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MEXICO^S DILEMMA 
 CARL W. AGKERMAN 
 
Cisai 
 
 A MEXICAN cartoonist's VIEW OF SENOR CABRERA^ 
 ONE OF THE MOST DOMINANT CIVILIAN OFFICIALS 
 
MEXICO'S 
 DILEMMA 
 
 BY 
 
 CARL W. ACKERMAN 
 
 AUTHOR OF "GERMANY, THE NEXT REPUBLIC ? " 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 
 

 COPYRIGHT. 1918. 
 BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 
 
 MAY -4 1918 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1917, 
 BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1917, 
 BY AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 ©C!,A487163 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Mexico's Dilemma has three horns. 
 
 They are : 1. Financial ruin of Mexico and 
 internal disorders unless a loan is obtained. 2. 
 The possibility of subjugation to German influ- 
 ence with all of its liability for external strife. 
 3. Co-operation with the United States, England, 
 France and America. 
 
 What will Mexico do? 
 
 The answer is one which future events will de- 
 termine. In this book the author has tried to tell 
 what forces and influences are sharpening each of 
 the three horns. There are bandits, disloyal Mex- 
 icans, ambitious officials, patriotic citizens, honest 
 business men, Teutonic intriguers, spies, propa- 
 gandists, diplomats, millionaires, army officers 
 and I. W. W. firebrands at work. Is it any won- 
 der, then, that Mexico finds herself in such a 
 Dilemma? 
 
 Mexico has always been a home and workshop 
 for foreigners. Several thousand years ago the 
 Chinese settled in that country and, judging from 
 the relics which are found to-day, in and about 
 Mexico City, Chinese civilisation flourished there 
 for a few hundred years. Terra cotta relics are 
 found showing an unmistakable Mongolian type 
 
vi INTRODUCTION 
 
 of face, and, because a large mimber of art ob- 
 jects similar to those found in China have been 
 unearthed, archeologists conclude that Mexico was 
 once the foreign colony of the Chinese. 
 
 After the Chinese civilisation disappeared the 
 Aztec and pre- Aztec Indians dominated the land. 
 A few hundred years ago the Spaniards landed 
 and Mexico passed through a period of conquest 
 which ended with the execution of the Austrian, 
 Emperor Maximilian. And to-day, in Monterey 
 is preserved the rifle which was used at this ex- 
 ecution, preserved even by the Eebels during the 
 revolutions. 
 
 A few decades ago English, French and Ameri- 
 can capitalists went to Mexico to develop the 
 wonderfully rich resources, and Mexico under 
 President Porfirio Diaz became a great, inter- 
 nationally respected nation. 
 
 The revolution which overthrew Diaz drove 
 thousands of these foreigners from the country, 
 and the immigration of Germans and Austrians, 
 which had started earlier, increased until to-day 
 the Teuton strength is so great that Mexican 
 politics is interwoven with German intrigue. 
 Where a few years ago The Mexican Herald, an 
 English language newspaper, had a wide circula- 
 tion and commanded the respect and attention of 
 all foreigners, there is to-day a Deutsche Zeitung 
 von Mexico. 
 
 Germany is active in Mexico, honestly and dis- 
 honestly. The character of many of the German 
 
INTRODUCTION vii 
 
 citizens there cannot be attacked and their hon- 
 esty cannot he questioned, hut, as is the case in 
 the United States and in all countries where the 
 German Government intriguers have worked, all 
 Germans in Mexico are hearing the burdens of a 
 corrupt, dishonest, deceitful government in Ber- 
 lin. Most of the things which the Germans are 
 doing there, both against the United States and 
 against Mexico itself, are done at the direction 
 of Berlin. Who would have expected Mexico to 
 think of invading the United States to **get 
 back** American territory until it was suggested 
 to the German Minister in Mexico City by Dr. 
 Alfred Zimmermann, former Secretary of State? 
 What honest, intelligent Mexican favours war 
 with the United States when there is nothing to 
 gain for Mexico except flattery from Berlin? 
 What capable Mexican business man, or govern- 
 ment official, favours labour riots at Tampico to 
 cut off the oil supply which is bringing millions 
 of dollars to the Mexican Treasury? What is 
 there for Mexico to gain if the oil wells and 
 mines are destroyed? Mexico loses by such things 
 and Berlin gains. 
 
 When I returned from Germany to America in 
 March, 1917, 1 found so many people asking what 
 the Germans were doing in Mexico that I pro- 
 posed to the Editor of The Saturday Evening 
 Post that I go to that country for the purpose of 
 making an investigation. It seemed to me that 
 public opinion in the United States was divided ; 
 
viii INTRODUCTION 
 
 that some people thought the German activity in 
 Mexico was no greater than, if as great as, that in 
 the United States, while others believed it much 
 more portentous. 
 
 In July, having my two passports in order, as 
 both an American and a Mexican passport were 
 needed, I left New York City for San Antonio, 
 Texas, where I met and talked with a large num- 
 ber of Mexicans, including Mr. Sam Belden, the 
 attorney for the Mexican Consul; Senor don 
 Manuel Amaya, Official Introducer of Ambassa- 
 dors in President Carranza's cabinet; General 
 Salinas and a Mexican physician from Monterey. 
 I remained at San Antonio until Ambassador 
 Henry Prather Fletcher and Mrs. Fletcher ar- 
 rived en route to Mexico City. Upon the invita- 
 tion of Senor Amaya I travelled on the special 
 train which took Mr. Fletcher to the Mexican 
 capital. 
 
 I crossed the International Bridge with the 
 official party and drove through the dusty streets 
 of Nuevo Laredo to the railway siding where the 
 train was waiting. That evening, after consider- 
 able delay — ^bandits had destroyed a bridge just 
 outside the city — reached Monterey, in company 
 with Mr. Randolph Robertson, Acting Consul- 
 General for the United States, and several Mex- 
 icans, including a Captain attached to the National 
 Palace. 
 
 The next day the train stopped at San Luis 
 Potosi. Ambassador and Mrs. Fletcher were en- 
 
INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 tertained by General Barragan, the Governor of 
 the state, and his staff. At the banquet I sat be- 
 side Senor Montezuma, a direct descendant of the 
 famous Indian chief. From San Luis Potosi to 
 Mexico City we passed through a beautiful 
 stretch of country under armed escort. 
 
 In Mexico City I met members of the cabinet, 
 Mexican Generals, members of the Chamber of 
 Deputies, American and English business men, 
 bankers, newspapermen and others. I employed 
 a young Mexican student from the University of 
 Texas as an interpreter, journeyed about the city 
 and the suburbs, and studied, in every way possi- 
 ble for me, the social and political conditions in 
 the capital of the Eepublic. 
 
 Before I left the United States I had encoun- 
 tered two classes of citizens, those who had faith 
 in the possibilities for good of the Carranza Gov- 
 ernment and those who violently opposed this 
 government. In Mexico I found quite the same 
 situation. Not only were the foreigners divided 
 in opinion but the Mexicans themselves, though 
 here those opposing the government were not as 
 pronounced in the expression of their judgment 
 for fear of Article 33 in the Mexican Constitution. 
 This article reads : 
 
 "Foreigners are those who do not possess the 
 qualifications prescribed in Article 30. They 
 shall be entitled to the rights granted by Chapter 
 I, Title I of the present constitution; but the ex- 
 
X INTRODUCTION 
 
 ecutive shall have the exclusive right to expel 
 from the Republic forthwith and without judicial 
 process, amy foreigner whose presence he may 
 deem inexpedient. 
 
 ''No foreigner shall meddle in any way what- 
 soever in the political affairs of the country." 
 
 From this section developed the phrase "to be 
 Thirty-threed," meaning to be exiled without 
 trial or hearing, from Mexico. 
 
