cabrera, unofficially the Act-
ing Secretary of the Treasury, and Seiior Don
Manuel Amaya, official introductor of Ambassa-
dors, are also "enemies."
El Democrata is one of the morning newspapers
which does not receive the Associated Press des-
patches. Its news, telegrams from the United
States and Europe, are sent to Mexico City from
58 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
Xew York by the ' * Spanish- American News Agen-
cy." These telegrams, which the United States
censor was permitting to pass while I was in
Mexico, were not only intensely pro-German, bnt
exceedingly anti-American.
Before the United States declared war the Ger-
man Embassy in Washington sent a daily telegram
to the German Minister in Mexico City, Herr von
Eckhart. This despatch contained the wire.
news circulated by the German Admiralty and
Foreign Office. When the United States declared
war the service ceased, and an organisation known
as the * * Spanish- American News Agency," with
headquarters in Xew York, began to serve El Dem-
ocrata and several newspapers in South America.
Judging from the despatches I saw printed,
this concern succeeded the news service of the
German government, operating as a Mexican com-
pany. The " Spanish- American News Agency"
was, and doubtless still is. doing more to cause
trouble between the United States and Mexico
than any other public agency in the Mexican Re-
public,
Another publicity prostitute is La Defensa, an
afternoon newspaper also controlled by German
interests. It announces daily some great catas-
trophe to the United States or the Allies. While
I was in the capital it proclaimed an American
revolution. It announced the sinking of several
American battleships and transports. It fore-
casted American intervention and printed the
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 59
most astounding "news" about events in Wash-
ington. Some of this news had a basis in fact;
some had none at all. La Defensa receives most
of its telegrams from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. A
Mexican who lives in Laredo, Texas, crosses the
international bridge with copies of American
newspapers daily and from the Mexican telegraph
office he telegraphs his untruthful accounts to
Mexico City. He, too, is a trouble breeder, who
might, with advantage, be watched by the Depart-
ment of Justice.
Although several reports have been made to the
United States Government about the activities of
these newspapers, no steps have been taken to stop
such practices. German propaganda is a sort of
international dachshund which escapes the eyes of
the dog catchers by following neutral citizens as
soon as the Germans go into hiding.
The general opinion in Mexico City I found to
be that, as a group, the Germans are working very
quietly. Many of these German citizens are re-
lated to Americans and they correspond freely
with residents of the United States. They re-
ceive all of the American newspapers and mag-
azines and are able to keep almost as well in-
formed about events in the United States as the
German Embassy in Washington was before
diplomatic relations were broken. While it is im-
possible to-day to send information to Berlin from
Mexico by wireless, the mail route via Cuba is
still open to Spain, and from that country the
60 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
German representatives have the use of an Tin-
censored wireless.
When in the summer of 1917 there were reports
that German agents in Mexico were plotting
against the United States President, Carranza
summoned the German Minister to inform him
that the government would not permit attacks on
a friendly government to be hatched on Mexican
soil. The Germans to-day are working quietly
with but one object. They believe that after the
war, when the real fight for raw materials and
commercial supremacy begins, the greatest possi-
bilities for Germany will be in Mexico. This
country has many of the raw materials which
Germany will need, and the Germans figure that
it will be easier for German merchants to buy in
Mexico, if that country remains neutral, than in
any of the lands which were belligerents. For
this reason, alone, it is highly in the interests of
the Kaiser's Government that Mexico remain
friendly to Berlin. It is generally believed in
Mexico that one of the factors determining Presi-
dent Wilson's policy toward that country was the
attitude of Latin- America. The Carranza Govern-
ment was quick to recognise this, and now every-
thing possible is being done to fuse the bonds be-
tween Mexico and South and Central America.
Diplomats from the nations of South and Central
America who arrived in Mexico during my stay
were accorded the most enthusiastic receptions.
At that time the Republic of Argentine sent a new
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 61
envoy. When he arrived at Vera Cruz a delega-
tion of Mexican Ministers and officers were sent
to act as his escort to the capital. In the big
palace at the port the incoming diplomat was ten-
dered a banquet at which several speeches were
made about the value of Latin-American union.
To these cordial addresses the Argentinian re-
plied that his country, too, favoured such a union.
When the speaking had ended, a young general
(there are many generals under thirty in Mexico)
arose, and in a long, hesitating, after-dinner
speech, declared that he believed in the purposes
of such a union but considered the name an un-
fortunate one.
"I propose, " said he, "that we call this union
a Latin-Mexican union and leave the America
out."
This general was one of the group of anti-
American army officers who are pro-German and
who carry around chips as shoulder straps.
One might imagine that a government with so
many internal problems to solve might be spared
international perplexities. Not so in Mexico.
Mexico's internal strife is the chief cause of her
international disputes. There are some radical
Mexicans who advocate the lynching of all for-
eigners. Others desire the confiscation of all
foreign property. This group of radicals was
influential enough at the Queretaro convention
held not long ago to insert confiscatory clauses
in the constitution. Some Mexicans will state
62 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
that these provisions of the constitution will be
enforced some day, while others will remark:
"Oh, but what is a constitution among
friends ! ' '
Nevertheless the chief obstacle to reconstruc-
tion in Mexico to-day is the lack of confidence of
foreign investors in the stability and honesty of
the present government. As long as there are
rebels and grafting generals about the country,
and so long as the present government holds
property confiscated when the Constitutionalists
were a de facto government, foreigners will be
sceptical of Mexico. President Carranza and
his most trusted advisors know this but they are
still, to a certain degree, hampered by the radi-
cals, who know nothing and care less about inter-
national obligations. Where it is possible the
present government is returning confiscated
-property, even that belonging to the old Cienti-
ficos, the so-called " scientific grafters " of the
Diaz regime.
When the State Department sent Mr. George
A. Chamberlain to Mexico City to reopen the
United States Consulate-General, he selected a
house on Avenida Juarez which was built by Senor
Limantour, Secretary of the Treasury under
President Diaz. The house at the time was occu-
pied by General Urquizo under confiscation orders
of the government. Mr. Chamberlain told the
owners he wanted to rent the place on behalf of
the United States Government. General Urquizo
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 63
was ordered to evacuate. When he turned the
residence over to representatives of the Liman-
tour estate, who were to rent it to the Consul Gen-
eral, the palatial home itself was in as good con-
dition as it was when built, although all the ex-
pensive furnishings had disappeared.
While I was at the capital a forestry expert
who had been sent to Europe years ago by Diaz to
study the scientific care and planting of trees
and shrubs returned to Mexico City. President
Carranza sent for him and asked him to head the
Forestry Department of the present government.
These are instances which indicate a new pol-
icy on behalf of the Carranza Government. Gov-
ernment officials, including members of the Cham-
ber of Deputies, assured me that the government
intended to return all confiscated property as
soon as this became possible.
The Carranza Government is to-day operating
the tramways of Mexico City and all the national
railroads, even the English road from the capital
to Vera Cruz.
Several years ago there were many street car
systems in Mexico City, all in miserable condi-
tion. Belgian, English and French investors saw
the possibility of consolidating these lines and
the Mexican Tramways Company was organised.
The same investors to-day own the large power
plant located about one hundred miles from the
capital at Necaxa. In peace time this station
provided all the electric power and light for Mex-
64 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
ico City, Pachuca, El Oro and other cities. The
LigHt and Power Company and the Tramways
Company are operated as distinct corporations.
Sometime in 1914 the Carranza forces "inter-
vened" and took over the tramways without pay-
ing the investors interest or compensation. For
over two years the power company furnished the
electricity to run the cars free of charge. This
was confiscated property, pure and simple.
President Carranza saw that some day the
tramways would have to be returned to the own-
ers. He was informed that if they were returned
in their present condition the company might
claim millions of dollars worth of damages. So
the President ousted his former grafting "inter-
ventor" and appointed a young engineer, Senor
Francisco Cravioto, as director on behalf of the
government, responsible to Mr. Carranza alone.
Since Senor Cravioto has been in office he has
paid instalments on the electric power bills
amounting, up to midsummer 1917, to $40,000 a
month, and he has turned over a few hundred
thousand pesos to pay interest on the foreign
bonds out of many millions owing. Foreigners in
'Mexico City to-day look forward to the time when
the tramways will be returned to the owners and
the old debts adjusted.
This is pointed out by the most optimistic for-
eigners as an example of what treatment foreign
business interests may expect from the Carranza
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 65
Government where the business men show a will-
ingness to co-operate.
The government is in need of financial assist-
ance. All problems of reconstruction virtually
rest upon the possibilities of this government re-
ceiving a loan. Granted a loan of $150,000,000
the most reliable foreigners in the capital believe
that Mexico will experience more prosperity than
it did under the Diaz regime. To-day the gov-
ernment is minting gold and silver as fast as
possible and all the banks in the Republic are
" granting " so-called "forced loans'* of gold and
silver which they have on deposit.
These, then, are some of the problems of recon-
struction in Mexico. The nation is passing
through a trying, tempting transition period.
Government officials have had practically no ex-
perience directing big business enterprises or in
administrating government affairs. Every ele-
ment which has in the past contributed to failure
is present in Mexico to-day and very few of the
requirements of success are to be found. There
are hatred, jealousy, suspicion, graft, intrigue and
the baneful influence of " relatives " who have
been appointed to office. Patriotism, sincerity,
good-will, faith, honesty and confidence are lack-
ing. But despite all these national elements the
Carranza party is the strongest one in Mexico,
and there are, I repeat, on the horizon no other
parties or leaders who could summon the support
which is being given to President Carranza.
66 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
As I have just said, the government has been
seeking the friendship of the nations of Latin and
Central America. But the "unkindest cut of all"
came from one of these nations.
In the United States it is understood that the
revolution was started against Diaz, the "Dicta-
tor, ' ' and many people in Mexico will tell you that
the greatest benefit of the revolution was the over-
throw of the ' ' Don Porfirio. ' ' But there are, per-
haps, some places where this is not understood, or
if it is, then Uruguay has a delightful sense of
humour.
One of the things the present government has
done has been to change the names of all streets in
the capital named after saints. Avenue San Fran-
cisco, the famous business thoroughfare, is called
"Francisco I. Madero." To carry out the gov-
ernment policy of winning the Latin countries
"Calle San Agustin" was changed to "Calle Uru-
guay ' ' and the Uruguay Government was officially
notified that a street in the capital had been named
after that country.
In the course of diplomatic time, which is meas
ured neither in hours or days except when ulti-
matums are sent, Uruguay replied that it was
highly honoured by the act of the Mexican Govern-
ment and had decided to change the name of one
of the streets in their capital to the "Avenue of
Porfirio Diaz ' ' in honour to the great Eepublic of
Mexico !
Although this method of honouring foreign
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 67
countries is frequently exhibited in the telephone
books, I was not able to find any streets named
for the United States. I passed, on several occa-
sions however, a bronze statue of George Wash-
ington, two blocks from the American Embassy on
the Plaza de Dinamarca, where the First President
of the United States stands with his right hand
extended and his left holding his three-cornered
hat. But the bronze table which tells who this hero
is has been removed and George Washington to
a passer-by might be any one of a number of local
or international heroes.
CHAPTER IV
GEKMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO*
AMERICAN warships are stationed at Tam-
pico to-day to watch Germany's ally in Mex-
ico. From time to time one of them lifts
anchor, steams out of the Panuco River and pa-
trols the Gulf Coast. Suspicious ships are exam-
ined, wireless messages are picked up, and night
and day the trained eyes of the lookouts search
the seas for hostile periscopes. When one returns
the other slips away under cover of darkness to a
secret destination.
From the Government wireless tower at Arling-
ton, Virginia, the Navy Department directs the
movement of these ships as it plans Uncle Sam's
moves on the great international oceanic chess-
board. Eternal vigilance is the price of peace at
Tampico, the greatest oil port in the world. From
the jungle sixty miles away flows the endless
stream that propels and lubricates the Allied mili-
tary machine; for the weapons with which the
United States, England and France are fighting
* A friend in Mexico City wrote the author that the article
in the Saturday Evening Post which is a part of this chapter
was not permitted to be circulated in the Eepublic.
68
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 69
the dictators of the Central Powers in European
waters, on land and in the air, are dependent upo'n
Tampico for fuel oil, gasoline and lubrication.
Because Germany's ally, the I. W. W., operates
in Tampico our battleships cruise in Mexican ter-
ritorial waters to protect this oil basin without
which the war cannot be won.
A few months before I arrived in Mexico agents
of the Industrial Workers of the World organised
a strike along the docks in an attempt to tie up
all shipping at the port of Tampico. Money was
sent from New York by German agents to Tam-
pico to be used against the oil companies and the
Allies. A special messenger carrying fourteen
thousand dollars was spotted as he landed. At
that time the quick intervention of United States
naval officers and the co-operation of the man-
agers of the oil companies and the Mexican au-
thorities aborted the German plot. The strike
failed and the I. W. W. leaders were temporarily
discredited ; but to-day the same plotters, inspired
by the same foreigners and financed by the same
interests, are working through the Labourers'
Union and the Union of Port Mechanics the I. W.
W. in sheep's clothing. I found them preparing
the workers for another lockout by urging the men
to strike for higher wages, though the wages being
paid were the highest in the world for this kind
of labour. The I. W. W. propaganda is as lawless
as the German agitation in Russia, but always one
70 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
American man-of-war has its eyes on the city.
The captain in command, the United States consul
and the representatives of the American and
British oil companies are watching, working and
waiting.
The German-paid Industrial Workers take ad-
vantage of every event to incite the labourers, the
poor peon puppets of the ruthless leaders. They
are paid and inspired by German influences, as
even Herr Mueller, the Austrian consul, acknowl-
edged. When the governor of Arizona, for ex-
ample, shipped several hundred disloyal miners
out of his state the following appeal was printed
and scattered through the streets like dirty snow :
WORKERS AND ENEMIES
The Union of Port Mechanics having knowledge
that 2,000 striking mine workers of Bisbee, Ari-
zona, U. S. A., have been deported to the Her-
manas Desert, New Mexico, being thus compelled
by force of rifles and machine guns to desert their
families, who remain there by the lawless work of
the enemies of the working class in the most
frightful misery and suffering the greatest pri-
vations :
For this reason this Union, in a spirit of human-
itarianism and companionship, PROTESTS and
CUESES this action accomplished by the steel
kings, and publishes its discontent publicly against
all who act arbitrarily, restricting the right of
THE U. S. WARSHIPS AT ANCHOR IN TAMPICO HARBOR.
THEY GUARANTEE THE OIL SUPPLY FOR THE
UNITED STATES AND ENGLAND
AN OIL GUSHER AT TAMPICO. THIS IS THE WAY THE OIL
COMES OUT BEFORE THE WELL IS CAPPED
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICQ 71
freedom to those who with pride call themselves
workmen.
For the Union of Port Mechanics.
THE COMMITTEE.
AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL
In addition to the handbill propaganda the I. W.
W. publishes one daily and one weekly newspaper,
and the editors and writers have all come from the
United States since Congress declared war against
the German Government.
But the I. W. W. is not the only lawless organ-
isation with which the oil companies have to con-
tend. While the Carranza Government controls
the city of Tampico, General Don Manuel Pelaez,
one of the rebel leaders, is the king of the oil
fields. President Carranza 's authority extends
only eight miles from the city limits and along
the railway line to Monterey, the industrial city
in Northern Mexico. The direct railway line from
Tampico to Mexico City is blocked. Senor Car-
ranza 's officials control the docks and the tank
reservoirs near the city. On the other side of the
Neutral Zone, or Mexico's No Man's Land, watch
the Pelaez soldiers. General Pelaez controls the
beginning, President Carranza the end, of the oil
business. Pelaez taxes the production ; Carranza
taxes the exportation. Pelaez and his army esti-
mated at three thousand to twenty-seven thousand
men, depending upon the authority quoted get
72 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
forty thousand dollars a month protection money
from the oil companies. Carranza gets one hun-
dred thousand dollars in taxes every month from
the Standard Oil Company; two hundred thou-
sand dollars a month from the Huasteca Petro-
leum Company, and more from the Lord Cowdray
interests. The oil producers maintain Pelaez, his
soldiers and his government, and they contribute
more than any other foreign interest toward the
revenues of the present Mexican Government.
But and this is where the story of King Pelaez
begins the trouble at Tampico has not been in
the territory controlled by the bandit, but within
the city limits, dominated by the central govern-
ment. There have been no strikes in the oil dis-
tricts where this black, crude product gushes from
the earth at the rate of nearly a million barrels a
day. No American lives have been lost ; no Amer-
ican or European property has been destroyed.
In Tampico itself strikes have occurred and may
develop at any time. No one can tell what a com-
bination of I. W. W. agitators and German in-
triguers may do. But the curious thing is that
the oil companies are satisfied.
"We believe," remarked one of the managers,
"and the United States believes, that as long as
we are at war with Germany it is best to leave
well enough alone. We are getting oil out of
Mexico. That is our part. That is what the
United States and Great Britain want. That is
what the companies want."
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 73
1 ' But how are you going to adjust this situation
finally ?" I asked.
"Quien sabe?" they answered. They don't
know. No one else seems to know. But of this
they are certain: They don't want President
Carranza to control the oil fields, especially dur-
ing the war. They fear that if his generals con-
trol the wells they will submit to German influ-
ence and demand a prohibitive tax under threat
of cutting the pipe lines. The oil companies are
opposed to the policy of the United States Gov-
ernment in lifting the embargo on war material,
because they maintain that if the present govern-
ment begins an attack upon Pelaez the oil com-
panies will suffer. They declare that the only
thing that maintains peace is the lack of ammuni-
tion.
Time was when the oil interests were under the
thumb of General Pelaez. To-day Pelaez and his
chief insurgent, General Enriquez, are ruled by
the companies ; but the relations, at that, are very
cordial, though some of the smaller oil companies
do not feel this way.
I was sauntering through the hot streets en
route to my hotel one day when I met the secre-
tary of one of the small but important companies.
"I have some documents that may interest
you," he said, "providing the name of our com-
pany is not used. We have just been held up for
six thousand dollars."
I accompanied him to his office, where he showed
74 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
me the correspondence he had had with General
Enriquez, the so-called brains of the Pelaez Gov-
ernment because he is the only educated man on
the rebel leader's staff.
One of the notices in Spanish, as translated,
reads :
REVOLUTIONARY ARMY
Pelaez Division Military Command
CIRCULAR
I beg to advise you gentlemen that twelve days
are conceded to you, counting from this date, in
order that you may please cover your debts which
you have pending with this military command.
It is understood that if the same are not paid
within the term specified that I shall be obliged
to proceed in a manner I may deem convenient.
LIBERTY, JUSTICE AND LAW
Juan Casiano, Mex., August First.
ENRIQUEZ.
The three impressive words Liberty, Justice,
Law make up the motto of the Pelaez Govern-
ment. Though one is tempted to look for prac-
tical evidences of the motto, one does not, because
it might not be safe ! Explorations in an oil jun-
gle should be limited to oil. At least that is what
I was advised.
It is not safe, either, to send money to Pelaez
or Enriquez, except by trusted messenger. The
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 75
danger is not so much that the money might be
lost or stolen as that some government authority
might hear of it and you might be arrested for
giving aid and comfort to an enemy of the Mex-
ican Government. The cautious policy is always
the safest in Mexico. This company, of course,
knew the rules of the game and despatched the
twelve thousand pesos to Enriquez. A note thank-
ing the general for his services in protecting the
company's properties accompanied the tribute.
A few days later General Enriquez acknowledged
it in the following manner :
Appreciable Sir: I take note of your courteous
letter of the second instant, and in reply I wish
to state that I take pleasure in offering myself to
your orders.
Your true and attentive servant,
ENRIQUEZ.
A few months before this when conditions were
less settled one might say less unsettled, too
King Pelaez used to require unusually large sums
at irregular intervals. But this was not an ap-
proved business method in the United States, so
it was explained to Pelaez, who a few years ago
was an ignorant rancher, and Pelaez was con-
vinced that he should receive his taxes regularly,
as all governments do. Pelaez has a teachable
mind!
One time Pelaez demanded twenty thousand
76 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
dollars from one of the companies. The corpora-
tion had already paid a large sum and could not
afford to meet his requirements ; but Pelaez was,
at the time, an unlimited monarch. He made war
or peace as freely as the German Kaiser. And
inasmuch as Pelaez had the army to destroy the
company's wells the treasurer knew the taxes had
to be paid, so he bought twenty thousand dollars
in counterfeit money and gave it to Pelaez. The
general did not examine the bills, and everything
was satisfactory.
The next day Pelaez paid his soldiers, and when
they attempted to pass it in the small villages the
shopkeepers refused anything but metal coin.
The general notified the treasurer and demanded
real money immediately. The treasurer explained
that he could not come to camp for several days
but that he would adjust the matter. It was quite
evident that a mistake had been made !
Three days later he appeared at Pelaez 's head-
quarters.
4 * Where is that money? " he asked.
Pelaez handed it back. The treasurer took from
"his pocket a rubber stamp that he had had made
and, one by one, stamped each bill with the fol-
lowing:
MONEY OF THE PELAEZ GOVERNMENT. GOOD.
"Now if you can't get your soldiers to accept
this money of your own government," the treas-
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 77
urer stated, "I don't think much of your govern-
ment. "
Pelaez was impressed. All governments should
have their own currency. Now Pelaez had his!
The soldiers accepted the money, and so did the
shopkeepers! The twenty thousand dollars cost
the treasurer two hundred dollars.
But not even a peon king can be fooled the same
way twice. Another company tried to give Pelaez
counterfeit money, but this brought the following
notice to all companies from General Enriquez:
REVOLUTIONARY ARMY
Pelaez Division Military Command
CIRCULAR
In view of the fact that in the circulation of
the new ten-dollar gold pieces twenty pesos-
many counterfeit coins are coming out, I have to
request of you gentlemen that in the future you
will please make your payments in coins of prior
coinage or in five-peso pieces.
LIBERTY, JUSTICE AND LAW
ENRIQUEZ.
Juan Casiano, Mexico, August 1, 1917.
These are only a few of the many interesting
circulars and Betters that were shown me by the
oil companies. One does not wonder why the com-
panies do not protest when one learns how im-
78 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
portant the protection by Pelaez and his band of
bandits is. These figures, taken from the records
of the United States consulate at Tampico as fur-
nished to the State Department by Claude I. Daw-
son, the consul, show that during the first six
months of last year 24,376,824 barrels of oil in all
forms were exported.
An illuminating table follows on page 79.
This calculation, however, is far below the pos-
sible production of the Tampico fields. With the
present equipment, pipe lines, pumping stations
and wells the oil companies operating can produce
as much as a million barrels of oil a day, but if
any more oil were produced there would be no
ships to carry it away. The submarine losses are
felt in Tampico too.
A million barrels of oil every twenty-four hours
enough, seemingly, to fill the Hudson Eiver, if
the basin of that river off Manhattan Island ever
went dry !
The largest producing companies in the Tam-
pico district are El Aguila, the Mexican Eagle
Company, belonging to Lord Cowdray, and the
Huasteca Petroleum Company, founded by Mr.
E. L. Doheny, of Los Angeles. These two cor-
porations have the most wells and the largest
wells, measured by daily capacity. Both com-
panies have big camps in the oil jungle. At the
Cowdray camp at Terra Armeria General Pelaez
lives with his staff and soldiers. General Enri-
quez and his staff live at Juan Casiano, the big-
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO
79
TOTAL OIL SHIPPED FROM fTAMPICO, JANUARY
TO JUNE, 1917, INCLUSIVE
Statement Prepared by Mr. Claude I. Dawson, U. 8.
Consul at Tampico
BARRELS
Crude Oil Distillate Reduced Topped Kerosene
January, 1917
United States 2,018,733
Mexico 176,218
Foreign Countries 234,799
Total 2,429,750
February, 1917
United States 2,081 ,245
Mexico 400,424
Foreign Countries 494,027
Total 2,975,696
March, 1917
United States 3,087,903
Mexico 403,832
Foreign Countries 589,716
Total 4,081,451
April, 1917
United States 2,849,994
Mexico 271,134
Foreign Countries 866,407
Total 3,987,535
May, 1917
United States 3,072,181
Mexico 281,296
Foreign Countries 445,023
Total 3,798,500
June, 1917
United States 2,719,520
Mexico 298,594
Foreign Countries 523,182
Total . . . 3,541,296
414,100 105,500 19,000
70,000 357,700
59,000 557,750 60,000
128,000 443,000 61,000
90,000 407,546 40,000
135,000 494,000 73,000-48,000
Total 20,814,228 896,100 2,365,496
Grand Total. . . 24,376,824 barrels
253,000-48,000
80 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
gest Doheny camp. The Standard Oil Company,
the Mexican Gulf Company and the Texas Com-
pany are the largest refiners of oil. They pur-
chase the crude oil from many of the small pro-
ducers and make gasoline, fuel oil, kerosene and
thirty other products, which they ship to all parts
of the world.
"Who is Pelaez?" I asked in Tampico.
"An ignorant Mexican rancher, " was the uni-
versal reply. "He is a revolutionist, like all of
us, against the Carranza Government. He has a
loyal army that protects our property and work-
ers. Pelaez is king of the police in the oil dis-
tricts. "
"And Enriquez?" I questioned.
"A Mexican doctor," answered the foreigners,
"cultured, educated, refined, and a thorough gen-
tleman. He had a drug store in Tuxpan another
port on the Gulf of Mexico, pronounced as if
spelled T-u-s-p-a-n. When the revolution broke
out the Carranza troops burned his store. He lost
forty thousand pesos and joined the forces against
the First Chief of the Constitutionalists. He is
fighting in the field to-day, awaiting the time when
a responsible government will be established in
Mexico City. Then he will go back into business. ' '
I was talking to one of the producers one day
when he asked whether I would like to meet Pelaez
and Enriquez.
"The oil king?" I asked. "Certainly! Long
live the king!"
THE GUSHER OF THE CERRO AZUL OIL WELL 6OO FEET HIGH
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 81
When one is in Mexico one must do as the
Mexicans do! One must shout "Long live Pe-
laez!" when one is in his territory.
It is a safe policy anyway always to be Mex-
ican to a Mexican. I was lunching one day with
an American official who had been sent into this
country to meet the various factions. He told
me the difficulties he had in being Mexican, but
he said it paid him, and he cited the following
instance :
He was in a small coast town, where he called
to pay his respects to the governor. He desired
a friendly talk and knew the best place would be
about a banquet table, so he invited the general
and his staff to dinner. The officer was bashful.
That, indeed, was unusual. The general sent
word that while he would enjoy lunching with
American officers he was compelled to excuse him-
self because he had not been trained to dine with
such high personages! The American and his
staff were shocked upon finding a general who did
not proclaim hourly what a great, accomplished
gentleman he was even if, two years ago, he was
a night watchman in Vera Cruz. The Americans
urged the general to come, and he did.
Before the guests arrived the visitors held a
conference and the chief said:
"General Blank, commander of the State of
Blank, is coming to dinner to-night. I want every
one of you gentlemen to take your table manners
from him. If he eats soup with tortillas, chicken
82 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
with his fingers and drinks out of the finger bowl,
every man does the same ! The guests are not to
be embarrassed."
The Americans, in a cordial but not a very pol-
ished manner, welcomed the Mexicans. At the
table there was a great deal of talking at first,
and every one waited for the general to begin to
eat. But he didn't! And they waited a little
longer, until the soup was cooled. Finally the
American official, who had been in Mexico long
enough to know that one must do as the Mexicans
do, drank his soup. Without a smile or a mur-
mur every one did the same. When the meat was
served fingers and knives were used, and at the
close of the meal toothpicks instead of finger bowls
were passed. The general was delighted to think
that he could eat with Americans and be so con-
tented ! To this day he is pro- American !
I had been in Mexico several weeks, and when
an opportunity came to see a live bandit I was
enthusiastic, and I got up as early on the morn-
ing we left as I did years ago when the circus
came to Richmond, Indiana.
To reach the Mexican oil fields one must travel
between sixty and eighty miles south of Tampico.
At the wharf one boards a fast gasoline launch
at sunrise and travels through the canal and
Panuco Eiver some twenty miles to a landing sta-
tion belonging to one of the oil companies. Eight
miles out of the city one meets a band of eight
Carranza soldiers. They are on outpost duty to
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 83
see that no Pelaez followers enter the city. From
this point on one need not say, "This belongs to
one of the oil companies," because everything be-
low, above and on the earth belongs to some oil
concern. The Lord Cowdray and the Doheny cor-
porations have more than a million acres each.
From this small dock one rides by automobile
twenty miles farther into the jungle, over the only
wagon road in this part of Mexico. Another
launch takes one across Lake Tamiahua to San
Geronimo. As one glides through the quiet waters
early in the day one sees thousands of flying fish,
and at times the horizon is blackened with wild
duck. There is so much game and there are so
few hunters that this is an undreamed-of para-
dise.
As the launch swerves toward the dock one sees
several hundred Mexican labourers standing about
the narrow-gauge railway track, awaiting the de-
parture of the work train for the fields.
Puffing along at eight miles an hour the dummy
engine jerks and whines through the jungle to the
camp at Juan Casiano. Beside the tracks one sees
mahogany and oak trees, banana plants, orange
groves, cornfields, and here and there the straw-
thatched roof of a peon's home. Men and women
are dressed in one-piece garments; many chil-
dren are naked; others like one boy I saw with
his mother's shirtwaist hanging loosely from his
shoulders.
