Republic of Mexico

“ To sum up in a word, the Republic of Mexico has within her limits resources of wealth and comfort unbounded, and the day will come—I trust it may not be far distant—when she will be regarded, with reason, as the Paradise of the world. ”

“ Through experience in self-government in the towns there may be built gradually the foundation of a new Republic of Mexico, a republic of greater stability and strength than the one that rested on economic advance alone. Whether Mexico can build such a state from its present population may be doubted even by the friends of Mexico but there can be little doubt that if it can be built, the foundation stones must be laid in the municipalities. ”

“ A FEW NOTES ABOUT MEXICAN PRESIDENTS.
Very few people outside of the Republic of Mexico have the least conception of how government affairs are run there. The inhabitants of Mexico—at least it is so estimated—number 10,000,000 souls, 8,000,000 being Indians, uneducated and very poor. This large majority has no voice in any matter whatever, so the government is conducted by the smaller, but so-called better class. ”

“ Mexico has, therefore, well established all the machinery of a republic, wherein equal rights of man and the sovereignty of the people are well set forth. How do these excellent methods and theories work out in practice as regards the social system and inhabitants? A republic in name, Mexico shares with Spanish-American countries generally, social conditions which are far from being embodied in the real meaning of that designation. ”

“ It is necessary to know, among other elements, the racial endowment of the people, the character of the governments under which they have lived, the obligations the government has assumed toward other nations and their citizens, the social and economic organization of Mexican society, the character of internal and foreign commerce, the development of transportation facilities, the position of those of other than Mexican nationality who have made the republic their home, and the relations of Mexico with other states, particularly its neighbors.
No state in our day lives unto itself alone. ”

“ It is not necessary to review the history of the various constitutions of Mexico to show that there the fundamental law has outlined an ideal standard of action and not a rule for everyday observance. A comparison of the norm set by the constitution of 1857 under which the republic lived through all the orderly period of its existence with the practice of the government in the same period will illustrate the degree to which even in time of peace the observance of the constitution has continued to be an unrealized ambition. ”

“ Up to the end of February—1885—no settlement had been reached, though Señor Romero Mexican minister at Washington, was confident of a pacific termination to the trouble. In the event of war there is little doubt that Mexico could concentrate 50,000 men [24] on the Guatemala frontier within a few days, and there could be but one ending to the embroglio, namely, the humiliation of the lesser republic, unless hostilities were averted by foreign intervention. [25]
Mexico assuredly contains within herself every element of prosperity ”

“ The three great civilizing forces of Mexico, the railroads, telegraphs, and an active religion, are extraneous,—from without the borders of the country. God and Liberty, Dios y Libertad, was the watchword of the republic in those times that tried the souls of Mexico's bravest sons ”

“ Mexico, to-day, is a confederated republic of twenty-seven states, one territory, and one federal district, with a form of government modeled after that of the United States. The press is free, and religious liberty is complete in theory, and no one is molested for his political opinions. Commerce and labor flow on unmolested in regular channels, and the internal and external obligations of the country are being paid with regularity. ”

“ The present government reflects in form the progress of all nations, and in spirit the troubled past of Mexico. Its constitution is modelled upon that of the United States, and in its present form was adopted in 1857. All persons born within the republic are free, and, if slaves, become freemen by entering it. Personal liberty, with its full significance, is guaranteed, including liberty of the press, "with this reservation, that private rights and the public peace shall not be violated." ”

“ For two years and a half while Juarez and his cabinet were in the State of Chihuahua they had no communication with their many friends in the South and the West except through Señor Romero, their faithful minister in Washington.
The liberals averaged a battle a day for a whole year. Unaided and unrecognized save when a friendly cheer came now and then from some sister-republic at the North or the South, Mexico's battle for freedom was fought alone. In our war for independence France came to the rescue and turned the scale. Poor Mexico! ”

“ Until the army and the clergy were shorn of those special privileges which enabled them to bid defiance to constitutional authority the republic would be a failure. What Mexico needed was "a government of the people for the people by the people." This thought was embodied in the famous law for the administration of justice now known by the name of its Indian author—"the law of Juarez." The key-note of progress was struck on the passage of this bill by the Mexican Congress in 1857, and millions of the long-enslaved people of Mexico joined in the shout of joy with which it was received. ”

“ This answer to the allied powers (in part) is given here, that coming generations may be reminded of the friendliness of our government to our sister republic, and of the wisdom and forbearance that guided the ship of state during the dark period when civil war disturbed our own land.
"It is true, as the high contracting parties assume, that the United States have, on their part, claims to urge against Mexico. ”

“ The history of no civilized nation in modern times has presented within so brief a period so many wanton attacks upon the honor of its flag and upon the property and persons of its citizens as had at that time been borne by the United States from the Mexican authorities and people. But Mexico was a sister republic on the North American continent, occupying a territory contiguous to our own, and was in a feeble and distracted condition, and these considerations, it is presumed, induced Congress to forbear still longer. ”

“ The republican government of Mexico, since the time of the European intervention and subsequent establishment over the country of a monarchy which was recognized by all the powers of that continent, had been permitted to hold diplomatic relations solely with the republics of America, all of which, during the nation's struggle to shake off the foreign incubus, manifested at every opportunity their sympathy and wishes for the success of the republic. ”