 From Monterey I travelled to Tampioo on the 
 regular morning train which was crowded with 
 Mexicans, Indians and Germans long before the 
 hour of departure. Most of the Germans left at 
 towns along the line, but a few continued to the 
 great oil port. 
 
 In Tampico I had the assistance and the same 
 cordial co-operation from the Americans, espe- 
 cially the representatives of the oil companies, 
 that I had had in Mexico City. As I look back 
 now upon my contact with the Americans in Mex- 
 ico they appear to me to be, with only one excep- 
 tion that I can recall, all active, energetic business 
 men, who, far from being in that country to ' * rob" 
 it are there working and striving for the same 
 things that business men, bankers, clerks and 
 labourers honestly strive for in the United States. 
 
 Early one September morning I boarded a large 
 oil tanker in Tampico harbour, crossed the Gulf 
 of Mexico to Sabine Pass, Texas, when that great 
 body of water was as quiet and smooth as a small 
 
INTRODUCTION 3d 
 
 lake. Arriving in Texas, and looking back upon 
 my experiences in Mexico, I felt that I had had an 
 opportunity of studying conditions at first hand, 
 not, indeed, as they were during the revolution, 
 but as they were then. Nothing, though, that I 
 know of changes like Mexico. What one day is 
 the situation the next day may not exist at all. 
 
 In the first article which I wrote for The Satur- 
 day Evening Post 1 spoke of the two policies 
 which faced Mexico : either Mexico could join the 
 United States and the Allies, at least to the ex- 
 tent of breaking diplomatic relations with Berlin, 
 or Mexico might stay out of this league of nations 
 and by so doing give the German propagandists 
 further opportunity of creating hatred, suspicion 
 and fear between Mexico and the United States. 
 In case of the latter event, should it continue 
 long enough, no one can be sure that Mexico, under 
 German influence, may not some day be an enemy 
 of the United States. 
 
 That is what I wrote in July, 1917. By mid- 
 November, the former Associated Press corre- 
 spondent in Mexico City had reached New York. 
 A letter from Mexico stated that he was exiled 
 because he wrote a series of articles for the 
 "A. P.," telling of the campaign which the Ger- 
 mans were conducting, in co-operation with the 
 bandit leaders, to prevent the Carranza govern- 
 ment from breaking with Berlin. The letter, 
 which I received, said the correspondent, whom I 
 had met while I was there, was tapped on the 
 
xii INTRODUCTION 
 
 shoulder one night by a secret service agent and 
 told to leave the next morning for the United 
 States. 
 
 So it is in Mexico. Zimmermann is not alone 
 in his intrigues. 
 
 With the sincere hope that this book will help 
 Americans to understand Mexico as it is I sub- 
 mit it to the reading public. Everything, includ- 
 ing future peace between the two nations, Mexico 
 and the United States, and their mutual pros- 
 perity, depends upon our having a full under- 
 standing of the situation. This book does not pre- 
 tend to contain all there is to be known about 
 Mexico to-day but the author believes it to pre- 
 sent a true account of conditions and politics in 
 Mexico at the time of its writing. 
 
 I have employed in this book the major portion 
 of five articles written for The Saturday Evening 
 Post to which I have added considerable new ma- 
 terial. I am indebted to so many Americans and 
 Mexicans for assistance and information, some 
 whose names might be mentioned, others whose 
 names cannot be given, that I welcome this oppor- 
 tunity to thank them all. 
 
 C. W. A. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction v 
 
 The Zimmermann Note xviii 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. A Bird's-Eye View 19 
 
 II. The Mexican Puzzle 24 
 
 III. Rebels and Revolutions 48 
 
 IV. Germany's Ally at Tampico .... 68 
 V. The Last Spy Offensive 98 
 
 VI. Rising or Setting Sun in Mexico . . . 117 
 
 VII. The Future 136 
 
 Appendix 141 
 
 A. Financial Bills 143 
 
 B. The New Mexican Constitution . . . 153 
 
 C. Mexican Railways 264 
 
 D. The American Chamber of Commerce . 273 
 
 E. The Last Mexican Election .... 279 
 
 zii! 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 A Mexican Cartoonist's View of Senor Cabrera 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mexican Villagers Who Turned Out to See 
 
 Senor Fletcher |28 
 
 Ambassador Fletcher's Military Escort . . 28 
 
 Cover for the German Newspaper of Mexico 36 
 
 This Was at One Time a Beautiful Residence 52 
 
 The Famous "Saddle Mountain" of Monterey 52 
 
 The U. S. Warships at Anchor in Tampico Harbor 70 
 
 An Oil Gusher at Tampico 70 
 
 The Gusher of the Cerro Azul Oil Well — 600 
 
 Feet High 80 
 
 Another View of Germany's Leaders . . , 100 
 
 Cover Cartoon of Ambassador Fletcher . . 112 
 
 Terra Cotta Heads Found by Prof. Niven . . 122 
 
 An Aztec Family Tree 122 
 
 Professor William Niven 132 
 
 List of the Presidents of Mexico, Gen. Porfirio 
 
 Diaz to Lie. Francisco Garbajal .... 162 
 
 XV 
 
xvi ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 List of Presidents of Mexico, Eulalio Gutier- 
 rez TO C. Venustiano Carranza 178 
 
 The Ruined Railway Depot and Freight Cars 
 AT Monterey 266 
 
 A Typical Mexican Railway Train .... 266 
 
MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 /^cv 
 
THE ZIMMERMANN NOTE 
 
 Berlin, January 19, 1917. 
 
 To His Excellency, the Imperial 
 German Minister to Mexico. 
 
 On the first of February we intend to begin unre- 
 stricted submarine warfare. In spite of this, it is our in- 
 tention to endeavour to keep tbe United States of Amer- 
 ica neutral. 
 
 If tbis attempt is not successful, we propose an alli- 
 ance on tbe following basis with Mexico : That we shall 
 make war together and together make peace. We shall 
 give general financial support, and it is understood that 
 Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mex- 
 ico, Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for 
 settlement. 
 
 You are instructed to inform the President of Mex- 
 ico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it 
 is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the 
 United States, and suggest that the President of Mexico, 
 on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan 
 suggesting adherence at once to this plan. At the same 
 time offer to mediate between Germany and Japan. 
 
 Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico 
 that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now 
 promises to compel England to make peace within a few 
 months. 
 
 ZiMMERMANN. 
 
MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 A bied's-eye view 
 
 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 Presi- 
 dent. He continued: 
 
 ''You will not fail to assure the Government of 
 Mexico that the President neither has, nor can 
 ever have, any sympathy with such designs, in 
 whatever quarter they may arise or whatever 
 character they may take on. . . . 
 
 ' ' The President never for a moment doubts that 
 
 19 
 
20 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 the republican system is to pass safely through 
 all ordeals and prove a permanent success in our 
 own country, and so to be recommended to adop- 
 tion by all other nations. 
 
 ''But he thinks, also, that the system every- 
 where has to make its way painfully through diffi- 
 culties and embarrassments which result from 
 the action of antagonistical elements which are a 
 legacy of former times and very different institu- 
 tions. 
 
 "The President is hopeful of the ultimate tri- 
 umph of this system over all obstacles, as well in 
 regard to Mexico as in regard to every other 
 American State ; but he feels that those States are 
 nevertheless justly entitled to a greater forbear- 
 ance and more generous sympathies from the 
 Government and people of the United States 
 than they are likely to receive in any other 
 quarter. . . . 
 
 *'The President trusts that your mission, mani- 
 festing these sentiments, will reassure the Gov- 
 ernment of Mexico of his best disposition to 
 favour their commerce and their internal im- 
 provements. 
 