Spanish moss, orchids and other plants grow as
84 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
parasites over the trees, many of which are being
strangled to death by this growth. Many parts
of this territory have never been explored. Wild
beasts rule the forests and hills. There are wild
boars and snakes. Sometimes the latter come up
on the railway bed for their sun nap. There are
buzzards, the prehistoric scavengers, and Alice-
blue butterflies. Beautiful birds of the tropics fly
from bush to bush. Some places along the line
the natives have planted corn. Their cattle graze
along the roadway, and frequently the train stops
to give the cows time to get off the track. Fields
are so fertile that the corn averages more than
twelve feet in height.
The planting is as primitive as the people are.
The natives punch a hole in the earth with a stick,
drop a grain of corn and cover it up. In two
months they can gather the ears.
After one has travelled a few miles by train
one enters the oil fields. Between the hills of the
rolling country one sees the derricks where wells
are being drilled. When the oil begins to gush
out of the hole it is diverted into pipe lines, which
carry it sixty miles to Tampico.
Geologists estimate that this country for cen-
turies has floated on oil but less than eighteen
years ago American explorers tapped the first
well. At that time there was only one company
in the field. To-day there are more than a score.
Then the land could be purchased for less than
fifty cents an acre. To-day the cheapest available
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 85
land rents for five hundred dollars an acre per
year, and the owners demand royalty on oil that
may be extracted. The largest well ever discov-
ered produced a million barrels a day, but only
for five days. To-day boiling water gushes out
into the lake. The next largest well is that of
Cerro Azul. Its capacity is estimated at two hun-
dred and sixty thousand barrels every twenty-
four hours. It has been running steadily since
1914. The best wells produce more than sixty
thousand barrels a day, and no well is considered
very productive that does not give up ten thou-
sand barrels between sunrise and sunrise. There
is so much oil in Mexico that it gushes out of the
ground as soon as a hole from two to three thou-
sand feet deep has been drilled into the mud, lime-
stone and sand. Some gushers have spouted oil six
hundred and a thousand feet into the air before
they were capped. One well emptied more than
a million barrels into one of the valleys before it
was capped.
From the railroad station we rode to the camp
in a buckboard pulled by four mules. As the
driver drew the reins General Enriquez saluted
us. At last we were at one of the headquarters
of the bandits. With Enriquez were his chief of
staff, an Indian general, interpreters and soldiers.
The general is short, heavily built and dark com-
plexioned. He has long thin fingers, small feet
and dark brown eyes. He wore a brown army
shirt, riding breeches and tan boots. Bound his
86 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
instep were buckled heavy, hand-engraved silver
spurs. From the cartridge belt hung a forty-
eight-calibre revolver.
We sauntered uphill to Enriquez 's headquar-
ters. Bill, the guide, Enriquez and I sat on the
general's bed. The three chairs were occupied
by his staff. Pelaez had been there for a confer-
ence the night before but had left for the Cowdray
camp at dawn. The conversation began with Car-
ranza and ended with the President. But most
of the talking was done by an Indian general who
had just returned from a thirty-five-day hunt for
Indians and others loyal to Carranza. His im-
agination was as unlimited as the oil fields and
he gloried in having a foreign audience. His last
battle was his most thrilling one.
It happened in this way : The Mexican Govern-
ment sent rifles and ammunition to General Ma-
riel, one of the Carranza leaders along the Gulf
of Mexico, who immediately armed the half-
civilised Teptzintla and Santa Maria Indians.
These wild men started to raid the outskirts of
the oil district and Enriquez 's Indian general with
a-band of troopers was sent out to halt them. In
thirty-five days of wilderness fighting two hun-
dred Indians were accounted for, and then the
general entered a small town where he found seven
bandits he called the Carranza troops bandits-
terrorising the village. Five were killed in the
first skirmish, but the general was shot four times
in his right knee and one of his soldiers was killed.
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 87
A Carranza soldier, he said, emptied his auto-
matic into the side of the trooper and then shoved
the pistol into the wound. When the remaining
two were captured they were executed.
The general told almost unbelievable tales. He
said the wild Indians in a war dance, a few days
before he arrived, had thrown women into the
flames as sacrifices. This is the Liberty, Justice
and Law of the oil jungle !
For the benefit of the auto owner who, like my-
self, did not know how gasoline is produced, per-
mit me to make this explanation: The crude oil
as it comes from the earth is pumped to Tampico,
where the refineries are located. Some is shipped
to refineries in the United States. This oil is
heated in large tanks to three hundred and fifty
degrees. From these tanks it flows into cooling
tanks; the heavy oil goes to the bottom and the
vapour, or gasoline, flows out near the top. Gaso-
line is but the light ingredient of heavy mineral
oil.
When the crude oil reaches Tampico the trouble
begins. The Mexican Government taxes crude oil,
gasoline, distillate and other by-products so heav-
ily and the expenses of shipping it to England
and the United States are so great that crude oil
which costs twenty cents a barrel in Tampico must
sell for sixty cents a barrel in Texas.
All the oil ships in and out of Tampico must go
through the Panuco Eiver, which flows into the
gulf seven miles from the eity. The river must
88 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
be dredged constantly to enable the ocean-going
liners to reach the docks. Throughout the revolu-
tion all oil companies have been paying six cents a
barrel bar tax to keep the river deep enough for
their ships, but for nearly four years little dredg-
ing has been done.
A few months ago the central government noti-
fied the oil companies that an American dredging
concern had been engaged to work in the river
and that the oil companies would have to pay the
costs, amounting to one hundred thousand dollars
a month.
With conditions so unsettled and dangers lurk-
ing in every business deal the oil companies to-
day are doing no development work. They are
taking no chances. They believe that Article
Twenty-seven of the Mexican Constitution permits
the government to confiscate their property and
they declare that they cannot afford to spend more
money in Tampico until they know how the gov-
ernment intends to interpret this.
The companies are literally between the jungle
and the sea. No one knows what move the Car-
ranza Government may make. No one knows what
steps the United States and the Allies will take
to protect the oil country if the central govern-
ment begins an invasion, as President Carranza
announced it would do, in his speech before Con-
gress on September 3, 1917. At the opening of
Parliament he proclaimed his intention of driving
the rebels out of the oil fields. "They have been
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 89
supported by foreign oil companies, " he declared.
There is no doubt about the truth of this latter
statement, but the companies maintain that if the
fields were in the hands of the Mexican Govern-
ment the government could maintain a strangle
hold on the Allies and Pelaez, they declare, is
pro-Ally. The oil companies want a status quo
until the war in Europe is over. Then, and per-
haps sooner, the real fight about Tampico will be-
gin. This part of the Mexican problem is not
settled.
But on the surface of things in Tampico there
is not a ripple. Pelaez cannot come into the city
and the Carranza forces cannot go into the coun-
try without a fight. No Man's Land separates the
belligerents here as it does in France.
The I. W. W. and the Germans are taking ad-
vantage of this chaotic situation, and they are
preparing for eventualities. Some day there will
be a clash in the oil fields or in Tampico, and when
that hour comes the world will learn whether Ger-
many 's ally or the United States and her Allies
control the situation.
Further trouble in Tampico or in the oil dis-
tricts will benefit Germany directly because it will
affect the oil supply of the United States and
Great Britain.
No one seems to know the solution in Tampico,
but every foreigner hopes that the ammunition
which the Mexican Government has obtained from
the United States will not reach the Gulf of Mex-
90 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
ico. The foreigners want a status quo until Ger-
many is defeated. Then, then indeed, something
will have to be done to settle the jurisdiction over
the oil territory. Tampico oil is a world neces-
sity. Anarchy, another German ally, cannot rule
forever. Where there are smouldering flames of
discontent there will be smoke.
Before I went to Tampico the Chief Mexican
Manager of one of the largest oil producing com-
panies gave me a memorandum regarding the oil
supplies of the Allied powers. I print this here
as it contains a great deal of valuable information
and shows how vital Tampico is to England and
the United States in the war against Germany.
The writer is a man of very firm convictions
and the interpretations of clauses in the Mexican
Constitution and his opinions regarding the gov-
ernment are his, not mine! I present the mem-
orandum here because it is the statement of an
expert.
MEMOEANDUM. THE ALLIES' OIL SUPPLIES
By an American Business Man
1. Petroleum and gasoline are the two most
important war materials to-day. Neither aero-
planes, tanks, motor trucks, submarines, chasers,
destroyers nor battleships can run one foot with-
out one or the other.
2. To survey the world's production of crude
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO
91
oil, necessary for the manufacture of gasoline,
Diesel oil and navy fuel :
The Dutch East Indies and Burmah: Too far
away to serve as a source of supply in the present
shortage of tank steamers.
Persia: Eemote, and on the Mediterranean
route. Submarines have destroyed many tankers
on this route. Production small.
Russian Fields: Available only to the Eussian
Allies.
Roumania: In German hands.
Galicia: In Austrian hands.
United States: Practically the only source of
crude oil and gasoline supply for our allies and
our own forces.
But see annexed report of Hearing before Sen-
ate Committee, No. 1, page 32. The Department
of the Interior gives the following figures :
Year
Consumption
Percentage
Increase
Production
Drawn from Stock
1914
247,015,396
1915
1916
1917
276,399,918
312,000,000
353,000,000
12
13
13
281,000,000
296,000,000
286,990,000
None
18,500,000
67,000,000
Note that the Interior Department calculates
a shortage of 67,000,000 barrels of petroleum in
the United States for purely peace purposes for
1917. Elsewhere in the Eeport of the Hearing,
note statement by the Bureau of Mines that it cal-
culates an additional shortage of 20,000,000 for
war purposes. Since this estimate it has been
determined to build and operate from 35,000 to
92 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
100,000 aeroplanes. This will take an additional
amount of from 3,000,000 to 9,000,000 barrels of
high-grade gasoline, which production will make
an additional shortage figured at from 40,000,000
to 63,000,000 barrels of crude. The total shortage,
therefore, is arowid 137,000,000 barrels for all
peace and war purposes in the United States,
which, outside of Mexico, is the only practical
available supply.
Mexico : Mexico to-day can produce from wells
already drilled in, how largely capped or cut down,
1,059,000 barrels per day, and the field is only
wild-catted. The actual production (crude oil
sold or put in storage) is at present only about
50,000,000 per annum, or 137,000 barrels per day,
most of which goes to the United States.
Shipments to the United States from Mexico
are limited by : a. Lack of tankers. The largest
producing company (Mexican Petroleum Com-
pany) has turned seven of its tank steamers into
the British trade. The ships are chartered to the
British Government. More tankers, however, are
being completed.
b. Lack of transportation to tide water. The
total potential carriage from well to tanker is
now:
To Tampico By river barges 25,000 bbl. per day
By Huasteca pipe lines.. 75,000 " u
By Aguila pipe lines 25,000
125,000
To Tuxpam By Penn-Mex pipe line . . 25,000
By Aguila pipe lines. . . . 50,000
Total present capacity pipe and barge . . 200,000
(t U
u u
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 93
or 73,000,000 barrels per annum. In addition,
there are at least 9,000,000 barrels in storage at
Tampico and Tuxpam, ready for tanker transport
to the United States and her Allies.
The Mexican Petroleum Company and prob-
ably the Aguila stand ready to increase pipe line
facilities up to an additional 50,000,000 barrels
per annum if they are only guaranteed protection
of their governments in the construction and in
their investment. See testimony of Edward L.
Doheny in annexed Eeport of Hearing, No. 3,
page 123.
The production of the United States can be in-
creased, if at all, only slightly. The Mexican pro-
duction is there already. It is in the hands of
American and British companies which have taken
the risk and made the great investment to get it.
If their rights are respected or made respected by
their governments there will be no shortage of
petroleum supplies for the United States and the
Allies in the war. There will actually be a pleth-
ora.
But we have to count with the real hostility of
the de facto government of Mexico, which is no-
toriously playing with the Germans. In January,
1917, a packed constituent assembly, at Queretaro
(membership in which was limited to " those who
had served Carranza," or less than 1 per cent, of
the whole population) adopted a "constitution"
94* MEXICO'S DILEMMA
which contains the following provisions pertinent
to this subject:
Article 27. In the Nation is vested ownership
of petroleum and all hydrocarbons.
.... The ownership of the Nation is inalien-
able and concessions shall be granted by
the Federal Government to private parties or
corporations organised under the laws of
Mexico.
Article 28. There shall be no exemp-
tion from taxation
Article 123 (Of Labor and Social Welfare)
XVIII Strikes shall be considered unlaw-
ful only when the majority of the strikers shall
resort to acts of violence against persons or prop-
erty.
Article 27 deliberately confiscates the oil prop-
erties acquired by British and American com-
panies. Oil in Mexico has always been the prop-
erty of the owner of the fee. The companies men-
tioned have spent large amounts of money to ac-
quire oil rights by purchase and lease. The effect
of this "constitutional" provision, if it is recog-
nised as legal, is to make Mexican petroleum the
inalienable property of the Nation. As such, be-
ing contraband, neutral Mexico cannot allow its
shipment to belligerent nations.
Legislation is now before the Mexican Congress
putting this ' ' constitutional' ' provision into effect.
Article 28. The principal oil-producing com-
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 95
panies entered the field of oil exploration under
inducement contracts providing that no special or
export taxes should be levied against their prod-
ucts. The Mining Law of 1887, never repealed,
provides that petroleum shall not be specially
taxed. This article of the constitution of 1917
puts an end to this protection, violating contracts.
An excessive export tax on petroleum and gaso-
line, amounting to from 20 per cent to 50 per
cent of the value of the oil at the wells, has been
"decreed," and is in effect and payable in July,
1917.
If the principle is accepted, Mexico is in a posi-
tion to embargo shipments of oil to the Allies by
increase of the export tax. No friendship toward
the Allied cause has been manifested by the de
facto government of such nature as to lead one to
suspect that Mexico will fail to so embargo ex-
ports.
Art. 123. By this article, 49 per cent of a body
of strikers may legally destroy properties and
lives. Only when 51 per cent are so engaged is
the strike illegal enough to justify the interven-
tion of the authorities. This seems childish; but
this very "constitutional" precept was invoked
by the Presidente Municipal and the Jefe de Ar-
mas of Tampico during the strike in the British
and American oil termini in May, 1917, to justify
their refusal to interfere with the ' * strikers ' ' who
were carrying torches around the storage tanks.
Destruction was prevented only by the interven-
96 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
tion of the American gunboats in the Panuco
Eiver. The strikers were openly and notoriously
paid during this tie-up out of the office of the
German Consul, Eversbusch.
The Imperial German Empire has a Minister
in Mexico, Consuls in all important centres, and
intelligent Germans scattered throughout the
country. They are hand-picked Germans. They
are most friendly with the Mexican authorities.
The Mexican army has many officers of German
birth and training. Fortunately for the Allies,
the oil fields are in the hands of a counter-revolu-
tionist, with a personal interest in the safety of
the fields. Should he (Manuel Pelaez) be driven
out by the German-officered Carranzistas, the wells
now producing would be in danger ; but such dam-
age as they could do would be repaired within two
weeks after the arrival of American troops in the
fields.
By the "constitutional" articles quoted above,
the Germans have three excellent means of block-
ing the oil supply of the Allies :
(1) By protesting against the shipment to
belligerents of a contraband material declared to
be the property of the Mexican Government.
(2) By encouraging the de facto government
to increase export taxes to the prohibitive point.
(3) By fomenting strikes in terminals and in
the fields and attendant legalised destruction of
oil in storage.
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 97
Assurance of the oil supply is simple : Eefuse
to recognise the de facto Mexican Government as
a de jure government and make it plain that none
of the confiscatory and retroactive provisions of
the "constitution" shall be enforced.
If the "constitution" is enforced, German
agents have at least three distinct means of end-
ing the Mexican supply of crude oil, vitally needed
in the war. If British and Americans in Mexico
are simply protected in their legally acquired
rights and properties, by austere demands and
acts of the American and British Governments,
There Will Be No Petroleum Shortage.
Problem: To make the American and British
Governments see it.
CHAPTER V
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE
ON one of the main streets of Tampico
stands a solid one-story cement building
which, according to a large sign ribboned
across the top like a banner, is the Agencia Comer-
cial y Maritima. The members of the firm, judg-
ing from an announcement in equally prominent
letters, are Heynen, Eversbusch y Cia. A smaller
placard near one of the entrances states that this
is the Consulate of the Imperial German Govern-
ment; and under the glass cover of the bulletin
board, also on the outside of the building, are
notices to German citizens regarding service in
the Imperial Army.
I shall not describe the structure further, ex-
cept to remark that it stands on the sunny side of
the street and that it is the chief German banking
institution in this section of Mexico. The descrip-
tion is not important, except to fix in the reader's
mind the cementlike reality of the narrative the
events of the war have woven about the place, for
this imposing edifice is one of the chief way sta-
tions on the spider's web of the German Secret
Service in the republic south of the Eio Grande.
98
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 99
Before the United States Congress declared war
against the Berlin Imperialists, Senor and Herr
Carl Heynen was one of the active German agents
in the United States and Mexico. So important
was he considered by the United States Govern-
ment, whose detectives found him in the United
States when war was declared, that he was placed
in an internment camp, where he lives to-day in
peace and quiet. Herr Eversbusch, the other
member of the concern, being the German Consul
at Tampico, always remained in that city, to direct
the financial transactions of the institution and
protect Germany's interests.
Before America was a belligerent the Agencia
Comercial y Maritima communicated in code with
banks and individuals in the United States. When
a censorship was established these messages were
stopped ; but the pause was only temporary. The
State Department announced one day that those
concerns having business of a confidential nature
in the United States and Mexico might, by filing
a copy of the code with the United States censors,
continued to communicate as in the pre-war days.
At the time this pronouncement was made the
American Consul, Mr. Claude I. Dawson, was in
Washington, and a young vice consul was acting
in his stead. One day a representative of Herr
Eversbusch appeared at the Consulate with a code
of this bank and the statement that, inasmuch as
the bank did business with American concerns in
Houston, Texas, and in New York City, it was
100 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
entitled to the use of its code. The secret docu-
ment was filed with the American authorities and
for an indefinite period the authorities are not
quite certain how long this German bank and the
German Consul in Tampico sent and received
secret messages to and from the United States.
The practice was not interrupted until Consul
Dawson returned to his post.
Of course it required considerable faith on the
part of Herr Eversbusch in the inability of the
United States to discover such an obvious scheme
at deception; but in this faith in Uncle Sam's
advertised laxity the German official was dis-
appointed. He was found out and this line of
communication was cut, as have been most of the
lines between German agents throughout the
world and the Berlin Government.
I cite this instance to show that, though Ger-
many has planted and selected her secret-service
operators in every country on the globe, the Allied
and American Secret Service offensive against the
lines of communication between enemy spies and
their Berlin headquarters has been so successful
that one may, for the first time during the war,
speak of the checkmating of the enemy's intelli-
gence service. Battles in the air have been more
spectacular, those on land more intense, and those
on the seas more baffling than the secret battles
between the belligerent intelligence departments ;
but few have been more important. What, for
instance, could be more important, so far as the
LA CUCARACHA
PRASES POPULARES
ANOTHER VIEW OF GERMANY'S LEADERS
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 101
United States is concerned, than the checking of
the last German spy offensive in Mexico, which
had for its object a military clash between that
republic and the United States?
The last spy offensive marked the climax to
German operations on the American continent,
jnst as the discovery of German-paid intrigue to
force peace in Europe has shattered the Imperial
plans for an Imperial peace.
Undoubtedly Germany still has her trusted
agents and their bribed assistants in Washington,
London, Paris, Borne, Petrograd and other cities ;
but most of them are like a swarm of wingless
bees miles away from the hive. The Allies and
the United States have had to fortify themselves
against spying as against military attack, and
their defences to-day are almost flawless. They
have succeeded in discovering if not in destroying
the channels through which information was sent
to and from Berlin. Sometimes, seemingly by
mere chance, a link has been broken, as in the case
of the wireless operator on an interned Teutonic
liner who escaped to Mexico before Congress de-
clared war. When I was in Mexico City, and even
before I left the United States, I heard reports
about secret German wireless stations ; but I was
unable to establish the location of any German
tower that was not deaf and dumb, and that had
any other sign language as a substitute.
After diplomatic relations between Washington
and Berlin were severed the chief wireless officer
1G MEXICO'S DILEMMA
on one of the Hamburg liners formerly tied to a
Hoboken wharf dismantled and took apart the
plant on his ship, packed the essential parts in
trunks and suitcases, and boarded a train for Mex-
ico. Before April fourth he was safely across the
international border, bag, baggage and all.
This wireless operator had been ordered to Mex-
ico to construct one of the links in the proposed
chain of communication between this hemisphere
and the Kaiser's agents in Spain and Germany.
But he was only one of many suspected Germans
who escaped from New York before this country
was formally at war with the autocratic enemy.
There were many others, who were to spread the
nets of German intrigue in Cuba, Mexico and Cen-
tral America, and who left at the same time. By
June these men were scattered in all the leading
cities of the South, there to begin their operations
upon orders from abroad.
It is perhaps not necessary to state that before
this wireless operator packed his instrument he
invoiced and carefully examined it to make sure
he had all the parts needed. Those that were miss-
ing he bought through an agent; so when he left
Hoboken he was certain that every part needed to
make the wireless plant a success, with the excep-
tion of the tower and the electric power, was se-
curely registered in his baggage.
When he arrived in Mexico City he reported to
his All Highest officials, and within a short time
was ordered to rebuild the plant he had taken
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 103
from the interned liner. With true Teutonic plod-
ding thoroughness he assembled the parts, only to
discover that one of the pieces he was certain he
had packed, because it would be impossible to get
a substitute in Mexico, was missing. He searched
his baggage, re-examined the parts, consulted his
lists, and to his astonishment and amazement
learned that one of the most important features
of his instrument was missing. A closer inspec-
tion of his baggage showed that it had been
opened.
Some one perhaps it is not necessary to say
who, but some one who evidently knew his scheme
had entered his baggage and removed such an
essential part of the machine that it could not be
used in Mexico unless the part was imported from
the United States. And by this time the United
States was at war with Germany. This man tried
through many agents to get this part from the
North ; but at the time I left Mexico City, in Sep-
tember, 1917, he was still seeking the missing link.
Some one was just a little bit more clever than
he ; and that some one must have been an enemy.
Perhaps it was some one in the United States
Department of Justice, perhaps some one in the
British ; or it might have been some one in the New
York detective service. It really does not matter
who did the work; but it has meant a great deal
to the United States to have it impossible for this
German subject to erect his wireless station in
Mexico.
104 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
German efforts in Mexico were divided into
three classes : the press propaganda ; the business
intrigue ; and the political endeavours. The press
work was placed in the hands of Herr von Lubeck,
a wealthy German merchant, who collected three
hundred thousand dollars from Germans in Mex-
ico City as an initial campaign fund.
About the middle of 1916 it was discovered that
these various organisations were not only making
detailed reports to Berlin, but that they were re-
ceiving instructions from headquarters there.
This correspondence, which was written as con-
fidential, was intercepted; and one document,
which I obtained, discloses in a general way the
activities of the German agents.
In order to make possible an efficient secret
service it was necessary for Germany to spread a
net over Mexico, as she did over the United States ;
but in casting this net in the well-known German
secret manner, it struck snags, and the holes torn
were so great that the German service in Mexico
has lost its effectiveness. All the German agents
in Mexico are known to the Allies. Every move-
ment is traced, though sometimes it is exceedingly
difficult to do so ; and, though there are Germans
travelling throughout Mexico all the time, their
plans are nipped before they are well under way.
Mexico, which was to be the Spy's Paradise, has
become the German Spy's Hades.
Travelling on Mexican trains, I met a large num-
ber of Germans. On some railroad lines there were
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 105
more Germans than Americans. When I boarded
the train at Monterey for Tampico there were four
Germans aboard and two Americans. The re-
mainder were Mexicans. Travellers in the in-
terior declared that German agents were travel-
ling in various parts of the country on business ;
but through the loyal co-operation of American
business men and British commercial agents these
men are so effectively tracked that, even before
they can do anything to cause trouble, their plans
are exposed or placed before the Mexican Govern-
ment.
At one time Germany tried to place German
officers in the Mexican Army. At one time there
were forty active German officers in that army.
While I was in Mexico they were discharged. The
Mexicans discovered that they could not be trusted
in their posts, because, though they were employed
to drill the Mexican Army, it was learned that
their ulterior motives and their constant propa-
ganda against the United States were inimical to
the best interests of the Mexican Government and
people.
There is a great difference between American
and German activities in Mexico. Time was when
the Mexicans feared the Americans; when the
Mexican Government suspected American motives
and American plans in Mexico. And though that
time is not past, most Mexicans are beginning to
realise that, with the exception of a few big finan-
cial and business interests in the United States,
106 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
no one, from the Government to the majority of
the American people, desires or would sanction
American military intervention in that country.
But the German plans are, almost without excep-
tion, made with military ends in view.
Early in 1915 there was organised in Mexico
City a Union of German Citizens. On April six-
teenth, 1916, the following report was sent from
this Union to the Deutscher Wirtschaftsverband
for Central and South America, with home offices
at Potsdamerstrasse, 28, Berlin. The significant
statement was made at that time, less than one
year before the United States broke off relations
with Berlin : * * It is not practicable for us to aid
Germany by force of arms." A bold confession,
indeed, that they had been thinking of military
co-operation; but because of the small number oi
Germans in Mexico it was not practicable to do
anything which might aid Germany against the
United States !
' ' This is to advise of the organisation of this
society as far back as June sixteenth last year"
19J5 the report began. "As your association
is occupied in Latin- American countries, our so-
ciety will pursue the same course here. It is not
practicable for us to aid Germany by force of
arms; so our main intention will be to aid all
possible in an economic manner.
"The society was founded June sixteenth, hav-
ing 164 members; and the first committee was
chosen October twelfth, at which time the propa-
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 107
ganda was circulated in the capital and through-
out the interior. At the same time 245 Germans
of the Empire joined in the capital and 113 from
the interior, making a total of 522.
"As you can readily see from reading our stat-
utes, we will accept none as members save native-
born Germans, and their nationality must be
proved beyond doubt. That proscription also per-
mitted the Imperial authorities to recognise the
nationality of sixty Germans. Moreover, a great
number of Germans who, for various reasons, 'by
not observing the ancient regulations, lost their
nationality,' have regained their standing as Ger-
mans, and have been rehabilitated under the new
liberal laws of the association. It is to be hoped
that excellent results will emanate from this
source.
"Up to the present a great number of publica-
tions on the war have been circulated in the cities
and throughout the country, dealing with the Ger-
man viewpoint, by the Ausschuss fur Verteilung
von Aufklarungs-Material, who have been work-
ing for three months ; and a great number of Mex-
icans have been convinced that we are in the right
in the methods of conducting the war and in our
spirit of German culture.
"Also, the following technical works and serials
have been distributed : The Great War in Descrip-
tion; The Actual "War; The Discourse of the Chan-
cellor, September 12, 1915 ; and The War and the
Right, by Dr. Ed. Llorens.
108 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
"The stories contained in the Herald, of Ham-
burg, received here in December, met with great
approval.
* ' The circulation of the propaganda will be as-
sured by means of twenty-nine local committees,
and other members throughout the country; and
we are hopeful of the greatest results.
"Free courses in German have been instituted
in the German schools by Mexican instructors
without special effort on the part of our associa-
tion, though a part of the general plan of the com-
mittee, and have been received with great ap-
proval by the public, and add to our propaganda.
By this means the public will be given to under-
stand Germany and to receive the true communi-
cations of our General Staff on the happenings of
the war. The public will be disposed to accept our
announcements.
"It is desired to begin the immediate construc-
tion of a German hospital, which will be a great
impulse to our colony and will demonstrate to our
following the power of German science, German
ability, and the German spirit of organisation. If
the Empire approves and gives aid it will be a
great point for our propaganda. A committee of
physicians has this matter under study from the
scientific point of view.
"The colony of Germans of the Empire here is
relatively small and the economical setbacks of
the country for the past five years have greatly
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 109
hindered our spirit of enterprise against the eco-
nomic strength of our enemies.
" Address correspondence for the president to
Herr Ad. Christliebsen, Apartado 58, Mexico, or
to the secretary, Hugo von den Steinen, Apartado
1221, Mexico City."
When this communication was discovered en
route to Berlin another avenue of German intrigue
was opened up ; and, in view of the disclosures in
the letter from former Minister of Foreign Af-
fairs Alfred Zimmermann to the German Minister
in Mexico City, it is easy to see what use the Im-
perial Government could have made of the twenty-
nine branches of the Verband Deutscher Reich-
sangehoriger in case Germany's efforts had suc-
ceeded in influencing Mexico to invade the United
States. Also, in view of the Zimmermann letter,
one can understand the statement of this society
in April, 1916, that "it is not practicable for us
to aid Germany by force of arms." The society,
at that time, was just being organised, and was,
therefore, not powerful enough to carry on mili-
tary operations. Evidently Doctor Zimmermann
thought the German citizens in Mexico could vio-
late Mexican neutrality as easily as the German
Army scrapped the treaty with Belgium.
