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TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1919
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PREFACE
We have, in the United States, a very confused idea
of what has been happening in Mexico during the past
seven or eight years. Beyond knowing that there have
been revolutions and counter-revolutions, with a mass of
disorder, and that we have, two or three times, been on
the verge of war with our next door neighbor, we know
little of what it is all about. In the following pages
I have endeavored to give a general idea of the social,
industrial, political and economic conditions which
have prevailed in Mexico since the fall of the Diaz r6-
gime in 1911, and to outline briefly some of the prob-
lems which confront the country.
I have not attempted, in this work, anything like a
complete history of Mexico, but I have felt that, for a
full understanding of present-day conditions, it is essen-
tial to examine early Mexican history and the history of
Spanish rule and subsequent events insofar as these
periods have affected national life. In dealing with
events antedating what may be termed modern Mexico
I have made no attempt at original research, and, so
far as concerns anything prior to 1900, the work here
presented is a repetition or reflection of the findings or
opinions of Fiske, Prescott, Bancroft, Luis Perez Verdia
and other authorities. The story of subsequent events is
based largely on personal experience or observation, and
on opinions formed through contact with all classes of
Mexican society. I have endeavored, in the hope of
aiding in a better understanding of the whole situation,
PKEFACE
to present the Mexican viewpoint, as well as that of the
outsider, on questions of domestic affairs and foreign
relations.
I wish to express my thanks to Senores Luis Cabrera,
Ignacio Bonillas, Carlos Basave, Eduardo del Kaso,
Kafael Nieto, V. M. Gutierrez, J. M. Cardenas and
other Mexican f riends for facilities given me for obtain-
ing data; to Mr. George F. Weeks of Washington for
chronological data ; and to Mr. C. W. Van Law of Bos-
ton for valuable suggestions.
EDWABJD- D. TROWBEIBGEI.
Detroit, December 9, 1918.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I ANCIENT MEXICO AND THE AZTECS .... 1
II AZTEC CIVILIZATION .' ........ 10
III THE MONTEZUMAS ......... 22.
IV THE SPANISH CONQUEST ....... 55T
V SPANISH MEXICO ......... 39
"VI INDEPENDENCE .......... 50L
VII MADAME CALDERON DE LA BAROA . .... 61,
VIH AMERICAN WAR FRENCH OCCUPATION ... 80 .
IX PORIURIO DIAZ .......... 91
v X TUB CIENTIFICOS ......... 97
XI SOCIAL CONDITIONS ......... 105
XII HYGIENIC CONDITIONS ........ 116
XIII AGRARIAN AND OTIJER PROBLEMS ..... 119
*XIV MADERO ............. 130
XV HUERTA .......... . . . 140
XVI CAURANZA VILLA ZAPATA ..... 151
'X'VlI DIFFICULT CONDITIONS ....... . 167
XVHI CARRANZA AND His TROUBLES ....... 179
XIX TUB NEW CONSTITUTION ....... 302
SfX CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT . . * . . . 222
XXI FINANCIAL NEEDS . . . : ..... 233
XXH MEXICO AND THE WORLD WAR . . *^*~ 24?'
XXIII MEXICO AND FOREIGN CAPITAL ..... 261
XXIV AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS ..... 273
MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
CHAPTER I
ANCIENT MEXICO AND THE AZTECS
MEXICO is a land of vivid, startling contrasts. The
great Mexican Plateau is a region bathed in perpetual,
brilliant sunshine; the Mexican tropical forests are
vast, somber jungles into which the sunshine barely fil-
ters. It is a land of mystery, and a land of common-
place dirt and existence. Areas of fabulously rich soil
contrast with arid desert regions. In Mexican history
there are, on the one hand, romance, adventure, chiv-
alry, sacrifice, lofty ideals; on the other, oppression,
cruelty, sordid ambition, pestilence. Great wealth
confronts the direst poverty. The lights are always
strong, the shadows always dark.
Much lias been written of Mexican history, of the
early architecture, of the Spanish conquest, of wars and
revolutions, of industrial growth and possibilities.
The purpose of these works has been to make scientific
examination of the life of early American peoples, to
give purely chronological relation of the course of
events in the country, or to treat the question from the
viewpoint of world developments in commerce and in-
dustry. Little has been written from the viewpoint of
the social life of the Mexican people. It is intended in
the following pages, to attempt to give some idea of the
conditions of the life of the people, of the factors which
2 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOREOW
led up to the turbulent years through which Mexico has
passed, and of the problems which confront the coun-
try. It is necessary,, however, in order to reach an un-
derstanding of present conditions, to review early his-
tory, and that of the Spanish rule in Mexico, in so far
as these have influenced the development of the social
conditions of the people.
Who the original inhabitants of Mexico were, and
where they came from, arc questions veiled in impene-
trable mystery. We are apt to think of the Aztecs as
the early people of Mexico. They, however, were rela-
tively late comers. In 1870 there was found at IV
quizquiac, in a geological formation of the Nezoic pe-
riod (the period of fauna gigantica), a skull of a cow,
carved in stone, and human bones have been found in
old geological formation, indicating that the country
was inhabited at a very remote period. The first his-
toric period in Mexico was that in which the great stone
monuments and temples were erected by the Itzaes, a
race whoso civilization spread over Central America
and tliencc along the West Coast of South America,
The monuments, constructed of huge blocks of stone,
were covered with rich carvings having many of the
characteristics of the Assyrian and early Egyptian
monuments. The carvings are historical records, with
figures and groups of figures used much as hieroglyphics
were used by the Egyptians, and while some, by anal-
ogy or by traditions picked up by early Spanish priests,
have been deciphered, the key to this lost ideographic
language has never been found. In general, tho early
monuments may bo grouped into three divisions:
Those of the Itzaes, in Yucatan and Central America ;
those of the Mixtecos and Zapotecos, branches of the
Maya race, in Mitla, (in tie State of Oaxaca), at
^ochicalco, (in the State of Morelos) and at various
ANCIENT MEXICO AND THE AZTECS 3
points in the States of Puebla and Guerrero ; and those
of the Toltecs, including the great pyramids erected at
Teotihuacan, pyramids at Cholula and other points,
and the ruins of great temples and buildings at
Tollan (Tula), all points within a hundred miles of
Mexico City. Some of the carvings in Yucatan seem
to indicate that the Itzaes came from the East, which,
if true, would give them North African or Asiatic
origin. These people were star worshipers, and had
a theocratic form of government They built, as a
capital, the city of Palenque, in Yucatan, whose ruins
constitute the most elaborate found in the new world.
Palenque probably antedates the Christian era by one
thousand to two thousand years.
The Ifczaes were succeeded, perhaps overthrown, by
the Mayas, whose origin is also lost in obscurity. The
Mayas were of the Nahoa family. All legendary and
monumental records indicate that this race came from
the North, and probably settled in Yucatan in the early
centuries of the Christian era. Definite Mexican his-
tory begins with the Toltecs. Luis Perez Verdia, whose
work, "Historia de Mexico/' qualifies him to speak
with authority, .says that the Toltecs were settled in
California, north of the Gila River, at a very early
date, and that their earliest* legends and traditions indi-
cated that they were of Asiatic origin. Perhaps they
came from the far North, after following the chain of
islands along the Bering Sea. In any event, they had a
capital called Chalchicatzincan, probably in California.
After some civil strife, seven chiefs, with a large fol-
lowing, started South at a date computed to be 544 A. D.
They moved from time to time, finally establishing the
town of Tollanzinco in 645, later, in 661, establishing
their capital at Tollan (Tula), fifty miles, from the
present Mexican capital Here they built a great city,
4 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
grew in numbers and power, and finally dominated the
whole of the Mexican Valley region. Their govern-
ment, which had been a tribal one headed by two chiefs,
and five sub-chiefs, was changed into an absolute mon-
archy.
In any attempts to study the very early history of
Mexico one of the difficulties of determining anything
as to the age of monuments is due to the tropical and
semi-tropical plant life. Buildings, once abandoned,
soon disappear under the profusion of foliage, and
only chance excavation brings to light what may have
been an important city centuries ago. At Necaxa, in
the State of Puebla, some American engineers engaged
on a large construction job, undertook to open up a
large mound, evidently some sort of a ruin. On digging
down six feet they found the walls of a Toltec temple,
which they uncovered. The building was of massive
hewn stone, paved with heavy flagstones. One of the
latter was out of place, and, on digging into the hole
where it had been the investigators found a small
earthen jar containing two sixpence pieces of George
III! The building had evidently been used, prob-
ably as a residence, as late as the latter part of the
eighteenth century, but was so deeply buried in loam
that the tops of its walls were six feet below the sur*
face. On the great Mexican plateau, with its altitude
of 8,000 feet, plant life is not so luxuriant, and monu-
ments of ancient days do not disappear in this way.
However, much of the carved or written record of an-
cient days has been blotted out by the fanaticism of the
Conquerors.
During the Toltec domination another race, the
Ghichimeca, had probably settled in the Mexico Val-
ley. Their origin is obscure, and little is known of
them save that they came from the North. Whether
ANCIENT MEXICO AND THE AZTECS 5
they succeeded to the power of the Toltecs through
prosperity due to tribal growth and energy, or whether
they were invaders who overthrew the Toltecs, is not
clear. The Toltec rule ended in 1116, perhaps some-
what earlier, and there is a lapse of some years to 1170,
when, according to the test evidence, the history of
Ghichimec rule began. In any event, the Chichimecs
apparently came in great numbers, divided into several
distinct tribes which settled around the borders of the
Valley Lakes. Of these tribes the Acolhuans, later
known as the Tezcucans, were the most powerful, and
their chief exercised a sort of 'feudal control over the
other tribes. The Acolhuans settled at Texcoco, where,
before long, their crude huts, built of reeds, gave way
to buildings of brick and stone, and the foundations
were laid for a permanent and powerful government
The Xochimilcos settled south of Lake Ohalco, the
Tepanecs at Atzcapozalco, the Ohalcos east of Lake
Chalco, and the Tlaxcaltecs on the shore of Lake Tex-
coco. The Tlaxcaltecs, due to tribal warfare, withdrew
early, settling at Tlaxcallan. Of the remaining, the
Acolhuans outstripped the others, and their capital,
Texcoco, soon became the most important place in the
whole of Mexico Valley. This city is credited with
having had 200,000 inhabitants, living in 30,000
houses. As the Tezcucans developed picture writing
to a high degree a good deal of their history has been
preserved. Ixtlilxochitl, a descendant of the royal fam-
ily, early in the days of Spanish rule wrote an ex-
Jiaustive history of the Kingdom. Ixtlilxochitl, fortu-
nately, lived at a period so dose to the days of Tezcu-
can domination that he was able to get much accurate
information as to the conditions of the life of the
people, social customs, and so forth. We have, there-
fore, a graphic picture of a civilization, quite highly
6 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEROW
developocl in many respects, existing at a period when
the greater portion of the continent was occupied only
by savages. The royal palace, which included all pub-
lic buildings, covered a tract of land three quarters of
a mile long by half a mile wide. The royal quarters
were luxuriously embellished with alabaster walls and
beautiful tapestries of feather work. In the courts
were many varieties of trees, and there existed quite
elaborate buildings devoted to specimens of animal and
bird life. There was also an aquarium containing
specimens of fish of the kingdom, and many fish brought
from distant points. An elaborate system of courts
was established, and something of education was at-
tempted under the care of the priesthood. The great-
est development of the kingdom was under Nezahual-
coyotl, who died in M70.
The Aztecs, another race from the North, probably
from California, started wandering southward some
time in the twelfth century. Traces of their migration
are found in Arizona, then in New Mexico and finally
in Northern Mexico. At Casas Grandes, in the State
of Chihuahua, they built a great city, and the com-
bination palace and citadel, a building or group of
buildings of brick, eight hundred feet long by two
hundred and fifty feet wide, was, in part, six or seven
stories high probably the first sky-scraper on the
continent The movements of this tribe from Casas
Grandes southward are easily traced. The tribe even-
tually arrived in the lake region of the Mexico Valley,
but, as all fertile tracts were already occupied, had to
content itself on an island marsh in Lake Texcoco. It
is improbable that this spot would have been selected but
for the fact that according to tradition an Aztec wise
man had said that the people would not settle per-
manently until they found an eagle and a serpent to-
ANCIENT MEXICO AND THE AZTECS 7
gether. Consequently, when in their wanderings they
found an eagle devouring a serpent they decided to stay
and make the best of a bad location. They had a hard
time of it, as marshes had to be reclaimed to give them
any soil to cultivate. Moreover, the neighboring tribes
did not want any more people in the valley, and were
hostile to a point of persecution. The new people, how-
ever, were hardy and tenacious, and, having come more
recently from a country where they were in battle
with climatic conditions, they were stronger, man for
man, than those around them. They stuck to it, man-
aged to hold what they had, and soon had a settlement
of a permanent character. Arriving at the lake in
1325, by the end of the century they were influential,
and their capital, Tenochtitlan, was of almost equal
importance with Texcoco. In a war between the Tezcu-
cans and Tepanecs they came in, at a critical moment,
as allies of the former, and helped in the annihilation,
in 1428, of Tepanec power. As a reward they were
given a large part of the conquered territory.
Shortly after this there was formed an alliance, of-
fensive and defensive, between the Aztecs, Tezcucaais.
and Tlacopans. By the terms of the Alliance the three
contracting parties were to act together for defensive
purposes, and were to divide, in proportions of two-
fifths, two-fifths and one-fifth, all the spoils of war. No
offensive could be undertaken without ,the consent of
at least two of the allies. Each kingdom continued
a separate and independent rule, and was at liberty to
go on with its own development, and the three were
allied only for military purposes. At first the Tezcu-
cans probably dominated the alliance, but later the
Aztecs took the lead. It is a somewhat remarkable fact,
considering the possibilities of trouble qver division of
spoils, that the alliance thus formed continued for more
8 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
than a century, and was, in fact, only overcome by the
Spanish conquest. The alliance was of the greatest im-
portance in the subsequent history of the country, not
only because of its strength but because, in the use of
that strength, it created many enemies and paved the
way for foreign interference.
The Aztecs, early in their history in the valley, were
called Mexicans, from their patron deity, Mexitli.
As they became the dominating military factor an3 the
leading political power the subsequent operations of
the alliance may be considered as of Aztec or Mexican
character, and will be treated as such.
The Mexican rule, or, more correctly, the Mexican,
domination, was now extended rapidly in all directions.
It extended east to the Gulf of Mexico, and up and
down the Gulf for perhaps two hundred and fifty miles.
Toward the south it extended two hundred miles or
more, on the west it touched the Pacific Ocean, and on
the north it took in practically the whole of the Mex-
ican plateau. Altogether, considering the primitive na-
ture of its people and the humble origin of the domi-
nating nation, it was an extensive country. The great
point of weakness in the scheme was, however, that
power was not centralized. Each conquered tribe was
left to itself and subjected only to paying tribute. Con-
sequently, nothing in the way of a national spirit or
power was developed. In fact, the tendency under this
scheme was to increase tribal jealousy and hatred, and to
throw the subject peoples into any strong combination,
which might give promise of relief from immediate
troubles. There was nothing in this so-called empire to
suggest the rule of the Romans, who, on vanquishing
foe, immediately set about to build up, not a tributary
nation, but rather a distinctly Roman province. The
ANCIENT MEXICO AND THE AZTECS 9
situation might be compared to that of the world-wide
empire set up by Alexander, who conquered, exacted
tribute and moved on, leaving a hundred petty king-
doms in his wake.
CHAPTER II
AZTEC CIVILIZATION
FBOM early days the Toltecs had developed a rela-
tively high civilization. They made much progress in
agriculture, knew something of astronomy, formulated
a calendar, had an ideographic system of writing, and
understood something of government. It would be
tedious to attempt any classification, in chronological
order, of the social and economic development made by
the succeeding nations. It is, however, important to
understand, in a general way, the social conditions ex-
isting at the time of the Spanish Conquest. In de-
scribing these conditions no attempt will be made to
differentiate between Toltee, Tezcucan or Mexican civ-
ilizations, the three being treated as common to all.
The Toltecs and Tezcucans had hereditary monarchs,
while the Aztec monarchy was elective. Due to this
and to other conditions there were minor differences in
laws and in social customs, but the civilization may,
for the purpose of this work, be considered as Mexican,
especially as the Mexicans largely dominated at the
time of the conquest.
The Spaniards, on coming to Mexico, found little
to learn from the Mexicans as to agriculture, and, in
fact, had much to teach them. It must bo remembered,
however, that agriculture in Spain had been developed
to a very high point by the Moors, and that, agricul-
turally, they were at that time easily the first nation in
the world. It seems probable, from all the data avail-
10
AZTEC CIVILIZATION 11
able, that Mexican progress in agriculture was up to
the average of most European countries. They not
only tilled the soil, but they understood and developed
irrigation. In hilly country the ground was terraced,
not only to utilize all available land but to prevent
such land, once cultivated, from being washed away in
heavy rains* Corn was raised everywhere, and there
was a great variety of vegetables. Various spices were
raised, and, as a substitute for sugar there were the
products of different plants. Cacao (chocolate) was
grown in the tierra caliente (hot country) and was in
general use. Great quantities of cotton were grown,
and cotton cloths, from the coarsest to the finest, were
to be had in all parts of the country. The products of
other plants were used for making other textiles, and
skins and furs were made useful by tanning and treat-
ment. A good grade of paper similar to papyrus was
made from the fiber of the maguey plant
Gold and silver were used for ornaments, and were
wrought and carved with considerable skill. Pearls
were brought from the Gulf of California, and were
much prized. Emeralds, turquoises, opals and other
precious and semi-precious stones were also used for
ornaments, but were usually in the rough, due to the
absence of hard enough materials with which to cut
them. For purposes of ornamentation, both in the
way of personal decoration and for household use,
feather work designs were much used, and in this dainty
art the Mexicans excelled. The gorgeously colored
feathers of tropical birds were used in immense quanti-
ties for this purpose, and the artisans were so skillful
that the most intricate and delicate designs were put
into tapestries or on cloths for wearing apparel.
There was no phonetic alphabet, but an ideographic
system of writing had existed from very early days, and
12 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
had been developed to a point where, with the use of
conventional hieroglyphics, much could be expressed in
writing. In the earlier days this mode of expression
appears to have been confined to stone carving, but later
a vast amount of picture writing was done. The Mex-
icans developed this to its highest point by superimpos-
ing a color scheme on the original method of written
expression. This gave them greater flexibility, as a
figure in black would mean one thing, while the same
figure in blue would mean something else, or perhaps
indicate a different state of the first object. Thus, a
disc could mean the sun, a white disc the rising sun,
a black disc the setting sun, a disc half-painted white
midday, and so on through an endless number of com-
binations. A footprint meant traveling, a tongue
meant speaking, and a man seated indicated an earth-
quake. Many of the signs were seemingly arbitrary,
but doubtless due to some association of ideas. Thus,
the serpent was used to represent time. This, while
apparently arbitrary, was doubtless due to the idea of
the noiseless speed with which time glides by.
The zeal of the Spaniards for religion was as great
as their avarice for gold, and their first acts in Mexico
were to destroy the old temples. As temple walls were
covered with picture writing, all documents and parch-
ments were considered as part of an idolatrous worship
and were promptly destroyed. One early prolate made
a huge collection of picture writings solely for the pleas-
ure of burning them all at once in a huge bonfire ! Pos-
sibly in this very fire perished the key to the whole
language. At all events, in the first few years the
Spanish destroyed every piece of writing found, and
only after their first fanatic fury was exhausted did they
realize what they had done. Then the priests began to
decipher such manuscripts as turned up, either by use of
AZTEC CIVILIZATION 13
such other documents as they had or by combining them
with traditional history. Thanks, then, to the same
church which destroyed the greater part of the written
records, some of the old manuscripts remain and are use-
ful in forming an idea of the history and life of the
people. That there was a clearly defined if intricate
means of expressing thoughts in writing is certain, and
that this had been developed, not merely to represent
single ideas but to record past events with careful refer-
ence to their chronological or v der, is also certain. The
people, then, had long passed the stage of living the day
for itself, and had developed in thought to a point where
they wished to record what had gone before. In other
words, they had made a great step in civilization, not
only in agriculture and in the development of comforts,
but also in thought. How rapidly they reached this
stage is uncertain, but from their knowledge of astron-
omy it seems probable that the process took many cen-
turies.
The movements of the sun, moon and planets must
have been observed and recorded for many years, for
they had a remarkable .knowledge of the revolutions of
the different bodies. Their calendar was amazingly
accurate, although worked out on a totally different basis
than ours. The year was divided into eighteen months
of twenty days each, and each year five extra days were
added. This gave them a year of 365 days. To make
up the actual loss in time extra days were added during
each cycle, 13 in most and 12 in the others, on a basis
of making a total addition, in 20 cycles of 1040 years,
of 252 days. This gave them, in 1040 years, a total of
379,852 days, as against actual time of 379,851 days,
1 hour, 5 minutes and 2 seconds. The calendar would,
in other words, serve 23,000 years before an error of a
full day would occur. In the Julian calendar, in use
14 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
at the time of the Spanish Conquest, there was an error
of over 8 days in 1040 years, and the Gregorian calen-
dar, now in general use, is a day in error every 3323
years. While it may be of small interest to know that
we cannot run nearly as long without losing a day, it is
of the highest interest to know that this people had, at
such an early date, made such close and accurate obser-
vations. The Aztec calendar stone, unearthed in the
main plaza of Mexico City in 1790, gives a marvelously
ingenious combination of the days, months, years and
cycles, and, erected in a vertical position, it acted as a
sun dial. With indications of the equinoxes and sol-
stices, it gave a complete and accurate statement of time,
hour, day, month, year and cycle, probably the most
complete affair of its kind ever erected.
The Mexican had an elective monarchy. During the
reign of a monarch the nobility named four electors, who,
on the death of the monarch, named his successor, and
the latter was usually of the same family. Unless a
son of the deceased monarch was of mature age, a
brother or nephew was chosen. The monarch was su-
preme in all matters, with one important exception. In
each kingdom there was a supreme judge, named for life
and independent of the king. Thus provision was made
for dispensation of justice without any influence or
pressure from the court. In each province there was a
lower court, and below this were minor magistrates in
every village or district. On the presentation of cases
before the two upper courts, and perhaps before magis-
trates, a record of the facts or claims was made in pic-
ture writing, this work being done by an officer of tho
court corresponding with our court stenographer. The
care with which these records were made is attested by
the fact that old records were accepted by the Spanish
for several years after the conquest.
AZTEC CIVILIZATION 15
The laws, as with all primitive peoples, were severe.
Murder was punished with death, and adulterers were
stoned to death. Thieving was punishable with death
or slavery, according to the gravity of the offense.
Changing boundary lines or falsifying weights were
capital offenses, as was breach of trust by a guardian.
Intemperance was punished with death for young men,
and with loss of property for old men.
Public debtors were sold as slaves. Prisoners taken
in war could be sold into slavery, and the very poor
often sold themselves or their children. Slaves were
well treated, and had certain rights. They could work
for others when not needed by their owners, and thus
could acquire property. They were even allowed to
own slaves. Children of slaves were free.
There was no currency, and trading was mostly by
barter, supplemented by the use of quills filled with
gold dust. As a medium of exchange bags of cacao
beans, containing a fixed weight of beans, were used.
Small pieces of tin, cut T shape, were also used in trad-
ing, the value, as with the cacao beans, being intrinsic.
While some of these features were of a primitive na-
ture, others, especially those of the provisions for courts
of justice, showed a high order of development In
general, the political organization was well laid out to
fit the needs of the people, and there appears to have
been a disposition to do justice to all classes of people*
The religious beliefs of the Mexicans present curious
contradictions. They believed in a " god omnipotent,"
" by whom we live," " giver of all gifts," " of perfec-
tion," "under whose wings we find repose and sure
defense " in other words, in a supreme deity, creator
and ruler. This conception was so great as to stagger
the average primitive mind. Clearly, there must be one
Supreme Being, omnipotent, without beginning and
16 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
without end. But how could He, alone, rule the des-
tinies of a world full of many peoples ? The creation,
in the dim past, was not so staggering, but the multi-
plex duties of a god in guiding the universe were mani-
festly too great to be carried out without assistance.
To meet this, the Mexicans developed the idea of a num-
ber of inferior gods who were charged with specific
duties. Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, had to do
with all war matters. Quetzalcoatl, god of the air, was
a benevolent deity who, in the dim past, had quarreled
with the other gods and had been driven out, leaving the
country in a boat and going East, promising to return.
There were gods of the air, of the household, of the
harvest, and so forth, with a total of thirteen major
gods inferior to the Supreme Being. Again, there was
a confused doubt if these gods coxild properly take care
of a thousand and one things without outside help, so
two hundred minor gods were conceived, and to them
were given all the details in the management of every
day life. While, ethically, the addition of many minor
gods detracts from the perfection of the scheme, it is,
nevertheless, of greatest interest to know that the Mexi-
cans had, in the idea of a Supreme Being, the greatest
of religious conceptions. Their belief in immortality
was a natural consequence of a belief in a supremo being.
They believed in various grades of future life. Soldiers ,
who died in battle were most highly honored, as their
spirits were supposed to immediately go to the Sun, and
after a space of time spent in songs and dances in the
Sun's travels in space, the souls animated song birds
living in paradise. Evil spirits went into a place of
eternal darkness. There was not, in their conception
of paradise, anything of tho material sensualism so
characteristic with primitive peoples, and their idea of
a place of punishment is unaccompanied by any suggee-
AZTEC CIVILIZATION 17
tion of torture. The whole tendency of their religious
belief, especially in its early stages, was along poetic
lines. The gods were propitiated with offerings of fruit
and flowers. The sun, bringing warmth and light, was
considered as the direct agent of an omnipotent power.
It was the generating impulse of the world, and was
therefore frequently represented as double to indicate
two sexes. The rite of baptism was practiced, the'
lips and bosom being sprinkled with water. At death
the body was covered with scraps of paper to protect the
spirit on the dark road a practice followed, in one
form or another, by the Egyptians, Phoenicians and
other early peoples, and having its counterpart in a part
of the burial service in the Roman Catholic Church.
Remains were cremated and the ashes kept in vases in
each household. Confession to priests was obligatory,
and penances were imposed. Confession, however, was
only made once in a lifetime, doubtless on the theory
that atonement and subsequent sinning would be incom-
patible. Consequently, confession was usually made
late in life. Then a lifetime of sins could be confessed
and atoned for. The priests, on confession, gave abso-
lution. This absolution was of material as well as of
spiritual value, as it carried with it immunity from
arrest for various offenses. After the Conquest the na-
tives, when arrested, frequently presented evidence of
confession in expectation of immunity. As the act of
confession was the most important one In life, the simple
folk doubtless had a confused notion of the very futility
of existence when it represented nothing in the new
order of things.
The priesthood was numerous and powerful. Five
thousand priests, it is said, were attached to the main
temple, and doubtless a goodly percentage of the entire
population were in the priestly orders. Education,
18 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
chiefly relative to church ritual, picture writing, astrol-
ogy and astronomy, was in the hands of the priests.
There was no attempt at any popular education, but
any one desiring to enter the priesthood became a noviti-
ate and was put through a long course of instruction
before being given orders. The priestly orders in-
cluded i^uns^ who, in addition to taking part in some
of the ceremonies, did feather work and embroidery for
coverings for the church altars.
As has been pointed out, the earlier tendencies of
religion were along very gentle lines, and the sacrifice
of human life, developed later to such horrible propor-
tions, seems inconsistent with the poetry of the scheme.
It is certain that human sacrifice as a religious rite was
unknown until about 1325. The practice was brought
from the North, perhaps by the Ohichimecs but more
likely by the Aztecs, as its appearance coincides with
their arrival at Lake Texcoco. Prescott and many other
writers assume that this dreadful practice could only
have been introduced by a ferocious people, and they
make frequent reference, based on this hideous rite, to
the ferocity of the Aztecs. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that the offering of a sacrifice of blood to the gods,
and frequently of human blood, has been common in all
early civilization. Its adoption by the Aztecs may have
been purely accidental, due to some dire necessity of
flood or famine, when it was felt that nothing short of
some extraordinary sacrifice would appease the wrath of
the gods. It became a species of fanaticism, and many
who wished to attain especial glory or atone for great
sins offered themselves to the priests for the purpose.
It was religion gone wrong. As the custom was devel-
oped on an ever-ascending scale, war was waged on inno-
cent neighboring tribes solely to obtain victims for sacri-
fice. From all the evidence gathered by the Spanish
AZTEC CIVILIZATION 19
conquerors it seems clear that a large part of the scheme
of expansion developed by the Mexico Valley alliance
was simply to secure victims for the great festivals.
Such wholesale slaughter does not seem in keeping
with the idea that the people were of a peaceful dispo-
sition. The Aztec religion, however, was of 'a mys-
terious sort, appealing, in many ways, to the imagi-
nation. The great temple at Ixtacalco was on the top
of a hill which commands a vast stretch of country lying
two thousand feet below, and many other temples were
placed amid surroundings which suggest the weird pic-
tures of Dore. To such points the great throngs- came
to worship, and here, in the vast spaces of nature, they
listened to incantations and appeals to their gods. In
the capital the temples were built on high mounds or
pyramids, with paved roadways winding to their tops,
where, in front of altars, sacred fires always burned.
One can imagine the multitude watching an endless pro-
cession of priests, in their weird robes, chanting their
way up to the altar, where, in view of all below, the
incantations ended in an offering to the gods. What
more natural, therefore, that the idea of human sacrifice,
once introduced, should take a strong and immediate
hold? Horrible and bloodthirsty as it was, we have
only to think of the horrors of the Inquisition, of mas-
sacres and persecutions done in the name of Christ, to
understand how religion could far depart from peaceful
ideals.
The Mexican Indian was doubtless affected by cli-
matic conditions. The tribes encountered by early set-
tlers in other parts of North America were savage or
semi-savage, with no fixed abodes, living by the chase
and rarely tilling the ground. The Mexican Indians,
however, had, at a very early date, tilled the soil, and
were accustomed to living in permanent homes, fre-
20 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
quently with great numbers grouped together in large
cities. Their religion, their life and their government
all tended toward permanency, and they had reached a
stage of civilization far beyond anything to be found
further North. The movements of the various tribes
and the rise and decline of one race after another, were
not unlike the history of old Asiatic peoples. Whether
or not they originally came from a different stock is
uncertain, but in any event their civilization was doubt-
less greatly aided by more moderate climate than that
enjoyed by their neighbors farther North. As crops
could be raised the year around, hunting, as a means of
existence, became of secondary importance. The fact
that each race had a war god, combined with the practice
of human sacrifice, has led many historians to take for
granted that sanguinary characteristics predominated.
This does not appear to be warranted by the history of
the people. The very fact that five or six tribes lived
in close proximity to each other around the shores of
Lake Texcoco is reasonably good proof that the general
tendency was peaceful. The Toltecs, Ohichimecs and
Aztecs in turn obtained a preponderance in the Mexico
Valley through the growth of their respective tribes,
through the establishment of cities, through intermar-
riage with adjoining tribes and through alliances.
From time to time there were tribal wars, but these
appear to have been incidental and due largely to the
crowding together of many rival tribes in a compara-
tively small area of fertile land, rather than to any
natural tendency toward warfare.
It is important to keep in mind the general character
of the civilization to understand the amazing events
which transpired with the advent of the Spaniards.
Scattered throughout Mexico were scores of tribes
philologists have traced thirty languages and one hun-
AZTEC CIVILIZATION" 21
dred and fifty dialects and in the Mexico Valley,
whose three dominating tribes were in an alliance, there
were at least a dozen distinct tribes. The country was
fairly populous, and the Valley country doubtless had
one and a half million inhabitants. The dominating
tribes, through their conquests and especially through
their toll for human sacrifices, had embittered their
neighbors. The early Spaniards referred always to the
empire of the Montezunias. They perhaps did not fully
understand the political conditions of the country, and
were, moreover, inclined to exaggerate in general and
in detail. There was not, in a political sense, an em-
pire, but rather a large group of tribes of which three,
through industry and agriculture, had become more
powerful than the others, and which were, through alli-
ance, able to impose tribute on their neighbors. The
dominating tribes had armies, as had the others, but the
so-called armies depended largely on great numbers
rather than on any military organization or efficiency.
CHAPTER III
THE MONTEZTJMAS
POPULAR imagination pictures the Montezumas as a
long line of powerful emperors. As a matter of fact,
however, the Aztec did not achieve a dominating influ-
ence in the Valley until the early part of the Fifteenth
Century. On the death of Itzcoatl, the king who had,
as a final touch to their domination carried through the
formation of an alliance with other powerful nations, the
wise men and nobles elected, as his successor, Motecuh-
zoma Ylhuicamina. The name, Motecuhzoma, corrupted
by the Spaniards to Montezuma, means, in the Aztec
tongue, " The man of fury and respectability," while
Ylhuicamina means, " archer of heaven." This young
man came from a noble family, had distinguished him-
self in military operations and had headed the mission
charged with negotiations for an alliance with the Tex-
coco kingdom. On coming to the throne he deferred his
coronation to conduct a campaign against the Chalco
tribe, neighbors who had for years been hostile to the
Aztecs. The campaign was a brilliant success, and
^Motecuhzoma returned to the capital with several thou-
sand prisoners who were duly sacrificed, in the midst of
great festivals, to celebrate the ceremony of coronation.
Immediately following the coronation the Chalcos re-
belled but they were again defeated and five hundred-
of them, taken prisoners, were sacrificed by being thrown
into a sacred fire, from which they were drawn out before
life was extinct, that their hearts might be cut out and-
THE MONTEZUMAS 23
offered to the gods. The same tribe gave trouble at
intervals during several years, but were finally subju-
gated, their capital, Amecamecan, being destroyed. In
1449 heavy rains caused a great flood, which so inun-
dated the Aztecs' capital that for weeks the only means
of getting around was in boats. To guard against a
recurrence of this disaster Motecuhzoma built a great
dike, fifty to seventy-five feet wide and over six miles
long, the work being pushed so actively that it was
finished before the following rainy season. Heavy
snows and frosts in 1450-1454 destroyed the crops and
caused a serious famine which was only partially re-
lieved by rations given to the people from the royal
storehouses. To appease the gods more victims were
needed for sacrifice, and campaigns were waged in the
far south. In 1455 there were good crops, and this was
attributed to the great number of prisoners sacrificed.
Consequently to obtain still more captives the scope of
military operations was greatly enlarged and campaigns
conducted in remote regions South, East and West. By
1460 the Aztec power covered the greater part of what
now constitutes Mexico. In the meanwhile, Motecuh-
zoma did much to embellish the city, building temples
and public edifices and constructing an aqueduct to
bring a supply of pure water from Chapultepec. Mote-
cuhzoma Ylhuicamina died in 1469. His brother, Yla-
caclel, declining the throne, the nobles elected as ruler
Axaycatl, son of Motecuhzoma's daughter. Th&_new
I3ller,jfollowing the practice of his grandfather, post-
poned his coronation until he had falEexPflre^city of
Tecuantepec and conquered the southern gulf coast to
obtain a large supply of victims for the coronation cere-
monies. The reign of Tizoc Ohalchuihlatonac, 1481-
1486, was characterized by nothing of consequence.
Ahuizotl, who followed, extended and rebuilt the temple
24 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, and celebrated its
dedication with the most gigantic orgy of human sacri-
fice the world had probably ever seen. For two years,
while the construction work on the temple was being
pushed, all prisoners, instead of being immediately sac-
rificed, were saved, and a great throng of them, the
spoils of campaigns in distant regions, was ready for the
dedication ceremony. The chiefs of all subject tribes
were all asked to the festival, at which they were
royally treated. Before dawn, on the day of dedica-
tion, a vast multitude, including thousands of guests
from every part of the dominions, was gathered in
front of the temple. With the first streaks of light on
the horizon Ahuizotl gave the signal to begin the slaugh-
ter, he himself cutting out the heart of the first victim,
and offering it, with much ceremony, to the high priests,
who, in turn, placed it before the idol of the war god.
There followed, then, a great procession of victims,
marching and being sacrificed in fours, the horrible
slaughter continuing until darkness set in. By night
the royalty and priesthood were soaked in blood, but the
number of prisoners was so great that the ceremony had
to be prolonged for four days before the last of the line
was reached.
Ahuizotl died in 1502, and was succeeded by Mote-
cuhzoma Xocoyotzin (Motecuhzoma II), a grandson of
Motecuhzoma I. The new monarch was thirty-four
years of age, had distinguished himself as a soldier and
had later taken priestly orders.
There is nothing in American history to compare, in
point of picturesque features, with this period, in which
the power of Mexico reached the zenith. Mexico City,
located in a great valley surrounded by high mountains,
is always beautiful, and the snow-capped volcanoes add
the charm of variety to the scene. In the early days,
THE MONTEZUMAS 25
however, there was an added charm in that the city was
partly an island, partly a stretch of shore on Lake Tex-
coco. This lake was prohably ten or twelve miles
across, but has now shrunk to a small shallow body of
water with an area of only five or six square miles.
Much of the land was " made " by digging canals, and
in a large part of the city communication was by these
waterways, which swarmed with all sorts and sizes of
canoes and boats. Flowers, fruits and vegetables were
raised in great quantities in the small squares of land
reclaimed by a canal system of great extent, and this
section became known as the "floating gardens 3 ' of
Mexico, which the early Spaniards called lie Venice of
America. The city, which is said to have had some
300,000 inhabitants, was well laid out, with wide streets
and a great market place. In the market place the
various classes of business were grouped, one section
being given to grains, another to vegetables, another to
pottery, another to gold and silver ornaments and pre-
cious stones, and so on. On regular market days sixty
thousand people came to market, while on other days
there was an attendance of twenty-five thousand. The
section of the market devoted to feathetwork pictures,
in the making of which the Mexicans had been expert
for centuries, always attracted many of the well-to-do
classes. The shops displayed a great variety of cloths,
the fineness of which indicated the social grade of the
wearer. Society was divided into various castes or
grades, from the most humble to the nobility, and rigid
rules were laid down to govern the clothes and conduct
of each class. There were, in the city, three hundred
temples or smaller places of worship, presided over by
a great number of priests. The priestly class was
usually robed in white when in the temple, but had dif-
ferent costumes for various occasions combinations of
26 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
black figures on white, purple on white, or white on
black, to suit each particular ceremony. The picture
writings covering the temple walls gave an added touch
of the picturesque to the solemn incantations and mys-
tical dances which formed a great part of the ceremonial
worship.
The wealth of the tributary regions, from the temper-
ate climate of the plateau to the tropical coast country,
poured into the city. Taxes and tributes were paid in
the products of each region, and grain, fruit, feathers,
gold, silver, precious stones, fine woods, furs aud a thou-
sand other articles came in an endless chain. The main-
tenance of the royal household, with its nobility and
hundreds of retainers, called for vast quantities of the
products of the country. One picturesque item in the
list of royal household needs was 24,000 bundles of
colored feathers, which doubtless was largely contrib-
uted by the tropical sections of the country. An army
of ten thousand had to be provisioned, and from the state
income provision had to be made for the thousands of
priests. The nobility, dressed in rich clothes and with
ankles and arms covered with gold and silver bands,
lived in a sort of barbaric splendor.
Swift messengers, working in relays, brought fresh
fish from the coast and game from the north for the
royal table. Couriers kept the palace informed of
everything happening in the most remote parts of the
country. Justice was administered by tribal chiefs and
sub-chiefs, and from all accounts the amount of crime
was small. One of the most curious facts regarding the
race is that, up to the time of the conquest, the people
knew nothing of the use of iron, and all the stone carving,
woodcarving and other such work was done with tools or
implements made of stone or copper. That the people
had considerable mechanical ability is shown by the
THE MONTEZUMAS . 27
construction of the great pyramid at Teotihuaean, as
high as a modern sky-scraper, and also by the fact that
huge blocks of stone used in temple construction, some
of them weighing many tons, were often moved great
distances from quarries.
The whole picture is vivid : a curious mixture of bar-
baric splendor and civilization, of primitive peoples and
urban life. Their civilization may be compared to that
of the early Egyptians, but with the notable difference
that a large class of nobility, following early tribal cus-
toms, had a voice in the selection of their ruler. Here,
on the Mexican plateau, separated by thousands of miles
of sea from any other civilization, a people living in a
stone and copper age emerged from purely tribal con-
ditions, worked out a form of alphabet or expression
through pictures, developed a government, carried on
much internal commerce, built cities, and established a
sort of an empire ; and did all this, or the greater part,
two thousand years after a similar development had
come and gone in Egypt.
What curious thoughts of evolution arise in one's
mind! The advance in thought and civilization in-
creases its pace as each stage is passed. Who knows
but that the development of the Mexican race began in
the same place and at the same remote time as that of
the Hindoos or Egyptians ? Had it been retarded by
a fight with nature in a hostile climate? Centuries,
perhaps ages, had passed in making the first steps from
barbarism and savagery to that of the first stage of civi-
lization; then four or five centuries of rapid progress,
and a definite social and political scheme was developed ;
and finally, conquest by people of another civilization,
a conquest so swift and a subjugation so complete that
every sign and vestige of the civilization already devel-
oped was lost. It was not a case of a civilization influ-
28 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
enced or accelerated by another race. The new civiliza-
tion was not grafted on the old. The old was simply
annihilated, so entirely blotted out that it might have
never existed so far as its influence on the people was
concerned. And the pity is that this happened just as
the old civilization gave promise of rapid development.
Prescott says, " In this state of things it was benefi-
cently ordered by Providence that the land should be
delivered over to another race, who would rescue it from
the brutish superstitions that daily extended wider and
wider with the growth of empire. It is true, the con-
querors brought along with them the Inquisition, but
they also brought with them Christianity, whose benign
radiance would still survive when the fierce flames of
fanaticism should be extinguished ; dispelling those dark
forms of horror which had so long brooded over the fair
regions of Anahuac."
Prescott, at the time he wrote (about 1855), had a
world wide reputation, but, aside from being a chrono-
logical and highly interesting record of events, his work
is of small value in determining the influence of the
conquest on the Mexican people. His work is more or
less a mechanical history, wonderfully told, but it shows
his lack of knowledge of conditions. Doubtless influ-
enced by the Spanish historians whose works he studied
with such care, he fell into the error of assuming that
the mere substitution of Christianity for a religion which
sanctioned human sacrifice was sufficient recompense for
the destruction of a nation and a civilizatiou already
well advanced. It may be argued that but for the spirit
of adventure of the Spanish, the new world might not
have been discovered for many years, and that world-
progress would have been arrested by that much. The
casual critic will ask what North Ainerica would have
been if it had remained in the hands of the Indians.
THE MONTEZUMAS 29
But that is beside the point. One might equally ask,
what would the country be if all of North America had
remained in the hands of the Spaniards? Two-thirds
of the North American continent was inhabited by sav-
ages, and their disappearance, under the progress of an
Anglo-Saxon civilization, can in no way be compared
to the course of events in Mexico. In the latter case
there were four or five million people, half of them
under a common rule, who had already made a start in
civilization. That that civilization was an inferior one
in many respects is true, but, in a large measure, it an-
swered their wants. It was at least better than nothing,
and gave promise of amounting to something more. If,
in the change, the people had had a chance to adopt the
new civilization, become part of it and advance with it,
there would be no cause for regret But, for the people
at large, the forms of the church were given in place of
civilization. They became a 'subject race, a race of
slaves who had no place in the general scheme of things.
In place of advancing, they were reduced to slavery and,
in that, retarded. Mexico, during three hundred years,
was a country in which the Mexican had no voice, a
colony so thoroughly Spanish that, but for occasional
protests from Dominican priests as to the treatment of
the natives, no one would have known that the Mexican
existed. It was not that all the colonial rulers were
cruel, only that the Mexican was considered an inferior
being to be used as a beast of burden for the benefit of
his superiors.
Due allowance must be made for the Spanish view-
point. The Spaniards of that day were adventurers and
zealots. They came of a people having a different civ-
ilization and a different religion, which, alone, were, suf-
ficient to place them beyond the range of consideration.
The very fact that the people fell an easy victim to
30 MEXICO TO-DAT AND TO-MOKROW
Spanish arms was taken as a proof of inferiority. So
far as the people were concerned, the Spanish considered
that they had done their full duty in bringing them into
the Church, even if this was done at the point of the
sword. The glorious conversion having been accom-
plished, there was no further obligation. By right of
conquest, strengthened by rights given by the Church,
the cenquerors owned the country and everything in it,
and the natives were clearly there to be useful to the
Spanish crown and its representatives. This reasoning
prevailed for centuries, and, among the people of pure
Spanish blood in Mexico, prevails to-day. The Mexi-
can Indian is regarded by such people as a hopeless
proposition, incapable of any development and useless
except as a mechanical unit. Centuries of life as a slave
stunted his mental and moral growth. The Spanish
conquest, wonderful as it was in opening up a new em-
pire of fabulous wealth, did nothing for him. Its effect
was to set him back a century or more and then keep him
in that established place. It is worth emphasizing, in this
connection, that, at the time of the conquest, Mexican
civilization was, relatively speaking, a thousand years
behind that of Spain or Rome. It must not, however,
be taken for granted that the Mexican mind was corre-
spondingly backward. The Mexicans, due to climatic
conditions in the north, had remained in a savage state
for many centuries, while people in more favored cli-
mates, or, influenced by surroundings, had advanced.
The Mexican mind was just forming, and was showing
potential power, when its development was brought to a
sudden halt by the overwhelming power of a new civiliz-
ation.
The astounding rapidity with which the blow fell
forms one of the most remarkable records in the hiatory
of the world.
CHAPTER IV
THE SPANISH CONQUEST
AT the beginning of the sixteenth century Spain was
just entering on the brilliant career which was soon to
place her in a dominant position, in Europe. The
union of Castile and Aragon by the marriage of Eerdi-
nand and Isabella in 1469 had soon been followed by a
campaign against the Moors, whose last stronghold,
Granada, fell in 1492. The Turkish occupation, of the
Levant had forced the seeking of new trade routes and
markets, and the Spanish and Portuguese had taken the
lead in maritime voyages of discovery. The discovery
of America by Christopher Columbus, opening up
visions of ihe riches of the East, had given the greatest
possible stimulus to further adventures and voyages,
even if it did not, at the moment, give much return in
wealth and treasure. In the West Indies the Spanish
had found a weak and effeminate lot of savages and
little treasure, but they had established some colonies
and were slowly preparing to develop the agricultural
resources by using native labor.
The age was one of adventure and chivalry. The
Spanish campaigns in Europe had developed hundreds
of ambitious and restless spirits who flocked to the
standard of any one heading an expedition. The dis-
covery of a new world, or, as was supposed, of a new
route to an old world, carried with it so much glamour
that the adventurous, of high or low degree, lost no time
in putang his fortunes to test. In an incredibly short
31
32 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
time there were thousands of Spaniards scattered
throughout the West India Islands. Each was given a
tract of land, frequently a large estate, and, under a
system called repartimientos, was allotted a certain num-
ber of natives who became, for all effects, his slaves.
The cultivation of the soil, although done by slaves,
proved, however, tedious. There was no adventure, no
excitement, no novelty in it. Consequently every one
was constantly trying to find something new. By 1518
the Atlantic coast, from Labrador south, had been exam-
ined practically through the length of both North and
South America. Cuba had been discovered and a settle-
ment established there under Don _ Diego ^Yelasquez,
governor of the island. The Cubans had offered but
weak resistance. One native chief, Hatuey, having fled
from Hispaniola to escape the oppression of the Con-
querors, put up a strong fight, for which, when cap-
tured, he was burned alive. At the stake on his being
urged to embrace Christianity so that his soul might go
to heaven, he inquired if the souls of white men were
there, and, on receiving an affirmative answer, said he
had no desire to again go to any place where he would
find Christians. With this single exception, the Span-
iards had no difficulty with the natives, and there was
little bloodshed accompanying the conquest, or occu-
pation, of Cuba, this being due, in large part, to the
efforts of Las Casas, a Spanish priest who accompanied
the expedition. Almost as soon as a permanent settle-
ment had been made in Cuba, various expeditions
were fitted out to cruise in the gulf and learn some-
thing of other islands. This expedition found little of
interest, and the discovery which had the greatest im-
portance was made accidentally. Hernandez de Cor-
dova, an hidalgo of Cuba, sailed with three ships for the
Bahamas in quest of slaves, but, meeting with heavy
THE SPAOTSH CONQUEST 33
gales, was driven far off his course, and landed on an
unknown coast. Here he found houses built of stone,
and people wearing well-woven cotton fabrics. All evi-
dences pointed to a higher degree of civilization than
any he had seen on the islands, and he determined to
explore the country. The natives, however, were ex-
tremely hostile, and Cordova was unable to penetrate the
interior. He followed the coast for several days, mak-
ing several landings and having numerous skirmishes
with the natives. After losing nearly half of his hun-
dred men, he determined to return to Cuba and fit out
a larger expedition. Shortly after arriving in Cuba he
died from wounds he had received in one of the fights.
The story of his discovery spread all through the settle-
ment and caused great excitement, especially as he had
brought back with him many curiously wrought gold
ornaments. Cordova had landed on the northeast cor-
ner of Yucatan, and Had examined the coast as far west
as Campeche. This was the first landing of the Span-
iards""oh the mainland of a country which was soon to
become one of the nation's greatest possessions.
Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, fitted out an expedi-
tion wEicE. sailed on May 1, 1518, to follow up the dis-
covery made by Cordova. This cruise, under command
of Juan de Grijalva, made various landings, and at one
point a friendly interview was had with a cacique who
ruled over the district. As there was no one to inter-
pret, such communication as there was had to be made
By signs, but the Spaniards were able to understand that
the cacique represented some one more powerful who
lived in the west. Presents were exchanged, the Span-
iards receiving, in return for some trinkets, beautiful
gold ornaments and jewels. The expedition examined
the coast as far west as the Isla de Sacrificios (Island of
Sacrifices), near what is now the city of Vera Cruz.
34 MEXICO TO-DAY AOT) TO-MORKOW
Grijalva was the first white man to come in touch with
the Aztecs. The rich treasure he sent' back to Cuba
determined Velasquez to fit out a large expedition to
follow up the work already done by founding a perma-
nent colony. Hernando Cortes was selected to com-
mand the expedition.
The reader who wishes for excitement and romance
should consult Prescott's " Conquest of Mexico." It is
only possible here to briefly sketch the main story a
story full of religious zeal, military daring, personal
courage and hardship rarely equaled. Cortes made a
landing in Yucatan, battled successfully with the natives
and then moved on to establish, on April 21, 1519, a
permanent settlement at the site of the present city of
Vera Cruz. Tales of a rich country beyond set his
mind on penetrating to the interior, either by sheer force
or by negotiations with the country's ruler. Monte-
zuma had received, by couriers, reports of the Spanish
victory in Yucatan, and was filled with dread at the
tales of men who fought with thunder and lightning.