 "I find the archives here full of complaints 
 against the Mexican Government for violation of 
 contracts and spoliation and cruelties practiced 
 against American citizens. It is not the Presi- 
 dent's intention to send forward such claims at 
 the present moment. He willingly defers the per- 
 formance of a duty, which at any time would 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 21 
 
 seem ungracious, until the incoming administra- 
 tion in Mexico shall have had time, if possible, 
 to cement its authority.'^ 
 
 How many Americans there are to-day who feel 
 as apprehensive as did President Lincoln! How 
 many Americans ask to-day whether the United 
 States may not have to intervene in Mexico, after 
 all, to help establish peace and order! 
 
 In his International Law Digest, Professor 
 John Bassett Moore, former Counsellor of the 
 State Department in Washington, writes : 
 
 *'0n November 28, 1876, General Porfirio Diaz 
 issued a proclamation announcing himself pro- 
 visional president of the Eepublio of Mexico, 
 under the Plan of Tuxtepec. On January 19, 
 1877, intelligence having been received at Wash- 
 ington of the defeat of the forces of the rival 
 claimants Secretary of State Fish suggested that 
 if this should be confirmed by similar tidings re- 
 ceived at the City of Mexico, General Diaz 'would 
 have no important adversary in arms and might 
 be regarded as the actual ruler of the country.' 
 The question of recognising his government was 
 under the circumstances left to the discretion of 
 the American Minister. In view, however, of the 
 unsettled state of affairs in Mexico, and especially 
 of the existence of controversies between the two 
 countries growing out of troubles on the Rio 
 Grande frontier, it was afterwards determined 
 
S^ MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 that the Government of the United States, al- 
 though it was ' accustomed to accept and recognise 
 the results of a popular choice in Mexico,' would 
 in this particular instance 'wait before recognis- 
 ing President Diaz as President of Mexico until 
 it shall be assured that his election is approved 
 by the Mexican people, and that his administra- 
 tion is possessed of stability to endure and of dis- 
 position to comply with the rules of international 
 comity and the obligations of treaties. ' The Diaz 
 Government was officially recognised by Germany 
 May 30, 1877, by Salvador and Guatemala June 7, 
 by Spain June 16 and soon afterwards similar 
 action was taken by Italy. These were all the 
 powers then represented in Mexico, except the 
 United States. In his annual message of Decem- 
 ber 3, 1877, President Hayes stated that it had 
 been 'the custom of the United States when such 
 (revolutionary) changes of government have here- 
 tofore occurred in Mexico, to recognise and enter 
 into official relations with the de facto government 
 as soon as it shall appear to have the approval of 
 the Mexican people and should manifest a disposi- 
 tion to adhere to the obligations of treaties and 
 international friendship,' but that 'in the present 
 case such official recognition had been deferred 
 by the occurrences on the Eio Grande border.' 
 
 "Official recognition was given in May, 1878, 
 when a formal reception was tendered to a new 
 minister from Mexico and the President formally 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 23 
 
 replied to the letter of General Diaz announcing 
 the recall of the provisional representative." 
 
 The events which followed the recognition of 
 President Diaz are familiar enough. The story 
 of events from 1910, from the overthrow of Diaz 
 to the recognition of the de facto government of 
 President Carranza, has been told in many ver- 
 sions. The past I shall leave to the reader's judg- 
 ment. My concern is with the present. 
 
CHAPTEE n 
 
 THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 
 
 TROUBLE and revolutions are two things 
 which can be started without money. It 
 doesn't require money to start a street 
 fight nor does it require gold to upset a nation. 
 
 This is not more true of any place than of Mex- 
 ico. The seven years of strife which the people 
 south of the Rio Grande have had are not due to 
 a fat treasury. But Mexico has reached the place 
 now where it knows that money is necessary to 
 end a revolution. 
 
 More than a century ago when France was ex- 
 periencing the internal disorders which infest 
 Mexico a revolutionist remarked that ** Revolu- 
 tions are not made with rosewater." To-day the 
 Mexicans will tell you that the evils of a revolu- 
 tion are not washed away with perfume, either. 
 This requires money. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1917 the Mexican Gov- 
 ernment invited Mr. Henry Breure, former City 
 Chamberlain of New York, and two expert ac- 
 countants, including Mr. Thomas W. Lill, who 
 spent nine years helping to reorganise the Philip- 
 pine Government, to establish business methods in 
 
 24 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 85 
 
 the governmental departments. One day in July 
 the American commission went to Guadalajara, 
 the centre of the ranch section, with an official 
 escort of Mexicans. After dinner one evening an 
 American asked a representative of the Carranza 
 Government what the revolution had accomplished 
 for the Mexican people. The officer explained 
 what he thought the results of the revolution 
 would be, but the American pressed him for an 
 answer to his original question. Eeluctantly the 
 officer admitted that, so far, nothing had been 
 accomplished. 
 
 Mexico has reached the crossroad in the path of 
 the revolution. Since 1910 she has had nothing 
 but trouble and although it was not begun with 
 money it has cost the government and the people 
 millions of dollars in gold and property, thou- 
 sands of lives and the loss of her international 
 prestige which cannot be measured in pesos. To- 
 day most of the fighting is at an end. There are 
 bandits in some sections of the Republic, but their 
 raids are becoming fewer each month. Mexico 
 City, itself, is as busy and active as New York, 
 but there is a financial crisis, which, although not 
 evident upon the surface of things, is destined to 
 mark the climax of the revolution. 
 
 I arrived in Mexico in July to look at the politi- 
 cal, economic, social and revolutionary puzzle 
 from the inside. I saw many phases of it in 
 Monterey, San Luis Potosi and Mexico City, this 
 puzzle which is still puzzling Mexico. I have been 
 
26 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 told that not even President Carranza knows how 
 it will be solved, although at least two solutions 
 are possible. 
 
 When I crossed the international bridge at 
 Laredo, Texas, and sauntered through the streets 
 of Nuevo Laredo, a midget donkey, carrying a 
 long-legged peon, trekked around the corner of 
 the telegraph office. The Mexican had to hold up 
 his feet to keep from dragging them in the dust. 
 The beast was so small, and the man so tall, that 
 head down it might have walked between his legs. 
 Jostling behind the pair was a small "express" 
 wagon such as American boys play with. It was 
 loaded with grass, sufficient for about one meal 
 for a hungry donkey. A string which the peon 
 held was tied to the wagon tongue. And the beast 
 was thus, presumably, hauling its load and food 
 to the hovel which was their home. 
 
 I described this incongruous sight to an Ameri- 
 can who was en route to Mexico with me, where- 
 upon he remarked : 
 
 ''How typical of Mexico to-day — the old Bibli- 
 cal ass, the American toy and the lazy peon. 
 Since the revolution all the progress Mexico made 
 under Diaz has disappeared. Mexico to-day is 
 stagnant. ' ' 
 
 A few minutes later, however, I went through 
 the Nuevo Laredo freight depot with Mr. Ran- 
 dolph Eobertson, U. S. Vice Consul at Monterey. 
 Automobiles, food, machinery, household goods 
 and thousands of different manufactured articles 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 27 
 
 from the United States were packed within its 
 four walls awaiting transportation to various 
 parts of Mexico. More than two hundred Mexi- 
 cans were busy loading the freight cars on the 
 siding. In Laredo, Texas, according to American 
 oflScials, there are 250 freight cars loaded with 
 goods for Mexico awaiting shipping facilities. 
 
 In Monterey during April, May and June the 
 American consulate records show that the im- 
 ports and exports of that district were greater 
 than at any time in the history of Mexico. 
 
 According to the evidence in Nuevo Laredo and 
 Monterey, Mexico is not only not standing still 
 ^ut is making vigorous business strides forward. 
 