One can draw a remarkable contrast between
this method of organising foreigners in Mexico
with that of the American business men who, dur-
ing my stay in the capital, planned an American
Chamber of Commerce. The complete prospectus,
110 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
published and signed by the leading American
business men and bankers, I have given in the
appendix of this book. The prospectus declared :
"It is proposed to establish a purely commer-
cial and non-political organisation, which will fo-
ment the friendly trade relations between Mexico
and the United States."
Among the benefits to be derived from such an
organisation were cited these :
"Increase of the market in Mexico for Ameri-
can goods of all kinds.
"Increase of export of Mexican products to the
United States and encouragement of production
in Mexico by enlisting capital and creating new
markets or improving present ones through better
methods.
' ' The establishment of a much-needed bureau of
business information about Mexico, its resources,
opportunities and impediments, for the benefit of
Americans in the United States who wish such in-
formation but at present cannot get it from re-
liable sources."
Instead of being a secret report, as in the case
of the German Bericht to Berlin, the American
report was published and widely circulated. No
mention is made of military operations, interven-
tion, and so on, and the object of the chamber will
be as beneficial to Mexico as to the United States.
That is the Great Divide between American enter-
prise in Mexico and German intrigue. The object
of the one is to develop honest business ; the Teu-
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 111
tonic object is to spread propaganda and convince
Mexicans that the German methods of conducting
the war are right.
It might have been stated at the beginning of
the war, because of the cleverness of the German
spies and the spotless organisation, that everything
they did was in the dark at least, so far as the
enemy was concerned. Those were the days when
inconspicuous Belgian billboards, advertisements
in French and British newspapers, direct tele-
grams and letters from Bussian traitors, and offi-
cial documents from Italy were messages and re-
ports from intelligence officers. To-day one might
as correctly assert that the sun never sets on Ger-
man intrigue, for practically every great scheme
by which Germany has sought to embroil neutrals,
destroy ships of friendly states, stir up discon-
tent within belligerent nations, and make peace,
has been discovered by the United States or the
Allies before these plans, plots and military
dreams came true.
One day I was sitting in the lobby of my hotel
in Tampico, chatting with an American editor,
when two young men entered, greeting my com-
panion.
"Mr. Blume and Mr. Nieno," he said, introduc-
ing them.
We sat round the table and discussed the war,
when my companion remarked that I had been in
Germany and had written some articles about that
MEXICO'S DILEMMA
country ; then, turning to one of the guests, he said
to me:
"Herr Blume, here, is the head of the German
Secret Service. " Then he smiled.
"So," remarked Blume in good English, "you
have been writing those lies about Germany! I
have read The Saturday Evening Post for many
years ; but when the war broke out I stopped read-
ing everything about Germany. None of your
magazines will publish the truth. The other night
I read every article in the Post, except one about
Germany. I did not want to read that one; but
I couldn't sleep because it was so hot that night,
and I read that article about one-thirty in the
morning. It made me so angry I didn't sleep all
night!"
"Well," I replied, "you ought to read every-
thing that is written about Germany, and maybe
you couldn't sleep for a week! But what are you
going to do when Germany becomes a democratic
nation?"
"Germany is democratic," he answered; and
then the conversation followed other, less belliger-
ent, channels.
Though it would not be safe to assume that be-
cause Herr Blume is considered by some of the
foreigners as the chief of the Kaiser's service
there, the fact that the allied foreigners can select
one or more men who do His Majesty's work is
significant in that it shows how even the ordinary
citizen, at home and abroad, is a member of
El Embajador: /Afi estar all-rigth!
$0.25
COVER-CARTOON OF AMBASSADOR FLETCHER FROM
A SMALL MAGAZINE, "MOMO," MEXICO CITY
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 113
Democracy's secret service. In fact, what work
is being done in Mexico to-day for the United
States and the Allies is not the work of paid con-
fidential investigators so much as the voluntary
aid of American and Allied business men and
travellers. There are Allied eyes to-day on nearly
every German operation ; and more than one order
to Imperial agents in Mexico has failed of execu-
tion because of these sleepless eyes.
It is not difficult to learn about the German
moves in that country. The United States Gov-
ernment knows every possible means of communi-
cation between Mexico and the outside world. It
knows of the possibilities through Salvador,
Spain, Argentina and Japan. It knows the mes-
sengers and agents who travel between Cuba,
South and Central America, and Mexico; and
most of the time the United States or one of the
Allies knows what is being sent. The system of
watching the German agents in this Latin Be-
public is so water-tight that most of the danger is
past.
One can meet many Americans who believe that
our system in Mexico is weak because it is so easy
for people to travel back and forth without pass-
ports. I heard directly of several instances where
Americans went to different parts of that coun-
try without official permission ; and I returned to
the United States without having to give up my
passport, which is required now by State Depart-
ment regulations. Some opium smuggling still
114 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
goes on, some information still goes back and
forth, and some Germans succeed, through Mex-
ican and other neutral agents, in purchasing war
materials in the United States ; but the big moves
are almost always nipped in the bud.
Not even the Austrian Consul in Monterey, the
chief industrial and railroad centre in Northern
Mexico, is able to get his carloads of sulphuric
acid out of the United States, even though he has
the largest wholesale and retail drug store in that
part of the country. Whether his object is to
divert this acid from war purposes, or whether it
is for use in Mexico, it matters not. He was balked
even when he organised, through Mexican work-
ers, a wax-match factory, and ordered still more
sulphuric acid. His business and that of his satel-
lites may be the business of the Imperial German
Government ; and Uncle Sam is not taking chances.
The last spy offensive was another German
failure, as both Mexico and the Germans are be-
ginning to realise. Mexico and the United States
in the mid-summer of 1917 were on friendlier
relations than at any time during the war.
Since I wrote the first of the series of articles
which has led to the composition of this book there
have been certain events of more than ordinary
significance that change, in some respects, the
statements I made in those articles. Between the
time of the writing and the publication of the ar-
ticle entitled "Kising or Setting Sun in Mexico,"
President Wilson recognised the de jure Govern-
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 115
ment. President Carranza addressed an auto-
graph letter to President Wilson, notifying him
officially of his selection as President of Mexico
at the last election; and on August thirty-first,
1917, Mr. Wilson, without consulting his Cabinet,
extended our official recognition to the present
Mexican Government.
In Tampico the labour difficulties have in-
creased ; and General Carranza has sent two hun-
dred soldiers to the city to maintain order, while
a number of Mexicans have written to the United
States Consulate asking that American marines
be landed to protect the city at night. In these
letters the Mexicans declared that it was unsafe
to go on the street after dark in some neighbour-
hoods, and they requested American intervention.
Food and money continue to become scarcer
throughout Mexico, despite the official announce-
ments. In October, 1917, the Federal Gov-
ernment notified the governor of the state of
Nuevo Leon that hereafter the Central Federal
Treasury would be unable to give to the state that
portion of the federal taxes which had previously
been sent there. The governor was notified that
he would have to raise money for the state govern-
ment as best he could.
In the warehouses of Monterey there were in
August, 1917, over forty thousand hides ready for
exportation; but they could not be shipped be-
cause the Mexican Government demanded that the
duty be paid in gold, and it was impossible for
116 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
the exporter to get the required amount. He
notified American officials that he had sixty thou-
sand hides in other warehouses, available to the
Allies whenever the required amount of gold was
permitted to leave the United States.
Business in the Monterey consular district has
continued to increase, even beyond the figures
quoted in the first article I wrote on Mexico:
"Mexico Enemy or Ally?" In July, 1917, the
exportations amounted to $1,950,000; in August,
$2,500,000; and during the first fifteen days of
September, $1,500,000. This indicates a further
revival in business in this part of Mexico.
As to whether Mexico shall be an enemy or an
ally of the United States, the question is still un-
decided; but it seems at this time that the bonds
between the two nations are being fused tighter
at every rise of the sun.
But Mexico is and may remain for some time
as she was described to me by a foreigner in
Tampico.
"Mexico," he declared, "is the screen of a great
national moving picture. The operator and his
machine are in the skies. Four reels of the revo-
lution have been unwound. Nobody knows the
fifth, except the Great Author of Human Des-
tinies ; and the last act is just about to begin."
CHAPTER VI
RISING OB SETTING SUN IN MEXICO
THE sun rises unclouded in Mexico City one
day, but by that afternoon the clouds domi-
nate the battlefields of the skies. It rains
for a few hours, the dusty streets are washed, auto-
mobiles and coaches skid and race through the city,
and the people go home or to the theatres. The
next day they expect the morning sun to be as
bright and warm as it was the day before. Be-
cause, it may be, it is the rainy season now, they
await the afternoon shower and are prepared for
it when it comes.
In somewhat the same philosophic way they look
at politics. They expect to-morrow to be as peace-
ful as to-day; but during the past seven years
there have been so many unexpected revolutionary
storms that when a change comes they act as they
do when it rains in the morning, or when the sun
shines all day.
To-day, however, there are a few people who
would like to know whether Mexico is facing the
rising sun of a new, prosperous era, or whether
the sun is about to give way to the clouds of
117
118 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
another troublesome period. Quien sdbe? say the
Mexicans. It is true, one never can tell.
A poor-rich nation is Mexico. Eich, because
foreign intellect, foreign capital, foreign engineers
and foreign business men developed her resources
and made her so. Poor, because the revolutions
have pestered the foreigners and Mexico in some-
what the same way that an army of Hessian flies
destroys a wheat field. But to-day the revolution-
ists have discovered that the battle cry, Down with
the foreigners who exploited us! though it may
win a revolution does not help reconstruction.
The old sign which was illuminated throughout
the world under President Diaz Welcome, for-
eigners ! is being put up again by timid hands ;
and it will not be long before it is lighted so
brightly that it can be read in the darkest corners
of the sceptical business world. This poor little
rich nation wants to be as rich in gold as in natural
wealth, and the government is beginning to realise
that only the hated foreigners have the gold.
There is so much of the melodramatic in Mex-
ican life to-day that one is apt to overlook what is
going on behind the scenes. One hears about the
autocratic rule of various states; one learns how
governors and generals hold up foreign business
interests, and about the inability of the central
government to enforce its orders ; one reads in the
newspapers about the street fights and military
duels ; and one imagines that the whole community
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 119
has nothing more to do. This is where one's imag-
ination is not a safe prophet.
To-day the United States and the Allies are
watching Mexico through a microscope. They
delayed official recognition of Don Vemistiano Car-
ranza as president of the Republic. They were
waiting to see whether the sun is rising or setting.
They recognised the de facto government and in
August, 1917, President Wilson recognised the
official status of the Carranza Government.
The new constitution of Mexico, adopted at
Queretaro in January, 1917, contains two articles
that foreign governments consider confusing
and equivocal. There is a possibility that Ar-
ticle Twenty-seven may be enforced to the ex-
tent that every foreign property in Mexico shall
be confiscated by the government. Many millions
of dollars invested by foreigners are in the hands
of the government. Since January first, 1917, to
the time of this writing, for instance, the Mexican
Government had taken, through so-called forced
loans, thirty-seven million pesos in gold from the
banks of Mexico City, Monterey, Vera Cruz and
other cities.
In some cases the government has given re-
ceipts. In others the French, English, Canadian
and American bankers and depositors have no
records. The government has been compelled to
take this step because of the financial crisis that
faces the nation. There is no paper money in cir-
culation. Gold and silver coins are the only me-
120 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
dium ; and the expenses of the government and the
requirements of business are so enormous that
money must be had, no matter what measures are
necessary.
There are some Mexicans who declare that the
banks will be reimbursed ; but the time when this
will be possible depends upon how soon the gov-
ernment obtains foreign financial aid.
Mexico has endeavoured to obtain, through
agents, a loan from New York bankers or from
the United States Government. Early in August,
1917, a report reached Mexico City that the United
States would veto a loan if the bankers floated
it. On August twentieth the White House an-
nounced that, in the opinion of the United States
Government, a loan would not be looked upon
with disfavour. This was done to assure the Mex-
ican Government that the United States was not
trying to hinder Mexico in her financial aspira-
tions ; but as the despatch appeared in the Mexican
newspapers it gave the impression that the United
States Government had sanctioned a loan, and
that all Mexico had to do was to send a ship to
New York for the money.
The biggest financial obstacle is the army.
Nearly seventy per cent of the annual budget
goes to the army and navy. Since there is no
navy, this is purely an army expense. The pay
rolls contain nearly one hundred and fifteen thou-
sand names; but, according to conservative esti-
mates, there are not fifty thousand soldiers in all
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO
the government's forces. The army of dead men
is so great that this form of graft is considered
as contraband of the revolution.
Generals are not the only ones who are becom-
ing millionaires, measured in pesos. In Pachuca,
the largest silver and gold mining city in the world
to-day, one government official recently deposited,
through an American firm, seventy-five thousand
dollars in a New York City bank during seven
months. Besides, he purchased considerable
property in the capital. The government and the
foreigners were sure that this man is dishonest;
but his method of grafting could not be discovered.
In Monterey a nephew of one of the highest
officials in the government offered local merchants
a proposition of importing articles from the
United States free of high import duties, provided
they would pay him from fifty to seventy per cent
of these duties for his work, which consisted in
getting the goods across the international border.
Fifteen years ago there thrived in Mexico City
what was known as the Thieves' Market. Prop-
erty stolen by maids, pickpockets, house servants
and others was placed on sale every Sunday
morning ; and Mexicans and foreigners went there
in search of missing articles and bargains. It
was easier to obtain them in this shop than to
start criminal investigations.
Though the Thieves ' Market is still doing busi-
ness, it has competition now in the antique shops
and curio stores. The revolution has turned many
MEXICO'S DILEMMA
a church and palace inside out. Saunter through
these places to-day and you will find church orna-
ments, silverware, jewels, Chinese silks, Japanese
idols, church bells and bishops' gowns for sale.
You can purchase pieces of the silk wall paper
with which Emperor Maximilian covered the walls
of the National Palace when he ruled the Mexican
people. Some day Mexico will be a rich field for
collectors.
This is part of the melodrama; but the govern-
ment has already interfered in this business.
There is an embargo on the shipment of any
church property out of the country.
In London, Paris, Washington and Borne there
are, on file with the various governments, claims
of their citizens against the Eepublic of Mexico.
Until the Mexican Government determines upon
a definite policy in dealing with foreign interests,
and in settling these claims, recognition of the de
jure government will be withheld. President Car-
ranza has been informed that some day there will
be a reckoning; and this is one of the chief prob-
lems he is trying to solve.
Interwoven with this question, like a black
thread in a piece of white cloth, is the question
of neutrality. To-day Mexico is not even a pas-
sive belligerent ; and the hope of the United States
Government, judged by its policy, is that Mexico
will adjust her internal affairs so that it will not
be necessary for America to divert her war
energies from the European battlefields. One day,
THESE ARE TERRA COTTA HEADS FOUND BY PROF. NIVEN. THEY
SHOW THE TWO TYPES OF "MEXICAN" SEVERAL HUNDRED
AND PERHAPS SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS AGO
AN AZTEC FAMILY TREE
THIS IS A PIECE OF TERRA COTTA GIVING THE LIFE HISTORY
OF AN AZTEC INDIAN FAMILY. FOUND BY PROF. NIVEN. PHOTO BY MR. NIVEN
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO
while talking to Don Luis Cabrera in the Treasury
Department, he remarked that, because the senti-
ment in the Chamber of Deputies was so strongly
in favour of neutrality, the government would not
change its policy; but, despite the statement of
Mr. Cabrera and the official attitude of Washing-
ton, neutrality remains in a variable state.
It is not the attitude of the United States or
Mexico to-day that is important. It is the posi-
tion the two nations will assume when Mexico has
to decide ultimately what she is going to do.
The sentiment among the Mexican people, so
far as one can judge, is one with the motto "I
don't care !" The opinion of the Intellectuals, the
influential leaders back of the government, and
of some high officials, is different. These men are
pro-Ally because they are pro-Democracy in Mex-
ico and Europe.
One Sunday afternoon an American banker gave
a party at his home in the suburbs. One of the
chief members of President Carranza's cabinet
was present. His reputation as a master of anec-
dote had grown into fame since his visit to the
United States, where he had learned to speak
English.
"It was house-cleaning time in Hades, " began
the secretary, looking round the room, into the
eyes of every woman and man present, to see
what impression his first remark had made. It
delighted him that his audience was international.
There were present foreign diplomats, anti-Mex-
MEXICO'S DILEMMA
lean Americans, anti- American Mexicans, and my-
self.
"No. It is not shocking, as you say in the
United States, " he added with a smile. The
guests smiled politely, too, so as not to discourage
him. " Satan, " he continued, "ordered his ser-
vants to dust and clean all the corners and rooms
of his palace, which stood at the entrance to his
estate." He spoke slowly, so as not to make a
mistake in his youthful English.
"It was evening when Satan made his inspec-
tion. He saw that everything was perfectly clean
inside; and then he looked at the" he paused
for the word "exterior. Above the gate Satan
read the old worn inscription: 'All hope aban-
don, ye who enter here.' And Satan said: 'I
must have a new sign. That one is not modern.
It is not up to date' as you say in New York.
' ' Satan thought a while. ' ' The secretary paused
and puffed his cigar. "He consulted some of his
chief advisers."
"You mean his Cabinet," suggested an Amer-
ican.
"Ah, yes," replied the secretary; "Satan con-
sulted his Cabinet. And the next day the new
inscription above the gate read: Made in Ger-
many!"
Though the secretary told this story with as
much enthusiasm as if he had been the author of it,
I imagine it was one he had heard in the States.
It served the purpose at this gathering, however,
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO
of crystallising an opinion held by many influen-
tial Mexicans. It would not be fair to give this
minister's name, or to conclude that, because he
is anti-German, the government is about to change
its policy toward the belligerents.
Mexico is awaiting a provocation. Perhaps it
would be better to say that it would not be wise
for Germany to provoke her. The famous Zim-
mermann letter, revealing the German opinion
regarding annexation, has been forgotten; but
Germany is again playing with neutrality by her
growing intrigues in Mexico. The I. W. W. have
become as active in Mexico against foreign inter-
ests as in the United States ; and the money they
use is called marks.
President Carranza 's authority is, in some
states, only nominal to-day. A few governors,
especially if they are military leaders, interpret
and obey his orders as they see fit. For this
reason the Chief Executive is commonly called the
Easy Boss ; but what for some time Mr. Carranza
has been becoming is a Calm Dictator. He has
been accomplishing some reforms so quietly that
even the men deposed have been unaware of hi\
object.
When Sefior Carranza first took office he had to
appoint his popular generals to Cabinet positions.
To date he has eliminated most of them, and with
great skill. One man, who was thought to be dis-
honest and who was anti-foreign in every policy,
demanded a certain Cabinet berth the Depart-
126 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
ment of Fomento, or Public Works. Mr. Carranza
could not remove him, so he wrote a decree chang-
ing the duties of this department, taking all the
important foreign work out of his hands. The
foreigners were delighted ; and so was the Cabinet
officer, because he had other things to do. He
didn't care to deal with foreigners, anyway.
A year ago from the time I was in Mexico ex-
President Diaz was regarded as having been the
worst dictator and boss Mexico ever had by the
Mexicans. To-day he is being considered in a
different light, though his evil acts have not been
forgotten. Fifteen years ago, when a list of ten
names was placed before Diaz so that he might
select a senator from Coahuila, he picked the
ninth, that of Sefior Carranza. To-day this sen-
ator is Diaz's successor, and he had developed
many of the qualities of leadership the old Indian
had. Mr. Carranza 's friends say that he is devel-
oping a Democratic dictatorship in Mexico; but
the foreigners add: "By his acts we shall judge
him."
Still, the question is asked: "Was Diaz a
prophet, too!"
Because of the universal lack of education
among Indians and Mexicans, a representative
government such as exists in Mexico to-day is, in
fact, only a representation of the strongest parties
and elements supporting Carranza; but Mexico
remains more of a nation over Mr. Carranza than
under him. He dominates the Central Govern-
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 127
ment and he holds the nominal support of his old
military chiefs ; though, very often, they take mat-
ters into their own hands, such as taxation of
foreign mines and ranches. Though the President
has compelled some of these men to resign, the
task is so enormous that it cannot be completed
for some time. Manana is a famous expression
in Mexico when one asks how soon something can
be done; and, though manana means to-morrow
when translated into English, it signifies a much
longer period when applied to work.
The iron policy in Mexico, if one may call any
act there by that term, belongs to the military
chiefs. There is no lack of firmness when they
act.
Don Luis Cabrera, former Secretary of the
Treasury and now government leader in the Cham-
ber of Deputies, is considered the intellectual
leader of the country; but one of his hobbies is
the hunting of ducks. Still, this story is not to
be about a duck hunt. More interesting than such
excursions are his activities in Parliament.
A few days before the session adjourned, in
August, 1917, some members objected in uncen-
sored terms to the presence of Americans in Mex-
ico City as members of a financial commission
upon the invitation of the government. Their
activities were due more to Cabrera's initiative
than to any other official's.
Two American authorities Professor Chand-
ler, of Columbia University, and Professor Kem-
128 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
merer, of Princeton had just reached the capital.
A member of the Deputies declared he thought
their presence ought to be investigated, and that
the government ought to be questioned about such
an important matter. He denounced Americans in
general and the government more particularly.
Cabrera, who is always on hand to support the
government, saw the members supporting the
speaker and in a clever speech stated that he
thought the government ought to be interrogated.
The investigation was set for the next day.
The next day he appeared in a different role.
Cabrera defended the government! A member
asked whether there were no Mexicans capable of
doing the work the Americans were asked to do ;
whether Mexicans could not audit the govern-
ment's accounts. Certainly, replied Cabrera in
substance ; but unfortunately most of these Mex-
icans are out of the country. Senor Limantour,
who is in Paris, could do it Limantour was Sec-
retary of the Treasury under Diaz.
The opposition would not be quieted and
Cabrera began one of his famous orations. "Be-
cause Thomas A. Edison, an American citizen,
invented electric lights is no reason why Mexico
should burn candles," declared Cabrera in part.
These experts, he added, had been consulted by
the United States and foreign governments; and
Mexico, desiring to obtain the services of financial
authorities, had invited them as any other govern-
ment might.
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 129
Cabrera's address and his knowledge of parlia-
mentary rules won the day for the government,
and the speaker escaped without a challenge to a
duel.
He has been challenged more than once; but his
opponents know that he is a crack shot at ducks.
The visit of this American commission and
the growing tendency among officials to be more
friendly to the United States are the hopeful signs
in Mexico to-day. The financial experts were
charged with the duty of investigating the receipts
and expenditures of the government departments,
with the object of making recommendations to
establish efficiency and honesty. A giant's task
it was.
By many this was interpreted as the initial step
by the government in a new policy toward America
and outside interests. Be that as it may, the Car-
ranza Government was much more friendly to the
United States than it had ever been. The Chief
Executive time and again had ignored the protests
of the German Minister because American war-
ships were in Mexican waters at Tampico. This
form of friendly neutrality was not agreeable to
Herr von Eckhardt. What friendship there is to-
day is due to Ambassador Fletcher. He was
hissed on May first, 1917, when Carranza took the
oath of office, and Von Eckhardt was applauded.
If there were a celebration to-day the honours
would be reversed. That much the ambassador
did in four months. He may yet have the Mex-
130 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
leans cheering Uncle Sam's troops in France. One
never can tell what diplomacy may do next.
One of the needs of Mexico is an efficient rail-
road system. A curious attempt at a refutation
of this asservation of mine I have printed in the
appendix of this volume. Here I reaffirm that for
seven years practically no repairs have been made
on any of the lines either those owned by the
government or those owned abroad and operated
by the authorities. In Monterey there are the
wrecks of four hundred freight cars, burned by
General Villa as a sacrifice to his legions when
they made their last march through the city.
A government official has inspected other lines
and found four thousand cars that can be repaired ;
but money, labourers and materials are needed.
The first and third can come only from the United
States. And it has been explained to the govern-
ment by private parties that, even if Mexico had
the money to purchase engines and car-construc-
tion material, it would be three years before they
could be delivered, unless there is always a way
to evade contracts Mexico were an ally of the
United States. And in that case every effort would
be made to aid her. Allies always have the first
call.
Multiply the task that faced Diaz when he was
struggling with the conflicting elements of Mexico
in 1877 by the increase in population in Mexico,
and by the increase in foreign capital invested, and
you will have an understanding of what faces
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 131
Senor Carranza. Forty years ago the United
States would not recognise the official or de jure
government of Diaz, because he was struggling
with the same tasks and inactions of the present
day, but on a smaller scale.
Whether Senor Carranza will adopt the same
attitude toward foreigners that Don Porfirio did,
and whether he will try to reconstruct Mexico with
the assistance of outside brains, are questions
which events alone can answer. Senor Carranza
has the same opportunities. So far as the United
States is concerned, one might judge from the
former policy of President Wilson that he was
willing to help the Republic get on its financial
and reconstruction feet, even if the alignment of
Mexico on the side of the Allies were a temporary
burden. The United States is endeavouring to
help the nation by advice and counsel.
One suggestion which has been made to Presi-
dent Carranza is that he shall abolish the decree
fixing an artificial value in exchange for American
money. Formerly one dollar was equal to two
pesos in Mexican currency. To-day, by a govern-
ment order, a dollar is accepted by the government
as equal to but 1.85 pesos in gold, or 1.75 pesos
in United States bank notes. If the Mexican Gov-
ernment would agree to the old standard so it is
stated American gold and silver would be used in
exchange and increase the amount of available
currency. But the government has not acted. It
is claimed that an official is benefiting by the
MEXICO'S DILEMMA
present arrangement; and he is apparently strong
enough to prevent a change. But perhaps not!
The government may not be convinced.
The mint in Mexico City is coining fifty thou-
sand dollars' worth of silver fifty-centavo pieces
every day, and much more gold. But no machine
or collection of machines can make money as fast
as a wasteful Eepublic can spend it. I doubt
whether one machine can make money fast enough
to pay the salary of a general who, by chance, may
be a governor, an inspector, and something else
too. One man in Mexico is not necessarily made
for one job.
Since the spring of 1917 there has been a change
in the attitude of certain foreign investors toward
the Carranza Government. There has been ap-
parent an inclination to work with the officials.
Canadian and American merchants have been
again looking after Mexican business. So, too,
the British. Some of these people have already
discussed claims with the government, and there
has been a belief that they will be able to agree
with the officials. This is shocking those who be-
lieved there was no chance of the Carranza Gov-
ernment 's continuing so long.
While in Mexico, talking with a large number
of foreigners, I found that those who were show-
ing a willingness to co-operate with the authorities
were not only being encouraged by the results but
they believed it would be profitable.
" Concessions " is the most hated of all words by
PROFESSOR WILLIAM NIVEN, WHO HAS CHARGE OF
THE EXCAVATIONS NEAR MEXICO CITY
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 133
the revolutionists, because it was said that foreign-
ers robbed Mexico with concessions ; but that word
is actually being used to-day to describe what the
present government is doing. I met an American
who had recently obtained a water-power site near
Mexico City. Engineers calculated that the falls
would develop twenty-four thousand horse-power.
This was concession; and it had been granted by
the government that was opposed to such things
when it began.
Hated, cursed, vilified and condemned, Venus-
tiano Carranza remains the strongest political
figure in Mexico, and the only man who can guide
the fateful and fretful destinies of the Republic
to-day. All agree about this, Mexicans and for-
eigners. Carranza or intervention!
There is no organised revolution to-day. Most
Mexicans will tell you that Villa has no political
influence, that his men are deserting from day to
day. But Villa is a Mexican Humpty-Dumpty
who falls to pieces one day and is put together a
few months later.
When I was in Tampico I was told that Villa
had been in communication with Pelaez and that
General Enriquez had been designated by Pelaez
to serve with Villa on his staff in case of another
revolution. It is significant, also, that the troops
of Manuel Pelaez call themselves "Villistas."
At one time there was a plan under way for
Pelaez and Villa representatives to meet in New
York for a conference, but according to a public
134> MEXICO'S DILEMMA
announcement by Villa in November, 1917, he
travelled through Mexico in disguise and con-
ferred with the other rebel chiefs.
Whatever may be Villa's political objects and
aims one thing is apparent; that is that he could
not make a stand against the present government
of Mexico without assistance from interests in the
United States opposed to Seiior Carranza, or from
German influences in Mexico. Villa is supported
by one or the other of these, perhaps by both.
One day in 1917 three hundred Villistas strolled
into Torreon, and then out to an American ranch,
where they informed the manager that Villa had
discharged them. Perhaps there was no more
loot ! Perhaps Carranza is an easy boss. It may
be that this is the only kind of dictator the Mexi-
can people will follow now.
But despite all this, the puzzle of the Mexican
Sphinx remains: What Will Mexico Do? How
will the government interpret the constitution?
Will the authorities return confiscated property?
Will the government adjust foreign claims ? Will
the banks be reimbursed?
Sphinxes are not found in many parts of the
world, but there are two in Mexico. Standing at
the corner of Calle San Francisco and Avenida
Juarez, looking toward Chapultepec Park one can
see, on the right, the National Theatre, the so-
called White Elephant, with its incomplete marble
walls glistening in the sunlight like a giant 's helio-
graph. In the distance towers the rusty steel
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 135
skeleton of the proposed House of Parliament.