He believed Cortes to be the god Quetzalcoatl, returning
to his people, and had grave forebodings as to what the
return meant He determined to try to keep the new-
comers on the coast, and opened friendly negotiations
by sending representatives, bearing rich gifts of gold, to
Cortes, who was welcomed to the country but advised to
make no effort to visit the interior. The golden gifts
only made Cortes more determined than ever to go
through with his enterprise, and he doubtless formed, at
this time, a definite idea of conquest. He did not want,
moreover, to have the Governor of Cuba snatch the
wealth and glory of the achievement, so, to give regular-
ity to his proceedings, he had a duly constituted govern-
ment installed in the name of the emperor, and this
government then gave him supreme powers. Then,
THE SPANISH CONQUEST 35
having sent one of his smaller ships to Spain to claim
his rights of discovery, he took the major portion of his
small band and started inland. The Cempoallans, a
tribe placed under tribute by Montezuma, threw their
lot in with the Spaniards, who prepared to march on
the Aztec capital. On hearing murmurs of discontent
among his men, Cortes scuttled his ships, making any
retreat impossible an act of daring, in the face of
unknown dangers in a strange and hostile land, never
equaled in history. The Spaniards then attacked the
Tlascallans, an independent tribe on the edge of the
Mexican plateau, and, although outnumbered twenty to
one, their advantage of firearms and cavalry gave them
victory, and the Tlascallans became their allies. The
Ghollullans, allies of Montezuma, were then defeated.
Montezuma, hearing of these victories, made no further
effort to stop the advance on his capital, which was en-
tered by the Spaniards on November 8, 1519. Cortes
was received by Montezuma as a friendly ambassador
from a foreign potentate, and was given a vast amount
of treasure.
The Aztec capital was on an island, approached only
by causeways, and the position of the Spanish force was
one of great danger. Cortes determined on a bold move,
and seized the person of Montezuma, who, while treated
with deference due his rank, was held captive in the
Spanish quarters. Cortes then heard that a Spanish
force, sent by the governor of Cuba to overthrow him,
was marching up from the coast. He accordingly left
the capital in charge of one of his generals, Alvarado,
and took two-thirds of his men with hrm to intercept the
Spanish force, which he surprised and defeated. His
army, reinforced by recruits from the defeated forces,
returned to the capital only to find that Alvarado and
his men were being besieged, following an uprising due
36 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
to Alvarado's excesses. The forces were united, but,
seeing the hopelessness of the situation, after several
days of fighting, Cortes decided on a sally. Under
cover of night he fought his way to the mainland, and,
although he lost half his army and all of his vast treas-
ure, he managed to reach his base at Tlascala. After
several months spent in preparation, which included the
building of a fleet to .operate against the capital, a fresh
start was made. ^The Spaniards had the support of
several thousand Tlascallan warriors, and laid siege to
Mexico City on May 20, 1-521. Montezuma had died
in captivity, but Cuahtemoctzin, his successor, had pre-
pared for a bitter resistance. After nearly three
months of fighting, the Spaniards, aided by their fleet,
gained a foothold in the city, and the Tlascallans let
loose their fury on the Aztecs, a wholesale slaughter
following for two days. Cuahtemoctzin was captured
while attempting to escape to the mainland, and the
city, the greatest stronghold of the Indian race in
America, capitulated August 13, 1521.
Less than thirty months had elapsed since Cortes,
with his adventurous band, had set foot on Mexican
soil. His fantastic dream of conquest was now realized,
and the foundation laid for a vast Spanish dominion
which was soon to extend from Oregon to the Straits
of Magellan.
" Whatever may be thought of the conquest in a moral
view," says Prescott, " regarded as a military achieve-
ment it must fill us with astonishment. That a hand-
ful of adventurers, indifferently armed and equipped,
should have landed on the shores of a powerful empire
inhabited by a fierce and warlike race, and, in defiance
of the reiterated prohibitions of its sovereign, should
have forced their way into the interior ; that they
should have done this without knowledge of the language
THE SPANISH CONQUEST 37
or of the land, without chart or compass to guide them,
without any idea of the difficulties they were to encoun-
ter, totally uncertain whether the next step might bring
them on a hostile nation or on a desert, feeling their
way along in the dark, as it were; though nearly
overwhelmed in their first encounter with the inhabit-
ants, that they should have still pressed on to the capital
of the empire, and, having reached it, thrown themselves
unhesitatingly into the midst' of their enemies ; that,
so far from being daunted by the extraordinary spec-
tacle there exhibited of power and civilization, they
should have been the more confirmed in their original
design ; that they should have seized the monarch,
have executed his ministers before the eyes of his sub-
jects, and, when driven forth with ruin from the gates,
have gathered their scattered wreck together, and, after
a system of operations pursued with consummate policy
and daring, have succeeded in overturning the capital
and establishing their sway over the country ; that all
this should have been effected by a mere handful of in-
digent adventurers, is a fact little short of the miracu-
lous, too startling for the probabilities demanded by
fiction, and without a parallel in the pages of history."
Prescott somewhat overstates the matter. Mexico
was not a powerful empire, and the Aztec rule, while
covering a great area and dominating many peoples,
wa& -strong only in the sense that through superior armies
it was able to impose tribute on conquered tribes. The
extortions of the dominating people and the bloody sacri-
fice of captives had spread so much discord that it only
required some strong unit to bring together the various
elements hostile to the government Prescott, contra-
dicting himself, states the case better when he says that
" had the Aztec monarchy^ been united, it might have
bid defiance to the invaders." Nevertheless, while con-
38 3O1XICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOBKOW
ditions were, in many respects, favorable for the Span-
iards, Cortes' achievement will always stand out as one
of the most daring exploits in history. It was all the
more remarkable in that he could not call in aid from
his own people, as the irregularity of his proceedings
made him dependent on his own resources. This very
fact doubtless formed the bases of his success. Failure
meant disgrace, ruin and probable death. He could,
therefore, afford to risk death where there was a chance
of success, and he could take chances which another,
clothed with proper authority, would scarce have takeq..
CHAPTER V
SPANISH MEXICO
IT would be tedious to enter into much detail of the
Spanish rule in Mexico, but it is worth while to review
briefly the history of the country after the Conquest.
This period is especially interesting because of the fact
that the Spanish civilization introduced far ante-dated
any Anglo-Saxon colonization. /Immediately following
the conquest Cortes began the rebuilding of Mexico City
on plans based on Spanish models. Busy as were the
Spaniards with conquering and settling the country,
they gave time to the artistic embellishment of their new
capital, and the work done was so thoroughly harmonious
and comprehensive that it has been possible, during four
centuries, to follow the original plan of development, and
to produce, as a result, a city which, in symmetry and
beauty, has few rivals on the American continent.
There was none of the haphazard settlement which char-
acterized the growth of the early centers of population
in English speaking America, or which, in spite of three
hundred years of experience, still applies to many of
our municipalities. Tinder the Spanish scheme the
ownership of a tract of land does not carry with it the
right to open streets or to erect buildings according to
the whims of the owner. Everything done must be in
accordance with the general plan laid down by the mu-
nicipality. To be sure, the average American city has
regulations as to street openings, but these, as a rule, are
so loosely drawn or so poorly enforced as to be negligible
40 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
in the general results obtained. Thus, while a city may
have a comprehensive scheme within its own limits, sub-
urbs, which are under separate municipal control but
which may soon become a part of the city, are not bound
by any general scheme, but may lay out such streets as
suit their immediate needs. The result is that, with the
exception of Washington, none of the larger cities have
been built up on any general plan, and, in opite of
changes made at great expense, nearly all suffer from
great irregularities. Under Spanish practice, the large
center, usually the seat of state of provincial govern-
ment, exercises strong influence over all adjoining terri-
tory, and can lay out a street system, with parks and
public squares, with the security that such a plan will
be followed for an indefinite time, and that, with the
growth of the city, it will be, from time to time, farther
extended.
This general idea was followed in Mexico. A great
public square, on which were erected the principal gov-
ernment buildings and a huge cathedral, formed the
center of the city, which was laid out with regular streets
crossing each other at right angles. From the square
three wide streets somewhat narrow according to
modern standards but very wide for the sixteenth cen-
tury run parallel in a westerly direction for half a
mile or more. Then comes the alameda, a rectangular
public park occupying a space equal to about six city
squares. The streets then extend on beyond this park,
and at intervals there arc circular or rectangular park-
ways. The general arrangement, made four centuries
ago, made better provision for breathing spaces than
prevails in the average American city built during the
last seventy-five years.
The one error made was in the selection of the site,
the new city being laid out on the site of the old. Cortes
SPANISH MEXICO 41
doubtless decided on this location because of its great
advantages for defense, protected, as it was, by water
on all sides, and being reached only by causeways. The
ground, however, was marshy, and the greater part of
the land had been reclaimed. The site, therefore, was
a poor one so far as furnishing a good foundation for
buildings was concerned, and many of the early Spanish
edifices are out of plumb, two or three of them so badly
that it seems scarcely possible they can stand at all.
One of the leading churches in the Oalle Francisco
Madero looks as if it would topple over at any moment,
and its belfry suggests the tower of Pisa.
Another great disadvantage of the site, especially
when viewed in the light of modern hygiene, was the
difficulty of draining it. The city proper, at the time
of the conquest, was several feet below the level of some
of the surrounding lakes, including Lake Texcoco, and
inundations were only partially prevented by the great
dike built by the first Montezuma. It was, conse-
quently, a serious problem to keep the city dry in the
rainy season, to say nothing of the fact that the accumu-
lation of filth and surface drainage was a constant
breeder of disease. For three centuries the Spaniards
struggled with this question, building more dikes and
extending great ditches to remote points in an effort to
keep the city dry and properly drained. In the latter
part of the last century a tunnel was driven, at great cost,
through the range of hills which surround the valley, and
a great canal, in places seventy-five feet deep, was dug
from the city to this tunnel to take care of drainage and
to carry off the surplus waters in the rainy season. Even
with this undertaking completed, at times great pumps
have to be operated to keep the lowest section of the city
dry, so it is easy to imagine the constant difficulty the
early Spaniards had to face. Alberto J. Pan!, in his in-
42 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
foresting work on " Hygiene in Mexico/' says that be-
yond question the selection of a poor site for the city has
been responsible, to a considerable degree, for the poor
physical development and lack of powers of resistance of
the poorer inhabitants of the city* Lack of proper sani-
tation has furnished the groundwork for epidemics and
constant disease, and ill-health, extending through gen-
erations, has had a decided effect on the physical con-
stitution of the people.
The choice of this island site had, in an unlocked for
way, an important compensation for its disadvantages.
This portion of Mexico, or, more properly, the portion
somewhat west of the city, is in a zone in which the
greatest faults have occurred in the earth's surface, and
is subject to severe earthquakes. The city, located on
what was an island marsh, is really built on a big and
probably only partially dried puddle, and the character
of the formation is undoubtedly a protection against the
violence of the shocks. Once in a while the resident of
Mexico has the unpleasant experience of waking up to
find the furniture moving about the room, and, on rush-
ing to the window, to see the street lamps swaying back
and forth as if swung by a powerful gale. On reaching
the street the dim light of the dawn shows the asphalt
heaving in long waves, while, with each wave, houses
seem to swing out over the sidewalks. The sensation
when Mother Earth herself gets in motion is uncanny,
and such earthquakes as are experienced in Mexico City
would be far more terrifying and destructive but for
the measure of protection afforded by the character of
the soil. Even the great cathedral, the largest edifice
of its kind in Latin America, begun in 1573 and com-
pleted a century later, has suffered only cracks from the
numerous shocks it has had in three centuries of exist-
ence.
SPANISH MEXICO 4S
Once established in their new capital, the Spaniards
took advantage of the situation to dominate all the sur-
rounding country. From remote tribes came offers of
submission, and Cortes followed these up by sending
military expeditions to take possession of the territory
in the name of the Spanish crown. Expeditions were
sent to explore the country westward as far as the Pa-
cific and as far north as the upper end of the Gulf of
California. People from Spain, attracted by the ro-
mantic stories of the conquest, soon began to pour into
the new country, and 'settlements were made at various
points; along the Pacific and Gulf coasts and as far
south as Honduras and Guatemala. By the end of the
sixteenth century the whole of the country had been
explored, and a start had been made on explorations
which were soon to place the whole west coast country,
as far north as Oregon, under the royal banner. Hand-
some public buildings, in use to this day, were erected
in the capital. Many people of distinguished families
in Spain came over, obtained large grants of land and
built themselves palatial residences in the capital, which,
half a century before the landing of the Pilgrims at
Plymouth, could boast of much of the brilliance of Euro-
pean capital life, jn 1536 Antonio de Mendoza, Count '
of Tendilla, was named Viceroy for the new country,
and his work as a colonizer and organizer formed the
basis of a permanent government. A public mint was
established in 1536, and the new Viceroy in the year
A Tlq
following founded f.hftTlnllftgfi (>f Sflnt.fl
lolco, the first institutJmof learning in the new world.
The T^^ersity qf__Mexico^ was- founded. JL&JLS73, ante-
dating Harvard by sixty-three years. .Not only was
the whole~of lEe country explored before^the end of the
sixteenth century, but practically all of it was thor-
oughly organized under Spanish rule.J The Indians,
44 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKRJW
awed into submission by the conquest, offered little or no
resistance to the settlement of their country. There
were, from time to time, local insurrections, generally
resulting from the harsh treatment of labor at the mines,
but these were always quickly suppressed, and none of
them ever assumed the proportions of a national upris-
ing. In this and in the two following centuries various
decrees and royal acts prohibited the enslaving of In-
dians, and some viceroys attempted to enforce the regu-
lations, but local practice was too well founded and local
avarice too great to permit compliance. The general
practice was that a grant of land carried with it all the
people already settled in it, and these people, while not
technically slaves, could be obliged to work the estate
{ for the owner's benefit.
The rapid spread of Spanish colonization and rule
was doubtless in large part due to the desire to find gold
and silver. What extremes of cruelty were used to com-
pel the natives to produce or find these precious metals
may be imagined from the fact that, with a few excep-
tions, every Mexican mining camp of any conse-
quence to-day appears in a list of mines published in
1810. To be sure, some new properties have beon
opened in old camps, and some properties formerly of
little value, have, under modern methods, become large
producers. Speaking generally, however, the Spaniards
made such a thorough search of tho country that they
located the great silver and gold camps within a few
years after the conquest, and followed this up by locat-
ing nine-tenths or more of the properties known to-day.
In 155? Don Bartolomc de Medina, in Pachuca, in-
vented a method for the extraction of silver from ore by
the use of mercury, and this gave a great stimulus to tho
mining industry. It is interesting to note that the
Pachuca camp is, to-day, one of &e greatest silver pro-
SPAOTSH MEXICO 45
ducing districts in the world, and its annual production,
due to the use of the cyanide process and the utilization
of hydro-electric power from ]N ecaxa, is equal to the pro-
duction of a decade during Spanish days.
The importance of the mining industry may be
judged by the fact that during the Spanish colonial
period the recorded production of silver was over two
billions of pesos, the peso having a value, at that time,
of about one dollar in American money. There were
produced, in the same time, sixty-eight million pesos of
gold. As these figures are from records turned in for
purposes of taxation, it is probable that the actual pro-
duction was considerably in excess of the amount re-
ported. The figures must be considered relatively.
Taking into consideration the total stock of silver in
the world and its relative purchasing power, the peso,
according to various estimates, had a relative value of
from six to ten dollars. As judged by to-day's stand-
ards, therefore, the average annual production of pre-
cious metals in Mexico during the colonial period was
worth an amount equivalent to fifty or seventy-five mil-
lion dollars, and, due to the richness of the ores first
treated, doubtless represented, a greater amount during
the first century. Statistics are misleading; and, by way
of comparison, a better idea of the value of the stream
of silver and gold which now began to pour into Spain
can be gained by the simple statement that the amount of
precious metals produced by Mexico annually was double
the total amount of royal treasure possessed by any
monarch in Europe. Spanish America, from Oregon to
the Straits of Magellan, produced, during three centuries
of colonial rule, four and a half billion pesos in silver,
Mexico contributing nearly forty per cent, of the total.
In the light of the tremendous production under modern
scientific mining methods the annual production in
46 MEXICO TO-DAY A15TD TO-MOEJROW
Mexico in Spanish days might seem small, but, con-
sidering that the methods of the day were very crude,
the output was quite remarkable. Only rich ore could
be treated, and the whole process was one of hand labor.
As late as twenty-five years ago, with the steam engine
to supply power, the cost of silver production at the
Pachuca camp was over twelve dollars per ton of ore,
and ore with a value of less than fifteen dollars per ton
was of too low a grade to treat. There is little data on
costs in the Spanish days, but it is certain that only
ores from the richest veins could be utilized. To-day
the production cost at the Pachuca camp is three dollars
per ton, a fourth of what it was only a few years ago.
Obviously any comparison with former production is
out of the question.
The treatment of the Indians in mining operations
brought forth protests, from time to time, from the
early Dominican and Franciscan monks. With four-
teen and fifteen hours constituting a day's work, with no
provisions for health, and with much cruelty in the
handling of the work, the labor conditions were as bad
as they could be. 4* '''Las Casas, the priest-historian, writ-
ing of Cortes' first fortune, accumulated in Cuba, says,
pathetically, " God, who alone knows at what coat of
Indian lives it was obtained, will take accoxint of it."
It was not that Cortes was by nature 'cruel, for his
recommendations to the government contain many hu-
mane ideas. The whole system was based on forced
labor, and was designed to drive the labor to the utmost
point of endurance. One of Cortes 7 early acts after the
conquest was to ask the crown to send out a number of
priests so tiiat the conversion of the natives might be
actively pushed. A large number of monks were sent
out, and they, scattering over the coxmtry, everywhere
made bitter denunciation of the inhuman treatment of
SPAOTSH MEXICO 47
the natives. The protests of these pioneer missionaries,
coupled with the heroic efforts of Las Casas, mitigated,
in some degree, the sufferings of the Indians, and re-
sulted, at different periods, in the adoption of humane
regulations covering the conditions of labor. It was,
however, much easier to get proper regulations adopted
than to have them enforced in the colony. The land
owners and mine owners had large selfish interests at
stake, and many of them were very powerful. They
were far removed from contact with the home govern-
ment, and naturally exercised much influence over the
colonial officials. Many of the viceroys sent out were
intent on enriching themselves, and, instead of attempt-
ing to stop abuses, were only too glad to take advantage
of them for their own purposes. Moreover, most of the
great estates or mines were not managed by their owners
directly but intrusted to administradores, or managers,
who were usually men of a lower degree of education
and who had little thought of anything but "getting
results," regardless of the means employed. The owners
themselves, living in comfort in the capital, were fre-
quently entirely out of touch with the detail of the work
on their properties, and, in general, indifferent as to
the native labor so long as their income came in regu-
larly. They were not necessarily heartless, but they
simply regarded the Indian as an inferior being who was
useful as a mechanical unit The Indians, stunned by
the sweeping success of the Spaniards in the conquest,
submitted to slavery with little or no resistance, and re-
mained under the yoke for three hundred years.
The propaganda for the conversion of the Indians was
highly successful, and in an incredibly short time the
whole country accepted Christianity. The early mis-
sionaries were not only zealous. They were self-sacri-
ficing, and many of them men of fine feelings. Their
48 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
constant effort to help improve the condition of the na-
tives doubtless greatly aided their propaganda. In the
latter part of the sixteenth century the missionaries
translated various religious works into the leading na-
tive dialects, and opened schools at many missions to
help in spreading Christian doctrines.
The history of Mexico during the Spanish rule is
strikingly and exclusively the history of the Spaniards
in Mexico. With the exception of some efforts by the
missionaries to help the natives, or at least to reduce the
severity of their conditions of labor, little was done for
the Indians. The natives of the country had no partici-
pation in its life except as units of labor. It was, pei>
haps, natural that the Indian should have little part in
the general scheme of life, but, allowing for all racial
differences, it is really amazing that a few hundred
Spaniards, having conquered a country with five mil-
lions of people in it, should, with a few thousands who
came over later, so thoroughly and absolutely dominate
it that the Indian, except as a means to an end, disap-
peared in the country's history. The very absence in
the Spanish records of Indian names, except those of
towns, is an indication of how completely the submer-
gence was. The government was one of, by and for the
Spaniards. It must be said, however, in justice to the
invaders, that they respected, in many cases, the tribal
rights to community lands. The Mexican tribes had
no private ownership of land, but each tribe or commu-
nity had an allotment of land which was owned in com-
mon, and worked in common or in rotation by the indi-
vidual members of the tribe. The Spanish, in many of
their grants, specifically exempted such community
lands, and a good many Mexican villages to this day
own. common land which has been so held from the days
of the Aztecs.
SPANISH MEXICO 49
An interesting event during the Spanish rule was the
sending from Mexico of an expedition, in 1611, to
Japan, with the object of charting the coast with a
view toward establishing trade. The expedition was
well received in Japan, but, on learning that the Span-
ish wished to chart the coasts, the Japanese became
appiohensive lest the ultimate object might be to pre-
pare for a conquest, and the commissioners were ordered
to leave. The expedition came to nothing, and the at-
tempt is of interest only as the first effort of people of
European blood to get in touch with the affairs of the
Japanese empire.
OHAPTEE VI
ESTDEPENDEISrOE
SPAIN, in the Seventeenth Century, rose to the height
of her power and glory. JThe crowns of Castile and
Aragon, united by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isa-
bella, fell by inheritance to Charles the Fifth, who, as
Emperor of the Holy German Empire and Archduke of
Austria, ruled over a vast empire. Spanish armies had
swept over France and Italy. The Spanish Americas,
extending over the greater part of the length of two
continents, were pouring into the mother country a
steady stream of treasure. The Philippines formed the
commercial base for a great Oriental trade. Under
Philip the Second, Charles' successor, this great empire
was consolidated, and became, far more than it had been
under Charles, a Spanish empire, with Madrid as its
capital. The Spanish flag floated in every sea. Spain,
in a hundred years, had leaped from an insignificant
position to that of the great world power. But the em-
pire was to fall faster than it had risen. j[p 1588 an
event, the consequences of which were not then realized,
changed world history. Through the defeat by the Eng-
lish of Philip's " Invincible Armada " Spain lost con-
trol of the se&2 and from then on her position became a
secondary one/^>She kept her colonies and retained part
of her commerce, but her domination in world affairs
was gone. t Tie Spanish rulers, occupied with troubles
at home, paid little attention to the colonies, whoso af-
fairs were intrusted to the Council of the Indies.V The
50
INDEPENDENCE 51
stream of wealth pouring in from Mexico and Peru
helped to enervate the whole government^ The wealth,
of an artificial character, led to neglect ofmternal devel-
opment, and the general tendency was to govern the
colonial possessions on the basis of squeezing out of
them the last peso of revenue. There was little of a
constructive character, and much, in fact, to discourage
real progress.
From time to time there were ministers who realized
the danger of a form of government which gave little
and exacted much. (Tn 1783 the Conde de Aranda, in a
private memorandum to the King, deplored the aid
given by the Spanish to the British American colonies
in their fight for independence. He pointed out that
while England was Spain's enemy, the example of the
northern colonies might easily be followed by the Span-
ish colonies. ^ His memorandum continues: " The lib-
erty of relljgion, the ease of settling people and vast tracts
of land, and the advantages which the new form of gov-
ernment offers, will attract the artisans and laborers of
all nations . . . and within a few years we shall see r
with the greatest regret, a colossus as our neighbor
Once this Anglo-American power is enlarged and estaE
lished, we cannot but believe that its first vision will be
that of the possession of the Floridas in order to domi-
nate in the Mexican sphere. Once this is accomplished,
it will not only be in a position to interrupt our com-
merce with Mexico whenever it wishes, but it will aspire
to the conquest of that vast empire, which we, from
Europe, could not defend against a power grand, for-
midable and established on the same continent. . . .
These are not vain fears, but truthful prognostications
of what must inevitably happen. . . . How is it possible
that the American colonies, when they are in a position
to conquer Mexico, will refrain themselves and leave us
52 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
in peaceful possession of that rich country ? It is not
believable, and, therefore, sound policy dictates that we
should, in time, take measure to prevent evils which may
overwhelm us." The Conde recommends that three new
kingdoms be formed, one of Mexico, one of Peru, and
the third of the remaining Spanish possessions, the ruler
of each to be named by the Spanish crown, but each
kingdom to be given entire freedom to legislate for
itself. Under the stimulus of home rule each kingdom
would so develop as to be strong enough to protect itself
from attack, while Spain would derive benefit in con-
tinuing a healthy commerce with the new countries.-
^Had the counsel given in this remarkable document
been followed, the catastrophe which lost Spain all hey
American possessions might have been averted. Neither
to this nor to other occasional pieces of sound advice
given was any attention paid. The whole tendency of
the SpanisL policy was to alienate the sympathy of the
colonies, ^he vision of Aranda came true, and, once
the American colonies were firmly established, the Span^
ish colonies, one by one, began to fight for independence^
In this effort they were greatly aided by internal condi-
tions in Spain. Napoleon had overrun the country, and
the King, kept on the throne by him, had alienated the
people. Many loyal Spaniards in Mexico and other
colonies felt that their mother country, dominated by
foreigners, could no longer claim their allegiance.
At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century Mexico
was by far the most important of the Spanish colonial
possessions. The country had over five millions of
people, and the capital, with 135,000 inhabitants, was
the most important city of the new world. The govern-
ment revenues were twenty million pesos a year, the
foreign commerce amounted to thirty-two million pesos,
and mineral production exceeded twenty million pesos.
INDEPENDENCE 53
The well-to-do class, including many loyal Spaniards,
was galled by the stream of revenues going out of the
country for/tke support of a government dominated by
Napoleon. JIhe Spanish residents of Mexico were,
moreover, greatly irritated by the fact that they had
little or no participation in government affairs, which,
from the most important matters down to petty details,
were handled by people who were new to the country and
not in sympathy with its ideas. Of the sixty-four vice-
roys who had represented the Crown only one had been
born in Mexico, and the same general condition pre-
vailed as to minor posts. In the church, conditions
were no better for the native born element.. JQie post
of archbishop had, with one exception, never been given
to any one born in the country, and the bishops of
Mexico, Guadalajara and Michoacan were almost invari-
ably of foreign birth. N The industries of the country had
largely been fariiied / out, under monopolistic conces-
sions, to court favorites who, having no natural sympa-
thy for the country, had no hesitation about exploiting
it for their own benefit.
All internal conditions were favorable for a change.
In Spain the peo^e^wergJiLOpgaj^helUQii^and fighting
hierolcally^^o' throw out the. French usurpers of their
government. Moreover, the prosperous development of
the United States under its new government furnished
a striking contrast to the devastated .condition, of Europe,
then struggling in the throes of the Napoleonic wars.
Everything tended to encourage a break between Mexico
and tibte mother country. ^A movement toward independ-
ence, started in 1808 in Queretero, was carried along
secretly lor two""years7 enlisting/ durtgg^lTim^ffie
sympathy ~aiid1hipport of Miguel Hidalgo, "a nahve born
priest ~whtr~sooii CLSSume3'~ < B<r leadership of the cause/
On the sixteenth of September, 1810, Hidalgo, then
54 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKEOW
parish priest of Dolores, learning that the conspiracy
had been betrayed to the government, anticipated any
action by seizing the local authorities and government
funds, making, at the time, a public speech which pro-
claimed the object of the movement to be that of taking
the government out of the hands of Europeans, who, he
said, had already delivered their own country to the
French and who would follow up their treason by soon
handing Mexico over to the invaders. The revolution
made headway rapidly, gathering in force of numbers
day by day. The towns of Celayo and Queretero fell,
making little or no resistance, and on the twenty-eighth
of September Guanajuato, after a heroic defense by the
Governor and the small force he had with him, came into
the possession of the revolutionists. .The revolutionary
force, while large in numbers, was hardly more than a
mob. There was nothing like military organization or
discipline, and the fall of each town was accompanied
by great excesses. The homes of Spanish residents were
plundered of everything of. value, and shops were sacked
by the troops and populace. Word of the insurrection
reached Mexico City quickly, and preparations were
made for the defense of the capital and for the gathering
of sufficient forces to put down the uprising. The in-
surgent army slowly improved in organization, took
town after town, and finally, on October thirtieth, de-
feated the royalist forces within twenty miles of the
capital. Hidalgo was unable, for lack of arms and pow-
der, to follow up this victory by taking the capital itself,
and decided to return to Queretero. The march north
was abruptly interrupted on the seventh day of Novem-
ber by an encounter with royalist forces going to the
aid of the capital. The revolutionary forces, unpre-
pared for an attack and lacking arms and ammunition,
were disastrously defeated, and Hidalgo and other lead-
INDEPENDENCE 55
era barely managed to reach Queretero. The movement,
however, spread throughout the country, and Hidalgo
was able to gather a sufficient force to take Guadalajara,
where the first steps^ were taken tojform a regular gov-
ernment " life record of the early days of the revolu-
tion is blackened by the excesses committed in various
towns. The revolt, however, resulted in a decree being
issued by the Viceroy prohibiting slavery and abolishing
head taxes. The first act of the newly formed govern-
ment was to issue a similar decree. The weak position
of the insurgents at Guanajuato was betrayed to Calleja,
the royalist general, who proceeded to attack the city.
The revolutionary forces, unable to withstand the attack
of a well equipped force, evacuated the city. Before
leaving they entered the jail and killed one hundred and
thirty-eight out of two hundred and forty-nine Span-
iards who had been arrested and placed in confinement.
Oalleja retaliated by killing every one encountered on
the streets when the town was occupied, some four hun-
dred people, most of them in no way connected with the
revolt, giving up their lives in this act of bloody ven-
geance. Allende and others of the insurgents now
joined Hidalgo at Guadalajara, where the butchery of
innocent Spaniards was repeated, two hundred being
killed. Hidalgo determined to attack the royalist forces,
counting on the large number of his men for victory.
He had a total of thirty thousand men to draw on, and
from these he formed seven battalions of infantry, six
squadrons of cavalry and two batteries of artillery, the
force totaling three thousand four hundred men. There
were, however, only twelve hundred muskets, and of
these many were useless. The army marched out of
Guadalajara and arrived at Calderon, thirty-five miles
distant, on January fourteenth, 1811. Galleja, with
seven thousand men, attacked the force on the seven-
56 " MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
teenth, and completely routed it. Hidalgo, Allende and
others leaders managing, however, to escape. The roy-
alist forces now reoccupied Guadalajara, and later took
all the towns which Hidalgo had held. Hidalgo, Al-
lende and thirty other leaders were later betrayed to the
royalists, and all were executed in July, 1811. The
heads of Hidalgo, Allende and Aldama were set on
spikes on the jail in Guanajuato and remained there, a
grewsome warning, for ten years.
Early in the revolutionary movement the church had
excommunicated Hidalgo and other leaders, and had
threatened with excommunication any who gave mate-
rial or moral support to the cause. Neither this nor the
execution of the leaders was effective, however, in sup-
pressing revolutionary ideas, and armed opposition to
the government developed rapidly in various parts of the
country. Jose, Maria Morelos became, soon after the
death of Hidalgo, the leader 'of the revolution, and for
four ^ears conducted military operations which were
successful only in harassing the government. He was
finally defeated, captured, and shot
During all this time a form of revolutionary govern-
ment was maintained, but the government, such as it
was, had to shift frequently and rapidly in the series of
successes and defeats which its army met. Neverthe-
less, the movement was gradually becoming an organized
one, gaining strength in numbers and leaders from
month to month, and was, in fact, so formidable that by
1820, the government was obliged to maintain an army
of 85,000 men in the field. ,Augustin de Iturbide, an
officer in the royalist army, in 1821 conceived the idea
of a compromise by establishing an independent consti-
tutional monarchy in Mexico, with Fernando VII of
Spain as King. ; The plan, so-called that*of Iguala,
received the approval of the new viceroy with the under-
57
standing that should Fernando VII be unable to accept
the throne one of his sons should be chosen in his place.
This plan was carried out, and on the twenty-seventh of
September, 1821, Iturbide entered the capital in the
role of liberator of the country. A provisional govern-
ment was named, with Juan O'Donoju as provisional
viceroy. Iturbide had doubtless counted on the disap-
proval of the plan by the Spanish government, and cal-
culated that, once in power, he would be in a position to
deal with the situation. The Spanish government
repudiated the arrangement, and Iturbide's followers
promptly set jip a cry demanding that he be proclaimed
emperor. On May eighteenth a Congress was called,
and Iturbide was elected emperor, and his coronation
followed on July twentieth. Congress, which was Itur-
bide's tool, voted him a salary of one and one-half mil-
lion pesos, an amount which, however, for lack of funds,
was never paid. Shortly after this, Iturbide dissolved
Congress, and proceeded to run affairs under a dictator-
ship. The government extravagance, coupled with its
methods, provoked a new revolution led by Antonio
Lpgezjde Santa u _Ann,a > whicE'rweived'lh^suppOrt" of the
army. ""As a result Iturbide was obliged to abdicate,
and left Mexico on April 11, 1823. Although com-
pelled to leave the country, Iturbide, in recognition of
his services in securing the independence of Mexico,
received an annual pension of 25,000 pesos.
CJThe Mexican Kepublic was then proclaimed, and was
organized in October, 1824, as a constitutional jrepre-
sentatiye . .republic with eighteen states, and four^ terri-
tories, and D. Guadalupe Victoria was elected presi-
deaiT~ The fortress of Ulua, near Vera Cruz, the last
Spanish stronghold in Mexico, capitulated on November
18, 1825. . Manuel Gomez Pedraza succeeded Victoria,
but held office only a few weeks, being forced out by
58 MEXICO TO-DAY AOT> TO-MORROW
Vicente Guerrero, who had the support of Santa Anna
and other military leaders. InJL829 7 an army of four
thousand men, sent out from Spain in an attempt to re-
conquer the country, seized Tampico, but, attacked by
Santa Anna- and Gener.aLIeran, was obliged to capitu-
late, surrender its arms and sail for Spain after its
leaders had given a promise that no further effort would
be made by Spain to interfere in the affairs of the new
republic. Internal troubles, however, were more calcu-
lated to bring disaster than attacks from without. Gen-
eral Anastasio Bustamente overthrew Guerrero's rule
and succeeded in dominating most of the country.
Guerrero withdrew to the south and organized a formid-
able army. The captain of a Sardinian ship purchased
by Guerrero was bribed by Bustamente to betray the
ex-president, who was invited to lunch on board in Aca-
pulco harbor and seized when luncheon was over. The
unfortunate Guerrero was taken in Oaxaca, tried by an
irregular court martial and executed. This act pro-
duced a reaction of feeling, and Santa Anna led a move-
ment to overthrow Bustamente, who was obliged, in
December, 1832 r to sign a convention recognizing as
PVeside"nt7"G6mez Pedraza, under the election of 1828.
Pedr&zo serve3~7tirnnrexpired term of three months,
when Santa Anna was elected as his successor.
The early years of the Mexican Republic were char-
acterized by a long series of factional and personal
quarrels in which the control of the public treasury
seems to have figured as the main prize. Each govern-
ment left the treasury bankrupt, and, in fact, the early
fall of a government was usually foreshadowed by heavy
treasury deficits. Why the treasury should have figured
as a prize would, therefore, be inexplicable but for the
fact that each government, on coming into power,
promptly repudiated all the obligations of its prede-
INDEPENDENCE 59
cessor, and was thus enabled to start off with a clean
sheet. Every new government introduced something
new in the way of taxes, spent lavishly while the pro-
ceeds lasted, and then collapsed or was overthrown.^ No
one had anj^confidence in whatever government oYparty
happened to be in power. In ,1836, when Texas de-
clared its independence and fundsJhSd^to te^ais'cd'to
equip an ariny to suppress ffie revolt, the government
raised, on loans, 2,200,000 pesos, paying 40 per cent,
intereslrfor half iTmflliori and 4 per cent, per month for
the balance !
The Texas campaign was a complete disaster. Santa
Anna, had he been an able military leader, .might have,
wilffiThis sis: thousand men, put a quick end to the young
republic. He committed, however, great excesses, burn-
ing towns and villages, shooting prisoners, and permit-
ting his soldiers to loot, all this " frightfulness " only
arousing the most determined spirit of resistance.
Moreover, he had no plan of campaign, and permitted
his own forces to separate into two or three units, the
better, probably, to carry out the general idea of laying
the country waste. On April 21, 1836, he, with thir-
teen hundred men, was surprised by the Texan army of
. eight hundred men under Sam Houston. The Mexican
force was completely routed and Santa Anna taken pris-
oner. Santa Anna, in grave danger of being shot in
reprisal for the shooting of Texan prisoners, sent orders
to Filisola, his second in command, to withdraw his
three thousand men and await orders an act of per-
sonal cowardice which the Mexican people have never
forgotten. -Eilisola followed his instructions, and Santa
Anna, after some months of life in prison, secured his
own liberty by agreeing to recognize the independence
of Texas. Santa Anna returned to Mexico, where the
government declined to support his action, and endeav-
60 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
ored, unsuccessfully, to raise funds for a new
against Texas. While discredited, Santa Anna man-
aged to keep a hold on the military element, and con-
tinued to be a power in politics for some years.
In 1836 Spain gave official recognition to the Mexi-
can republic. This, coupled with the elimination of
complications through the independence of Texas, prom-
ised Mexico freedom from foreign troubles. Mean-
while, however, trouble had been brewing with Prance
over a question of claims of French citizens for losses
in the various upheavals in Mexico, and in 1839 France
sent a squadron of ten ships to Mexico, established a
blockade and captured Vera Cruz after a bombardment
in which, incidentally, Santa Anna lost a leg. TEe
French claims were settled by the payment of 600,000
pesos, for 200,000 -pesos of which the French govern-
ment never found any claimants.
CHAPTEK VII
MADATVrrc CAIDERON DE LA BARCA
IT would be wearisome to go into the detail of the
petty squabbles and the series of political turnovers in
the next few years of Mexican history. A vivid pic-
ture has been painted, however, by Madame Calderon
de la Barca, wife of the first minister sent by Spain
to Mexico, in her " Life in. Mexico," first published in
1842 and republished recently (E. P. Button & Co.,
New York). Madame de la Barca was Scotch and en-
dowed with a rich fund of the wit of her race. Her
book not only gives a graphic picture of life in Mexico
but is bright and entertaining throughout, and well
worth reading. To give some idea of the conditions
prevailing eighty years ago the following extracts from
this ohanning work are given.
" One circumstance must be observed by all who
travel in Mexican territory. There is not one human
being or passing object that is not in itself a picture,
or which would not form a good subject for the pencil.
The Indian women with their plaited hair, and little
children slung to their backs, their large straw hats,
and petticoats of two colors the long strings of ar-
rieros with their loaded mules, and swarthy, wild-look-
ing faces the chance horseman who passes with his
sarape of many colors, his high ornamented saddle,
Mexican silver stirrups, and leathern boots this is
picturesque. Salvator Rosa and Hogarth might have
61
62 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
traveled here to advantage: Salvator for the sublime,
and Hogarth taking him up when the sublime became
the ridiculous. . . .
" The common Indians, whom we "see every day bring-
ing in their fruit and vegetables to market, are, gener-
ally speaking, very plain, with an humble, mild expres-
sion of countenance, very gentle, and wonderfully
polite in their manners to each other ; but occasionally,
in the lower classes, one sees a face and form so beauti-
ful, that we might suppose such another was the Indian
who enchanted Cortes; with eyes and hair of extraor-
dinary beauty, a complexion dark but glowing, with the
Indian beauty of teeth like the driven snow, together
with small feet and beautifully-shaped hands and arms,
however imbrowned by sun and toil. . . .
" It has a character peculiar to itself, great plains
of maguey, with its huts with uncultivated patches, that
have once been gardens, still filled with flowers and
choked with weeds; the huts themselves, generally of
mud, yet not unfrequently of solid stone, roofless and
windowless, with traces of having been fine buildings
in former days ; the complete solitude, unbroken except
by the passing Indian, certainly as much in a state of
savage nature as the lower class of Mexicans were when
Cortes first traversed these plains with the same
character, gentle and cowardly, false and cunning, as
weak animals are apt to be by nature, and indolent
and improvident as men are in a fine climate; ruins
everywhere here a viceroy's country palace serving
as a tavern, where the mules stop to rest, and the driv-
ers to drink pulque there, a whole village crumbling
to pieces ; roofless houses, broken down walls and arches,
an old church the remains of a convent. . . . For
leagues scarcely a tree to be seen ; then a clump of the
graceful Arbol de Peru, or one great cypress long
CALDERON DE LA BAROA 63
strings of mules and asses, with their drivers pas-
ture-fields with cattle then again whole tracts of
maguey, as far as the eye can reach; no roads worthy
of the name, but a passage made between fields of
maguey, bordered by crumbling-down low stone walls,
causing a jolting from which not even the easy move-
ment of Charles X's coach can save us. But the horses
go at full gallop, accustomed to go through and over
everything. . . .
" Then as to schools, there are none that can deserve
the name, and no governesses. Young girls can have no
emulation, for they never meet. They have no public
diversion, and no private amusement. There are a few
good foreign masters, most of whom have come to Mex-
ico for the purpose of making their fortune, by teach-
ing, or marriage, or both, and whose object, naturally,
is to make the most money in the shortest possible time,
that they may return home and enjoy it. The children
generally appear to have an extraordinary disposition
for music and drawing, yet there are few girls who are
proficient in either. . . .
" REVOLUTION in Mexico ! or Pronnnciamiento,
as^they call it. The storm which has for some time
been brewing has burst forth at last. Don Valentin
Gomez Farias and the banished General Urrea have
pronounced for federalism. At two this morning,
joined by the fifth battalion and the regiment of comer-
cio, they took up arms, set off for the palace, surprised
the president in his bed, and took him prisoner. Our
first information was a message arriving on the part of
the government, desiring the attendance of two old sol-
diers, who put on their old uniforms, and set off quite
pleased. Next came our friend Don M - del
- o, who advised us to haul out the Spanish col-
ors, that they might be in readiness to fly on the bal-
64 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
cony in case of necessity. Little by little, more Span-
iards arrived with different reports as to the state of
things. Some say that it will end in a few hours
others, that it will be a long and bloody contest. Some
are assured that it will merely terminate in a change
of ministry others that Santa Anna will come on
directly and usurp the presidency. At all events, Gen-
eral Valencia, at the head of the government troops, is
about to attack the pronunciados, who are in possession
of the palace. . . .
" The firing has begun ! People come running up
the street. The Indians are hurrying back to their vil-
lages in double-quick trot. As we are not in the center
of the city, our position for the present is very safe,
all the cannon being directed towards the palace. All
the streets near the square are planted with cannon,
and it is pretended that the revolutionary party are
giving arms to the leperos. The cannon are roaring
now. All along the street people are standing on the
balconies, looking anxiously in the direction of the pal-
ace, or collected in groups before the doors, and the
aeoteas, which are out of the line of fire, are covered
with men. They are ringing the tocsin things seem
to be getting serious.
" Nine o'clock, p. M. Continuation of firing without
interruption. I have spent the day standing on the
balcony, looking at the smoke, and listening to the dif-
ferent rumors. Gomez Farias has been proclaimed
president by his party. The streets near the square
are said to be strewed with dead and wounded. There
was a terrible thunderstorm this afternoon. Mingled
with the roaring of the cannon, it sounded like a strife
between heavenly and earthly artillery. We shall not
pass a very easy night, especially without our soldiers.
MADAME CALDERON DE LA BAECA 65
Unfortunately there is a bright moon, so night brings
no interruption to the firing and slaughter.
" Our first news was brought very early this morning
by the wife of one of the soldiers, who came in great
despair to tell us that both her husband and his com-
rade are shot, though not killed that they were
amongst the first who fell; and she came to entreat
C n to prevent their being sent to the hospital. It
is reported that Bustamente has escaped, and that he
fought his way, sword in hand, through the soldiers
who guarded him in his apartment. Almonte at all
events is at the head of his troops. The balls have
entered many houses in the square. It must be terri-
bly dangerous for those who live there, and amongst
others, for our friend Senor Tagle, Director of the
Monte Pio, and his family.
"They have just brought the government bulletin,
which gives the following statement of the circum-
stances : e Yesterday, at midnight, Urrea, with a hand-
ful of troops belonging to the garrison and its neighbor-
hood took possession of the National Palace, surprising
the guard, and committing the incivility of imprisoning
His Excellency the President, Don Anastasio Busta-
mente, the commander-in-chief, the Mayor de la Plaza,
and other chiefs. Don Gabriel Valencia, chief of the
plana mayor (the staff), General Don Antonio Mozo, and
the Minister of War, Don Juan Nepomuceno Almonte,
reunited in the citadel, prepared to attack the pronunci-
ados, who, arming the lowest populace, took possession of
the towers of the cathedral, and of some of the highest
edifices in the center of the city. Although summoned
to surrender, at two in the afternoon firing began, and
continued till midnight, recommencing at five in the
morning, and only ceasing at intervals. The colonel of
66 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
the sixth regiment, together with a considerable part of
his corps, who were in the barracks of the palace, es-
caped and joined the government troops, who have taken
the greater part of the positions near the square and
the palace. His Excellency the President, with a part
of the troops which had pronounced in the palace, made
his escape on the morning of the sixteenth, putting him-
self at the head of the troops who have remained faith-
ful to their colors, and at night published the following
proclamation :
" ' " The President of the Eepublic to the Mexican
Nation.
" ' " Fellow-Citizens : The seduction which has
spread over a very small part of the people and garri-
son of this capital ; the f orgetfulness of honor and duty,
have caused the defection of a few soldiers, whose mis-
conduct up to this hour has been thrown into confusion
by the valiant behavior of the greatest part of the chiefs,
officers, and soldiers, who have intrepidly followed the
example of the valiant general-in-chief of the plana
mayor of the army. The government was not ignorant
of the machinations that were carrying on; their au-
thors were well known to it, and it foresaw that the
gentleness and clemency which it had hitherto employed
in order to disarm them, would be corresponded to with
ingratitude.
" ' " This line of policy has caused the nation to re-
main headless (acefala) for some hours, and public
tranquillity to be disturbed; but my liberty being re-
stored, the dissidents, convinced of the evils which have
been and may be caused by these tumults, depend upon
a reconciliation for their security. The government
will remember that they are misled men, belonging to
the great Mexican family, but not for this will it for-
get how much they have forfeited their rights to respect;
MADAME CALDERON DE LA BAEOA 67
nor what is due to the great bulk of the nation. Public
tranquillity will be restored in a few hours ; the laws
will immediately recover their energy and the govern-
ment will see them obeyed.
" ' " ANASTASIO BUSTAMENTE.
* Mexico, July 16th, 1840." '
" A roar of cannon from the Palace, which made the
house shake and the windows rattle, and caused m6 to
throw a blot over the President's good name, seems
the answer to this proclamation.
" 17th. The state of things is very bad. Cannon
planted all along the streets, and soldiers firing indis-
criminately on all who pass. Count C a slightly
wounded, and carried to his country-house at Tacubaya.
Two Spaniards have escaped from their house, into
which the balls were pouring, and have taken refuge
here. The E family have kept their house, which
is in the very center of the affray, cannons planted be-
fore their door, and all their windows already smashed.
Indeed, nearly all the houses in that quarters are aban-
doned. We are living here like prisoners in a fortress.
The Countess Del V e, whose father was shot in
a former revolution, had just risen this morning, when
a shell entered the wall close by the side of her bed, and
burst in the mattress.
" As there are two sides to every story, listen to the
proclamation of the chief of the rebels.
" * Senor Valentin Gomez Farias to the Mexican
People.
" ' Fellow-Citizens : We present to the civilized
world two facts, which, while they will cover with eter-
nal glory the Federal army and the heroic inhabitants
of this capital, will hand down with execration and in-
famy, to all future generations, the name of General
68 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
Bustamente; this man without faith, breaking his sol-
emnly-pledged word, after being put at liberty by an
excess of generosity ; for having promised to take imme-
diate steps to bring about a negotiation of peace, upon
the honorable basis which was proposed to him, he is
now converted into the chief of an army, the enemy of
the Federalists; and has beheld, with a serene counte-
nance, this beautiful capital destroyed, a multitude of
families drowned in tears, and the death of many citi-
zens ; not only of the combatants, but of those who have
taken no, part in the struggle. Amongst these must be
counted an unfortunate woman enceinte, who was killed
as she was passing the palace gates under the belief
that a parley having come from his camp, the firing
would be suspended, as in fact it was on our side. This
government, informed of the misfortune, sent for the
husband of the deceased, and ordered twenty-five dol-
lars to be given him ; but the unfortunate man, though
plunged in grief, declared that twelve were sufficient to
supply his wants. Such was the horror inspired by
the atrocious conduct of the ex-government of Busta-
mente, that this sentiment covered up and suffocated
all the others.
" ' Another fact, of which we shall with difficulty
find an example in history, is the following. The day
that the firing began, being in want of some implements
of war, it was necessary to cause an iron case to be
opened, belonging to Don Stanislaus Flores, in which
he had a considerable sum of money in different coin,
besides his most valuable effects. Thus, all that the
government could do, was to make this known to the
owner, Sefior Flores, in order that he might send a
person of confidence to take charge of his interests,
making known what was wanting, that he might be
immediately paid. The pertinacity of the firing pre-
MADAME CALDERON DE LA BAECA 69
vented SefLor Flores from naming a commissioner for
four days, and then, although the case has been open,
and no one has taken charge of it, the commissioner
has made known officially that nothing is taken from
it but the implements of war which were sent for.
Glory in yourselves, Mexicans ! The most polished na-
tion of the earth, illustrious France, has not presented
a similar fact. The Mexicans possess heroic virtues,
which will raise them above all the nations in the
world. This is the only ambition of your fellow-citi-
zen,
" ' VALENTIN GOMEZ FAEIAS.
"'Mexico, July 17th, 1840.'
" 21st. After passing a sleepless night, listening to
the roaring of cannon, and figuring to ourselves the
devastation that must have taken place, we find to our
amusement that nothing decisive has occurred. The
noise last night was mere skirmishing, and half the can-
nons were fired in the air. In the darkness there was
no mark. But though the loss on either side is so much
less than might have been expected, the rebels in the
palace cannot be very comfortable, for they say that
the air is infected by the number of unburied dead bod-
ies lying there; indeed there are many lying unburied
on the streets, which is enough to raise a fever, to add
to the calamitous state of things.
" The tranquillity of the sovereign people during
all this period is astonishing. In what other city in
the world would they not have taken part with one or
other side? Shops shut, workmen out of employment,
thousands of idle people, subsisting, Heaven only knows
how, yet no riot, no confusion, apparently no impa-
tience. Groups of people collect on the streets, or
stand talking before their doors, and speculate upon
70 MEXICO TO-DAY Am> TO-MOEEOW
probabilities, but await the decision of their military
chiefs, as if it were a judgment from Heaven, from
which it were both useless and impious to appeal.
" This being Sunday, and a fete-day, a man was
murdered close by our door, in a quarrel brought about
probably through the influence of pulque, or rather of
chinguirite. If they did not so often end in a deadly
quarrel, there would be nothing so amusing as to watch
the Indians gradually becoming a little intoxicated.