 There are three ways of looking at Mexico. 
 One is to view the past with all its rape, murder, 
 robbery and banditry ; its destruction and misery. 
 The second way is to observe the present with its 
 grave problems, its ignorance and hatred. The 
 third way is to peer into the future with its un- 
 limited possibilities for ruin or success. I was 
 not in Mexico during its Eeign of Terror, but I 
 saw some of the results — the razed cities, the de- 
 stroyed railroads and foreign property, the pov- 
 erty and evidences of atrocities. I went to Mex- 
 ico to report the present and to narrate in a broad 
 way what may be expected in the future. It is the 
 to-day of Mexico which will determine the to- 
 morrow, and it is the to-morrow of Mexico which 
 will decide whether Mexico is to be ruled by Mex- 
 icans or whether the United States must intervene 
 
28 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 to establish order and protect the business inter- 
 ests of her citizens and those of her Allies. 
 
 I went to Mexico on the Honeymoon Special 
 which took Ambassador Henry Prather Fletcher 
 and his bride to the ancient capital of the Aztecs. 
 From the sandy banks of the muddy Eio Grande 
 to the rainy plateau of Central Mexico Mr. 
 Fletcher travelled like a conquering hero. In the 
 receptions which were accorded him, if they were 
 not as resplendent as similar functions in the 
 United States, there was evident a good-will and 
 there was present more enthusiasm than had been 
 shown any Americans since the days of Diaz. Mr. 
 Fletcher's return was triumphant despite the fact 
 that the military salutes were crude and the music 
 even cruder. When the Ambassador crossed the 
 international bridge a Mexican cannon, hidden in 
 the bushes of Nuevo Laredo, saluted, but there 
 was a long time between shots. As the official 
 representative of the United States he should 
 have received nineteen salutations instead of five, 
 but the ambassador was so busy exchanging greet- 
 ings he did not notice this until I asked him 
 whether the embargo had been raised on ammuni- 
 tion for saluting purposes. It seems that because 
 of the famous Tampico incident the Mexicans are 
 not permitted to have fireworks. 
 
 Although the first band which greeted the envoy 
 played the "Star-Spangled Banner," the others 
 confined their music to Mexican pieces until the 
 train reached Queretaro. Then during an effer- 
 
ilEXICAN VILLAGERS WHO TURNED OUT TO 
 SEE SENOR FLETCHER 
 
 AMBASSADOR FLETCHER'S MILITARY ESCORT 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 29 
 
 vescence of enthusiasm, when the ambassador was 
 being hugged by an unusually large number of 
 Mexican officials, the band played the Hesitation 
 Waltz. 
 
 One travels through Mexico to-day with an 
 ' * exploradoro. ' ' Bandits are still operating along 
 the railroad lines and it is not safe to be without 
 '^protection." The '^ exploradoro, " which pre- 
 ceded the Honeymoon Special, was made up of 
 two armoured cars filled with soldiers. In two 
 day coaches on the Special itself were two groups 
 of soldiers. One car contained the soldiers trav- 
 elling with their families, in the other were men 
 in uniform. On the back platform of the private 
 car, which President Carranza used when he was 
 First Chief of the Constitutionalists, stood three 
 soldiers armed with heavy Mexican rifles. One 
 day when the train was nearing Mexico City an 
 American asked a member of President Car- 
 ranza 's staff about the Mexican rifles. The Cap- 
 tain replied they were ''very good" except that 
 they were "easily overheated." Then, adding 
 that each gun was loaded with a minimum of ten 
 rounds, he lifted one of the weapons to exhibit 
 the ammunition. The rifle was empty ! He exam- 
 ined the second. It was just as harmless, and 
 when the third was opened the situation became 
 embarrassing. The guard on the rear platform 
 was without ammunition. The guard could not 
 be condemned because the Carranza Government 
 has needed the sinews of war and Mr. Fletcher 
 
30 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 was just returning from Washington after hav- 
 ing persuaded President Wilson that the embargo 
 should be raised. 
 
 The bandits, however, which the ambassador 
 saw on the return to his post, were perfectly harm- 
 less and the " exploradoro " and "armed" soldiers 
 were not needed. At various points along the line 
 one sees bandits hanging from telegraph poles and 
 trees, swaying in the wind like pendulums. The 
 men who tied these fellows up did a good job of 
 it. They will not drop until they decay, when the 
 wolves will take charge. 
 
 From the Texas border to Monterey one sees 
 nothing but sand, cactus plants and dust. Along 
 the route there are "specks" where once stood 
 villages, villages which passed away during some 
 stage of the revolution. The depots and homes are 
 destroyed. The people, who remained, are like ani- 
 mals. They live in the ruins or under the blue 
 sky, day and night. They are clothed in garments 
 which after hard wear would have been discarded 
 five years ago by almost any one else. Many 
 children run with only a rag round their waists. 
 The women and men alike are barefooted, or, per- 
 haps to protect tender feet, some still have the 
 sole of a shoe which is tied to each foot with 
 strings. Almost all live by selling food to the 
 travellers who must go this way to Monterey and 
 Mexico City. Eggs, cheese, pancakes, water, milk, 
 coffee, beans — the national dish — and whatnot, 
 are peddled at so many centavos apiece. Here is 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 31 
 
 poverty without misery. These people are happy 
 and contented. They have never seen any other 
 living. They have no schools. There are no 
 churches. Civilisation to them is a railroad train. 
 Business is a railroad train. Life is but the hours 
 between trains. 
 
 As I stood on the siding at Queretaro one day 
 gazing at this awful aspect of life, a young Mexi- 
 can, who had been educated in the United States, 
 remarked to me : 
 
 *^You know, if these people could go to the 
 states for a few years they would come back dif- 
 ferent people. They don't know any better. They 
 have had no opportunity." 
 
 While the engine was taking water at Quere- 
 taro and I sauntered about the train I met an old 
 American railroader who had been working on 
 Mexican railways twenty years. Four thousand 
 dollars, his life savings, which he had invested in 
 a hotel in a town near there, disappeared one 
 night in a fire when the bandits came to burn and 
 plunder. 
 
 "These bandits," said he, *'will never stop until 
 there is food enough for all the people. There 
 would be no bandits if there was work for the men" 
 and food for their families. You know what the 
 Mexicans say around here. Oh, I know them and 
 they don't know I'm an American or my life 
 would not be worth that" — and he snapped his 
 fingers. ' ' But I make good money and I travel up 
 and down these lines. You know these people say 
 
S2 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 that all the food in Mexico has to be sent to the 
 United States to feed the soldiers and that if the 
 United States had not gone to war there would be 
 plenty of food in Mexico. ' ' 
 
 While we were standing in the sun's rays, an 
 old crippled woman with her blind daughter eame 
 up begging for money. 
 
 *' Don't give that old hag anything," said my 
 companion. "You know, she gouged the eyes out 
 of that kid so she could get more money begging. 
 Yes, sir. That's what she did. Blinded that little 
 girl of hers." 
 
 Then cursing in Spanish he kicked the sand with 
 his foot and forced her to wabble away. I mar- 
 velled at the flood of his words. It must require 
 twenty years' residence to be able to curse in 
 Spanish and do it properly. I had had a book 
 called ''Spanish in a Week" for more than a 
 month and about all I could do was to buy a cigar 
 and order eggs and bacon. 
 
 After fifty-six hours of travel and delay, the 
 Honeymoon Special reached Mexico City. 
 
