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EIGHT PAGES
VOL. XXXV. NO. 70
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1924
FA ILURE
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IkEVOLUTION
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A Mexican Citizen Shows The Effects Of Our Neighbor Republic's Revolutionary Activities
Is The Time Ripe For
A Republican Form Of Government?
What Diaz And Obregon Have Done For Their
Country
America's Shiftless And Somewhat Dubious Policy
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By Victor Manuel Villasenor
HE American people have for the lrst thir-
teen years glanced sporadically upon ar-
ticles and reports sometimes attacking,
sometimes lauding, the revolutions that have
occurred in Mexico during that period, and it is
'doubtful whether the great majority have been
able to form for themselves a clear idea of what
the situation of Mexico is. I believe that the Michi-
gan students who are interested in the neighboring
country will welcome something like a survey of
its condition, based upon facts, and such is the pur-
pose of this article. It is very difficult to treat
such a subject in a dispassionate manner especially
after witnessing, as I have witnessed, many of the
excesses perpetrated during the revolutions. Mex-
ico is my native land and I must necessarily look
with aversion upon the men whom I consider re-
sponsible for the anarchical condition that has ex-
isted there for so many years. Nevertheless I as-
pure the reader that I am writing this article as im-
partially as is humanly possible.
Revolution has been rampant in Mexico since
1911. What have these thirteen years of almost
constant revolution accomplished? My opinion is
that the Mexican revolution has been a tragic fail-
ure. This may be a rather bold statement now that
so many praises have been showered upon the Obre-
gon administration by the. American newspapers,
but this article will be largely devoted to the dem-
onstration of its truth.
In order to understand the Mexican problem it is
necessary to have some knowledge of the racial
traits and characteristics of the Mexican people. A
conservative estimate of the illiteracy of the coun-
try is eighty-five per cent. In other words out of a
population of fifteen millions there are almost thir-
teen millions that can neither read nor write. Of
the population thirty-eight per cent are pure blooded
Indians of different tribes scattered over a vast area,
fonty-three per cent mixed blooded, and only nineteen
per cent white All'the Indins andc a! ! a geper-
tentage of the mixed blooded were subject to the
most complete slavery during the Spanish domina-
tion, and even after the independence of Mexico in
1821 from the Mother Country, the position of the
Indians was not changed to any significant extent.
They have. continued to lead a miserable life and
as they lack all ambition they are contented if they
secure merely a roof for shelter and some tortillas
to eat. With only this very slight description a cat-
egorical question may be asked. Under such condi-
tions is it possible for democracy to exist? If the
attempt to answer this question in Mexico in the
affirmative had not occasioned so much bloodshed
it would be answered by any impartial man of some
education by a mere smile. Our constitution was
largely drawn on the basis of the American charter
of liberties, but this cannot make Mexico any more
suitable for democracy because the laws of a nation
in order to be successful must necessarily be inter-
woven with the nature, history, and characteristics
of its people. The institutions of the leading de-
mocracies of the world were not arbitrarily created
overnight, but came into existence through centur-
ies of political evolution. And when such institu-
tions are transplanted to a country where the na-
tIonal traditions consist of centuries of slavery and
ignorance the result must necessarily be catastro-
phe. Since the day of Mexico's independence in
1823 either rapacious demagogues seeking wealth by
means of revolutions and whose ideal of liberty
spells libertinage, nr- democratic drewmers who
would be very suitable guests of an insane asylum
have tried by violent means to impose upon Mexico
a form of government that does not agree with the
conditions nor the traditions of the country. To the
work of these men the constant unrest and turmoil
of Mexico must largely be attributed.