They are at first so polite, handing the pulque-jar to
their fair companions (fair being taken in the general
or Pickwickian sense of the word) ; always taking off
their hats to each other, and if they meet a woman,
kissing her hand with an humble bow as if she were a
duchess; but these same women are sure to be the
cause of a quarrel, and then out come these horrible
knives and then, Adios ! . . .
" It is impossible to conceive anything more humble
and polite than the common country-people. Men and
women stop and wish you a good day, the men holding
their hats in their hands, and all showing their white
teeth, and faces lighted up by careless good-nature. I
regret to state, however, that to-day there are a great
many women quite as tipsy as the men, returning home
after the fete, and increasing the distance to their
village, by taking a zigzag direction through the
streets. . . .
" Senor Oanedo, Secretary of State, has formally an-
nounced his intention of resigning. Certainly the sit-
uation of premier in Mexico, at this moment, is far
from enviable, and the more distinguished and clear-
headed the individual, the more plainly he perceives
the impossibility of remedying the thickly-gathering
evils which crowd the political horizon. ' Revolution/
says Senor de , ' has followed revolution since the
CALDEKOJST DE LA BAEOA 71
Independence, no stable government has yet been estab-
lished. Had it been so, Mexico would have offered
bo our eyes a phenomenon unknown until now in the
world that of a people, without previous prepara-
tion, passing at once to govern themselves by democrat-
ical institutions. 7 . . .
" They, as well as every Mexican, whether man or
woman, not under forty, have lived under the Spanish
government; have seen the revolution of Dolores of
1810, with continuations and variations by Morelos,
and paralyzation in 1819 ; the revolution of Yturbide
in 1821 ; the cry of Liberty (grito de Libertad) given.
by those generals 'benemeritos de la patria/ Santa
Anna and Victoria, in 1822 ; the establishment of the
federal system in 1824; the horrible revolution of the
Acordada, in which Mexico was pillaged, in 1828 ; the
adoption of the central system in 1836; and the last
revolution of the federalists in 1840. Another is pre-
dicted for next month, as if it were an eclipse of the
sun. In nineteen years three forms of government have
been tried, and two constitutions, the reform of one of
which is still pending in the Chambers.
" If any one wishes to try the effect of strong con-
trast, let him come direct from the United States to this
country; but it is in the villages especially that the
contrast is most striking. Traveling in New England,
for example, we arrive at a small and flourishing village*
We see four new churches, proclaiming four different
sects; religion suited to all customers. These wooden
churches or meeting-houses are all new, all painted
white, or perhaps a bright red. Hard by is a tavern
with a green paling, as clean and as new as the churches,
and there are also various smart stores and neat dwell-
ing-houses ; all new, all wooden, all clean, and all orna-
mented with slight Grecian pillars. The whole has
72 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKKOW
a cheerful, trim, and flourishing aspect. Houses,
churches, stores, and taverns, all are of a piece. They
are suited to the present emergency, whatever that may
be, though they will never make fine ruins. Every-
thing proclaims prosperity, equality, consistency; the
past forgotten, the present all in all, and the future tak-
ing care of itself. No delicate attentions to posterity,
who can never pay its debts. No beggars. If a man
has even a hole in his coat, he must be lately from the
Emerald Isle. . . .
" Transport yourself in imagination from this New
England village to that of , it matters not which,
not far from Mexico. Look on this picture, and on
that The Indian huts, with their half-naked inmates,
and little gardens full of flowers; the huts themselves
either built of clay or the half-ruined beaux restes of
some stone building. At a little distance an hacienda,
like a deserted palace, built of solid masonry, with its
inner patio surrounded by thick stone pillars, with
great walls and iron barred windows that might stand
a siege. Here a ruined arch and cross, so solidly built,
that one cannot but wonder how the stones ever crum-
bled away. There, rising in the midst of old faithful-
looking trees, the church, gray and ancient, but strong
as if designed for eternity; with it6 saints and virgins,
and martyrs and relics, its gold and silver and precious
stones, whose value would buy up all the spare lots in
the New England village ; the lepero with scarce a rag
1 to cover him, kneeling on that marble pavement. Leave
the enclosure of the church, observe the stone wall that
bounds the road for more than a mile; the fruit trees
overtopping it, high though it be, with their loaded
branches. This is the convent orchard. And that great
Gothic pile of building, that stands in hoary majesty,
MADAME CALDERON DE LA BARCA 73
surmounted by the lofty mountains, whose cloud-en-
veloped summits, tinged by the evening sun, rise behind
it ; what could so noble a building be but the monastery,
perhaps of the Carmelites, because of its exceeding rich
garden, and well-chosen site, for they, of all monks,
are richest in this world's goods ? Also we may see the
reverend old prior riding slowly from under the arched
gate up the village lanes, the Indians coming from their
huts to do him lowly reverence as he passes. Here,
everything reminds us of the past; of the conquering
Spaniards, who seemed to build for eternity; impress-
ing each work with their own solid, grave, and religious
character ; of the triumphs of Catholicism ; and of the
Indians when Cortes first startled them from their
repose, and stood before them like the fulfillment of
half-forgotten prophecy. It is the present that seems
like a dream, a pale reflection of the past. All is de-
caying and growing fainter, and men seem trusting to
some unknown future which they may never see. One
government has been abandoned, and there is none in
its place. One revolution follows another, yet the
remedy is not found. Let them beware lest half a
century later, they be awakened from their delusion,
and find the cathedral turned into a meeting-house, and
all painted white; the railing melted down; the silver
transformed into dollars; the Virgin's jewels sold to
the highest bidder ; the floor washed (which would do
it no harm), and round the whole, a nice new wooden
paling, freshly done in green and all this performed
by some of the artists from the wide-awake republic
farther north. . . .
" Certainly no visible improvement has taken
place in their condition since the independence. They
are quite as poor and quite as ignorant, and quite as
T4 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOREOW
degraded as they were in 1808, and if they do raise a
little grain of their own, they are so hardly taxed that
the privilege is as nought. . . .
" 1st Sept. This revolution is like a game at chess,
in which kings, castles, knights, and bishops, are making
different moves, while the pawns are looking on or tak-
ing no part whatever.
" To understand the state of the board, it is necessary
to explain the position of the four principal pieces
Santa Anna, Bustamente, Paredes, and Valencia. The
first move was made by Paredes, who published his
plan, and pronounced on the eighth of August at Guada-
lajara. About the same time, Don F M , a
Spanish broker, who had gone to Manga de Clavo, was
sent to Guadalajara, and had a conference with Pa-
redes, the result of which was, that the plan of that
general was withdrawn, and it was supposed that he
and Santa Anna had formed a combination. Shortly
after, the Censor of Vera Cruz, a newspaper entirely
devoted to Santa Anna, pronounced in favor of the plan
of Paredes, and Santa Arm a, with a few miserable
troops, and a handful of cavalry, arrived at Perote.
Here he remains for the present, kept in check by the
(government) General Torrejon. Meanwhile Paredes,
with about six hundred men, left Guadalajara and
marched upon Guanajuato; and there a blow was given
to the government party by the defection of General
Cortazar, who thought fit thus to show his grateful sense
of having just received the rank of general of brigade
with the insignia of this new grade, which the president
put on with his own hands. Another check to the pres-
ident Once begun, defection spread rapidly, and Pa-
redes and Cortazar having advanced upon Queretaro,
found that General Juvera, with his garrison, had al-
ready pronounced there, at the moment that they were
OALDEKON DE LA BAEOA 75
expected in Mexico to assist the government against
Valencia. Paredes, Cortazar, and Juvera are now
united, and their forces amount to two thousand two
hundred men.
" Meanwhile General Valencia, pressed to declare his
plan, has replied that he awaits the announcement of the
intentions of Generals Paredes and Santa Anna; and,
for his own part, only desires the dismissal of General
Bustamente.
" This, then, is the position of the three principal
pronounced chiefs, on this second day of September of
the year of our Lord 1841. Santa Anna in Perote,
hesitating whether to advance or retreat, and, in fact,
prevented from doing either by the vicinity of General
Torrejon. Paredes in Queretaro, with the other re-
volted generals. Valencia in the citadel of Mexico with
his pronunciados ; while Bustamente, with Generals
Almonte and Canalizo, the mark against which all these
hostile operations are directed, is determined, it is said,
to fight to the last
"Mexico looks as if it had got a general 'holiday.
Shops shut up, and all business at a stand. The peo-
ple, with the utmost apathy, are collected in groups,
talking quietly; the officers are galloping about; gen-
erals, in a somewhat parti-colored dress, with large gray
hats, striped pantaloons, old coats, and generals' belts,
fine horses, and crimson color velvet saddles. The shop-
keepers in the square have been removing their goods
and money. An occasional shot is heard, and some-
times a volley, succeeded by a dead silence. The arch-
bishop shows his reverend face now and then upon the
opposite balcony of his palace, looks out a little while,
and then retires. The chief effect, so far, is universal
idleness in man and beast, the soldiers and their quad-
rupeds excepted. However, every turret and belfry is
76 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
covered with soldiers, and the streets are blocked up
with troops and trenches. From behind these turrets
and trenches they fire at each other, scarcely a soldier
falling, but numbers of peaceful citizens; shells and
bombs falling through the roofs of the houses, and all
this for ' the public good.'
" The war of July had at least a shadow of pretext ;
it was a war of party, and those who wished to reestab-
lish federalism may have acted with good faith. Now
there is neither principle, nor pretext, nor plan, nor
the shadow of reason or legality. Disloyalty, hypocrisy,
and the most sordid calculation, are all the motives that
can be discovered ; and those who then affected an ardent
desire for the welfare of their country have now thrown
aside their masks, and appear in their true colors ; and
the great mass of the people, who, thus passive and op-
pressed, allow their quiet homes to be invaded, are kept
in awe neither by the force of arms, nor by the depth
of the views of the conspirators, but by a handful of
soldiers, who are themselves scarcely aware of their
own wishes or intentions, but that they desire power
and distinction at any price.
"23rd. We have received news this morning of
the murder of our porter, the Spaniard whom we had
brought from Havana. He had left us, and was em-
ployed as porter in a fabrica (manufactory), where the
wife and family of the proprietor resided. Eight of
General Valencia's soldiers sallied forth from the cita-
del to rob this factory, and poor Jose, the most faith-
ful and honest of servants, having valiantly defended
the door, was cruelly murdered. They afterwards en-
tered the building, robbed, and committed dreadful out-
rages. They are selling printed papers through the
streets to-day, giving an account of it. The men are
taken up, and it is said will be shot by orders of the
MADAME OALDEEON DE LA BAROA 77
general ; but we doubt this, even though a message has
arrived, requiring the attendance of the padre who con-
fesses criminals ; a Franciscan monk, who, with various
of his brethren, are living here for safety at present.
" The situation of Mexico is melancholy.
" 24th. News have arrived that General Paredes
has arrived at the Lecheria, an hacienda belonging to
this family, about three leagues from San Savier; and
that from thence he sent one of the servants of the farm
to Mexico, inviting the president to a personal confer-
ence. The family take this news of their hacienda's
being turned into military quarters very philosophically ;
the only precaution on these occasions being to conceal
the best horses, as the pronunciados help themselves,
without ceremony, to these useful quadrupeds, wher-
ever they are to be found.
" We have just returned after a sunny walk, and an
inspection of the pronunciados they are too near Mex-
ico now for me to venture to call them the rebels. The
infantry, it must be confessed, was in a very ragged and
drunken condition the cavalry better, having bor-
rowed fresh horses as they went along. Though cer-
tainly not point-device in their accouterments, their
good horses, high saddles, bronze faces, and picturesque
attire, had a fine effect as they passed along under the
burning sun. The sick followed on asses, and amongst
them various masculine women, with sarapes or Mangas
and large straw hats, tied down with colored handker-
chiefs, mounted on mules or horses. The sumpter
mules followed, carrying provisions, camp-beds, etc.;
and various Indian women trotted on foot in the rear,
carrying their husbands' boots and clothes. There was
certainly no beauty amongst these feminine followers
of the camp, especially amongst the mounted Amazons,
who looked like very ugly men in a semi-female disguise.
78 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
The whole party are on their way to Tacubaya, to join
Santa Anna! The game is nearly up now. Check
from two knights and a castle from Santa Anna and
Paredes in Tacubaya, and from Valencia in the citadel.
People are flying in all directions, some from Mexico,
and others from Guadalupe and Tacubaya. . . .
" It appears that Santa Anna was inarching from
Puebla, feeling his way towards the capital in fear and
trembling. At Eio Frio a sentinel's gun having acci-
dentally gone off, the whole army were thrown into
the most ludicrous consternation and confusion. Near
Oyotla the general's brow cleared up, for here he was
met by commissioners from the government, Generals
Orbegoso and Guyame. In a moment the quick appre-
hension of Santa Anna saw that the day was his own.
He gave orders to continue the march with all speed to
Tacubaya, affecting to listen to the proposals of the
com^nissioners, amusing them without compromising
himself, and offering to treat with them at Mexical-
singo. They returned without having received any de-
cided answer, and without, on their part, having given
any assurance that his march should not be stopped;
yet he has been permitted to arrive unmolested at Tacu-
baya, where Paredes has also arrived, and where he
has been joined by General Valencia ; so that the three
pronunciado generals are now united there to dispose
of the fate of the republic. . . .
" The same day General Almonte had an interview
with Santa Anna, who said with a smile, when he left
him, * Es buen muchacho (he is a good lad) he may
be of service to us yet.'
" The three allied sovereigns are now in the arch-
bishop's palace at Tacubaya, whence they are to dio-
tate to the president and the nation. But they are,
in fact, chiefly occupied with their respective en-
OALDEKON DE LA BAECA 79
gagements and respective rights. Paredes wishes to
fulfill his engagements with the departments of Guan-
juato, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, Queretaro,
etc. In his plan he promised them religious toleration,
permission for foreigners to hold property, and so on
the last, in fact, being his favorite project. Valencia,
on his side, has his engagements to fulfill with the fed-
eralists, and has proposed Senor Pedraza as an integral
part of the regeneration one whose name will give
confidence now and ever to his party. General Santa
Anna has engagements with himself. He has detei>
mined to command them all, and allows them to fight
amongst themselves, provided he governs. Paredes is,
in fact, furious with Valencia, accusing him of having
interfered when not wanted, and of having ruined his
plan, by mingling it with a revolution, with which it
had no concern. He does not reflect that Valencia was
the person who gave the mortal wound to the govern-
ment Had he not revolted, Santa Anna would not
have left Perote, nor Paredes himself passed on unmo-
lested. . . ."
OHAPTEE VIII
AMERICAN WAR FRENCH OCCUPATION
THE admission of Texps to the American union in
1844 precipitated war with the United States. His-
torians seem to be unanimous that there was no just
cause for war, and that the attack on Mexico was an
act of oppression on a weak neighbor. In any event,
it is certain that Mexico was in no shape for a foreign
war. " The condition of the country to provide for its
defense against foreign attack could not have been
worse/' says Verdia. " Unstable governments ; entire
penury : a demoralized and corrupted army, without or-
ganization and without a single capable leader: the
political parties effervescent and inexorable : the clergy
egoistic, and the public cold." cjhs American army
under Zachary Taylor attempted"!*) move on Mexico
from the north, but the plan proved a failure because
of the difficulties of keeping open the lines of communi-
cation. An expedition was accordingly sent to Vera
Cruz, and Winfield Scott, after taking the port, marched
on the capital, meeting with stout resistance along the
route. The fortress of Chapultepec was stormed and
taken, and, once the American forces were in posses-
sion of this commanding point, resistance practically
ceased. Among the defenders of Chapultepec were
the students of the National Military Academy, and
their heroic resistance, fighting until every boy was
killed or wounded, shines as brightly to-day as it did
three quarters of a century ago. By a treaty signed
80
AMEBICAN WAK 81
on February 2nd, 1848, Mexico ceded to the United
States Texas, New Mexico and__QaIiforniaj received
fifteen million jpesos_of ind^nitj^__and jrcas. .released
from various "American "claims .amounting to three mil-
lion pesos.
For seven years following the war with the United
States Mexico was ruled, or misruled, under the dicta-
torship, direct or indirect, of Santa Anna. Public
opinion became so strong that Santa Anna finally fled
to Havana, and his departure was followed by three
years of more or less chaotic conditions, with three or
four insurrections and turnovers.
In 1858 Benito Juarez, President of the Supreme
Court, came into the presidency by succession. His
government was bitterly opposed by the conservative
party, and a new revolution broke out. Most of the
time during the next three years the conservative gov-
ernment was in control of the capital, but the state of
its affairs is indicated by the fact that, to obtain a loan
of one million pesos from a Swiss banking house it
was obliged to give fifteen million pesos in bonds, se-
cured by twenty per cent of all national revenues. The
Juarez government, after three years of .fighting, finally
overthrew the government in power. -. Juarez^ who^was
of pure Indian blood, was a lawyer of distinction and
a man of c^nstructive~ability. He was, however, sur-
rounded by~nunor leaders who had their own interests
at heart more than those of the nation, and many of
the reform measures put through under a new consti-
tution were nullified by arbitrary acts of ambitious in-
dividuals. The church and state were separated, free-
dom of religious thought guaranteed, and civil marriage
established. Church lands were transferred to the Na-
tion, but in the confusion of the time the best of them
passed into the possession of xwxty leaders and their
82 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKKOW
friends. Juarez had barely established himself in the
capital when another insurrection started, headed by
three conservative leaders, and there followed seven
months of fighting before the government was in full
control of the country. Meanwhile, the treasury had
been emptied by military expenditures, and the govern-
ment issued a decree suspending, for two years, pay-
ments on its national and foreign obligations.
The suspension of payments brought forth vigorous
protests from England, France and Spain, and finally
resulted in negotiations between these countries for
united action against Mexico. France's claims were
entirely commercial, and were partly stimulated by an
interest held by Napoleon Ill's minister in the Swiss
loan made to the Conservative government. England,
aside from commercial claims, was piqued by the fact
that the conservative government had seized 600,000
pesos belonging to the British legation. Spain had some
commercial claims, and a claim for the assassination of
twenty-five Spanish subjects, who had been attacked by
bandits. Spain, moreover, was irritated by the fact
that the Spanish minister had been given his passport
as a persona non grata because of his open support of
the conservative party. A convention was signed in
London for a joint expedition, but it was agreed that
action should be confined to seizure of ports and other
methods to secure proper guarantees for the future. A
Spanish fleet arrived at Vera Cruz on the 29th of No-
vember, 1861, and the city, having been evacuated by
the Mexicans, was occupied a few days later. On Jan-
uary 7, a combined British and French fleet arrived, and
the following day an ultimatum was sent to the Mex-
ican government setting forth the respective claims and
demands of the three governments. There was no unity
of action, however. The British and Spanish declined
AMERICAN WAE 83
to support tlie French plan of establishing a monarchy
in Mexico, and took little part in subsequent proceed-
ings. Negotiations with the Mexican government came
to nothing. The Mexican representatives at a con-
ference protested, in vain, that the various acts com-
plained of were not those of the constituted Mexican
government but were the acts of usurpers and bandits,
and that the only act for which the constituted govern-
ment was responsible, the suspension of payments, was
due solely to the inability of the government to pay.
The French forces, meanwhile, had been greatly in-
creased in number by the arrival in March of a large
convoy, and the British and Spanish representatives,
seeing that France was bent on seizure of the country
and the establishment of a monarchy, declared the con-
vention signed in London null and void, and refused
to take any further part in the affair. France, which
had the least legitimate claims, was thus left alone to
carry out Louis Napoleon's ambitious plan of a French-
controlled Mexican empire with Archduke Maximilian
of Austria as Emperor. Negotiations of the French
with the Mexicans were of a perfunctory character.
The French, determined on a permanent occupation of
Mexico, would listen to no proposals, and started to
advance with six thousand men on the capital. Their
commander had, however, underestimated the fighting
qualities of the Mexicans, and was obliged, after some
heavy fighting, to entrench himself at Orizaba and
await reinforcements. In September Field Marshal
Forey arrived at Vera Cruz with 31,000 men, and after
some monthb of delay he started, at the head of an army
of 36,000 men, for the capital. The Mexican army
of 20,000 men, poorly equipped and badly provisioned,
had gathered at Puebla to make a stand against the in-
vader. Forey laid siege to Puebla and entirely cut off
84 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKEOW
supplies, so that the Mexicans, after 62 days of siege,
were obliged to surrender. Further resistance was im-
possible, and the French -army entered the capital on
June 7, 1863, after Juarez and his ministers had with-
drawn to San Luis Potosi. The French, to give a sem-
blance of legality to proceedings, ordered the formation
of a junta of thirty-five Mexicans, to be named by the
French minister, the junta to elect three Mexicans to
provisionally govern and to name a council of 215
members to establish the permanent form of govern-
ment The council was composed of conservatives and
clericals who were tools of the French, and within a
month proclaimed Mexico to be a constitutional and
hereditary monarchy, with a Catholic monarch with the
title of Emperor, the latter to be Maximilian, or, in the
event of his declining, to be some one named by Napo-
leon III. In pursuance of this program Maximilian
was named Emperor, accepted the position and came to
Mexico with the Empress Carlotta, arriving at the cap-
ital on June 12, 1864.
The French invasion did not have the support of
England or Spain. The United States made emphatic
protest, but the American government, then occupied
with a civil war, was in no position to back up its posi-
tion. The French public took little interest. Maxi-
milian, left largely to rule the country as he pleased,
plunged the government into heavy debts, partly through
court extravagance, partly through recognition of French
claims and partly through heavy military expenditures.
The French claims recognized totaled 173,000,000
pesos, including 23,000,000 for transport of troops,
74,000,000 for war expenses, 9,000,000 for foreign
legion expenses, 18,000,000 for the use of the French
army, 15,000,000 to cover the Swiss loan, 15,000,000
for miscellaneous claims, and 19,000,000 for interest
AMERICAN WAR 85
and all this against a country whose bankruptcy pre-
cipitated the war! The emperor received a salary of
a million pesos a year, an annual grant of two hundred
thousand was made to the Empress, and a brilliant court
was maintained at great expense. The great extrava-
gance aroused much ill-feeling among the Mexicans and
in a large measure alienated tie support of the conserva-
tives, who had at first given hearty support to the em-
pire. It inspired the republicans to continuous effort
to drive out the invaders, and Maximilian had hardly
arrived in Mexico before he was confronted with formi-
dable fighting in three or four sections of the country.
He was, in consequence, obliged to maintain an army
of 63,000 men, 28,000 of them French, 6,000 Aus-
trian Volunteers, 1,300 Belgians and the balance Mex-
ican conservatives and imperialists. Harsh measures
were resorted to in the hope of stifling the revolutionary
movement, a decree being signed in October, 1865, pro-
viding the death penalty for any prisoners taken in
action against the government. Large bodies of troops
were sent North, South and West to crush republican
leaders and their troops. The situation was compli-
cated by the fact that many of the republican troops
were undisciplined and in several cases led by men who
were bandits first and patriots second, resulting in the
commission of serious excesses which, in turn, justified
drastic measures. Reprisals followed reprisals until
the war became one of extermination. Towns and plan-
tations were burned by the imperialists, civilians sus-
pected of republican sympathies were shot, and, in gen-
eral, a ruthless campaign was waged to stamp out every
republican tendency. On the other hand, the republi-
can forces, frequently only large bands of guerillas,
lived for the most part by pillage and plunder, wreak-
ing vengeance on any one who opposed their operations.
86 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
Meanwhile Juarez, at Paso del Norte, maintained the
nucleus of a government, exercised, so far as possible,
a control over the various leaders, and endeavored to
push something like a military campaign.
In 1864 the Empire borrowed, in London and Paris,
forty million dollars, the loan being at 6 per cent, but
being sold to the financial houses at 37 per cent, dis-
count, the annual charge therefore being practically
ten per cent. In the year following fifty million dol-
lars of 6 per cent, bonds were sold in Paris at 32 per
cent, discount, calling for practically 9 per cent, inter-
est. In each case a portion or all of the interest was
discounted, and a large part of the proceeds was used
to satisfy outstanding French claims, so that the gov-
ernment finally realized less than five million dollars
in cash from the financing. The loans had hardly been
concluded before the government was again in difficul-
ties.
The government's troubles were now increased by
events abroad. The United States, in December, 1865,
made an energetic protest to France against the
intervention in Mexico. A few month? later Prussia's
victory over Austria created a new menace for France.
In view of the possibility of trouble with the United
States, and to better prepare France against pos-
sible attack by Prussia, Napoleon decided to abandon
the Mexican Empire to its own fate, and announced
that the French troops would be withdrawn in 1867.
Before this was known in Mexico the republican forces
had been making much headway and had, at several
points, won important victories in battles with the im-
perialist troops. The news that the French troops would
be withdrawn gave them more confidence and stimulated
them to further efforts, and, at the same time, it greatly
discouraged the Mexican leaders and troops who had
AMERICAN WAR 87
joined the imperialist cause. Maximilian felt the hope-
lessness of victory without European support. He was
inclined to abdicate, but the decision of a council of
friends and ministers was against such a course. Fight-
ing continued throughout the country, with the odds
generally in favor of the Republican forces. Maxi-
milian organized his army into three units or armies,
the Northern, Central and Eastern, and attempted to
push a swift campaign to end the revolution, but all in
vain. In the fall of 1866 defeat followed defeat. The
Republican cause, in spite of lack of money or dis-
ciplined forces, kept gaining headway. Colima and the
surrounding country fell into Republican hands, Guada-
lajara followed, and General Porfirio Diaz defeated
imperial forces and occupied Oaxaca. Again Maxi-
milian thought of abdication, but, with the indecision
characteristic in all his acts, decided to leave the matter
to a council of leading imperialists. The council, com-
posed of 35 men, met on January 17, 1867, and voted,
27 to 8, against abdication. Republican victories con-
tinued, Zacatecas, San Luis and Guanajuato falling by
the end of the month. Maximilian left the capital for
Queretaro to be in the center of military operations,
and attempted, too late, to prevent the union of the Re-
publican armies of the North and West. By the middle
of March Queretaro was surrounded by the Republican
forces numbering nearly 30,000 men. Marquez, one
of Maximilian's generals, was sent to Mexico to bring
the garrison of the capital to Queretaro in a desperate
effort to break through the lines, but, instead of follow-
ing instructions, he took the available forces and at-
tempted, with them, to raise the siege of Puebla by
General Diaz. The latter, learning of Marquez* inten-
tion, made a brilliant assault, carried the city and then
turned his victorious army on Marquez, who, having
88 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
learned of Puebla's fall, had started back for the cap-
ital. On April 12 the siege of Mexico City by the Re-
publican forces under Diaz was begun, and all hope of
relief for Maximilian from this quarter ended. The
besieged at Queretaro made several unsuccessful efforts
to fight their way out, and, cut off from supplies, their
situation grew desperate. On May 16 Maximilian
surrendered, and, on delivering his sword, requested
that his family be allowed to embark for Europe. He
made a plea for his generals and leaders, saying that
they had merely been following his orders and fortunes,
and that he wished to be the only victim of the catas-
trophe. The Republican leaders called a court martial,
under a law passed in 1862 providing the death penalty
for all enemies of the Republic, and the court, meeting
on June 14, condemned to death Maximilian and his
two generals, Miramon and Mejia. In spite of the ef-
forts of friends, of protests from representatives of
other governments and of an appeal from the United
States, the condemned men were shot on June 19, 1867,
at Cerro de Las Campanas, near Queretaro. Maxi-
milian's dream of a great Mexican empire was ended.
Mexico City capitulated on June 20, and Vera Cruz
eight days later. The war had been a bloody one, with
losses in killed, wounded and prisoners, of 73,037 for
the Republican forces and 12,209 for the Mexican Im-
perialists, while the French lost, in killed, nearly 25,000
men.
/Tharez reentered the capital on July 15, 1867. The
country, after three years of revolution, was in a de-
plorable condition. Business was at a standstill, and
the government had much difficulty in collecting taxes.
The army, which had grown to large proportions, was
now cut down to 20,000 men, and other measures were
taken to bring down expenses. Some of the military
AMERICAN WAE 89
leaders were disaffected, and the Juarez government
was hardly reestablished before new revolts began to
appear. Early in 1868 there was an uprising in Yuca-
tan and another in Sinaloa, and General JSTegrete " pro-
nounced " and seized Puebla. Other generals, in 1869,
revolted San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas, and, obtaining
a considerable following, soon had Central Mexico in
an uproar. Another military leader, once defeated in
Sinaloa, appeared suddenly at the port of Guaymas in
a chartered boat carrying 120 men, seized the town and
captured 5,000 rifles and 80,000 pesos and made good
his escape, only to have his boat sunk later. In May,
1871, the military " pronounced " in Tampico, and held
the town twenty days against the government forces
sent to put down the incipient insurrection. While the
various uprisings were, in each case, put down, there
was sufficient disorder to cause dissatisfaction, and to
furnish an excuse for ambitious military leaders to
declare* for some new change. Juarez was reflected
President in the Fall of 1871, and almost immediately
the validity of the election was attacked by a group of
military leaders who proposed the " plan de Noria " for
the suspension of constitutional order and the calling
of a junta or commission to reorganize the country.
The Juarez forces, after two or three engagements, put
down opposition, and the country entered on a brief
period of much needed peace. Juarez was making
good progress in the rebuilding of the government and
the development of the country when he was stricken
by heart trouble, dying on the 18th of July, 187^
Juarez, while not a great man, was a thorough patriot"
and devoted to the welfare of his country, giving it the
first taste of a government not dominated by selfish and
personal motives. His death was deeply mourned by
the people, and his name has gone down in Mexican
90 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
history as the father of constitutional government of the
country.
Juarez was succeeded by Sebastian Lerdo, President
of the Supreme Court, who continued the policy of
Juarez and enforced the provisions of the constitution
covering a separation of church and state and prohibit-
ing religious orders from acquiring lands. During
Lerdo's regime Lozada, an Indian bandit from Tepic,
led a force of eight thousand men to attack Guadala-
jara. He was defeated by government forces, captured
and executed, and the country, for some time, lived in
peace. Lerdo was a candidate for reelection, and was
declared the winner in an election which was generally
known to have been fraudulent. Opposition to his re-
election was led by Porfirio Diaz, who, taking advan-
tage of a denouncement by the President of the Supreme
Court of the illegality of the proceedings, seized the
reins of government on November 26, 1876. In May
following General Diaz was duly elected president, for
the term ending in November, 1880, and on a platform
opposing reelection. In accordance with this platform,
General Diaz was not a candidate for reelection in 1880,
Manuel Gonzalez occupying the chair for four years,
but his rule of Mexico was practically continuous from
1876 until 1911.
OHAPTEE IX
PORFIRIO DIAZ
So much has "been written of this remarkable man
that it would be useless to attempt more in these pages
than a bare outline of his character and motives. To
the foreigner he has been pictured as the greatest man
produced by Latin America 5 to the Mexican he was,
for a third of a century, a symbol of power; to the
sociologist he appears as a despot. He has been lauded
as few other rulers ever have been, and he has, during
the past seven years, been as cordially abused. JBorn
ofJEndian parents and of pure Indian blood, his origin
^^"m<?s1rinodes1r ? -from young "manhood to old age he
was an~afistbci v at par excellence. He~ received" a mili-
tary training," and his rule; through^many years, was a
rule based on military strength. ^*A man born of the
people, he had contempt for the people ; knowing his
own people, he built up for them a paternal form of
government which fell of its own weight; a great man
in force, in decision, in organization, he fell short of
greatness in his failure to recognize the inherent weak-
ness of the system he developed ; a statesman in foreign
relations, he failed to even start his own country on
sound political lines of thought; honest, he failed to
realize or to stop the abuses of his own supporters; a
patriot in desiring the development of the riches of the
country, he failed to realize that no development can
be real where the mass of people fail to move forward
in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; in_ brief,
91
92 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
his greatness was that of a military leader, and his
policy that of a jfeudal lord v
The subsequent politicaTupheaval was so directly due
to conditions prevailing in Mexico that it is necessary
to make some detailed analysis of the course of events
during General Diaz' regime. Diaz was a born leader,
and his first experience was with wild and undisciplined
troops. Everything in his military career tended to
make him think in units of force rather than to consider
the individual. The country, when he came into power,
was suffering from the effects of years of misrule by
unscrupulous dictators and from a four years' war to
throw out a foreign invader. The government was
bankrupt, there was no business, plantations had been
ruined during the civil strife following the empire, peo-
ple were starving, and leaders and troops were apt,
at any moment, to start new troubles. Nothing but
forceful, drastic and quick action would convince every
one that further upheavals would not be permitted.
At the first sign of any revolt, therefore, there was swift
vengeance so swift and ruthless that an indelible
memory of it was left in the neighborhood. The coun-
try was full of bandits, who, roaming in small bands,
had been able to dodge half hearted troops and to loot
at pleasure. A war of extermination was begun on the
bandits, and, after it had been carried far enough to
satisfy them that, sooner or later, they would all be
lined up and shot, their leaders were given a chance to
enroll, with their men, in a well paid and well dis-
ciplined rural police force to keep the country districts
safe with the stone wall and firing squad as an op-
tion. They enrolled and, from this beginning there
developed a magnificent force, the " rurales," which,
for riding and fighting qualities, has not often been
excelled. Force, more force, ruthless force, sudden
POKMKIO DIAZ 93
anniliilation these soon began to whip the country
into shape.
Diaz, knowing the incapacity of the average Indian
for self-government, devised a political system well
suited, theoretically, for the needs of the people. Each
community had a jefe politico, or political chief, re-
sponsible to the state governor. The jefe was, prac-
tically, " the whole works " in his district He gave
the Indians advice, helped settle their disputes, col-
lected the taxes, and was, in many respects, what the
tribal chiefs had formerly been, with the important
distinction that the tribes or coTn-miiTiiti.es had no voice
in his selection. The plan, in its inception, was not
vicious, and was, in many ways, well suited to the com-
munities. A good political jefe was almost a father
to the peon, who, with his childlike nature, wants some
one to take his troubles to. To carry out a general
scheme of reorganization it was essential to have no op-
position in congress, and, in the selection of candidates,
the jefe politico was particularly useful to the govern-
ment, as he was always in a position to say how many
votes had been cast for the government candidate in
his district. Under this system elections were mani-
festly a farce if, indeed, anything like an election
was attempted. Ballot-box stuffing was unnecessary
because the polling booth was usually at the jefatura
the jefe's office and no one voted unless asked to do
so. In view of the ignorance of the people these strong-
arm methods, considered from the viewpoint of the gov-
ernment, were fully justified.
The next great move was to get some industrial de-
velopment iTothing much could be done without rail-
roads, which, moreover, would be useful for military
operations in case of trouble. A railway had been built
to Puebla in 1869, and the lin'e to Vera Cruz opened
94 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
three years later. The government, anxious to cover
the country with a network of roads, was confronted
with a big problem. There was no capital in the coun-
try for the work, and foreign capital, looking over the
years of political troubles in Mexico, was timid. The
government did not own great stretches of land which
it could offer as compensation for the financial risk,
and it was obliged, to interest capital, to make very
liberal concessions, grant high tariffs and exemptions
from taxes. Even these inducements were insufficient,
and resort had to be had to heavy subsidies, guaranteed,
in most cases, by a portion of custom house revenues.
We are apt, in looking back half a century, to judge
events by present day standards, and to ignore condi-
tions as then existing. American politicians set up a
hue and cry over the great " steal " of the railroads in
the land grants given them to build Western roads
grants which, as a matter of fact, had no tangible value
and only a small potential value even with the develop-
ment of transportation. In the early fifties a private
company undertook the construction of canal and locks
on the St. Mary's Eiver at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan,
and, not having the funds to complete the work, ap-
pealed to the state for aid. Michigan was money poor
and land rich, and responded, not with cash, but with
a vast grant of land. Certain mineral lands included
in the grant now yield the canal company an annual
income equal to the total amount of the subsidy asked,
and the arrangement has been called a " steal." So
with many of the early Mexican concessions. With
need for development, with no credit, the government
made the best bargains it could. Little by little rail-
ways began to push out from the capital, North, South
and West. With the opening of railways other indus-
try became possible, but in its efforts to foster new lines
P0EEIEIO DIAZ 95
of economic activity the government often went too far.
Cotton was produced throughout the country in consid-
erable quantities, and to increase this production and
stimulate manufacturing, liberal concessions were given
under guarantees to put prohibitive duties on imported
manufactured cotton. The net result of some of these
concessions was to develop an artificial industry, but,
at the same time, to greatly increase the cost to the con-
sumer. Cotton goods, used by all the people, cost dou-
ble their former price, and, while cotton planters and
spinners reaped some benefits, the loss was greater than
the gain.
In. spite of mistakes, Mexico slowly but surely pressed
forward. It was not all easy going. The people,
crushed under slavery for centuries, lacked initiative.
There was no considerable amount of native capital.
The railroad problem, with a small traffic in sparsely
settled regions, was not an easy one, more frequently
yielding deficits than profits. But Mexico is rich in
the products of the soil, and, given peace, cannot fail
to prosper even under adverse conditions. New min-
ing districts opened up along the railways, and old dis-
tricts, abandoned for lack of rich ores, became, under
the stimulus of transportation, large shippers of low
grade ores. Agricultural activity became greater, and
new factories opened. All this meant more work, more
money in circulation, and increased government reve-
nues. Gradually the economic situation became more
stable, and with this stability there was a steady im-
provement in the strength of the government. In the
first fifty years of independence there had never been
such a thing as national credit. The foreign loans and
credits obtained by Maximilian were based rather on
French than Mexican support, and these credits, on
the downfall of the Empire, became a burden rather
96 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKKOW
than a lielp. The first ten years of Diaz' rule were,
therefore, accompanied by continuous difficulty in" at-
tempting to place the government on a sound financial
basis. Some money had been obtained in England, and
there were certain English debts in connection with the
various railway guarantees. There were, also, a large
amount of French claims pressing. Due to the general
improvement in the situation the government was able,
in 1887, to float, in Berlin, a loan of somewhat more
than fifty million dollars, half of which was used to
reduce British and French claims and the balance for
domestic needs and government expenses. From this
time forward there was comparatively little difficulty
in financing. The Banco Nacional, established in 1882
by a combination of French, Spanish and government
capital, had grown to be a strong institution and was
able to take care of the currency needs of the nation
under a concession (similar to the provisions of the
Federal Reserve Banking Act) which permitted it to
issue its notes against fifty per cent cash reserves and
fifty per cent, commercial paper discounted for other'
banks. Various state banks also issued notes under
state concessions. The value of the peso, fixed at 49.6
cents, was stable, the banks prospered, and by 1893
government credit was well established both at home
and abroad.
During this time necessary changes were made in
the laws to permit the reelection of the president In
1882 the constitution had been changed to provide for
succession of the presidency to the president of the sen-
ate instead of the president of the Supreme Court, and
this was now changed to have the presidency pass, in
case of death or disability, to a member of the cabinet,
in a certain order of priority. The government was
well settled, and hereafter was to be a close corporation.
CHAPTER X
THE CrENTIFICOS
UP to this point there seems to have been little rea-
son to find fault with the Diaz government, and much
reason to praise it. During Gonzalez 7 terms as Pres-
ident some of the people in the administration acquired
3ither a direct or speculative interest in a large amount
3f English owned Mexican bonds, then selling at a
fraction of their par value, and the administration
attempted, unsuccessfully, to force through legislation
which was designed to secure redemption of the bonds
it par. As the Gonzalez government was, in personnel,
somposed largely of Diaz adherents, this could, in a
measure, be counted against Diaz. There were minor
claims of abuses, particularly regarding land questions.
On the whole, however, there was little criticism.
Every one recognized, moreover, that Mexico, for the
Srst time since its independence was declared, had a
stable government, and that national credit and finance
erere in fair or even good shape. Brigandage had been
sxterminated. Foreign capital was beginning to seek
i field in Mexico. Diaz was a dictator, but there was
ao indication that he was greatly enriching himself by
abuse of his power.
Just when a change began to be felt is uncertain.
Whether there was any change in policy is also uncer-
bain, and it seems more likely that the change, such as
It was, was gradual, and that perhaps, or even probably,
those in power were not conscious of any change. The
97
98 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEROW
government, nominally o a democratic character, was
really an oligarchy, self perpetuating, legalized by a
constitution, supported by a congress. It was rather
a system than a political organization. It was in no
sense the product of party politics, for politics, as such,
barely existed. It was a big machine, controlled by
one strong man, who, with a few friends and advisers,
proposed to attend to the administration and politics
of the whole country. The machine had some big
wheels in the various government departments, army,
public works, industries, interior, and the like. Con-
gress was a side machine whose chief function was to
put everything in legal form. In each state was a ma-
chine, with a governor and a legislature, and working
as part of the state machine were the jefe politicos, or
local chiefs. It was " boss rule " of a, highly scientific
type, and had a great advantage over American " boss
rule " in that there was no opposition. In fact, opposi-
tion was not wanted, and if any signs of it developed
as much of the machine as necessary was set to work
to grind it out of existence.
It has frequently been said that the rule of Diaz was
really the rule of the rich class, but this was hardly
the case. In Mexico the rich class had not often been
active in government matters. It had been more than,
willing to be left alone. It had wanted a government
which would preserve order, be lenient as to taxes, and
keep the native Indian in his proper position. Diaz
ruled with an iron hand, and the rich class gave him
such moral support as he wanted. The Government
was not, however, one organized by the rich element,
but rather one which that element was glad to support.
Directly this class (excepting a few immediately asso-
ciated with the government) took no interest in public
affairs. It paid its taxes and encouraged the church
THE OEENTIFICOS 99
to support the government, and in return enjoyed pub-
lic order and received support rurales or troops when
necessary. In the end it amounted to almost the same
t>>ing as if the rich class had been the government it-
self. The rich class could not get along without a
strong power in control, while the government, receiv-
ing revenues and support from that class, could afford
to be very " easy " with it. The two, therefore, came
to be hand-in-glove. The only reason for making this
distinction and relationship clear is to emphasize the
fact that, had the government been one actively partici-
pated in by the rich class, it would doubtless have been
careful not to let abuses become so grave as to threaten
its existence. The situation has had many parallels
in American politics in cases where corrupt boss or
party machines have been built up, not by or even with
the connivance of the wealthy class but rather because
of the indolence and indifference of that class, which,
in paying for a certain amount of protection, has only
paved the way for further excesses and abuses of power.
The Diaz government doubtless never deliberately
started out to abuse its power. Diaz was a born leader
who soon found that with a few able men with him
he could absolutely dominate the country. He loved
power for power's sake, and proceeded to build up a
machine that would run the government and keep
him in power. Then some one discovered that the
machine, while grinding out government business, could
grind personal axes as well. More axes were brought
in by others in the circle, and now and then some friend
had an ax to grind, so that before long the machine was
doing a lot of work for which it was not designed.
The " Cientificos " (scientists from the " scientific "
scheme of government), were those who were in the
inner circle or who, acting with government people,
100 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORBOW
derived benefit from various government legislation,
public works, concessions, contracts, etc. The real
u Cientifico " group was quite small and was composed
of men who handled government contracts, certain
bankers, a few large landowners, and a number of men
in active politics. Properly speaking, there were prob-
ably not over fifty " Cientificos " a close political-
financial, ring which had, however, extensive ramifica-
tions. The revolutionary party, since it came in power,
has, in a vague way, extended the term to apply to many
who were not properly in the ring. In other words,
many who inherited wealth or who indirectly derived
benefit from the prevailing conditions have been cred-
ited with being " Cientificos " when, as a matter of
fact, they took no interest whatever in political matters
and had no hand in the deals put through. In the eyes
of many of those identified with the revolutionary party
the mere possession of wealth was evidence of guilty
participation in the corruption of politics. There were,
as pointed out before, a large number of landowners who
acquiesced in the government's methods of doing busi-
ness, and gave it moral support, receiving, in return,
" protection " of one sort or another. Many of these
derived much direct or indirect benefit under the gen-
eral political scheme, but they were not in most cases
in any way responsible for the conditions.
Another class which derived certain benefits under the
system were the salaried employees of the government.
Many of these men were conscientious and efficient pub-
lic servants who received only moderate pay, and whose
interest consisted, aside from the direct question of pay,
in holding responsible and permanent positions. While
it is true that some government officials used their posi-
tions to enrich themselves, there were many who were
above any suspicion in all their dealings. Contrary to
THE OIENTIFICOS 101
the prevailing general impression, there was little graft
in public offices. Public utility corporations, for in-
stance, rarely had to pay out money to get things done.
There were some remarkable cases of efficient and hon-
est administration. The great waterworks system, con-
structed to bring water from Xochimilco to Mexico
City, was built by the government, and is as fine an
example of engineering work as is to "be found on the
continent. The size of the work involved, in spite of
economical administration, the expenditure of many
millions of dollars. The engineer who designed and
carried out the construction of the work from beginning
to end retired from office, on the change of administra-
tion, practically penniless. The last director of public
works in Mexico City under Diaz, occupying a posi-
tion affording vast opportunities for graft in dealing
with public service and other corporations, was obliged,
when forced out of office by the changed order of things,
to seek a modest clerkship in New York Some gov-
ernors, even, were left in comparative poverty when
they lost their positions. For the honest and efficient
government official the political turnover was a disaster,
as the mere fact of his having been employed under the
old regime was sufficient to condemn him.
Before examining the operations of the " Cientifi-
cos " it is worth while to outline the way the govern-
ment was run and to explain its relations to foreign
capital, concessions, and the lika Such graft as ex-
isted was "higher up," and the government depart-
ments were, as a whole, honestly conducted. When
viewed from the standpoint of an efficiency expert, gov-
ernment departments, the world over, can hardly be
called efficient, and the Mexican departments were
scarcely an exception to the rule. Nevertheless, they
were conducted with regularity, and business was trans-
102 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
acted with reasonable speed and, generally speaking,
with great accuracy. Governmental practice in Mex-
ico follows the French scheme, both being based, pri-
marily, on the Roman legal code, and, latterly, on the
code Napoleon. Under this practice every government
or private act, especially as to contractual relations, is
provided for by the code, the functions of courts being
rather to determine questions of fact than those of
equity. The general tendency, therefore, is that much
more detail is covered, specifically, in government con-
tracts and concessions than is the case in the United
States and other countries which, in government prao-
tice, follow the English common law scheme. In all
Mexican concessions covering public utilities, for in-
stance, the exact duties, obligations and rights of a com-
pany are specified with a minuteness which is rarely
found in American franchises. In the United States
franchise terms have frequently been of a general char-
acter, and in many states there were specific laws per-
mitting the organization, under such laws, of telephone,
electric light and power, interurban railway and other
companies performing public services, the companies
being free to establish their own rates and regulations.
Only, in fact, within the past ten or twelve years has
there been, in the United States, any general movement,
through the creation of public service commissions, to
regulate public service corporations in their relations
with the public. In Mexico for many year's all con-
cessions of this character have been very explicit as to
tariffs and details of operation, and the provisions, in
general, have safeguarded the interests of the public.
It is true that liberal concessions were granted to at-
tract capital, and doubtless, in view of the results ob-
tained, some of the provisions of concessions were more
liberal than they should have been. In many cases
THE CIENTIFICOS 103
practical exemption from taxes was granted, and, while
such a provision may have been necessary during a
short period while the business in question was in proc-
ess of development, it was scarcely fair to the public
that such exemption should have been granted, as was
done in many cases, for a long term of years. Some
of the largest concerns in Mexico have, as a result of
this sort of policy, what amounts to entire exemption
from taxes for terms varying from twenty-five to ninety-
nine years. In justification of the policy it may be said,
however, that it was not an easy matter to interest cap-
ital in Mexico, especially as, contemporaneous with de-
velopment in Mexico, there was a world-wide movement
in railway, electric power and other public utility con-
struction a movement on such a large scale as to
absorb all capital available for this class of investment.
Irrigation works in India, railway and other public
utility developments in the Argentine, Brazil, Chili,
Chins,, India, Egypt and South Africa, were all bidding
for Sioney, and offering very liberal conditions. Amer-
ican railways were being consolidated, great power
plants were being built, and Canada was absorbing a
vast amount of capital in her Western development.
The great world-wide movement in foreign investments,
begun in the early 'nineties, was in full sway, and
Mexico was in competition with a dozen other nations
which were in the market. She was, in a measure,
forced to offer good terms or keep out of the market.
Much money was, of course, made out of the disposi-
tion of concessions, which were duly turned into cash,
or its equivalent in stocks and bonds of companies or-
ganized. The impression as to the proportion of such
profits to the actual investment involved has, however,
been a greatly exaggerated one, both in the "United
States and in Mexico. There is a general impression
104 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
that the Mexican public was shamefully exploited by
foreign speculators and promoters, and that this ex-
ploitation was carried on by collusion with the group
which dominated government affairs. The facts do
not justify this impression, except, perhaps, in a few
cases. There were, to be sure, promotion profits, but
without these no one would have undertaken to have
raised the money for the different enterprises. So far
as public utilities was concerned, the promotion profits
in various undertakings were proportionately smaller
than those made in corresponding American enter-
prises. In general, it is safe to say that the net benefits
to capital invested were, due to many unknown factors
in an untried field, smaller than those derived from
corresponding investment in the United States, Canada,
the Argentine and other countries in which economic
conditions were better understood. The grossly exag-
gerated idea of profits made by various concerns has
been of the greatest possible detriment through the
creation of a generally hostile attitude toward invest-
ments already made and through the discouragement of
further inversion of capital in the country.
CHAPTER XI
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
IN the early day of the Diaz government there was,
seemingly, little complaint of abuse of power, and mem-
bers of the government circle did not, apparently, make
much profit out of concessions granted. The govern-
ment was genuinely anxious to have a great development
of the natural resources of the country, and any one
willing to undertake something which gave promise of
constructive value could obtain the necessary concession
or contract. Viewed in the light of 'subsequent events,
and judged by standards established at later periods, it
seems as if the government, in its anxiety to place the
nation on a par with other nations in the program of
internal development, devoted an undue proportion of
attention to making such development attractive to cap-
ital, and not sufficient to the real needs of the people.
It probably felt that the stimulation of industry itself
would be sufficient. Doubtless personal interest played
some part, but, broadly speaking, the motives back of
the program were good. General Diaz, at the end of a
rule of thirty-five years, had, according to common re-
port, a fortune of three-quarters of a million dollars
an accumulation at an average rate of twenty-five thou-
sand dollars per year. Had his motives been purely
selfish he could easily have built up a fortune of many
millions. He doubtless believed that a form of benev-
olent dictatorship was best suited to the country's needs.
To give the country such a government he needed the
105
106 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
aid of a few strong men, and to have the continued
support of such men he was willing that they should
receive some tangible benefits*
The whole scheme was sound enough, and honest
enough, in the beginning, but little by little selfish in-
terests began to play a more important part in aif airs.
The government was intended to be a paternal one, but
bit by bit it became more personal and less paternal.
It was a great machine, built up and run by one man,
and operating in every nook and corner of the country.