The Mexicans call it the Black Elephant.
These are the Mexican Sphinxes the symbols
of Mexico to-day. Whether these structures are
completed and transformed into modern architec-
tural monuments depends upon the answers to the
questions facing the government. Whether they
rattle to pieces or wear away unused depends upon
the replies Sefior Carranza makes to the questions
the world is asking. These two buildings, or parts
thereof just as Mexico itself contain possibili-
ties for success or failure. But the question their
bleak walls and iron bones ask is answered with
the echo:
" What will Mexico do! "
Aristotle once remarked that, to be complete,
things must have a beginning, a middle and an
end. How simple; and yet how informing! This
chapter, so far, has only a beginning and a middle ;
therefore, it is not complete.
I began by asking whether the sun was rising
or setting in Mexico. I shall answer : The sun is
rising; but I cannot tell whether there will be
rain to-morrow.
CHAPTER VII
THE FUTUBE
MUST the United States intervene in Mex-
ico before that country can take its place
among the great nations of the world?"
Mexicans and foreigners ask this question be-
cause to most men it seems a pity that a nation
with such great possibilities should be under a
shadow of internal strife from decade to decade.
The answer, to my mind, is: "Yes, but there
is more than one way to intervene in Mexico."
I do not believe that the United States would
be justified to-day in intervening in Mexico with
armed forces to protect American property or
American life because I have confidence in the
possibilities of a Mexican Government if the lead-
ers and the people are given an opportunity to
work out their own political destiny. But if Ger-
man intrigue, directed from Berlin, continues to
stir up hatred for the United States and continues
as a source of irritation and trouble, and if the
United States or her Allies during the war are
attacked from Mexico, the situation might change
over night.
It is obvious, I think, to most people who have
136
THE FUTURE 137
travelled in Mexico recently that the people and
the government of that country cannot grow in
t intelligence and economic strength without the
^^eo-operation of foreigners. Mexico needs foreign
help the same as every young nation, and every
nation which has gone through a period of unrest,
needs foreign assistance. The Mexican problem
is to make the Mexican authorities understand
that foreigners want to help Mexico.
The first need of the Mexican people to-day is
education. Of the population which is estimated
at fifteen million only about two million, accord-
ing to recent estimates, can read and write. Igno-
rance is at the bottom of banditry. Ignorance is
what enables unscrupulous men to rob the people
of land and wages. Ignorance is what keeps the
peons dressed in rags.
Mexico needs a public school system from one
end of the country to the other, and in establish-
ing such a system it should be understood by Mex-
ico that substantial progress can be expected only
by calling foreign educators to Mexico to superin-
tend the work. Mexico needs great educational
directors, such as the state superintendents of
public instruction in some of our states. Mexico
needs men like the Presidents of our great univer-
sities to help her build up an educational system.
Mexico needs an educational system that will
begin not only with the children but with the men
and women of to-day. They, too, must be taught
to read and write and think. Mexico needs tech-
138 MEXICO'S DILEMMA
nical public school education for men. Think of
the hundreds of thousands of children in Mexico
who know nothing about schools !
To develop her great resources Mexico needs
foreign brains and foreign capital. The United
States needed it in the early days of her existence.
Every country needs foreign help to "get on its
feet," and Mexico is very far indeed from being
an exception, especially after the many years of
revolutions.
Mexico needs foreigners to advise her regarding
finance, political economy and labour. Under
President Carranza Mexico began by asking two
university professors to come to Mexico City and
study the financial problems of the Eepublic. This,
indeed, is a step in advance.
Mexico 's future depends upon her willingness
to have foreigners assist her. This is what I
would call political and social intervention. If
Mexico is to be helped this sort of intervention
must take place.
I look upon Mexico as having more possibilities
than any of twelve countries I have visited during
the past two years possibilities for success or
failure. And while the nations of the world, par-
ticularly the United States and her Allies, might
be glad to advise Mexico, the choice rests entirely
with that country. Mexico can be a friend or a
foe of the United States and she has more to gain
through friendship than through enmity.
Within fifty years from to-day Mexico can take
THE FUTURE 139
er place among the greatest nations of the world
if Mexico is willing to seek the co-operation of the
great Eepublics and Democracies of the world.
Mexico, as a Republic, owes a duty to her sister
nations as well as to herself. Opportunity knocks
at the doors of the Republic. The battle for Civili-
sation, for Humanity, for International Right and
for Democracy is being fought throughout the
world. Mexico is being tempted by the agents of
Berlin. Not only President Carranza but the
other leaders of Mexico must choose between a
German conquest and American and Allied
co-operation.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX A
BILLS PRESENTED TO THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES TO
RELIEVE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
TRANSLATION Bill presented to Congress of
Mexico providing for an interior or foreign loan
to cover the current deficit of the Government.
From El Democrata, Mexico City, July 8, 1917.
MEXICO NEEDS TO OBTAIN A LOAN OF 150,000,000
PESOS TO COVER THE DEFICITS IN THE
NATIONAL BUDGETS.
THE EXECUTIVE, WITH THE SAME TENDENCIES WHICH
ACTUATED THE REVOLUTION, WILL AVOID ANY
FOREIGN LOAN AND ATTEMPT TO MAKE
THE FINANCIAL DEAL IN THE
COUNTRY.
IF IMPOSSIBLE HE BELIEVES IN ADVANCE THAT HIS
CONDUCT WILL BE JUSTIFIED SINCE HE IS
TRYING TO DEFINITELY REORGANISE
FINANCES.
In the Department of Finance and Public Credit
we were given yesterday by the Sub-Secretary in
143
144 APPENDIX A
Charge of this Department, Don Eafael Nieto, a
copy of the following important bill in which the
Executive is authorised to negotiate a loan up to
150,000,000 pesos to be exclusively destined to
cover the deficit appearing in the national budgets
until they are adjusted. The text of the important
bill to which we refer, and which will soon go be-
fore Congress, states as follows :
"The Congress of the Union has been already
informed by the Executive that the budgets of the
federation at present show a monthly deficit of
about 5,000,000 pesos.
"To make up this figure we took into account
only the normal expenses of administration, omit-
ting the great number of small obligations of the
Government which were not considered urgent,
but which in any case organise a great floating
debt which is increasing day by day.
1 1 If, furthermore, we take into consideration the
high cost of living, higher every day, and the ne-
cessity which we will later meet as a consequence
of it of raising the wages of public employes;
if we take into account the possibility that the
work of pacification already is necessitating con-
stant expenses, the supposition that the real deficit
will exceed the amount above is not exaggerated.
"In order to arrest the gravity of the foregoing
considerations it is sufficient to state others in
respect to the future which makes a favourable
APPENDIX A 145
solution of the financial problems appear less re-
mote.
"On the one hand for some time the Government
has not believed the time has come to pay divers
claims which may be presented on account of dam-
ages caused by the revolution, although it is now
studying the particular way to recognise and
liquidate them, and in due time will have to sub-
mit a bill covering this matter to Congress.
' ' In the same order of ideas the Executive does
not believe that the payment of the public exterior
debt should be renewed until the deficit referred
to herein has been met. These two important re-
sponsibilities then may by the very force of cir-
cumstances be put off until later, and should there-
fore be excluded from consideration for the
present.
"On the other hand the present incomes, in
spite of the fact that conditions of the country
have not yet resumed normality, are in compari-
son greater than those which were being received
in the period before the revolution and in view of
this fact, which has some significance as showing
the vitality of our people, it is logical to hope
that when peace is re-established in the whole of
the Republic and railway service and communica-
tion in general are completely normalised, the
discrepancy between income and expenses will
gradually diminish until the day in which the dis-
crepancy, which is now one of the most serious
difficulties of the Government, shall disappear.
146 APPENDIX A
"As the indispensable bases for these objects
can be realised in the effective liquidation of the
present deficit, since its existence would indefi-
nitely retire the equilibrium desired, the Execu-
tive believes the time has come when it is neces-
sary to obtain a loan exclusively destined to fill
such objects, and hopes that the National Con-
gress, sharing with him the conviction that such
a means is the only effective way to meet this im-
portant emergency, will at once grant him the
authorisation necessary to begin due explorations
in financial centres in the Eepublic and in other
countries, impossible to know in advance even the
possibility of obtaining a loan of such a nature.
"On account of these same difficulties the
Executive could not propose to the Congress pre-
cise bases in respect to the exact amount of the
operation and the conditions of issue, maturity,
interest rate, etc., for the fixing of these details
principally depends on the conditions of the
world's financial markets which, as one of the
many effects of the war, have lost all stability and
it may be said change from day to day.
"Therefore, the Executive deems prudent to
ask at once the Congress of the Union to grant
him necessary powers to take all preliminary steps
which will permit him to fix in the proper time
these terms and possible conditions of the loan,
the nature of the guarantees that will try to be
established so far as possible on the basis that
it shall not impose a charge upon public taxes,
APPENDIX A 147
the class of contracts which should be entered into
with the holders of former obligations and all
other aspects of the operations, reserving the
right to submit them definitely to the Congress so
that the Houses may determine the propriety of
carrying the project into execution.
"The Executive, following the same tendencies
which prompted the Revolution to avoid any ex-
terior debt, will make all sorts of efforts to carry
out the financial transaction within the territory
of the Eepublic and will not apply to foreign
countries until he is convinced of the impossibility
of obtaining an interior loan.
"If this impossibility shall oblige him to dis-
obey the tendencies indicated, he believes in ad-
vance that his conduct will be justified in consid-
eration that the object he seeks is to definitely
reorganise by peaceful means the finances and
national public payments.
"In view of the foregoing, the Executive hopes
that the national representation will see fit to give
its approval to the bill hereto annexed. Mexico
City, July 7, 1917. V. Carranza (Bubrica)."
BILL PROPOSED
"The Congress of the United States of Mexico
in use of the power conceded by Section VIII, of
Article 73, of the federal constitution, has seen
fit to decree the following :
"Art. 1st. The Executive is authorised to nego-
148 APPENDIX A
tiate a loan up to 150,000,000 pesos to be exclu-
sively destined to cover the deficits met in the
national budgets until they are adjusted.
"Art. 2nd. The Executive is empowered to
contract the loan referred to in the foregoing
article either in the Eepublic or in foreign coun-
tries in the form of an operation over a long
period, or by obligations of the Treasury re-
deemable or convertible in a brief term according
to the greater or lesser difficulty encountered in
obtaining the funds.
"He is also empowered to stipulate the condi-
tions of interest, the type of interest, the form
of amortization, the guarantee, and all other ar-
rangements relating to the operation, including
the contracts to be entered into with the holders
of legitimate former obligations.
"Art. 3rd. All contracts entered into should
be submitted to the Congress of the Union so that
Congress may approve them as a condition prece-
dent to giving them value."
APPENDIX A 149
II
TRANSLATION Bill authorising the executive of
Mexico to negotiate a loan for the rehabilitation
of the National Bailways. From El Universal,
Mexico City, July 10, 1917.
LOAN OF FIFTY MILLION PESOS FOB THE NATIONAL
LINES.
WILL BE DESTINED TO THE REPAIR OF TRACK, REPLACE-
MENT OF EQUIPMENT AND THE REORGANISA-
TION OF SERVICE.
The Executive has sent to the Chamber of Depu-
ties a bill in which the National Representation is
informed that it is indispensable for the Govern-
ment to contract a loan of 50,000,000 pesos to cope
with the imperious necessities of the railway prob-
lem in the Republic.
The text of the bill is as follows :
STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION
By reason of the needs of the campaign, the
Constitutionalist Government found itself obliged
to take possession, first of certain lines of rail-
way crossing the country, and later of entire sys-
tems, very particularly of the system of the Na-
tional Railways of Mexico. To administer this
150 APPENDIX A
great organisation, the Constitutionalist Govern-
ment created an autonomous Department, called
Direction of Constitutionalist Railways. The
execution of such acts was not arbitrary, but based
on express provisions of the Railway Law.
This state of affairs and the destruction caused
by the war created a situation, special to the
Mexican Eailway and special to the National Rail-
way of Mexico Company, in which the Nation has
a preponderance of shares. This company re-
mains in existence to conserve its legal personal-
ity, and to administer certain properties outside
of the traffic service ; but the service of traffic was
suspended and the system of exploitation was
altered. This being so, on constitutional reorgani-
sation of the country, the National Government
must solve the grave problem of the rehabilitation
of the railway companies, that they may carry
on the service of traffic in the constant and sys-
tematic manner satisfactory to the needs of the
Nation, which cannot live without a proper service
of railway transport.
The condition of the National Railways of Mex-
ico Company particularly interests the Govern-
ment, as much because this system is the most
extensive and necessary for the national life, as
because the country has extended its guaranty
for the payment of its debt and is the owner of
the majority of its shares, by reason of which it
controls the system.
APPENDIX A 151
THE BAILWAY PEOBLEM
There are three problems related to the Na-
tional Eailways. First, the reconstruction of the
lines, including the repair of fixed material; the
construction of the works of art destroyed and the
replacement of equipment. The payment of the
indemnity which according to the Railway Law
the Government must make to the Company must
also be considered; in other terms, the first prob-
lem consists in the settlement between the Com-
pany and the Government. Second, the financial
reorganisation of the company, including the in-
dispensable arrangements with the Trust Com-
panies representing the bond holders, the consoli-
dation of the floating debt and the arrangements
relating to certain bonds to secure interests that
have matured. Third, the administrative and
technical reorganisation of the Company's serv-
ices, so that the system may be again operated by
the owner company on the new bases exacted by
the social transformation the Nation has suffered.
Of all these problems the most pressing is the
replacement of the lines, which public necessity is
imperiously demanding. At the same time the
solution of this problem is indispensable so the
rest may be studied and decided successfully.
The Executive of the Nation needs, then, to be
ready to cope with all the obligations related with
this preliminary problem, and for this needs the
authorisation of the Legislative Power in order to
152 APPENDIX A
obtain the indispensable amount of money. The
6 'modus operandi" of the investment of the neces-
sary sums, the preferred-claim nature that will
be given to the required moneys advanced, and the
further details and conditions of the expenditure
of the money, are secondary questions which can-
not be decided until the Government can dispose
of the sums to which I have referred.
For the foregoing reasons, the Executive of the
Union asks for the passage of the following DE-
CREE by the General Congress :
DECREE
SOLE AETICLE : The Executive of the Union
is authorised to charge the credit of the State up
to the sum of 50,000,000 pesos, destined to the re-
pair of track, replacement of equipment and the
reorganisation of the services of the National Rail-
ways of Mexico Company, it being understood that
the Executive shall submit to the General Con-
gress in advance the bases of the contracts he
may make and the investment of the loan he shall
obtain.
Mexico, July 9, 1917.
V. CARRANZA (Seal)
APPENDIX B
THE MEXICAN CONSTITUTION OF 1917
TRANSLATED BY
H. N. BRANCH, LL.B.
WITH A FOREWORD
BY
L. S. ROWE, PH.D., LL.D.
Copyright, 1917, by
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
All rights reserved
Here reproduced by courtesy of
THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
PHILADELPHIA
FOREWORD
The widespread interest in Mexican affairs has
led the Editorial Council of the Academy to ar-
range for the early publication of the Mexican
Constitution adopted at the recent Constitutional
Convention held in Queretaro. In a sense this
publication supplements the special volume issued
by the Academy in January last on i ' The Purposes
and Ideals of the Mexican Revolution."
Since the first movement for independence from
the mother country in 1810, Mexico has passed
through an extraordinary constitutional develop-
ment. The idea of a Republican form of govern-
ment made its way but slowly amongst the found-
ers of Mexican independence. Between 1810 and
1824 the opinion of the country wavered between
a constitutional monarchy and a republic. It is
true that the earliest Mexican Constitution that
adopted in Apatzingan by the first Constitutional
Convention provided for a Republican form of
government with an Executive composed of three
persons elected by the National Congress.
Amongst the members of this triumvirate, a sys-
tem of rotation in office was established under
which each exercised the powers of Chief Execu-
tive during a consecutive period of four months.
155
156 FOREWORD
This Constitution was regarded as provisional.
As soon as the struggle for independence was
over, the leaders planned to call another conven-
tion for the purposes of effecting the final organ-
isation of the country. During the period between
1815 and 1857, the country was torn by internal
strife and almost every conceivable form of Con-
stitutional systems was tried, ranging from a re-
publican triumvirate to the imperial system of
Iturbide.
The development of Federalism in Mexico
stands in marked contrast with the political evolu-
tion of the United States. In Mexico, Federalism
meant the sub-division of what had been, under
Spanish rule, a centralised, unified system; in the
United States, the establishment of a federal sys-
tem signified a closer union between separated
political units. In spite of the adoption of a fed-
eral system by Mexico in 1857, the highly central-
ised traditions of Spanish rule perpetuated them-
selves and finally resulted, under the Diaz admin-
istration, in the complete subordination of the
individual states to the national government.
The leaders of the revolutionary movement
against the Diaz regime were convinced that the
Constitution of 1857 had been used by self-seeking
politicians for personal ends and that its pro-
visions had contributed toward the domination of
the country by a self -constituted oligarchy. It is
not surprising, therefore, to find radical changes
in the Constitution of 1917. The revolutionary
FOREWORD 157
leaders, headed by Venustiano Carranza, hold that
the avowed purposes of the revolutionary move-
ment, namely to secure for the masses of the Mex-
ican people better economic and social conditions,
must be incorporated into the organic law and it
is their hope that thereby the country will be pro-
tected against a possible reactionary movement.
To what extent these hopes will be realised, the
future alone can determine.
The Academy is under obligation to Mr. H. N.
Branch for his admirable translation of the Con-
stitution of 1917.
L. S. BOWE.
University of Pennsylvania
May, 1917.
TITLE!
CHAPTER I
Of Personal Guarantees
Article 1. Every person in the United States of
Mexico shall enjoy all guarantees granted by this
Constitution; these shall neither be abridged nor
suspended except in such cases and under such
conditions as are herein provided. (See Art. 29.)
Art. 2. Slavery is forbidden in the United
States of Mexico. Slaves who enter the national
territory shall, by this act alone, recover their
freedom, and enjoy the protection of the law.
Art. 3. Instruction is free ; that given in public
institutions of learning shall be secular. Primary
instruction, whether higher or lower, given in pri-
vate institutions shall likewise be secular.
No religious corporation nor minister of any re-
ligious creed shall establish or direct schools of
primary instruction.
Private primary schools may be established only
subject to official supervision.
Primary instruction in public institutions shall
be gratuitous.
159
160 APPENDIX B
Art. 4. No person shall be prevented from en-
gaging in any profession, industrial or commercial
pursuit or occupation of his liking, provided it be
lawful. The exercise of this liberty shall only be
forbidden by judicial order when the rights of
third persons are infringed, or by executive order,
issued under the conditions prescribed by law,
when the rights of society are violated. No one
shall be deprived of the fruit of his labor except
by judicial decree.
Each State shall determine by law what profes-
sions shall require licenses, the requisites to be
complied with in obtaining the same, and the
authorities empowered to issue them.
Art. 5. No one shall be compelled to render
personal services without due compensation and
without his full consent, excepting labor imposed
as a penalty by judicial decree, which shall con-
form to the provisions of clauses I and II of
Article 123.
Only the following public services shall be ob-
ligatory, subject to the conditions set forth in the
respective laws: military service, jury service,
service in municipal and other public elective office,
whether this election be direct or indirect, and
service in connection with elections, which shall be
obligatory and without compensation.
The State shall not permit any contract, cov-
enant or agreement to be carried out having for
its object the abridgment, loss or irrevocable sacri-
APPENDIX B 161
fice of the liberty of man, whether by reason of
labor, education or religious vows. The law,
therefore, does not permit the establishment of
monastic orders, of whatever denomination, or for
whatever purpose contemplated.
Nor shall any person legally agree to his own
proscription or exile, or to the temporary or per-
manent renunciation of the exercise of any pro-
fession or industrial or commercial pursuit.
A contract for labor shall only be binding to
render the services agreed upon for the time fixed
by law and shall not exceed one year to the preju-
dice of the party rendering the service; nor shall
it in any case whatsoever embrace the waiver, loss
or abridgment of any political or civil right.
In the event of a breach of such contract on the
part of the party pledging himself to render the
service, the said party shall only be liable civilly
for damages arising from such breach, and in no
event shall coercion against his person be em-
ployed.
Art. 6. The expression of ideas shall not be the
subject of any judicial or executive investigation,
unless it offend good morals, impair the rights of
third parties, incite to crime or cause a breach of
the peace.
Art. 7. Freedom of writing and publishing writ-
ings on any subject is inviolable. No law or au-
thority shall have the right to establish censorship,
162 APPENDIX B
require bond from authors or printers, nor restrict
the liberty of the press, which shall be limited only
by the respect due to private life, morals and pub-
lic peace. Under no circumstances shall a printing
press be sequestrated as the corpus delicti.
The organic laws shall prescribe whatever pro-
visions may be necessary to prevent the imprison-
ment, under pretext of a denunciation of offenses
of the press, of the vendors, newsboys, workmen
and other employees of the establishment publish-
ing the writing denounced, unless their responsi-
bility be previously established.
Art. 8. Public officials and employees shall re-
spect the exercise of the right of petition, pro-
vided it be in writing and in a peaceful and re-
spectful manner; but this right may be exercised
in political matters solely by citizens.
To every petition there shall be given an answer
in writing by the official to whom it may be ad-
dressed, and the said official shall be bound to in-
form the petitioner of the decision taken within a
brief period.
Art. 9. The right peaceably to assemble or to
come together for any lawful purpose shall not be
abridged; but only citizens shall be permitted to
exercise this right for the purpose of taking part
in the political affairs of the country. No armed
assembly shall have the right to deliberate.
No meeting or assembly shall be deemed unlaw-
en *. co N> H
o r
APPENDIX B 163
ful, nor may it be dissolved, which shall have for
its purpose the petitioning of any authority or the
presentation of any protest against any act, pro-
vided no insults be proffered against the said au-
thority, nor violence resorted to, nor threats used
to intimidate or to compel the said authority to
render a favorable decision.
Art. 10. The inhabitants of the United States
of Mexico are entitled to have arms of any kind
in their possession for their protection and legiti-
mate defense, excepting such as are expressly pro-
hibited by law and such as the nation may reserve
for the exclusive use of the army, navy and na-
tional guard; but they shall not bear such arms
within inhabited places, except subject to the police
regulations thereof.
Art. 11. Every one has the right to enter and
leave the Eepublic, to travel through its territory
and change his residence without necessity of a
letter of security, passport, safe conduct or any
other similar requirement. The exercise of this
right shall be subordinated to the powers of the
judiciary, in the event of civil or criminal respon-
sibility, and to those of the executive, in so far as
relates to the limitations imposed by law in re-
gard to emigration, immigration, and the public
health of the country, or in regard to undesirable
foreigners resident in the country.
164 APPENDIX B
Art. 12. No titles of nobility, prerogatives or
hereditary honors shall be granted in the United
States of Mexico, nor shall any effect be given to
those granted by other countries.
Art. 13. No one shall be tried according to pri-
vate laws or by special tribunals. No person or
corporation shall have privileges nor enjoy emolu-
ments which are not in compensation for public
services and established by law. Military juris-
diction shall be recognized for the trial of criminal
cases having direct connection with military disci-
pline, but the military tribunals shall in no case
and for no reason extend their jurisdiction over
persons not belonging to the army. Whenever a
civilian shall be implicated in any military crime
or offense, the cause shall be heard by the corre-
sponding civil authorities.
Art. 14. No law shall be given retroactive effect
to the prejudice of any person whatsoever.
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty,
property, possessions or rights without due proc-
ess of law instituted before a duly created court,
in" which the essential elements of procedure are
observed and in accordance with previously exist-
ing laws.
In criminal cases no penalty shall be imposed
by mere analogy or even by a priori evidence, but
the penalty shall be decreed by a law in every
respect applicable to the crime in question.
APPENDIX B 165
In civil suits the final judgment shall be accord-
ing to the letter or the juridical interpretation of
the law; in the absence of the latter, the general
legal principles shall govern.
Art. 15. No treaty shall be authorized for the
extradition of political offenders, or of offenders
of the common class, who have been slaves in the
country where the offense was committed. Nor
shall any agreement or treaty be entered into
which abridges or modifies the guarantees and
rights which this constitution grants to the indi-
vidual and to the citizen.
Art. 16. No one shall be molested in his person,
family, domicile, papers or possessions, except by
virtue of an order in writing of the competent
authority setting forth the legal ground and justi-
fication for the action taken. No order of arrest
or detention shall be issued against any person
other than by competent judicial authority, nor
unless preceded by a charge, accusation or com-
plaint for a specific offense punishable by im-
prisonment, supported by an affidavit of a credible
party or by such other evidence as shall make the
guilt of the accused probable ; in cases in flagrante
delicto any person may arrest the offender and his
accomplices, placing them without delay at the
disposition of the nearest authorities. Only in
urgent cases instituted by the public attorney
without previous complaint or indictment (see
note to Art. 21) and when there is no judicial
166 APPENDIX B
authority available may the administrative au-
thorities, on their strictest accountability, order
the detention of the accused, placing him at the
disposition of the judicial authorities. Every
search warrant, which may only be issued by the
judicial authority and which must be in writing,
shall specify the place to be searched, the person
or persons to be arrested and the objects sought,
to which the proceeding shall be strictly limited;
at the conclusion of which, a detailed written state-
ment shall be drawn up in the presence of two
witnesses proposed by the occupant of the place to
be searched, or, in his absence or refusal, by the
official making the search.
Administrative officials may enter private
houses solely for the purpose of determining that
the sanitary and police regulations have been com-
plied with ; they may likewise demand the exhibi-
tion of books and documents necessary to prove
that the fiscal regulations have been obeyed, sub-
ject to the respective laws and to the formalities
prescribed for cases of search.
Art. 17. No one shall be imprisoned for debts
of a purely civil character. No one shall take
the law into his own hands, nor resort to violence
in the enforcement of his rights. The courts shall
be open for the administration of justice at such
times and under such conditions as the law may
establish ; their services shall be gratuitous and all
judicial costs are accordingly prohibited.
APPENDIX B 167
Art. 18. Detention shall be exercised only for
offenses meriting corporal punishment. The place
of detention shall be different and completely sep-
arated from that set apart for the serving of sen-
tences.
The Federal and State Governments shall or-
ganize in their respective territories the penal
system penal colonies or prisons on the basis of
labor as a means of regeneration. (See Art. 5
and Clauses I and II of Art. 123.)
Art. 19. No detention shall exceed three days
except for reasons specified in the formal order of
commitment, which shall set forth the offense
charged, the substance thereof, the time, place and
circumstances of its commission, and the facts
disclosed in the preliminary examination; these
facts must always be sufficient to establish the
corpus delicti and the probable guilt of the ac-
cused. All authorities ordering any detention or
consenting thereto, as well as all agents, subordi-
nates, wardens or jailers executing the same, shall
be liable for any breach of this provision.
The trial shall take place only for the offense or
offenses set forth in the formal order of commit-
ment. If it shall develop in the course of trial
that another offense different from that charged
has been committed, a separate accusation must be
brought. This, however, shall not prevent the
joinder of both causes of action, if deemed ad-
visable.
168 APPENDIX B
Any maltreatment during apprehension or con-
finement; any molestation inflicted without legal
justification; any exaction or contribution levied
in prison are abuses which the law shall correct
and the authorities repress.
Art. 20. In every criminal trial the accused
shall enjoy the following guarantees :
I. He shall be set at liberty on demand and
upon giving a bond up to ten thousand pesos, ac-
cording to Ms status and the gravity of the offense
charged, provided, however, that the said offense
shall not be punishable w T ith more than five years'
imprisonment ; he shall be set at liberty without
any further requisite than the placing of the stip-
ulated sum at the disposal of the proper authori-
ties or the giving of an adequate mortgage bond
or personal security.
II. He may not be forced to be a witness
against himself; wherefore denial of access or
other means looking towards this end is hereby
strictly prohibited.
III. He shall be publicly notified within forty-
eight hours after being turned over to the judicial
authorities of the name of his accuser and of the
nature of and cause for the accusation, so that he
may be familiar with the offense with which he is
charged, may reply thereto and make his prelim-
inary statement.
IV. He shall be confronted with the witnesses
against him, who shall testify in his presence if
APPENDIX B 169
they are to be found in the place where the trial
is being held, so that he may cross-examine them
in his defense.
V. All witnesses which he shall offer shall be
heard in his defense, as well as all evidence re-
ceived, for which he shall be given such time as
the law may prescribe; he shall furthermore be
assisted in securing the presence of any person or
persons whose testimony he may request, provided
they are to be found at the place of trial.
VI. He shall be entitled to a public trial by a
judge or jury of citizens who can read and write
and are also citizens of the place and district
where the offense shall have been committed, pro-i
vided the penalty for such offense be greater than
one year's imprisonment. The accused shall al-
ways be entitled to trial by jury for all offenses
committed by means of the press against the pub-
lic peace or against the safety, domestic or for-
eign, of the Republic.
VII. He shall be furnished with all information
of record needed for his defense.
VIII. He shall be tried within four months, if
charged with an offense the maximum penalty for
which does not exceed two years' imprisonment,
and within one year, if the maximum penalty be
greater.