“ It is too easy to be encouraged by a temporary or local improvement in conditions. There will be many surprising advances and disappointing backslidings before Mexico is surely on the road to becoming a modern state.
It is because he overlooks these facts that the judgment of the average man in Europe and the United States upon conditions in Mexico and the policy that should be adopted toward the republic is of such little weight. ”

“ As in the early days of the United States republic, the first federal officials of Mexico were exceedingly simple in their habits and surroundings, trained as they had been midst hardships of field and camp, and mountain fastnesses. ”

“ If there is shown a genuine desire on the part of the Mexican government and Mexican people to have the help of foreigners in the development of the republic and if other states make clear to their investing citizens that conditions will not be allowed to arise in which they will find themselves harassed by legislation that will practically confiscate rights worthy of protection, this help, like that to the government itself, will be forthcoming on favorable terms. Mexico will again have the possibility of becoming a strong American state. ”

“ Education and immigration have worked wonders in the country; and, above all, the establishment of a government that for almost a third of a century commanded obedience at home and respect abroad is responsible for the mutation in Mexico. It was an absolute republic and under a strong controlling hand. It was the family government applied to the state, for it was very paternal in its rule.
PRIMITIVE TRANSPORTATION
Mexico is a human country and is not without its faults. ”

“ Constitutions have never been a set rule of action in Mexico and a consideration of the actual conditions within the republic gives little hope that it will be possible to make the political provisions of the Constitution of 1917 function as was intended, until fundamental changes have been accomplished in the social, educational, and economic equipment of the people. The reconstruction of Mexico involves problems deeper than those that can be settled by constitution makers. ”

“ So much wealth and yet good taste and perfect simplicity visible in all that surrounds them! Mexico is not lost as long as such families exist, and though they mingle little in society, the influence of their virtues and charities is widely felt.
This morning C—-n had an audience of the new president. He also paid a visit to General Bustamante, who is still at Guadalupe, and preparing for his departure. He will probably sail in the Jason, the man-of-war which brought us to Vera Cruz, and it is probable that we shall leave the republic at the same period. ”

“ In view of these considerations, how should we estimate the fitness of the Mexican people to enter into the enjoyment of our political institutions. Taking that people as they are, and are likely to continue for the period within which the integrality of Mexico will probably continue, are they, or will they become, a valuable acquisition to us in any respect? Are there probably as many men in the whole Mexican Republic competent to exercise the elective franchise with the intelligence of the average American citizen as there were righteous men in Sodom when she was destroyed? ”

“ Generally the officers of the army were indifferent whether the annexation was consummated or not; but not so all of them. For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory. Texas was originally a state belonging to the republic of Mexico. ”

“ His principal purpose is plainly to modernize Mexico. The twelve years from 1876, when he became president, until 1889, when his third term commenced, has proved to be the progressive age of the republic. He is of native birth, and rose from the ranks of the masses. The only opposition to his government is that of the church party, led by the Archbishop of Mexico, and supported by that great army of non-producers, the useless priests, who fatten upon the poor and superstitious populace. ”

“ Mexico will yet become a most potent factor in the world’s affairs. Progressive Mexicans hope for the day when Mexico will become even more closely knit to the great Republic of the North. Reactionary Mexicans, the conservatives of the Roman Church, dread and deprecate the impending change. ”

“ The exercise of the power of the United States in that country to redress the wrongs and protect the rights of our own citizens is none the less to be desired because efficient and necessary aid may thus be rendered at the same time to restore peace and order to Mexico itself. In the accomplishment of this result the people of the United States must necessarily feel a deep and earnest interest. Mexico ought to be a rich and prosperous and powerful Republic. She possesses an extensive territory, a fertile soil, and an incalculable store of mineral wealth. ”

“ Article 3 That, until a treaty of peace be made and signed between the United States of North America and the Republic of Mexico, no Californian or other Mexican citizen shall be bound to take the oath of allegiance. ”

“ It is our interest not to absorb Mexico, nor to cripple her, but to aid her in establishing an independent and stable government, and developing her almost incalculable resources. We have territory enough, and need not covet the fair fields of Mexico. ”

“ ARTICLE II. The French troops shall gradually evacuate Mexico as H.M. the Emperor of Mexico shall be able to organize the troops necessary to take their place.
ARTICLE III. The foreign legion in the service of France, composed of eight thousand men, shall, however, remain for six years in Mexico after all other French forces shall have been recalled under Article II. From that date said legion shall pass into the service and pay of the Mexican government, the Mexican government reserving unto itself the right to shorten the duration of the employment in Mexico of the foreign legion. ”

“ It was not long that this quarrelsome people could live together without fighting amongst themselves, and ten or fifteen years after the founding of the city the two parties—the Mexicans and the Tlatelolcans—separated, the latter going to a still smaller island near the main one. The Mexicans, however, kept the god, and, though their neighbors were more progressive at first, were in the end triumphant. Though for a while each faction had a separate government and its king, the Mexican is the one that finally absorbed the other, and whose history we shall mainly follow. ”