Governors and jefe politicos, even if honest and unselfish
themselves, gradually came more and more under its
influence, and became more and more subservient to
the wealthy class whose support gave it power.
As has been pointed out, Spanish rule in Mexico was
designed for the Spaniards, and the wealthy class was
exclusively Spanish. The native Indian, except as a
unit of labor, had no participation in the general scheme
of things. This condition was not materially changed
by independence, for at no time had the masses ad-
vanced sufficiently to exercise any political influence.
As Mexico had always been, primarily, an agricultural
country, the landholding class had always dominated
socially and financially, and indirectly politically. No
important middle class existed. Lawyers, doctors,
tradespeople and others who composed the middle class,
were dependent, almost entirely, on the rich class, an<J
were content to cast their lot with it. The Church in
Mexico had never developed on the broad linesrHong
which it has grown in the United States, and its posi-
tion was much like that of the church in Europe dur-
ing the Middle Ages extremely conservative, narrow
in its views, a check on social development. Conse-
quently there were few people of the educated class who
had any interest in making protests if abuses grew/out
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 107
of the scheme of things, and the great mass of people,
accustomed, through four centuries of practical slavery,
to bear their burdens in silence, neither would nor could
make any effort to right any wrongs.
It is manifestly unfair to assume in studying social
conditions that all people of one class are actuated by
the same motives, or that, for instance, all members of
the property-holding class in Mexico were banded to-
gether for the purpose of keeping the Indians in a sub-
merged condition. There were many large estate hold-
ers who were humane in the treatment of their labor,
just as there were, in the South, many slave holders who
were kind to their slaves and who, by their daily lives,
proved that they were actuated by the best motives.
There were, in Mexico, many thousands of Indians,
probably a majority of all the natives, who were con-
tented and who no more wanted a change than the ma-
jority of Southern slaves wanted freedom. They were
used to the life as they lived it and as their forebears
had lived it for centuries, knew of no other life, nor
could, in their ignorance, conceive of any other life.
The whole system, however, was wrong. EOT many
years there had existed a system of peonage under
which no one was free to leave if he owed his employer
money, and, as the estates all maintained stores to sell
supplies to the laborers, the latter were always in debt.
They could, then, only leave if their employer sold his
claims to some one else, when they automatically came
under the control of the new creditor. This system had,
from time to time, been fearfully abused, the peons,
where there was any surplus, being farmed out to work
in Yucatan or* in other sections which needed labor.
While this form of slavery had been legally abolished,
the poor peon, as he continued to be called, was, in effect,
as much of a slave as ever. Born on an estate, he stayed
108 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEROW
there through force of circumstances. Education was,
for all practical purposes, out of the question. With
wages 40 and 50 centavos per day (20 and 25 cents)
no man could afford to put his children in school, even
if a school were within reach, which was rare. Every
child became a worker as soon as he had strength enough
to do anything. If tiiere were more laborers than neces-
sary, some labor agent would come along and take
groups of families to work on plantations in regions
where the death rate demanded a constant renewal of
labor supply.
Frequently the peon, finding no work in the
neighborhood, would start across country on foot,
taking his family and household possessions with him.
It has always been a pathetic sight to see these Indians
on the move the father carrying, on his back, a bun-
dle holding all the family possessions one or two
blankets, a kettle, a couple of pans and one or two bits
of pottery; one or two tots, wearing shirts which had
once been white, toddling along; the mother, with her
youngest swung in a shawl on her back, pattering along
in short, dog-like steps ; all silent, pushing forward with
no particular objective save a general idea of finding
work; stopping at the first stream to make a bush fire
and cook a few corn cakes for a meal; rolling up to-
gether, under the stars, for the night and on again
the next day. Travel on any road in Mexico and you
keep meeting, out in the open country, group after
group like this, until you become hopelessly depressed.
Fortunately, they are used to it, and take everything
as a matter of fact. When you greet them you will
always receive a pleasant " buenos dias, sefior," in re-
ply, and the women will usually show their teeth as
they smile. But the children, poor things, are always
solemn. It is the way of Mexican children. Their
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 109
expressive brown eyes gaze at you solemnly, somewhat
shyly, and you never know whether they are happy or
hungry. One of the things that always strikes the
stranger in Mexico is that the children never seem to
play. They stand o* sit in doorways like a part of the
fixed stage settings, half naked, dirty, silent.
These wandering and homeless people are in evidence
everywhere. In the large cities the railway stations
afford a convenient shelter at night. In Mexico City
the last trains leave around nine o'clock in the evening,
and soon after that hour waiting-rooms, corridors and
platforms fill up with homeless people, usually from
the country, who, packed together on the floor, sleep
undisturbed until the station resumes its activities
shortly before the departure of early morning trains.
Even in the days of Mexico's greatest prosperity rail-
way stations were always packed at night packed
knee-deep with men, women, children and bundles, the
whole mass usually looking more like a huge pile of
rags than a collection of human beings. Any disturb-
ance in industrial or economic conditions was always
followed by a great increase in the number of homeless
people. A drouth in an agricultural region, the closing
down of a mining camp, the suspension of work in a
cotton mill town and hundreds or thousands of peo-
ple would start wandering around the country.
In the rural districts each large hacienda (plantation
farm or ranch) is a community by itself. There are
the principal hacienda buildings, with residence, office, .
chapel, store, barns and warehouses around a large
courtyard, the whole enclosed by a high wall. Clus-
tering around this group of buildings are numerous
adobe houses, often no more than huts, for the laborers.
The houses are usually one-room affairs, with a kitchen-
shed in the rear, and the living-room is merely a shelter
110 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKEOW
in which the family sleep. In the poorer class of
houses beds are unknown, and the only furniture is a
table, one or two benches, and two or three reed-mats
on which to sleep. Very frequently there is a sort of
an open fireplace at one end of the room, all the fam-
ily cooking being done in the living-room. Clothes-
washing is done in the nearest stream. One of the most
familiar sights from railway trains in Mexico is that
of a seemingly endless number of women scattered along
the beds of streams near the large cities, all scrubbing
and rubbing dripping clothes on smooth boulders. In
many of the large cities public wash houses have been
provided, but their capacity is limited, and the bulk of
the population has to depend on stream washing.
The homes of the laboring classes in the large cities
are somewhat more substantial, and, viewed from the
street, present a solid and comfortable appearance.
Furnishings are scant, and general arrangements are as
simple as those in houses in the rural districts. Crowd-
ing among the poor is worse in the large cities, a single
room frequently being used as sleeping quarters for ten
or twelve people.
The Mexican peon wastes little on clothes. In the
country he wears a white cotton blouse and white cot-
ton trousers, somewhat resembling a loose suit of pa-
jamas, a pair of sandals made of rope or leather, and a
straw sombrero. In the cities he wears a jumper and
overalls of heavy cotton, plus sandals and sombrero.
Underwear, except with the higher class of labor, is
unknown. The sole protection against cold is the
zarape, a large heavy woolen blanket, usually bright in
colors, in which the peon muffles himself up to his
eyes.
Climatic conditions, fortunately, favor the simple
life. In the tierra caliente, or hot country, it is hot,
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 111
even at night, save when a " norther " blows. In the
tierra templada, or temperate country, little clothing is
needed, although chilly and even raw weather is expe-
rienced during a norther, sometimes for a week run-
ning. On the Mexican plateau, however, with eight
thousand feet of elevation, the nights are always cool,
and the temperature drops below the freezing point in
the winter. Mexico City all through the summer is
cooler than New York or Chicago, and one always needs
a blanket at night. In the winter the days are cool and
the nights cold, but it is always dry, and the cold lacks
the chill and penetration of the Atlantic Coast or Great
Lakes regions. Besides, there is always brilliant sun-
shine. The peon is at least spared acute suffering from
cold, and, brought up with no heat entering into his
calculations, he probably feels such cold as there is less
than his steam-heated neighbor from the north.
The marriage tie in Mexico is very loosely drawn.
Conditions as to social and family relations are primi-
tive rather than immoral. Charles Macomb Flandrau's
" Viva Mexico ! " which gives a vivid picture of life on
a Mexican coffee plantation, makes clear the situation
as to social relations. To quote from this entertaining
book:
" The Mexicans are an excessively passionate people
and their passions develop at an early age (I employ
the words in a specific sense), not only because nature
has so ordered it, but because, owing to the way in which
they live whole families, not to mention animals, in
a small, one-roomed house the elemental facts of life
are known to them from the time they can see with their
eyes and hear with their ears. For a Mexican child of
seven or eight among the lower classes, there are no
mysteries. Boys of fifteen have had their affairs with
older women; boys of seventeen are usually strongly at-
112 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEJROW
tracted by some one person whom they would like to
marry. And just at this interesting and important
crisis the Church furnishes the spectator with one of its
disappointing and somewhat gross exhibitions.
" It seems to have been proven that for people in gen-
eral certain rigid social laws are a comfort and an aid
to a higher, steadier standard of thought and life,. In
communities where such usages obtain, the ordinary
person, in taking unto himself a wife, does so with a
feeling of finality. On one's wedding day, but little
thought is given, I fancy, to the legal loopholes of
escape. It strikes one as strange, as wicked even, that
a powerful Church (a Church moreover, that regards
marriage as a sacrament) should deliberately place in-
superable obstacles in the path of persons who for the
time being, at least, have every desire to tread the
straight and narrow way. This, to its shame, the
Church in Mexico does.
" The only legally valid marriage ceremony in Mex-
ico is the civil ceremony, but to a Mexican peon the civil
ceremony means nothing whatever; he can't grasp its
significance, and there is nothing in the prosaic, business-
like proceeding to touch his heart and stir his imagina-
tion. The only ceremony he recognizes is one conducted
by a priest in a church. When he is married by a priest
he believes himself to be married which for moral
and spiritual purposes is just as valuable as if he ac-
tually were. One would suppose that the Church would
recognize this and encourage unions of more or less sta-
bility by making marriage inexpensive and easy. If it
had the slightest desire to elevate the lower classes in
Mexico from their frankly bestial attitude toward the
marital relation to inculcate ideas different and finer
than those maintained by their chickens and their pigs
it could long since easily have done so. But quite simply
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 113
it has no such desire. In the morality of the masses it
shows no interest. For performing the marriage cere-
mony it charges much more than poor people can pay
without going into debt Now and then they go into
debt ; more often they dispense with the ceremony. On
my ranch, for instance, very few of the ' married '
people are married. Almost every grown man lives
with a woman who makes his tortillas and bears him
children, and about some of these households there is an
air of permanence and content. But with the death of
mutual desire there is nothing that tends to turn the
scale in favor of permanence ; no sense of obligation, no
respect for a vague authority higher and better than
oneself, no adverse public opinion. Half an hour of
ennui, or some one seen for a moment from a new point
of view and all is over. The man goes his way, the
woman hers. The children, retaining their father's
name, remain, as a rule, with the mother. And soon
there is a new set of combinations. One woman who
worked here had three small children every one with
a different surname; the name of its father. While
here, she kept house with the mayordomo, who for no
reason in particular had wearied of the wife he had
married in church. 'No one thought it odd that she
should have three children by different men, or that she
should live with the mayordomo, or that the inayordomo
should tire of his wife and live with her. As a matter
of fact there was nothing odd about it. No one was
doing wrong, no one was ' flying in the face of public
opinion. 5 She and the three men who had successively
deserted her, the mayordomo who found it convenient
to form an alliance with her, and his wife, who betook
herself to a neighboring ranch and annexed a boy of six-
teen, were all simply living their lives in accordance
with the promptings they had never been taught to re-
114: MEXICO TO-DAY AOT) TO-MOKROW
sist. It is not unusual to hear a mother, in a mo-
ment of irritation, exclaim, as she gives her child a
slap, 'Hijo de quien sabe quien 1' (* Child of "who
knows whom! ') At an early age when they first fall
in love they would, I think, almost always prefer to be
married. But where get the ten pesos, without which
the Church refuses to make them man and wife ? The
idea of saving and waiting is to them, of course, utterly
preposterous. Why should it not be? What tangible
advantage to them would there be in postponement?
The Church, which has always been successful in devel-
oping and maintaining prejudices, could have developed,
had it wished to, the strongest prejudice in favor of
matrimony, and the permanence of the marriage tie.
But it has not done so, and now, even when peons do
have the religious ceremony performed, they do not con-
sider it binding. After having gone to so much expense,
they are not likely to separate so soon; but that is all.
One of the men here has been married three or four
times and on every occasion he has treated himself to a
religious ceremony with quite a splendid dance after-
wards. As he is a skilled mason who commands good
wages and has no bad habits (except that of getting mar-
ried every little while), he can afford it. He is a genial
sort of creature and I think he enjoys having dinner
parties. Sometimes he deserts his wives and sometimes
they desert him. Of course I don't know, but I have
an idea that to have been married to him at one time or
another carries with it considerable prestige."
CHAPTER XII
HYGIEOTC CONDITIONS
AT.-REBTO J. PANT, now Secretary of Industry in the
Mexican cabinet, two years ago published a valuable
work, " Hygiene in Mexico," which gives much inter-
esting data on physical and hygienic conditions. In
Mexico City the low and swampy land, with attending
difficulties of drainage, helped to undermine public
health. High winds, sweeping over the barren country
around the capital, bring with them terrific dust storms
which, gathering up the manure and accumulated filth
of the streets, spread the germs of tuberculosis- The
fearful crowding of people in the poorer classes breeds
all contagious and infectious diseases. These factors,
combined with under-feeding, result in a low state of
vitality and a very high mortality rate. Senor Pani
gives health statistics of various countries and of large
cities, showing a mortality rate of 17.53 per 1000 in
eighteen European cities of half a million population
and a rate of 16 per thousand in eight American cities
of about the same size, while the death rate in Mexico
City is given at 42 per thousand. The death rate per
thousand in Mexico City is three times that of Detroit
and Cleveland. The only cities of corresponding size
in the world which approach Mexico's figures are Ma-
dras, with 39, and Cairo, with 40, in both of which
cholera is endemic and both of which suffer from ex-
treme heat. Mexico City, at an elevation of over 7,000
feet above sea level, is, climatically, healthy, and, given
proper conditions of housing and nourishment, should
115
116 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
have as low a death, rate as any city in the world.
Senor Pani quotes Herve-Mangon and other author-
ities in showing that for the normal person rations
should produce 4,200 calories of energy for very light
work, 4,800 for ordinary work and 6,000 for heavy
work, while the rations received by the Mexican peon
class can only produce from 2,800 to 3,000 calories.
Inevitably, the wearing away process goes on at a very
rapid rate. This not only affects, immediately, the
death rate, but undermines the vitality of the nation.
We are accustomed, in a general way, to talk of cheap
labor in Mexico, without any conception of what the
term implies. Senor Pani gives four examples of fam-
ily earnings and expenses, any one of which, in a few
words and figures, shows the scale of living. The case
of Augustin Lopez, a gardener in the public gardens, is
typical. Lopez, his wife and his mother live in one
room, 12 feet long, 11 feet wide and 13 feet high.
There are two couches for furniture, there are sufficient
kitchen utensils, and the place is very clean. Water is
obtained from a neighboring well, and there is a public
wash house nearby. The family, weekly, spends the
following amount (in pesos, with the peso at '50 cents,
U. S. currency) :
$1.04
Beans ................................... 48
4.4 Ibs. meat ........................ 70
Chile .................................... 16
Salt ..................................... 11
Sugar ................................... 11
Wood and charcoal ....................... 60
Pulque .................................. 42 $3.62
Rent ---- , ..................................... 50
Cotton cloth, etc ................................ 62
Soap .......................................... 25
Barber shop (once a month .30) ................. 07
$5.06
HYGIENIC CONDITIONS 117
Lopez earns .75 centavos daily, works seven days in
the week, and, barring accident, earns $5.25 ($2.62
TL S. currency), so that, if nothing extraordinary hap-
pens and if he does not get wasteful or extravagant, his
income leaves him 19 centavos to the good every week.
If, through sickness, he misses a day, it takes him four
weeks to catch up.
Marcelino Nievs, also a gardener, earns 68 centavos
daily, and works six days, receiving a total of $4.08
($2.04: cents). He lives with his wife and two chil-
dren in one room formed by an adobe wall on one side
and boards on the other three sides, no windows, one
door, all cooking done with charcoal in the room. His
weekly expenses are now 58 centavos more than his in-
come. When he can get an extra day's work on Sun-
days he can break even. His only way of catching up
is to cut down on food allowance and cut out any ex-
pense for clothes. He can do away with a weekly bud-
get of 40 centavos (20 cents) for clothes, and by re-
ducing his food bill 10 per cent, his income will cover
his needs. With a total weekly allowance of $1.78
(U. S.) for two adults and two children, Marcelius could
doubtless give some valuable pointers on food conserva-
tion and the empty garbage pail.
These are not exceptional cases. For many years
gardeners and day laborers in general received 75 cen-
tavos a day. A peso a day was a rather high wage.
Many of the workmen supported families with children
too small to work. If one were to look for " hard luck "
cases, it would have been easy to find men maintaining
six or seven in a family on 75 centavos a day. Allow-
ance, of course, must be made for the difference in the
style of living, but it must also be remembered that food
is not especially cheap in Mexico. Corn, the staple of
the country, sold in normal times at 12 pesos a carga,
118 MEXICO TO-DAY AITO TO-MOEJROW
or about one dollar a bushel, as against a price of sixty
to eighty cents per bushel (retail) in the United States.
Figures quoted from Senor Pani's book refer to wages
formerly prevailing. Present conditions will be dealt
with in another chapter.
With two and a half million families having incomes
of from 35 cents to 75 cents per day, social conditions in
Mexico could not, by the wildest stretch of imagination,
be considered as satisfactory. Life for the Mexican
peon has, for years, even for centuries, been nothing
more than existence, and a hand-to-mouth existence at
that. Earnings have been barely sufficient for food and
for the simplest sort of clothing. With the rents which
peons have been able to pay nothing like sanitary ar-
rangements could be provided. Disease and epidemics
have been common. The peon could not afford doctor's
bills, and medicines were out of the question. Educa-
tion of children was necessarily limited to children not
old enough to help increase the family income. During
the Diaz regime considerable was done in the way of
opening primary schools, and the percentage of illiter-
acy was somewhat reduced. There were, moreover, pa-
rochial schools which accomplished something. The
school attendance was, however, small, even in the large
cities, while in the rural districts schools were so far
apart as to be out of reach for even the better class of
laboring mem
CHAPTER XIII
AGKAEIAUT AND OTHEB, PEOBLEMS
THE land question in Mexico has for years been a seri-
ous one, and to-day presents very difficult problems.
The Spanish made huge grants of land to people of
influence or in reward for services to the crown, and
these great estates in many cases have passed down
intact, either through inheritance or through sale. The
church, during the Spanish rule, acquired immense
holdings, and, while the church was dispossessed under
the reforms under Juarez, the holdings, by a series of
manipulations, passed into private hands, usually in
the shape of large estates. The tendency for years has
been to increase the size of existing estates through the
purchase of adjoining properties, involving, in each
case, large transactions which only the very rich could
handle. A large estate frequently owns all the land in
a valley district, and the poor classes have rarely had
an opportunity to become land owners. There are
estates in Mexico which cover immense areas. Fre-
quently one can ride hours on the train without
leaving the limits of a property. We have no con--
ception of what a large estate really is. There are,
in Mexico, one hundred estates which are credited
with over a hundred million acres of land, or, on the
average, over a million acres each. The Terrazas es-
tate, mainly in Chihuahua but lapping over into adjoin-
ing states, is said to contain 13,000,9^ acres of land,
more than twice the size of the State of atassachusetts.
119
120 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
In the State of Lower California, over 700 miles long,
and nearly 100 miles wide, with an area larger than
Michigan, 78 per cent, of the lands belong to large com-
panies. In this state the Mexican International Coloni-
zation Company, the Chartered Company of Lower
California, the Adolfo Hulle Company and the Cali-
fornia Land Company, Limited, ail foreign concerns,
hold a total of 26,070,000 acres of land, comprising an
area of over 40,000 square miles, the first named leading
with thirteen million four hundred thousand acres.
The area owned by these four concerns equals, almost
exactly, the total area of the state of Ohio. Through-
out the Northern States very large properties are the
rule. Between Saltillo and Zacatecas, 180 miles, all
the land belongs to three estates. The Mexican North-
western Railway owns a property of 3,600,000 acres, of
which over three million acres are covered with pine, t
the largest single tract of timber in the world. Farther
south there are also some large properties. The railway
travels for thirty leagues through the Escandon estate
in Hidalgo. In the State of Tamaulipas there is i
hacienda of 750,000 acres, of which more than half is
tillable land but of which less than twenty thousand acrqs
is cultivated. In the Tehuantepec country there are ?a
number of timber grants of two hundred thousand acres
or more. A census taken in 1910 shows that in the
whole republic 880,000 square kilometers (550,000
square miles) of land belong to six: thousand people^
with an average holding of 58,000 acres. While it ig
true that-large stretches of these lands, particularly in
the North, are sterile, nevertheless the figures, as shofa-
ing the concentration of lands in a relatively few hands,,
are startling. There are in Mexico about 11,000 of
what may be classed as large properties properties of
2,500 acres or more as against 25,000 such properties
AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS 121
a hundred years ago. While, in other countries, the
number of individual holdings has greatly increased, in
Mexico the number of individual holdings has steadily
decreased.
The concentration of lands in relatively few hands has
naturally placed definite restrictions on opportunities
open to the peon class for improvement of its position.
In the first place, there was little or no land for sale in
small pieces. Moreover, the peon had no money with
which to buy, further reducing the probability or possi-
bility of his becoming a landholder. Most important of
all, the peon lacked education, knew nothing of farming
except such knowledge as he gained from his own expe-
rience as a farm laborer an experience of a mechani-
cal sort in plowing, sowing and reaping so that, even
if the first two difficulties could be overcome, the odds
were against his succeeding as a farmer. He remained,
by force of circumstances, a laborer working under the
same conditions as those which had prevailed for cen-
turies. Technically free, he was really a slave to his
surroundings, with great odds against his breaking loose.
The concentration of lands in large holdings had an-
other effect on the general economic scheme through the
curtailment of production. Whether in ranching coun-
try or on farm land, the probability of the land being
used to the highest advantage is naturally reduced when
the size of the property becomes so large as to make
personal supervision impossible. On an estate of half
a million acres anything like personal supervision by
the owner was out of the question. The Mexican land-
holders have never been industrial organizers, and with-
out an elaborate organization the very great estates could
not be worked to capacity. The tendency was always to
leave the management to an administrator, or agent,
who cultivated such land as he could, himself, watch
122 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKKOW
over. Moreover, in earlier days the markets for farm
products were, because of the transportation question,
purely of a local character, and overproduction meant
unprofitable prices. While railroad construction had
somewhat altered the situation, the tariffs established
were not calculated to make for a full development of
agricultural resources. The general tendency, there-
fore, was toward a limited use of the soil. This had
the double effect of avoiding any scarcity of labor, keep-
ing down production cost, and of maintaining a high
price for products, thus yielding the highest possible
profit with the least possible expense and effort. This
was, in all probability, more the result of established
custom than of any deliberate policy on the part of the
landholding class. As pointed out before, corn, the
staple of the country, has, in normal times, sold for 12
pesos a carga (about six bushels), or about a dollar a
bushel, in spite of farm wages rarely exceeding 40 cents
a day.
With the general social and political conditions exist-
ing, it was almost inevitable that there would be abuses
of power. The rich land-owning class used its influence
for the maintenance of the existing order of things, and,
in some cases at least, for the extension of its power.
In some sections communal lands were seized, on one
protest or another, and incorporated in large estates.
The Yaqui Indians, living in the North, were dispos-
sessed of lands they had held for centuries, and, on their
revolting openly against the government, large numbers
of them were deported to work on plantations in Cam-
peche and Yucatan. In some districts the owners of the
largest estates had no hesitation in seizing, on a flimsy
pretext, any lands belonging to Indian communities,
relying on " pull " with the jefe politico, governor, or
higher authorities to win out in case of any opposition.
AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS 123
Where the local authorities were corrupt it was easy to
put through unjust deals, and where they were honest
it was always possible to bring strong pressure to keep
them quiet.
Aside from the rural question there were many things
calculated to irritate the poorer classes. Exclusive con-
cessions were granted to people of influence for slaugh-
ter houses, for the sale of pulque (the national bever-
age), and for other lines of business which entered into
the daily life of the people. As a result in certain dis-
tricts certain families had a monopoly of half the com-
modities. These concessions^ on'their face, were usually
within the law, but were frequently so worded as to
make competition impossible. The owners of large
estates were protected in high prices for farm products
by high railway tariffs and by import duties of 100 to
250 per cent, on corn, wheat % and flour. The general
tendency of the schedule of import duties was to place
the heaviest taxes on commodities, while luxuries such
as silks, champagne and jewelry were lightly taxed.
Wheat and flour paid 100 per cent, import duty, while
diamonds and jewelry paid a nominal duty of ten per
cent. Taxes on farm properties were levied on a basis
of production, but doubtless in many cases the great
landowners escaped paying their full share, and in any
event such taxes were scarcely fairly apportioned, as the
small farms, practically cultivated from end to end,
paid, proportionately, much higher taxes than the great
estates on which only a fraction of the land was tilled.
Fernando Gonzalez Roa, in " The Mexican People and
Their Detractors,' 7 says that " a truck farmer with a
capital of one hundred and fifty pesos frequently paid
a larger tax than the richest land baron of the region."
This seems incredible, but unquestionably the tendency
was toward an unjust distribution of the tax burden.
MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
Senor Roa states that " the tax upon street sellers in
public places, or small retail stores, produced more in
one of the richest districts in the State of Guanajuato
than the whole land tax of the district"
Aside from questions which directly affected the great
mass of people, there were many complaints as to the
operations of a group which handled paving and other
government contracts, of a monopoly granted to a com-
pany for the manufacture of dynamite, protected by pro-
hibitive import duties, and of the general tendency to
grant special terms to the favored few. Three or four
large banks, having direct or indirect government sup-
port, were used by a group of men to feather their own
nests. The usual method employed in these banking
transactions was to incorporate a company to take up-
some particular line of business the purchase and
operation of a string of big haciendas, the construction
of a hydro-electric plant, the development of an irriga-
tion system, and so forth. The money required, in each
case, was supplied by one, two or three banks on the
notes of the corporation undertaking the business in
question. The notes were sometimes nominally secured,
but frequently entirely unsecured except by the business
undertaken. If the business was a success, the banks
were repaid from the proceeds of bonds sold to the
public. If, however, the business proved disastrous, the
banks were the only losers another case of " heads I
win and tails you lose." Some of the largest banks
were well loaded up with the notes or securities of bank-
rupt ventures, and many banks throughout the country
had loaned undue proportions of their assets on haci-
endas owned by political friends. Th amount of these
holdings at one time became alarming.
For many years there had been a demand for an agri-
cultural bank to aid in the legitimate development of
AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS 125
farming, and, in the latter years of the Diaz regime an.
agrarian bank, the " Caja de Prestamos," was organized
for the purpose. The government was directly behind
this institution, was its majority stockholder, advanced
it large sums of money, and secured for it, in New York,
a loan of twenty-five million dollars. This bank loaned
out a total of $52,855,180 (pesos), but the loans were
made to a total of only 98 people or corporations. Of
the total loans $31,393,000 (pesos) went to twelve peo-
ple or concerns with an average of one million three
hundred thousand dollars apiece. As a matter of fact,
the major portion of the funds were used to relieve other
banks of loans of doubtful value. Some funds were
advanced for industrial enterprises, nearly two million,
being loaned to the Monterrey Iron and Steel Works,
and some large loans were made to large estate owners
to enable them to acquire adjoining properties. Of the
total loans less than five million dollars was loaned in
lots of less than two hundred and fifty thousand dolkrs.
The bank, as an agrarian aid, was a total failure, and its
assets, in many cases, are of very doubtful value. It is
a matter of public gossip in Mexico that this bank was
deliberately used by certain " Cientificos " to carry
loads which they could not carry themselves.
Another cause for complaint arose from the conces-
sions granted for the development of oil lands. The
old Mexican laws, based on code procedure, did not con-
template the development of oil fields in the country,
and, on the discovery of oil, individuals or companies
were able to acquire oil lands without any encumbrance
in the shape of existing legislation. Some of the con-
cerns which were early in the field felt that their posi-
tion would be more secure if they were protected by
definite concessions. They first acquired large tracts of
land in the oil producing district, the total holdings of
126 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
the five largest companies being close to three million
five hundred thousand acres. They then obtained defi-
nite concessions giving them exclusive rights within the
lands purchased, low fixed taxes, exemption from import
duties for machinery required, certain rights of expro-
priation for pipe lines, and, perhaps most important of
all, d prohibition against the sinking of any wells within
three kilometers, or about two miles, of their lands.
Even before the business was on a commercial basis
there was considerable gossip, almost amounting to a
scandal, regarding these concessions. It was whispered,
and then talked of generally, that certain people in the
government received substantial blocks of stock for ar-
ranging the concessions. What truth, if any, there was
in these stories is hard to determine. The contention
on the part of the oil companies was that, in an unknown
field, they were taking large risks, and that, in doing
so, they were entitled to liberal treatment for aiding in
the development of a new industry for the country.
Not only was the territory unknown, but there was some
doubt as to whether the oil would be of a commercial
grade in fact, in the early days of the business there
was considerable question as to whether the Mexican
fields would be worth much. The business was almost
exclusively in the hands of foreigners so far as operating
companies were concerned an English company, two
or three large American companies, and a Dutch com-
pany. The business, which amounted to practically
nothing ten years ago, developed very rapidly, and the
production has reached, already, a figure of about
one hundred million barrels a year. The Mexican
fields, scoffed at to begin with, became the wonder of
the world. One gusher, the Cerro Azul, produced two
hundred thousand barrels a day for some time. Gushers
shot columns of oil a thousand feet in the air for days
AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS 127
before they could be capped, and at one well a fire
burned two hundred thousand barrels a day for three
weeks. The Mexican public was let in for a thousand
fake promotions, both native and foreign, and this did
not help the state of the public miiid on the oil question.
Some Mexicans felt dissatisfied that the mining in-
dustry had passed into foreign hands, the figures in the
Mexican year book for 1914 showing that of the total
of 647 millions of pesos of capital in mining enterprises
only 29 millions were Mexican, two- thirds of the total
being American. The mining development by foreign-
ers was entirely logical, as Mexico lacked capital, expe-
rience and initiative. Nevertheless, there was a certain
amount of pique because the greatest industry (except
agriculture) had passed almost exclusively into foreign
control.
Economic and industrial conditions both within and
without Mexico were dominating factors in various
industries, but many Mexicans jumped at the conclu-
sion that the foreigners were deliberately exploiting the
people, and that, in this, they were receiving the active
support of the government. Diaz had certain sup-
porters, some of them men of much ability, who, with
him, were anxious to see foreign capital pour into the
country but who failed to see that much of the progress
being made was of a superficial character. Some of
these men had been active in the administration for
many years, and their training was against their taking
up with reform ideas. Some of them had doubtless
profited much by the industrial development As a
whole the administration was a very strongly " stand-
pat" one. There was a feeling that public opinion
amounted to nothing and could be defied. It is said
that an American promoter told a member of the cabinet
that if he would put through a certain concession he
128 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
would receive a hundred .thousand pesos and no one
would ever be told of it. The cabinet member is alleged
to have said, " Make it two hundred thousand and tell
everybody you wish to/' While this tale is doubtless
only a part of the idle gossip floating around the capital,
it illustrates the general feeling of the public mind.
The government felt strong and was quite indifferent
to public protest Diaz promised some agrarian re-
forms, but nothing tangible resulted. Diaz, meanwhile,
was getting old and leaning more and more on his sup-
porters. The Vice-President, Ramon Corral, was very
unpopular, and, in view of the President's advanced age
there was a very strong movement to have some one else
elected Vice-President, but General Diaz turned a deaf
ear to all appeals on the question. [Friends of General
Bernardo Reyes, Governor of the State of Nuevo Leon,
urged his selection as Vice-President, and the mere fact
of his being suggested as a candidate caused sufficient
friction to bring about his retirement from office.
Briefly, then, the Diaz government was charged with
abuse of power, with unduly favoring foreign capital,
with permitting the " Cientificos " to enrich themselves
either directly from the public treasury or indirectly
through participation in profits arising from conces-
sions, with using the Federal and State political machin-
ery to protect and enrich the large landowners, and in
its efforts to perpetuate itself with defiance of public
opinion. In many cases the critics did not fully under-
stand the economic conditions responsible for things of
which they complained, and in others the ills were
doubtless greatly exaggerated. Nevertheless, there is
no question but that there was much abuse of power,
and that, at the bottom of it all, there was much reason
for the belief and feeling that the mass of people was
making little progress under the system. A hundred
AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS 129
years earlier Don Manuel Abad y Queipo, subsequently
bishop of Michoacan, addressed a petition to the Re-
gency, in which he said : " This great mass of inhabit-
ants has practically no property, and the great majority
are homeless ; truly they are in an abject and miserable
condition, and destitute of morality and the rules of life.
What can be the result of a revolution, given this hetero-
geneousness of class, this class of interests and passions ?
.Naturally, nothing but reciprocal destruction, the laying
waste of the whole country. . . . The Spanish, Euro-
peans and Spanish Americans make up two-tenths of the
whole population. They are the rulers and the property
owners throughout these dominions. If in these coun-
tries, so constituted, public order should be disturbed,
then a frightful state of anarchy must follow." These
lines, written in 1810, might have been written for a
century later.
CHAPTER XIV
MADEKO
IT is essential, even at the expense of some repetition,
to very briefly outline political and social history in
Mexico up to this point. Emerging from barbarism,
the Aztecs had reached a certain degree of civilization,
tainted by human sacrifices and other degrading fea-
tures, but on the whole indicating an ability to develop
socially and politically. While no alphabet had been
devised, picture writing had been developed to a high
degree. A massive and substantial system of architec-
ture showed great capacity along this line, and, while
judged by modern standards, astronomy as a science had
only had a limited development, astronomical observa-
tions and calculations had been made with a surprising
degree of accuracy. Politically the people were still in
the tribal state, but one tribe dominated a wide extent of
territory, and while the political system was defective
through its development along tribal rather than along
national lines, nevertheless a beginning had been made
in government on a wider scope than that of purely
tribal rule. The power and extent of this rule have
been, at times, greatly exaggerated, while some writers
have been inclined to minimize the achievements of the
people, contending that their life could not be called civ-
ilization. One thing is, however, clear, that the early
Mexican people were thousands of miles removed from
any other people, and consequently not affected by any
other civilization. Such advances as they made were
130
MADEEO 131
purely their own, and their emergence from a state of
barbarism and their accomplishments in the beginnings
of a civilization were no less interesting nor less rapid
than with other primitive peoples. In other words, they
had demonstrated an ability to develop. Their civiliza-
tion was swept away by the Spanish conquest, and noth^
ing was given them in return save the formulas of reli-
gion. They remained in a state of slavery, entirely
neglected, for three hundred years. Independence from
Spanish rule did not materially alter their condition,
for, as a people, they were dominated by a ruling class,
largely of Spanish origin. Forty years of misrule
under various dictators was followed by some effort at
national progress, which, again, was upset by several
years of French occupation. National bankruptcy and
chaotic conditions succeeded, giving no opportunity for
progress. Then came a strong military dictatorship,
gradually transforming into an oligarchy, under which
there was railway development, considerable industrial
growth and some advance in popular education, without,
however, any advance in political thought or in the
material condition of the mass of the people.
The National capital, both as the seat of government
and as the place of residence of many rich landholders,
was very strongly conservative and contented with the
existing order of things. The South, especially in the
tropical part and with the exception of the Oaxaca re-
gion, was indifferent. Central Mexico and the Gulf
Coast, depending largely on the capital, was generally
conservative. The Pacific coast region was of compara-
tively small importance. The North, somewhat isolated
from the capital, was for many reasons more liberal in
its tendencies. The North was a grazing country, with
a wider range of view. It was, moreover, more closely
in touch with the civilization of the United States.
132 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
Mexicans slipped across the border, worked for higher
wages than they ever had dreamed of, came in contact
with people who considered schooling the first essential
in life, saw the opportunities afforded to all to get along
in the world, and, in general, absorbed many of the ideas
of their Northern neighbors. Moreover, the geographi-
cal distance and the difference in economic questions
had so isolated the North from touch with the capital
that, in large measure, the governors and other political
officials were far more independent than those in Central
and Southern Mexico. This independence had, in some
cases, resulted in a broadening of political views, and in
others in carrying the abuse of power to great excesses.
It was natural, therefore, that the first rumblings of
discontent should have come from the North.
The Centennial Celebration of the independence of
Mexico was held in Mexico City in 1910, and many
foreign nations sent special representatives to partici-
pate in the affair. Mexico City was at its best, and a
series of beautiful entertainments, culminating in a
wonderful ball at the National Palace, fairly charmed
all the visitors. General Diaz, in spite of his 82 years,
was all-powerful. The government was strong, there
was peace in the land, mining and other industries were
prosperous, national credit, at home and abroad, was at
its highest. To the visitor, seeing the display of pomp
and power, it looked as if Mexico was well started on a
career of great prosperity. The idea of any opposition
to the Diaz government was laughed at, and Fraoicisco
Madera's attempt to hold an opposition convention was
considered the act of a fanatic. Madero was impris-
oned at San Luis Potosi on June 3 on the charge of sedi-
tion and held four months, when he escaped and, dis-
guised as a peon, made his way to San Antonio. The
year finished quietly, with not a ripple on the surface.
MADEEO 133
Madero, a member of a rich family having great
properties in Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, had been stung
to the quick by his treatment, and spent several weeks
in San Antonio preparing for military operations
against the government. Having assurances of some
active support, he crossed into Mexico on November 10,
and within two months he had a large following, includ-
ing independent forces organized by Orozco, Blanco and
Villa. Early in February of 1911 Abraham Gonzalez,
governor of the State of Chihuahua, cast his lot with the
revolutionists, joining them with the state troops. The
whole North was soon in an uproar. The revolutionists,
starting at first with a sort of guerilla warfare, grad-
ually became better organized and were able to conduct
a regular campaign. Events moved forward with amaz-
ing rapidity in M^rch and April. The government, at
first incredulous, became apprehensive, then panicky.
The revolutionist troops, largely recruited from the
rancher and cowboy class, could move light cavalry about
with great swiftness, capture a town and garrison, secure
provisions and munitions, and be gone before any body
of troops could be moved to intercept them. The regu-
lar Federal troops in the North were unable to control
the situation, and the garrisons of large cities were sent
to reenf orce them. Rumors of what was happening in
the North swept over the country, and in an incredibly
short time Maderista bands began to spring up in every
section. The government had an army of only 25,000
men, a force which, for years, had been sufficient to
preserve order, and, in the face of general movement
it was unable to cope with the situation. Stories of
battles for liberty being fought in the North traveled
from town to village and from village to town. There
were vague promises of liberty, of land for all, of free-
dom from oppression. The tiny spark had become 8
134 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
blaze, then a conflagration. With garrisons withdrawn,
the lower classes rose against those whom they consid-
ered their immediate oppressors. Excesses of all sorts
followed. A single instance, the story of Gabriel Her-
nandez, is typical of what happened all over the country.
Hernandez, an Indian lad 24 years of age, started
with three men at the village of Chignahuapan, in the
State of Puebla, to raise a Maderista band. Within a
few days he had picked up fifteen or twenty men from
neighboring villages and had obtained horses and arms
from sympathizers. It was an easy matter to take pos-
session of several small towns and villages, and in each
more recruits were obtained, and farmers were induced
to contribute horses "for the cause." The band, all
mounted and now numbering a hundred men or more,
took the town of Zacatlan, a place of considerable im-
portance, then occupied Xico, and then Hianchinango,
the county seat. The Hanchinango jail contained many
men arrested for political offenses, and a number of
people held for minor offenses. One man, held for a
cold-blooded murder, every one agreed was a bad case,
and Hernandez had him lined up against a wall and shot,
the fifteen-year-old son of the murderer's victim being
given a rifle to do the shooting. All the other prisoners
were turned loose. With, supplies, more recruits and
more arms obtained in Hanchinango, the band moved
up on the table land and occupied the important town of
Tulancingo, the garrison there being too small to offer
resistance. By this time Hernandez had some three
hundred followers, mostly mounted, with a motley col-
lection of arms revolvers, a dozen makes of rifles,
shotguns, etc. There were no uniforms, barring khaki
suits worn by three or four officers, but Hernandez was
a born leader, maintained rigid discipline, and he soon
had his force in shape to advance against Pachuca, a
MADEEO 135
mining center af 50,000 inhabitants, and he made no
secret of the fact that he intended to take the city.
Events La tfcie capital and elsewhere in the country had,
in the meantime, been moving very rapidly. Madero
laad attacked and taken the city of Juarez, across the
Rio Grande from El Paso, the most important Mexican
town on the border. Maderista bands were springing
up everywher-e. The Diaz machine, of a personal char-
acter, "was cnuabling. The cabinet in the capital was
in almost continuous session, and the messages it re-
ceived from all parts of the country were of the most
discouraging nature towns taken, small garrisons go-
ing over to "the revolutionists, a Maderista movement
everywhere. General Diaz, feeling the hopelessness of
the situation^ decided to resign in order to prevent fur-
ther bloodshed and disorder. Orders were sent to sev-
eral of the governors, including the governor at Pachuca,
to offer no further resistance to the Maderistas. The
Pachuca governor, hearing that Maderistas were to ad-
vance oa Pschuca, thought the easiest way to avoid
tr<yuble would be to disband such troops as he had, and
these Tvere accordingly paid off, leaving only a few police
to preserve order in the city. The Maderistas, however,
did not appear in the afternoon, as expected, but every-
one knew thst the Federal authorities had given up any
efforts at resistance, and, as the city was strongly Ma-
derista, an impromptu jollification started when some
boys vrent -through the main streets shouting " Viva
Madero! " The jollification soon turned into an up-
roar, and thae uproar into a general riot The vicious
element, realising that there were no forces to restrain
them, cut telegraph and telephone wires and seized the
railway station to prevent any communication with
MLexico City, and then began pillaging and looting
shops. The celebration started about five o'clock in the
136 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
afternoon. By nine o'clock all the downtown shops had
been stripped, the jails had been opened and all pris-
oners turned loose, government buildings were in flames,
and a night of terror had set in. In the middle of the
evening a general raid was made on the cantinas, or
saloons, and, inflamed with liquor, the mob soon attacked
the offices of the large mining companies. The largest
of the mining companies had offices in a building erected,
in the sixteenth century, for use as the Spanish gov-
ernor's palace, and the place was practically mob-proof.
Here the majority of the foreigners, men, women, and
children, mostly American, spent an anxious night.
The looters, in cutting telephone and telegraph lines,
had overlooked a telephone circuit coming in on the
high tension lines which supply Pachuca and Mexico
City with hydroelectric power from Necaxa. Over this
circuit word was sent to the capital of the state of af-
fairs. Practically all troops in Mexico City had been
sent North. There was imminent danger that there
might be an outbreak in the capital at any moment, and
the authorities could not spare any considerable force
to go to the relief of Pachuca. The power company,
in the middle of the night, telephoned one of its trans-
mission line stations, located about eight miles from
Tulancingo, and dispatched a rider on horseback to no-
tify Hernandez, who, with his forces, was in that town,
to hurry into Pachuca.
Hernandez, who was already in possession of the sta-
tion and a portion of the rolling stock of the Pachuca-
Tulancingo railway, soon had a force of some two hun-
dred men, with their horses, on board a special train
which hurried forward to Pachuca. The force was de-
trained in the outskirts of the city, and at seven o'clock
in the morning the cavalry clattered into the center of
the town. Everything was in the wildest disorder
MADEEO 137
drunken pelados, burning buildings, window fronts
smashed in, remnants of discarded loot scattered in the
streets, every sign of a riotous debauch. With the ar-
rival of the troops the looters hurried out of sight
Hernandez sent three squads of men to cover the city,
while he himself conducted an inquiry in the public
square. The blame for the starting of systematic loot-
ing was definitely fastened on one man., who was lined
up against a wall in the plaza and shot. One of Her-
nandez' squads, headed by a strapping Swede, found
looters drilling into the sides of the vault of the Bank of
Hidalgo. The looters had tried unsuccessfully to force
the vault doors with dynamite, and were now planning
to drill in on the sides and blow the whole front out.
The Swede shot the two men on the spot, their blood
spattering on the vault doors. Hernandez passed the
word around that all loot must be brought to the main
plaza, and that any one caught with loot after six hours
would be summarily shot Soon the plaza was filled
with a weird collection of stuff sewing machines, dry-
goods, groceries, fruits, gramophones, saddles, hate,
hardware, wines, in fact, every conceivable sort of mer-
chandise, and a hundred or more merchants were paw-
ing over the piles trying to identify their wares. The
vicious element in the country roundabout, hearing of
anarchy, began to pour in, and, on finding the town un-
der rigid military rule, declared they were Maderistas
who came to join the cause. Hernandez was in none
too strong a position, but feared to enlist the motley mob
with his troops. He accepted the recruits, however, as
fast as they came, disarmed them and put them at work
giving the city a much needed cleaning, in which way,
he said, they could best serve the cause ! The former
Federal troops were reenlisted as Maderistas, the old
rurales were reengaged, armed companies were sent out
138 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
to scour the country for bandits, and, in a remarkably
short space of time, peace and order were restored in
the region. Hernandez, starting a month before at a
country village with three men, was a general at the
head of a force of two thousand mounted men and a
thousand foot, controlled the Northern half of the State
of Puebla and held the whole of the state of Hidalgo.
His career, so brilliantly started, came to an end during
the Huerta regime. He was arrested, as were many
other Madero officers, and thrown in the penitentiary.
General Zepeda, one of Huerta's officers, came to the
penitentiary on March 27, 1913, and told the warden he
wished to see Hernandez. When the latter was brought
in Zepeda shot him dead.
The story of Hernandez is the story of a hundred
others. Small bands, starting over night, became com-
panies, regiments, formidable army units, in an incred-
ibly short space of time. Unfortunately all the leaders
were not as clean as Hernandez. Young men who had
nothing to lose and everything to gain jumped into posi-
tion. Recruiting men was easy. The bands could live
on the country, requisition ing or " borrowing " supplies,
arms and horses. There was a novelty in the life, and
none of the humdrum drudgery of work From seizing
needed supplies to taking luxuries was an easy step, and
thousands of men who had never had as much as ten
dollars at any one time found themselves relatively rich.
They had horses, arms, all the food they wanted, money
to spend and no work. It was often hard to distin-
guish between a Maderista and a plain bandit. Scores
of bands, calling themselves revolutionists, were nothing
more than bands organized for looting purposes. They
operated with the revolutionary forces as far as it suited
them. Classed as supporters of the cause, no one was
likely to call them to account for excesses except the old
MA "HERO
government, to them a symbol of oppression. They
could, with the revolutionists, make common cause
against the old regime. The leaders of the revolution
were glad to get any and all the support they could, and
they could not be too particular. As General Obregon
said, a couple of years later, " When you are in a revo-
lutionary fight you cannot stop to ask the antecedents
of a man who offers to carry a gun for you." And so
the movement, a real one at its base, supported partly
by patriots, partly by adventurers, and often by the
vicious, grew by leaps and bounds all over the country.
The revolutionary forces, victorious in the iSTorth, headed
southward. It was evident that nothing could stem the
tide. General Diaz, for a third of a century a powerful
dictator, resigned, left the capital somewhat hurriedly
for Vera Cruz to sail for France and to die, sur-
rounded by a few friends in Biarritz, a few years later.
The whole cabinet resigned. Francisco de la Barra was
put in as provisional president with the hope that a
compromise government could be agreed on. Madero
entered the capital on June 8 and was given an enthu-
siastic reception by the populace. Large numbers of
Federal troops came over voluntarily to the Madero
cause, opposition to Madero's candidacy for the presi-
dency ceased, little by little order was restored in the
country, and, to all appearances, troubles were over,
and the revolution, started barely six months before, had
completely triumphed. On October 2 Madero was duly
elected president.
CHAPTER XV
HUKRTA
MAIXERO, however, was not to have a peaceful time of
it. Felix Diaz, a nephew of General Diaz, an army
man and for several years chief of police in Mexico
City, had a considerable army following and planned a
revolt to turn the government over to the reactionary
party. He secured the support of some of the troops
stationed at Vera Cruz, and by a coup seized that im-
portant port ten days after Madero's election as Presi-
dent. New troops were sent to Vera Cruz, and within
a week Diaz was made a prisoner, being, however, sub-
sequently released. The following three months passed
without special incident, but on February 8, 1913, part
of the troops in Mexico City, led by General Reyes and
Felix Diaz, revolted and seized the National Palace.
The next ten days are called, in Mexico, the " decena
tragica," or tragic ten days. There was constant fight-
ing in the streets. General Huerta, one of the old reg-
ular army, had pledged his loyalty to Madero, and, with
his troops, recaptured the National Palace and one or
two points of strategic value. During the attack on the
palace General Reyes was killed. Diaz seized the ar-
senal. There followed, then, not only more or less con-
tinuous street fighting, but a bombardment, over the
most thickly populated portion of the city, of the impor-
tant points held by the opposing forces. In a zone a
couple of miles long by half a mile wide stray shells
killed many people, including one American lady, and
140
HUEETA
did much damage to property. Attempts were made by
the American Ambassador and others to arrange an
armistice, but fighting continued. The upheaval in
Mexico was soon followed by trouble elsewhere. Out-
breaks occurred in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Diaz
adherents seized Matamoras, a new revolutionary move-
ment started in Chihuahua, where Emilio Vasquez
Gomez proclaimed himself as provisional president of
Mexico, and Orozco, one of the original revolutionary
leaders, seized the city of Itfuevo Laredo, opposite La-
redo, Texas, Huerta and Diaz, through the mediation
of mutual friends, reached some sort of an agreement,
and on February 18th fighting in the city ceased
abruptly, and, simultaneously, General Blanco, one of
Huerta's officers, placed Madero and Pino Suarez, the
Vice-President, under arrest on a series of charges of
misuse of their offices. On the day following Huerta
was nominated for president by a provisional congress,
the positions of president and vice-president being de-
clared vacant through incapacity due to the arrest of the
incumbents. To preserve the form of legality Huerta
was placed in the cabinet, and, through the resignation
of the acting president he succeeded to the office. The
same day Gustavo Madero, a brother of the President,
was called out of a down town restaurant, taken to the
arsenal and killed by Huerta adherents. The authori-
ties gave assurances that Madero and Suarez should have
a fair trial, and on the twenty-second they were sent to
the penitentiary for " safe keeping." Beyond the fact
that they were assassinated, just what happened has
never been definitely known. It is claimed that, on
arrival at the penitentiary, they were placed against a
wall and executed by the mounted escort The Huerta
party claimed that the escort was attacked en route by
soldiers who thought the prisoners were being helped to
142 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOBROW
escape, and that in the melee the prisoners were acci-
dentally shot. This story was never believed. There
appears to be little doubt but that the affair was a delib-
erate assassination with a view toward ending, for all
time, the Kadero government. There are half a dozen
versions of the affair in Mexico, with variations as to
the names of those in the conspiracy, and, of course,
each version is based on positive information. The
Madero party believes Huerta was the prime mover in
the affair, but Huerta's friends, and a good many un-
biased people, believe certain other reactionaries were
responsible.