IX. He shall be heard in his own defense, either
personally or by counsel, or by both, as he may
desire. In case he shall have no one to defend
him, a list of official counsel shall be submitted to
170 APPENDIX B
him in order that he may choose one or more to
act in his defense. If the accused shall not desire
to name any counsel for his defense, after having
been called upon to do so at the time of his pre-
liminary examination, the court shall appoint
counsel to defend him. The accused may name his
counsel immediately on arrest and shall be en-
titled to have him present at every stage of the
trial; but he shall be bound to make him appear
as often as required by the court.
X. In no event may imprisonment or detention
be extended through failure to pay counsel fees
or through any other pecuniary charge, by virtue
of any civil liability or other similar cause. Nor
shall detention be extended beyond the time set by
law as the maximum for the offense charged.
The period of detention shall be reckoned as a
part of the final sentence.
Art. 21. The imposition of all penalties is an
exclusive attribute of the judiciary. The prosecu-
tion of offenses belongs to the public prosecutor
and to the judicial police, who shall be under the
immediate command and authority of the public
prosecutor. The punishment of violations of
municipal and police regulations belongs to the
administrative authorities, and shall consist only
of a fine or of imprisonment not exceeding thirty-
six hours. Should the offender fail to pay the fine
this shall be substituted by the corresponding pe-
APPENDIX B 171
riod of arrest, which shall in no case exceed fifteen
days.
Should the offender be a workman or unskilled
laborer, he shall not be punished with a fine
greater than the amount of his weekly wage or
salary.
Art. 22. Punishments by mutilation and in-
famy, by branding, flogging, beating with sticks,
torture of any kind, excessive fines, confiscation of
property and any other penalties, unusual or
working corruption of the blood, are prohibited.
Attachment proceedings of the whole or part of
the property of any person made under judicial
authority to cover any civil liability arising out of
the commission of any offense, or by reason of the
imposition of any tax or fine, shall not be deemed
a confiscation of property.
Art. 23. Capital punishment is likewise for-
bidden for all political offenses ; in the case of of-
fenses other than political it shall only be imposed
for high treason committed during a foreign war,
parricide, murder with malice aforethought, ar-
son, adduction, highway robbery, piracy, and
grave military offenses.
Art. 24. Every one is free to embrace the re-
ligion of his choice and to practice all ceremonies,
devotions or observances of his respective creed,
either in places of public worship or at home, pro-
172 APPENDIX B
vided they do not constitute an offense punishable
by law.
Every religious act of public worship shall be
performed strictly within the places of public wor-
ship, which shall be at all times under govern-
mental supervision. ( Drawn largely from ' i Leyes
de Reforma" of December 14, 1874. See note to
Art. 130.)
Art. 25 Sealed correspondence sent through the
mails shall be free from search, and its violation
shall be punishable by law.
Art. 26. No member of the army shall in time
of peace be quartered in private dwellings, with-
out the consent of the owner ; nor shall he demand
any other exaction. In time of war the military
may demand lodging, equipment, provisions and
other assistance, in the manner provided by the
corresponding martial law.
Art. 27. The ownership of lands and waters
comprised within the limits of the national terri-
tory is vested originally in the Nation, which has
had, and has, the right to transmit title thereof to
private persons, thereby constituting private
property.
Private property shall not be expropriated ex-
cept for reasons of public utility and by means of
indemnification.
The Nation shall have at all times the right to
APPENDIX B 173
impose on private property such limitations as the
public interest may demand as well as the right to
regulate the development of natural resources,
which are susceptible of appropriation, in order
to conserve them and equitably to distribute the
public wealth. For this purpose necessary meas-
ures shall be taken to divide large landed estates ;
to develop small landed holdings ; to establish new
centers of rural population with such lands and
waters as may be indispensable to them; to en-
courage agriculture and to prevent the destruction
of natural resources, and to protect property from
damage detrimental to society. Settlements, ham-
lets situated on private property and communes
which lack lands or water or do not possess them
in sufficient quantities for their needs shall have
the right to be provided with them from the ad-
joining properties, always having due regard for
small landed holdings. Wherefore, all grants of
lands made up to the present time under the de-
cree of January 6, 1915, are confirmed. Private
property acquired for the said purposes shall be
considered as taken for public utility.
In the Nation is vested direct ownership of all
minerals or substances which in veins, layers,
masses, or beds constitute deposits whose nature
is different from the components of the land, such
as minerals from which metals and metaloids used
for industrial purposes are extracted ; beds of pre-
cious stones, rock salt and salt lakes formed di-
rectly by marine waters, products derived from
174 APPENDIX B
the decomposition of rocks, when their exploitation
requires underground work; phosphates which
may be used for fertilizers; solid mineral fuels;
petroleum and all hydrocarbons solid, liquid or
gaseous.
In the Nation is likewise vested the ownership
of the waters of territorial seas to the extent and
in the terms fixed by the law of nations ; those of
lakes and inlets of bays; those of interior lakes
of natural formation which are directly connected
with flowing waters ; those of principal rivers or
tributaries from the points at which there is a
permanent current of water in their beds to their
mouths, whether they flow to the sea or cross two
or more States; those of intermittent streams
which traverse two or more States in their main
body; the waters of rivers, streams, or ravines,
when they bound the national territory or that of
the States ; waters extracted from mines ; and the
beds and banks of the lakes and streams herein-
before mentioned, to the extent fixed by law. Any
other stream of water not comprised within the
foregoing enumeration shall be considered as an
integral part of the private property through
which it flows ; but the development of the waters
when they pass from one landed property to an-
other shall be considered of public utility and shall
be subject to the provisions prescribed by the
States.
In the cases to which the two foregoing para-
graphs refer, the ownership of the Nation is in-
APPENDIX B 175
alienable and may not be lost by prescription;
concessions shall be granted by the Federal Gov-
ernment to private parties or civil or commercial
corporations organized under the laws of Mexico,
only on condition that said resources be regularly
developed, and on the further condition that the
legal provisions be observed.
Legal capacity to acquire ownership of lands
and waters of the nation shall be governed by the
following provisions :
I. Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and
Mexican companies have the right to acquire own-
ership in lands, waters and their appurtenances,
or to obtain concessions to develop mines, waters
or mineral fuels in the Republic of Mexico. The
Nation may grant the same right to foreigners,
provided they agree before the Department of
Foreign Affairs to be considered Mexicans in re-
spect to such property, and accordingly not to in-
voke the protection of their Governments in re-
spect to the same, under penalty, in case of breach,
of forfeiture to the Nation of property so ac-
quired. Within a zone of 100 kilometers from the
frontiers, and of 50 kilometers from the sea coast,
no foreigner shall under any conditions acquire
direct ownership ot lands and waters.
II. The religious institutions known as churches,
irrespective of creed, shall in no case have legal
capacity to acquire, hold or administer real prop-
erty or loans made on such real property; all
such real property or loans as may be at present
176 APPENDIX B
held by the said religious institutions, either on
their own behalf or through third parties, shall
vest in the Nation, and any one shall have the
right to denounce property so held. Presumptive
proof shall be sufficient to declare the denuncia-
tion well-founded. Places of public worship are
the property of the Nation, as represented by the
Federal Government, which shall determine which
of them may continue to be devoted to their pres-
ent purposes. Episcopal residences, rectories,
seminaries, orphan asylums or collegiate estab-
lishments of religious institutions, convents or any
other buildings built or designed for the adminis-
tration, propaganda, or teaching of the tenets of
any religious creed shall forthwith vest, as of full
right, directly in the Nation, to be used exclusively
for the public services of the Federation or of the
States, within their respective jurisdictions. All
places of public worship which shall later be
erected shall be the property of the Nation.
III. Public and private charitable institutions
for the sick and needy, for scientific research, or
for the diffusion of knowledge, mutual aid so-
cieties or organizations formed for any other law-
ful purpose shall in no case acquire, hold or ad-
minister loans made on real property, unless the
mortgage terms do not exceed ten years. In no
case shall institutions of this character be under
the patronage, direction, administration, charge
or supervision of religious corporations or institu-
tions, nor of ministers of any religious creed or of
APPENDIX B 177
their dependents, even though either the former or
the latter shall not be in active service.
IV. Commercial stock companies shall not ac-
quire, hold, or administer rural properties. Com-
panies of this nature which may be organized to
develop any manufacturing, mining, petroleum or
other industry, excepting only agricultural indus-
tries, may acquire, hold or administer lands only
in an area absolutely necessary for their establish-
ments or adequate to serve the purposes indicated,
which the Executive of the Union or of the re-
spective State in each case shall determine.
V. Banks duly organized under the laws gov-
erning institutions of credit may make mortgage
loans on rural and urban property in accordance
with the provisions of the said laws, but they may
not own nor administer more real property than
that absolutely necessary for their direct pur-
poses ; and they may furthermore hold temporarily
for the brief term fixed by law such real property
as may be judicially adjudicated to them in execu-
tion proceedings.
VI. Properties held in common by co-owners,
hamlets situated on private property, pueblos,
tribal congregations and other settlements which,
as a matter of fact or law, conserve their com-
munal character, shall have legal capacity to en-
joy in common the waters, woods and lands be-
longing to them, or which may have been or shall
be restored to them according to the law of Jan-
uary 6, 1915, until such time as the manner of
178 APPENDIX B
making the division of the lands shall be deter-
mined by law.
VII. Excepting the corporations to which
Clauses III, IV, V and VI hereof refer, no other
civil corporation may hold or administer on its
own behalf real estate or mortgage loans derived
therefrom, with the single exception of buildings
designed directly and immediately for the pur-
poses of the institution. The States, the Federal
District and the Territories, as well as the munici-
palities throughout the Eepublic, shall enjoy full
legal capacity to acquire and hold all real estate
necessary for public services.
The Federal and State laws shall determine
within their respective jurisdictions those cases in
which the occupation of private property shall be
considered of public utility; and in accordance
with the said laws the administrative authorities
shall make the corresponding declaration. The
amount fixed as compensation for the expropriated
property shall be based on the sum at which the
said property shall be valued for fiscal purposes
in the catastral or revenue offices, whether this
value be that manifested by the owner or merely
impliedly accepted by reason of the payment oij
his taxes on such a basis, to which there shall be
added 10 per cent. The increased value which the
property in question may have acquired through
improvements made subsequent to the date of the
fixing of the fiscal value shall be the only matter
subject to expert opinion and to judicial determi-
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APPENDIX B 179
nation. The same procedure shall be observed in
respect to objects whose value is not recorded in
the revenue offices.
All proceedings, findings, decisions and all op-
erations of demarcation, concession, composition,
judgment, compromise, alienation, or auction
which may have deprived properties held in com-
mon by co-owners, hamlets situated on private
property, settlements, congregations, tribes and
other settlement organizations still existing since
the law of June 25, 1856, of the whole or a part of
their lands, woods and waters, are declared null
and void ; all findings, resolutions and operations
which may subsequently take place and produce
the same effects shall likewise be null and void.
Consequently all lands, forests and waters of
which the above-mentioned settlements may have
been deprived shall be restored to them according
to the decree of January 6, 1915, which shall re-
main in force as a constitutional law. In case the
adjudication of lands, by way of restitution, be
not legal in the terms of the said decree, which
adjudication have been requested by any of the
above entities, those lands shall nevertheless be
given to them by way of grant, and they shall in
no event fail to receive such as they may need.
Only such lands, title to which may have been ac-
quired in the divisions made by virtue of the said
law of June 25, 1856, or such as may be held in
undisputed ownership for more than ten years
are excepted from the provision of nullity, pro-
180 APPENDIX B
vided their area does not exceed fifty hectares.
(1 hectare = 2.47 acres.) Any excess over this
area shall be returned to the commune and the
owner shall be indemnified. All laws of restitu-
tion enacted by virtue of this provision shall be
immediately carried into effect by the administra-
tive authorities. Only members of the commune
shall have the right to the lands destined to be
divided, and the rights to these lands shall be in-
alienable so long as they remain undivided; the
same provision shall govern the right of owner-
ship after the division has been made. The exer-
cise of the rights pertaining to the Nation by vir-
tue of this article shall follow judicial process;
but as a part of this process and by order of the
proper tribunals, which order shall be issued
within the maximum period of one month, the ad-
ministrative authorities shall proceed without
delay to the occupation, administration, auction,
or sale of the lands and waters in question, to-
gether with all their appurtenances, and in no case
may the acts of the said authorities be set aside
until final sentence is handed down.
- During the next constitutional term, the Con-
gress and the State Legislatures shall enact laws,
within their respective jurisdictions, for the pur-
pose of carrying out the division of large landed
estates, subject to the following conditions :
(a) In each State and Territory there shall be
fixed the maximum area of land which any one
APPENDIX B 181
individual or legally organized corporation may
own.
(b) The excess of the area thus fixed shall be
subdivided by the owner within the period set by
the laws of the respective locality; and these sub-
divisions shall be offered for sale on such condi-
tions as the respective governments shall approve,
in accordance with the said laws.
(c) If the owner shall refuse to make the sub-
division, this shall be carried out by the local gov-
ernment, by means of expropriation proceedings.
(d) The value of the subdivisions shall be paid
in annual amounts sufficient to amortize the prin-
cipal and interest within a period of not less than
twenty years, during which the person acquiring
them may not alienate them. The rate of interest
shall not exceed 5 per cent per annum.
(e) The owner shall be bound to receive bonds
of a special issue to guarantee the payment of the
property expropriated. With this end in view, the
Congress shall issue a law authorizing the States
to issue bonds to meet their agrarian obligations.
(f) The local laws shall govern the extent of
the family patrimony, and determine what prop-
erty shall constitute the same on the basis of its
inalienability ; it shall not be subject to attachment
nor to any charge whatever.
All contracts and concessions made by former N
governments from and after the year 1876 which
shall have resulted in the monopoly of lands,
waters and natural resources of the Nation by a
182 APPENDIX B
single individual or corporation, are declared sub-
ject to revision, and the Executive is authorised to
declare those null and void which seriously preju-
v dice the public interest.
}s
Art. 28. There shall be no private nor govern-
mental monopolies of any kind whatsoever in the
United States of Mexico ; nor exemption from tax-
ation; nor any prohibition even under cover of
protection to industry, excepting only those relat-
ing to the coinage of money, to the postal, tele-
graphic, and radio-telegraphic services, to the is-
suance of bills by a single banking institution to
be controlled by the Federal Government, and to
the privileges which for a limited period the law
may concede to authors and artists for the repro-
duction of their work ; and lastly, to those granted
inventors or improvers of inventions for the ex-
clusive use of their inventions.
The law will accordingly severely punish and
the authorities diligently prosecute any accumulat-
ing or cornering by one or more persons of neces-
saries for the purpose of bringing about a rise in
price ; any act or measure which shall stifle or en-
deavor to stifle free competition in any produc-
tion, industry, trade or public service; any agree-
ment or combination of any kind entered into by
producers, manufacturers, merchants, common
carriers or other public or quasi-public service, to
stifle competition and to compel the consumer to
pay exorbitant prices; and in general whatever
APPENDIX B 183
constitutes an unfair and exclusive advantage in
favor of one or more specified person or persons
to the detriment of the public in general or of any
special class of society.
Associations of labor organized to protect their
own interests shall not be deemed a monopoly.
Nor shall cooperative associations or unions of
producers be deemed monopolies when, in defense
of their own interests or of the general public,
they sell directly in foreign markets national or
industrial products which are the principal source
of wealth of the region in which they are produced,
provided they be not necessaries, and provided
further that such associations be under the super-
vision or protection of the Federal Government or
of that of the States, and provided further that
authorization be in each case obtained from the
respective legislative bodies. These legislative
bodies may, either on their own initiative or on
the recommendation of the Executive, revoke,
whenever the public interest shall so demand, the
authorization granted for the establishment of the
associations in question.
Art. 29. In cases of invasion, grave disturbance
of the public peace, or any other emergency which
may place society in grave danger or conflict, the
President of the Republic of Mexico, and no one
else, with the concurrence of the council of minis-
ters, and with the approval of the Congress, or if
the latter shall be in recess, of the Permanent
184 APPENDIX B
Committee, shall have power to suspend through-
out the whole Eepublic or in any portion thereof,
such guarantees as shall be a hindrance in meet-
ing the situation promptly and readily; but such
suspension shall in no case be confined to a par-
ticular individual, but shall be made by means of
a general decree and only for a limited period. If
the suspension occur while the Congress is in ses-
sion, this body shall grant such powers as in its
judgment the Executive may need to meet the sit-
uation ; if the suspension occur while the Congress
is in recess, the Congress shall be convoked forth-
with for the granting of sueh powers.
CHAPTER II
Of Mexicans
Art. 30. Several of the provisions of this article
follow the Naturalization Law of May 28, 1886,
while others are a radical departure in the ju-
ridical theories hitherto accepted in Mexico. A
Mexican shall be such either by birth or by nat-
uralization.
I. Mexicans by birth are those born of Mexican
parents, within or without the Eepublic, provided
in the latter case the parents be also Mexicans by
birth. Persons born within the Eepublic of for-
eign parentage shall likewise be considered Mexi-
cans by birth, who within one year after they come
of age shall declare to the Department of Foreign
Affairs that they elect Mexican citizenship, and
APPENDIX B 185
who shall furthermore prove to the said Depart-
ment that they have resided within the country
during the six years immediately prior to the said
declaration.
II. Mexicans by naturalization are :
(a) The children of foreign parentage born in
the country, who shall elect Mexican citizenship in
the manner prescribed in the foregoing clause, and
in whom the residence qualification required in the
said section does not concur.
(b) Those persons who shall have resided in the
country for five consecutive years, have an honest
means of livelihood and shall have obtained nat-
uralization from the said Department of Foreign
Affairs.
(c) Those of mixed Indian and Latin descent
who may have established residence in the Repub-
lic, and shall have manifested their intention to
acquire Mexican citizenship.
In the cases stipulated in these sections, the law
shall determine the manner of proving the req-
uisites therein demanded.
Art. 31. It shall be the duty of every Mexican :
I. To compel the attendance at either private
or public schools of their children or wards, when
under fifteen years of age, in order that they may
receive primary instruction and military training
for such periods as the law of public instruction in
each State shall determine.
II. To attend on such days and at such hours as
186 APPENDIX B
the town council snail in each, case prescribe, to
receive such civic instruction and military training
as shall fit them to exercise their civic rights, shall
make them skillful in the handling of arms and
familiar with military discipline.
III. To enlist and serve in the national guard,
pursuant to the respective organic law for the
purpose of preserving and defending the inde-
pendence, territory, honour, rights and interests
of the country, as well as domestic peace and
order.
IV. To contribute in the proportional and equi-
table manner provided by law toward the public
expenses of the Federation, the State and the
municipality in which he resides.
r~ Art. 32. Mexicans shall be preferred under
equal circumstances to foreigners for all kinds of
concessions and for all public employments, offices
or commissions, when citizenship is not indispen-
sable. No foreigner shall serve in the army nor
in the police corps nor in any other department of
public safety during times of peace.
Only Mexicans by birth may belong to the na-
tional navy, or fill any office or commission therein.
The same requisite shall be required for captains,
pilots, masters and chief engineers of Mexican
merchant ships, as well as for two-thirds of the
members of the crew.
APPENDIX B 187
CHAPTER III
Of Aliens
Art. 33. Aliens are those who do not possess
the qualifications prescribed by Article 30. They
shall be entitled to the guarantees granted by
Chapter I, Title I, of the present Constitution ; but
the Executive shall have the exclusive right to ex-
pel from the Republic forthwith, and without judi-
cial process, any foreigner whose presence he may
deem inexpedient.
No foreigner shall meddle in any way whatso-
ever in the political affairs of the country.
CHAPTER IV
Of Mexican Citizens
Art. 34. Mexican citizenship shall be enjoyed
only by those Mexicans who have the following
qualifications :
I. Are over 21 years of age, if unmarried, and
over 18, if married.
II. Have an honest means of livelihood.
Art. 35. The prerogatives of citizens are :
I. To vote at popular elections
II. To be eligible for any elective office and be
qualified for any other office or commission, pro-
vided they have the other qualifications required
by law.
188 APPENDIX B
III. To assemble for the purpose of discussing
the political affairs of the country.
IV. To serve in the army or national guard for
the defense of the Eepublic and its institutions, as
by law determined.
V. To exercise the right of petition in any mat-
ter whatever.
Art. 36. It shall be the duty of every Mexican
citizen :
I. To register in the polls of the municipality,
setting forth any property he may own and his
professional or industrial pursuit, or occupation;
and also to register in the electoral registration
lists, as by law determined.
II. To enlist in the national guard.
III. To vote at popular elections in the electoral
district to which he belongs.
IV. To fill the elective Federal or State offices
to which he may be chosen, which service shall in
no case be gratuitous.
V. To serve on the town council of the munici-
pality wherein he resides and to perform all elec-
toral and jury service.
Art. 37. Citizenship shall be lost:
I. By naturalization in a foreign country.
II. By officially serving the government of an-
other country, or accepting its decorations, titles
or employment without previous permission of the
Federal Congress, excepting literary, scientific
APPENDIX B 189
and humanitarian titles which may be accepted
freely.
III. By compromising themselves in any way
before ministers of any religious creed or before
any other person not to observe the present Con-
stitution, or, the laws arising thereunder.
Art. 38. The rights or prerogatives of citizen-
ship shall be suspended for the following reasons :
I. Through failure to comply, without sufficient
cause, with any of the obligations imposed by
Article 36. This suspension shall last for one year
and shall be in addition to any other penalties
prescribed by law for the same offense.
II. Through being subjected to criminal prose-
cution for an offense punishable with imprison-
ment, such suspension to be reckoned from the
date of the formal order of commitment.
III. Throughout the term of imprisonment.
IV. Through vagrancy or habitual drunkenness,
declared in the manner provided by law.
V. Through being a fugitive from justice, the
suspension to be reckoned from the date of the
order of arrest until the prescription of the crim-
inal action.
VI. Through any final sentence which shall de-
cree as a penalty such suspension.
The law shall determine the cases in which civic
rights may be lost or suspended and the manner in
which they may be regained.
190 APPENDIX B
TITLE II
CHAPTER I
Of the National Sovereignty and Form of
Government
Art. 39. The national sovereignty is vested es-
sentially and originally in the people. All public
power emanates from the people, and is instituted
for their benefit. The people have at all times the
inalienable right to alter or modify the form of
their government.
Art. 40. It is the will of the Mexican people to
constitute themselves into a democratic, federal,
representative republic, consisting of States, free
and sovereign in all that concerns their internal
affairs, but united in a federation according to the
principles of this fundamental law.
Art. 41. The people exercise their sovereignty
through the federal powers in the matters belong-
ing to the Union, and through those of the States
in the matters relating to the internal administra-
tion of the latter. This power shall be exercised
in the manner respectively established by the Con-
stitutions, both Federal and State. The constitu-
tions of the States shall in no case contravene the
stipulations of the Federal constitution.
APPENDIX B 191
CHAPTER II
Of the Integral Parts of the Federation and the
National Territory
Art. 42. The national territory comprises the
integral parts of the Federation and the adjacent
islands in both oceans. It likewise comprises the
Island of Guadalupe, those of Revillagigedo, and
that of "La Pasion," situated in the Pacific Ocean.
Art. 43. The integral parts of the Federation
are: The States of Aguascalientes, Campeche,
Coahuila, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango,
Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico,
Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit (see Art. 47), Nuevo
Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi,
Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala,
Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas, the Federal Dis-
trict, the Territory of Lower California, and the
Territory of Quintana Koo.
Art. 44. The Federal District shall embrace its
present territory; in the event of the removal of
the Federal Powers to some other place it shall be
created into the State of the Valley of Mexico,
with such boundaries and area as the Federal Con-
gress shall assign to it.
Art. 45. The States and Territories of the Fed-
eration shall keep their present boundaries and
192 APPENDIX B
areas, provided no boundary question shall exist
between them.
Art. 46. The States having pending boundary
questions shall arrange or settle them as provided
by this Constitution.
Art. 47. The State of Nayarit shall have the
territorial area and boundaries at present com-
prising the Territory of Tepic.
Art. 48. The islands in both oceans embraced
within the national territory shall depend directly
on the Federal Government, excepting those over
which the States have up to the present time exer-
cised jurisdiction.
TITLE HI
CHAPTER I
Of the Division of Powers
Art. 49. The supreme power of the Federation
is divided for its exercise into legislative, execu-
tive and judicial.
Two or more of these powers shall never be
united in one person or corporation, nor shall the
legislative power be vested in one individual ex-
cept in the case of extraordinary powers granted
to the Executives, in accordance with the pro-
visions of Article 29.
APPENDIX B 193
CHAPTER II
Of the Legislative Power
Art. 50. The legislative power of the United
States of Mexico is vested in a general Congress
which shall consist of a House of Representatives
and a Senate.
SECTION I
Of the Election and Installation of the Congress
Art. 51. The House of Representatives shall
consist of representatives of the Nation, all of
whom shall be elected every two years by the
citizens of Mexico.
Art. 52. One Representative shall be chosen for
each 60,000 inhabitants or for any fraction thereof
exceeding 20,000, on the basis of the general census
of the Federal District and of each State and
Territory. Any State or Territory in which the
population shall be less than that fixed by this
article shall, nevertheless, elect one Representa-
tive.
Art. 53. There shall be elected an alternate for
each Representative.
Art. 54. The election of Representatives shall be
direct, in accordance with the provisions of the
electoral law.
194 APPENDIX B
Art. 55. Eepresentatives shall have the follow-
ing qualifications :
I. They shall be Mexican citizens by birth (see
Art. 30) and in the enjoyment of their rights.
II. They shall be over twenty-five years of age
on the day of election.
III. They shall be natives of the States or Ter-
ritories respectively electing them, or domiciled
and actually resident therein for six months im-
mediately prior to the election. The domicile shall
not be lost through absence in the discharge of any
elective office.
IV. They shall not be in active service in the
Federal army, not have any command in the police
corps or rural constabulary in the districts where
the elections respectively take place, for at least
ninety days immediately prior to the election.
V. They shall not hold the office of secretary nor
assistant secretary of any executive department
nor of justice of the supreme court, unless they
shall have resigned therefrom ninety days imme-
diately prior to the election.
No State Governor, Secretary of State of the
several States, nor State Judge shall be eligible in
the Districts within their several jurisdictions, un-
less they shall have resigned from their office
ninety days immediately prior to the day of elec-
tion.
VI. They shall not be ministers of any religious
creed.
APPENDIX B 195
Art. 56. The Senate shall consist of two Sen-
ators from each State and two from the Federal
District, chosen in direct election.
Each State Legislature shall certify to the elec-
tion of the candidate who shall have obtained a
majority of the total number of votes cast.
Art. 57. There shall be elected an alternate for
each Senator.
Art. 58. Each Senator shall serve four years.
The Senate shall be renewed by half every two
years.
Art. 59. The qualifications necessary to be a
Senator shall be the same as those necessary to be
a Eepresentative, excepting that of age, which
shall be over thirty-five on the day of election.
Art. 60. Each House shall be the judge of the
election of its members and shall decide all ques-
tions arising therefrom.
Its decisions shall be final.
Art. 61. Eepresentatives and Senators are in-
violable for opinions expressed by them in the dis-
charge of their duties, and shall never be called to
account for them.
Art. 62. Kepresentatives and Senators shall be
disqualified during the terms for which they have
been elected from holding any Federal or
196 APPENDIX B
commission or office for which any emolument is
received without previous permission of the re-
spective House; in the event of their accepting
such commission or office they shall forthwith lose
their representative character for such time as
they shall hold such appointive office. The same
provision shall apply to alternate Representatives
and Senators, when in active service. The viola-
tion of this provision shall be punished by for-
feiture of the office of Representative or Senator.
Art. 63. The Houses shall not open their ses-
sions nor exercise their functions without a
quorum, in the Senate of two-thirds, and in the
House of Representatives of a majority of the
total membership; but the members present of
either House shall meet on the day appointed by
law and compel the attendance of the absentees
within the next thirty days, and they shall warn
them that failure to comply with this provision
shall be taken to be a refusal of office, and the
corresponding alternates shall be summoned forth-
with ; the latter shall have a similar period within
which to present themselves, and on their failure
to do so the seats shall be declared vacant and new
elections called.
Representatives or Senators who shall be ab-
sent during ten consecutive days without proper
cause or without leave of the President of the re-
spective House, notice of which shall be duly com-
municated to the House, shall be understood as
APPENDIX B 197
waiving their right to attend until the next ses-
sion, and their alternates shall be summoned with-
out delay.
If there shall be no quorum to organise either of
the Houses or to continue their labours, once or-
ganised, the alternates shall be ordered to present
themselves as soon as possible for the purpose of
taking office until the expiration of the thirty days
hereinbefore mentioned.
Art. 64. No Representative or Senator who
shall fail to attend any daily session without
proper cause or without previous permission of
the respective House, shall be entitled to the com-
pensation corresponding to the day on which he
shall have been absent.
Art. 65. The Congress shall meet on the first
day of September of each year in regular session
for the consideration of the following matters :
I. To audit the accounts of the previous year
which shall be submitted to the House of Repre-
sentatives not later than ten days after the open-
ing of the session. The audit shall not be confined
to determining whether the expenditures do or do
not conform with the respective items in the
Budget, but shall comprise an examination of the
exactness of, and authorisation for, payments
made thereunder, and of any liability arising from
such payments.