When General Portfirio Diaz came into power
in 1884 he practically disregraded the artificial con-
stitution of Mexico, and during his twenty-six years
of "presidency" the charter of liberties merely ex-
isted as a constitutional fiction behind which was
the iron will of the dictator. But as Diaz had at
heart the welfare of his country he took good care
not to degenerate his dictatorship into a tyranny
and during all his regime he employed only the
necessary force to keep Mexico in a much needed
peace. Whatever the dictator's enemies may say
against him they cannot deny that under his rule
Mexico acquired splendid foreign credit; twenty
thousand kilometers of railroads were built; banditry
was relentlessly persecuted and destroyed, and M-
.co became a country, just as safe as the United
States, where capital could be invested with abso-
ute security; mining was conducted in a large
scale; buildings comparable with the finest in the
world were erected in Mexico City; industries flour-
ished;' agriculture increased; nine thousand schools
were established and compulsory education was de-
creed in 1898. Finally when Diaz was ousted by
the revolutionists in 1911 he left 72,000,000 pesos,
A TYPICAL group of Central American Rcvolutionary soldiers.
ian dreamer: like Franci, co I. 7\Mad,'ro 1 long with a
greater number of lesser lights who, lacking all
political ideals, were out after powiner and riches.
The soldiers were recruited party from the ignor-
ant "peons" who did not even know for what they
fought, and the major portion was made up of crim-
inals and bandits whose motives were plunder, dis-
order, rapine, and pillage. This is an easy explana-
tion of the degenerate conduct of the revolutionary
troops and of the facility with which they have
changed sides in all the subsequent revolutions, al-
ways following the faction which affords them the
greater opportunity to gratify their desires.
It is sometimes believed in this country that the
wealthier classes are often responsible for the con-
tinuous upheavals, Lut the truth is that since the
attempt of Victoriano Huerta in 1913 the conserva-
tives have not attempted to regain power, and in
fact, they have not even been organized as a party.
All the struggles that have torn the country have
been caused by the revolutionists themselves who
in their fight for power have been massacring each
other. I .have in hand a list of the seventy-eight
most outstanding leaders of the revolutionary party
who have been either assassinated or executed since
1911. Of this list which is composed of two presi-
dents, secretaries, governors, and the most impor-
tant generals, fifty-five were killed by their own
fellow revolutionists. Surely these men have not
been struggling for a common ideal of peace and
democracy, but for their own personal interests.
The latest fruit of the revolution has been the
much advertised administration of President Alvaro
Obregon who, four years ago, obtained the presi-
dency as a result of his revolt against his former
friend and leader, President Venustiano Carranza,
who was murdered while asleep. As president, Gen-
eral Obregon missed a wonderful opportunity to do
something constructive for his country. The gen-
eral direction of his policy was openly against Mex-
ican capital and instead of stimulating it to make
investments in enterprises necessary for the re-
construction of Mexico, especially. in agriculture, he
missed no opportunity to attack it. In a spech in
Congress he adopted the land policy of Emiliano
Zapata, another revolutionist and one of the most
uncivilized bandits that Mexico has ever had, and
whose ravages resulted in the complete ruin of the
state of Morelos which was one of the most flour-
ishing states in the republic prior to the revolution.
General Plutarco E. Calles, the new president who
took office on December 1, in a speech at Cuatla,
Morelos on April 10, 1924, said, facing the grave of
Zapata: "Make it known to Mexico and foreign re-.
actionaries that the revolutionary and agrarian poli-
cies of Emiliano Zapata are mine." The policies
adopted by Generals Obregon and Calles were sum-
marized by Zapata himself in these words: "The
land belongs to him who cultivates it". This un-
doubtedly is a very high sounding phrase, but in
reality and from the viewpoint of practicability in
Mexico, it is just as empty as was the skull of
Zapata at the time he formulated it. Nevertheless
it must be conceded that as a mob inflaming device
it certainly produces remarkable results, and prob-
NOR, t11e clhor of Viis iricle, has lived
most of his life in Mexico Cilu, and is
il'cnroi4li ll aCquainted with his native
republic, both socialiV and politically.
He is at prerent a student in the Law
school, having prcviously studied at the
Univcrsih) cf Southern California and
at Corncll.
Red Skins of this country, and that the Aztec
Indlians themselves were exercising in Mexico
a 'ainst the vanciuished tribes when the Spaniards
arived to this continent. If the rights of conquest
exis'ing centuries ago are to be now questioned, and
the prcperty rights of the aboriginal races are to
be asserted at the present day and age the logical
w reclusion, especially if you happen to be an evo-
ltionist, is that those lands should be returned to
the monkeys.