Madero was too much of an idealist to succeed. Some
of his aots only added confusion to a complicated situa-
tion. He undertook, for instance, to immediately carry
out a political promise of free land for all. Estates
belonging to rich cientificos in the North were seized and
allotments made to the Indians. The peon, with no
definite idea of what to do with a piece of land, sought
to get immediate results by selling his allotment to any
speculator who would buy it, even if he could only realize
fifteen or twenty pesos in the transaction* In many
cases, unable to find a buyer, he would offer the land to
the former owner if only he could have promise of work.
Two days after Madero's triumphal entry into the cap-
ital the word, or rumor, passed around that there would
be a distribution of land at the National Palace on the
following morning. Thousands of the peon class
swarmed to the palace the next day, and bitterly disap-
pointed when they found there was no land to be had,
they almost mobbed Madero's residence. The whole
land distribution scheme, so far as it was carried out,
was a dismal failure, satisfied nobody, and only made
bitter enemies of the land holding class. In govern-
ment administration and organization Madero was weak.
HUERTA
Personally honest, he was easily taken in by friends and
supporters, and his government had hardly been estab-
lished before there were stories of scandal and graft
Government credit, which had been high, was seriously
affected. The government, which had for some years
been accumulating a surplus, had a heavy deficit every
month, and in nine months the cash holdings in the
National Treasury dropped from seventy-five million
pesos to nothing. There were, of course, more military
expenses than usual, and these, combined with waste and
inefficiency, brought about a serious financial situation
which the government took no measures to meet. No
definite policy marked the acts of the administration.
Spasmodic and effervescent efforts were made at re-
forms of practical or illusory character, but there was
nothing in the way of a clear program such as is particu-
larly necessary to bring order out of chaos.
The murder of Madero and Suarez caused a wave of
indignation to sweep over the country, and a storm of
protest broke forth in the United States, which declined
to recognize Huerta. The foreigners Resident in Mex-
ico, while deploring the killing of Madero and Suarez,
saw in Huerta the chance of reestablishment of a normal
order of things. They had seen a condition bordering
on anarchy in the last days of the Diaz administration,
due to the progress of the revolution. There had been
weeks during which every one half expected things to
"blow up." There was no telling when the capital
might pass into the control of a mob. People slept with
revolvers under their pillows and rifles standing at their
bedsides. The old government, its authority vanishing,
seemed helpless. The incoming government had not yet
demonstrated its ability to govern. With eighty per
cent, of the population illiterate or ignorant, or both,
there was no telling what might happen. The crisis
144 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
had passed, and Madero had been installed as president^
but his government had not been of a character to inspire
confidence. Every one was pessimistic, and the foreign
population, in particular, had suffered from an attack
of nerves for a year. For weeks at a time wild rumors
had followed each other so fast that there was no time to
find out what the real situation was. Outbreaks in dif-
ferent parts of the country had threatened to become
general. There were many bands of brigands, and
travel was insecure. Under these conditions the foreign
population and the wealthy class of Mexicans felt that
a strong man was needed, and that nothing but a rule of
iron would put things in order. Huerta was known as
a strong man, and it was believed that he had the best
chance of success. American, British and French con-
cerns doing business in Mexico sent appeals to their
home offices, and the State Department in Washington
and the Foreign Offices in London and Paris were bom-
barded with requests that Huerta be recognized and
given ^ any support necessary to restore order. The
Washington administration, in spite of recommenda-
tions of the American ambassador, steadfastly refused
to recognize Huerta, the President taking the ground
that the United States could not be a party to assassina-
tion and usurpation of office.
The statement has been repeatedly made, during the
past five years, that if the United States had supported
Huerta, by giving him formal recognition, all the sub-
sequent troubles in Mexico would have been avoided.
Such an impression is very strong in England, and also
prevails with the majority of Americans having interests
in Mexico. The majority of Americans resident in
Mexico are of this opinion. Even many Mexicans have
assumed that if Huerta had received the moral backing
of the United States opposition would have ended, and
HTJEKTA 145
political, social and industrial affairs would have gone
on as before. A careful examination of the situation
does not seem to justify this view. Those on the ground
who support this theory start off with the assumption
that the Mexican people know nothing of self-govern-
ment, and will, consequently, accept any authority that
is supported by arms. They do not believe that the
force of public opinion amounts to anything in Mexico.
They feel that the peon class is too ignorant to count
politically, that the middle class is entirely indifferent,
and that it essentially devolves on the property owning
class to do the governing. In these views they are quite
sincere even many patriotic Mexicans who have high
ideals. It is true that for centuries the Mexican people
took, uncomplainingly, any form of government given
them. It is also true that, politically, the peon class
is incompetent to take part in a governing scheme. It
is equally true that the middle class has, for many years,
been indifferent to government affairs, regarding politics
as a matter of factional squabbles over power and
spoils. It does not follow, however, that a representa-
tive of the reactionary party could have made a success
of governing the country. The whole of Northern Mex-
ico was imbued with liberal ideas, and this spirit had
seeped through the whole social structure of the coun-
try. Some of the ideas were, to be sure, too extreme
to be practical ; some of them were crude and ill-suited
to the country^s economic and social conditions; and
some were so fantastic as to be ridiculous. The whole
program of liberty was a vague one. Nevertheless, the
fact remained that a revolution, based on liberal ideas,
had taken place, and that it had been successful in so
far as overthrowing an autocratic form of government
was concerned. Lacking previous political preparation,
the liberal scheme had not demonstrated its ability to
146 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
manage the affairs of the country, but this did not mean
that the liberal sentiment was crushed, or that it would
accept without protest a return to conditions against
which it had rebelled. The middle class, small as it
was, had developed in political thought, and, as opposed
to an aristocratic class, it could always count on the
great mass of people for support. Huerta, with the
moral and military support of the United States, could,
in a short time, have controlled the country, but Huerta,
backed solely by moral support, would have had a very
hard time of it. It is doubtless true that the refusal of
the United States to give him recognition helped,
through giving his enemies encouragement, to precipi-
tate matters.
It is hardly probable, however, that a new outbreak
would have been long postponed. The fact cannot be
overlooked that, throughout the country, there had been
an insistent demand for a change: a demand made by
people having no political organization, no military sup-
port, and no voice in government affairs ; nevertheless, a
demand so strong as to have formed the base for a suc-
cessful revolution. Making all due allowance for per-
sonal equations, ambition, greed, cupidity and igno-
rance, the movement had moral force back of it, and
this force, sooner or later, would have asserted itself.
To be sure, if Huerta had continued in power and made
drastic reforms he doubtless would have met with suc-
cess, but his associations and the manner of his coming
into power gave no promise of a liberal scheme, but
rather fixed him, in the public mind, as an advocate of
strong reactionary rule.
The rapidity with which opposition sprang up is good
evidence in support of the above argument. Two days
after Madero and Suarez were killed, Huerta was de-
nounced at Saltillo by General Venustiano Oarranza,
HUEETA
one of Madero's supporters, and Carranza's attitude was
soon endorsed by many leaders. Governor Gonzalez,
of Chih.uah.iia, who failed to recognize Huerta, was
placed under arrest, sent under escort to the capital but
murdered en route. There were outbreaks in Sonora,
Nuevo leon, Coahuila and Sinaloa. Within two weeks
Carranza, supported by Jesus Carranza, Pablo Gonzalez,
Salinas and otters, had eight or ten thousand men in the
field. In another week Alvaro Obregon, a well-to-do
rancher and friend of Carranza, had another force in
the field and attacked and took the town of ISTogales.
It would be tedious to go into the details of the cam-
paign, or series of campaigns, which followed. There
were defeats and victories on both sides. The whole
Northern half of Mexico was the battlefield. The en-
gagements frequently were of small importance, but
collectively they made for the steady progress of the
revolutionary party, now called the Constitutionalists.
There were incidents which gave variety to the war.
The Yaqui Indians went on the warpath on their own
hook, and attacked both Constitutionalists and Federals.
Zapata,.who, in the state of Morelos, had started a revo-
lution simultaneously with the start of the Madero revo-
lution and who had, for two years, dominated the states
of Morelos and Guerrero, at various times acted with
the Carranzistas and at other times with the Federals.
Pascual Orozco, one of the original Madero officers,
operated for a time with Zapata, fell out with him and
was executed. Francisco Villa was a Constitutionalist
supporter but a difficult and erratic one to handle. The
strong personal elements presented many difficulties.
Many of the bands, as in the Madero revolution, were
simply squads of brigands, and their excesses caused
serious situations, particularly in cases affecting for-
eigners. In spite of numerous troubles the Constitu-
148 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
tionalists made headway. The forces under Pablo Gon-
zalez and Obregon were solidified and were able to make
a definite offensive against the Federals.
The Washington administration had, in the meantime,
advised all Americans to leave Mexico, and large num-
bers had left. The American government sent special
representatives to Mexico City, but nothing definite re-
sulted. Spain had given Huerta early recognition,
and Great Britain had followed it, but Washington stood
by its determination not to give formal recognition.
Huerta, in addition to military opposition, was having
no easy time of it. Dominguez, a member of the Senate,
made a speech openly attacking him, and, when Domin-
guez disappeared and was reported to have been assas-
sinated, the Senate demanded an investigation. One
hundred and ten senators were then arrested and placed
in jail and kept there for some time. Warships were
sent by various foreign governments to Mexican ports.
Huerta, in need of funds, floated an internal loan of
ten million pesos, a delicate hint being given to each
large concern to subscribe a certain amount. In the
midst of all the trouble and turmoil a picturesque fea-
ture was added when Zapata made the announcement
that as soon as he and his principals triumphed he would
exclude all foreigners from the country, tear up the
railroads, and return to primitive conditions. Felix
Diaz tried to " start something " and had to flee from
the country. Through the fall of 1913 and in the win-
ter of 1914: some efforts were made by the United States
to effect an arrangement between the opposing parties,
but both sides were indisposed to negotiate. Carranza
insisted throughout that he would agree- to no foreign
interference in Mexican affairs. Huerta, on his part,
was much offended because of the failure to recognize
HUERTA 149
Mm, and felt tiiat the American government was hostile.
In Marclx the Carranza forces, by this time fairly
dominant in the North, began pushing a campaign into
Central Mexico. A-n incident in Tampico, growing out
of the arrest, by Federal officers, of some United States
marines, brought a demand, in April, for an apology.
Huerta apologized., but refused to have the American
flag saluted. An American fleet then shelled the de-
fenses of Vera Cruz, landed forces, and on April 21,
1914, occupied the city. There was some hard fighting
for a short time, thirty American marines and sailors
losing their lives, while the Mexican losses, military and
civil, due largely to shelling a portion of the city where
the arsenal was located, were over three hundred. The
occupation of Vera Cruz caused intense excitement and
much bitter feeling, especially in Mexico City. Nearly
all American residents left for the Coast, and all. be-
lieved that armed intervention in Mexico was at hand.
Matters dragged for some weeks, but finally a proposal
was made that Argentine, Brazil and Chile should act
jointly to mediate between Mexico and the United
States, and the American and Mexican (Huerta) gov-
ernments accepted the offer. Huerta proposed an arm-
istice with the Carranza forces pending the result of the
so-called A. B. C. negotiations, but the latter, while
declaring his protests against the presence of American
forces in Mexico, declined to have this condition used
as a basis for the settlement of internal affairs. The
Carranza forces were, by this time (July) making rapid
headway. Huerta finally made up his mind that, be-
tween internal and external troubles, his situation was
hopeless, and on the fifteenth of July he left Mexico
City, going to Puerto Mexico, from which port he em-
barked with his family for Spain, on board the German
150 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
cruiser Dresden (now sunk). Huerta spent a year or
more abroad and then came to the United States, was
arrested on the border on charges of conspiring to start
a revolution, and died before his case came to trial.
CHAPTER XVI
CABRANZA VILLA ZAP AT A
THE Federals, on Huerta's departure, ceased serious
opposition to the Constitutionalist cause, and within a
month General Obregon occupied the capital. Felix
Diaz, who had returned to the country, announced that
he would start a new revolution. In the North Mayto-
rena led an uprising in Sonora. Obregon and Villa,
sent to suppress the outbreak, fell out, and Villa placed
Obregon under arrest. Obregon managed, however, to
escape and return to Mexico City, while Villa, after
announcing himself as dictator of Northern Mexico,
declared war on the Constitutionalists, so that, five weeks
after the latter had occupied Mexico City, they had a
new revolution on their hands. Leaders in Mexico City
called a national convention, to meet at Aguas Calientes,
partly for the purpose of organizing a permanent govern-
ment and partly to secure, if possible, a union of all
parties in a new program. The convention met on Oc-
tober eighteenth. Villa, at the head of a large force of
light cavalry, swept down unexpectedly from the North,
and overawed the convention, which resulted in the for-
mation of a Villa-Zapata party called the Convention-
alists.
The Constitutionalists, meanwhile, had organized a
government in the capital. One of their first acts was
to ask the United States to withdraw its troops from
Vera Cruz, which was evacuated by the American forces
on November 23rd. The Belgian minister was given
152 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
his passports as the result of a communication which
offended the government. Sir Lionel Garden, the Brit-
ish Minister, who had advocated the support of Huerta,
left the country. The government took over the opera-
tion pf the National Railways, partly for military rea-
sons and partly, doubtless, as a source of income. At
the same time the government took possession of the
tramways system in Mexico City.
The Constitutionalists, threatened by the Zapata
forces from the South and Villa forces from the North,
decided to evacuate Mexico City, and withdrew on No-
vember twenty-fifth, going to Vera Cruz, which then
became their headquarters. A serio-comic incident con-
nected with the evacuation was that General Obregon,
wishing to embarrass the Villa-Zapata combination as
much as possible, and also to c\\t off a source of revenue,
took the controller boxes off from all the street cars,
and shipped them to Vera Cruz, completely tying up the
operation of the street railway system.
Mexico City, during the next two months, witnessed
a series of political and military shifts probably never
equaled in history. Zapata occupied the city on No-
vember twenty-fifth, his army marching in from* the
south as Obregon withdrew his troops at the northern
end of the city. The Zapata forces consisted of recruits
from the farming class in the State of Morelos. Few
of his soldiers had ever been in a large city before.
They were people of the most primitive type, who, for
four years, had been carrying on a bandit warfare in
Morelos. They had looted every large hacienda in
the state, where Zapata, a wild and picturesque dictator,
had held complete sway. They had declared open en-
mity against the railroads, and had wrecked train after
train between Mexico City and Cuernavaca, killing
scores of passengers. They had been responsible for
CAKKANZA VILLA ZAPATA 153
so much looting and slaughter that their advance on the
city and the withdrawal of the Constitutionalist troops
threw the public in the wildest sort of panic. Every
one wanted to flee, but there were no transportation fa-
cilities. Service on the Vera Cruz line was interrupted,
and Obregon had taken the rolling stock of the Pachuca
line to move his troops. Many of the private auto-
mobiles had been commandeered, or simply taken, by
the military. Besides, the shift had come so quickly
that there was no time to leave, and, before the majority
of people realized what was happening, the Zapatistas
were in full occupation of the city. Much of the terror
produced by the mere mention of the Zapatistas proved
to have been groundless. There was much less violence
and disorder than had been expected ; in fact, the city
was rather more orderly than it had been. The Zapa-
tistas were seemingly more or less overawed by their
surroundings, and, on the whole, behaved themselves
fairly well. There was no looting of shops or private
houses, and such automobiles as remained in the city
were not molested, few of the " Zaps " understanding
anything of the intricacies of the insides of a motor
car. Horses were legitimate loot. One wealthy Mex-
ican, a great polo player, saved his string of polo ponies
by quartering them in a small dwelling house adjoining
his own property, supplying them for weeks with food
from a temporary entrance, concealed by shrubbery,
cut through the wall into his own yard. The " Zaps "
felt that anything found in government property was
fair spoil, and their fancy usually ran to showy odds
and ends bits of brocade, strips of enameled leather
cut from heavy chairs, bronze or brass electric light
fixtures, gilded picture frames, cut glass chandeliers,
and the like. There were many incongruities, with
barefooted soldiers in pa jama-like cotton suits standing
154: MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOREOW
guard in the gorgeously furnished reception rooms in
the elaborate government department buildings, and
picturesque officers amusing themselves by riding up
and down elevators in office buildings. Thinking it
was some new type of war machine, a squad of soldiers
opened fire on a fire engine responding to a call, and
killed several of the crew. The shelves of the National
Library were stripped of half their books, to be sold
to second-hand bookstalls for what they would bring.
Elaborate silk and brocade hangings were cut from the
walls of the National Palace and sold to dealers in an-
tiques. The general hostility to foreigners was evi-
denced in the complete wreckage of furniture and fur-
nishings at the Country Club, just outside the city,
which was used as Zapatista headquarters before entry
into the city.
The first shock of the Zapatista occupation over,
people settled down to make the best of matters. Ten
days later Villa entered the city with a large force
and was soon wrangling with Zapata over the latter^s
suggestion that Emilio Vasquez Gomez should be
named President. The Zapata forces, withdrawn from
the city the first of December to engage the Con-
stitutionalists, met with defeats toward the end of the
month, and on January nineteenth Villa, having in-
sufficient forces to hold the city against the advancing
Constitutionalist army, abandoned the capital. In the
meanwhile Gutierrez, installed as provisional president
by a combination of different elements in the city, in-
cluding Villa, had refused to be Villa's tool and had
had to flee, being succeeded by Eoque Gonzalez Garza.
The latter now attempted to reach some arrangement
with Carranza, but, the negotiations failing, he left the
city, Obregon, with the Constitutionalist troops, reenter-
ing on January twenty-eighth. The next few weeks
CAKRANZA VILLA ZAPATA 155
passed without special event in the capital, but there
was much fighting all over the country, especially in the
North. General Jesus Carranza, one of the original
supporters of the Constitutionalists, was, with his son,
betrayed into the hands of the Villistas, and father and
son were executed. Gabriel Salinas, one of those re-
sponsible for his death, was later captured and executed.
Villa proclaimed himself dictator for all of Mexico,
and, with a large force supporting him, he threatened
to make his claim good. Obregon, needing all his
troops for the North, and threatened from the South
by the Zapatistas, on March eleventh, again evacuated
Mexico City, the " Zaps " marching in and assuming
control of affairs. The seat of government continued
to be in Vera Cruz, from which point General Carranza
directed the campaign. The Constitutionalist armies,
led by Obregon, Gonzales and Trevino, had the great
advantage that they were acting in a common cause and
were loyal to one chief, while their opponents, Villistas,
Zapatistas and other " istas " were running more or less
individual affairs and unlikely to act in unison. The
campaign was pushed through the Spring and early
Summer of 1915. Obregon, operating in the North,
defeated Villa forces in many skirmishes and some
heavy fighting, Trevino dislodged Villa troops from im-
portant points in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, and
Gonzalez, by a long series of operations, secured control
of all the territory surrounding Mexico City. On July
tenth the Zapatistas evacuated the city, and the Consti-
tutionalists again took possession.
CAffairs in the capital had been going from bad to
worse. Business was suspended and factories closed;
no work was to be had ; thousands of people had starved
to death; there were epidemics; governments had suc-
ceeded governments so rapidly that people were dazed;
156 MEXICO TO-DAY AJSTD TO-MOEEOW
the wildest rumors were current every day ; each faction
had celebrated its days of control by executions of peo-
ple accused of treason, conspiracy or sedition; railway
service had been interrupted, for weeks at a time; even
the richest people had had a bad time of it, having to
sacrifice jewels and other possessions to obtain funds
with which to buy food ; most of the foreigners had left ;
travel by motor car or to outlying towns had been peril-
ous, frequently involving going through the lines of
opposing factions: in fact, life itself had been very
uncertain.
With such conditions prevailing in the city, and gen-
eral uncertainty as to the ultimate outcome of affairs,
the situation in rural districts was even worse. The
general disorder had largely stopped or cut down agri-
cultural pursuits.^ Food was scarce, and labqr could
find no work. The man with a gun could take food
away from^the man who had no gun.". In a considerable
degree brigandage was a natural consequence of the
state of affairs. Many joined bands purely as a mat-
ter of existence. A band strong enough to overcome
the ordinary force at a ranch or hacienda could at least
obtain a supply of corn. In the absence of any estab-
lished government, it was an easy matter to kill if any
resistance were offered, as there was no danger of re-
tributive justice. In various sections the strongest of
the bands dominated, levied tribute on towns and vil-
lages, and ran affairs with a high hand. All the bands
called themselves something or other, sometimes Con-
stitutionalists, sometimes Villistas, sometimes Zapatis-
tas, more often after the name of some local leader. A
force of some three hundred men, calling themselves
liberalists, surrounded the Suchi Lumber Company's
property in the State of Mexico and demanded ten thou-
sand pesos " for the cause." The written demand said
CARRANZA VILLA ZAP ATA 157
that they came as friends, but that, in the event of re-
fusal, they would come into the camp with sword and
firebrand, and the signature of the " general " com-
manding was followed by the words "JLiberty, Consti-
tution and Justice ! " ^ .Many towns in the rural districts
had had more changes in administration than the cap-
ital, and each change usually involved some new levy of
taxes. Even with the organized movements there was
little or no effort made to gather taxes systematically.
Local leaders raised what they could to provision their
forces. This naturally resulted in great abuses, as
many unscrupulous officers took advantage of the situa-
tion to graft right and left. Leaders who had a strong
following did not stop at petty grafting. They seized
whole estates and appropriated all the proceeds from the
sale of products. It is no exaggeration to say that half
the large haciendas farms, ranches or rural estates
were, at one time or another, operated by people who
had no possible claim to them. The Constitutionalists,
as a government, set a bad example. Properties be-
longing to " Cientificos " were liable to denouncement
and subject to public administration, doubtless on the
theory that they represented ill-gotten wealth of public
enemies. The government " intervened " in these prop-
erties and leased them, frequently at purely nominal fig-
ures. Buildings and presses belonging to newspapers
of " Cientifico " tendencies were " intervened " and
loaned to men who would run newspapers friendly to
the government. Private residences, rural estates and
office buildings were taken over by the score. The
government did not claim ownership of such proper-
ties, but only that of administration until their status
should be determined by legal procedure. The number
of " intervened " properties was so large that a special
administrator was attached to the National Treasury
158 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
to take care of this particular work. The policy of
the government was, doubtless, partly responsible for
the fact that many local leaders seized things " on their
own hook " without the formality of government action.
In some cases the owners of properties were quite satis-
fied to have them seized by leaders with strong back-
ing, as this was a protection, against looting and wanton
destruction. The property of foreigners was, as a rule,
respected, and houses with American tenants were not
likely to be disturbed. , During 1915, with the Zapata-
Villa-Obregon changes in Mexico City, a number of
Americans were offered large city houses rent free if
they would only occupy them. - ,
Abuses of this sort brought much discredit on the
government, and made foreigners feel entirely hopeless
about the situation. It must be remembered, however,
that the people had never had any experience in govern-
ment and were totally unprepared to set up a new or-
ganization to take the place of the dictatorship they had
overthrown. As a result chaotic conditions and excesses
of all sorts followed the first successes. The govern-
ment, just come into being, was not strong enough to
control many of its own petty leaders. It had, more-
over, to deal with a certain class of supporters^ who were
using the cause for their own ends. It needed all the
support it could get until it could be established on a
sound basis, and it had to put up with all sorts of acts
until that time could be reached.
In the rural districts far away from the large cen-
ters conditions were particularly bad. The majority
of the well-to-do class moved, for "safety, to the National
Capital. A rural estate or remote mining plant, threat-
ened with a raid by bandits, had no one to call on for
help. A few American raining men in these remote
CAKRANZA VILLA ZAPATA 159
camps stuck it out a long time, and their lives, day after
day, were full of excitement and adventure.
The simple tale of a little American girl of eight,
overheard as she told it to a friend a year later, gives
an idea of what was involved in trying to keep going
under difficult conditions. " One day a lot of bandits
rode into the camp/' she said. "Mama and I were
alone in the house and when they came up mama
gave them something to eat, and they went away. Then
they came back and got papa at his office, and took him
away with them, and mama was terribly scared.
They wanted a lot of money to let papa go, and we
didn't have any, only a very little. They took papa to
the hills but after a while he got away and came back
all right. Then some other bandits came later, and
they were going to kill everybody. We had two mozos
(servants) who knew where there were some big caves
we could hide in, and we went to these caves and stayed
there. I think we were there three weeks. The mozos
went into camp each night and brought us food. My
pony got away from the cave and I was afraid the
bandits had him. Well, after a while the bandits left
that part of the country and we came back. My pony
had come to the camp. My, I was glad to see him.
Well, we stayed there a long time, but bandits kept
coming and going, and papa could not send any ores
away from the mine, so at last we came away. And
our mozos cried when we left."
Bandits frequently raided large towns, and some of
the bands were large enough to carry out a raid on a
large city. There was no telling when they might ap-
pear. In Pachuca the mines, unable for a time to
make shipments, accumulated a large amount of bul-
lion. The country roundabout was full of bandits.
160 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
The manager of one of the large mining companies, in
fear for the bullion and knowing that any attempt to
conceal it would be useless, buried it in a bed of con-
crete several feet thick If raided, he could say where
the bullion was, and hope the process of digging it
out would give time to secure assistance. Fortunately,
there was no raid, but it later took the company two
days to dig the bullion out.
Some thirty foreigners, cooped up in Toluca in the
fall of 1915, hearing that conditions in the capital were
tolerable, decided to make the trip, and asked a " Zap "
colonel to send them through on one of the military
trains. The colonel demanded a hundred dollars in
gold, but as the party had nothing but paper money
he agreed to accept a check from one of the men. x The
train started, climbed the high divide which separates
the Toluca and Mexico valleys, and had started down
the other side when the advance guard of the main
"Zap" army was met, and it was learned that the
" Zaps " had evacuated the city and that their retreat
was being closely followed up by the Constitutionalists.
The colonel in charge of the train then said he must
take the train back, as he dared not risk losing the
engine, so he left the foreigners at a bleak little station
near the top of the grade and pulled out for Toluca.
Incidentally he returned the check for a hundred dol-
lars. The party saw a flat car on the siding and de-
cided to chance a coasting trip on it down into the
valley. The whole party, including six women, ac-
cordingly boarded the flat car, released the brakes and
started down the grade. The car got going so fast
that those on board could not stop it, and as they shot
around a bend they discovered, to their horror, that
the " Z^jps " were marching along and on the railroad
track. ^^They shot through a body of two or three thou-
CAREANZA VILLA ZAPATA 161
sand men^ troops on the track scrambling off just in
time, miraculously going through without a scratch.
When the " Zaps " recovered from the surprise of the -
wild car plunging down hill they began firing at it, but
no one was hurt. Farther down more troops were
passed, and these were busy exchanging a desultory
fire with Constitutionalist troops harassing them from
the hillside above them. The car shot along, went
through the straggling lines of the Carranza forces, and
finally was brought to a stop in front of a large ha-
cienda in the outskirts of the city. The wild ride
was over, and the passengers, half scared to death, were
glad to seek refuge in the hacienda, from which, later,
they made their way into town.
These incidents. give some idea of the conditions
people lived in. _Worst of all, perhaps, was the entire
uncertainty of things.. < People who had stuck through
it for months would, finally, on the strength of some
new riutnor, decide to leave the country. The control
of any one party rarely extended over a zone long
enough to permit any through railway service to the
border, but sometimes, by a combination of round-
about routes, it was possible to get through. So a start
would be made, only to wander around a few days in
out-of-the-way places and then find that, since starting,
conditions had changed and some essential section of
the route blocked. Then a new combination would be
tried, perhaps successfully. Railway travel was peril-
ous. On the Vera Cruz line the Zapatistas wrecked a
freight train and started some of the cars coasting down
hill The wild cars smashed into an upbound passenger
train, which, with four hundred passengers, was thrown
off the track and toppled over the edge, to tumble down
a thousand feet or more into the bottom of the gorge.
Trains, in spite of strong escorts on pilot trains ahead,
162 MEXICO TO-DAY AITD TO-MOKROW
were repeatedly blown up with dynamite. Shooting
at trains was common, and several times trains carry-
ing escorts of a hundred men or more were attacked
by bandit gangs. Travel was dangerous, and staying
home involved living in a state of uncertainty and anx-
iety. But in many respects life went on as usual in the
capitat- People played golf, although the country
around the golf course was full of bandits. - One golfer,
at least, was held up on the course, and, as he had no
valuables on hi the bandits took his clothes and left
him to wander back to the clubhouse in his underwear.
Much of the brigandage was not particularly vicious.
The bandits needed money for food, or wanted bits of
-jewelry or other baubles. Foreigners who knew the
language and understood" the people generally came
through safely, but real danger, plus- uncertainty, put
all nerves on edge. The worst sufferers were the
wealthy Mexicans, who, in many cases, were stripped
of everything they owned.
The Zapatistas seized the Eef onna mine in the State
of Guerrero, and coined the bullion taken from the
smelter into silver pesos. These pieces circulated freely
for a time until some one discovered that the coins
carried a large percentage of gold and were ^ worth,
intrinsically, more than double their face value. ) Paper
money of all sorts, Constitutionalist and Villista, and
issues of half a dozen state governments, appeared and
disappeared with changes of government. Military
leaders at times paid for supplies with money turned
out on typewriters money made on the spot. fEven
in the large cities there were no courts save those of
petty magistrates to handle criminal casesy With no
courts, with only a partially organized government
(which might change any day), with little or no rail-
way service, industries closed, an epidemic of typhus,
CARKANZA VILLA ZAPATA 163
agriculture stopped, brigandage, military operations and
factional fighting, conditions were desperate. In the
rural districts the peons, failing to obtain work, flocked
to the capital, which, with a hundred thousand or more
refugees, was, in the worst possible shape. Altogether,
affairs could not have been much worse. There was,
however, no rioting. The peon class seldom voices its
complaints if there is a show of authority.
Toward the end of K 1915jhere was some improvement.
Railway service between the capital and Vera Cruz
was on a fairly regular basis. The National Railway
line from Laredo to Mexico City was again in opera-
tion, after a more or less complete suspension for a
year. Seizure, of properties in Constitutionalist terri-
tory ceased. ^Qarranza, acting as provisional dictator
under the title of First Chief, was begriming to shape
something like a government into being. The Pan-
American conference, "A. B. C." and the United
States, at last gave the Constitutionalists recognition,
and this was followed by similar action by Great Brit-
ain and Spain. The year 1916 opened up hopefully.
Then came serious complications. One of the large
American mining companies decided, in view of im-
proving conditions, to resume operations, and sent a
train, carrying employees and supplies, into Mexico.
The train was held up by a Villista band under Lopez
at the station of Santa Isabel, and seventeen Americans
were lined up and shot. ; Carranza deplored the inci-
dent and sent forces toTiunt down Lopez, who was cap-
tured and, with seventeen of his band, executed. The
incident caused great indignation in the United States,
and again demands were made on the Washington gov-
ernment for military intervention in Mexico. ^ JChe ex-
citement caused had barely subsided when a Villa band,
on March 9, made a raid on Columbus, N* M., killing
164 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
many American soldiers and civilians. Additional
American troops were immediately dispatched to the
border, and General Pershing was ordered to go into
Mexico and catch Villa. American troops crossed the
line on March fifteenth, and General Pershing moved
rapidly South in pursuit of Villa. Much friction arose
through the presence of American troops in Mexico.
The Carranza government had said it would give per-
mission for American troops to chase bandits on Mex-
ican soil if Mexico were given reciprocal rights. Per-
shing wished to use the Mexico Northwestern Railway
for the movement of troops and supplies, and only ob-
tained a tardy permission, for the handling of supplies
only. Pershing, with only a small force, and obliged
to keep open a long line of communication in a coun-
try which might prove to be hostile, could not surround
Villa, who, although wounded in a skirmish, managed
to escape to the mountains. As the troops advanced
in Mexico the friction over their presence grew worse.
Carranza military leaders considered the American
force, strung out on a line a hundred and fifty miles
long, as a wedge driven in anticipation of a large army
of occupation, and finally notified Pershing that any
further advance would be met with armed resistance^
Twice American troops were fired on, and incidents "at
Parral and^Carrizal threatened to plunge the two coun-
tries into war. State department assurances that there
would be no intervention were not believed in Mexico,
which began massing troops in the North. The United
States government notified all Americans to leave Mex-
ico. There was a general exodus, Americans leaving
precipitately any way they could, by tniin, passenger
steamers, "tramps" and transports. 4?he American
National Guard was called out and sent to the border.
At the end of June war seemed inevitable, but early in
CAKKANZA VILLA ZAPATA 165
July Carranza proposed a conference over border ques-
tions, and Washington accepted the offer. In August
the Mexican government named Luis Cabrera, Ignacio
Bonillas and Alberto J. Pani as commissioners for the
conference, while the United States^ named Secretary
Lane, Judge Gray and John R Mott>, Sessions of the
conference wereTieid inTSTew London, Conn., beginning
early in September, and continued through the month
there, and through the months of October and November
at Atlantic City. In October the Mexican Commis-
sioners asked for the withdrawal of American troops
from Mexico as a preliminary to any discussions. This
request was repeated at various times, the Mexican rep-
resentatives insisting that the continuance of troops in
Mexico was not only unnecessary and unfriendly but
was also a very serious handicap to the government in
internal affairs. -Finally, a protocol was agreed on to
cover the withdrawal, and also for the policing of the
border, the protocol being signed by the Mexican Com-
missioners subject to Carranza's approval* Senor Pani
went to Mexico and returned shortly with the statement
that CJarranza took the position that no protocol was
necessary for the withdrawal of troops from Mexican,
soil; that the troops were in Mexico without Mexico's
consent; that Mexico had repeatedly asked to have them
withdrawn; and, finally, that, if the United States
wished to show its friendship by withdrawing the
troops, it could do so without any discussion or agree-
ment. xThe conference then ended, and, while nothing
definite had been accomplished, there was a better un-
derstanding on both sides and the way was paved for
the establisliment of more friendly rela^ns. On Jjui-
uary 2, 1916, orders were given to General Pershing
to withdraw^ Ms forces, and a week later Henry P.
"^Fletcher, appointed ambassador some months before but
166 MEXICO TO-DAY ATD TO-MOKROW
held in Washington awaiting developments, was sent
to his post. Shortly afterward the Mexican government
named Mr. Bonillas as ambassador to the United
States.
CHAPTER
DIFFICULT CONDITIONS
OCCUPIED, on the one hand, with foreign complica-
tions which promised, for some time, to involve the
country in war, the government had been, on the other,
beset with many very serious problems at home. The
year 1916 had opened up with prospects of rapid im-
provements in the political situation. There were, how-
ever, many practical difficulties in the way. An epi-
demic of typhus, finding easy victims in the half-
starved population, had swept over the country in 1915
with terrific virulence, reaching such proportions that
the burial of the dead had, at times, been a difficult
problem to handle" This epidemic, with the winter
season, when people 'crowded together in close quarters,
started up again, and its reappearance was enough to
discourage the most optimistic. The government's pa-
per money, which had held fairly steady, began, under
the fear of foreign trouble and the uncertainties as to
internal affairs, to decline rapidly, ending in a collapse
which upset the whole industrial situation. A for-
eigner going to Mexico for a month's stay in the Spring
of 1916, found the pesos worth four cents on arrival,
and left later with the same pesos worth two cents.
Such a slump naturally upset all classes of Business and
all industrial disputes. The general depression in busi-
ness, coupled with the critical state of relations with,
the United States, resulted in a general lack of confi-
dence in the government, and this, in turn, caused more
167
168 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOREOW
declines in currency and more economic upset. Some
idea of the conditions prevailing during the Spring can
be gained from a summary of housekeeping expenses.
A house which had rented a few years before for two
hundred pesos, or one hundred dollars, still rented for
two hundred pesos, then worth about four dollars.
Household servants received their old wages, twenty-
five pesos (50 cents) per month for a cook, and 40
pesos (20 cents) for housemaids. Electric light bills
for an average house amounted to twelve or fifteen cents,
and water rates were less. Consequently, for six dol-
lars a month one could have a large house, with serv-
ants, electric light bills and water rates paid. Ten
dollars more would buy necessary food for a good-sized
family, so that, for fifteen or sixteen dollars one could
maintain a fairly luxurious establishment., Imported
articles were high in price, and some domestic manu-
factured goods maintained a gold standard and conse-
quently high prices. Generally, however, prices were
ridiculously low. The old basis of tariffs in vogue on
the railways, reduced to American currency, was a joke,
the first-class fare and Pullman ticket from Vera Cruz
to Mexico City, a twelve-hour ride, costing one dollar f
first-class fare alone fifty cents; and second-class fare
thirty cents, the last at the rate of one-eighth of a cent
per mile. The price of a shoe-shine was 25 centavos,
or one-fourth of a peso, the latter worth two cents
in other words, half a cent. Foodstuffs, however, were
relatively high, always remaining, as articles of general
necessity, at something like gold values. Moreover,
disturbed conditions had cut down agricultural produc-
tion, and part of the needed corn the staple of the
country had to be imported, naturally giving corn
a gold value. Thus, while foodstuffs had advanced
750, 1,000 or even 2,000 per cent, Mexican currency,
DIFFICULT CONDITIONS 169
labor had advanced only 100, 150 or 200 per cent.
^he only workers who did not suffer acutely under
these conditions were domestic servants, who, while
their pay had not advanced, at least had shelter and
food. Even they suffered when it came to the question
of clothing themselves. An ordinary pair of service-
able shoes cost a hundred pesos, or two months' wages,
while imported shoes of the $g,50 .variety sold for 250
pesos. The average pay of some three thousand em-
ployees of public utility companies was, in March, less
than four pesos, or eight cents U. S. currency, per
man. So great was the distress that in many cases
employees begged to be paid in food rations. The con-
ditions were almost as bad as they had been during the
last days of the Zapata occupation, when Zapata money
had declined almost to the vanishing point. At that
time a corner policeman, asking a resident for a tip,
said he hated to beg, but was obliged to because of food-
stuff prices.
" You know," he said, " a good sized cat sells in the
market for 30 to 35 pesos. ~ I get five pesos a day, so
if I work a week I can just earn one cat.",
The El Oro mining camp, overrun several times by
bandit gangs, had closed down, throwing seven or eight
thousand men out of wort The cotton mills at Puebla
and Orizaba, employing thousands of workmen, were
closed. Guanajuato, one of the oldest mining camps
in Mexico, had dwindled from forty thousand inhab-
itants down to fifteen thousand and there was no
work even for those remaining. The great smelters,
steel works and industrial plants at Monterrey the
sole support of a population of ninety thousand people
were all closed. And so all over the country.
Felix Diaz was stirring up trouble in Oaxaca, Zapata
was dominant in Morelos, Guerrero and Michoacan, and
170 MEXICO TO-DAY ASTD TO-MORROW
Yilla was in possession of a large part of Chihuahua.
There were almost innumerable bands of brigands
roaming through the country. In addition to the trou-
bles caused by military opposition, brigandage and in-
dustrial conditions, the government was confronted by
very serious civil opposition. To understand this, it
is necessary to briefly review past conditions. Under
the former regime in Mexico there was practically no
provision, politically, for a middle class. The govern-
ment was an autocracy, managed by a- few and in a
great measure for the benefit of a few. These were the
land owners on one hand, to govern, and the laborers,
f arrm hands and Indians, on the other, to be governed.
The middle class was an incident shopkeepers, clerks,
small professional men, small manufacturers, some small
landowners. The middle class, on the whole, was an
educated class dependent on the aristocratic class. It
was fairly prosperous, and improving its position. The
sub-leaders of the revolution came, generally, from the
working class or from the less wealthy part of the mid-
dle class. With the economic upheaval which followed
the revolution business came to a standstill. Shop-
keepers sold no goods, factories had no orders, clerks
had no work, professional men had no money. When
paper money went all to pieces, the middle class suf-
fered, perhaps most of all, as salaries and fees continued
to be paid at the same rate as before but with half or
more of the purchasing power of the money gone. The
laboring classes, being more or less organized, could
at least by strikes improve their position, or, organized
as bands, they could seize goods. The middle class,
reduced to extremities, too proud to beg, too educated
to loot, could only suffer. Naturally, a large part of
this class became bitter about the revolution. The
aristocratic class, against whom the revolution was di-
DIFFICULT CONDITIONS 171
rected, was even more bitter. The laboring class and
the Indians, as a whole, enjoyed liberty and license at
first, but began to grumble when their wages would
not meet half of their needs. The government had,
therefore, arrayed against it practically the united oppo-
sition of the old wealthy class, of an important part of
the middle class, and of a certain part of the poorer
and laboring classes, who wanted plenty of liberty but
wanted cheap food with it.
In addition to these military and economic troubles,
there was the solid opposition of the church. It is, per-
haps, somewhaf difficult to "understand the relations be-
tween the church and party politics in Mexico. The
Church and State had long been separated, and osten-
sibly there was no connection between the church and
the 'political machine which for years dominated the
country. The Church, however, had, perhaps scarcely
realizing it, been a steady supporter of the autocratic
government. It worked with the wealthy landowners,
had their support and gave them its aid. _It was op-
posed to any change, and, from the first, had been hos-
tile to the revolution not hostile, perhaps, to all of
the revolutionary ideals, but opposed to any departure
from the old order of things:* Its position was similar
to that of the church in Spain an institution which,
in the Middle Ages, had been a check on a turbulent
people, but which, in time, became a brake on progress.
Mexico had not the monastic orders, nor great numbers
of priests, as in Spain, but the church had not, as in
the United States, developed on broad lines of thought.
Education was parochial and along limited lines.
There were, to be sure, many devoted priests, and sis-
ters of charity did much to relieve the suffering of the
poor classes. There were, and are, ecclesiastics in Mex-
ico whose vision is clear and whose logic is sound.
172 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
[Nevertheless, the church has never been a factor for
progress in Mexico.
-" Perhaps the feeling of Constitutionalist leaders to-
ward the Church can best be shown by an interview the
writer had with General Obregon in the Fall of .1916.
The various factors of the situation were being dis-
cussed, when General Obregon, in his clear, sharp way,
asked :
" Do you know any of the large haciendas ? "
" Yes."
" Please describe them the grounds, the buildings,
and so on." Eesidence, peons' quarters, warehouses,
and other features were enumerated, and finally the
chapel was mentioned
" Stop ! Do you know what that is for ? "
."-To give the peons a place to worship."
" No," Obregon snapped out, bringing his fist down
on^lKe table, " that is where the poor peon is given the
daily dose of spiritual cocaine to keep him happy and
illusioned through the day.".
This is, of course, an extreme view, but many peo-
ple, including conservative Mexicans having no sym-
pathy with the government, believe that there is a good
deal of truth back of the statement. The church taught
patience, obedience, peace, spiritual consolation. In the
rural districts it was, intentionally or otherwise, hand-
in-glove with the owners of the large haciendas. SDbre-
gon's bitter view of the situation was that the Church
got anything that the estate owner overlooked in
other words, that the peon slaved for a pittance^' for
the "hacendado" and then had to give up anything
he had to secure repose for his soul. There were ha-
ciendas where conditions were ideal, where the estate
owner had a fatherly interest in all his people, where
the priest represented the ideals of religion, and there
DIFFICULT CONDITIONS 173
were haciendas where conditions were the reverse.
Obregon, in. his " Eight Thousand Kilometers of Cam-
paign," makes some statements as to the morals of rural
priests which are hard to believe, but which, at least,
show the bitterness of feeling. Moreover, the program
of the Constitutionalists, advocating civil marriage and
divorce and restricting the authority of the church in
several directions, was sufficient cause for hostility on
the part of the clericals. \ The Church felt itself put on
the defensive from the start. It may be said, incident-
ally, that Carranza and his family are Eoman Catholics,
as are nearly all of the leaders in the Constitutionalist
movement, and their antagonism to the Church was not
religious, but political. Whatever may be the right and
wrong of the matter, the fact remains that the govern-
ment had the united opposition of the church, and this,
in a strongly Roman Catholic country, was no small
matter.
The government was, therefore, through the year
1916, constantly facing the greatest possible difficulties
epidemics, extreme industrial depression, lack of con-
fidence, civil opposition, church hostility, currency and
financial difficulties, formidable military_opposition,
brigandage, and critical foreign relations. OKewing the
United States as a possible, even a probable, enemy, a
considerable portion of the army was occupied in the
North in a defensive attitude, simply keeping tab on the
American troops in the country. This cut down the
number of troops available to 'meet armed opposition
within the country, and also had the effect of stimulat-
ing rebellion. Villa and other leaders used the Ameri-
can menace as a rallying cry to recruit more men, and
the increased strength of their forces made it much more
difficult to push an effective campaign against them.
The army was short of ammunition, which, because of
174 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
an embargo established by the United States, could not
be obtained.
With a very large majority of the people discontented
and hostile, the government was in a very difficult posi-
tion. It had, to be sure, military support, but many of
the troops were ill-trained and undisciplined. Many
of the minor chiefs were quite independent and given
to all sorts of excesses. In the early part of 1916 the
streets of the capital were full of unruly officers, racing
up and down in motor cars filled with fast women, and
fights and shooting affrays in cafes and restaurants were
common. The troops themselves were an element of
grave danger. Paid in depreciated currency, at a rate
of as low as five cents per day, they were likely, at any
moment, to upset the whole scheme.
Many of the troubles of the government were directly
or indirectly due to financial difficulties. The revolu-
tion started with no money in the treasury, and the gov-
ernment put out paper currency which, in the early
days of the revolution, was accepted, along the border,
at about thirty cents to the peso. Increasing issues
gradually forced the price downward, and in April,
1915, its paper peso had a market value of about ten
cents (United States Currency). The rapid changes of
government in the National Capital in 1915, each accom-
panied^ changes in currency, largely destroyed confi-
dence in paper money. Carranza money would pass
current so long as Carranza held the capital. The
Zapatistas or Villistas, on occupying the city, would re-
pudiate existing currency and issue their own, enforcing
its acceptance as long as they remained in power. Then
Carranza money, having meanwhile slumped in value,
would come back again. Each issue would sag slowly
in value, and then, immediately before evacuation of the
city by those in power, it would slump violently and a
DIFFICULT COlTOITIOlsrS 175
sudden drop usually meant a new government on the
scene. Speculators would buy all the paper offered,
hold it for a possible change of administration or smug^
gle it through the lines to dispose of it in territory occu-
pied by the faction issuing it. Some of the states had
their own paper issues. There were, also, many bank
bills in circulation, but there was always some unceiv
tainty as to whether the banks were solvent, many of the
banks having failed and all of them being closed down.
In the capital the matter was complicated by the fact
that the Zapatistas, on first taking the city, having no
plates, used some old plates they found and ran off a lot
of Carranza currency, decreeing, however, that only
bills above certain serial numbers would be valid. All
the bills were cheaply made, and a tremendous amount
of counterfeits were in circulation.
How much currency was issued altogether by the vari-
ous factions will never be known. The Constitutional-
ist issue of " Vera Cruz " money amounted to a total of
eight hundred million pesos or more. This money,
starting out with a market value of about ten cents,
dropped steadily until, by the end of March, 1916, it
was selling at about two cents. This money was, like
the paper issues of other factions, merely a promise to
pay, with no reserve back of it. The government then
put out a new issue, to be backed by a reserve. This
issue, known as " Inf alsicables " (non-counterfeitable),
was made in the shape of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 peso
bills engraved by the American Bank Note Co. This
issue appeared in April, and a portion of it was used to
take up Yera Cruz bills at a ratio of 10 old for 1 new.
The value of the new bills was placed at 20 centavos
Mexican gold (10 cents TJ. S. currency) and by decree
people were obliged to accept them at this rate. The
government established a monetary commission through
176 MEXICO TO-DAY ANV TO-MOKEOW
which all the new money was to be purchased, and this
commission maintained a theoretical ratio of 10 to 1.
As soon, however, as through the exchange of Vera
Cruz bills, and through the use of the new bills for pay-
rolls, the new issue got into general circulation, there
was outside speculation in the new bills at a discount.
In spite of penalties provided, this outside speculation
reached great proportions, and before long the new
money was selling outside at 50?k discount. The gov-
ernment finally lifted all restrictions, and the money,
after holding around 4^ and 5 cents, began steadily
going downward until it had reached, in December, a
ratio of 500 to 1, IT. S. currency. This issue was in
part backed by a gold and silver reserve, instead of
being nothing more than a promise to pay, and provision
was made to add to the reserve from time to time until
the metal reserve should equal 10 cents TL S. currency
for every peso issued. The public, however, had lost
confidence in paper money, and the total gold value of
the issue, based on selling price, dropped to an amount
far Jbelow the actual cash reserve on hand.
It is worth while to explain in some detail the reason
for this steady decline. In the first place, there was a
general lack of confidence, and a fear that, due to mili-
tary or other needs, the gold reserve would be used for
some other purpose.") Furthermore, the daily course of
events automatically sent the value down. For exam-
ple: A merchant would sell something for which he
had to get $50 gold. From past experience he was
afraid he would lose by taking paper money. Assuming
exchange to have been 40 to 1, the $50 would represent
2,000 pesos, but the merchant would put his selling price
at 2,200 pesos to cover loss on exchange. Then, as he
had to cover bills for new merchandise in gold, he would
give the 2,200 pesos to his broker, telling Trim to sell
DIFFICULT CONDITIONS
them to realize at least $50. The broker would collect
5% commission, or roughly 100 pesos, and offer the
2,100 pesos in the market for $50, or at a rate of 42 to
1 instead of 40 to 1. If the big mining companies and
factories happened to be in need of bills for large pay-
rolls, exchange would hold firm, but if there was no de-
mand for paper exchange might drop 10% in one day.
Several hundred men went into the brokerage business,
each one of whom had a small clientele of shops from
whom they collected paper money at night and sold it on
the best terms they could in the morning. As every
shopkeeper always, in his mind, and in his sales prices,
discounted the paper by 10 to 15%, the shopkeepers, as
a class, each morning had a large supply of paper which
they were willing to sell at a liberal discount. Nat-
urally, each transaction only opened the way for a fur-
ther drop the day following, for with each drop the
paper prices were advanced to 10% or 15% above cur-
rent exchange rates. Under this process the U. S. gold
value of the peso dropped, between September twentieth
and November thirteenth eight weeks from three
cents to one cent, then slumped to four-tenths of a cent
and finally went out in a blaze of glory at two-tenths of
one cent
.l1[he effect of such wild fluctuations in the currency oa
the industrial and economic structure may well be imag-
ined. One curious feature of the currency difficulties
was that the farther away one got from the large centers,
the lower was the market value of paper moneyT} Eural
districts had, to use an expressive slang piirase, been
" stung " several times, accepting issues long after they
had ceased to have value in the commercial centers, and
they were very shy about taking paper money at any
price. If they took it at all it was at a heavy discount.
