Carl William Ackerman

“ But all, pessimists and optimists alike, agree that the greatest problems facing the government to-day, excepting the financial, are the problem of reconstruction and the existence of the rebels.
Finance is, of course, the greatest problem, and it is the more puzzling because the problems of financing a nation like Mexico are not similar to the problems of financing more civilised and enlightened countries. Selfishness and ignorance play an even greater rôle in Mexico than pork-barrel politics play in Washington! ”

“ A poor-rich nation is Mexico. Rich, because foreign intellect, foreign capital, foreign engineers and foreign business men developed her resources and made her so. Poor, because the revolutions have pestered the foreigners and Mexico in somewhat the same way that an army of Hessian flies destroys a wheat field. But to-day the revolutionists have discovered that the battle cry, Down with the foreigners who exploited us!—though it may win a revolution—does not help reconstruction. ”

“ To establish a nucleus upon which all American interests may centre and present a united front not only toward internal problems of trade, but also, through intercourse with chambers of commerce in the United States, toward the attitude of a great body of American manufacturers who, by reason of misinformation and by inaction, are imperiling their hold on a market which under all economic laws should be inalienably theirs. ”

“ NEEDLE your way through the crowded streets of Mexico City or motor to the suburbs and you will rub sleeves, exchange glances with, or pass along the road, rebels, ex-rebels and honest soldiers. Saunter or drive about the capital and you will see, face to face, the individuals who present the biggest problem of reconstruction in Mexico. You will encounter a sufficient number of the army of 114,000 to convince you that even if the payrolls are padded there are large groups of men actually drawing salaries. ”

“ One hears about the autocratic rule of various states; one learns how governors and generals hold up foreign business interests, and about the inability of the central government to enforce its orders; one reads in the newspapers about the street fights and military duels; and one imagines that the whole community has nothing more to do. This is where one's imagination is not a safe prophet.
To-day the United States and the Allies are watching Mexico through a microscope. They delayed official recognition of Don Venustiano Carranza as president of the Republic. ”

“ Ignorance is at the bottom of banditry. Ignorance is what enables unscrupulous men to rob the people of land and wages. Ignorance is what keeps the peons dressed in rags.
Mexico needs a public school system from one end of the country to the other, and in establishing such a system it should be understood by Mexico that substantial progress can be expected only by calling foreign educators to Mexico to superintend the work. Mexico needs great educational directors, such as the state superintendents of public instruction in some of our states. ”

“ From this small dock one rides by automobile twenty miles farther into the jungle, over the only wagon road in this part of Mexico. Another launch takes one across Lake Tamiahua to San Geronimo. As one glides through the quiet waters early in the day one sees thousands of flying fish, and at times the horizon is blackened with wild duck. There is so much game and there are so few hunters that this is an undreamed-of paradise. ”

“ PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S words on Mexico, sent in the form of instructions to the United States Minister in Mexico City, true as they must have been more than fifty years ago, are just as true to-day. "For a few years past the condition of Mexico has been so unsettled as to raise the question on both sides of the Atlantic whether the time has not come when some foreign power ought, in the general interest of society, to intervene, to establish a protectorate or some other form of government in that country and guarantee its continuance there," wrote the President. ”

“ In order to make possible an efficient secret service it was necessary for Germany to spread a net over Mexico, as she did over the United States; but in casting this net in the well-known German secret manner, it struck snags, and the holes torn were so great that the German service in Mexico has lost its effectiveness. All the German agents in Mexico are known to the Allies. Every movement is traced, though sometimes it is exceedingly difficult to do so; and, though there are Germans travelling throughout Mexico all the time, their plans are nipped before they are well under way. ”

“ Since 1910 she has had nothing but trouble and although it was not begun with money it has cost the government and the people millions of dollars in gold and property, thousands of lives and the loss of her international prestige which cannot be measured in pesos. Today most of the fighting is at an end. There are bandits in some sections of the Republic, but their raids are becoming fewer each month. Mexico City, itself, is as busy and active as New York, but there is a financial crisis, which, although not evident upon the surface of things, is destined to mark the climax of the revolution. ”

“ THE sun rises unclouded in Mexico City one day, but by that afternoon the clouds dominate the battlefields of the skies. It rains for a few hours, the dusty streets are washed, automobiles and coaches skid and race through the city, and the people go home or to the theatres. The next day they expect the morning sun to be as bright and warm as it was the day before. ”