The uneducated nature of the Indian is such that
if he is given a piece of fertile land he will do either
of two things: sell it to the first bidder; or cultivate
it just enough to have something to eat with his
family. If the former is the case, large estates will
Iba f!ormed. If the latter, what will Iecome of a
country where agriculture in such a ridiculously
small scale is practiced? This is taking for granted
that there is enough fertile land in Mexico to divide
among the laborers, which is not so. It must be
known that due to the poor quality of the larger part
of the Mexican soil, and to the scarcity and irregu-
larity of rains, capital must be invested in a large
scale to obtain any substantial results. Since this
is so, and even with irrigation, the water supply is
suticnt for only a small part-it has been calculat-
ed twat only about five per cent of the total area
can actually be cultivated-how is the development
of loexico to be procured by giving to the individual
lidians land which because of its dryness will not
produce even enough food for their individual sub-
sistence? Generals Obregon anl Calles may have
some magical formula to solve the problem. but
while they experiment the country is being ruined.
Ieople who could invest capital in their lands re-
fuse to do so fearing to have their lands confiscated
by the government, or their crops ravaged by the
"a gra ristas.'' The workers, thus placed out of em-
ployment, have been leaving for the United States
by the tens of thousands; and those who remain
are continually aroused by radical speeches and
propaganda, and have already ravaged much of the
cultivated land, incidentally killing and plundering.
Article XXVII of the Constitution of 1917 pro-
vides that expropriation of land must be made
through compensation given to the owners of those
lands. The interpretation of this part of the con-
stitution gave rise to much controversy. Some con-
tended that according to it the payment must be
made in cash, and at the time of the expropriation;
others that according to it the payment could be
the outbreak of the revolution in 1911 and at the
present time. Sisal hemp, the principal product of
exportation, was exported to the United States to
the extent of 195,000 tons in 1913, while in 1923,
after the revolution had had its effect, the amount
dropped to 75,000 tons. The output of every other
agricultural product has decreased in similar pro-
portion. The total livestock census prior to the
revolution was 15,000,000 head, while in 1923 it had
been reduced to 6,000,000 or almost one third. In-
dustries have equally been greatly impaired.
Another of the benefits caused by the Mexican
revolution has been the phenomenal increase of tax-
ation. It has been estimated that it is now treble
what it was in 1910. Notwithstanding this on Jan-
ulry 2, 1924, the government decreed a surcharge of
ten percent upon many established taxes and pro-
vided in addition for an income tax and a profits
tax. Agriculture, industries, and business in gen-
eral, however, are not the only things that have
suffered under the revolution, but many other es-
sential for the prosperity of a nation have 'been
greatly affected. Contrary to current reports in
this country the progress of education under the
Obregon administration was signally neglected. Not
only did this government fail to establish a com-
mendable educational system as it was often said,
but the old schools already established under Diaz
are now inferior to those of his day. The teachers
form one of the classes which has endured great
hardships in Mexico because their meagre salaries
are invariably greatly delayed, and sometimes not
payed at all, a thing that never happened under the
"terrible" aristocratic dictatorship of Diaz. At the
time this is being written the teachers of the pub-
lic schools of Mexico City have not received any pay
for several months. Another of the most disastrous
consequences of the revolution is the degenerating
effect oL more than thirteen years of strife upon the
youth of Mexico. A whole generation has been
growing and breathing in an atmosphere of treason,
bloodshed, and corruption, and it cannot be claimed
i)y the sympathizers of the revolutionary movement
that this is helping to lay the foundations of a
true democracy.
With all due respect to General Obregon, the
treaty executed with the United States the 15th of
August, 192;, does not speak very highly of the
patriotism of his administration. It would be im-
possible to discuss here at length this one sidied
agrcemuent. Be it enough to say that concurrent
with the utmost efforts of the government to se-
cure the ratification of the treaty in the Senate the
most prominent Senator of the opposition was as-
sasinated and two others were kidnapped. Its most
outstanding feature is Article IX which provides
that American landholdings will be exempted from
the application of the agrarian policies which arc
enforced as against the Mexican landowners. This
cIa use, an outrage to Mexican patriotism, but neces-
sary for the recognition of the Obregon government
by the White House, created an abominable and
discriminating privilege against the citizens of
Mexico in favor of the citizens of a foreign country.