" Vera Cruz " money might be selling at 40 to 1 in
178 MEXICO TO-DAY AISTD TO-MORKOW
Mexico City, while a hundred miles away you could
only get 60 to 1 or 80 to 1. The tendency in rural dis-
tricts was to revert to prmitivlf methods of barter, or to
trade only in silver coin, some of which found its way
int circulation.
Another very" curious feature was the feeling of reck-
lessness which possessed every one. With no certainty
of what money would be worth the day following, the
tendency was to get rid of it immediately to waste it,
to convert it into real estate or merchandise, in fact,
to do anything to avoid having it on you the next day.
A Canadian gentleman, arriving in Mexico City, went
to a bank to change twenty dollars gold into Mexican
money. The banker advised him against reckless risk
" If you need change, sell five dollars twenty is too
much. You can probably buy more pesos with the bal-
ance later. Don't change over five dollars at a time."
He was right. The peso dropped from 4 cents to 3
cents in a week. Besides, five dollars bought 165 pesos,
and with street car fares at one-third of a cent and a
liberal waiter's tip at two cents, one could not spend all
the money in a weak.
The issue of paper pesos was supplemented, for con-
venience in small transactions, by an issue of fractional
currency 5, 10, 20 and 50 centavos. This fractional
currency was in the shape of bits of cardboard much
like milk tickets. For ten cents silver one could get
100 5-centavo cardboard tickets, or at the rate of ten for
a cent. At the time of the exchange of " Vera Cruz "
money for the new issue, at the rate of 10 for one, the
" Vera Cruz " peso was at a nominal value of one cent,
but soon declined to a third of a cent. The Vera Cruz
fractional currency, at a rate of fifty or sixty for a cent,
of course, became worthless. The new issue of frac-
tional money met with the same fate.
CHAPTER XVIII
CAKRANZA AND HIS TROUBLES
WITH economic and financial troubles, civil hostility,
foreign complications and internal disorder, the situa-
tion throughout 1916 was most discouraging, and time
and again predictions were made that there would be a
political turnover. The government, however, kept peg-
ging away, and little by little conditions improved.
Carranza moved the seat of government from Vera Cruz
to QtSretarp, the latter" "place ^ being far more central.
Although his forces occupied the National Capital, he
preferred not to have his headquarters there. His en-
emies said he was afraid to visit the city. His real
reason for selecting Queretero was doubtless a psycho-
logical one/ The capital, the center of social, diplomatic
and business life, was decidedly hostile, and life there
would involve a constant struggle with a thousand and
one complaints and grievances. Queretaro, an agricul-
tural city of forty thousand people, was sympathetic, and
the government, with its staff and departments, would
easily be the dominating influence. People with trou-
bles to discuss would not only have to make a tiresome
seven-hour journey, but would, on arriving, find them-
selves in a purely government atmosphere. The man
who, in Mexico City, backed by contact with sympathetic
people, would be full of fight, would, after spending two
or three lonely days in a poor hotel in Queretero, be in a
much more subdued frame of mind. The coming and
179
180 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEROW
going of special trains belonging to various generals, the
delays in securing audiences, in fact, all the settings and
surroundings, tended to greatly discourage every one
who tried to get anything done, and consequently greatly
cut down the number of visitors.
It was interesting, at this time, and quite amusing,
to watch the people come and go. Carranza held an
audience every morning, starting at ten o'clock and
frequently lasting all day. The large reception room
in the Governor's palace was crowded all day long with
people waiting to see the First Chief a general with
four or. five of his staff, with much air of bravado;
a private, with legs shot off, on crutches, hoping to
get some pension; a number of silk-hatted lawyers,
with large leather cases full of papers; two or three
widows, probably to get aid in property matters; a dele-
gation of factory workers, in " jumper" suits; four
or five peons in their white cotton suits and sandals,
evidently a delegation of some sort, sitting silently
together in a corner ; a few business men looking nerv-
ously at their watches from time to time, the while eye-
ing each other suspiciously, each one wondering what
the others were there for; two or three smart military
aides, with much gold braid, running in and out of the
various rooms ; some rather ragged porteros whispering
together; two sandaled soldiers, in white pyjamas,
guarding the door and poking their guns at every one in
a manner calculated to give a nervous person severe
chills and so on day after day. A day spent in wait-
ing for one's name to be called always took some of the
starch out of one's mental collar. Even the somewhat
arrogant general .and his staff, despots in their own do-
main, who had crowded in with considerable bluster, be-
came subdued, and accepted gracefully the announce-
ment that they must come again the day following.
CARRANZA AND HIS TROUBLES
(Jarranza has been praised to the skies by enthusiasts,
aiKTsocialistic writers have seen in him the dawn of a
new era for the world..; He has, on the other hand, dur-
ing four years, been the most cordially hated and abused
man in Mexico. feople say he is arrogant, vain,
stupid, narrow, ignorant, a politician who caters to the
passions of the ignorant to keep himself in power in
fuct, about all the hard things which can be said of a
public man. * , Up to a few months ago his government,
to judge bycommon talk, was always on the verge of
collapse, and sixty days more of political life was the
maximum time limit usually set But through it all he
has kept pegging along, ignoring opposition, going over,
through v or around obstacles, full of confidence, always
cheerful. A^ove all, he is a man of tenacity. Seem-
ingly, !Ke does not know what the word discouragement
means.,, ^Newspaper correspondents who have cam-
paigned with him say that reverses had as much effect
on him as water poured on a duck's backT, He would
receive a telegram that an army had suffered a serious
defeat, that strategic points had been lost and important
<y4j.es evacuated, and would say, as undisturbed as ever,
''' Oh, well, we must expect this sort of thing ; now we
must see what the next best move is." Once his mind
is made up, an attempt to get him to change his position
is nearly useless. One of his leading supporters, in dis-
cussing certain pending matters, once gave a character-
istic description of the man^
" I have had," he said, " many arguments and discus-
sions with the First Chief, and several times have flatly
disagreed with his views. There has never been any-
thing unpleasant. He has always been calm and frank
and courteous, but whenever, by way of emphasis, he
has shot his chin out a little and his whiskers have
pointed straight at me then I have known that fur-
182 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
ther argument, at that time at least, would be quite use-
less," .
This tenacity, combined with personal integrity, have
given Carranza the continued support of all the able men
in the Constitutionalist party. Even his enemies admit
he is honest. When military graft and excesses were at
ItSeir worst, in 1915 and in the early months of 1916, a
good many people vaguely said that Carranza was " not
in it for his health," but as time wore on the public
came to the belief that the "old man" was straight.
" He is misguided and stubborn, but personally honest,"
was the way one of the opposition put it recently. Peo-
ple who have thought him stupid have doubtless jumped
at this conclusion from the. fact that, in an interview, he
rarely says anything. <Ee lets you do all the talking,
seldom expresses an opinion, and rarely commits him-
self/' He is an excellent listener, paying close atten-
tion to what you say, looking at you with clear, frank
eyes, his face a strong one pleasant but mobile.
Whether standing or seated, his figure is erect, almost
rigid, and his attitude, his eyes and his whole makeup
give you an impression of a lot of force. You talk on
and on, interrupted occasionally by a pertinent query,
or a brief " Yes, I understand the matter perfectly," and
the nearest you can get to an expression of opinion is,
" Yes, that must be considered," or, " We will have to
look into that."
Carranza is, unquestionably, a man of much force of
character. He is a shrewd politician, and, if his own
position in diplomacy or politics is none too strong, he
will patiently wait and " sit tight " until he has some
technical point of vantage which he will push for all
there is in it. A dozen times he has played a waiting
game, letting the other side do all the talking, but not
losing a minute when an opportunity came to score.
CAKRANZA AND HIS TROUBLES 183
For instance, the American-Mexican conference in 1916
indulg^ JtoLnmch^S^^ a~month;~ The
.American commissioners felt nothing^waslieing accom-
plished, and said so. The Mexicans said that Mexico,
irritated by the presence of American troops, did not
want to take up any questions until the troops were
withdrawn. More discussion followed, with proposals
that the troops be withdrawn under certain conditions,
but the Mexicans " sat tight " on insisting that the
troops be withdrawn unconditionally. Finally, a pro-
tocol was drawn up covering the withdrawal, and the
Mexicans, claiming such an agreement unnecessary,
only signed under protest. There was much talk in
Washington as to forcing terms. Carranza doubtless
felt that the United States would not go to war over a
question of forcing Mexico to sign an agreement for the
withdrawal of troops. So he stuck to his position, and
the troops were withdrawn without any agreement.
Washington, to be sure, had no desire for armed inter-
vention in Mexico, and this was, after all, the reason
why the troops were withdrawn and every effort made to
put matters on a friendly basis. ^Nevertheless, Car-
ranza, diplomatically, scored, as he was able to tell Mexi-
cans that, without yielding a single point or agreeing to
anything, the negotiations had been successful in secur-
ing the withdrawal of the troops.
This policy of technical diplomacy has, of course,
serious disadvantages, as it almost inevitably leads to
irritation and even to a feeling of exasperation. The
American-Mexican conference might have been of great
help in bringing the two governments into more inti-
mate relations, and, through this, in solving some of the
perplexing problems in Mexico. As it was, technical
maneuvering for position gave a general impression that
Mexico was somewhat indifferent about problems affect-
184 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOREOW
ing American interests, that she did not want any help
from the United States, and, that, on the whole, any
discussion of matters along broad lines was impossible.
The Constitutionalist program proposes many re-
forms, and to what extent Carranza believes these can
be brought about in the immediate future is an open
question. Many of the troubles are due to ignorance.
The people, living in a condition of servitude for cen-
turies, lack energy and initiative, have little or no con-
ception of government, and are limited in mental out-
look. The development of a high tone of political and
moral thought, and the uplift in the social position of
fifteen million people, will, naturally, take a long time.
Carranza's attitude on some of these problems leads
'many to believe that he expects reforms to move at a
much faster rate than is consistent with sound growth.
Others feel that he falls in with radical measures only in
order to get started, and also to make the proletariat
feel that social problems will receive due attention.
Whichever may be the cape, it is certain that his mind is
set on certain ideals. Jhis was shown in 1915, when,
in the midst of general msorder and turbulence, and at
a time when the government was scarcely established, he
sent one hundred and fifty school teachers on a tour to
see the schools in leading American citiesT)
Politically, Carranza is no beginner. He held impor-
tant posts in the State of Coahuila, under General Diaz 7
regime, for a number of years, so that he had, before
heading the revolutionary movement, an intimate
knowledge of political and social conditions. He comes
of a family having a considerable property, and has
always been well-to-do, even rich if judged by Mexican
st^adards.
Mexico City, occupied by Constitutionalists, Zapatis-
tas, Villistas and others in rapid succession, was in a
CARRANZA AND HIS TROUBLES 185
demoralized state in 1915. , Then, when the Carranza
forces finally came to stay;"a start was made on restora-
tion of normal conditions. Pablo Gonzalez was put in
command as military govenipr, "and^Tiy the Spring of
1916,~he hadTpIaced ffieTsityTn order so far as protection
of life and property" was" concerned. Qbregon, ajh
"check on the military
"'"
excesses. Loose carousing aroui5dT6wn"cea'se3," business
houses reopened, and people began to attend to their
affairs much as if nothing had ever happened. By Fall
things were running fairly smoothly. Railway service
to Vera Cruz, to the American border, and to most of the
important cities in Mexico, while attended with consid-
erable risk from bandit operations, became fairly reg-
ular. Government departments, after an irregular sort
of existence in Vera Cruz and Queretaro, settled down
in the capital, and most of them, in the hands of some
able men, were soon managing publics-business with a
considerable degree of precision. *'A period of six
months of organization was followed, in the Fall, by
some serious effort to improve the economic situation.1 >
Discontent and business troubles had been, largely, due
to currency troubles, and to stabilize the paper money
several decrees had been issued, with little or no tangible
results. Two or three times all the brokers in town
had been jailed because of continued speculations in
currency, and this had had no effect of bringing about
stability. With the peso falling in value daily, there
was much hardship, and labor was in constant unrest.
A committee of employees would thresh out matters with
their employers and reach a wage agreement. Ten days
or two weeks later, when payday came around, the peso,
having meanwhile declined, would have twenty or thirty
per cent, less purchasing power. Then there would be
new demands. Currency values were so uncertain that
186 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKKOW
frequently demands were made for an increase of one
hundred per cent, partly to catch up for lost ground,
partly to anticipate future declines. Strikes were con-
stant. Many employers of labor used the situation as a
means of underpaying their labor, and even when de-
mands for increases were wholly or partially met there
was usually a mental calculation that the new scale was,
after all, much less than normal wages. Factories which,
had reopened were selling their products on a gold basis,
and paying their labor with cheap paper. Mines, pro-
ducing gold and silver, were paying wages in depreci-
ated currency. To correct these conditions, a decree
was issued in October, 1916, providing that all salaries
and wages should be paid on a gold basis, in gold or
silver, or in paper at an equivalent to be fixed by the
government every ten days. Under this plan, a drop in
the gold value of the peso would be compensated by
an increase in paper pay. An amplification of this de-
cree provided that, in general, salaries and wages should
be at least 60% of those paid in normal times, and that
as conditions improved increases should be made to
70%, 80%, and so on until normal wages should be
restored* The government had for some months real-
ized that conditions would never be satisfactory until
the currency was stabilized, and, as such stabilization
was impossible, the next best thing was to arrange matr
ters so that the purchasing power of wages would be
constant. The decree referred to was met with jeeri
by most people, who saw in it only the government's
admission of its inability to control the exchange situa-
tion. However, it was soon clearly demonstrated that
the decree was to be of far-reaching consequences. Its
first effect was to make labor more contented and to put
an end to the innumerable strikes, lockouts and shuir
downs which had been so prevalent. The next effect
CAKEANZA AND HIS TKOUBLES 187
was that, with wages fixed on a gold basis, even if pay-
able in paper equivalent, the employer class could not
save much by paper payments, and was the more likely
to accept the demands for payments in gold and silver.
Employers soon began paying on a part-paper, part-
metal basis, and before long a large part of all pay-
ments of wages were being made in " hard " currency.
Gold, silver and fractional currency, kept in hoarding
for three or four years, began again to circulate. The
working class soon demanded all wages in gold and
silver^ This, in turn, further depreciated the peso,
which^ in November, dropped from about two cents to
four-tenths of a cent. The government then came out
with a decree declaring" a moratorium on paper and
placing all business transactions, salaries and wages on
a straight gold basis. The question of redemption of
outstanding paper money was to be dealt with later.
The resumption of metal currency payments immedi-
ately stimulated every line of business, and this, in turn,
soon led to increases in wages to the figures paid in 1912
and 1913. More wages meant more buying power, and
factories soon jumped back to something like normal
production, resulting, in turn, of a heavy drop in the
number of unemployed. The peso, worth one cent on
November thirtieth, and dropping to four-tenths of a
cent at the end of the month, on December sixth was
back at its old value of 50 cents.
To say that the change and its consequences were
amazing would be putting it mildly. For nearly three
years gold and silver coins had been rarely seen, and
had, in fact, vanished so completely that they might
never have existed. They could be bought from bankers
and brokers, chiefly for foreign transactions, but during
this time the entire business of the country was done in
paper. Then gold and silver began to be used in shops
188 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
dealing in imported goods they sold for metal only,
but at first gave nothing but paper change. Then this
Lad extended to other shops. Then, following the de-
cree called ley de pagos, or wage law, already referred
to, the whole country suddenly awoke to find itself back
on a sound currency basis. It is doubtful if the finan-
cial history of any country contains an example of as
drastic a change as this.
The immediate effect of the change was to create a
shortage in currency. The amount in circulation was
comparatively limited. With the banks closed, checks
could not be used, so that even large transactions had to
be handled in coin. This, coupled with the demand
for payrolls and ordinary trade, immediately sent cur-
rency to a premium, which for a few days was as high
as ten and twelve per cent. In other words, to buy five
hundred pesos in gold you had to pay, in New York
exchange or other equivalent, five hundred and fifty
pesos,. To meet this situation the large concerns im-
ported American gold and bills, which, for a time, cir-
culated freely. The government opened its mint to free
coinage, and the large mining companies turned all their
bullion in for coinage. These companies would deposit
a certain amount of bullion, and, on later receiving its
equivalent in coin, would meet their payrolls and sell
the balance against New York exchange. The mint was
soon coming new money at a rate of half a million pesos
a day, and within a month the premium on currency
had dropped to nominal figures.
A curious problem, which, somewhat later, confronted
the government, may be mentioned in this connection.
The Mexican silver dollar had, normally, an intrinsic or
metal value of 45 cents, more or less, depending on the
market price of silver. The metal for years was worth
in the neighborhood of 50 cents an ounce. Higher-
CARKANZA AND HIS TROUBLES 18&
priced silver in the boom of 1906-7 sent the metal value
of the peso to about 57 cents, and low metal prices had
sent this value down to 37 cents at certain times. Gen-
erally speaking, however, the value fluctuated between
45 cents and 50 cents. With the rapid rise in silver
price in 1917 the peso value (intrinsic) went to 62
cents or a premium of about 25 per cent, on the legal
value. This was bound to drive pesos out of circula-
tion, and the government, as fast as they were turned in
for taxes, and so forth, recoined them into half pesos
pieces having a greater percentage of alloy. To force
the coins into government hands United States gold was
placed at a discount of two and one-half per cent, and
United States Treasury and National Bank notes at
twelve and one-half . per cent, discounto These dis-
counts, while seemingly absurd, compBHecl people who
had taxes to pay, to find Mexican gold or silver coin,
and the latter was then recoined into currency whose
intrinsic value was lower than its legal value. In mid-
summer, however, silver took another shoot upward,
. reaching, early in the Fall, a high-water figure of $1.08
an ounce, or more than double its ordinary value. With
this sudden increase the intrinsic value of the " toston,"
or half-peso piece, went far above its legal value, reach-
ing a high mark of about 35 cents again at a legal
value of 25 cents or 40% premium. At the same
time the value of the Mexican dollar, or peso fuerte,
went to 85 cents, against its legal value of 50 cents.
These premiums naturally drove the currency out of cir-
culation, and in 'September and October there was a
great stringency in silver currency. One was likely, on
paying for a small article with a ten-peso gold piece, to
receive, in change, a five-peso gold piece and the balance,
perhaps four pesos, in copper coins, 5-centavo nickels
and 10-centavo silver pieces. The peso finally became
190 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOREOW
stabilized at 62% cents and has remained at that figure
for a year. This value is on the basis of the metal
value of two half-peso pieces. On this basis, Mexican
currency is at a premium of 25%.
The declaration of a moratorium on paper money left
the question of redemption to be settled. A large part
of the " Vera Cruz " bills had been turned in on ex-
change for the new issue, and the remainder were now
taken up by giving short term bonds, in a ratio of one
for ten. The bonds promptly sold at a heavy discount,
but even at that the Vera Cruz money became worth
something about five cents on the dollar, against a
previous value of next to nothing. The government,
when " Infalsificable " money went to 200 and 300 to
1, bought in a considerable amount, but there still re-
mained a large amount probably 200 million pesos
out of a total of 500 million printed in the hands of
the public. What to do with this was a problem. The
government had started putting this out on a basis of
twenty centavos gold, or ten .cents, and had solemnly de-
clared, by decree and otherwise, that it had this legal
value. The government itself had, however, paid out,
in wages, pay of troops and other disbursements, the
greater part of the issue at figures far below this value,
all the way down to two cents, or even less. To fix a
redemption basis at ten cents gold would, consequently,
have meant redemption at a higher value than the gov-
ernment had received for the bulk of the issue. On the
other hand, redemption at a two-cent rate would be
going back on government decrees and declarations.
'Finally, the ministry of finance hit on a beautifully
simple and ingenious scheme, and a decree was issued
providing that on all taxes, which were payable in gold,
there should be a supertax of equal amount payable in
" Infalsificable " money. In other words, the taxpayer
CARRANZA AND HIS TROUBLES 191
who had to pay in gold, one thousand pesos, was obliged
to tain in, at the same time, one thousand pesos in
paper. If the taxpayer did not have the paper pesos
he could buy them in the open market. Under this plan
the government had no responsibility for fixing the re-
demption value of the paper peso. Moreover, it escaped
all expense of redemption. The paper money came in
automatically. Under the stimulus of a sure market;
the paper peso promptly went from 300 to 1 up to 50
to 1, and has stayed around the latter figure ever since.
The taxpayer was the only sufferer, but as it cost him a
supertax amounting to only about four per cent, of the
amount of his taxes, the hardship was not great. If he
had to pay one hundred dollars in taxes, the decree
added about four dollars to his payment. More than
half of the outstanding amount of paper money has been
gathered in by this clever arrangement. When the
supply begins to run short the government can reduce
the percentage of surtax in inverse ratio to the market
price of paper money. Eventually the whole issue will
have been, wiped out without any expense of redemption.
"When the decree was first put out some of the foreign
taxpayers did some grumbling over increased taxes, but
one and all wore broad grins in discussing the ingenuity
of the plan.
The paper issues of the government were failures,
and were doomed to failure from the first. The cur-
rency fluctuations caused much trouble, and discredited
the government. There is, however, another important
point to consider. The revolution started without
money and without credit, was financed through to suc-
cess on paper money, and the government was finally in
a position to go on a gold and silver basis. When out-
standing bonds issued on Vera Cruz money are taken
up and the last of the " Inf alsificable " bills called in,
192 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
the whole paper operation will have cost the government
probably less than five million dollars. To put through
a revolution, maintaining from fifty thousand to a hun-
dred thousand men in the field for three years, is no
small achievement. From this viewpoint the paper
issues were successful. It is true that, when the gov-
ernment became fairly established, and particularly
when it had to pay its troops in coin, it met with a
deficit, which, as will later be pointed out, was covered
by forced loans from the banks. The fact, however,
remains, that the revolution, starting with nothing, was,
in spite of bitter opposition and continuous fighting,
carried through to the point where an established gov-
ernment had at least a dominant control of the whole
country, and all on paper issues which, when all cleaned
up, will represent a total expense of four or five million
dollars. Whatever may be individual opinion as to the
government, this accomplishment is full justification for
the issues of paper money. Much as one may criticize
a scheme which was bound to upset economic conditions,
the final success of the revolutionary cause at least shows
great resourcefulness on the part of the leaders. Paper
money was a creature of necessity^ As demands grew
its volume was increased, and finally inflation reached
the point where the supply was greater than the demand,,
with all sorts of evil consequences attendant on the col-
lapse of issues. At times it threatened to break down
the government. Nevertheless, when all is said and
done, it was the only financial structure the government
had, and it served its purpose.
There were amusing features to the paper money
scheme. A mining company, needing a large amount
of bills, sent a representative to the government seat at
Vera Cruz to buy bills with New York drafts. The
treasury did not have sufficient currency on hand, but
CAEKANZA AND HIS TROUBLES 193
promised to start the presses on the order in the morn-
ing. The job was started next day, and the presses
ground away tm days. Then the mining man, who
was waiting at a hotel while his order for money was
being printed, suddenly found himself fairly buried
with paper money whole cartloads of it. He finally
got it all baled up and took it home on the train. Whole
truckloads of paper were needed at mines and industrial
plants to pay off men, and the sight of motor cars,
loaded full with money, was not uncommon. As the
money depreciated in value people became utterly care-
less about it. Small bills were, in banks and brokers'
offices, done up in bundles of 500 or 1000 pesos, and
time and time again these' bundles would go through a
score of hands without being counted. The money was
so cheap that it was hardly worth counting at least,
that was the sensation produced by having slathers of it
everywhere. As government succeeded government,
having in one's possession any money of opposition
issues was a criminal offense for which one was liable
to imprisonment and to a fine equal in amount to the
money found on the victim. People passed the money
along as fast as they got it, but a few, usually foreigners,
frequently got " stuck " with considerable amounts of
worthless issues. One large foreign concern carried in
its vault a million or more pesos of Villa money, and
continued for two or three years to regard this sum as a
cash asset, although the money had become absolutely
' The usual operation of a creditor hunting for a debtor
wasT reversed. People who owed money were always
hunting for their creditors and trying to force them to
accept payment in the currency of the day.' Civil courts
being suspended, they had much trouble doing this, but
they frequently got a policeman to go with them to see a
194 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
creditor and try to force payment on him. A decree
was issued in the Fall of 1916 providing that debts over
three years old could be paid at a ratio of five paper
pesos for every peso. This, with the possibility of lift-
ing a debt, contracted in gold, at ten or fifteen per cent
by paying in paper pesos, created a fresh rush on the
creditor class. Finally, shortly before paper went out
altogether, various decrees were issued providing, in
general, for the discharge in debts on a gold basis, ac-
count being taken of the rate of exchange prevailing
when the debts were contracted. This, and the return
to a gold basis, cleared up the situation.
Mexico, for four years, has been doing business with-
out any banking system, and this extraordinary condi-
tion has been a very serious factor in the restoration of
economic and industrial affairs to a normal basis. With
the general upheaval which followed Huerta's fall, prac-
tically all the banks closed their doors. In fact, many
of them closed during the Huerta regime. The public,
alarmed by the trend of political events, began with-
drawing money from the banks, and Huerta, to stop
these runs, issued a decree declaring all days to be legal
holidays. Since that time banking business has prac-
tically been limited to foreign exchange transactions,
handled by a few foreign-owned banks. At first the
banks were anxious to realize on commercial paper they
held loans^ to manufacturers, retail houses, and so
forth, but disturbed political and business conditions
made collections very difficult. At the same time de-
positors insisted on withdrawing their money. With no
money coming in, and collections on paper slow or im-
possible, practically all banks had to suspend operations.
Then, when the peso fell to ten cents, five cents, and so
on downward, conditions were reversed. People owing
money to the banks wanted to take up their notes,
OAEKANZA AOTD HIS TEOUBLES 1&5
making payment in depreciated money, and all sorts of
compromise settlements were made. The banks were
now as anxious to get rid of their deposits as they had
been to keep them. Every bank conducted a campaign
to induce its clients to withdraw their funds, but tie
depositors objected vigorously to being paid off in money
worth five or ten per cent, of what they had originally
deposited. Again compromises were resorted to, and a
good many accounts were closed out. The successful
banker was the man who, at the end of a month, could
boast that he had, during the month, coaxed or bullied
a goodly percentage of his depositors to withdraw their
funds. One large bank which wanted to wind up its
affairs was only prevented from doing so by the fact that
a long list of depositors flatly declined to withdraw their
accounts on terms offered them. With the return to a
gold basis at the end of 1917 the depositors had good
reason to congratulate themselves on having hung on.
The return to a gold basis, so far as the banks were con-
cerned, worked both ways. The commercial paper they
held, assuming the clients to be solvent, went back to
par.
The lack of bank accommodations put merchants on a
strictly cash basis, and any replenishment of stocks had
to be made out of cash accumulated from sales. In the
unsettled state of affairs, and with risks of loss in trans-
portation, many merchants would do no buying, and,
with limited stocks to sell, they marked up their wares
to high figures, and did all business on a basis of small
sales and large profits. Imported articles went to two,
three and four times their normal prices. Due to the
general depression all retail business suffered, but some
concerns, dealing in special lines, made, at the high
prices prevailing, more money than they had ever made
under normal conditions. One foreign concern, with
196 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
ample cash to keep its stocks of goods up, cleared over
fifty thousand dollars in 1916, as against a best previ-
ous record of half that amount
Soon after paper money made its appearance the gov-
ernment became involved in a wrangle with the banks,
charging that they were responsible for the depreciation
of the currency. It was alleged that the banks
" P e gg e< l " t^ 6 rate f exchange day by day, and, know-
ing in advance what rates would be, made large profits
by going short on the money market. The bankers al-
ways had a fair idea of what foreign exchange demands
were, and they could judge, by offerings from brokers,
of the amount of paper money available. They were
thus able to calculate, with some degree of accuracy,
what exchange was likely to be the day following, or
even two or three days in advance. Doubtless some of
them made money by speculation, and, as with increas-
ing quantities of paper the tendency of the market was
downward, they were usually on the short side of the
market. While the banks, or some of them, profited
by the situation, the contention that they deliberately
ruined paper money appears to be unfounded. A bank,
of all institutions, requires economic stability, and that
a group of banks would deliberately set out to ruin the
currency of a country seems preposterous. The basic
trouble lay in the inherent weakness of the currency.
The bills were promises to pay, issued solely on the
credit of the government backed by faith only. In
the chaotic conditions prevailing no one had much faith,
and this, coupled with the fact that a fresh supply of
bills^ was pouring out of the treasury at the rate of a
million pesos or more per day, naturally resulted in a
steady decline. As pointed out before, the government
had no choice in the matter. It had to put out paper
money to meet its military and civil expenses, and,
OAEEANZA AND HIS TROUBLES 197
everything considered, its paper operations served their
purpose. The unfortunate feature of the matter was
that some of the public officials became convinced that
the banks had combined to discredit the government and
its currency, and were willing, if necessary, to pull down
the whole economic structure of the country to bring
about a political change. This reasoning, combined
with the impression that the banks were all making huge
profits out of declines in exchange, led to the most unfor-
tunate results. From time to time bank managers and
directors were arrested and jailed, and decrees were
issued suspending the circulation of bank notes, acts
which tended to discredit the government both at home
and abroad. Under former banking laws banks could
put out in circulation bills secured by fifty per cent, of
cash and bullion and fifty per cent, of commercial paper,
mortgages and other assets. In the summer of 1916 a
decree was issued requiring the banks to bring their
cash assets up to the full legal requirements, a condition
impossible, in, most cases, to comply with. As a result
of this decree the National Bank of Mexico, controlled
by French interests, and the Bank of London and Mex-
ico, chiefly owned in England, were declared to be in a
state of liquidation, and the government named liqui-
dators to take charge.
The government, meanwhile, had been obliged to meet
a large part of its expenses with gold payments. There
was no gold in the treasury, and there was a deficit
amounting to some ten million pesos per month. To
meet this situation the government forced loans from
the National Bank and Bank of London and Mexico,
and repeated the operation several times, finally prac-
tically exhausting their bullion and cash reserves. Hos-
tile foreigners refer to this operation as the looting of
the banks. Drastic as this action was, there was good
198 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
ground on which to justify it. The government had
already increased taxes to as high a point as good policy
would warrant, and any considerable increase of revenue
from this direction was impossible. In the demoral-
ized condition of business, an internal loan would have
been a total failure. A foreign loan under the condi-
tions was impossible. The government, after four years
of fighting, had established itself and was bringing order
out of chaos. Money had to be found with which to
pay troops, or the army would revolt, and a new up-
heaval, on top of several turbulent years, would inevit-
ably have resulted in a state of anarchy. The money
in the banks was the only money available, and it was
taken as the only way out of a very difficult situation.
Since that time the revenues of the government, due to
gradual normalization of conditions, have increased
steadily, and present income is sufficient to take care of
current needs. When a loan can be floated the banks
will have to be repaid, and, in the opinion of people most
competent to judge, they will eventually be properly
taken care of.
The government contemplates at some future date the
starting of a new bank of issue, to be backed by cash
assets derived from the sale of certain railway interests
and from other immediate and future sources. Issues
of the new bank will be secured by its cash assets and
by commercial paper, something along the lines on
which the American Federal Eeserve system is organ-
ized. If, with past experience to guide future action,
due care is taken to place cash assets where they cannot
be used for emergency government needs, the nefr bank's
issues will have public confidence, and the bank will
form the nucleus around which a new banking system
can be built up. It would seem that the safest way to
secure the entire confidence of the public Would be to
CAERANZA AND HIS TROUBLES 199
deposit bullion and cash assets with a group of banks in
New York, London or Paris. There would be no chance
of feeling, even on the part of the most timid, that assets
back of the bills might be used for some other purpose.
As pointed out before, some of the banks of Mexico
were weak long before the revolution started, the assets,
in many cases, being of doubtful value. There never
was any proper system of bank inspection, and through-
out the country there had been much looseness in making
loans to favored people. This, combined with deprecia-
tion of assets which would, normally, have been good, but
which, due to many failures incident to the general busi-
ness collapse, makes the future of many existing banks
quite uncertain. The general program of the govern-
ment to limit circulation to one bank of issue is, con-
sidering conditions, an excellent one, as it will prevent
the circulation of a great number of bank notes of doubt-
ful value. Some of the state banks, as, for example, the
Bank of the State of Nuevo Leon (Monterrey), have had
good assets and have managed, in spite of all the up-
heaval, to keep these intact. Such banks will be able to
resume business. Many banks will have to be liqui-
dated, but may show sufficient assets to warrant reor-
ganization. To take care of the needs of various com-
munities many new banks will have to be started. In a
country where there is, even normally, comparatively
little capital available, the organization of a new bank-
ing system will present many difficulties. AJL adequate
banking system is, of course, essential, but in creating
it great care will have to be taken to insure its sound-
ness.
The sudden change to a gold basis brought about a
rapid revival of business. Day labor jumped from ten
cents to fifty cents, and this created a greater purchasing
power in. the country. With the reopening of factories
200 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW-
there was a new demand for labor. Good prices for
foodstuffs stimulated agricultural pursuits, and hacien-
das which had lain idle for two or three years again
resumed operations. This also resulted in an increased
demand for labor. With work for all who wanted it
many who had been roaming the, country as bandits
again took up peaceful pursuits. The improvement in
economic conditions brought about a great change in the
attitude of the public toward the government. The
peon class, for three years half starved, was again back
on full pay, and was, at least relatively, so well off that
it became almost enthusiastic for the government. The
skilled mechanic class was better off than it ever had
been, with higher wages and shorter hours, and, forget-
ting all its past troubles, became an ardent supporter of
the government. In the middle class, shopkeepers were
doing a good business, and professional men and clerks
were again in receipt of " hard money " incomes, and
for them the new order of things promised opportunity.
So the middle class, which had, perhaps, suffered mosV
and which had been very bitter against the government,
now began to speak for it. The property owning class,
although still out of sympathy, began to feel that the
government was going to last, and its attitude changed
from one of open hostility to reluctant acquiescence to
the new order of things. Thus the government, opposed
a few months before by all classes, now found itself with
a considerable public backing.- It has been said -many
times that public opinion in Mexico amounts to nothing,
and that a government only needs military power to
live. This, with a large mass of ignorant people, is
more or less true, as was demonstrated by the fact that
the new government, backed by military strength, pulled
through in spite of practically united civil opposition.
Nevertheless, the new civil support, through removing
CARJRANZA AND HIS TEOUBLES 201
causes of discontent, greatly reduced any danger of or-
ganized opposition, destroying, so to speak, the set-
tings which any other faction would need to stage a new
performance.'
Nothing better illustrates the improvement in condi-
tions than the earnings of public utility corporations
such as tramways, lighting and power plants and rail-
ways. The tramways system in the National Capital
in the Spring of 1916 had had daily receipts of about
30,000 pesos, equivalent, in gold, to one thousand dol-
lars, while a year later daily receipts were over 20,000
pesos, equivalent to ten thousand dollars. The light and
power company supplying all the territory in the vicin-
ity of Mexico City with electric service, had had, in the
early months of 1916, gross monthly receipts, in gold
figures, amounting to less than twenty thousand dollars
and this for a concern with fifty million dollars of
investment, while a year later the monthly receipts
had jumped to over one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars. National Railway earnings increased from less
than four hundred thousand dollars in November, 1916,
to over one million three hundred thousand dollars in
January only two months later. Similar increases
were made by public utility concerns all over the coun-
try, the major part of all increases being due to change
in the currency value.
CHAPTER XIX
THE NEW CONSTITUTION"
THE government had, for some months, been await-
ing an opportunity to return to a constitutional basis.
The dictatorship, with Carranza as First Chief, was an
emergency affair, created because of chaotic conditions,
but its continuance produced an embarrassing situation
in both foreign and domestic relations. Foreign gov-
ernments were unlikely to give a dictatorship full sup-
port At home, Carranza and his immediate assistants
were occupied with a vast amount of detail due to the
fact that ordinary constitutional procedure was, for the
time being, suspended, throwing on them the settlement
of all judicial and administrative problems. More-
over, many military leaders, knowing Carranza to have
the final say in all matters, were constantly asking favors
and privileges which it was difficult to refuse, and the
reestablishment of a constitutional basis would auto-
matically cover the situation. Accordingly, arrange-
ments were made to hold a convention at Queretaro in
February, 1917, for the purpose of adopting a new con-
stitution. The return to a gold basis and the general
improvement in economic conditions justified the claim
that the time had arrived to put into legal effect the
general program of the Constitutionalist party. By way
of preparation several commissions were named to pre-
pare drafts of the various sections of the proposed con-
stitution.
The convention duly met at Queretaro. Delegates
202
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 203
were present from all sections of the country, and as, in
their selection, open support in the past of the Consti-
tutionalist cause was a requisite, there were no repre-
sentatives of any other political creed. There were,
however, three wings in the Constitutionalist party,
conservatives, militarists, and extreme radicals. The
conservatives were small in number and influence. The
militarists were largely governed by selfish motives.
The radicals were in favor of the most drastic sort of
changes in the constitution, with provisions for idealis-
tic measures for the working classes and with generally
socialistic tendencies. The make-up of the convention
was disappointing. The majority of delegates were men
of no experience in government, many of them entirely
lacking in the qualities necessary to fit them for consid-
eration of the business on hand. The government pro-
gram, partly conservative and partly radical, was drawn
up on theoretical lines. The government, from the very
start, had received its strength from ranchers, lawyers,
engineers and military men, and had never received any
sympathy from the business or commercial element* Its
tendencies in constitutional reforms were, therefore, to-
ward following professional lines of reasoning without
reference to the practical application of theoretical
ideals, (^fhe general spirit of the convention was to at-
tempt to immediately correct, by one document, all the
ills of four centuries of unsatisfactory conditions*
There was much wrangling between the different ele-
ments comprising the convention, and at times it looked
as if nothing would be accomplished. The government
doubtless felt that it was better to yield some points than
to have the whole work fail. Moreover, many leaders
took the position that they now had the chance to get a
fresh start; that if reforms were not immediately pro-
vided for by the constitution so many influences would
204 MEXICO TO-DAY AISTD TO-MOEEOW
be brought to bear that they would never be brought
about; that it would be better to put through radical
measures and modify the details later than to do noth-
ing; and finally, that the majority of the convention
demanded a sweeping reform of the constitution, and
refusal to comply would mean a disastrous blow to the
government. The new constitution, a compromise
measure, was finally adopted, and the convention ad-
journed.
The constitution, as adopted, has been the subject of
much discussion, praise and ridicule. The sentiment
of extreme reformers in Mexico and the United States
has been that the document would do much toward the
elevation of the masses. The opinion of Mexican busi-
ness men and of foreigners resident in Mexico is that
many features provided for are impractical, but their
denouncements are frequently so sweeping as to lose
weight. The opinion, expressed by many, that the
whole constitution is too ridiculous to receive serious
consideration is not, in general, supported by a careful
study of the matter. It is quite true that the constitu-
tion is idealistic, and that in aiming at ideals practical
considerations of application to existing conditions have
been ignored. It is equally true that some of the Uto-
pian plans would be difficult to carry through even under
a highly developed social scheme, and far less likely to
succeed under prevailing conditions in Mexico. How-
ever, the number of these radical provisions is limited.
The work, as a whole, contains much less matter subject
for criticism than first impressions, gained from com-
mon hearsay, would convey.
In general, the constitution was drawn on the lines of
the constitution of 1857. ( Provisions for civil and per-
sonal rights, judicial organization and procedure, pow-
ers of National and State legislatures, the duties and
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 205
powers of the President, civil administration, and na-
tional defense, are clear and in keeping with similar pro-
visions in the constitutions of other nations. Every pre-
caution is taken to prevent a return to an autocratic gov-
ernment There were many modifications of the 1857-
constitution, such as explicitly limiting the authority of
military tribunals to persons belonging to the army, and
to providing for a separate place for detention of pris-
oners awaiting trial instead of having them confined, as
has been the practice, with persons serving sentences.
These and other such modifications were made either to
clarify the old provisions or to safeguard personal
rights. It is scarcely necessary to describe, in detail,
the various clauses, and discussion of the question may
advantageously be limited to the features which, in de-
parting fiom what may be called general practice or in
radically altering Mexican law, have attracted attention.
Even a discussion of such features must necessarily be
restricted to general treatment.
Without reference to their order, various items deal-
ing respectively with the Church, with the land ques-
tions, with labor questions, and with rights of foreigners,
may be grouped for convenience.
Liberty of religious thought is guaranteed, but places
of public worship shall be under government supervi-
sion. All church buildings, rectories, asylums, convents,
colleges and schools belong to the Nation. The Federal
government shall designate which of them may be de-
voted to religious worship or to the various purposes to
which they have been dedicated. Public and private
charitable institutions, for the sick and needy, for scien-
tific research or for the diffusion of knowledge, shall not,
under any circumstances, be under the administration
or supervision of religious orders nor of priests or min-
isters, even if the latter be not in active service. Priests
206 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
and ministers, of whatever denomination, have no right
of franchise, and must refrain from political comment.
Church and State have had no direct relation for many
years, but heretofore, while the church was barred from
owning rural estates, it could own church buildings,
school property, and so forth, and could make invest-
ments in city property. The new provisions are de-
signed to make it a purely religious institution.
The provision for new land laws are important and
radical. All proceedings, decisions or concessions
which may have deprived hamlets, tribes or other settle-
ments of community lands owned by them in 1856, are
declared null and void, and all such lands are to be re-
turned to their original owners.. This provision is in-
tended to make restitution of tribal and village lands
which, by various grants and concessions, or by legal
proceedings, have been absorbed by the large haciendas.
Due to lack of proper records, many of the old titles
were faulty, and, in fact, in many cases there were no
titles to community lands which had been held by tribes
for centuries. It is claimed that the great land owners
took advantage of this situation and calmly took posses-
sion of community lands, making formal denouncement
of the property as waste land, or secured possession of
lands under concessions giving them title to all lands,
within certain areas, on which no prior title existed.
There appears to be no doubt but that tribes and com-
munities were defrauded out of many holdings. The
Taqui Indians, for centuries owners of large areas of
fertile lands in the Yaqui Valley, lost all their property
through this sort of manipulation. The general plan
of restoration of lands is a just one, and the only diffi-
culty likely to arise out of this provision is in the case
of lands which, since acquisition by private holders, have
changed ownership.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 207
Provision is made that each state shall fix the maxi-
nnim area of land which one person may own. The ex-
cess above such area shall be sold by the owner under
such provisions as the respective states shall make. In
the event of failure of the owner to sell within the time
specified by the State law, then the state shall take over
the property by expropriation, compensating the owner
in special bonds secured by the land and guaranteed by
the State, and shall resell the land in parcels, taking
payment in twenty annual installments to cover prin-
cipal and interest. This provision is designed to break
up the great estates and to enable the poor man to
acquire land on easy terms. .Another clause provides
that each state shall decide the area of land which shall
constitute a family patrimony! Such land shall be in-
alienable, and shall not be Subject to attachment. This
provision is interesting as an effort to prevent an Indian,
once he has acquired a piece of land, from disposing of
it by sale or through mortgage, and was doubtless
prompted by experience in connection with Madero's
hastily conceived and ill-fated land distribution scheme.,
Madero seized large properties which, it was claimed,
had been taken away from tribes and villages, and made
land allotments. The Indian, on receiving a piece of
land, immediately disposed of it to any one who would
buy, even if he only received a few pesos for it, with
the result that the bulk of the land allotted passed imme-
diately into the hands of speculators. The general idea
back of this provision is, doubtless, to assure a piece of
land to every family. The constitution, however, makes
no provision to cover the succession of patrimony, it
doubtless being figured that one general redistribution
will be sufficient remedy for past evils. Another provi-
sion of the constitution says that " all contracts and con-
cessions made by former governments from and after
208 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKKOW
the year 1876 which shall have resulted in the monopoly
of lands, waters and natural resources of the Nation by
a single corporation or individual, are declared subject
to revision, and the executive is authorized to declare
those null and void which seriously prejudice the public
interest."
The constitution, in the way of general anti-monopoly
legislation, makes the following declaration : " The law
will accordingly severely punish and the authorities duly
prosecute any accumulation or cornering by one or more
persons of necessaries for the purpose of bringing about a
rise in price; any act or measure which shall stifle or
endeavor to stifle free competition in any production,
industry, trade or public service; any agreement . . ,
entered into by producers, manufacturers, merchants,
common carriers ... to stifle competition and to com-
pel consumers to pay exorbitant prices ; and in general
whatever constitutes an unfair and exclusive advantage
in favor of one or more specified persons to the detri-
ment of the public in general or of any special class of
society." Patents and copyrights are specifically ex-
empted from the provisions of the above.
La dealing with the general question of monopoly,
there is the following regarding labor unions : " Asso-
ciations of labor organized to protect their own interests
shall not be deemed a monopoly. Nor shall cooperative
associations or unions of producers be deemed monopo-
lies 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 pro-
duced, provided they be not necessaries, and provided
further that such associations be under the supervision
or protection of the Federal Government or of that of the
States, and provided further that authorization be in
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 209
each case obtained from the respective legislative bodies.
These legislative bodies may, either on their own initi-
ative or on the recommendation of the executive, revoke,
whenever the public interest shall so demand, the au-
thorization granted for the establishment of the associa-
tions in question."
Provisions as to the labor question will be dealt with
ins. separate chapter.
c Of especial interest to foreigners is the following
provision with reference to ownership of lands, mines
and mineral fuelsT' " Only Mexicans by birth or natu-
ralization and Afexican companies have the right to
acquire ownership in lands, waters-ftBd-Aeit^ppurte-.
naucea, or to obtain concessions to develop mines, waters
or mineral fuels in the Republic of Mexico. The Na-
tion may grant the same right to foreigners, provided
they agree before the Department of Foreign Affairs to
be considered Mexicans in respect to such property, and
accordingly not to invoke the protection of their Govern-
ments in respect 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 own-
ership of lands and waters." /
This has created much discussion and brought forth
protests from foreign governments. Article 14 of the
Constitution says that " no law shall be given retroactive
effect to the prejudice of 'any person whatsoever." By
. iir i-' - - - _ 5 .,^..__^. i .*u-,-JCj-.-j. "---* --.<..---' /
inference, therefore, the above clause would not apply
to lands or mines already owned by foreigners, although
whether the courts would so construe is open to doubt.
The labor element did not propose to be satisfied with
any general provisions as to the rights of labor, and the
constitution, as adopted, gives much detail which nor-
210 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
mally would be embodied in legislative action rather
than covered by constitutional provisions. This detail,
covered by Article 12 3, on " Labor and Social Welfare,"
is sufficiently interesting to warrant giving it in full, as
follows : " The Congress and the State Legislatures
shall make laws relative to labor with due regard for
the needs of each region of the Eepublic, and in con-
formity with the following principles, and these princi-
ples and laws shall govern the labor of skilled and un-
skilled workmen, employees, domestic servants^and ar-
tisans, and in general every contract of labor. (Jp Ej&ht,
hours shall be the maximum, limit of a day's work! {$)
The maximum limit of night work shall be seven hours.
Unhealthy and dangerous occupations are forbidden to
all Tvomen and to children under sixteen years of age.
Night work in factories is likewise forbidden to women
and to children under sixteen years of age; nor shall
they be employed in^pmmercial establishments after
ten o'clock at night. 3. /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 yeai^f age shall not be made the subject of a
contract. v^L^Every workman shall x enjoy at least one
day's restlor every six days' workj 5. Women shall
not perform any physical work requiring considerable
physical effort during the three months immediately
preceding^arturition ; during the month following par^
turition they sKalfnecessarily enjoy a period of rest and
shall receive their salaries or wages in full and retain
their employment and the rights they may have ac-
quired under their contracts. During the period of
lactation they shall enjoy two extraordinary daily pe-
riods of rest of one-half hour each, in order to nurse
their children, <cjx The maximum wage to be received
by a workman shall be considered sufficient, according
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 211
to tiie conditions prevailing in the respective regions of
the country, to satisfy the normal needs of the life of the
workman, his education and his lawful pleasures, con-
sidering him as the head of a family. In all agricul-
tural, 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.
7. The same compensation shall be paid for the same
work, without regard to sex or nationality. 8. The
maximum wage shall be exempt from attachment, set-
off or discount. 9. The determination of the minimum
wage and of the rate of profit-sharing described in
Clause VI shall be made by special commissions to be
appointed in each municipality and to be subordinated
to the Central Board of Conciliation to be established in
each State. 10. All wages shall be paid in legal cur-
rency and shall hot be paid in merchandise, orders,
counters or any other representative ^ token with which
it is sought to substitute money. 11. 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 regular time. In no case shall the overtime exceed
three hours nor continue for more than three consecu-
tive days ; and no women of whatever age nor boys under
sixteen years of age may engage in overtime work*
12. In every agricultural, industrial, mining or other
class of work employers are bound to furnish their work-
men 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.
They shall likewise establish schools, 'dispensaries and
other services necessary to the community. If the f ao-
tories are located within inhabited places and more than
one hundred persons are employed therein, the first of
212 KEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOREOW
the above-mentioned conditions shall be complied with.
13. Furthermore, there shall be set aside in these labor
centers whenever their population exceeds two hundred
inhabitants, a space of land not less than five thousand
square meters for the establishment of public markets,
and the construction of buildings designed for municipal
services and place of amusement. Ko saloons nor gam-
Jbling houses shall be permitted in such labor centers.
14. Employers shall be liable for labor accidents and
occupational diseases arising from work ; therefore, em-
ployers shall pay the proper indemnity, according to
whether death or merely temporary or permanent dis-
ability 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.
15- Employers shall be bound to observe in the installa-
tion of their establishments all the provisions of law re-
garding hygiene and sanitation and to adopt adequate
measures to prevent accidents due to the use of machin-
ery, tools and working materials, as well as to organize
work in such a manner as to assure the greatest guar-
antees possible for the health and lives of workmen com-
patible with the nature of the work, under penalties
which the law shall determine. 16. iYorkmen_aad .em-
ployers,^hall--have JJ^jrighLJ&jmite of
their respective interests, Jby^ f oimjj^^yndicAtos^ unions,
etc. 17. The Jaw shall recognize JJijriffhJL.of workmen
'an(T"employers to strike jind^ to lockout 18. Strikes
shall~belawful k< wBen~1)y the ^employment of peaceful
means they shall aim to bring a balance between the
various factors of production, and to harmonize the
rights of capital and labor. In the case of public serv-
ices, the workmen shall be obliged to give notice ten
days in advance to the Board of Conciliation and Arbi-
tration of the date set for the suspension of work.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 213
Strikes shall only be considered unlawful when the ma-
jority of the strikers shall resort to acts of violence
against persons or property, or in case of war when the
strikers belong to establishments and services dependent
on the government. Employees of military manufac-
turing establishments of the Federal Government shall
not be included in the provisions of this clause, inasmuch
as they are a dependency of the national army. 19.