 The city to-day is surprisingly peaceful and 
 busy. Hundreds of automobiles and carriages 
 race through the streets — there appear to be no 
 speed laws in force and Mexicans drive their cars 
 with the same enthusiasm that a child plays with a 
 new toy. The avenues Cinco de Mayo (the Fifth 
 of May), Francisco I. Madero and Avenida 
 Juarez are as busy as Broadway or State Street, 
 though the people look more like those along the 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE S3 
 
 Bowery and ETalsted Street. Poor and peon, mid- 
 dle class and foreigner, rub elbows on the side- 
 walks as newsboys run through the streets with 
 extras. 
 
 But what incongruous sights one sees ! I rode 
 out the Paseo de la Ref orma, the Riverside Drive 
 of Mexico City, to see the palatial homes of the 
 Cientifioos, those great houses where the old fol- 
 lowers of Diaz lived like monarchs. In the park- 
 ways along the sides of the street nurse girls were 
 wheeling the babies of the wealthy. On this thor- 
 oughfare there were no signs of poverty, although 
 the street pavement itself was a motly compound 
 of holes and pavement and the carriage bumped 
 and jostled from curb to curb. A little later I 
 walked up Avenida Juarez where beggars seem to 
 crawl out of every doorway. Not far from the 
 Spanish Embassy, a big palatial structure, I 
 paused at the barracks of the second infantry 
 regiment to listen to the band and to watch the 
 soldiers saunter here and there with nothing to 
 do but "kill time," smoke cigarettes and talk to 
 their wives and children who are as numerous as 
 the soldiers themselves. On the curb, in front, sat 
 a big, fat Mexican woman smoking a brown cig- 
 arette. A baby, just able to walk, stood in the 
 street before her, sucking at its mother's breast 
 and punching it with its bony fists in an effort to 
 extract the morning breakfast. A soldier handed 
 the woman a cake. She tied this in a soiled hand- 
 kerchief where she carried her money and other 
 
S4t MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 valuables and contimied to puff at the cigarette. 
 
 In front of the National Palace two companies 
 of soldiers in impossible field uniforms, some bare- 
 footed, and all dirty, paraded behind a military 
 band. 
 
 People crowd into the shops. There is so much 
 business shop-keepers are as independent as an 
 American firm without competition. On the side 
 streets some policemen or boy-scouts are drilling 
 and receiving instructions from officers. 
 
 Aside from the newspapers and the posters in 
 the windows one would not suspect that there is a 
 war in Europe. 
 
 From the shop windows one learns that there is 
 a great war in progress, and one learns it from 
 the Germans. In many windows are large maps 
 of Europe showing Germany and the Central 
 Powers in red and the Allies in black. The neu- 
 trals are "yellow." The map is labelled: ''The 
 Defensive War of the Central Powers." It is a 
 clever bit of German propaganda. Although only 
 about two out of every ten Mexicans can read and 
 write, all can understand pictures. This map, 
 even without a heading, tells a story which the 
 Mexicans can comprehend. 
 
 Another cartoon pictures a bull fight. All bulls 
 representing the Allies are defeated and the Ger- 
 man bull defiantly gazes at Uncle Sam, who is 
 standing at the edge of the ring. A man repre- 
 senting Mexico is standing beside Uncle Sam and 
 urging him not to get into the ring. 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 35 
 
 In several jewelry shops I saw placards, or 
 what were supposed to be photographs of ''wild 
 men from Australia," and the label underneath 
 said: ''These wild men of Australia are fighting 
 for England for the civilisation of Europe. ' ' 
 
 There are more Japanese shops in Mexico City 
 than I had expected to find. Although there are 
 three or four in the business district, the big ma- 
 jority are in the suburbs. In offices throughout 
 the city one sees hundreds of Japanese posters, 
 advertising Nipponese goods. In the only foun- 
 dry in Mexico City which is making war munitions 
 is a big, modern Japanese factory, recently im- 
 ported from Japan. When the present govern- 
 ment found it impossible to obtain war supplies 
 from the United States, a Japanese commission 
 was invited to Mexico and this plant was erected 
 by the Far Easterners. The large wireless tower 
 near Chapultepec Park I saw being repaired. A 
 Mexican officer told me when it was finished it 
 would be powerful enough to communicate with 
 Japan. Although American observers have heard 
 this, they consider it improbable. 
 
 Six months before I arrived in Mexico the pres- 
 ent government was exceedingly suspicious of 
 Americans and especially of the United States 
 Government. When an American during my stay 
 there called upon a high government official and 
 discussed the question of a loan this official re- 
 marked : 
 
 "The American people and the Mexican peo- 
 
36 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 pie are all right, but the governments are all 
 crooked." 
 
 To a great extent Ambassador Fletcher, who 
 speaks Spanish and knows the characteristics of 
 Latin peoples, has been able to re-establish confi- 
 dence in many circles, but his task is by no means 
 completed. There is a strong anti-American 
 sentiment in Mexico which is being augmented by 
 the pro-German propaganda. One morning I was 
 told in several places that the Allies were about 
 to be defeated and that Eussia was to join with 
 Austria-Hungary and Japan against England, 
 France and the United States. Every time I 
 passed the big German book store in Mexico City, 
 where German photographs and maps are dis- 
 played, the sidewalks were crowded with people. 
 In one window hung the same map of Europe 
 which one sees in many shop windows in Berlin 
 — a gigantic chart showing the position of the 
 armies of Germany in the occupied territories, 
 a ''proof" that Germany is winning the war. 
 
 The lack of confidence in the ability of the Allies 
 to defeat Germany and old suspicion of the United 
 States are the two things which hamper the lead- 
 ing Mexicans who are working for a closer rela- 
 tionship between Mexico and the Powers fighting 
 Central Europe. Most intellectual Mexicans, as 
 well as many government officials, realise that the 
 best interests of Mexico are with those of the 
 United States, France and England, but the preju- 
 dice of the people is difficult to overcome. 
 
3)mbd)e§ritttnpon!Rextb 
 
 ^special 
 
 EDITQRES' mOlLERHNOS. 
 
 I Director: GnriquePirezValeni 
 
 Preclo de este Nu 
 
 .TBRBRIA ALEMANA 
 
 30= 
 
 CJEINT-A.-VOS*. 
 
 Mexico, 15 deagosto de 1917 |[ 
 
 :OVER FOR THE GERMAN NEWSPAPER OF MEXICO 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 37 
 
 The question of what attitude Mexico should 
 ultimately take regarding the world war is very 
 closely connected with the Mexican puzzle to-day. 
 This problem is : 
 
 "How can Mexico obtain money*?" 
 
 The first conclusion which the American experts 
 reached after two months' examination of the 
 Mexican records was that the nation was bank- 
 rupt. One of the officials began the dictation of a 
 report beginning with a statement to that effect. 
 Then when he tried to establish his conclusion by 
 facts, the facts failed him. So he finally concluded 
 that if the government is reorganised along scien- 
 tific business lines it will be able to weather the 
 present storm without financial aid from a for- 
 eign country. In coming to this conclusion, how- 
 ever, this authority was compelled to disregard 
 the foreign debt and foreign obligations of the 
 Mexican Government. 
 
 The records of the present government show 
 that President Carranza has asked Congress to 
 authorize three loans. The first, amounting to 
 150,000,000 pesos, is to be used to pay debts. The 
 second loan which Mr. Carranza seeks amounts to 
 50,000,000 pesos to be used to rebuild and recon- 
 struct the railroads. The third loan, for which 
 the authority of the National Congress is asked, 
 is for 100,000,000 pesos to establish a "bank of 
 issue." 
 
 Something of the financial crisis facing Mexico 
 may be gathered from these brief figures : 
 
38 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 In May, 1916, tlie estimated revenue of the Con- 
 stitutionalist Government was four million pesos, 
 about two million dollars a month. Fourteen 
 months later the estimated revenue was 107,- 
 000,000 pesos annually, but the budget called for 
 an expenditure of 80,000,000 pesos more than the 
 income. The Carranza Government is operating 
 on a cash basis now and is spending more than 
 it is making, although government officials are 
 being paid only seventy-five per cent of their sal- 
 aries in cash. This deficit does not take into con- 
 sideration any of the foreign obligations. 
 