This short discussion of the Mexican situation
have too great an admiration for this country to
believe that the shifting policies of its government
have been followed with ulterior views, but what-
ever may be the case there is no doubt that the
United States has contributed in a material extent
to the situation of Mexico.
President Wilson openly set himself to the task
of helping democratize the Mexican people, and as
he sincerely believed that the revolution led by Car-
ranza, Obregon, and Villa was championing the op-
pressed classes he lent to it the powerful support
of the United States, actively helping to the de-
struction of the conservative government of Gen-
eral Victoriano Huerta. In so doing Mr. Wilson
showed a lack of understanding of the nature of the
Latin American countries; and by helping the revo-
lutionists he helped not a movement of liberalism,
socialism, or any other political doctrine, but a
movement of pure and simple brigandage. Again in
the last upheaval President Coolidge decided to in-
terfere in the affairs of Mexico and threw his sup-
port for President Obregon, supplying him with war
materials and preventing Adolfo de la Iluerta from
acquiring them. He justified his action on the be-
lief that the Mexican people were quite solidly be-
hind Obregon.. Although most of the American
newspapers approved his policy he met some criti-
cism for his step and a few papers asked very perti-
nent questions. It is very doubtful if the Mexican
people were solidly behind Obregon. He had decided
to make General Calles his successor to the presi-
dency and was preparing to accomplish his purpose
in such an obvious manner that the other candidate
Adolfo de la Huerta was actually driven to revolt.
De la Iluerta was a more popular candidate than his
former friend Calles, who was supported merely by
the radical element of the country; and very likely
President Obregon would have been unsuccessful in
his design had he not received full support from
Washington.
In pursuing his policy President Colidge took a
step which it is hoped will be the last of its kind
taken by the American government. It is an unwar-
ranted interference in the domestic affairs of Mex-
ico. Although President Calles, passing through
New York to Europe a few months ago, said that
Mexico had seen its last revolution, this is nothing
but an expression of his own personal wishes. If
General Calles does not proceed with great tact in
his administration it is very likely that his prophecy
will prove incorrect. If so, and fighting should
break out again, will the American government take
sides in the internal affairs of Mexico? Only time
can answer this question, but the truly patriotic
Mexican criterion is that the United States should
leave Mexico entirely free to solve her own problems.
The Amerian people may judge this or. that
to be the best for Mexico, but it must be admitted
by most fair minded Americans that they know
very little about it because of the complexity of the
problems. They will often read things that have
been said for the last thirteen years,---that democ-
racy has begun in Mexico; that a bright and rosy
future smiles on Mexico; that at last the noble
ideals and aspirations of the Revolution will be
realized; and similar ostentatious utterances. At
times they will be veritably swamped under a mass
of lies and half-truths; but they must keep 'in mind
that the great majority of this "news" is written by
persons wholly ignorant of the true condition of
Mexico, or for the benefit of interested parties,
either Mexican or American.
Before closing this article I will try to answer
a question that the reader has probably asked to
himself. Is there a solution to the Mexican prob-
lem?
I am a natural optimist and firmly believe that
there is a solution to the problems of my country.
While there is a large undesirable element in Mex-
ico, there are also many intelligent and honest men;
lawyers, engineers, physicians and farmers who
possess the essential qualities necessary to the
making of a great government; but refusing to be
dragged into the sea of corruption brought about
by the revolution. They have abstained from en-
tering the political field. With these men the future
of Mexico lies. They are willing to give their efforts
to the rebuilding of their country, but first they
must be given an opportunity to occupy the gov-
ernmental positions that are now in 'the hands of
incompetent individuals who are seemingly more
interested in their own personal gain than in the
future of Mexico.
If President Calles is truly patriotic he must
forget all the worthless demagogism that has caused
so much harm to the country. He must realize
that our social and economic problems largely rest
on the development of our agriculture; that the
Mexican soil is poor and therefore cultivation can-
not be conducted in an intensive manner except by
the heavy investment of capital. Also instead of
fanning the hatred of labor against capital, as he
has done so far. he must try nto nonciliateihe tw