“ Many children run with only a rag round their waists. The women and men alike are barefooted, or, perhaps to protect tender feet, some still have the sole of a shoe which is tied to each foot with strings. Almost all live by selling food to the travellers who must go this way to Monterey and Mexico City. Eggs, cheese, pancakes, water, milk, coffee, beans—the national dish—and whatnot, are peddled at so many centavos apiece. Here is poverty without misery. These people are happy and contented. They have never seen any other living. ”

“ American territory until it was suggested to the German Minister in Mexico City by Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, former Secretary of State? What honest, intelligent Mexican favours war with the United States when there is nothing to gain for Mexico except flattery from Berlin? What capable Mexican business man, or government official, favours labour riots at Tampico to cut off the oil supply which is bringing millions of dollars to the Mexican Treasury? What is there for Mexico to gain if the oil wells and mines are destroyed? Mexico loses by such things and Berlin gains. ”

“ Mexico needs men like the Presidents of our great universities to help her build up an educational system.
Mexico needs an educational system that will begin not only with the children but with the men and women of to-day. They, too, must be taught to read and write and think. Mexico needs technical public school education for men. Think of the hundreds of thousands of children in Mexico who know nothing about schools!
To develop her great resources Mexico needs foreign brains and foreign capital. The United States needed it in the early days of her existence. ”

“ There are hatred, jealousy, suspicion, graft, intrigue and the baneful influence of "relatives" who have been appointed to office. Patriotism, sincerity, good-will, faith, honesty and confidence are lacking. But despite all these national elements the Carranza party is the strongest one in Mexico, and there are, I repeat, on the horizon no other parties or leaders who could summon the support which is being given to President Carranza. As I have just said, the government has been seeking the friendship of the nations of Latin and Central America. ”

“ As the launch swerves toward the dock one sees several hundred Mexican labourers standing about the narrow-gauge railway track, awaiting the departure of the work train for the fields.
Puffing along at eight miles an hour the dummy engine jerks and whines through the jungle to the camp at Juan Casiano. Beside the tracks one sees mahogany and oak trees, banana plants, orange groves, cornfields, and here and there the straw-thatched roof of a peon's home. Men and women are dressed in one-piece garments; many children are naked ”

“ The condition of the National Railways of Mexico Company particularly interests the Government, as much because this system is the most extensive and necessary for the national life, as because the country has extended its guaranty for the payment of its debt and is the owner of the majority of its shares, by reason of which it controls the system. ”

“ Repairs to all the lines in the Republic have been prosecuted diligently and zealously even during the worst periods of the revolution, and it has been unanimously conceded by foreigners who have travelled over the various lines, government as well as private ones, that their condition compares most favourably with lines in the United States—is, indeed, well up to the standard in such matters. ”

“ It is obvious, I think, to most people who have travelled in Mexico recently that the people and the government of that country cannot grow in intelligence and economic strength without the co-operation of foreigners. Mexico needs foreign help the same as every young nation, and every nation which has gone through a period of unrest, needs foreign assistance. The Mexican problem is to make the Mexican authorities understand that foreigners want to help Mexico. ”

“ No one seems to know the solution in Tampico, but every foreigner hopes that the ammunition which the Mexican Government has obtained from the United States will not reach the Gulf of Mexico. The foreigners want a status quo until Germany is defeated. Then, then indeed, something will have to be done to settle the jurisdiction over the oil territory. Tampico oil is a world necessity. Anarchy, another German ally, cannot rule forever. Where there are smouldering flames of discontent there will be smoke. ”

“ Whether he will succeed is a puzzle the key to which has not been found. There are Mexicans and foreigners who will tell you that the Carranza Government is as certain to fall as the buildings in Mexico City are certain to sink; and this latter fact no one doubts, as even the National Theatre, the so-called "White Elephant" because its marble walls are uncompleted, is gradually sinking in the mire upon which the capital is built. Others will inform you that this government is gaining strength every day and that if it receives financial assistance nothing will be able to wreck it. ”

“ If the Executive under my charge does not immediately send to Congress concrete bases to obtain the initial capital of the new bank, but asks authorisation to negotiate with capitalists, it is due to the fact that in the present financial condition throughout the world, it is not easy to foresee the difficulties the Government may encounter to induce capitalists to make an investment which, although safe, will probably meet with a barrier of prejudice and lack of confidence. ”

“ Discussing the problems of finance and reconstruction with Mexican officials one is impressed by the fact that so few of these can see the viewpoint of the outside business man, the foreign capitalist. Most Mexicans will say that because of the rich natural resources of the country any foreigner ought to be willing to loan money to the government. The resources are here, many of them still untouched, they will declare, and if foreign capital invests in Mexico, it should be prepared to share prosperity or revolution with Mexico. ”