 It is the contention of the American experts and 
 of certain government officials that through gov- 
 ernmental economies this deficit can be cut down 
 so that it will not be * ' dangerous ' ' and new bonds 
 can be issued to replace bonds held in foreign 
 countries. 
 
 The other view of the financial situation, which 
 I found the predominant one, is that the present 
 government cannot continue without the aid of 
 foreign capital. This would seem to be the belief 
 of President Carranza, too, inasmuch as he asked 
 the federal Congress for authority to raise 300,- 
 000,000 pesos, that is, $150,000,000. 
 
 On July 7th, 1917, El Universal printed the fol- 
 lowing message which President Carranza sent to 
 the Chamber of Deputies : 
 
 *'To the Secretaries of the Chamber of Depu- 
 ties : for its Constitutional effect : I beg to send 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 39 
 
 you with this message a bill authorising the Ex- 
 ecutive to procure in Mexico, or outside, up to 
 100,000,000 pesos, gold, to found the sole hank of 
 issue authorised by the political constitution of 
 the Eepublio promulgated in Queretaro February 
 5th, 1917. 
 
 ** Surely the Deputies will be persuaded that 
 one of the principal causes why agricultural, in- 
 dustrial and commercial development of the coun- 
 try have not proceeded with the quickness with 
 which the re-establishment of order might lead 
 one to suppose, is the almost complete disappear- 
 ance of credit, and the insufficiency of circulat- 
 ing medium which makes difficult the reasonable 
 operation of the economic activities of the Na- 
 tion. 
 
 ''It is for this reason that the Executive be- 
 lieves it of imperious necessity to proceed imme- 
 diately to organise the sole bank of issue provided 
 in the political constitution of the Eepublic. 
 
 "the BANKIISTG SYSTEM 
 
 ''The banking systems established by govern- 
 ments in the past, although in a way, long ago, 
 they fulfilled the necessities of the moment, were 
 established on a basis of absolute privilege in fa- 
 vour of capitalists without compensation for na- 
 tional interests and without foresight. The issues 
 of the banks never had reasonable and adequate 
 guarantees; some of them enjoyed express privi- 
 
40 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 leges in regard to the amount of their issue; all 
 enjoyed the unjust privilege of exemption from 
 taxes and the odious power to apply special primi- 
 tive laws for their own benefit. The concessions 
 for the establishment of banks of issue were 
 granted without providing a logical and proper 
 co-operation between them, but giving rise to an 
 unreasonable competition ruinous for themselves 
 and for the Eepublic. The intervention which the 
 Government used to express in institutions of 
 credit never was more than merely nominal, and 
 among many other cases can be cited this: The 
 banks of issue figured their own shares of stock 
 among the securities that could be realised upon. 
 As a consequence of their unreasonable manage- 
 ment and of their bad organisation, the complete 
 failure of the old system of institutions of credit 
 could be foreseen when the international crisis 
 began in 1913. In effect the first manifestations 
 of revolution actually were enough to cause the 
 banks to ask the government of the usurper for 
 the privilege to suspend payments which was con- 
 ceded to them, in exchange for the privilege the 
 banks of issue made a. large loan to the usurper. 
 
 *'the economic situation op the country 
 
 "When the economic situation of the country 
 became grave and before the Constitutionalist 
 Government made any decrees at all on institu- 
 tions of credit, the situation was getting more 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 41 
 
 difficult every day until these institutions ceased 
 to properly operate and soon became merely spec- 
 ulators in the paper money issued by the Revolu- 
 tionary Government. At the time the bills had 
 already suffered considerable depreciation which 
 fluctuated between 60 and 90 per cent of discount 
 on nominal value. 
 
 ''When the duties of the campaign permitted 
 the Government of the Revolution to fix its at- 
 tention on the financial organisation of the Repub- 
 lic a preliminary decree was issued fixing a period 
 within which the banks of issue must regulate 
 their fiduciary circulation in accordance with the 
 general principles of the law of institutions of 
 credit. As this decree was issued in Vera Cruz, 
 where the necessary estimates for knowing the 
 economic situation of each one of the banks in 
 detail was lacking, it was believed at the begin- 
 ning that many of them would be in condition to 
 continue their operations on complying with the 
 general banking law. 
 
 ''When the Department of Finance came into 
 |)ossession of the balance sheets of the majority 
 of the banks of issue it was seen that although 
 their reserves were in conformity with laws in 
 question in relation to their fiduciary circulation, 
 the banks were not in condition to continue opera- 
 tion because a great part of their assets which 
 went into large nominal figures in fact represented 
 an insignificant real value. 
 
 "As, on the other hand, the majority of the 
 
42 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 banks of issue had assumed an attitude of open 
 hostility against the Government of the Eevolu- 
 tion contributing to the depreciation of the gov- 
 ernment paper money and were conducting them- 
 selves in a manner against public interests 
 through speculations outside of their sphere of 
 action, the First Chief believed proper to make 
 more radical decrees to put an end at once to the 
 defective banking systems then expiring and to 
 leave the field open to a better organisation. 
 
 * ' Therefore on the 15th of September last year 
 a decree was issued repealing all laws in force 
 until that date on institutions of credit and put- 
 ting the banks of issue under the direction of 
 Boards of Eeoeivers which have been operating 
 them up to date. 
 
 "the sole bank of issue 
 
 ' * The Constituent Congress which met in Quere- 
 taro was perfectly aware of the need of substitut- 
 ing the defective banking system by another more 
 reasonable and in consonance with the economic 
 needs of the nation ; with the result that the new 
 Magna Charta provided for the establishment of 
 a sole bank of issue. 
 
 ''The Department of Finance has been studying 
 since then the bill which in due time the Execu- 
 tive will submit to Congress on the organisation 
 of the sole bank of issue ; but as arrangements to 
 obtain new capital must consume much time, the 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 43 
 
 Executive believes it proper to use the time to 
 delay as little as may be the organisation of the 
 new institution of credit. 
 
 "Elemental prudence dictates that the new bank 
 of issue should begin its operation on perfectly 
 safe bases because it is the only manner in which 
 confidence and credit may return in healthy and 
 vigorous form to renew the economic life of the 
 Eepublic. 
 
 "If the Executive under my charge does not 
 immediately send to Congress concrete bases to 
 obtain the initial capital of the new bank, but asks 
 authorisation to negotiate with capitalists, it is 
 due to the fact that in the present financial con- 
 dition throughout the world, it is not easy to fore- 
 see the difficulties the Government may encounter 
 to induce capitalists to make an investment which, 
 although safe, will probably meet with a barrier 
 of prejudice and lack of confidence. 
 
 "definite plan of okganisation 
 
 "It is therefore necessary for the Executive to 
 determine in advance the possibility of obtaining 
 necessary funds for its establishment before sub- 
 mitting to the Congress a definite plan for the 
 organisation of the new bank. To carry the tem- 
 porary arrangements through the Executive needs 
 
U MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 complete liberty of action, for even the determina- 
 tion of the opinion of capitalists and preliminary 
 arrangements may cause the early organising of 
 the new institution of credit to be changed. In 
 any case, the Executive will have the honour to 
 submit to the consideration of Congress before 
 carrying into effect the arrangements made with 
 capitalists together with the general law which 
 fixes the bases for the bank of issue. Mexico, 
 July 6th, 1917." 
 