No other secret items shall be permitted than
198 APPENDIX B
those which the Budget may consider necessary as
such; these amounts shall be paid out by the sec-
retaries of executive departments under written
orders of the President.
II. To examine, discuss and approve the Budget
for the next fiscal year, and to lay such taxes as
may be needed to meet the expenditures.
III. To study, discuss and vote on all bills pre-
sented and to discuss all other matters incumbent
upon the Congress by virtue of this Constitution.
Art. 66. The regular session of the Congress
shall last the period necessary to deal with all of
the matters mentioned in the foregoing article, but
it may not be extended beyond the thirty-first day
of December of the same year. Should both
Houses fail to agree as to adjournment prior to
the above date, the matter shall be decided by the
Executive.
Art. 67. The Congress shall meet in extraordi-
nary session whenever so summoned by the Presi-
dent, but in such event it shall consider only the
matter or matters submitted to it by the President,
who shall enumerate it or them in the respective
call. The President shall have power to convene
in extraordinary session only one of the Houses
when the matter to be referred to it pertains to its
exclusive jurisdiction.
Art. 68. Both Houses shall hold their meetings
in the same place and shall not move to another
APPENDIX B 199
without having first agreed upon the moving and
the time and manner of accomplishing it, as well
as upon the place of meeting, which shall be the
same for both Houses. If both Houses agree to
change their meeting place but disagree as to the
time, manner and place the President shall settle
the question by choosing one of the two proposals.
Neither House may suspend its sessions for more
than three days without the consent of the other.
Art. 69. The President of the Eepublic shall
attend at the opening of the sessions of the Con-
gress, whether regular or extraordinary, and shall
submit a report in writing; this report shall, in the
former case, relate to the general state of the
Union; and in the latter, it shall explain to the
Congress or to the House addressed the reasons
or causes which rendered the call necessary and
the matters requiring immediate attention.
Art. 70. Every measure of the Congress shall
be in the form of a law or decree. The laws or
decrees shall be communicated to the Executive
after having been signed by the Presidents of both
Houses and by one of the secretaries of each.
When promulgated, the enacting clause shall read
as follows :
"The Congress of the United States of Mexico
decrees (text of the law or decree )."
200 APPENDIX B
SECTION II
Of the Origin and Formation of the Laws
Art. 71. The right to originate legislation per-
tains :
I. To the President of the Republic;
II. To the Representatives and Senators of the
Congress ;
III. To the State Legislatures.
Bills submitted by the President of the Republic,
by State Legislatures or by delegations of the
States shall be at once referred to committee.
Those introduced by Representatives or Senators
shall be subject to the rules of procedure.
Art, 72. Bills, action on which shall not pertain
exclusively to one of the Houses, shall be discussed
first by one and then by the other, according to the
rules of procedure as to the form, time of pres-
entation and other details relative to discussions
and votes.
(a) After a bill has been approved in the House
where it originated it shall be sent to the other
House for consideration. If passed by the latter
it shall be transmitted to the President who, if he
has no observations to make thereto, shall imme-
diately promulgate it.
(b) Bills not returned by the Executive within
ten working days with his observations to the
House in which they originated, shall be consid-
APPENDIX B 201
ered approved, unless during the said ten days
the Congress shall have adjourned or suspended
its sessions, in which event they shall be returned
on the first working day after the Congress shall
have reconvened.
(c) Bills rejected in whole or in part by the
Executive shall be returned with his observations
to the House where they originated. They shall
be discussed anew by this House and if confirmed
by a two-thirds majority vote of the total mem-
bership shall be sent to the other House for re-
consideration. If approved by it, also by the
same majority vote, the bill shall become law and
shall be returned to the Executive for promulga-
tion.
The voting in both Houses shall be by yeas and
nays.
(d) Bills totally rejected by the House not orig-
inating them shall be returned with the proper
observations to the House of origin. If examined
anew and approved by a majority of the mem-
bers present, they shall be returned to the House
rejecting them, which shall once again take them
under consideration, and if approved by it, like-
wise by the same majority vote, they shall be sent
to the Executive for the purposes of Clause A;
but if the said House fail to approve them, they
shall not be reintroduced in the same session.
(e) Bills rejected in part or modified or
amended by the House of revision shall be dis-
cussed anew in the House of origin, but the dis-
202 APPENDIX B
cussion shall be confined to the portion rejected
or to the amendments or additions, without the
approved articles being altered in any respect. If
the additions or amendments made by the House
of revision be approved by a majority vote of the
members present in the House of origin, the bill
shall be transmitted to the Executive for the pur-
poses of Clause A ; but if the amendments or ad-
ditions by the House of revision be rejected by a
majority vote of the House of origin they shall
be returned to the former House in order that the
reasons set forth by the latter may be taken into
consideration. If in this second revision the said
additions or amendments be rejected by a major-
ity vote of the members present the portion of the
bill which has been approved by both Houses shall
be sent to the Executive for the purposes of Clause
A. If the House of revision insist by a majority
vote of the members present upon the additions
or amendments, no action shall be taken on the
whole bill until the next session, unless both
Houses agree, by a majority vote of the members
present, to the promulgation of the law without
the articles objected to, which shall be left till the
next session, when they shall be then discussed
and voted upon.
(f) The same formalities as are required for
the enactment of laws shall be observed for their
interpretation, amendment or repeal.
(g) No bill rejected in the House of origin be-
APPENDIX B 203
fore passing to the other House shall be reintro-
duced during the session of that year.
(h) Legislative measures may be originated in
either House, excepting bills dealing with loans,
taxes or imposts, or with the raising of troops,
which must have their origin in the House of
Kepresentatives.
(i) Whenever a bill shall be presented to one
House it shall be first discussed there unless one
month shall have elapsed since it was referred to
committee and not reported, in which event an
identical bill may be presented and discussed in
the other House.
(j) The President shall not make any observa-
tions touching the resolutions of the Congress or
of either House when acting as an electoral body
or as a grand jury, nor when the House of Repre-
sentatives shall declare that there are grounds to
impeach any high federal authority for official
offences.
Nor shall he make any observations touching
the order for a call issued by the Permanent
Committee as provided in Article 84.
SECTION in
Of the Powers of the Congress
Art. 73. The Congress shall have power :
I. To admit new States or Territories into the
Federal Union.
204 APPENDIX B
II. To grant statehood to Territories which
have a population of eighty thousand inhabitants
and the necessary means to provide for their
political existence.
III. To form new States within the boundaries
of existing ones, provided the following requisites
are complied with :
1. That the section or sections aspiring to
statehood have a population of one hundred and
twenty thousand inhabitants at least ;
2. That proof be given to the Congress that it
has sufficient means to provide for its political
existence ;
3. That the legislatures of the States affected
be heard as to the advisability or inadvisability
of granting such statehood, which opinion shall be
given within six months reckoned from the day
on which the respective communication is for-
warded ;
4. That the opinion of the Executive of the
Federal Government be also heard on the subject;
this opinion shall be given within seven days after
the date on which it was requested.
5. That the creation of the new State be voted
upon favorably by two-thirds of the Bepresenta-
tives and Senators present in their respective
Houses.
6. That the resolution of the Congress be
ratified by a majority of the State Legislatures,
upon examination of a copy of the record of the
case, provided that the Legislatures of the States
APPENDIX B 205
to which the section belongs shall have given their
consent.
7. That the ratification referred to in the fore-
going clause be given by two-thirds of the legis-
latures of the other States, if the legislatures of
the States to which the Section belongs have not
given their consent.
IV. To settle finally the limits of the States,
terminating the differences which may arise be-
tween them relative to the demarcation of their
respective territories, except when the differences
be of a litigious nature.
V. To change the residence of the supreme
powers of the Federation.
VI. To legislate in all matters relating to the
Federal District and the Territories, as herein-
after provided :
1. The Federal District and the Territories
shall be divided into municipalities, each of which
shall have the area and population sufficient for
its own support and for its contribution toward
the common expenses.
2. Each municipality shall be governed by a
town council elected by direct vote of the people.
3. The Federal District and each of the Terri-
tories shall be administered by governors under
the direct orders of the President of the Eepublic.
The Governor of the Federal District shall de-
spatch with the President, and the Governor of
each Territory shall despatch with the President
through the duly constituted channels. The Gov-
206 APPENDIX B
ernor of the Federal District and the Governor of
each Territory shall be appointed by the Presi-
dent and may be removed by him at will.
4. The Superior Judges and those of First In-
stance of the Federal District as well as of the
Territories shall be named by the Congress, act-
ing in each case as an electoral college. In the
temporary or permanent absences of the said
Superior Judges these shall be replaced by ap-
pointment of the Congress, and in recess by tem-
porary appointments of the Permanent Com-
mittee. The organic law shall determine the man-
ner of filling temporary vacancies in the case of
judges, and shall designate the authority before
whom they shall be called to account for any
dereliction, excepting the provisions of this Con-
stitution with regard to the responsibility of offi-
cials. From and after the year 1923 the Superior
Judges and those of First Instance to which this
clause refers may only be removed from office for
bad conduct and after impeachment, unless they
shall have been promoted to the next higher grade.
From and after the said date the compensation
enjoyed by said officials shall not be diminished
during their term of office.
5. The office of the Public Attorney (Minis-
terio Publico) of the Federal District and of the
Territories, shall be in charge of an Attorney
General, who shall reside in the City of Mexico,
and of such Public Attorney or Attorneys as the
law may determine; the said Attorney General
APPENDIX B 207
shall be under the direct orders of the President
of the Republic, who shall appoint and remove
him at will.
VII. To lay the taxes necessary to meet the
expenditures of the budget.
VIII. To establish the bases upon which the
Executive may make loans on the credit of the
nation ; to approve the said loans and to acknowl-
edge and order the payment of the national debt.
IX. To enact tariff laws on foreign commerce
and to prevent restrictions from being imposed on
interstate commerce.
X. To legislate for the entire Republic in all
matters relating to mining, commerce, and insti-
tutions of credit, and to establish the sole bank of
issue, as provided in Article 28 of this Constitu-
tion.
XL To create or abolish Federal offices, and
to fix, increase, or decrease the compensations as-
signed thereto.
XII. To declare war, upon examination of the
facts submitted by the Executive.
XIII. To regulate the manner in which letters
of marque may be issued ; to enact laws according
to which prizes on sea and land shall be adjudged
valid or invalid ; and to frame the admiralty law
for times of peace and war.
XIV. To raise and maintain the army and
navy of the Union, and to regulate their organiza-
tion and service.
XV. To make rules for the organization and
208 APPENDIX B
discipline of the National Guard, reserving for the
citizens who compose it the right of appointing
their respective commanders and officers, and to
the States the power of instructing it in conform-
ity with the discipline prescribed by the said
regulations.
XVI. To enact laws on citizenship, naturaliza-
tion, colonization, emigration, immigration and
public health of the Eepublic.
1. The Public Health Service shall depend di-
rectly upon the President of the Eepublic, with-
out the intervention of any executive depart-
ment, and its general provisions shall be binding
throughout the Eepublic.
2. In the event of epidemics of a grave or dan-
gerous nature, of the invasion of diseases from
abroad, the Public Health Service shall put into
force without delay the necessary preventive
measures, subject to their subsequent sanction by
the President of the Eepublic.
3. The sanitary authorities shall have execu-
tive faculties and their determinations shall be
obeyed by the administrative authorities of the
country.
- 4. All measures which the Public Health Serv-
ice shall have put into effect in its campaign
against alcoholism and the sale of substances in-
jurious to man and tending to degenerate the race
shall be subsequently revised by the Congress, in
such cases as fall within the jurisdiction of the
latter.
APPENDIX B 209
XVII. To enact laws on general means of
communication, postroads and post offices and to
enact laws as to the use and development of the
waters subject to the Federal jurisdiction.
XVIII. To establish mints, regulate the value
and kinds of the national coin, fix the value of
foreign moneys, and adopt a general system of
weights and measures.
XIX. To make rules for the occupation and
alienation of public lands and the prices thereof.
XX. To enact laws as to the organization of
the diplomatic and consular services.
XXI. To define the crimes and offenses against
the Nation and to fix the penalties therefor.
XXII. To grant pardons for offenses subject
to federal jurisdiction.
XXIII. To make rules for its internal govern-
ment and to enact the necessary provisions to
compel the attendance of absent Representatives
and Senators and to punish the acts of commis-
sion or omission of those present.
XXIV. To issue the organic law of the office
of the Comptroller of the Treasury.
XXV. To sit as an electoral college and to
name the Justices of the Supreme Court, and the
Superior and Inferior Judges of the Federal Dis-
trict and Territories.
XXVI. To accept the resignation of the Jus-
tices of the Supreme Court and of the Superior
and Inferior Judges of the Federal District and
210 APPENDIX B
Territories, and to name substitutes in their ab-
sence and to appoint their successors.
XXVII. To establish professional schools of
scientific research and fine arts, vocational, agri-
cultural and trade schools, museums, libraries,
observatories and other institutes of higher learn-
ing, until such time as these establishments can
be supported by private funds. These powers
shall not pertain exclusively to the Federal Gov-
ernment.
All degrees conferred by any of the above in-
stitutions shall be valid throughout the Eepublic.
XXVIII. To sit as an electoral college and to
choose the person to assume the office of Presi-
dent of the Eepublic, either as a substitute Presi-
dent or as a President ad interim in the terms
established by Articles 84 and 85 of this Constitu-
tion.
XXIX. To accept the resignation of the Presi-
dent of the Eepublic.
XXX. To audit the accounts which shall be
submitted annually by the Executive; this audit
shall comprise not only the checking of the items
disbursed under the Budget but the exactness of
and authorization for the expenditures in each
case.
XXXI. To make all laws necessary for carry-
ing into execution the foregoing powers and all
other powers vested by this Constitution in the
several branches of the Government.
APPENDIX B 211
Art. 74. The House of Representatives shall
have the following exclusive powers :
I. To sit as an electoral college to exercise the
powers conferred by law as to the election of the
President.
II. To watch by means of a committee ap-
pointed from among its own members over the
faithful performance by the Comptroller of the
Treasury in the discharge of his duties.
III. To appoint all the higher officers and
other employees of the office of the Comptroller
of the Treasury.
IV. To approve the annual Budget, after a dis-
cussion as to what taxes must in its judgment be
laid to meet the necessary expenditures.
V. To take cognizance of all charges brought
against public officials, as herein provided, for
official offenses, and should the circumstances so
warrant to impeach them before the Senate ; and
further to act as a grand jury to decide whether
there is or is not good ground for proceeding
against any official enjoying constitutional privi-
leges, whenever accused of offenses of the common
order.
VI. To exercise such other powers as may be
expressly vested in it by this Constitution.
Art. 75. The House of Representatives, in
passing the Budget, shall not fail to assign a defi-
nite compensation to every office created by law,
and if for any reason such compensation shall not
APPENDIX B
be assigned, the amount fixed in the preceding
Budget or in the law creating the office shall be
presumed to be assigned.
Art. 76. The Senate shall have the following
exclusive powers :
I. To approve the treaties and diplomatic con-
ventions concluded by the Executive with foreign
powers.
II. To confirm the nominations made by the
President of diplomatic ministers or agents, con-
suls general, higher officials of the treasury,
colonels and other superior officers of the army
and navy, in the manner and form by law pro-
vided.
III. To authorize the Executive to allow na-
tional troops to go beyond the limits of the Ee-
public, or to permit foreign troops to pass
through the national territory, and to consent to
the presence of fleets of another nation for more
than one month in Mexican waters.
IV. To consent to the Executive disposing of
the national guard outside of the limits of its re-
spective States or Territories, and to fix the
amount of the force to be used.
V. To declare, when all the constitutional
powers of any State have disappeared, that the
occasion has arisen to give to the said State a
provisional governor, who shall call for elections
to be held according to the constitution and laws
of the said State. The appointment of such a
APPENDIX B 213
governor shall be made by the Senate with the
approval of two-thirds of its members present or
during recess by the Permanent Committee by the
same two-thirds majority, from among three
names submitted by the President. The official
thus selected shall not be chosen constitutional
governor in the elections to be held under the call
which he shall issue. This provision shall gov-
ern whenever the State Constitutions do not pro-
vide for the contingency.
VI. To sit as a Grand Jury to take cognizance
of such official offenses of functionaries as are ex-
pressly prescribed by this Constitution.
VII. To exercise such other powers as may be
expressly vested in it by this Constitution.
VIII. To adjust all political questions arising
between the powers of a State whenever one of
them shall appeal to the Senate or whenever by
virtue of such differences a clash of arms has
arisen to interrupt the constitutional order. In
this event the Senate shall decide in accordance
with the Federal Constitution and the Constitu-
tion of the State involved.
The exercise of this power and of the foregoing
shall be regulated by law.
Art. 77. Each House may, without the inter-
vention of the other:
I. Pass resolutions upon matters exclusively
relating to its own interior government.
II. Communicate with the other House, and
214 APPENDIX B
with the Executive through committees appointed
from among its members.
III. Appoint the employees in the office of its
secretary, and make all rules and regulations for
the said office.
IV. Issue a call for extraordinary elections to
fill any vacancies which may occur in its member-
ship.
SECTION rv
Of the Permanent Committee
Art. 78. During the recess of the Congress
there shall be a Permanent Committee consisting
of twenty-nine members, fifteen of whom shall be
Representatives and fourteen Senators, appointed
by the respective Houses on the eve of the day of
adjournment.
Art. 79. In addition to the powers expressly
vested in it by this Constitution, the Permanent
Committee shall have the following powers:
I. To give its consent to the use of the national
guard as provided in Article 76, Clause IV.
II. To administer the oath of office, should the
occasion arise, to the President, to the Justices of
the Supreme Court, to the Superior Judges of the
Federal District and Territories, on such occa-
sions as the latter officials may happen to be in the
City of Mexico.
APPENDIX B 215
III. To report on all pending matters, so that
they may be considered in the next session.
IV. To call extraordinary sessions in the case
of official offenses or offenses of the common order
committed by Secretaries of Executive Depart-
ments or Justices of the Supreme Court, and offi-
cial offenses committed by State Governors, pro-
vided the case shall have been already instituted
by the Committee of the Grand Jury, in which
event no other business of the Congress shall be
considered, nor shall the sessions be prolonged
beyond the time necessary for a decision.
CHAPTEB m
Of the Executive Power
Art. 80. The exercise of the supreme executive
power of the Union is vested in a single indi-
vidual, who shall be called "President of the
United States of Mexico. "
Art. 81. The election of President shall be di-
rect, in accordance with the terms of the electoral
law.
Art. 82. The President of the Republic shall
have the following qualifications:
I. He shall be a Mexican citizen by birth, in
the full enjoyment of his rights, and he must be
the son of Mexican parents by birth.
216 APPENDIX B
II. He shall be over thirty-five years of age
at the time of election.
III. He shall have resided in the country dur-
ing the entire year prior to the election.
IV. He shall not belong to the ecclesiastical
state nor be a minister of any religious creed.
V. In the event of belonging to the army, he
shall have retired from active service 90 days im-
mediately prior to the election.
VI. He shall not be a secretary or assistant
secretary of any executive department, unless he
shall have resigned from office 90 days prior to
the election.
VII. He shall not have taken part, directly or
indirectly, in any uprising, riot or military coup.
Art. 83. The President shall enter upon the
duties of his office on the first day of December,
shall serve four years and shall never be re-
elected.
The citizen who shall replace the constitutional
President in the event of his permanent disability
shall not be elected President for the ensuing
term.
Nor shall the person designated as Acting
President during the temporary disabilities of the
constitutional President be re-elected President
for the ensuing term.
Art. 84. In the event of the permanent disabil-
ity of the President of the Eepublic, if this shall
APPENDIX B 217
occur within the first two years of the respective
term, the Congress, if in session, shall forthwith
act as an electoral college, and with the attendance
of at least two-thirds of its total membership shall
choose a President by secret ballot and by a ma-
jority vote*, and the same Congress shall issue
the call for Presidential elections and shall en-
deavor to have the date set for this event as far
as possible coincide with the date of the next elec-
tion of Representatives and Senators to Congress.
Should the disability of the President occur
while Congress is in recess, the Permanent Com-
mittee shall forthwith designate a President ad
interim who shall call Congress together in
extraordinary session, in order that it may in turn
issue the call for Presidential elections in the man-
ner provided in the foregoing paragraph.
Should the disability of the President occur in
the last two years of the respective term, the
Congress, if in session, shall choose the substitute
to conclude the period of the presidential term; if
Congress shall not be in session the Permanent
Committee shall choose a President ad interim
and shall summon Congress in extraordinary ses-
sion, in order that it may act as an electoral college
and proceed to the election of the substitute
President.
The President ad interim may be chosen by
Congress as substitute President.
The citizen designated as President ad interim
for the purpose of calling elections, in the event
218 APPENDIX B
of the disability of the President within the two
first years of the respective term, shall not be
chosen in the elections held to fill such vacancy
and for which he was designated.
Art. 85. If the President-Elect shall fail to
present himself at the beginning of any constitu-
tional term, or the election not have been held and
the result made known by the first of December,
the outgoing President shall nevertheless vacate
office and the President ad interim chosen by the
Congress, or in its recess by the Permanent Com-
mittee, shall forthwith assume the executive
power. All action taken hereunder shall be gov-
erned by the provisions of the foregoing article.
In case of a temporary disability of the
President, the Congress, or the Permanent Com-
mittee if the Congress shall not be in session, shall
designate an Acting President during such dis-
ability. If a temporary disability shall become
permanent, the action prescribed in the preceding
article shall be taken.
In the event of a leave of absence granted to
the President of the Eepublic the person acting
in his stead shall not be disqualified from being
elected in the ensuing period, provided he shall
not have been in office during the holding of elec-
tions.
Art. 86. The President shall not resign office
except for grave cause, upon which the Congress
APPENDIX B 219
shall pass, to which body the resignation shall be
tendered.
Art. 87. The President, before entering upon
the discharge of the duties of his office, shall make
the following affirmation before the Congress, or
in its recess before the Permanent Committee:
"I do solemnly affirm that I will defend and
enforce the Constitution of the United States of
Mexico and the laws arising thereunder and that
I will faithfully and conscientiously perform the
duties of President of the United States of Mex-
ico, to which I have been chosen by the people,
having ever in mind the welfare and prosperity
of the Nation; if I shall fail to do so, may the
Nation call me to account. "
Art. 88. The President shall not absent him-
self from the national territory without the per-
mission of the Congress.
Art. 89. The President shall have the following
powers and duties :
I. To promulgate and execute the laws enacted
by the Congress, providing, within the executive
sphere, for their faithful observance.
II. To appoint and remove at will the Secre-
taries of Executive Departments, the Attorney
General of the Kepublic, the Governor of the Fed-
eral District, the Governors of Territories, the
Attorney General of the Federal District and
220 APPENDIX B
Territories; and to appoint and remove at will
all other Federal employees whose appointment
or removal is not otherwise provided for by law
or in this Constitution.
III. To appoint, with the approval of the
Senate, all ministers, diplomatic agents and con-
suls general.
IV. To appoint, with the approval of the Sen-
ate, the colonels and other superior officers of the
army and navy and the superior officials of the
treasury.
V. To appoint all other officers of the national
army and navy, as by law provided.
VI. To dispose of the permanent land and sea
forces for the domestic safety and foreign defense
of the Union.
VII. To dispose of the national guard for the
same purposes, as provided by Article 76, Clause
IV.
VIII. To declare war in the name of the United
States of Mexico, after the passage of the cor-
responding resolution by the Congress of the
Union.
IX. To grant letters of marque, upon the terms
and conditions fixed by the Congress.
X. To conduct diplomatic negotiations and to
make treaties.
XL To call Congress, or either of the Houses,
in extraordinary session, whenever in his judg-
ment it may be advisable.
XII. To afford the judiciary the assistance
APPENDIX B
necessary for the expeditious exercise of its func-
tions.
XIII. To open all kinds of ports, establish
maritime and frontier custom houses and desig-
nate their location.
XIV. To grant, according to law, pardons to
criminals sentenced for offenses within the juris-
diction of the Federal tribunals, and to all persons
sentenced for offenses of the common order in the
Federal District and Territories.
XV. To grant exclusive privileges for a limited
time, and according to the respective laws, to dis-
coverers, inventors or improvers in any branch
of industry.
XVI. Whenever the Senate shall not be in ses-
sion the President may temporarily make the
nominations enumerated in Clauses III and IV
hereof, but these nominations shall be submitted
to the Senate so soon as it reconvenes.
XVII. To exercise such other rights and duties
as are expressly conferred upon him by this Con-
stitution.
Art. 90. For the transaction of administrative
matters of the Federal Government there shall be
the number of Secretaries of Executive Depart-
ments which the Congress may by law establish,
which law shall likewise assign among the various
departments the several matters with which each
shall be charged.
222 APPENDIX B
Art. 91. No person shall be appointed Secre-
tary of an Executive Department who is not a
Mexican citizen by birth, in the enjoyment of his
rights and who has not attained the age of thirty
years.
Art. 92. All regulations, decrees and orders
of the President shall be signed by the Secretary
of the Executive Department to which the matter
pertains. They shall not be binding without this
requisite. All regulations, decrees and orders of
the President touching the government of the
Federal District and the administrative depart-
ments shall be transmitted directly by the Presi-
dent to the Governor of the District and to the
chief of the respective department.
Art. 93. The Secretaries of Executive Depart-
ments shall on the opening of each regular session
report to the Congress as to the state of their
respective Departments. Either House may sum-
mon a Secretary of an Executive Department to
inform it, whenever a bill or other matter per-
taining to his department is under discussion or
consideration.
CHAPTER IV
Of the Judicial Power
Art. 94. The judicial power of the Federation
is vested in a Supreme Court and in Circuit and
District Courts, whose number and powers shall
APPENDIX B 23
be fixed by law. The Supreme Court of Justice
shall consist of eleven members ; its sittings shall
be in bane and its hearings shall be public, except
in the cases where public interest or morality
shall otherwise require. It shall meet at such
times and under such conditions as by law pre-
scribed. No sittings of the court shall be held
without the attendance of at least two-thirds of
its total membership, and all decisions rendered
shall be by a majority vote.
The Justices of the Supreme Court chosen to
this office in the forthcoming elections shall serve
two years; those elected at the conclusion of this
first term shall serve four years, and from and
after the year 1923 the Justices of the Supreme
Court, the Circuit and District Judges may only
be removed for malfeasance and after impeach-
ment proceedings, unless the Circuit and District
Judges be promoted to the next higher grade.
The same provision shall govern, in so far as
it be applicable to the terms of two and four years,
respectively, to which this article refers.
Art. 95. The Justices of the Supreme Court
shall have the following qualifications :
I. They shall be Mexican citizens by birth, in
the full enjoyment of their civil and political
rights.
II. They shall be over thirty-five years of age
at the time of election.
III. They shall be graduates in law of some
APPENDIX B
institution or corporation authorized by law to
confer such degrees.
IV. They shall be of good repute and not have
been convicted of any offense punishable with
more than one year's imprisonment; but convic-
tion of larceny, deceit, forgery, embezzlement or
any other offense seriously impairing their good
name in the public mind shall disqualify them for
office, whatever may have been the penalty im-
posed.
V. They shall have resided in the country for
the last five years, except in the case of absence
due to public service abroad for a period not ex-
ceeding six months.
Art. 96. The members of the Supreme Court
of Justice shall be chosen by the Congress, acting
as an electoral college; the presence of at least
two-thirds of the total number of Representatives
and Senators shall be necessary for such action.
The election shall be by secret ballot and by a
majority vote, and shall be held as among the
candidates previously proposed, one being nomi-
nated by each State legislature, as provided in
the respective State laws.
Should no candidate receive a majority on the
first ballot, the balloting shall be repeated between
the two candidates receiving the highest number
of votes.
Art. 97. All Circuit and District Judges shall
be appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice;
APPENDIX B 225
they shall have such qualifications as by law re-
quired, shall serve four years and shall not be
removed except by impeachment proceedings or
for incapacity to discharge their duties, in accord-
ance with the law.
The Supreme Court of Justice may remove the
District Judges from one District to another, or
it may fix their seats in another locality, as it
may deem most advantageous to the public busi-
ness. A similar procedure shall be observed in
the case of Circuit Judges.
The Supreme Court of Justice may likewise ap-
point auxiliary Circuit and District Judges to
assist in the labors of such courts as have an
excessive amount of business, in order that the
administration of justice may be speedy; it shall
also name one or more of its members or some
district or circuit judge or shall designate one or
more special commissioners, whenever it shall
deem it advisable or on the request of the Presi-
dent or of either House or of any State Governor,
solely for the purpose of inquiring into the be-
havior of any judge or federal justice or into
any fact or facts which amount to a violation of
any individual rights or to the subversion of the
popular will or any other offense punishable by
Federal statute.
The Circuit and District Courts shall be
assigned among the several Justices of the Su-
preme Court who shall visit them periodically,
APPENDIX B
shall observe the conduct of their judges, listen
to any complaint presented against them and per-
form all such other acts as the law may require.
The Supreme Court shall appoint and remove at
will its clerk of the court and other employees
on the roster established by law. The Circuit and
District Judges shall likewise appoint and remove
at will their respective clerks and employees.