Lockouts shall only be lawful when the excess of produc-
tion shall render it necessary to shut down in order to
maintain prices reasonably above the cost of production,
subject to the approval of the Board of Conciliation and
Arbitration. 20. Differences or disputes between capi-
tal and labor shall be submitted for settlement to a board
of conciliation and arbitration to consist of an equal
number of representatives of the workmen and of the
employers and of one representative of the Government
21. If the employer shall refuse to submit his differences
to arbitration or to accept the award rendered by the
Board, the labor contract shall be considered as termi-
nated, and the employer 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
incurred by reason of the dispute. If the workman re-
ject the award, the contract will be held to have termi-
nated. 22. An employer who discharges a workman
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 pay-
ment of three months' wages. He shall incur the same
liability if the workman shall leave his service on ac-
count of the lack of good faith on the part of the em-
ployer or of maltreatment either as to his own person or
that of his wife, parents, children or brothers or sisters.
214: MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
The employer cannot evade this liability when the mal-
treatment is inflicted by subordinates or agents acting
with his consent or knowledge. 23. Claims qfjvorkmen
forjsalaries or wages_ accrued du^ingjhe^pasli^ear^and
other indemnit^claims shall be preferred^oyer^any other
claims,"" in~ case "of" bankruptcy or ^ compqsitignr^2i.
Debts contracted by workmen in favor of their employ-
ers 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. NOT shall such debts be paid
by the taking of more than the entire wages of the work-
man for any one month. 25. No fee shall be charged
for finding work for workmen by municipal offices, em-
ployment bureaus or other public or private agencies.
26. Every contract of labor between a Mexican citizen
and a foreign principal shall be legalized before the com-
petent municipal authority and viseed by the consul of
the nation to which the workman is undertaking to go,
on the understanding that, in addition to the usual
clauses, special and clear provisions shall be inserted
for the payment by the foreign principal making the con-
tract of the cost to the laborer of repatriation. 27. 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 inhu-
man 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 Conciliation and Arbitration is not remunera-
tive, (c) Stipulations providing for a term of more
than one week before the payment of wages, (d) Stip-
ulations providing for the assigning of places of amuse-
ment, eating places, cafes, taverns, saloons or shops for
the payment of wages, when employees of such establish-
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 215
ments are not involved, (e) Stipulations involving a
direct or indirect obligation to purchase articles of con-
sumption in specified shops or places, (f) Stipula-
tions permitting the retention of wage by way of fines,
(g) Stipulations constituting a waiver on the part of
the workman of the indemnities to which he may be-
come entitled by reason of labor accident 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. 28. The law shall decide what property consti-
tutes the family ^.patrimony.., These goods shall be inal-
ienable and shall not be mortgaged, nor attached, and
may be bequeathed with simplified formalities in the
sucession proceedings. 29. Institutions of popular in-
surance established for old age, sickness, life, unemploy-
ment, accident and others of a similar character, are
considered of social utility; the Federal and States Gov-
ernments shall therefore encourage the organization of
this character in order to instill and inculcate popular
habits of thrift. 30. Cooperative associations for the
construction of cheap and sanitary dwelling houses for
workm^35^]TI$ e ^ se ^considered^^of social utility
whenever these properties are. designed" to "be acquired
in ownership by the workmen within specified periods/'
The position of the Church in Mexico has already been
discussed, and comment on the Constitutional provisions
in this respect would be superfluous. The question is
one of internal policy. The clerical party will -natu-
rally disagree with the government's view as to the
necessity of such drastic legislation, and doubtless church
people generally will consider the various provisions as
constituting unwarranted interference with private
rights. Whether the hostility of the church party can
be of serious embarrassment is doubtful.
216 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
The provision that concessions which have resulted in
the monopoly of lands, waters and natural resources may
be subject to revision, and may be declared null and void
where they " seriously prejudice public interest/' .is very
radical, and is declared by many to be destructive of
property rights. It is of a general nature. Doubtless
it is intended that future legislative action shall make
provision for the method of determining whether a con-
cession is seriously prejudicial to public interest, and
also what, if any, compensation may be awarded in the
event of nullification of existing contracts or concessions.
While this provision is very extreme, and bluntly put, it
is, probably, no more radical than much of the recent
legislation in American states along anti-trust and anti-
monopoly lines. The trend of aU modern legislation
has been toward broadening of the scope of " public in-
terest " as against private rights. Public service cor-
porations twenty years ago denied the right of the State
to interfere in their affairs, but to-day accept, and wel-
come, as a protection, state regulation and supervision^
The objection to the clause referred to is made on thgb-
retical grounds, but the danger of such a clause will be
more through the method of its application. The same
may be said with reference to the provision for the acqui-
sition by the State, through the issuance of bonds, of
tracts of private property. Such a provision would be
entirely reasonable, presupposing the financial stability
of the state. Practically, however, the property owner
will object to taking bonds of doubtful value. In justi-
fication of such provisions of the constitution its f ramers
say, and with much reason, that a constitution must
necessarily be drawn up on ideal lines ; that it cannot
consider elements of weakness, safeguards against which
can be covered by necessary legislative enactment; and
THE NEW CONSTITUTION
that it must lay down fundamental bases for national
polipy regardless of immediate conditions.
; JProvisions for the " nationalization " of lands, mines,
oil properties and other natural resources are of especial
interest to foreigners. These provisions were made
partly because of past troubles in dealing with foreign
concerns, and partly in the hope of stimulating national
development. Foreign interests see in such legislation
a generally hostile attitude toward outside capital. In
theory, at least, the provision that lands and subsoil
rights shall be owned by Mexicans, or, if owned by for-
eigners, shall not be subject to diplomatic discussion, is
a reasonable one. It says, in effect, that a foreigner
may own real property in Mexico if he places himself
9O^pary_with. Mexicans. To this no reasonable objec-
tion can be offered. In its practical application, how-
ever, the foreigner may be at a disadvantage. As be-
tween his rights and the rights of Mexicans, assuming
that the two come in conflict, he feels that he would have
local prejudice against him, and that Mexican courts, if
called upon, would, in differences between himself and
Mexicans, or between himself and the government, be in-
clined to decide against him. The general policy as-
sumes stability of government and proper dispensation
of justice by judicial procedure, and, given these, any
opposition would be groundless. Again, the defenders
of the constitution say that in framing such a document
stability of government and honest dispensation of jus-
tice must be taken for granted. -While, theoretically,
the general idea of full control of national lands and
subsoil is a sound one, the time for the promulgation of
the principle was unfortunate. Mexico had been, for
four years, in a more or less chaotic condition, with scant
protection for life and property, and with a total sus-
218 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
pension of all - judicial procedure. The very govern-
ment which was proposing this radical change in policy
was, in the act of providing a constitution, just emerg-
ing from a dictatorship which had declared all consti-
tutional rights inoperative. It is true that the govern-
ment, in advocating a constitution, was giving evidence
of its good faith, and while no one doubted but that its
intentions were good, there was still much skepticism as
to its ability to carry out its ideals. Foreigners felt that
such a policy, advocated by a government which, over a
period of years, had proved its stability and the honesty
and fairness of its judicial system, would not have met
with serious opposition, but that it was expecting too
much to ask them, with the uncertainty of existing con-
ditions, to give their assent or to expect their compliance.
The general attitude of foreign interests will be dis-
jcussed further on.
_The constitutional provisions covering labor questions
Tiave been very generally criticized as socialistic and im-
practical They are an attempt, by legislation, to ele-
vate the position of the laboring classes, and, as such,
are commendable. They assume that higher wages,
shorter hours and better housing and other conditions
will automatically elevate the social status of the worker.
They ignore some vital factors in the question. Cheap
labor, the world over, is cheap in quality as well as in
price. Making all due allowance for bad political con-
ditions which permitted the exploitation of the laboring
class, the fact remains that the value of the peon labor
unit is low largely because his efficiency is low. Higher
efficiency would come with a higher educational and
intellectual standard, and, had the peon possessed these,
he would have made political progress^ The peon,
through poor political conditions, has flJBnbeen able to
improve his social and political status, and this cannot
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 219
be done purely by artificial legislation, BO- matter -how
aItrifitieH:he--motives. The mere granting of higher
wages will not accomplish much. The immediate effect
of this is to reduce the number of days of work. . The
peon has very simple wants, and if he can meet his needs
by working five days instead of six he will remain idle
another day each week This, with shortening of hours,
tends to provide employment for all, but does not mean
material progress. Education will,jn. time, accomplisE
much, but no matter how~eff ectively an educational pro-
gramTis' pushedT'its results' will not be felt for several^
years; WMfTif most essential at the moment is that the
TnJian be taught to work with higher efficiency. A
desire for better food, better clothing and stronger off-
spring will not be developed by constitutional enact-
ment fit has been said that the highest degree of civi-
lization iTindicated by the state of savings accounts, or,
in other words, that a full development is only reached
when man is willing to sacrifice immediate desires to
provide for future comfort for himself and his family.
The peon is far removed from this state. He is, gen-
erally speaking, not even willing to work enough to bet-
ter his social status. If he has enough to carry himself
through to next pay day he is satisfied, even though this
represents nothing more than bare existence. Men han-
dling large construction jobs in Mexico know, to a cer-
tainty, that they will be short ten or fifteen per cent, of
their labor on the day following payday. This, in rural
communities, is not due to drinking, but to sheer idle-
ness. The peon gets his pay, pays debts for food used
during the previous week, and, if he has anything left
over, he feels he can take a day off. "The great problem
will be to raise his aims and ideals and, through these,
increase his desire for work and the efficiency of his
labor. \ Elevation of his status, with suitable legislation
220 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
to protect him in his labor, will give him a position in
the world which he does not now enjoy. In other words,
he will, collectively, be an industrial factor, a producer,
a competitor. Failure to elevate him will mean his
continuation, and that of national life, on a primitive
basis. The question is not as to whether or not the con-
stitutional provisions as to labor are drawn on sound
lines, but, rather, whether their application will accom-
plish the purpose aimed at. There can be no question
but that many of the provisions are humane and sensi-
ble, and that much care has been taken to eliminate the
abuses of the past.
The one provision to which, as a matter of practical
application, a vigorous protest can justly be made is that
specifying that labor shall participate in all profits, on
a basis to be fixed by local commissions. The general
principle of profit-sharing has been advocated by many
social reformers, and has been practically, applied by a
good many modern industrial concerns. Such a scheme,
applied in Mexico, would doubtless be a factor in stimu-
lating labor to higher efficiency, and, through this, would
probably, in the end, be of benefit to the employer.
There is, however, little reason to believe that society in
Mexico has reached a stage where a scheme of compul-
sory profit-sharing can safely be left to the decision of
local commissions or boards Such a proposition, how-
ever beautiful it may sound in the abstract, is entirely
incompatible with the conduct of business or industry
under existing conditions. Primarily, it is inconceiv-
able that local boards would be able, even if honest in
their intentions, to deal with such a vital question. The
moment when society emerges from a purely primitive
state, industry becomes national or international in char-
acter, and therefore essentially competitive. Industry
can only succeed if profitable, and it is quite evident that
THE NEW CONSTITUTION 221
the views of local boards on the proportion of profits to
be awarded to labor might be so divergent as to place
certain industries at a tremendous disadvantage in com-
petition with other regions. Moreover, such a scheme,
if attempted at all, would require a degree of intelli-
gence far above the average in the commissions or boards
charged with the responsibility of settling the questions
involved, and, further, much courage, in the face of pop-
ular demands, to stand by honest convictions. The com-
bination of these qualities is rare, even in a highly de-
veloped state of society. Mexico has suffered from an
autocratic rule which has tended to restrict social devel-
opment, and it is therefore no reflection on the country to
say that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to or-
ganize, in the ordinary process of political operations,
forty or fifty commissions composed of men strong
enough, intelligent enough and honest enough to deal
with such difficult and far-reaching problems. That
such boards would offer temptation for graft is mani-
fest. Even greater would be the danger of abuse of
position for political motives. The tendency of such a
proposition would be to discourage those already having
industrial investment in Mexico, and to absolutely pro-
hibit any new development along lines of industrial ac-r
tivity. The whole scheme is not only too idealistic, but
is calculated to stop progress along much needed lines.
Something may be said along the same line of argu-
ment against the constitutional provision for fixing
wages by local boards, but, in this, the case is somewhat
different in that it may be assumed that the ordinary law
of supply and demand will, in the end, settle wage ques-
tions.
CHAPTER XX
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVEENMENT
FOLLOWING the adoption of a new constitution, an
election was held and General Carranza was elected pres-
ident The election was, to be stn*e,~a oue-sided affair,
but even if everybody had voted the result would un-
doubtedly have been the same. Following this, state
elections were held, governors being elected in some and
members of the national congress elected in all. These
elections were the first real elections held in Mexico in
many years, in fact, they were probably the closest
approach to popular elections ever held in the country:^
It is true that people opposed to the government did not
vote, partly because of timidity and partly because they
felt that their voting would be futile. Nevertheless,
there was much keen rivalry between the various fac-
tions within the Constitutionalist party. The military
wing made a strong fight to control congress, but was
defeated, the government coming out with a total of two-
thirds of both houses, the balance being divided between
other factions. In the elections for governors the gov-
ernment candidates were generally successful. Con-
gress was later convened, empowered the president to
negotiate loans for national purposes, for the national
railways, and for the creation of a new bank of issue.
Under the circumstances anything like constructive legis-
lation was almost out of the question. cfhe government
was, moreover, much hindered in its efforts by the con-
stant opposition of the military party and by one or two
222
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 223
political groups which placed personal interest ahead of
national needs. However, a good start was made, one
particularly important accomplishment being the reor-
ganization of a part of the judiciary, including the selec-
tion of members of a supreme court of justice. The
names of the men selected as supreme court justices were
reassuring, for, while few of the new members had had
much experience on the bench, the majority were men of
good reputations and in some cases of high standing in
their profession. As with most other selections for im-
portant posts, the majority of these men were from the
northern part of the country^ ;
The government, meanwEile, proceeded with the reor-
ganization of national and local administrations, to in-
crease, so far as possible, the efficiency of governmental
functions and to put in systematic shape the collection
and remittance^ revenues from the various sections of
the country. ^An American expert was invited to study
the operations of the various branches of the National
treasury, and, as a result of his labors, various divisions
and bureaus were brought into closer coordination. An
effort, only partially successful, was made to come into
closer relations with foreign interests having investments
in Mexico, so that, by a more thorough understanding,
such interests and the government could be of mutual
aid.
A steady and marked improvement in railway earn-
ings- reflected better industrial conditions. The most
serious drawback in the situation was a serious drouth
throughout the country, resulting in a very short crop.
This, combined with an embargo placed on foodstuffs
from the United States, sent prices to high figures, corn
reaching a price of thirty-three pesos a cargo, or over
$2.50 a bushel. The high cost of living and lack of ,
work in the fields resulted in the renewal of disturbed '
224: MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
conditions in some rural districts. During the year
progress was made in curbing the exactions of the unruly
portion of the military element. In the greater part
of the country civil administration was again placed in
control. At the time of writing (November, 1918), the
government is proceeding, necessarily ^somewhat slowly,
in the reorganization of national and state departments.
The result of efforts along these lines are already seen in
the more precise handling of ordinary government rou-
tine, particularly in the various ministries in Mexico
City. Some of the departments have been handled with
great ability, and are, to-day, on a more efficient basis
than ever before. One new department, that of Com-
merce and Industry, has been created, and deals with
commercial questions, mining, oil lands, and industry in
general. The majority of foreign interests come under
the operations of this department, whose head, Albert J.
Pajii, is a broad-minded man of high qualifications. \
Perhaps the most hopeful feature in the political situ-
ation is the fact that a start has been made in the devel-
opment of public opinion. The beginnings are small,
and the growth will be slow, but eventually public opin-
ion will be a great force in Mexico. The government
aims to create a new national spirit which will make a
patriotic appeal to all elements in the country. That
serious motives were back of the revolution is clearly
indicated by the fact that a group of a dozen men have,
through thick and thin, and in spite of every conceivable
sort of discouragemeAt, hung together to give proposed
reforms tangible effect) The government has made mis-
takes, and has, at times, rushed through ill-advised meas-
iires to relieve temporary evils. It has not yet restored
order everywhere in the country. It still has many
grave problems to face. The fact, however, that it has
established a government and brought a degree of order
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 225
out of a seething state of anarchy entitles it to much
credit and gives much hope for the future.
A factor of great importance in the political situation
is the general question of wages. Day labor, partly as
a result of the political program and partly as a reflec-
tion of world-wide conditions, to-day commands from 50
to 100% more than formerly,
BAIL WAY OPBKATION
/--*
s The railways in Mexico, forming, as they do, the base
of all industrial activity, have presented a serious prob-
lem. In the ordinary course of military operations the
first objective is to interrupt lines of communication and
destroy means of transportation. During more than
four years of more or less continuous fighting, the rail-
ways have been the target for hostile forces. Track and
bridges have been torn up and blown up time and again
as opposing forces moved backward and forward. Eoll-
ing stock has been destroyed in wrecks or burned to pre-
vent it from falling into hostile hands. In addition to
the destruction wrought by military operations, there
has been a tremendous amount of damage done by banda
of brigands, whoseemed to vent all their venom on rail-
way property. ^Doubtless the mere fact that the govern-
ment undertook railway operation was a sufficient reason
for them to look on railways as natural enemies. v At all
events, no chance was missed to wreck trains, "burn sta-
tions, smash up engines and otherwise destroy every-
thing pertaining to the railway system. ^The govern-
ment took over the operation of the National Railway
Company's system early in the revolution, but for a
time anything like regular operation was impossible.
Receipts from freight and passenger traffic in January,
1915, were only $93,000 (U. S. currency), as against
normal receipts in 1910-1911 of about $2,500,000 per
226 MEXICO TO-DAY A^D TO-MORKOW
month. By January, 1916, receipts liad been increased
to $501,000, in spite of depreciated currency. There
was a good monthly increase throughout 1916, the fig-
ures reaching $923,000 in August and then falling again
because of the drop in exchange. In the Fall part-
paper, part-gold tariffs were .put in force, and December
earnings were $902,000. Full gold tariffs then went
in effect, and January, 1917, earnings were $1,336,000.
In May the two-million mark was passed, and by Octo-
ber the highest earnings in the history of the system
were recorded. The present earnings are about $5,300,-
000 (pesos) per month, equivalent, at present rate of
exchange, to $3,250,000 in United States currency.
The figures in American currency are swelled by ex-
change conditions. Earnings as given cover, however,
only cash receipts, and take no account of services per-
formed for the government, inclusion of which would
show total receipts 25% in excess of earnings in 1913-
1914.
This showing, in view of the physical damage suffered
and the consequent shortage of rolling stock, is remark-
able. The story of railway operation in Mexico dur-
ing the years 1914-1917 would, of itself, make a good-
sized book. Engines which the average railway man
would say were fit only for the junk pile were repaired
from day to day and kept in motion. Wreckage was
collected and reshaped into freight cars. In fact, a
very high degree of resourcefulness was shown in keep-
ing the railways in operation. The difficulties in the
matter of equipment were nothing as compared to the
dangers incurred by train crews. Train after train was
wrecked by bandits, and shooting at the engineer was
the first motion in hold-ups. The crews, at times re-
ceiving pay which, in depreciated currency, amounted to
almost nothing, displayed amazing loyalty.
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVEBNMENT 227
There were picturesque features of travel, especially
in the early part of 1916. At that time tariffs were on
a paper currency basis, and one could travel all day for
a few cents. The cheap fares resulted in very heavy
travel, and, as rolling stock was limited, the cars were
as crowded as boxes of sardines. Ingress and egress
were so difficult, especially at way stations, that it was
a common sight to see passengers being shoved out of car
windows. There was no room for the armed escorts of
sixty or seventy men which accompanied passenger
trains, and the soldiers rode on the roofs of the cars.
When the Mexican soldier moves he likes to take his
family with him, and every passenger coach, fairly bulg-
ing out with passengers, had on its roof a motley collec-
tion of soldiers, women, children, red blankets and bun-
dles. The women nursed their children, and made tor-
tillas on tiny braziers, as unconcernedly as if they were
at home.
For several months past the showing in earnings on
railways has been somewhat artificial, due to the fact
that, because of lack of rolling stock, the major portion
of merchandise has been shipped as express matter. In
other words, express service has taken the place of ordi-
nary freight service. This, of course, has been rather
serious, greatly cutting down ordinary traffic. Two, at
least, of the large mining companies have purchased
engines and freight cars in the United States and have,
by arrangement with the National Railways, been oper-
ating their own service. One or two trading companies
have, under similar arrangements, operated a special
service.
The track on the main line from Mexico City to La- -
redo, Texas, has been well maintained. Sections of the
Mexican Central, paralleling this line, have not been^
operated, rails and other material being used to keep *
228 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
one line in service. The Mexico City-Vera Cruz line,
owned by a British company but operated by the Gov-
ernment, has been well kept up, but the road has suf-
fered very heavily in the loss of engines, passenger
coaches and freight cars. A regular service is main-
tained on practically all the lines radiating from Mexico
City. The railways in the North have had a hard time
of it. The Mexico Northwestern Railway, running
from El Paso southwest through the state of Chihuahua,
territory in which the Villistas have been very active,
has in four years had a total of over four hundred
bridges and culverts destroyed, some good-sized bridgei
having been burned or blown up four or five times.
DEVELOPMENTS IN YUCATAN
The history of the Yucatan peninsula has been par-
ticularly full of interest since the revolutionary move-
ment began in Mexico. This peninsula, comprising the
states o Yucatan and Campeche, and the territory of
Quintana Roo, is practically detached from the rest of
Mexico by a long stretch of swampy land extending
across the neck of the peninsula. The country espoused
the revolutionary cause early, and the new government
d relatively little difficulty in controlling the country.
State of Yucatan produces immense quantities of
iqgl, Q henequenj Sisal is the fiber of a plant of the
cactus family and is used very extensively for making
certain grades of rope and for the manufacture of binder
twine. The land in Yucatan and in a portion of Cam-
peche was divided into large haciendas, or plantations,
nearly all of which are devoted to sisal. The climate is
tropical, and portions of the peninsula, including prac-
tically all the territory of Quintana Roo, are covered
with dense tropical forest. In 1916 there was formed,
under government auspices, or, more properly, under
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 229
state auspices, the Commission Reguladora del Mercado
de Henequen, or Regulating Commission for the Hene-
quen Market. This commission undertook to purchase
the entire output of sisal and to handle its export and
sale. The commission is really a cooperative society of
growers, tinder special laws passed to cover its opera-
tions all sisal produced must be sold to the commission,
which handles its export and sale. A fixed price is paid
to growers, and net profits, after' costs of transportation
and selling, are either added to the commission's sur-
plus or distributed pro rata among the producers. The
government participates in profits through a special tax
on the operations of the commission. Formerly the
large buyers fixed the price, and it is claimed that for
years a small group of companies which took the entire
output had pooling arrangements which automatically
kept the price down. What, if any, pooling arrange-
ment existed is not certain. In any event, sisal sold in
Yucatan for about seven cents a pound, sometimes as
low as five cents, the figure being more or less governed
by the price of Manila hemp. The organization of the
Eegulating Commission, took price-making out of the
hands of buyers and put it in the hands of the pro-
ducers. The commission took advantage of the fact that
sisal had become a necessity, as, irrespective of price,
sufficient Manila hemp, could not be produced to make
binder twine. Consequently tKe~cbinmission was able
to increase the price from time to time to the present
figure of 19% cents. Under this arrangement the
grower receives about twelve cents for sisal, and the com-
mission, after paying taxes, freights and marketing ex-
pense, nets about four cents the profits eventually go-
ing to the producers. The operations of the commission
have been the subject of attacks in the United States,
but its contention is that the producers are making the
230 MEXICO TO-DAY AM) TO-MORROW
profit which binding twine manufacturers formerly
made, and that advances in price have simply been in
response to the law of supply and demand. There ap-
pears to be little doubt that at times the commission
could have made further increases of as much as fifty
per cent, and still -have had no difficulty in disposing of
all the product. The result of this state monopoly has
been profitable to the laborer, to the grower, and to the
state: Wages in the peninsula have been advanced from
one -p'eso or one peso and a half per day to three and
four pesos per day. The state, with its profits from
commission operations, has been able to spend consider-
able money in public works, has bought control of the
United Railways of Yucatan, has built some new rail-
ways and is planning to extend the railway system
through the state of Tabasco to connect with the gen-
eral railway system of Mexico. The commission has
several million dollars in its treasury, and the state has
no bonded or floating debt
Recently the United States food commission made an
attempt to secure a reduction in price from 19% cents
to 15 cents as a measure to reduce cost of wheat pro-
duction. The commission refused to make any cut,
claiming that the price is low in proportion to the price
of Manila hemp, and that increases in the past two
years have been no greater than increases in prices of
other commodities. As this work goes to press the mat-
ter appears to be deadlocked.
^neral^alYftdpr__Alvarado, the State Governor, is a
man of great capacity "arid much energy. He has done
much to improve the general condition of plantation
workers. Owners of haciendas have been induced to
allot small tracts of land to their laborers, who, during
off hours, can cultivate patches of corn and beans.
Many of the laborers will, because of high pay, only
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVEKNMENT 231
work four days a week, giving a good part of the extra
time to cultivating their own patches of corn, or, more
frequently, in blissful idleness* This very materially
affected sisal production, the 1916 crop falling twenty
per cent below normal. To provide sufficient labor for
normal production peons were brought from other parts
of the country to Yucatan, the high wages offered being
sufficient inducement to attract them. The new order
of things worked well for most of the plantation owners.
Labor had to be stimulated and coaxed more or less, as
the peon could, on the wages of three days, live a week.
Plantation owners who were " on the job " had little
trouble, but owners who lived in Mexico and expected
that, as in the past, the hacienda would take care of
itself, found a heavy drop in production. General Alva-
rado says that three times as many people wear shoes as
formerly, and that the desire for these and for better
clothes and: gramophones will, in time, result in
steardier wcrir. He hdpes~ to -eventually" buildup a class
of smair"Eirmers and to start them on plantations of
their own in Quintana Roo and Campeche.
;Qver five hundred new schools have been opened in
the state during the past two years, and every village
and large plantation now has its school. , An agricul-
tural college has been opened, and each hacienda will be
entitled to send one pupil to it. The government is
planning to erect, through a new company backed by the
state, a large number of model workmen's houses. Ex-
tensive dock works at Progreso and other ports are being
planned. A curious feature of the situation in Yucatan
was that the peninsula never accepted the Mexican paper
currency. ^Through all the economic troubles of 1915
and 1916 Yucatan was undisturbed, and did all busi-
ness on a gold and silver basis. ,
yessels having cargo to unload at Progreso have had
232 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
a bad time with labor. Union rales as to hours are
very rigid, and the men will do no overtime work or
night work. As a result ships which formerly cleared
in fifteen or eighteen hours now frequently spend two
or three days unloading. Labor committees make all
sorts of regulations, and employers make much com-
plaint as to conditions. It must be said, however, that
the people all look well-fed and contented. The govern-
ment, by all reports, is well run.
CHAPTER XXI
FINANCIAL NEEDS
MEXICO'S finances are of interest not only as an ab-
stract proposition but as a matter in which the United
States is much interested. The direct obligations of the
government as represented by various bond issues, for-
eign and domestic, amount to a total, including accrued
interest, of somewhat over two hundred and fifty mil-
lion dollars, U. S. currency. There are, in addition,
some internal loans of minor importance; a certain
amount of bonds issued to take up " Vera Cruz " paper ;
a considerable amount of government scrip issued to
pay troops and civil employees ; thirty millions owed to
banks ; a total, including bond issues, of slightly
more than $300,000,000. In addition to this the
government is liable for certain claims for loss of life
or destruction of property during the revolution.
The amount of these claims is not known, but the gen-
eral impression that the total will represent a colossal
figure is highly erroneous. The heaviest losses have
been sustained by the railways, due principally to de-
struction of equipment. The National Railways of
Mexico estimate that for replacement of engines, pas-
senger coaches and freight cars, for reconstruction of
track work and for rebuilding stations, the sum of fifjy
million pesos, or thirty ^miUion AQllata,.jwill_be re-
quired. The National Railways system represents,
roughly, two-thirds of the total railway mileage in Mex-
ico, and, taking this proportion as a basis, the total
233
234 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
losses would be $45,0.00,000. . This figure may be some-
what low, especially in view of prevailing high prices
for railway equipment, but it seems safe to estimate that
sixty million dollars will cover the total railway item.
The large mining properties at Pachuea, El Oro, Guana-
juato and other camps suffered little or no material
damage. The public utility concerns in Mexico City,
Vera Cruz, Monterrey and other cities have had small
physical losses. Some of the power companies have
lost much copper wire, but the plants, as a rule, have not
been damaged. Plantations and ranches have lost cat-
tle, and have had some damage done to buildings. In
the North, Villa exacted cash from mining and other
concerns, but in Central Mexico the mining concerns
were not seriously molested, and, curiously, through all
the troubles, never lost a bar of bullion in transit. Al-
together, the property losses were far less than might
have been expected. Exclusive of railway losses, it is
probable that legitimate foreign claims for property loss
will not total forty million dollars, and to this will have
to be added such awards as may be made to the families
of persons who lost their lives. As the National Eail-
ways will be treated separately^ only one-third of the to-
tal railwajr^stimate need be included as a government
liability. OFpreign claims for damages to property may,
therefore, be calculated at sixty million dollars, and
compensation for loss, of life may bring the total to
seventy million dollars^ City properties were not dam-
aged, but Mexican rural properties sustained losses
through wanton destruction of buildings, stealing of live
stock, and so forth, and thirty million dollars may be
included to cover this item. It is quite probable that
the total claims filed will far exceed this figure, as there
is always a tendency, where dealing with a government,
to put in exaggerated figures, but, at a rough calculation,
FINANCIAL NEEDS 235
the total losses (foreign and domestic claims) which
could be fairly awarded may be put at a hundred mil-
lion dollars. These figures make no allowance for in-
direct" loss due to non-production or to losses incident to
depreciation in the currency, the total of which would
be far greater than the direct loss. Of the total foreign
investment in Mexico, amounting to nearly two billion
dollars, two-thirds has been producing nothing for four
years, representing, at five per cent., a gross loss of
three hundred million dollars. Mexican rural prop-
erties either produced nothing or received payment in
depreciated currency, and the sum total of such loss
would be very high. The same may be said of urban
property. Claims for loss due to economic conditions
or depreciated currency could not, except by a wild
stretch of imagination, be made against the government,
and the estimate is made on a basis of tangible physical
damage only.
If we take the total of claims at $100,000,000, we may
assume that the government will, with its bonded and
other obligations, have a total debt of $400,000 T QOO.
Of this, two-thirds is in bonds bearing 4% and 5%
interest, or calling, roughly, for $12,500,000 in annual
charges. If the balance be funded at 6%, requiring
$9,000,000, the total annual interest charges will be in
the neighborhood of $21,500,000. A considerable sum
of money will be needed for public works and other gov-
ernment requirements, possibly amounting to fifty mil-
lion dollars, and this, if included, would bring the total
indebtedness up to $450,000,000, with annual charges
amounting to about $25,000,000. ^3Sie debt, at the rate
of $30 per capita, would be low, and the total, in propor-
tion to the country's wealth and natural resources,
would be moderate^ The gross income of the govern-
ment to-day is at a rate of fifteen million pesos per
236 MEXICO TO-DAY AKD TO-MORROW
month, or, taking exchange at. 62, about one hundred
and ien-millix>n_dQllaj^__ge_r_ year a larger Income
than under the Diaz regime. Were it not for the need
of a large army the country to-day would be able to
meet all its interest charges. The government to-day is
able to meet nearly all of its current expenses out of in-
come. Roughly, an increase of twenty-five per cent,
in income would meet current expenses and all inter-
est charges, and it would seem, off-hand, as if the day
were not far off when all obligations could be taken care
of.
There are, however, other phases of the matter to be
considered. People holding Mexican securities talk
glibly about England, France and the United States
talcing action to force Mexico to meet her foreign obli-
gations, but they ignore conditions which confront the
government. Presumably no government ever likes to
default on its obligations, and any such default is almost
invariably due solely to inability to pay. Mexico has
made no suggestion of repudiation of its debt save as to
one item an issue of bonds by Huerta and claimed
by the present government to have been an illegal loan
made by a usurping government. The question then be-
comes purely one of how soon, and to what extent, Mex-
ico can resume payment on her debt.
The situation of Mexico may be compared to that of a
huge corporation gone bankrupt. Some creditors want
a receiver appointed in other words, they want for-
eign intervention, which, financially speaking, would
probably increase the total indebtedness. Other cred-
itors want a voice in the management. Still others are
willing to leave the matter in the hands of the manage-
ment the government but want some assurance that
they will be taken care of. Foreign creditors feel that
the United States, because of geographical location and
FINANCIAL NEEDS 237
more particularly because of the Monroe Doctrine,
should act as a collection agency to get their claims paid,
and assume that, sooner or later, their governments will
exert sufficient pressure to bring this about. This line
of argument assumes that, in some way of other, Mexico
must be made to pay. If a large corporation goes to
smash some sort of reorganization is usually provided to
conserve its assets and bring its earning power back to
a point where it can meet its obligations. Where a gov-
ernment is involved, possession of the property could
only be secured by the use of military force. In the
case of Mexico it would seem, on broad principles, far
wiser to have a friendly reorganization in which the
creditors could lend a hand in necessary reconstructive
measures. In the reorganization of large corporations
sound policy calls for a program of not loading up the
reorganized property with so much of a burden, either in
amount or in distribution in point of time, as tp cause a
second collapse of the financial structure. Mexican
finance, when reorganized,' should be placed onT~a basis
where the country can carry the load without staggering.^
It would seem that if, in this case, the creditors could
get together they could reach an agreement with the gov-
ernment as to the general outline of a financial policy to
be pursued, making provision for immediate needs and
arranging for a gradual resumption of payments on a
basis which would not be too onerous. The natural dif-
ficulty is that each particular creditor has his own par-
ticular claim, and he is not disposed to make any con-
cessions, even of a temporary nature. The govern-
ment's general credit is poor, and it has no collateral
which it can put up to get any money. It needs funds
to organize and properly equip a sufficient force to police
the country so that public order may be restored in
every section. It needs aid in building up a new bank-
238 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
ing system and in rehabilitating its railways. Given
public order, a banking system established and railways
in full operation, conditions will quickly normalize and
the country will derive sufficient income for all needaT
Until such a change can be brought about, the govern-
ment can not meet its obligations, and securities held by
its creditors will remain in their depressed state. The
total amount of money needed is not great, and, once an
agreement could be reached there would be little diffi-
culty in finding it.- The creditors, as in the case of large
corporations, could well afford, in their own interests, to
give new money a prior claim. The mere fact of &n
agreement being reached would, through eliminating un-
certainty, greatly strengthen the position of the govern-
ment, and, through the establishment of confidence,
would tend to normalization of economic and industrial
conditions. Naturally, the suggestion of negotiations
looking toward such an agreement presupposes a dispo-
sition on the part of the government to deal fairly with
foreign interests. Many people having investments in
Mexico have no confidence in the government. They
do not realize, however, that there has been a great im-
provement in conditions, nor do they make allowance
for the fact that the government must, for selfish motives
if for no other reason, be anxious to do anything which
it reasonably can toward clearing up the financial situa-
tion. Whether anything will be done toward opening
negotiations is uncertain. The government, by way of
a preliminary clearing up of misunderstandings, made
an effort last year to have leading interests send repre-
sentatives to Mexico to study and discuss the situation,
but its proposal was somewhat coldly received, and noth-
ing came of the matter.
^ Mexico, like a good many other countries has, at times,
given specific guarantees to secure loans. In this way
NEEDS 239
eighty-five per cent, of its customs receipts have been
hypothecated. The suggestion has been made that she
could hypothecate certain taxes, such as those on oil
and mine production, to secure a new loam The strong-
est private corporations, the world over, are generally
those having a limited number of classes as securities.
Concerns having numerous classes of obligations, se-
cured by corresponding priorities as to assets and earn-
ings, are never in as strong position as the former, and,
in the event of financial embarrassment, invariably suf-
fer through the wrangling between the different sets of
creditors. The same is, generally speaking, true as to
national obligations. Prof. Adams ("Finance," p. 4)
lays down as the first axiom of sound public finance that
" A sound financial policy will not impair the patrimony
of the State." He says : " It is a fundamental princi-
ple of constitutional law that each legislature shall hand
down to its successor all the rights and powers and juris-
dictions which it received from its predecessor; so in
matters of public finance it is incumbent that each suc-
ceeding administration shall find as broad a field from
which to supply its needs and as fruitful a source of
supply as the administration which preceded it. This
statement is so reasonable, and springs so naturally from
the conception that the state is a personality of perpet-
ual life, that its mere statement must secure for it uni-
versal recognition." It is to be hoped that in any
financing done in Mexico future needs as well as imme-
diate objects will be borne in mind. There is always
danger that under stress of urgent needs the financing
will be of such a character as to embarrass future finan-
cial operations. Hypothecation of certain taxes or of
customs receipts would only render more difficult the
reorganization of the whole financial scheme. A gen-
eral reorganisation will, sooner or later, have to take
240 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEKOW
place, and nothing should be done in the meantime to
make the work more difficult.
In any reorganization of finance it will be well to
consider the ability of the country to pay, and to so
arrange the securities that the fixed charges will, if pos-
sible, be reduced. The corporate plan of dividing up
obligations between bonds and preferred stocks might
furnish a basis for some scheme which would somewhat
reduce fixed charges and would, at the same time, give
creditors something for the balance of their claims.
Nothing can be worse for a government than to have its
finances reach a state where there is no hope of ever meet-
ing obligations. If a country cannot pay interest on
existing obligations there is no object in piling on more
debt, and keeping up the operation until national credit
is completely ruined. The Turkish government, bank-
rupt for a century, has had its finances reorganized half
a dozen times, each operation leaving the country with a
heavier debt than before. The creditors seem to have
suffered from the delusion that by consolidating various
debts and a few years of accrued interest, by advancing
some new money, and finally, by lumping everything to-
gether in a new issue, they would stand better chance of
receiving a return on their money. The result is that
Turkish bonds for years have sold at fractional amounts
of par values. In each case foreign governments have
been instrumental in putting through some new scheme
of financial reorganization which in the end has been of
no benefit to the creditors. It is true that Turkey has
suffered much from bad government, but it is also worth
remembering that it has always been badly handicapped
by a financial load it could not possibly carry. In car-
rying out general reform measures a good national credit
is essential. Nothing so demoralizes a government as
lack of confidence on the part of the public. Mexico is
FINANCIAL IftEEDS 241
rich but undeveloped. ~ Given public confidence and sin-
cerity of purpose on the part of the government, she can
eventually take care of all obligations, but any attempt
to make on her demands with which she cannot comply
will only mean adding more trouble to a complicated
situation.
These remarks on matters of national finance may be
applied, in general, to the position of the various Mexi-
can railway properties, and particularly to the Mexican
National Railways System. The total railway mileage
in Mexico (exclusive of very light lines used for hauling
on large haciendas) is, roughly, 21,000 kilometers, or
about 14,000 miles. Of the total nearly 9,000 miles
are included in the properties belonging to the National
Railways. This system was formed through the con-
solidation, in 1908, of a number of roads, shares of
which were, in part, paid for in securities of the Na-
tional Railways Company. Under the arrangement for
consolidation, the government, by purchasing certain
interests in roads being merged, acquired about two-
thirds of the common stock of the new company and also
acquired large blocks of preferred stocks. The obliga-
tions of the company as to bonds, notes, interest, and
stocks, are approximately as follows :
Underlying bonds (Pesos) ... 138,794,000
First Mortgage 4%'g 169,608,000
General Mortgage 4's 101,479,000 409,899,000
6% Notes 67,364,000 67,364,000
Accrued bond interest due . . . 71,878,000
Accrued note interest due ... 14,146,500 86,024,600
Common stock 149,607,000
First preferred 57,662,000
Second preferred 240,745,000 448,014,000
Grand Total (Pesos) .... 1,011,301,500
242 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
Roughly speaking, then, the capital liabilities are five
hundred million dollars (assuming a value of 50 cents,
TL S. currency, to the peso), about one-half in stocks and
one-half in bonds, notes and accrued interest. The
bonded debt, exclusive of accrued interest, is approxi-
mately 45,000 pesos, or $22,500 per mile. Even with
outstanding notes and accrued bond interest the debt
(exclusive of capital stock) would only be about $32,000
(U. S. Cy.) per mile. This, in comparison to the large
American railways systems, would be a very moderate
indebtedness per mile. While a large part of the first
and general bonds were used to retire outstanding bond
and stock issues, and while a portion of these doubtless
represented promotion profits, it seems probable that the
original actual investment per mile must have been con-
siderably in excess of $32,000 per mile, especially con-
sidering the rough character of the country traversed.
The difference is represented in losses sustained by orig-
inal investors, whose securities were shrunk considerably
before a general consolidation took place, and by govern-
ment subsidies. Taking present or even normal replace- .
meht cost as a basls^ the property, physically, is doubt-
less worth somewhere between $40,000 and $42,000 (TJ.
S. Cy.) per mile, or a total figure of between 720,000,-
000 and 760,000,000 pesos. To this sum would have to
be added, say, $45,000,000 to put the property in full
operating condition, bringing the total value up to $45,-
000 or $47,000 per mile. The question, however, must
be studied on a practical basis of earnings rather than
on a theoretical basis of original or replacement costs.
Gross earnings in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913
were practically stationary, the maximum being reached
for the fiscal year 1910-1911, when receipts totaled 64,-
066,415 pesos. If the value of the system be taken as
800,000,000 pesos, then the maximum gross earned
FINANCIAL NEEDS 243
would be 8% of the capital, manifestly an absurdly low
figure for the capital involved. To put it another way,
there would, assuming operating expenses would con-
sume two-thirds of gross revenue, be a net equal to 2^/2%
on eight hundred million pesos. Net revenue, after
payment of taxes, amounted to 21,300,000 pesos, or
about 2% on the total present capital account, and
2y 2 % on a valuation of eight hundred millon pesos.
This was without making any allowance for reserves.
Clearly the capital account is out of proportion to the
earning power, either past or prospective.
The government position in the matter is technically
weak. Looked at calmly, the government is only owner
of the railways subject to many prior claims. The line
of argument of some friends of the government appears
to be that, because the railways are a national necessity,
they should belong to the government ; that because the
government owns a majority of the common stock, they
do belong to the government ; ipso facto, the government
can do as it pleases as to payment of prior claims. It
has been suggested, in the able work on railways written
by Lie. Fernando Gonzalez Roa, that all creditors waive
interest for a period of ten years, by which time the
property would be in shape to take care of all its charges
and earn a handsome surplus. -This reasoning appears
to be on false premises. Such a proposition would, in
effect, be that every one else interested should make a
sacrifice in order that the government should have a
valuable property at a future date. If the government
has any hope of future railway or other industrial devel-
opment in Mexico it will have to meet the question fairly
and squarely, and it must recognize that, legally, its posi-
tion in the railways is subject to other claims. To take
any other attitude would be, in effect, to repudiate the
railway debt, and this is a position that the government
244 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
cannot afford to assume. Granted that it is, for politi-
cal, military and economic reasons, desirable that the
government should control or actively manage the rail-
ways, such an end should be accomplished in a way
which will give due consideration to the claims of those
interested in the properties.
Attention is called in Mr. Roa's excellent work to the
financial aid in subsidies of cash and bonds given to the
railways, and there is the implication that the govern-
ment has, therefore, another interest in the property
than that of a holder of a majority of the common stock.
It is true that the government did expend large amounts
in subsidies, but this was not as an investor but solely
for the purpose of having railways built. It may be
argued that such aid was unnecessary, in fact,
Mr. Roa rather assumes that the government was in-
veigled into onerous terms in the various . contracts.
While, in theory, it should be easy to get capital for
railways, in fact it is very difficult, especially in a
country where possibilities from the standpoint of rail-
way operations have not been developed. The various
western railways in the United States had the greatest
possible difficulties in securing the funds for initial con-
struction, and even with large subsidies and land grants
all of the roads went through bankruptcy in their early
years, because of the lack of sufficient traffic in a sparsely
settled territory. There is too much of a disposition in
Mexico and in this country to assume that capital is
always seeking a chance to gouge somebody, and that,
inherently, a banking syndicate is a monster looking for
some one to devour. It may be true that some of the
terms in railway concessions were unfavorable to the
public, but it is absurd to assume, as seems to be as-
sumed, that the whole scheme of railway construction
FINANCIAL NEEDS 245
was a nefarious one designed to put a burden on the
public. There were, of course, promotion profits, but
without some inducement of this sort no one would have
ever attempted the work. Manifestly, a material reduc-
tion must be made in the amount of capitalization, and
all interested must be prepared to make a sacrifice. It
is clear that the security holder would be better off to
have a fifty-dollar bond worth fifty dollars than to have a
hundred-dollar bond worth thirty dollars. It seems
quite with in reason to believe that a form of reorganiza-
tion could be agreed on which would provide new money,
cut the bonded indebtedness in two and issue new pre-
ferred and common stocks to existing security holders,
having in mind the priority of claims, and at the same
time make a very material reduction in the total of se-
curities outstanding. Prior to the outbreak of the revo-
lution the company only demonstrated its ability to earn
bond interest and an amount sufficient to pay a small
dividend in its first preferred stock - and this was with-
out setting up any surplus. The accumulation of a
large amount of unpaid interest has only made the situa-
tion worse.
The rearrangement of National Railway finances is,
in a measure, a simpler matter than that of national
finances. The railways company is a private concern,
and the government, as a stockholder, could have no rea-
sonable objection to giving to those engaged in financial
reorganization a voice in administration. The amount
of money needed for rehabilitation is not large. Be-
cause of the troubles Mexico has gone through financial
houses might have some hesitation in advancing money
to the government, fearing waste and extravagance in
its disbursement. In the case of the railways this diffi-
culty could be obviated by having credits take the form
246 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
of rails, locomotives and cars. The rehabilitation of the
railways on a footing where they could give regular and
efficient service at normal rates would be a factor of the
greatest possible importance in the general development
of industry and commerce.
CHAPTER XXII
MEXICO AND THE WORLD WAR
seems to be a general impression in the "United
States that Mexico, in the world-war, was pro-German
in sympathy. This is partly the result of much Ger-
man propaganda in Mexico a campaign pushed with
enough energy to give an inc9rrect impression as to the
degree of pro-German feeling." An important factor in
creating this impression has been a campaign, conducted
for some years, by a number of American newspapers,
to do everything possible to discredit Mexico and bring
about armed intervention by the United States. This
campaign has been waged so persistently that the Amer-
ican view of Mexican affairs has been somewhat dis-
torted. Sensational stories are sent out daily by corre-
spondents along the border regarding Mexican affairs,
these yarns usually starting off with the statement that
a refugee from somewhere in Mexico brings the news,
and so forth. It is safe to say that a goodly percentage
of these tales are made out of whole cloth, and that
three-fourths of the balance are highly colored affairs.
Many reputable newspapers which have no desire to aid
in an anti-J^exican campaign are taken in by these sto-
ries, and innocently give them wide publicity. There
has been a vast amount of disorder in Mexico, and in
1915 and early in 1916 conditions were very bad. The
sort of stories printed almost daily give the general im-
pression that conditions are as bad as ever, and that the
United States has been constantly facing a menace in
247;
248 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
the shape of Mexican-German combination. Much
money was spent in German propaganda in Mexico,
particularly in stirring up hostility toward the United
States. Several papers were subsidized, and one paper,
the Boletin de Ouerra^ printed such absurdly wild and
silly stuff as to make it the subject of ridicule. It was
openly charged that German money was a steady influ-
ence with several members of the Mexican congress.
All of this, combined with what seemed to be the waver-
ing or hostile attitude of the government, resulted in a
very general impression that Mexico was strongly pro-
German. The Zimmerman note to Bernstorff, propos-
ing a joint Mexican-Japanese attack on the United
States, only tended, in the minds of many, to confirm
this belief, although as a matter of fact, the note caused
greater surprise in Mexico than anywhere else/,
Mexico, for some time, was in a generally hostile
frame of mind toward the United States. The occupa-
tion of Vera Cruz and the Pershing expedition aroused
much bitter feeling. There has always been consider-
able jealousy, always intensified by the fact that Cali-
fornia, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and
Texas were once Mexican territory. The.Carranza gov-
ernment was bitter over the efforts of the 'American
business interests to have Huerta recognized. Mr.
Bryan for a time seemed on the point of acting as backer
for Villa and this stirred up ill feeling. The hostility
has worn off, but Mexico, in her new-found liberty, is
very suspicious. Some of her leaders always look on
the United States as a possible enemy, and this is the
view of a good many of the military. The French occu-
pation and the war with the United States have made
them suspicious, and the greatly exaggerated idea as to
profits made by American companies has created a desire
for isolation a desire which found extreme expression
MEXICO AND THE WORLD WAR 249
when Zapata said that when his party secured full con-
trol of_Mexicp he would throw out .foreigners, tear up
the railroads, and return to primitive life. Such a
statement does not, of course, voice Mexican opinion,
but that there was much hostility to foreigners, and
Americans in particular, is beyond question. The sus-
picions bred of hostility still exist. Mexico felt for a
time that the attitude of the United States was hostile.
There were many misunderstandings, with blame on
both sides. Even the recognition of the government and
President Wilson's steady adherence to the principle
that Mexico must be allowed to work out her own salva-
tion have not succeeded in wiping out some of the suspi-
cion existing. The general attitude toward the United
States is to-day far more friendly than at any time dur-
ing the past six years, and doubtless Mexico will some
day realize that the United States is her best and strong-
est friend. The government felt, however, that its
position in the war should be one of strict neutrality,
and it adhered to this policy.; To the disinterested ob-
server it seemed that Mexico had every reason to openly
express her sympathy for the .cause of the Allies. She
has just been through a revolution whose chief aim was
to do away with an autocratic form of government. If
she fears aggression, her greatest protection lies in the
fact that the Allies have been fighting for the principle
that the world must be made safe for democracy that
the idea that might makes right can have no place in in-
ternational relations. The majority of Latin- American
republics either openly declared war on the side of the
Allies or expressed their sympathy with the cause for
which they were fighting. -C&. declaration of sympathy
would have greatly strengthened the friendship of the
United States, and this would have been of very mate-
rial aid in solving difficult financial and economic prob-
250 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
lems. There was no danger of having Mexico as an
enemy, as the government fully realizes that hostility
to the United States would be suicidaJl Technically
there could be no objection to neutrality. The advo-
cates of this policy in Mexico Jook the position that,
because of internal problems, Mexico could be of no
material aid to the Allies ; that, by entering the war on
their side, or declaring her sympathy for their cause,
she would be making an enemy, while, because of in-
ability to give material aid, she would gain no friends ;
that, while the pro-German sympathizers were in the
minority in Mexico, the government did not wish to
antagonize them, as it needed the support of every one
in working out its problems; briefly, that Mexico, by
departure from neutrality, would have had something
to lose and nothing to gaiiuVTliis line of argument
seemed reasonable, but took no account of the fact that
practically all of the foreign capital (probably close
to two billion dollars) invested in Mexico is American,
British, French and Belgian, while German interest,
with the exception of a small amount of government
bonds held by German banks, has been almost exclusively
confined to commercial enterprise. Mexico's interna-
tional problems will, therefore, be largely with countries
in the Allied group, and the friendship of these coun-
tries would be of very great help in the arrangement of
many pending questions.