 Commenting upon this message El Universal 
 said, editorially: 
 
 ' ' This was the only newspaper which upheld the 
 urgent propriety of creating a large stock of cir- 
 culating money for business and the commercial 
 and agricultural development of the country. 
 The foregoing message confirms the labour of El 
 Universal, in all its parts. Furthermore, and 
 this is the opportune time to say so, the sum asked 
 for by the government appears small to us, for 
 we believe it very difficult to obtain any money 
 from foreign countries without the previous pay- 
 ment of the coupons of our debt, and if this were 
 necessary, the amount destined for the sole bank 
 of issue would come out much less, and we believe 
 that if any foreign loan must be agreed upon, we 
 should strive resolutely to procure up to the sum 
 necessary to improve our credit in foreign coun- 
 tries and to solve economic difficulties in the in- 
 terior. ' * 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 45 
 
 In case the Mexican Congress authorises Mr. 
 Carranza to raise this amount there are but two 
 sources from which it might come. Either Ameri- 
 can bankers will take the bonds and sell them or 
 the United States Government will loan money to 
 the southern neighbour. 
 
 New York bankers will not loan money to Mex- 
 ico as long as conditions are unsettled and as long 
 as there is danger to American property and 
 American citizens in Mexico. These bankers will 
 not subscribe to a loan as long as they hold old 
 Mexican bonds which have had no interest paid 
 on them in six years and which are selling for 
 fifteen dollars each in the United States to-day. 
 This has been candidly explained to the Mexic-an 
 authorities. 
 
 On the other hand, the United States Govern- 
 ment cannot loan money to Mexico because this is 
 forbidden by the constitution unless Congress 
 passes a special act, and it is certain that neither 
 the administration will recommend such a loan, 
 nor that Congress would pass such an act. By 
 the terms of the act which enables the United 
 States to loan money to foreign governments dur- 
 ing the war it is particularly stipulated that funds 
 can be loaned only to Allies. This, too, has been 
 explained to the Mexican Government. 
 
 The easiest way and perhaps the most success- 
 ful way out of the present financial difficulties in 
 Mexico would be for that country to break off 
 diplomatic relations with Germany and join the 
 
46 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 international league of nations, which will follow 
 this war, to establish the peace of the world. 
 
 Should the Carranza Government fall there are 
 on the horizon to-day no leaders, nor is there a 
 group of men, who could take hold and do as well 
 as the Carranza Government is doing. There are 
 rebel leaders in various parts of the country from 
 Villa in the north to Zapata in the mountains near 
 Mexico City and General Pelaez in the oilfields 
 outside of Tampico. Once this government falls, 
 terror will reign again in all parts of the country, 
 and as the United States and the Allies are almost 
 wholly dependent upon Mexico for oil and various 
 minerals, a state of anarchy in Mexico which 
 would interfere with the Allies' supply of these 
 valuable war necessities could not be permitted. 
 If the revolution should break out again the only 
 solution would be American intervention, which 
 would be not only costly to us but would divert to 
 a certain degree the energy of the United States 
 which it is so necessary to concentrate upon the 
 war in Europe. 
 
 No one knows this better than the Germans in 
 Mexico, and although they are "playing" the 
 present government they are also preparing for 
 the time when there may be trouble in Mexico 
 injurious to the United States. At present they 
 want to keep Mexico neutral. 
 
 The Carranza Government has been told offi- 
 cially that so far as the United States Government 
 is concerned it is not in America's interest for 
 
THE MEXICAN PUZZLE 47 
 
 Mexico to declare herself an Ally, but entirely in 
 the interests of Mexico. Whether President Car- 
 ranza and his government will realise this, and 
 whether, even if they do, they will be able to carry 
 through a break with Berlin, are unanswerable 
 questions. One must await developments. 
 
 * ' Will Mexico be a friend or a foe of the United 
 States?" That is to-day an insoluble puzzle. 
 
 Note: In Appendix A will be found the bills presented to the 
 Chamber of Deputies regarding the remedies for the financial 
 crisis as they were printed in El Universal. 
 
CHAPTER in 
 
 BEBELS AND EEVOLUTIONS 
 
 NEEDLE your way through the crowded 
 streets of Mexico City or motor to the sub- 
 urbs and you will rub sleeves, exchange 
 glances with, or pass along the road, rebels, ex- 
 rebels and honest soldiers. Saunter or drive 
 about the capital and you will see, face to face, 
 the individuals who present the biggest problem 
 of reconstruction in Mexico. You will encounter 
 a sufficient number of the army of 114,000 to con- 
 vince you that even if the payrolls are padded 
 there are large groups of men actually drawing 
 salaries. 
 
 In mid-August, 1917, a cousin of General Za- 
 pata, the bandit chief of the state of Morelos 
 where the sugar plantations are, surrendered with 
 "two thousand men" to the national government. 
 Those who wished to join the army of the Ee- 
 public were permitted to do so. The week before 
 these men were bandits. Within seven days they 
 became soldiers. 
 
 Not all of the peons who join the national army 
 are patriotic, a fact which causes considerable 
 trouble in the country districts. Sometimes, after 
 
 48 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 49 
 
 the ex-rebels have been with the government 
 forces long enough to get new rifles and several 
 rounds of ammunition, they trek to the mountains 
 to be welcomed by their old chief with a hand- 
 shake and an enthusiastic hug, the customary cor- 
 dial greeting between Mexican friends. 
 
 One day while I was in Mexico City several 
 officials of the British Embassy were motoring 
 through one of the suburbs. Approaching a gar- 
 rison they saw a soldier, sitting on the curb, smok- 
 ing a cigarette. As they passed he shouted: 
 *'Stop," and other words which were so mumbled 
 they could not be understood. 
 
 The automobile, which had passed the man, 
 backed to within a few feet of him and the chauf- 
 feur asked what was wanted. Instead of answer- 
 ing, the soldier, who was evidently intoxicated, 
 continued to puff, and gazed at the foreigners. 
 After waiting several minutes and receiving no 
 explanation the automobile advanced. Immedi- 
 ately the soldier jumped up, recovered his bal- 
 ance, and started towards the barracks for his 
 rifle. The Englishmen huddled into their seats, 
 the chauffeur added gasoline, and before the rebel 
 could fire the party was several hundred yards 
 away. 
 
 There being no other route to the city the for- 
 eigners had to return the same way three hours 
 later. Reaching the garrison they saw both sides 
 of the highway lined by a company of soldiers. 
 A captain, standing in the middle of the road, held 
 
50 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 up his hand. The car stopped and the soldiers 
 stood at attention. 
 
 *'Is this the automobile which was ordered to 
 stop a few hours ago while passing here?" the 
 officer asked. 
 
 The British officials expected a summary ex- 
 ecution, but, having experienced excitement be- 
 fore, decided to preserve their calm. 
 
 ''Yes, Senor Captain," replied an Englishman, 
 *'we were ordered to stop and we did. ..." 
 
 His explanation was interrupted. 
 
 ''All right, Senor," politely answered the offi- 
 cer. "I wish to inform you that discipline has 
 been maintained. You may go, gentlemen." 
 
 Soldiers still at attention, the automobile de- 
 parted, but the foreigners could not understand 
 whether they or the soldier had been disciplined. 
 Inquiries the next day disclosed that the soldier 
 had been shot for giving an order without orders 
 from an officer. Discipline was maintained by 
 execution. 
 
 It is not always the soldiers, however, who are 
 to be blamed. I met the manager of a large Amer- 
 ican corporation who, for two years, had been 
 paying tribute to six generals. Their price for 
 "protecting" his property had been between three 
 thousand and seven thousand pesos, at intervals 
 determined by officers. Automobiles were then 
 being shipped into Mexico City by the dozens and 
 the generals asked this manager for six autos. 
 This manager telegraphed to Detroit for the cars 
 
 a 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 51 
 
 and expected to be able to pay the graft within a 
 very short time. A new use, indeed, for motor- 
 cars, but the manager and the company were satis- 
 fied because the cars cost, delivered in Mexico 
 City, about one-fourth of the amount of the 
 ''protection" formerly rendered. 
 