The Supreme Court shall choose each year one
of its members to act as Chief Justice, with the
right of re-election.
Each Justice of the Supreme Court on assuming
office shall make an affirmation before Congress,
or if this is in recess, before the Permanent Com-
mittee, as follows:
The Presiding Officer shall say : " Do you prom-
ise to perform faithfully and conscientiously the
duties of Justice of the Supreme Court with which
you have been charged, and to defend and enforce
the Constitution of the United States of Mexico
and the laws arising thereunder, having ever in
mind the welfare and prosperity of the Nation ?"
To which the Justice shall reply, "I do." On
which the Presiding Officer shall answer: "If
you fail to do so, may the Nation call you to*
account. ' '
The Circuit and District Judges shall make the
affirmation of office before the Supreme Court or
before such other authority as the law may de-
termine.
APPENDIX B 227
Art. 98. No temporary disability of a Justice
of the Supreme Court not exceeding one month
shall be filled, provided there be otherwise a
quorum. In the absence of a quorum the Con-
gress, or in its recess the Permanent Committee,
shall name a substitute selected from among the
candidates submitted by the States for the election
of the justice in question and not chosen, to serve
during such disability. If the disability does not
exceed two months, the Congress, or during its
recess the Permanent Committee, shall choose at
will a temporary justice.
In the event of the death, resignation or dis-
qualification of any justice of the Supreme Court,
a new election shall be held by the Congress to fill
this vacancy as provided in Article 96.
If the Congress shall not be in session, the Per-
manent Committee shall make a temporary
appointment until such time as the Congress shall
convene and proceed to the corresponding elec-
tion.
Art. 99. The resignation of a justice of the
Supreme Court shall only be accepted for grave
cause, approved by the Congress, to whom the
resignation shall be tendered. In the recesses
of the Congress the power to act on this matter
belongs to the Permanent Committee.
Art. 100. The Supreme Court shall grant all
leaves of absence of its members, when they do
228 APPENDIX B
not exceed one month; such as do exceed this
period shall be granted by the House of Represen-
tatives, or during its recess by the Permanent
Committee.
Art. 101. No Justice of the Supreme Court,
Circuit or District Judge, nor clerk of any of these
courts shall under any circumstances accept any
State, Federal or private commission or office,
excepting honorary titles from scientific, literary
or charitable associations. The violation of this
provision shall work a forfeiture of office.
Art. 102. The office of the Public Attorney
shall be organized in accordance with the law, and
its officers shall be appointed and removed at will
by the Executive. They shall be under the direc-
tion of an Attorney General who shall possess the
same qualifications as are required for the office
of Justice of the Supreme Court.
The Public Attorneys shall be charged with the
judicial prosecution of all Federal offenses ; they
shall accordingly sue out all orders of arrest,
assemble and offer all evidence as to the respon-
sibility of the accused, see that the trials are con-
ducted in due order so that the administration of
justice may be speedy, pray the imposition of
sentence, and in general take part in all matters
required by law.
The Attorney General of the Republic shall per-
sonally intervene in matters to which the Federal
APPENDIX B 229
Government is a party, in cases affecting minis-
ters, diplomatic agents and consuls general, and
in all controversies between two or more States
of the Union, between the Federal Government
and a State or between the several powers of a
State. The Attorney General may either person-
ally or through one of the Public Attorneys take
part in all other cases in which the Public Attor-
neys are called upon to act.
The Attorney General shall be the legal advisor
of the Government, and both he and the Public
Attorneys under his orders shall faithfully obey
the law and shall be liable for all breaches or for
any violations which they may incur in the dis-
charge of their duties.
Art. 103. The Federal tribunals shall take cog-
nizance of:
I. All controversies arising out of laws or acts
of the authorities which shall infringe any per-
sonal guarantees.
II. All controversies arising out of laws or
acts of the federal authorities which limit or en-
croach upon the sovereignty of the States.
III. All controversies arising out of laws or
acts of the State authorities which invade the
sphere of the Federal authorities.
Art. 104. The Federal Tribunals shall have
jurisdiction over:
I. All controversies of a civil or criminal na-
230 APPENDIX B
ture arising out of the application and enforce-
ment of the Federal laws, or out of treaties
concluded with foreign powers. Whenever such
controversies affect only private rights, the reg-
ular local courts of the States, the Federal Dis-
trict and Territories shall, at the election of the
plaintiff, assume jurisdiction. Appeal may be had
from all judgments of first instance to the next
higher tribunal of the same court in which the
case was first heard. Appeal may be taken from
sentences of second instance to the Supreme Court
of Justice, which appeal shall be prepared, sub-
mitted and prosecuted, in accordance with the pro-
cedure provided by law.
II. All cases pertaining to admiralty law.
III. All cases to which the Federation may be
a party.
IV. All cases arising between two or more
States, or between any State and the Federal
Government, as well as those arising between the
courts of the Federal District and those of the
Federal Government or of a State.
V. All cases arising between a State and one
or more citizens of another State.
. VI. All cases concerning diplomatic agents and
consuls.
Art. 105. The Supreme Court of Justice shall
have exclusive jurisdiction in all controversies
arising between two or more States, between the
powers of government of any State as to the con-
APPENDIX B
stitutionality of their acts, or between one or more
States and the Federal Government, and in all
cases to which the Federal Government may be a
party.
Art. 106. The Supreme Court of Justice shall
likewise have exclusive jurisdiction to determine
all questions of jurisdiction between the Federal
tribunals, between these and those of the States,
or between those of one State and those of another.
Art. 107. All controversies mentioned in
Article 103 shall be prosecuted by the injured
party in accordance with the judicial forms and
procedure which the law shall establish, subject
to the following conditions :
I. The judgment shall always be so drawn as
to affect exclusively private individuals, and shall
confine itself to affording them redress in the
special case to which the complaint refers; but.
it shall make no general statement as to the law
or the act that may have formed the basis for
the complaint.
II. In civil or penal suits, excepting those men-
tioned in Clause IX hereof, the writ of "amparo"
shall issue only against final judgments when no
other ordinary recourse is available by which these
judgments may be modified or amended, if the
violation of the law shall have occurred in the
judgment, or if, although committed during the
course of the trial, objection was duly noted and
APPENDIX B
protest entered against the denial of reparation,
and provided further that if committed in first
instance it shall have been invoked in second in-
stance as a violation of the law.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provision, the
Supreme Court may in penal cases waive any
defects in the petition when there has been a mani-
fest violation of the law which has left the peti-
tioner without recourse, or when he has been tried
by a law not strictly applicable to the case, pro-
vided failure to take advantage of this violation
has been merely an oversight.
III. In civil or penal suits the writ of
"amparo" shall issue only if substantial portions
of the rules of procedure have been violated, and
provided further that the said violation shall de-
prive the petitioner of means of defense.
IV. In addition to the case mentioned in the
foregoing paragraph, the writ of "amparo" shall
issue only on a final judgment in a civil suit,
provided the requirements set forth in Clause II
hereof have been complied with, when the judg-
ment shall be contrary to the letter of the law
applicable to the case or contrary to its legal
interpretation, when it includes persons, actions,
-defenses, or things which have not been the object
of the suit, or finally when all these have not been
included either through omission or express re-
fusal.
When the writ of "amparo" is sought against
mesne judgments, in accordance with the provi-
APPENDIX B 233
sions of the foregoing clause, these rules shall be
observed, as far as applicable.
V. In penal suits, the authorities responsible
for the violation shall stay the execution of final
judgment against which the writ of ' i amparo ' ' has
been sought ; for. this purpose the petitioner shall,
within the period set by law, give notice, under
oath, to the said authorities of the interposition
of this recourse, accompanying it with two copies
of the petition, one of which shall be delivered to
the opposing party and the other filed.
VI. The execution of a final judgment in civil
suits shall only be stayed when the petitioner
shall give bond to cover damages occasioned
thereby, unless the other party shall give a
counter bond (1) to guarantee that the normal
conditions and relations previously existing be
restored, and (2) to pay the corresponding dam-
ages, in the event of the granting of the
" amparo. " In such event the interposition of
the recourse of " amparo " shall be communicated
as provided in the foregoing clause.
VII. If a writ of " amparo " be sought against
a final judgment, a certified copy of such portions
of the record as the petitioner may desire shall
be requested from the authority responsible for
the violation; to this there shall be added such
portions as the other party may desire and a
clear and succinct statement by the said authority
of the justification of the act protested j note shall
be made of this on the record.
APPENDIX B
VIII. When a writ of "amparo" is sought
against a final judgment, the petition shall be
brought before the Supreme Court ; this petition,
together with the copy required by Clause VII,
shall be either presented to the Supreme Court or
sent through the authority responsible for the
violation or through the District Court of the cor-
responding State. The Supreme Court shall ren-
der judgment without any other formality or
procedure than the petition, the document pre-
sented by the other party and that of the Attorney
General or the Public Attorney he may name in
his stead, and shall comprise no other legal
question than that contained in the complaint.
IX. When the acts of an authority other than
the judicial are involved or the acts of the
judiciary exercised outside of the suit or after
the termination thereof, or acts committed during
the suit whose execution is of impossible repara-
tion, or which affect persons not parties to the
suit, the writ of "amparo" shall be sought before
the District Court within whose jurisdiction is
located the place where the act protested was com-
mitted or attempted; the procedure in this case
shall be confined to the report of the authority
and to a hearing, the call for which shall be issued
in the same order of the court as that calling for
the report. This hearing shall be held at as early
a date as possible, the testimony of both parties
offered, arguments heard which shall not exceed
one hour for each side, and finally the judgment
APPENDIX B 235
which shall be pronounced at the same hearing.
The judgment of the District Court shall be final,
if the interested parties do not appeal to the Su-
preme Court within the period set by law and in
the manner prescribed by Clause VIII.
In case of a violation of the guarantees of Arti-
cles 16, 19 and 20, recourse shall be had through
the appellate court of the court committing the.
breach or to the corresponding District Court. An
appeal against the decision of any of these courts
may be taken to the Supreme Court.
If the district judge shall not reside in the same
locality as the official guilty of the violation, the
judge before whom the petition of "amparo" shall
be submitted shall be determined by law; this
judge shall be authorized to suspend temporarily
the execution of the act protested, in accordance
with the terms established by law.
X. Any official failing to suspend the execution
of the act protested, when in duty bound to do
so, or when he admits an insufficient or improper
bond, shall be turned over to the proper authori-
ties ; the civil and penal liability of the official shall
in these cases be a joint liability with the person
offering the bond and his surety.
XL If after the granting of an "amparo,"
the guilty official shall persist in the act or acts
against which the petition of ' ' amparo ' ' was filed,
or shall seek to render of no effect the judgment
of the Federal authority, he shall be forthwith
236 APPENDIX B
removed from office and turned over for trial to
the corresponding district court.
XII. Wardens and jailers who fail to receive
a duly certified copy of the formal order of com-
mitment within the seventy-two hours granted by
Article 19, reckoned from the time the accused is
placed at the disposal of the court, shall bring this
fact to the attention of the court, immediately
upon expiration of this period ; and if the proper
order be not received within the next three hours
the accused shall be set at liberty.
Any official who shall violate this provision and
the article referred to in the foregoing paragraph
shall be immediately turned over to the proper
authorities. Any official or agent thereof who,
after an arrest has been made, shall fail to place
the accused at the disposition of the court within
the next twenty-four hours shall himself be turned
over to the proper authority.
If the detention be effected outside the locality
in which the court is situated, there shall be added
to the period mentioned in the preceding sentence
the time necessary to travel from the said locality
to that where the detention took place.
TITLE IV
Of the Responsibility of Officials
Art. 108. Senators and Representatives of
Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, Secre-
taries of Executive Departments and the Attorney
APPENDIX B 237
General of the Eepublic shall be liable for all com-
mon offenses committed during their term of office,
as well as for all official offenses or acts of com-
mission or omission in which they may incur in
the discharge of their duties.
Governors of States and members of State
Legislatures shall be liable for violation of the
Constitution and the Federal Laws.
The President of the Republic may only be im-
peached during his term of office for high treason
and common offenses of a serious character.
Art. 109. If the offense belongs to the common
order the House of Representatives, acting as a
grand jury, shall determine by a majority vote
of its total membership whether there is or is not
any ground for proceeding against the accused.
If the finding be favorable to the accused, no
further action shall be taken; but such finding
shall not be a bar to the prosecution of the charge
so soon as the constitutional privilege shall cease,
since the finding of the House does not in any
way determine the merits of the charge.
If the finding be adverse, the accused shall ipso
facto be removed from office and be placed at the
disposition of the ordinary courts of justice, ex-
cept in the case of the President of the Republic,
who may only be impeached before the Senate, as
in the case of an official offense.
Art. 110. No constitutional privilege shall be
extended to any high Federal functionary when
238 APPENDIX B
tried for official offenses, misdemeanors, or omis-
sions committed by him in the discharge of any
public function or commission, during the time in
which, according to law, the privilege is enjoyed.
This provision shall be applicable to cases of com-
mon offenses committed under the same circum-
stances. In order that the proceedings may be
instituted when the functionary returns to the
exercise of his own functions, the rules set forth
in Article 104 of the Constitution shall be observed.
Art. 111. The Senate acting as a grand jury
shall try all cases of impeachment : but it may not
institute such proceedings without a previous ac-
cusation brought by the House of Eepresentatives.
If the Senate should, after hearing the accused
and conducting such proceedings as it may deem
advisable, determine by a majority vote of two-
thirds of its total membership that the accused
is guilty, the latter shall be forthwith removed
from office by virtue of such decision, or be dis-
qualified from holding any other office for such
time as the law may determine.
When the same offense is punishable with an
additional penalty, the accused shall be placed at
the disposition of the regular authorities who shall
judge and sentence him in accordance with the
law.
In all cases embraced by this article and in those
included by the preceding both the decisions of
APPENDIX B 239
the Grand Jury and the findings of the House of
Eepresentatives shall be final.
Any person shall have the right to denounce be-
fore the House of Eepresentatives offenses of a
common order or of an official character committed
by high Federal functionaries; and whenever the
said House of Eepresentatives shall determine
that there exist good grounds for impeachment
proceedings before the Senate, it shall name a
committee from among its own members to sus-
tain the charges brought.
The Congress shall as soon as possible enact a
law as to the responsibility of all Federal officials
and employees which shall fix as official offenses
all acts, of commission or omission, which may
prejudice the public interest and efficient adminis-
tration, even though such acts may not heretofore
have been considered offenses. These officials
shall be tried by a jury in the same manner as
provided for trials by jury in Article 20.
Art. 112. No pardon shall be granted the
offender in cases of impeachment.
Art. 113. The responsibility for official
breaches and offenses may only be enforced during
such time as the functionary shall remain in office
and for one year thereafter.
Art. 114. In civil cases no privilege or immu-
nity in favor of any public functionary shall be
recognized.
240 APPENDIX B
TITLE V
Of the States of the Federation
Art. 115. The States shall adopt for their in-
ternal government the popular, representative,
republican form of government; they shall have
as the basis of their territorial division and politi-
cal and administrative organization the free mu-
nicipality, in accordance with the following pro-
visions :
I. Each municipality shall be administered by
a town council chosen by direct vote of the people,
and no authority shall intervene between the mu-
nicipality and the State Government.
II. The municipalities shall freely administer
their own revenues which shall be derived from the
taxes fixed by the State Legislatures which shall
at all times be sufficient to meet their needs.
III. The municipalities shall be regarded as
enjoying corporate existence for all legal pur-
poses.
The Federal Executive and the State Governors
shall have command over all public forces of the
municipalities wherein they may permanently or
temporarily reside.
Constitutional State Governors shall not be re-
elected, nor shall their term of office exceed four
years.
The prohibitions of Article 83 are applicable to
substitute or ad interim governors.
APPENDIX B
The number of representatives in the State
Legislatures shall be in proportion to the inhabi-
tants of each State, but in no case shall the number
of representatives in any State Legislature be less
than fifteen.
Each electoral district of the States shall choose
a Representative and an alternate to the State
Legislature.
Every State Governor shall be a Mexican citizen
by birth and a native thereof, or resident therein
not less than five years 'immediately prior to the
day of election.
Art. 116. The States shall have the power to
fix among themselves, by friendly agreements,
their respective boundaries ; but these agreements
shall not be carried into effect without the ap-
proval of the Congress.
Art. 117. No State shall-
I. Enter into alliances, treaties or coalitions
with another State or with foreign powers.
II. Grant letters of marque or reprisal.
III. Coin money, issue paper money, stamps
or stamped paper.
IV. Levy taxes on persons or property passing
through its territory.
V. Prohibit or tax, directly or indirectly, the
entry into its territory, or the withdrawal there-
from, of any merchandise, foreign or domestic.
VI. Burden the circulation or consumption of
APPENDIX B
domestic or foreign merchandise with taxes or
duties to be collected by local custom houses or
subject to inspection the said merchandise or re-
quire it to be accompanied by documents.
VII. Enact or maintain in force laws or fiscal
regulations discriminating, by taxation or other-
wise, between merchandise, foreign or domestic,
on account of its origin, whether this discrimina-
tion be established with regard to similar local
products or to similar products of foreign origin.
Art. 118. No State shall, without the consent
of the Congress :
I. Establish tonnage dues or other port
charges, or impose taxes or other duties upon im-
ports or exports.
II. Keep at any time permanent troops or ves-
sels of war.
Art. 119. Every State shall be bound to deliver
without delay to the demanding authorities the
fugitives from justice from other States or from
foreign nations.
In such cases the writ of the court granting the
extradition shall operate as a sufficient warrant
for the detention of the accused for one month,
in the case of extradition from one State to
another, and for two months in the case of inter-
national extradition.
Art. 120. The State Governors are bound to
publish and enforce the Federal laws.
APPENDIX B 243
Art. 121. Full faith and credit shall be given
in each State of the Federation to the public acts,
records and judicial proceedings of all the other
States. The Congress shall by general laws pre-
scribe the manner of proving the said acts, records
and proceedings and the effect thereof.
I. The laws of a State shall only be binding
within its own confines, and shall therefore have
no extra-territorial force.
II. Movable and immovable property shall be
governed by the lex sitae.
III. Judgments of a State court as to property
and property rights situated in another State shall
only be binding when expressly so provided by
the law of the latter State.
Judgments relating to personal rights shall only
be binding in another State provided the person
shall have expressly, or impliedly by reason of
domicile, submitted to the jurisdiction of the court
rendering such judgment, and provided further
that personal service shall have been secured.
IV. All acts of civil status performed in ac-
cordance with the laws of one State shall be bind-
ing in all other States.
V. All professional licenses issued by the au-
thorities of one State in accordance with its laws
shall be valid in all other States.
Art. 122. The Powers of the Union are bound
to protect the States against all invasion or exter-
nal violence. In case of insurrection or internal
APPENDIX B
disturbance they shall give them the same protec-
tion, provided the Legislature of the State, or the
Executive thereof if the Legislature is not in ses-
sion, shall so request.
TITLE VI
Of Labor and Social Welfare
Art. 123. The Congress and the State Legisla-
tures shall make laws relative to labor with due
regard for the needs of each region of the Repub-
lic, and in conformity with the following prin-
ciples, and these principles and laws shall govern
the labor of skilled and unskilled workmen, em-
ployees, domestic servants and artisans, and in
general every contract of labor.
I. Eight hours shall be the maximum limit of
a day's work.
II. The maximum limit of night work shall be
seven hours. Unhealthy and dangerous occupa-
tions are forbidden to all women and to children
under sixteen years of age. Night work in fac-
tories is likewise forbidden to women and to
children under sixteen years of age ; nor shall they
be employed in commercial establishments after
ten o 'clock at night.
"Til. The maximum limit of a day's work for
children over twelve and under sixteen years of
age shall be six hours. The work of children under
twelve years of age shall not be made the subject
of a contract.
APPENDIX B 245
IV. Every workman shall enjoy at least one
day's rest for every six days' work.
V. Women shall not perform any physical
work requiring considerable physical effort during
the three months immediately preceding parturi-
tion ; during the month following parturition they
shall necessarily enjoy a period of rest and shall
receive their salaries or wages in full and retain
their employment and the rights they may have
acquired under their contracts. During the period
of lactation they shall enjoy two extraordinary
daily periods of rest of one-half hour each, in
order to nurse their children.
VI. The minimum wage to be received by a
workman shall be that considered sufficient, ac-
cording to the conditions prevailing in the respec-
tive region of the country, to satisfy the normal
needs of the life of the workman, his education
and his lawful pleasures, considering him as the
head of a family. In all agricultural, commercial,
manufacturing or mining enterprises the workmen
shall have the right to participate in the profits
in the manner fixed in Clause IX of this article.
VII. The same compensation shall be paid for
the same work, without regard to sex or nation-
ality.
VIII. The minimum wage shall be exempt from
attachment, set-off or discount.
IX. The determination of the minimum wage
and of the rate of profit-sharing described in
Clause VI shall be made by special commissions to
APPENDIX B
be appointed in each municipality and to be subor-.
dinated to the Central Board of Conciliation to
be established in each State.
X. All wages shall be paid in legal currency
and shall not be paid in merchandise, orders,
counters or any other representative token with
which it is sought to substitute money.
XI. When owing to special circumstances it
becomes necessary to increase the working hours,
there shall be paid as wages for the overtime one
hundred per cent more than those fixed for reg-
ular time. In no case shall the overtime exceed
three hours nor continue for more than three
consecutive days ; and no women of whatever age
nor boys under sixteen years of age may engage
in overtime work.
XII. In every agricultural, industrial, mining
or other class of work employers are bound to
furnish their workmen comfortable and sanitary
dwelling-places, for which they may charge rents
not exceeding one-half of one per cent per month
of the assessed value of the properties. (See Art.
27, Clause VII, second paragraph.) They shall
likewise establish schools, dispensaries and other
services necessary to the community. If the fac-
tories are located within inhabited places and more
than one hundred persons are employed therein,
the first of the above-mentioned conditions shall
be complied with.
XIII. Furthermore, there shall be set aside in
these labor centers, whenever their population
APPENDIX B 247
exceeds two hundred inhabitants, a space of land
not less than five thousand square meters for the
establishment of public markets, and the construc-
tion of buildings designed for municipal services
and places of amusement. No saloons nor gam-
bling houses shall be permitted in such labor
centers.
XIV. Employers shall be liable for labor ac-
cidents and occupational diseases arising from
work; therefore, employers shall pay the proper
indemnity, according to whether death or merely
temporary or permanent disability has ensued, in
accordance with the provisions of law. This
liability shall remain in force even though the
employer contract for the work through an agent.
XV. Employers shall be bound to observe in
the installation of their establishments all the pro-
visions of law regarding hygiene and sanitation
and to adopt adequate measures to prevent acci-
dents due to the use of machinery, tools and work-
ing materials, as well as to organize work in such
a manner as to assure the greatest guarantees
possible for the health and lives of workmen com-
patible with the nature of the work, under penal-
ties which the law shall determine.
XVI. Workmen and employers shall have the
right to unite for the defense of their respective
interests, by forming syndicates, unions, etc.
XVII. The law shall recognize the right of
workmen and employers to strike and to lockout.
XVIII. Strikes shall be lawful when by the
248 APPENDIX B
employment of peaceful means they shall aim to
bring about a balance between the various factors
of production, and to harmonize the rights of
capital and labor. In the case of public services,
the workmen shall be obliged to give notice ten
days in advance to the Board of Conciliation and
Arbitration of the date set for the suspension of
work. Strikes shall only be considered unlawful
when the majority of the strikers shall resort to
acts of violence against persons or property, or in
case of war when the strikers belong to establish-
ments and services dependent on the government.
Employees of military manufacturing establish-
ments of the Federal Government shall not be in-
cluded in the provisions of this clause, inasmuch
as they are a dependency of the national army.
XIX. Lockouts shall only be lawful when the
excess of production shall render it necessary to
shut down in order to maintain prices reasonably
above the cost of production, subject to the ap-
proval of the Board of Conciliation and Arbitra-
tion.
XX. Differences or disputes between capital
and labor shall be submitted for settlement to a
board of conciliation and arbitration to consist of
an equal number of representatives of the work-
men and of the employers and of one representa-
tive of the Government.
XXI. If the employer shall refuse to submit
his differences to arbitration or to accept the
award rendered by the Board, the labor contract
APPENDIX B 249
shall be considered as terminated, and the em-
ployer shall be bound to indemnify the workman
by the payment to him of three months ' wages, in
addition to the liability which he may have in-
curred by reason of the dispute. If the workman
reject the award, the contract will be held to have
terminated.
XXII. An employer who discharges a work-
man without proper cause or for having joined a
union or syndicate or for having taken part in a
lawful strike shall be bound, at the option of the
workman, either to perform the contract or to
indemnify him by the payment of three months'
wages. He shall incur the same liability if the
workman shall leave his service on account of the
lack of good faith on the part of the employer or
of maltreatment either as to his own person or
that of his wife, parents, children or brothers or
sisters. The employer cannot evade this liability
when the maltreatment is inflicted by subordinates
or agents acting with his consent or knowledge.
XXIII. Claims of workmen for salaries or
wages accrued during the past year and other in-
demnity claims shall be preferred over any other
claims, in cases of bankruptcy or composition.
XXIV. Debts contracted by workmen in favor
of their employers or their employers ' associates,
subordinates or agents, may only be charged
against the workmen themselves and in no case
and for no reason collected from the members of
his family. Nor shall such debts be paid by the
250 APPENDIX B
taking of more than the entire wages of the work-
man for any one month.
XXV. No fee shall be charged for finding work
for workmen by municipal offices, employment
bureaus or other public or private agencies.
XXVI. Every contract of labor between a
Mexican citizen and a foreign principal shall be
legalized before the competent municipal author-
ity and viseed by the consul of the nation to which
the workman is undertaking to go, on the under-
standing that, in addition to the usual clauses,
special and clear provisions shall be inserted for
the payment by the foreign principal making the
contract of the cost to the laborer of repatriation.
XXVII. The following stipulations shall be
null and void and shall not bind the contracting
parties, even though embodied in the contract :
(a) Stipulations providing for inhuman day's
work on account of its notorious excessiveness, in
view of the nature of the work.
(b) Stipulations providing for a wage rate
which in the judgment of the Board of Concilia-
tion and Arbitration is not remunerative.
(c) Stipulations providing for a term of more
than one week before the payment of wages.
(d) Stipulations providing for the assigning
of places of amusement, eating places, cafes, tav-
erns, saloons or shops for the payment of wages,
when employees of such establishments are not
involved.
(e) Stipulations involving a direct or indirect
APPENDIX B 251
obligation to purchase articles of consumption in
specified shops or places.
(f) Stipulations permitting the retention of
wages by way of fines.
(g) Stipulations constituting a waiver on the
part of the workman of the indemnities to which
he may become entitled by reason of labor acci-
dents or occupational diseases, damages for breach
of contract, or for discharge from work.
(h) All other stipulations implying the waiver
of any right vested in the workman by labor laws.
XXVIII. The law shall decide what property
constitutes the family patrimony. These goods
shall be inalienable and shall not be mortgaged,
nor attached, and may be bequeathed with simpli-
fied formalities in the succession proceedings.
XXIX. Institutions of popular insurance* es-
tablished for old age, sickness, life, unemployment,
accident and others of a similar character, are
considered of social utility ; the Federal and State
Governments shall therefore encourage the orga-
nization of institutions of this character in order
to instill and inculcate popular habits of thrift.
XXX. Cooperative associations for the con-
struction of cheap and sanitary dwelling houses
for workmen shall likewise be considered of social
utility whenever these properties are designed to
* In the desire to adhere as closely as possible to the original,
the term "popular insurance" has been used. It would seem,
however, that in making use of the expression "Segwos Popu-
larcs," it was intended to convey the full connotation of the term
"Social Insurance." (See "Social Insurance," Seager, 1910.)
252 APPENDIX B
be acquired in ownership by the workmen within
specified periods.
TITLE VII
Of General Provisions
Art. 124. All powers not expressly vested by
this Constitution in the Federal authorities are
understood to be reserved to the States.
Art. 125. No person shall hold at the same
time two Federal offices or one Federal and one
State elective office; if elected to two, he shall
choose between them.
Art. 126. No payment shall be made which is
not included in the Budget or authorized by a law
subsequent to the same.
Art. 127. The President of the Eepublic, the
Justices of the Supreme Court, Representatives
and Senators and other public officials of the Fed-
eration who are chosen by popular election shall
receive a compensation for their services, which
shall be paid by the Federal Treasury and deter-
mined by law. This compensation may not be
waived, and any law increasing or decreasing it
shall have no effect during the period for which the
functionary holds office.
Art. 128. Every public official, without excep-
tion, shall, before entering on the discharge of his
APPENDIX B 253
duties, make an affirmation to maintain this con-
stitution and the laws arising thereunder.
Art. 129. In time of peace no military authori-
ties shall exercise other functions than those bear-
ing direct relation to military discipline. No per-
manent military posts shall be established other
than in castles, forts and arsenals depending di-
rectly upon the Federal Government, or in camps,
barracks, or depots, established outside of
inhabited places for the stationing of troops.
Art. 130. The Federal authorities shall have
power to exercise in matters of religious worship
and outward ecclesiastical forms such intervention
as by law authorized. All other officials shall act
as auxiliaries to the Federal authorities.