German money was spent freely in Mexico through-
out the^ar, and the propaganda was not without influ-
ence. (Early in 1916 it was a matter of common report
in Mexico that one of the Diaz generals, resident in
Cuba, had been offered seven million marks to finance a
new revolution in Mexico, the aim being to bring on
American intervention and thereby divert the supply
of munitions then going to the Allies?? Later, well-
MEXICO AND THE WOELD WAR 251
informed Mexicans expressed their conviction that
German money was responsible for the Columbus raid.
On the whole, the propaganda accomplished nothing
except, perhaps, to have liept Mexico from declaring its
sympathy for the Allies. Even though Mexico chose
to remain neutral, It is some satisfaction to know that
the ablest leaders in the country were strongly pro-Ally,
and that the Allied cause had a strong advocate in Mex-
ico's most fearless and influential newspaper, El Unir.
versaL
^KLuch of the credit for improvement in the relations
between the United States and Mexico is due to the
untiring efforts of Henry. -P. Fletcher, the American
Ambassador at Mexico City, and Senor Ignacio Bonillas,
the Mexican Ambassador at Washington. In selecting
Mr. Fletcher for the important post the State Depart-
ment chose a man of previous valuable experience in
Latin-American diplomacy and a man who, through his
knowledge of the people and their language., would ac-
quire a thorough understanding of conditions before
attempting to pass judgment on the various questions
constantly being brought before the embassy. Mr.
Fletcher's work has done much to reestablish, in the
minds of the Mexican authorities, a confidence in the
general disposition of the American Government.
Senor Bonillas is a man of high ideals and broad views,
and has a full understanding of American ideas and
institutions. He has not only been instrumental in
bringing the two governments into closer relations but
has done much toward giving the American public a
better understanding of the situation in Mexico. In a
capital like Mexico City the .American Consul General
comes in intimate contact with government officials and
leaders in business and social Activities. Mr. George
A. Chamberlain, appointed to this position in 1917, is
252 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
an efficient and broad-minded official. He has, more-
over, through birth in Brazil and through a dozen years
of service in Latin countries, a thorough understanding
of the Latin-American viewpoint an invaluable asset
for the post.
There arose, early in 1918, an awkward situation
brought about by war conditions. The United States,
to prevent any outflow of gold during the war, placed an
embargo on gold exports. Mexico has a trade balance,
in her favor, amounting to some two million dollars a
month, and she wants this paid in gold an arrange-
ment automatically stopped by the embargo. As a basis
for solution of the difficulty, the United States proposed
that balances due Mexico should be deposited in New
York, and that paper currency should be issued in Mex-
ico against such balances. As an alteration, it was sug-
gested that balances should be settled in United States
treasury notes. Neither arrangement was satisfactory
to Mexico. Theoretically either method would take care
of the matter, but practically there is the very serious
objection that the Mexican public at large is in no frame
of mind to accept paper currency, regardless of how well
it is secured. Public confidence in the government's
financial stability is not yet established, and any issue
of paper secured by gold deposits in New York would
be looked on with suspicion. When the time comes to
bring out a paper currency the deposit of funds abroad
would be an element of strength rather than of weak-
ness, but it seems highly doubtful if paper secured by
such deposits would, at the present time, be well received.
The general attitude of the public on the paper question
was indicated when, early this year, the government an-
nounced its purpose of immediately creating a bank of
issue. Protests poured in from every quarter, and the
expressions of fear of another economic upheaval were
MEXICO AND THE WOULD WAR 253
so great that the government decided to postpone, for an
indefinite time, the opening of the new bank. Some of
the Mexican government officials feel that the plan of
securing issues by deposits in New York would not, even
under normal conditions, be calculated to inspire confi-
dence. The Mexican might feel, they say, that he was
taking money over the security for which the govern-
ment issuing it had no control. Speaking broadly, this
objection cannot have very much weight. As pointed
out elsewhere, the placing of reserves in banks in New
York or London would, with the great majority of busi-
ness people, inspire confidence through dispelling any
possible fears that gold reserves securing paper of the
government might be used for some other purposes.
-JXhere is, of course, the possibility of some complication
in the event that Mexico should become involved in war
with the country where her gold deposits were accumu-
lated:/ If, for instance, funds securing Mexican bank
issues were deposited in New York, there might be a
currency panic if Mexico and the United States became
involved in war, even if such funds were in no way
affected. Whatever may be said on the question pro
and con, there is no doubt but that, for immediate pur-
poses, the plan is open to objections.
.^So^far there has been no definite settlement of ihis
question. When the embargo on gold was first placed,
Mexico retaliated by placing an embargo on the export
of silver.J This was a serious blow to the silver produc-
ing mines, largely owned by American interests, and
much friction resulted. The embargo on silver was sub-
sequently modified. Embargoes placed by the American
government on export of foodstuffs have been lifted at
various times to permit shipments of corn to Mexico,
and, in general, many of the causes for friction between
the two countries are disappearing. An effort to greatly
254 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
increase the export tax on oil brought a very strong pro-
test from the United States, and the Mexican govern-
ment finally modified its taxation scheme. -'
A cause of a certain amount of irritation exists in the
situation in the oil district surrounding Tampico. In
the chaotic days of 1915 and the early part of 1916 a
local chief named Pelaez became dominant in the region.
He enforced contributions from the various oil produc-
ing companies, giving them, in return, protection.
Tampico itself has been under Constitutionalist control
for three years, but the oil producing territory, begin-
ning only a few, miles from Tampico, has been under
Pelaez' control. The oil companies, partly due to stress
of local conditions" and partly due to lack of confidence
in the government, have tacitly supported Pelaez or
have, at least, made his continuance possible through
regular contributions? ^ The government is determined
sooner or later to end~'such a situation, as it naturally
cannot tolerate the practical alienation of a portion of its
territory. The oil companies fear that any move
against Pelaez will involve a risk of the destruction of
the oil wells. Doubtless when the government acts it
will take all necessary measures to protect the oil fields.
There would be little reason for referring to the ques-
tion but for the persistent efforts of a certain group of
newspapers in the United States to provoke trouble.
These newspapers, under the cloak of a news service,
have been periodically sending out a story that the Tam-
pico oil fields were threatened with destruction, that
the fuel supply for the British fleet was threatened, and
that an occupation of the region by American troops
was imminent
The situation in Tampico has its difficult and embar-
rassing features, but can hardly be called serious so far
as relations between Mexico and the United States are
MEXICO AND THE WOULD WAR 255
concerned. A mutual understanding of the difficulties
facing both governments will, it is hoped, bring about a
proper solution of pending questions. People who have
studied the course of Mexican affairs during the past
few years fully realize that there are many difficult
problems to be solved and that much patience will be
required on the part of all concerned. The reconstruc-
tion period has barely begun, and no one act, either in-
ternal or external, will bring it to a speedy conclusion.
Neither is any one act likely to destroy what has already
been accomplished. It is clear, Jiowever, that Mexico
needs all the help she can get. She is somewhat chary;
about accepting help, and seemingly unduly suspicious.-
There is a tendency on both sides to quibble a good deal,
and this is intensified by .the injection of extraneous
matters into discussions. The United States sincerely
wants to help Mexico, and it is to be hoped that a way
will be found to make its purpose so clear that there will
be no question as to the cordiality and sincerity of its
support^; At the moment the greatest obstacle in estab-
lishing close relations lies in the suspicion in Mexico as
to the ultimate purpose of the United States.
!The Mexican official -mind ran along this channel:
" We have been fighting to establish a democratic gov-
ernment, and throughout our revolution there have been
insistent demands for American intervention in our af-
fairs. Some men of prominence in the United States
have spoken openly for a protectorate in Mexico. What
looked to us like the advance guard of an army of occu-
pation spent some months in Mexico. We became con-
vinced of the sincerity of the American government when
it withdrew its troops, and our relations jgreatly im-
proved. Then came fresh complications. We are sell-
ing our products, some at high prices, as we wish to take
advantage of high prices prevailing the world over.
256 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
The United States objects. We want our pay in money
we can use, and again the United States objects.^ We
need corn, and the United States, which has plenty,
will not let us have any. We fail to understand, and
consequently are incredulous." What this line of rea-
soning ignores is that the Mexican revolution, of vital
interest to its leaders and to the nation, was of only inci-
dental interest in the United States, where there was
only an idea that there was a general row on in Mexico,
with half a dozen factions fighting for supremacy. It
also ignores the fact that even in American government
circles which endeavored to keep informed there was
only a hazy idea of what it was all about, and that in
the general upheaval it was frequently hard to distin-
guish the real revolution from the mass of disorder
accompanying it. Nor is sufficient credit given Mr.
Wilson by Mexicans for his attitude, maintained from
the start, that Mexico should be given every chance to
work out her own salvation. Mexican government of-
ficials fail to realize that as a result of the disturbed
conditions many American citizens lost their lives, that
there was much loss in property, and that, while the Con-
stitutionalist government was not at fault, the American
government had a grave responsibility in the matter.
Looking at the whole question impartially, there is no
question but that the United States had much provoca-
tion, and that the American government at times exer-
cised great restraint in dealing with the situation. As
to questions now pending, Mexicans fail to understand
that in the United States to-day war considerations have '
crowded everything else out of the public mind, and that
the attitude taken by the government on various ques-
tions was the result of a general desire to throw every
ounce of weight into a " win-the-war " program. Ger-
man, propaganda in Mexico created something of the
MEXICO AND THE WOELD WAR 257
impression that the war was a fight between Great
Britain and Germany for commercial supremacy, and
that America was dragged in casually, largely because of
financial considerations. Even well-informed Mexican
government officials fail to grasp the fact that the United
States was in the war because of the very existence of
democratic institutions threatened, and they did not,
therefore, understand why the war was so vital and so
all-absorbing. To them the war seemed of incidental in-
terest only, and they failed to see why the United States
placed every other interest in the background. What
appears as essential to reach a solution of pending mat-
ters does not involve modification of principles but
rather a better understanding on each side of the oppo-
site viewpoint.
A combination of various factors aided Germany
in her propaganda in Mexico. JChe Mexican govern-
ment was bitter against Great Britain for its recogni-
tion of Huerta and its reported efforts to have Huerta
sustained by the United States. . The government was
suspicious of the motives of the United States in the
Pershing Expedition. Trance, Great Britain and the
United States have had frequent occasion to complain
about losses to properties owned in Mexico, while Ger-
many, having little invested in railways, mines or public
utility properties, has had little cause for complaint.
Germany's trade was shut off by the war, and practically
she had no commercial relations with Mexico. While,
during the past four years, nearly every one'of the Allied
governments has had to discuss with Mexico a hundred
and one questions which could cause friction, Germany
alone, through lack of any business, was in a position
where she could pose as a friend who was making no
complaint. Some Mexican government officials doubt-
less felt that if, in the future, their country should be
258 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORKOW
involved in trouble with the United States, they would
be more likely to receive financial and other support
from Germany than from any other source. Moreover,
the German military successes during the first three
years created a belief that Germany was going to win
the war. The entrance of the United States in the war
greatly modified this view. The visit of the Mexican
editors to the United States in June of this year gave
leaders in Mexico an idea of the potential strength of
the country, and also did much to convince them that
the United States was fighting, disinterestedly, for demo-
cratic principles. President Wilson's address in wel-
coming the editors cleared the atmosphere, especially
with regard to the attitude of the United States toward
Mexico.
The general attitude of the United States in its for-
eign relations is frequently misrepresented and often
misunderstood in Latin- American countries. The Mon-
roe Doctrine is the greatest possible protection for the
Latin-American states from foreign aggression, but it is
frequently looked on as a scheme designed to give the
United States political and commercial dominance in the
Western hemisphere.^/ A good deal of this feeling has
been due to the patronizing air sometimes carried by
Americans in their dealings, political and commercial^
with the people of Latin-American countries. The past
isolation of the United States from world affairs, the
tremendous development of industry, and the rapid ac-
cumulation of vast wealth, have all contributed to a
feeling of self-satisfaction in the American viewpoint.
This, in turn, has developed the idea that our scheme
of things should be the model for all sister republics,
and at times expression along these lines has been pain-
fully aggressive. Naturally, a certain amount of re-
sentment has resulted. The American viewpoint has
MEXICO AND THE WOKLD WAE 25y
broadened since the Spanish war, as the responsibilities
of colonial possessions have made the country realize the
existence of many problems with which we have, previ-
ously, never had to deal. The participation of the
United States into the world war will further broaden
the national viewpoint Whatever may be said as to
narrowness of vision, there can be little doubt as to the
general unselfishness of purpose of the United States in
its foreign relations. 2s"o government, in dealing with
other nations, was ever freer from commercial influ-
ences. " j This has been particularly true in the case of
Mexico so much so that business interests have for
some years been hostile to the administration. If com-
mon precedent had been followed, the United States
would have held Cuba as a normal war prize, but
instead she has aided Cuba in establishing her own
government and in developing her own resources. As
a national matter, the Philippines, in money, life
and effort, have represented, and will, for some years,
represent a far greater expenditure than any direct re-
turn. Meanwhile these islands are being developed in
material progress, in education and in political thought,
with the steadfast purpose of enabling them to govern
their own affairs. Porto Rico has been given a large
measure of political independence, and will, doubtless
within a comparatively short period, be admitted to the
sisterhood of states. The vast improvement in the con-
dition of the mass of people in the Philippines and in
Porto Rico, the systematic development of education,
the absence of any spirit of exploitation, and the high
sense of justice displayed in administration, all indicate
far higher ideals than are, at times, credited to our
" dollar democracy," The United States, occupied with
its own tremendous development, has for some years
been apathetic about Mexico, but the best thought of the
260 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEROW
nation is sympathetic, and there is a genuine desire to
aid the country. Owing to the disturbed conditions pre-
vailing during the past seven years there has been consid-
erable confusion in the public mind in the United States,
but as conditions become better understood the wish to
be of assistance will take practical form. With the end
of the war, many of the causes for friction will disap-
pear, and the way paved for more intimate and cordial
relations.
CHAPTER XXIH
MEXICO AND FOREIGN CAPITAL
THE history of all nations has demonstrated that where
social and political conditions were such as to call for
reform, the longer reform was postponed the greater was
the reaction. Mexico is no exception to the rule. Had
the Diaz government adopted a broad policy of reform
fifteen or even ten years ago there would have been no
revolution. The contention that Mexico was not ready
for a democratic form of government is, in the main,
true, and however much the new government may wish
to be democratic, it cannot be denied that the great
mass of the people cannot, at the moment, take an intel-
ligent part in the conduct of public affairs. The adher-
ents of the Diaz scheme of governing make the error,
however, of arguing that, because an ideal democracy
was impossible, the only solution lay in a military dicta-
torship. Aside from the abuses which creep in with an
autocratic scheme of administration, the mere fact that
the Diaz government gave no part of the people any
voice in the nation's affairs was, in itself, sooner or later
bound to bring on a political upheaval. The Diaz sys-
tem not only permitted no participation in government,
but it took no steps to prepare the public for any future
participation. This policy, pursued over a long period,
resulted not only in the overthrow of the autocratic
scheme but brought into power a government with tend-
encies to go to opposite extremes. The Diaz policy
brought into the country a vast amount of foreign capi-
261
262 MEXICO TO-DAT AND TO-MOKROW
tal, which was given every aid and, which, in some cases,
was aided too much. Nothing is easier than to create
in the popular mind the impression that capital is extor-
tionate, and the much exaggerated idea of the benefits
accruing to foreign capital resulted in such a demand
for the protection of the people from exploitation that
there was, and is, the danger of frightening capital away.
Capital will stand active shocks, but not uncertainty, and
the mere intangible impression that it is likely to receive
unfair treatment would be sufficient to cause it to hastily
withdraw from the field.
The position of the government as to foreigners and
foreign capital, as,stated by one of its prominent lead-
ers, is, briefly: ^lexico needs foreigners in large num-
bers, not as promoters but as people who will take up
farms, ranches, plantations, and industrial pursuits, and
help develop the agricultural and other resources of the
country ;\hat she must and will encourage immigration
of the^drt which will help to accomplish this ; that she
needs and will welcome foreign capital for large public
works, for extensions of the railway system, for banking
and for industrial purposes ; that foreigners and foreign
capital will be given cordial treatment, but that both
must come with a national spirit and not for purposes
of squeezing all they can out of the country and leaving
as little as possible behind or, in other words, that
Mexico wants people who will work for the country as
well as themselves, and capital which will re-invest some
of its profits in f urther local development ; that the talk
of Mexico for Mexicans only is absurd, but that the gov-
ernment must first look to the welfare of its own people ;
and, finally, that the supposed hostility to foreigners or
foreign money is idle talk, and based solely on the fact
that foreigners and foreign capital in Mexico have, in
MEXICO AND FOREIGN CAPITAL 263
the past, been selfish, with the result of creating a cer-
tain amount of anti-foreign feeling.^
This sounds reasonable, but implies* an undue amount
of selfishness on the part of foreigners. _It is true that
profits from Mexican investments made by foreigners
have gone abroad, but it is worth while to note that, by
and large, foreigners and foreign concerns have paid bet-
ter wages and given better treatment to employees than
have Mexican employers. General Obregon, who is a
passionate nationalist, once said bitterly that if Mexican
employers had been as considerate as foreigners in their
treatment of labor there would have been no revolution.
Foreigners usually paid ten or fifteen per cent, more in
wages than Mexican employers, and exploitation of labor
through store accounts, etc., was almost unknown. For-
eign capital took the labor situation as it found it, and,
by way of good measure, added something to current
wages. /It could not be expected to take the initiative
in social reforms. The real difficulty was a political
one, with bad social conditions, and while reformers, on
analysis of the facts, would recognize this, they find it
somewhat easier and more popular to lay much of the
blame on the foreigners. The popular feeling, or, to be
more correct, the feeling of the middle class, is not,
basically, so much anti-foreign as it is anti-capitalistic.
As the largest units of capital are foreign, it is rather
natural that the foreign element should be given more
than their share of the blame for conditions, and the
minimum of credit for what they have accomplished.
Foreign concerns established in Mexico railways,
tramways, power plants and mines have done a g*eat
deal in the way of developing skilled labor. They have
done this, to be sure, because they needed skilled labor,
and they have been well repaid in service. Nevertheless,
264 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEEOW
they should be given the credit of having done much
toward developing a middle class.
Mexico has already gone so far in world-progress that
she could not isolate herself even if she wished to do
so. She has vast natural resources which she wishes
to develop. She needs capital for a program of na-
tional industrial expansion, and, as she has relatively
no capital at home, she must look to other countries for
it. To get it, she must give every reasonable assurance
of just treatment, and the best assurance any new cap-
ital could have would be to, see existing investments
treated fairly. ;*f here is, in Mexico, a good deal of a
disposition to find fault with foreigners for things which
are the result of natural causes. \ For instance, there is
frequently a lament that such sTsmall percentage of the
mining industry is in Mexican hands. Mining, in the
past two decades, has become an exact science instead
of a huge gamble, and more money is made yearly to-day
out of large bodies of low grade ores than was formerly
made every decade out of rich strikes and bonanzas.
The consequence is that mining operations to-day, to
be successful, are usually large operations, requiring
heavy investment in properties, mining and milling ma-
chinery and refineries. There was not, in Mexico, the
capital available for this sort of development, and it
was only natural that foreign groups put their money
into this class of enterprises. Two years ago the de-
partment of mines in Mexico seemed to have the idea
that, by some means or other, the large foreign holdings
should be cut down, and something of an effort was made
to devise legislation which would limit the holdings of
"any one company. This theory, if carried out for-
tunately its fallacy was seen would have automat-
ically curtailed production. The large properties only
make money when running at full capacity with very
MEXICO AND FOEEIGK CAPITAL 265
heavy tonnage. Three large companies in the Pachuca
camp mine and mill a million tons of rock each year.
If their aggregate holdings were split up into a hun-
dred parcels no one could make any money, and produc-
tion would be practically nil. Similarly, the hydro-
electric development at Necaxa represents an investment
of fifty million dollars, and without foreign capital the
stimulus it has given to industry would not have been
possible. ^
Mexico -Tvould, doubtless, prefer a general program
of development of her resources without foreign finan-
cial assistance, but she has not the funds at her disposal.
Even if some of the great works were undertaken by the
government, the necessary money would have to come
from abroad. If, then, she wants financial aid, she
must be prepared to give investments good protection,
fair treatment, and an opportunity to make a reason-
able profit. _.- This is all the more so when the matter of
finding money is looked at from the viewpoint of the
extraordinary demands created by the world-war. Cap-
ital, the world over, is in greater demand than ever be-
fore ; demands after the war will be great ; in short,
for some time capital will not have to seek far to find
good employment. Whether for government or private
purposes, capital will not go to Mexico in competition
with other countries except for good security and good
yield.
On the other hand, capital, whether in the shape of
existing investment or future enterprise, should fully
recognize its obligations to the country in which it is
employed. Foreign investment represents a very large
item in the total earning power of the country, and
should be prepared to bear its full share of the burden
of reconstruction. If all large interests and all large
property owners endeavor to dodge their share of the
266 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOEROW
financial burden it will take three or four times as long
to get on a stable basis. Some foreign concerns doing
business in Mexico accept, without complaint, an in-
crease of 500 per cent, in taxes at home because they
realize that their governments need the money, but they
object to a 50 per cent, increase of taxes in Mexico be-
cause it is for a foreign government. They do not real-
ize that Mexico has been and is suffering from the ef-
fects of nearly seven years of warfare. Aside from
the purely financial phase of the situation, they can be
of very great help by an endeavor to help the govern-
ment to solve its various problems. Instead of open hos-
tility or a sort of passive resistance they could accom-
plish a good deal by trying to meet the government
views. Some concerns, both native and foreign, have
been perniciously active in their hostility, or stubborn
in their resistance, and this has at times interfered with
normal progress and even worked to their own detri-
ment. Foreign as well as domestic concerns had a hard
time of it; railroad service was irregular; labor was
turbulent; bandits roamed through the country; the
currency upset the whole scheme ; there were deficits in-
stead of profits ; and altogether conditions discouraging
for any one trying to do business. They had, therefore,
much reason for complaint. Fortunately, conditions
have greatly improved. Most of the reasons for com-
plaint have disappeared, so that they no longer have
the same justification for maintaining a generally an-
tagonistic attitude.
The labor question in Mexico is the most serious
problem to-day. It is a real menace, and, unless prop-
erly handled, will stop further industrial progress. La-
bor, feeling that the revolution was for the purpose of
aiding the working man, makes all sorts of demands
and exactions, and is, in general, inclined to be ex-
MEXICO ASTD FOREIGN CAPITAL 267
tremely tyrannical. 'According to the labor doctrine as
Expounded by labor leaders and agitators, capital rights
can be put off for indefinite future consideration.
There are as many committees as have, by common re-
port, sprung into existence in Russia. Local authori-
ties, elected to office by a labor vote, frequently do not
attempt to weigh evidence, and are apt, in general, to
urge compliance with demands. The ,great copper
properties at Cananea closed down rather than meet
exactions of committees. In greater or less degree,
there have been troubles all over the country. Contin-
uance of labor rule of a blind sort will either close down
industry or will result in an unhealthy inflation which
will, in the end, be disastrous for every one. The
government, looking to the mass of people for support,
is in a delicate position. Manifestly, however, it must
sooner or later realize that unreasonable labor exactions
would be destructive to all real progress. The situa-
tion has been complicated and clouded by high prices
prevailing on certain foodstuffs a condition which
normal crops will relieve and this doubtless, has made
it more difficult for the government to take a decided
position on the question.
The experience of the great copper properties at
Cananea affords an interesting and very curious exam-
ple of the sort of difficulties brought about by the de-
mands of labor. The mining company made various
increases in pay and concessions of one sort or another,
when it was met by a demand for further increase and
for participation in profits. The employees discussed
the question of whether the company's profits should
be fixed at six, eight or ten per cent., the idea being to
give employees all excess above the figure to be deter-
mined upon. The company finally decided to close
down rather than attempt any operation under condi-
268 MEXICO TO-DAY A1TO TO-MORROW
tions which were likely to change from day to day. All
operations therefore ceased, and the mines the larg-
est copper producers in the country were closed down
for three months. An agreement was finally made to
give the employees four per cent, of the net profits, and,
under this arrangement operations were resumed. The
mines have been running without interruption for some
eight months, and presumably every one is satisfied.
The settlement finally made was in striking contrast to
some of the extravagant demands made at different
times, and the incident illustrates the uncertainty cre-
ated by the new conditions. The same sort of diffi-
culties have been experienced at many places. Em-
ployees have, in the end, usually agreed to terms which
were fair and reasonable, but often the original demands
made have been of a prohibitive character and calcu-
lated to discourage the employer class.
To put foreign investments on a sound basis the re-
quirements, briefly, are: The control of labor to pre-
vent unreasonable exactions in wages or conditions of
work; the full reestablishment of railway service; a
policy on the part of the government which will enable
them to earn a reasonable return on capital invested;
and restoration of order in the rural districts this last
being a problem which has already been met in some
sections but which has not even been touched in others.
The reorganization of the banking system is, of course,
highly important for facilitating full commercial and
industrial growth, but is not of as immediate impor-
tance as the other questions. There are, in the coun-
try, some $180,000,000 (pesos) in gold and silver coins,
and while the use of metal currency exclusively is cum-
bersome, the provision of bank issues is not one of great
urgency. The supply of currency would be insufficient
MEXICO AND FOREIGN CAPITAL 269
under an expanded volume of business, but takes care of
needs for the time being.
Two factors which will, if fully appreciated, exert an
influence in relations between the Mexican government
and foreign capital may be mentioned. The first of
these is the somewhat intangible proposition that there
has been, during the past fifteen years, a great improve-
ment in the moral tone of large business transactions.
This is due, in part, to the force of public opinion, and,
in part, to the tremendous development of corporate
business. Twenty years ago, even fifteen years ago,
corporations were, relatively, small in size, and many
of them were concerns formed for the sake of promo-
tion profits. With rapid growth in size and number
their operations attracted more attention than before,
and this developed, in their managers and directors, a
greater sense of responsibility, not only to their share-
holders but to the public at large. This is, in the Mex-
ican investment question, a matter of some importance,
as it lessens the chance of free-booting and piratical
promotions. It is, to-day, an actual influence. Con-
cerns having large investments in Mexico are inclined,
as they were not a decade ago, to realize their moral
obligation to national interest.
The other factor is that throughout the revolution
the heaviest losers have been the Mexicans themselves.
In destruction of property, in upset of business, in loss
of income or production, the aggregate of material in-
jury done to Mexican interests is greater than that suf-
fered by foreign interests, and, if the matter be looked
at with reference to the number of people affected, the
Mexican loss is on a far greater scale. In loss of life,
the Mexican civil population has suffered more, by
many times, than the foreign population. In these
270 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
two items no account is taken of the starvation of thou-
sands of the poorer classes, nor the death of thousands
from epidemics which, in sweeping over the country,
found easy victims in the badly nourished people. The
entire population of Mexico has suffered heavily has
gone through revolutions, counter-revolutions, riots,
famine, looting, and epidemics. Foreigners having in-
vestments in Mexico but not living there have been apt
to look at the revolution in an abstract way, and to
consider it only with reference to its effect on their busi-
ness, scarcely realizing that there has been an upheaval
which has affected all the business and all the people
of the country. Full realization of the extent of the
upheaval will incline people to a greater degree of tol-
eration in considering the position of the government
There are, to be sure, many who hold the opinion that
the state of disorder, approaching anarchy, which pre-
vailed for a long period is evidence that the country
is not ready for self-government, and that either a dic-
tatorship or foreign intervention will be required to
fully reestablish and maintain order. It is certain that
any attempt to return to a military dictatorship would
only result in plunging the country into further dis-
order. The question then arises as to whether or not
foreign intervention is necessary. Disregarding for the
moment, all question of foreign investment in Mexico,
and considering the subject from the viewpoint of the
needs of the Mexican people themselves, would foreign
intervention furnish the most satisfactory solution of
the problem? Any foreign intervention would be bit-
terly opposed by a great majority of the people, and its
cost to the country in money and bloodshed would be
heavy. The whole matter then resolves itself into this :
Is the present government equal to the task of govern-
ing the country? This, again, raises more questions.
.MEXICO AND FOEEIGN CAPITAL 271
Has the present government the moral and physical
force necessary to control the country and to protect
life and property? Has it a policy which, if carried
out, will bring peace and prosperity to the nation ? Are
the elements of weakness so great as to imperil ultimate
success? These points may be discussed in consecu-
tive order. The present government has certain ideals
of reform, and these ideals have given it a moral force
of some strength. With these, and by physical force,
it has established its power throughout the country, and
has, at the very least, succeeded in bringing a reason-
able degree of order out of chaos and anarchy. The
large centers are all under control, and government au-
thority prevails along railway routes. There is much
still to be done, and time will be required to finish the
work. In a country of the great size of Mexico, with
topographical conditions which make brigandage and
guerilla warfare difficult to suppress, it is no easy mat-
ter to restore peaceful conditions. Briefly then, the
framework of government control has been erected, and
the progress of completion will be a matter of time.
As to the government policy, the general program, with
the exception of danger from the tyranny of labor un-
ions, is, on the whole, capable of bringing peace and
prosperity to the people. Time alone will tell whether
the program will be applied in a sane and wise spirit.
As to elements of weakness, the main danger is from
certain pernicious elements in the military, but the gov-
ernment appears to be making headway in curbing these
turbulent and selfish spirits. v An element of weakness
exists in the lack of proper material for civil adminis-
tration, due, in part, to the fact that a large part of the
ablest men in the country were formerly identified, di-
rectly or indirectly, with the old regime, and the gov-
ernment has been naturally indisposed to utilize their
272- MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
services. As the government becomes solidified, and
once it has demonstrated wisdom in the solution of po-
litical and economic questions, it will receive the sup-
port of all classes, and through this, will be able to use
timber which, at the moment, is not available. The
outlook, on the whole, is far from discouraging and
gives, in fact, much hope for success.
Foreign investors generally feel that foreign inter-
ests in Mexico deserve special and separate considera-
tion. Foreign governments will naturally be energetic
in protecting the lives and properties of their citizens,
and the Mexican government doubtless fully realizes
the importance, even if only from its own selfish mo-
tives, of providing security for life of foreigners and
for fair play in dealing with foreign property. It may
be assumed, however, that, generally speaking, an ad-
ministration which will be satisfactory for the Mexican
people themselves will be satisfactory for foreigners.
If thef government is unreasonable or unfair in its gen-
eral attitude to capital, the result will be as disastrous
for Mexicans as for foreigners. If legislation is un-
sound, or the administration of justice defective, the
Mexicans themselves will be the worst sufferers. Un-
due alarm has been felt by foreign interests in the tend-
ency to " nationalize " foreign companies. The general
principle of placing foreign corporations or foreign
properties within the control of Mexican administra-
tion is not, in itself, either vicious or unnatural. The
real question of importance is whether the Mexican gov-
ernment, by its acts and in its administration of jus-
tice, will pursue a policy under which there will be ma-
terial and industrial progress, regardless of whether
the capital necessary for such development be of native
or foreign origin.
CHAPTER XXIV
AGRABIAN A.ND OTHER PKOBLEMS
CJ?HB ultimate success of a democratic form of govern-
ment will depend largely on the creation of a large class
of small landholders, and the government has given a
great deal of attention to the question./ It is fully
realized that a promiscuous distribution of land, such
as was attempted by -Madero in certain sections, will
accomplish nothing. v_The peons have little initiative,
and, while they will work well under supervision, they
would be likely to fail as independent farmers. Many
of them, given a piece of land, would not know what
to do with it. They have been accustomed to work for
wages by the day, receiving their pay daily or weekly.
As independent farmers they would starve while wait-
ing for their first crop.
In certain sections "there are numerous small land-
holdings, and in such districts the people are contented
and relatively well-to-do. The northern part of the
state of Puebla is cut up into tiny farms, every foot
of rich valley " bottom " land being utilized for rais-
ing corn and beans. The country here is very moun-
tainous, and the steepest hillsides are dotted with patches
of corn. Riding along in the valleys one can look up
at dizzy heights above and see farms perched in the
most impossible positions. An incident which hap-
pened at the town of Hanchinango will give an idea of
the character of the country. An Indian, with -one
leg fractured and three ribs broken, was brought in
273
274 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKKOW
for medical treatment. One of the two Indians who
had carried him in on a litter gravely explained that
the man had been working on his corn patch but had
slipped and fallen off his farm into the valley below!
In a district like this, where farming on a small scale
has been carried on for centuries, every man could
qualify as an independent farmer. Unfortunately, the
great bulk of farming has been done by large estates,
some of these employing two or three thousand peons.
,TJxe laborers, although accustomed to farm work, have
been purely mechanical units all their lives, and would,
in most cases, be quite helpless if turned loose to work
out their own salvation on a piece of land.. The gov-
ernment is confronted, therefore, with a problem which
not only involves some sane scheme of land distribution
but also the selection of suitable people who can be
depended on to make success of farming. Senor Don
Carlos Basave, head of .-the Caja de Prestamos (the
Agrarian Loan Bank) ^believes it will be possible to
place some forty thousand men on small farms each
year, taking some from districts where small landhold-
ings have been common, and selecting others from the
ranks of foremen and sub-foremen on the big haciendas.
He believes, also, that it will be essential to encourage
immigration, particularly from Spain and Northern
Italy, where climatic and soil conditions are similar to
those in Mexico. Spanish and Italian farmers would
not only prosper and add to National wealth, but their
example would stimulate the Indian in ideas as to
farming. It is proposed to sell land in tracts of vary-
ing size according to the character of the soil and cli-
matic conditions. In the semi-tropical territory where
the .soil is rich and there is abundant rainfall, a farm
of forty acres would be large enough for an average
family, while in the north, where the land is only suit-
AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS 275
able for ranching, grants can be made in tracts of a thou-
sand acres or more. Seiior Basave believes that dry
farming can be successfully developed on a large scale.
The Caja de Prestamos will help finance the small
farmer, advancing enough for equipment and making
small monthly loans against future crops. The general
lines along which the matter is being developed are
sound. Naturally, however, much time will be re-
quired to bring about tangible results.
^.-Senor Zembrano, governor of the state of Nuevo
Leon, advocates a military scheme of farming in order
to obtain more immediate results. lie believes that the
large tracts of idle land should be worked by the In-
dians under a scheme by which the laborers would be
paid ordinary wages and would receive, in addition, a
share in the profits; The plan would be handled under
government supervision, and those in charge could com-
pel idle men to work. This would not only bring quick
results but would also serve the purpose of training
large numbers of laborers for farm work, and the more
efficient could be selected for grants of land. Such a
scheme is quite feasible and could easily be the founda-
tion of a great agrarian development. This or some
other form of mobilization of the agricultural resources
of the country would make an immense addition to the
wealth of the nation, would help solve the government's
financial problem, and would, through placing a great
number of people at work, stimulate commerce and in-
dustry. ' Mexico's potential wealth in agriculture is
immense. Spain, with similar conditions of soil, cli-
mate and topography, supports, in an area .oae-f ourth
that of Mexico, twenty-six million people. ^-If this bo
taken as a basis, Mexico could support a hundred mil-
lion people, and, in place of a shortage of crops for her
own needs, she could make heavy exports."; The high
276 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MOKROW
prices o cereals brought about by war conditions are
likely to continue for two or tkree years after the war,
or at least until normal conditions of transportation
have been restored and depleted stocks are brought back
to normal. It will be regrettable if Mexico fails to take
advantage of the situation.
Spain's agricultural production, especially remark-
able in view of the fact that two-thirds of the country
is mountainous or sterile, is largely due to irrigation.
Mexico has many great areas which could, at compara-
tively small cost, be irrigated, and production in these
areas would be increased four-fold. Along the whole
eastern coast, from Puerto de Mexico north to the
.American border, mountain streams tumble down from
the great plateau to pour into the gulf . Great stretches
of fertile land, at an elevation of one thousand feet or
more, are crossed by these streams and could be easily
irrigated. The land would have a supply of water
throughout the whole year instead of depending on
rainfall during a four-months' wet season. The flow
of the Balsas River, turned on the vast area of flat lands
in the states of Guerrero and Michoacan, in Southwest-
ern Mexico, would develop the region into one of the
richest agricultural sections of the country. In the
north half a dozen rivers could be utilized to water
lands which now produce nothing. Large irrigation
projects would involve a heavy investment, but the cost
per acre would be very small. The increased produc-
tion of the soil would ^dd an immense amount to the
wealth of the nation. IThere is probably no country in
the world which has as great potential possibilities for
agricultural development, and it is to be hoped that the
government will be able to work out a program which
will result in jglacing Mexico in the front rank of pro-
ducing nations. 2
AGBAEIAN AND OTHEE PEOBLEMS 277
The peon is the great problem of Mexico. The pop-
ular conception of the Mexican type, based on hair-
raising " movies " and wild tales of border bandits, is
as incorrect as the general notion entertained by many
well-informed Mexicans that the native Indian is a
hopeless proposition. Nine-tenths of the total popula-
tion belong to the peon or humble working class. Two-
thirds of all the people are pure Indians, and only one-
tenth are pure white. The peon class varies in char-
acteristics in different sections of the country, but, in
general, submissiveness and docility are common to all
the tribes. The Indian is naturally quiet, serious, and
peaceful. He has been a serf so long that he does no
thinking for himself. He comes to his employer with
all his little troubles, and wants sympathy and help.
Like a child, he needs restraint With restraint re-
moved he is apt to get into mischief. He is easy to
lead, and an unscrupulous leader can induce him to
commit atrocious deeds. His wants are limited a
cotton shirt, a pair of sandals, a zarape (blanket), and
not very much food. . He is, as a rule, peculiarly loyal
to the man he is serving, and will go through any amount
of hardship and suffering with him or for him. He is
affectionate, and lovable no one can have much to do
with the pure Mexican Indian without having a gen-
uine affection for him. He is, intellectually, a child.
He is apt, but quite undeveloped. His general dispo-
sition is peaceful and submissive to a degree that is al-
most pathetic. He will starve himself and see his fam-
ily starve around him without uttering a word of
complaint but, given the upper hand, he will go to
excesses by way of getting even. > The idea that he is
warlike and bloodthirsty by nattrre is entirely erroneous.
The testimony of disinterested observers is that the pure
Indian type played an insignificant part in the revolu-
278 MEXICO TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
tionary movement. The pure Mexican Indian is not,
by nature, a fighter. He wants a job or merely a chance
to till his patch of land if he is fortunate enough to
have one. He is, like most people of a primitive type,
quite indifferent to suffering, and has little regard to
the value of human life his own or that of any one
else. For years it was the custom on construction jobs
railways, power plants, and the like to pay fifty
pesos twenty-five dollars as compensation for fatal
accidents to employees. Fifty pesos in coin, and all at
once, was ample compensation for the loss of a husband
or a father. The average Indian mind could not think
more than fifty pesos' worth. Small wonder, then, that
the average killing was an incidental affair.
It must not be assumed, however, that the Indian is
in any way deficient He not only has ability along
initiative lines, but has, and always has had, a distinct
ability in mechanical matters. ; The history of early
Mexican -civilization shows a high degree of inventive
ability. Stone was hewn and carved, with wonderful
ability and accuracy, and huge blocks of stone were
moved great distances or erected into pyramids and
buildings with seemingly comparative ease. Some
American engineers, passing through the valley of the
Laxaxalpan River, in the state of Puebla, came across
an extremely ingenious device used by an Indian to
irrigate his land. <J^e Indian's corn patch, covering
perhaps ten acres, was on a " bench " some fifteen or
eighteen feet above the level of the stream. The Indian
had rigged up a huge water-wheel, some thirty-five feet
in diameter, built of wood and bamboo and carrying
a large number of buckets, the latter being simply five-
gallon gasoline cans obtained from the nearest town.
The force of the stream drove the wheel around, and
each bucket scooped up a couple of gallons of water,
AGRARIAN AND OTHER PROBLEMS 279
spilling it into a trough when the bucket reached the
top of the wheel. The whole device was crude and
simple, and was tied together with bits of thong, hemp
and rope. It creaked and groaned a lot but the In-
dian, day in and day out, had a steady stream of water
running through the length of his little farm. /The In-
dian said the idea was his own, and, as the location
was in a remote mountain valley, there could be little
doubt but that he was entirely truthful in this. He
could neither read nor write, and only knew a little of
the Spanish language, speaking practically nothing but
the native Indian dialect, and yet he had devised and
installed a somewhat cumbersome but very practical
means of raising water.
At various times during the past four years prac-
tically all Americans have been obliged, in response to
orders from the American government, to leave the
country, sometimes very precipitately. At such times
tramway and power stations, and large and complicated
mechanical installations at mines and factories, nor-
mally operated by expert American mechanics, had to
be left in the hands of Mexican understudies. When
the Americans returned, a month or two later, they al-
most invariably found things running as smoothly as
ever. The Mexican " subs," many of whom had come
to the plants perfectly green two or three years before,
had developed sufficiently to fully understand all the
machinery, and had been equal to every emergency
which had arisen.^ The pure Indian race has produced
civil and mechanical engineers who would take good
rank in any country. . The mind of the Indian lad of
eighteen is as naturally alert as that of any American
boy. He may not reason as quickly, but that is usually
because of poor schooling. His faculties simply need
training. Full development of these faculties, when
280 MEXICO TO-DAY AOT3 TO-MORROW
applied to a race, means patient work through, two or
three generations. Reforms in the political systems
started to-day may not bear fruit for many years. The
general problem of elevating the social status of the race
will occupy public, and private attention for half a
century before anything like large results are seen.
Nevertheless, a start has been made along thesa lines,
and ultimately much will be accomplished. The chief
danger to success will be in anxiety to do much in too
short a space of time, with a consequent tendency to-
ward superficial instead of real improvement. . Prof.
Qzui^a, broad-minded educator who has already accom-
plished much in the extension of education in Mexico,
enrolling over 75,000 pupils in the grade schools in the
Federal District, once observed that the great fault of
the previous regime in educational matters had been
in considering that its obligations were fulfilled when
a fine string of school edifices had been dedicated.
The Mexican Indian is, in most respects, where he
was before the Spanish conquest. Such civilization as
he had developed was wiped out, and the invaders gave
him nothing to take its place. For three hundred years
he was a slave. Mexican independence accomplished
little for him in its first half century. The French oc-
cupation was, for him, a blank, and the period following
it was of .such turmoil and disorder that no progress was
made. Then came a period of great development under
Diaz, Wrth railways and factories and electricity and
still the Indian stayed, socially, where he had been for
centuries. Then came the Madero revolution, followed
by four years of chaos, from which has emerged a gov-
ernment committed to a program which, if carefully
carried out and adhered to year after year, will accom-
plish much. The Indian has lost four centuries of
time. fHis national development, so rudely stopped by
AGBAEIAN AM) OTHEE PEOBLEMS 281
Cortes, must now be resumed, and, aided by other civil-
ization and by the breadth of Twentieth Century prog-
ress, must give him an opportunity to take his place
with other peoples.
Mexico, as a country, possesses as great natural wealth
as any country in the world. Its wealth is in its soil.
An English statesman once said that a country whose
wealth was in the soil was like a pyramid with a great
base : a shock, no matter how great, would not upset it,
and could only do superficial damage. Mexico has suf-
fered, ever since 1911, from more or less continuous
fighting, has had every sort and kind of disorder and
trouble, and has, only within the last year, shown real
signs of emerging from her difficulties. Her real
wealth has not been affected. Her riches are in wheat
and corn, in cattle, oil, hemp, gold, silver, copper, tim-
ber, fruits, coffee, tobacco, sugar, chocolate, and a thou-
sand and one products of the soil. .. In two decades she
has produced a billion dollars 7 worth of gold and silver.
Her oil fields, producing eight -mill ion barrels of oil per
month, have potential possibilities of producing a bil-
lion barrels of oil every year. Her vast forests of pine
and mahogany have sufficient timber to supply the whole
continent. With a climate which makes harvests pos-
sible the year around, with rich soil and an abundance
of streams, she has the means to produce sufficient crops
to feed a nation six times as great as her own/' For in-
dustry she has iron and coal. A hundred streams, tum-
bling down a mile and a half on their way to the sea,
have potential power equal to half a dozen Niagaras.
She is rich immensely rich. Few countries have
such recuperative ppwers. Her period of reconstruc-
tion is just begun. <Her development may, at first, be
slow, but, once set in motion, will push forward at an
amazing pace. It has been awakened by a violent ex-
282 MEXICO TO-DAY AOT) TO-MORROW
plosion* The forces set in motion have not yet hod
time to take any definite direction, nor has the nation
had time to adjust its thoughts to the new order of
things. There are excesses, there are extremes, there
are a dozen great problems as yet unsolved. The pes-
simist sees, in the violence of the change, nothing but
a halt in industry, a set-back in progress. To the opti-
mist the revolution, in spite of all its ills, means the
opening of a new era, of incentive developing initiative,
and initiative pushing forward to success.
THE
PBTNTBD IN TECH UNITED STATES 0V AMEEICA
5 HE following pages contain advertisements of a
few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects
Mexico: The Wonderland
of the South
BY W. E. CARSON
New edition; revised with additions. Illustrated, 8vo, $2.50
Mr. Carson knows Mexico thoroughly and he has drawn an
accurate and fascinating pen picture of the country and of the
people, of their everyday life and the everyday sights and scenes.
It would be hard to discover anything worth seeing that he has
not seen. He has wandered around the Mexican capital and
other old cities; he has explored the gold and silver mines and
visited some of the quaint health resorts; he has gone mountain
climbing and tarpon fishing and he tells of these many experi-
ences in a most entertaining manner.
" The most informing and readable account of the country that
has been published; an excellent background against which to
view the present crisis." New York Globe.
" In this revised and enlarged edition of his book on Mexico,
Mr. W. E. Carson gives a compendious, concise and clear state-
ment of the history of that country from the time of Diaz to the
accession of Huerta, and an analysis of the present conditions."
Boston Globe,
" Interest in Mexico and Mexicans is now universal ; Mr. Car-
son has written a lively and interesting book. When President
Diaz ruled, he resided in Mexico for a considerable period, and
just before the iron dictator's exit he undertook a comprehensive
tour as a newspaper correspondent He has seen and studied,
and sifted his impression at leisure. He writes with candor, and
with reliability/' Boston Daily Advertiser.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue Hew York
" The most comprehensive and certainly the clearest and most
illuminating work that has yet been written on the history and
present conditions of the South American Republics" San
Francisco Chronicle.
South America:
Observations and Impressions
BY JAMES 'VISCOUNT BRYCE
FORMER BRITISH AMBASSADOR
Author of "The American Commonwealth," "The Holy Roman
Empire," etc.
New and revised edition.
Colored maps, cloth covers, gilt top, $2.75
WORLD-WIDE OPINIONS
" An exhaustive account of South America by that keen observer of inter-
national affairs, Ambassador James Bryce , . . destined to rank as an au-
thoritative work." N. Y. Times.
" A gift for which to thank the gods. It is impossible to give more than
a faint hint of all the wealth of reflection, observation, and learning in these
chapters. The whole book is memorable, worthy of the topic and the man."
London Daily Chronicle.
"A book which compels thought. A work of profound interest to the
whole of South America. Every chapter of Mr. Bryce's book would pro-
vide material for an entire volume." Translation from the State Journal
of St. Paul, Brazil.
"A wonderfully fascinating and informative work . . . will enhance Mr.
Bryce's reputation as a keen, scholarly, and analytical commentator on the
people and governments of the world." Philadelphia Record.
"One of the most fascinating books of travel in our language. ... A
valuable political study of the chief South American states." London
Daily Mail.
"A comprehensive work devoted to the continent from the pen of the
man best fitted to comment impartially on what he has witnessed. . . . This
aew book by the distinguished ambassador should find a place in every well-
equipped library." Boston Budget.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Publishers 64-66 Plfth Avenue JTew
NEW HISTORIES OF SPAIN AND SPANISH
AMERICA
The Rise of the Spanish Empire in
the Old World and in the New
BY ROGER BIGELOW MERRIMAN
In four volumes with maps. Vols. 1 and II. $7.50 the set.
This work, the first two volumes of which are now published,
lims to show the continuity of the story of the reconquest of
Spain from the Moors "and of the conquest of her vast dominions
beyond the seas. The first volume deals principally with the nar-
rative and constitutional history of the different Spanish king-
doms in the middle ages, and with the growth of the Aragonese
Empire in the western basin of the Mediterranan. The second
volume describes the union of the crowns and the reorganization
of Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella. This history forms an
indispensable background for the study of Spanish America.
"Another Prescottl . . . History as it should be written . . .
scholarship, erudition, accuracy and just proportions yes, he
has all these, but they are subordinated to an eagerness, a posi-
tive enthusiasm to make the past human and alive." New York
Sun.
The History of Spain
BY CHARLES E. CHAPMAN
$2.60
The whole sweep in the evolution of Spanish life, from the
earliest times to the present, has been brought within the compass
of a single volume. There have been other one-volume histories
of Spain, but they have confined themselves almost wholly to the
political European history. Dr. Chapman has seen fit to lay more
stress on the changing social, political, economic, and intellectual
institutions of Spain, and has never forgotten that the goal of
Spanish history for American readers is, not Europe, but the
United States and Hispanic America.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York
Behind the Battle Une
Around the World in 1918
BY MADELEINE Z. DOTY
Cloth,
What were the women of the world thinking and planning for
the future? Miss Doty wanted to find out and that was why she
made a trip around the world. Since the war our interests have
become world-wide. To know what America is doing is not
enough. This volume takes the reader into the heart of each
land. It tells about Autocratic Japan, Awakening China, Turbu-
lent Russia, Materialistic Sweden, Vital Norway, Democratic
England and Inspiring France. It shows the difference in man-
ners, customs and civilization and what the people are thinking
and dreaming. It depicts the great spiritual struggle that along
with the physical battle engulfs the world. And particularly do
the women of the earth shine forth. The author sees them as
an army of mothers joining hands the- world around, an army
consecrated to the race to come, that the freedom for which men
bleed and die may be made permanent.
Brazil: Today and Tomorrow
BY L. E. ELLIOTT
With illustrations and maps; decorated cloth, S, $23$
"Brazil Today and Tomorrow by Lillian Elwyn Elliott af-
fords a much needed presentation of affairs and conditions in
Brazil. The author has a notable faculty for presenting closely
condensed material in modest space and at the same time making
it interesting. Her intimate knowledge of the people and their
life and of the varied conditions of the country has enabled her
to write of them with a certain zest that makes her pages always
readable." New York Times.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New Tort
09412