The Congress shall not enact any law establish-
ing or forbidding any religion whatsoever.
Marriage is a civil contract. Marriage and all
other acts relating to the civil status of individuals
shall appertain to the exclusive jurisdiction of the
civil authorities in the manner and form by law
provided, and they shall have the force and valid-
ity given them by said laws.
A simple promise to tell the truth and to com-
ply with obligations contracted shall subject the
promisor, in the event of a breach, to the penalties
established therefor by law.
The law recognizes no juridicial personality in
the religious institutions known as churches.
254 APPENDIX B
Ministers of religious creeds shall be considered
as persons exercising a profession, and shall be
directly subject to the laws enacted on the matter.
The State legislatures shall have the exclusive
power of determining the maximum number of
ministers of religious creeds, according to the
needs of each locality. Only a Mexican by birth
may be a minister of any religious creed in Mexico.
No ministers of religious creeds shall, either in
public or private meetings, or in acts of worship
or religious propaganda, criticise the fundamental
laws of the country, the authorities in particular
or the Government in general ; they shall have no
vote, nor be eligible to office, nor shall they be
entitled to assemble for political purposes.
Before dedicating new temples of worship fo*-
public use, permission shall be obtained from the
Department of the Interior (Gobernacion) ; tin,
opinion of the Governor of the respective State
shall be previously heard on the subject. Every
place of worship shall have a person charged with
its care and maintenance, who shall be legally
responsible for the faithful performance of the
laws on religious observances within the said place
of worship, and for all the objects used for pur-
poses of worship.
The caretaker of each place of public worship,
together with ten citizens of the place, shall
promptly advise the municipal authorities as to
the person charged with the care of the said place
of worship. The outgoing minister shall in every
APPENDIX B 255
instance give notice of any change, for which pur-
pose he shall be accompanied by the incoming
minister and ten other citizens of the place. The
municipal authorities, under penalty of dismissal
and fine, not exceeding 1,000 pesos for each breach,
shall be responsible for the exact performance of
this provision; they shall keep a register of the
places of worship and another of the caretakers
thereof, subject to the same penalty as above pro-
vided. The municipal authorities shall likewise
give notice to the Department of the Interior
through the State Governor, of any permission
to open to the public use a new place of worship,,
as well as of any change in the caretakers. Gifts
of personalty may be received in the interior of
places of public worship.
Under no conditions shall studies carried on in
institutions devoted to the professional training
of ministers of religious creeds be given credit or
granted any other dispensation of privilege which
shall have for its purpose the accrediting of the
said studies in official institutions. Any authority
violating this provision shall be punished crimi-
nally, and all such dispensation of privilege be null
and void, and shall invalidate wholly and entirely
the professional degree toward the obtaining of
which the infraction of this provision may in any
way have contributed.
No periodical publication which either by reason
of its program, its title or merely by its gen-
eral tendencies, is of a religious character, shall
256 APPENDIX B
comment upon any political affairs of the nation,
nor publish any information regarding the acts
of the authorities of the country or of private in-
dividuals, in so far as the latter have to do with
public affairs.
Every kind of political association whose name
shall bear any word or any indication relating
to any religious belief is hereby strictly forbidden.
No assemblies of any political character shall be
held within places of public worship.
No minister of any religious creed may inherit,
either on his own behalf or by means of a trustee
or otherwise, any real property occupied by any
association of religious propaganda or religious
or charitable purposes. Ministers of religious
creeds are incapable legally of inheriting by will
from ministers of the same religious creed or from
any private individual to whom they are not re-
lated by blood within the fourth degree.
All real and personal property pertaining to
the clergy or to religious institutions shall be gov-
erned, in so far as their acquisition by private
parties is concerned, in conformity with Article
27 of this Constitution.
No trial by jury shall ever be granted for the
infraction of any of the preceding provisions.
Art. 131. The Federal Government shall have
exclusive power to levy duties on merchandise
imported, exported or passing in transit through
the national territory, as well as to regulate at
APPENDIX B 25 T
all times, and if necessary to forbid for the sake
of public safety or for police reasons, the circula-
tion in the interior of the Republic of all kinds of
goods, regardless of their origin ; but the Federal
Government shall have no power to establish or
decree in the Federal District and Territories the
taxes and laws to which Clauses VI and VII of
Article 117 refer.
Art. 132. All forts, barracks, warehouses, and
other real property, destined by the Federal Gov-
ernment for public service or common use, shall
be under the jurisdiction of the Federal authori-
ties, in accordance with the law which the Con-
gress shall issue on the subject; any of these
establishments which may subsequently be ac-
quired within the territory of any State shall like-
wise be subject to Federal jurisdiction, provided
consent thereto shall have been obtained from the
respective State legislature.
Art. 133. This Constitution and the laws of
the United States of Mexico which shall be made
in pursuance hereof and all treaties made or which
shall be made under the authority of the President
of the Eepublic, with the approval of the Congress,
shall be the supreme law of the land. And the
judges in every State shall be bound by this Con-
stitution and by these laws and treaties, anything
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the
contrary notwithstanding.
258 APPENDIX B
Art. 134. Bids shall be called for on all con-
tracts which the Government may have occasion
to enter into for the execution of any public works ;
these bids shall be submitted under seal and shall
only be opened publicly.
TITLE VIII
Of the Amendments to the Constitution
Art. 135. The present Constitution may be
added to or amended. No amendment or addi-
tion shall become part of the Constitution until
agreed to by the Congress of the Union by a
two-thirds vote of the members present and ap-
proved by a majority of the State legislatures.
The Congress shall count the votes of the legis-
latures and make the declaration that the amend-
ments or additions have been adopted.
TITLE IX
Of the Inviolability of the Constitution
Art. 136. This Constitution shall not lose its
force and vigor, even though its observance be
interrupted by rebellion. In case that through
any public disturbance a Government contrary to
the principles which it sanctions be established,
its force shall be restored so soon as the people
shall regain their liberty, and those who have par-
ticipated in the Government emanating from the
APPENDIX B 259
rebellion or have cooperated with it shall be tried
in accordance with its provisions and with the
laws arising under it.
TRANSITORY ARTICLES
Article 1. This Constitution shall be published
at once and a solemn affirmation made to defend
and enforce it throughout the Republic; but its
provisions, except those relating to the election
of the supreme powers, Federal and State, shall
not go into effect until the first day of May, 1917,
at which time the Constitutional Congress shall
be solemnly convened and the oath of office taken
by the citizen chosen at the forthcoming elections
to discharge the duties of President of the Repub-
lic.
The provisions of Clause V of Article 82 shall
not be applicable in the elections to be called in
accordance with Article 2 of the Transitory Arti-
cles, nor shall active service in the army act as a
disqualification for the office of representative or
senator, provided the candidate shall not have
active command of troops in the respective elec-
toral district.
Nor shall the secretaries nor assistant secre-
taries of executive departments be disqualified
from election to the next Federal Congress, pro-
vided they shall definitively resign from office on
or before the day on which the respective call is
issued.
860 APPENDIX B
Art. 2. The person charged with the executive
power of the Nation shall immediately, upon the
publication of this Constitution, call for elections
to fill the Federal offices ; he shall see that these
elections be held so that Congress may be consti-
tuted within a reasonable time, in order that it
may count the votes cast in the presidential elec-
tions and make known the name of the person who
has been elected President of the Eepublic; this
shall be done in order that the provisions of the
foregoing article may be complied with.
Art. 3. The next constitutional term shall be
computed, in the case of Senators and Kepresenta-
tives, from the first of September last, and in the
case of the President of the Eepublic, from the
first of December, 1916.
Art. 4. Senators who in the coming election
shall be classified as "even" shall serve only two
years, in order that the Senate may be renewed
by half every two years.
Art. 5. The Congress shall in the month of
May next choose the Justices of the Supreme
Court in order that this tribunal may be consti-
tuted on the first day of June, 1917.
In these elections, Article 96 shall not govern
in so far as the candidates proposed by the State
Legislatures are concerned ; but those chosen shall
be designated for the first term of two years pre-
scribed by Article 94.
Art. 6. The Congress shall meet in extraordi-
nary session on the fifteenth day of April, 1917,
APPENDIX B 261
to act as an electoral college, for the computing
of the ballots and the determination of the election
of President of the Bepublic, at which time it shall
make known the results; it shall likewise enact
the organic law of the Circuit and District Courts,
the organic law of the Tribunals of the Federal
District and Territories, in order that the Supreme
Court of Justice may immediately appoint the In-
ferior and Superior District and Circuit Judges ;
at the same session the Congress shall choose the
Superior Judges and Judges of First Instance of
the Federal District and Territories, and shall
also enact all laws submitted by the Executive.
The Circuit and District Judges and the Superior
and Inferior Judges of the Federal District and
Territories shall take office not later than the first
day of July, 1917, at which time such as shall have
been temporarily appointed by the person now
charged with the executive power of the nation
shall cease to act.
Art. 7. For this occasion only, the votes for
the office of Senator shall be counted by the Board
of the First Electoral District of each State or of
the Federal District which shall be instituted for
the counting of the votes of Representatives. This
Board shall issue the respective credentials to the
Senators-elect.
Art. 8. The Supreme Court shall decide all
pending petitions of "amparo," in accordance
with the laws at present in force.
Art, 9. The First Chief of the Constitutionalist
262 APPENDIX B
Army, charged with the executive power of the
Nation, is hereby authorized to issue the electoral
law according to which, on this occasion, the elec-
tions to fill the various Federal offices shall be
held.
Art. 10. All persons who shall have taken part
in the Government emanating from the rebellion
against the legitimate government of the Republic,
or who may have given aid to the said rebellion
and later taken up arms or held any office or com-
mission of the factions which have opposed the
constitutionalist government, shall be tried in ac-
cordance with the laws at present in force, unless
they shall have been previously pardoned by the
said constitutionalist government.
Art. 11. Until such time as the Congress of the
Union and the State Legislatures shall legislate
on the agrarian and labor problems, the bases
established by this Constitution for the said laws
shall be put into force throughout the Eepublic.
Art. 12. All Mexicans who shall have fought in
the ranks of the constitutionalist army and their
children and widows and all other persons who
shall have rendered service to the cause of the
revolution, or to public instruction, shall be pre-
ferred in the acquisition of lots to which Article
27 refers, and shall be entitled to such rebates as
the law shall determine.
Art. 13. All debts contracted by working men
on account of work up to the date of this Consti-
tution with masters, their subordinates and agents,
APPENDIX B 263
are hereby declared wholly and entirely dis-
charged.
Art. 14. The Departments of Justice and of
Public Instruction and Fine Arts are hereby abol-
ished.
Art. 15. The citizen at present charged with
the executive power is hereby authorized to issue
the law of civil responsibility applicable to all
promoters, accomplices and abettors of the
offenses committed against the constitutional
order in the month of February, 1913, and against
the Constitutionalist Government.
Art. 16. The Constitutional Congress in the
regular period of sessions, to begin on the first day
of September of the present year, shall issue all
the organic laws of the Constitution which may
not have been already issued in the extraordinary
session to which Transitory Article number 6
refers; and it shall give preference to the laws
relating to personal guarantees and to Articles
30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 107 and the latter part of
Article 111 of this Constitution.
Signed at Queretaro de Arteaga, January 31,
1917.
APPENDIX
A STATEMENT REGARDING THE MEXICAN RAILWAYS
The Mexican News Bureau in Washington re-
cently sent to the newspapers of the United States
propaganda notes attempting to disprove state-
ments made in articles of mine which appeared in
the Saturday Evening Post.
Copies of these "News Notes " follow:
NEWS NOTES FROM MEXICAN NEWS BUREAU, 613 RIGGS
BLDG., WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11,
1917
Railroad Repairs and Recognition
Those who are acquainted with the condition in
Mexico and who have followed the steady march
of events in that country during the past six or
seven years, have been surprised at some recent
statements appearing in the Saturday Evening
Post of October 6, by Carl W. Ackerman, regard-
ing that country. One is to the effect that: "For
seven years practically no repairs have been made
on any of the railway lines either those owned
by the Government or those owned abroad and
operated by the authorities."
264
APPENDIX C 265
As a matter of fact, nothing could be further
from the truth than this assertion. Repairs to
all the lines in the Kepublic have been prosecuted
diligently and zealously even during the worst
periods of the revolution, and it has been unani-
mously conceded by foreigners who have travelled
over the various lines, government as well as pri-
vate ones, that their condition compares most
favourably with lines in the United States is,
indeed, well up to the standard in such matters.
Bridges have been rebuilt, tracks relaid and re-
ballasted, and except for the presence of an occa-
sional pile of bent and twisted rails or of iron
work from burned cars by the side of the track,
one might well believe he were travelling over one
of the best roads in the United States. It is true,
many stations were burned during the troubles,
but as a rule these were of the poorer class. The
fine edifices at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Hermo-
sillo, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, Guada-
lajara, Colima, Vera Cruz, Orizaba, Cordoba,
Puebla, one (a stone structure) at Monterey, those
in Mexico City, as well as many others, in fact
all the best ones in the Republic, were not injured
in the least. Most of those that were damaged
have been repaired and constant work in this di-
rection is being prosecuted. All these facts are
well known to travellers in the Republic and
should have been known to the Post's correspon-
dent, as they are apparent to all.
So, too, with the rolling stock. The various rail-
266 APPENDIX C
road repair shops in all portions of the Republic
have been busy for over two years in repairing
engines, freight and passenger cars, and the
amount of work thus accomplished has been re-
markable considering the conditions. The iron
work of hundreds if not thousands of cars has
been utilised in the construction of new ones and
the process is going steadily forward. Loco-
motives that had been wrecked or temporarily
disabled have been put in commission by the score,
and the repair shops at all the railway centres are
kept fully occupied with the work, as they have
been continuously since the restoration of peace
and as rapidly as the lines were again controlled
by the Government.
The foregoing are well Jmown facts easily sus-
ceptible of demonstration by personal observation,
yet the Post correspondent has apparently pre-
ferred to repeat the allegations of antagonists of
the Government rather than seek proof himself at
first hand.
AS TO RECOGNITION
Fully as surprising is the statement that the
United States and the Allies have not recognised
the present government of Mexico as a de jure one,
and "that their ambassadors and ministers are
not at this writing (some time in September from
all appearances) accredited to the de jure gov-
ernment.
The Government of Mexico was recognised by
THE RUINED RAILWAY DEPOT AND FREIGHT CARS AT
MONTEREY. GENERAL VILLA'S OFFERING UPON
HIS RETREAT FROM THE CITY
A TYPICAL MEXICAN RAILWAY TRAIN FREIGHT,
PASSENGER AND ARMED GUARD COMBINED
APPENDIX C 267
the United States Government as a de jure govern-
ment in March last and has since that date been
so regarded.
NEWS NOTES FROM MEXICAN NEWS BUREAU, 613 RIGGS
BLDG., WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25,
1917
Some Facts About Mexican Railways
Rolling Stock of All Kinds Now Equal to Pre-
Eevolution Days Official Statements
on the Subject.
An interesting light is thrown upon statements
recently made in the Saturday Evening Post and
also in the Mining and Scientific Press of San
Francisco concerning the condition of the rail-
ways in Mexico, which are far from the truth as
will be shown. Great stress is laid by both pub-
lications upon the alleged wholesale destruction of
engines and cars during the Revolution and upon
what is claimed to be a present shortage of roll-
ing stock.
The last annual report of the National Railways
of Mexico, made in 1916, shows the following
facts :
In 1913 before there had been any destruction
of consequence there were 435 passenger coaches
of broad gauge and 118 of narrow gauge. In
1916 there were 414 broad gauge and 101 narrow
gauge or a loss of but 21 and 17 respectively.
268 APPENDIX C
In 1913 there were 16,661 freight cars of broad
gauge and 1,831 of narrow gauge. In 1916 there
were 13,222 of broad gauge and 1,396 of narrow
gauge a loss of 3,439 of the one and 434 of the
other.
In 1913 there were 635 broad gauge locomotives
and 94 narrow gauge. In 1916 there were 596 of
the broad gauge and 83 of the narrow a loss of
83 and 11 respectively.
Since the date of this report large additions
have been made to the rolling stock of all kinds,
by repair, construction and purchase. Further ad-
ditions are constantly being made.
General Agent De Hoyos, who represents the
Constitutionalist railways in New York, is respon-
sible for the statement that within the last six
months there have been purchased 600 freight
cars, 80 passenger cars and sixty locomotives.
Three thousand cars are now under repair in the
company's own shops, which when completed will
bring the equipment practically to the same point
as in 1913 in fact, it is larger so far as regards
locomotives and passenger coaches, and but a
trifle less in regard to freight cars.
In replying to these charges one must consider
the fundamental inaccuracy contained therein, that
is, that many of the railway lines which the pres-
ent government are operating do not belong to
the government at all. The Constitutionalist gov-
APPENDIX C 269
eminent "intervened," or confiscated this prop-
erty and has been operating it for several years
without paying the owners and investors one cent
of dividend. This is very much like the situation
in Mexico City with regard to the Street Eailways.
Until this summer they were operated as confis-
cated property by the government, contrary to
all principles of international law. So when the
Mexican News Notes speaks about the "wonder-
ful" progress which the government is making it
is necessary for the reader to remember that some
of these railroad lines belong to private
individuals, not to the Mexican Government.
With regard to the statement about work which
has been done on the railroads I may say that
President Carranza last summer authorised an
American railroad expert, a personal friend of his,
to travel throughout the country and investigate
the railroad situation. In a confidential report
this official said that there were 4,000 destroyed
freight cars throughout the Eepublic and that be-
cause of a shortage of materials repairs could not
be made until the materials were imported from
the United States.
In the Monterey railroad yards there are 400
skeletons of freight cars destroyed during the
revolution and not one of them has been touched.
During my stay in Mexico I travelled from
Laredo, Texas, to Mexico City; from Mexico City
to Monterey and from Monterey to Tampico by
railroad. During the first day's trip our train was
270 APPENDIX C
held up five hours because of a destroyed bridge
which was put together so poorly that four weeks
later when I returned this way the engineer had
to stop the train to test the bridge before pulling
the passenger train across.
Eailroad traffic between Vera Cruz and Mexico
City is so poor that when I was ready to leave
the capital for Vera Cruz a member of Mr. Car-
ranza's cabinet told me to go north to Tampico
because the line to Vera Cruz was not "safe."
The railway line between Tampico and Mexico
City is not running because the bandits have
destroyed some sections and because the Mexican
Government cannot protect the trains.
The only repair work which is going on, so I
was informed by American officials and other busi-
ness men in the Eepublic, is that under the direc-
tion of foreign corporations.
In Monterey the Manager of the large Five
Million Dollar Steel mills told me that he had to
rebuild all locomotives and freight cars which his
corporation used because the Mexican Government
was not in a position to do so. He showed me
about twelve freight cars in his shops which were
being repaired and explained that under his con-
tract with the government he had exclusive use of
these cars for two years. I saw in his repair shops
not less than five locomotives which his workmen
were repairing. He stated that he had not only to
rebuild the rolling stock but had to supply engi-
neers, firemen and brakemen to operate the trains.
APPENDIX C 271
The American Smelting and Refining Company
owns and operates all the trains it uses in Mexico
for hauling ores and metals. It had to do this be-
cause the Mexican Government was not in a posi-
tion to furnish it with the necessary rolling stock
to take care of its shipping. In Tampico the for-
eign oil companies are using their own oil cars to
ship their product in Mexico, and because of the
bad condition of the Mexican railways, because of
the delays, etc., the companies are now considering
the construction of an automobile road from Tam-
pico to the Texas border, or the laying of a pipe
line.
Reports made to the American Consular Office
at Monterey show that shipments are being held
up not days but weeks and months because of a
lack of rolling stock.
If the Mexican railways are "indeed well up to
the standard (of the United States) in such mat-
ters" it would be interesting to know why the
Pullman company will not permit any of its cars
to cross the Rio Grande. It would be interesting,
too, to know why none of the American railway
companies will permit either passenger or freight
cars to go into Mexico. When the revolutions be-
gan the Pullman company withdrew practically
every car from the Mexican service. A few were
"caught" in remote sections of the country and
these are now being used as private cars by Mex-
ican officials.
If conditions in the United States and Mexico
872 APPENDIX C
with regard to the railways are so similar one
might ask the editor of the Mexican News Notes
why it is that in Mexico federal troops are sent
as escorts on all railway lines to protect the pas-
sengers and the property? If conditions are so
normal why did the government send a special
troop train to escort Ambassador Fletcher to the
capital and why did this special train, with a heavy
guard, run only during the day? Why, too, are
most of the trains running between Mexico City
and Laredo detained at night within some railway
station f
APPENDIX D
THE PROPOSED AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
When I was in Mexico City the American busi-
ness men were discussing the advisability of or-
ganising a Chamber of Commerce. In the Chapter
on "The Last Spy Offensive" I mentioned what
a contrast there was between the German intrigue
in Mexico and the American business methods. I
am adding the official statement of the American
committee so that the reader may see what the
full plans of the Americans are. In so doing I
wish to add that contrary to the oft repeated
charges in the United States that all Americans
and foreigners in Mexico were exploiting the peo-
ple I found that those Americans in Mexico to-day
are the same high type men who are a credit to
the United States business world. I met during
my stay in Mexico only one pessimistic American
merchant who lamented the disappearance of the
"good old days" when President Diaz permitted
the foreigners to do about as they pleased. He,
the Pessimist, advocated intervention in order
that these "good days" might return, forgetting
perhaps that if the United States ever intervened
in Mexico the methods would not be German.
273
APPENDIX D
The American folder runs as follows :
PEOJECT FOE AN
AMEEICAN CHAMBEE OF COMMERCE
OF MEXICO
A committee has decided to submit to American
residents and American firms established or inter-
ested in Mexico a proposal for the formation of
an American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico
City.
It is proposed to establish a purely commercial
and non-political organisation which will foment
the friendly trade relations between Mexico and
the United States, and which, in co-operation with
the representatives of the United States in Mex-
ico, will be able to initiate as active a campaign
for American trade as is now being carried on by
organisations of other countries for their own
interests.
To establish a nucleus upon which all American
interests may centre and present a united front
not only toward internal problems of trade, but
also, through intercourse with chambers of com-
merce in the United States, toward the attitude of
a great body of American manufacturers who, by
reason of misinformation and by inaction, are im-
periling their hold on a market which under all
economic laws should be inalienably theirs.
To form a clearing house wherein business of-
fered to firms outside of their particular line may
APPENDIX D 275
be promptly brought to the attention of such firms
as are equipped to handle the same.
To establish headquarters in Mexico City for
local organisation and for affiliation with cham-
bers in the United States and with American
chambers in the cities of Latin America and
Europe.
To offer membership to American firms and
American residents in the Kepublic of Mexico and
in the United States.
To secure correspondents throughout Mexico
and especially in localities that do not afford the
services and co-operation of American consular
officers.
To compile information thus gathered and to
distribute or utilise it for the benefit of members
and for promotion of American trade and indus-
try; applying such information to inquiries from
the United States and helping non-residents to
discriminate between desirable and undesirable
enterprises.
To publish a periodical bulletin and market re-
porter, carrying paid advertisements, and ulti-
mately to establish and let space for exhibits both
of American manufactures, and of the products of
Mexico. To take up such other activities as the
members may determine.
With these objects in view Americans are in-
vited to join in organising an American Chamber
of Commerce of Mexico.
The State Department at Washington, on being
276 APPENDIX D
informed of the plan to establish a chamber of
commerce here, has authorised its consuls through-
out Mexico to co-operate and to assist the chamber
under the supervision of its consuls general.
PEOPOSED PLAN OF ORGANISATION
(Subject to Change by the Subscribing Members)
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
A board of fifteen directors to be elected by the
members of the chamber and to have general
charge of its affairs. Of these, five to be elected
for one year, five for two years and five for three
years.
The officers of the chamber shall be selected by
the board and shall consist of a president, two
vice-presidents, treasurer and secretary. All ex-
cept the secretary must be members of the board.
Honourary president and vice-presidents may also
be chosen by the board.
An executive committee shall be designated by
the board from its number. The board shall deter-
mine various committees to be established, appoint
the members thereof and supervise their work.
COMMITTEES
Committees are recommended as follows:
1. Executive, 4. Publicity,
2. Membership, 5. Constitution,
3. Finance, 6. Entertainment,
APPENDIX D 277
7. Trade, 10. Transportation,
8. Industrial, 11. Agriculture,
9. Mining, 12. General Development.
Some committees would be of more immediate
importance than others, but time would be saved
for the future by appointing the most of them at
once and getting their work started. Interest
among merchants, manufacturers and financiers in
the United States toward Mexico, although latent
now, is widespread and will become active as soon
as the European war closes or the situation clears
further in Mexico.
LOCATION
Suitable rooms will be secured and kept open
daily, making this a common meeting place for
members and visitors, with facilities for reading
and writing. Space could be provided and let for
foreign and native exhibits and samples.
MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
The membership, limited to Americans, to be
made up of these classes :
Members Entrance Fee Quarterly Dues Vote
Active / Corporate 100 pesos 25 pesos 2
1 Individual 60 * 12.50 1
Associate Resident 25 6.25 None
Associate /Corporate 50 * 12.50 " None
Non-Reaident \ Individual 25 * 6.25 None
Active members may be either resident or non-
resident.
278 APPENDIX D
A resident individual or firm engaged in busi-
ness that employs a capital of more than 10,000
pesos shall be classed as a corporate member in
regard to entrance fee, dues and votes.
A local firm or company with not more than
10,000 pesos capital may be classed as an indi-
vidual active member with respect to entrance
fee, dues and vote.
Americans residing in the Federal District and
not engaged in business may enter either as active
individual members or associate resident members.
Only active members shall serve on the board
and on committees and be entitled to vote at meet-
ings of the chamber.
Representation of corporate members at formal
meetings must be by Americans.
Mexican corporations owned and controlled by
Americans shall be considered American corpora-
tions.
Eespectfully submitted,
BY THE COMMITTEE
H. P. Lewis K. M. Van Zandt, Jr.
H. T. Oliver M. V. Stewart
H. A. Basham W. L. Vail
F. J. Dunkerley Ealph Smith
Carl Holt Smith A. B. Mohler
S. W. Rider, Chairman
Consul General, G. A. Chamberlain,
Advisory Member.
September, 1917.
APPENDIX E
PRESIDENTIAL, ELECTION
The Mexican Review, published at Washington,
printed the following statement regarding the elec-
tion which was held after the adoption of the new
Constitution.
Herewith are given the complete returns of the
Presidential election held on March llth, can-
vassed by Congress and announced as the official
figures.
In every instance the ballots were blank, a space
being left for the voter to inscribe the name of his
favourite candidate. As will be seen, several thou-
sand votes were cast for others than President
Carranza, Generals Gonzales and Obregon leading
in this respect. Many others received smaller
numbers of votes, including General Alvarado and
other prominent revolutionary leaders.
The figures follow on page 280.
CARKANZA OFFICIALLY DECLARED PRESIDENT
After canvassing the returns of the election
from the various States, the Chamber of Deputies
adopted a resolution in the following words, an-
279
280
APPENDIX E
States Carrauza Gonzales
Obregon
Aguascalientes 7,394 28 17
Colima 4,874 27 19
Coahuila 26,841 52 219
Campeche 2,061 6 3
Chihuahua 5,883 2 57
Chiapas 14,277 3
Durango 6,816 17 202
Guanajuato 91,226 3,328 708
Guerrero 9,825
Jalisco 34,135 28 52
Mexico 52,513. 1,676 520
Michoacan 33,627 1,515 120
Nuevo Le6n 33,166 8 10
Oaxaca 60,964 138 73
Puebla 57,519 1,215 193
Queretaro 14,754 491 111
S. L. Potosi 22,638 71 51
Sinaloa IVIO 24 169
Tabasco 6,lb, 2 5
Hidalgo 19,949 70 32
Tlaxcala 21,724 176 53
Yucatan 25,717 12 14
Zacatecas 20,732 67 66
VeraCniz 39,455 276 172
Sonora 20,667 6 367
Tepic 8,856- 2 9'
Baja California 3,056 "
Quintana Roo 345 12
Distrito Federal 70,003 1,773 553
Totals 797,305 11,615 4,008
The total number of votes cast was 812,928.
nouncing officially that in the election held on
March llth the Citizen Venustiano Carranza re-
ceived 797,305 votes, against various other candi-
dates with a much inferior number of ballots. The
resolution was unanimously approved. It reads
as follows :
The Chamber of Deputies of the Twenty-
seventh Congress of the Eepublic of Mexico, con- ,
stituted in an Electoral College and in use of the
rights and faculties conferred upon them by Sec-
tion I of Article 74 of the Political Constitution
of the Republic, have decreed, after a careful ex-
EL NUEVO "DON QUIJOTE"
El Yanqui nuevo Quijote--
Pretende con lanza en ristre,
"DESFACER," no lo inclines
Sino "lancear" a la KSFINQE.
Empeno iniitil los "titeres
Nunca pueden con los hombres,
Por eso el "GHARRO" se He
A. mandi'bula batiente,
Y a voz en cuello te dice:
Oh, "Quijote de Petate,'
Aunque ten^as muchos rifles,
Muchos *d6lares y barcos,
No has depodercon fa "ESFINQE 1