 Friends of President Carranza will candidly 
 admit that the First Chief, when he was fighting 
 for recognition and authority, had to accept the 
 services of many undesirable men, both officers 
 and soldiers. Mr. Carranza and his intimate ad- 
 visors know that there are rebels and grafters in 
 office to-day. They realise that these men cannot 
 be ousted immediately and without cause. If the 
 present government were to expell from the army, 
 or imprison every officer and soldier who to-day 
 is not following orders, the government would be 
 overthrown even if the penitentiaries could hold 
 all the guilty. For this reason Mr. Carranza is 
 working slowly and quietly to eliminate these men 
 from his councils and from responsible positions. 
 Whether he will succeed is a puzzle the key to 
 which has not been found. There are Mexicans 
 and foreigners who will tell you that the Carranza 
 Government is as certain to fall as the buildings in 
 Mexico City are certain to sink; and this latter 
 fact no one doubts, as even the National Theatre, 
 the so-called "White Elephant" because its mar- 
 ble walls are uncompleted, is gradually sinking in 
 the mire upon which the capital is built. Others 
 will inform you that this government is gaining 
 
52 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 strength every day and that if it receives financial 
 assistance nothing will be able to wreck it. Bnt 
 all, pessimists and optimists alike, agree that the 
 greatest problems facing the government to-day, 
 excepting the financial, are the problem of re- 
 construction and the existence of the rebels. 
 
 Finance is, of course, the greatest problem, and 
 it is the more puzzling because the problems of 
 financing a nation like Mexico are not similar to 
 the problems of financing more civilised and en- 
 lightened countries. Selfishness and ignorance 
 play an even greater role in Mexico than pork- 
 barrel politics play in Washington! 
 
 One day I recall when the Chamber of Deputies 
 was in session a member called the attention of 
 the presiding officer to the lack of a quorum. 
 Those who have seen how well the U. S. House of 
 Eepresentatives is attended during most of the 
 debates will understand such a situation. 
 
 The President of the Deputies summoned the 
 Sergeant-at-Arms and ordered him to send the 
 members to their seats. Meanwhile the proceed- 
 ings waited the arrival of the deputies. After a 
 long interval the Sergeant returned, reporting 
 that he was unable to procure a quorum. 
 
 ''Where are the members?" inquired the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 ''They are at the Cashier's window awaiting 
 their pay," answered the officer. 
 
 ' ' Summon the cashier, ' ' ordered the President, 
 and when the latter reached the rostrum he was 
 
THIS WAS AT ONE TIME A BEAUTIFUL RESIDENCE. 
 THIS IS THE REVOLUTIONARY REMAINS 
 
 THE FAMOUS SADDLE MOUNTAIN OF MONTEREY 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 53 
 
 told to close the pay window and not to open it 
 again during sessions of the Deputies. 
 
 And a quorum was soon present. 
 
 That incident illustrates one aspect of the 
 money problem in Mexico. An incident illustrat- 
 ing another aspect came to my attention during a 
 conference with a Canadian electrical engineer. 
 The company he represented desired to erect poles 
 to carry their feed wires from a plant near the 
 capital to another city. The line, as mapped, was 
 to cross a large plantation owned by Indians. 
 The concession was worth between five thousand 
 and eight thousand pesos to the company. The 
 engineer went to see the Indian. He offered him 
 four thousand pesos. 
 
 *'No, no, Senor," protested the Indian. 
 
 ''Why not?" asked the foreigner. 
 
 *'No. No four thousand, Senor," said the 
 owner. 
 
 "Well, how much then? What da you want?" 
 questioned the Canadian. 
 
 "If Senor will fill my sombrero and my son's 
 sombrero with pesos, silver pesos, I will give you 
 the concession. 
 
 "But," protested the engineer, "four thousand 
 pesos are much more than two hats will hold." 
 
 "No, no, Senor, no. You must fill my som- 
 brero and my son's sombrero with pesos." 
 
 And the foreigner returned the next day with 
 enough pesos to fill the two hats so that the coins 
 rolled over the sides. The Indian was delighted. 
 
54 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 Two sombreros filled with pesos meant something 
 to him. Four thousand pesos, that sum was a 
 myth. 
 
 It is not the ignorance of the peons or the In- 
 dians, however, which makes the financial situa- 
 tion in Mexico difficult to solve. It is the igno- 
 rance of many officials and leaders regarding in- 
 ternational finance. So many Mexicans cannot 
 understand the relationship which should exist 
 between nations, although they have a clear idea 
 of money matters between individuals. 
 
 Discussing the problems of finance and recon- 
 struction with Mexican officials one is impressed 
 by the fact that so few of these can see the view- 
 point of the outside business man, the foreign 
 capitalist. Most Mexicans will say that because 
 of the rich natural resources of the country any 
 foreigner ought to be willing to loan money to 
 the government. The resources are here, many of 
 them still untouched, they will declare, and if for- 
 eign capital invests in Mexico, it should be pre- 
 pared to share prosperity or revolution with 
 Mexico. 
 
 The pacification of Mexico to-day presents in 
 many respects the same problem with which the 
 United States Government had to deal after the 
 Civil War. The Mexican bandits are, so to 
 say, the Ku-Klux Klan of this country. Generals 
 Villa and Zapata may be likened to the James 
 brothers. The difference is that in the United 
 States the bandits attacked American or national 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 55 
 
 property. In Mexico bandits destroy foreign 
 property. The most popular cry of the revolu- 
 tionists has been "Down with the foreigners who 
 exploited us." Thus our neighbour south of the 
 Eio Grande faces some of our problems of the 
 late Sixties with the added difficulty that when- 
 ever the highwaymen operate there it causes an 
 international as well as an internal crisis. 
 
 The operations of Villa in the North have agi- 
 tated not only foreign business interests, but the 
 American people. What Zapata has done dis- 
 turbs the Mexicans the most, although he, too, is 
 j opposed to foreigners. 
 
 ' The Carranza Government has sent several 
 military expeditions into Morelos in an attempt 
 to crush Zapata. As the soldiers marched through 
 the state in search of Zapata's army they met 
 only the most peaceful citizens. No one knew 
 I where Zapata was ! No one had seen his army ! 
 I Zapata was clever enough not to fight. He or- 
 I dered all his soldiers to bury their arms and 
 I plough their fields. When the Carranza forces 
 I left, the army appeared, and it was, and still is, 
 j unsafe for any one to go through the state. The 
 government has attempted to stop shipments of 
 ' ammunition to Zapata, but this has not been suc- 
 cessful, as officers and soldiers in the govern- 
 ment 's army have sold munitions to Zapata. Now 
 the government, suspicious of certain officers and 
 'men, is laying a trap for them, and if they are 
 caught they, too, will be ''disciplined." 
 
56 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 Anotlier demand of the revolutionists has been 
 for ''land." Even the present government sym- 
 pathises with this demand, and the first endeav- 
 ours of President Carranza to fulfil promises 
 made during his campaign are being made in the 
 little belligerent state of Morelos. It is, in point 
 of size, the smallest state in the Union. When 
 the Spaniards settled in this country they gave 
 to each town and city what was called the 
 "ejidos." This was the granting of one league of 
 land around the original town or city limits to 
 the inhabitants to be worked by the community. 
 During the development of Mexico this league of 
 land has been given to outsiders or to farmers 
 having property nearby. Many towns have lost 
 their ' ' ejidos. ' ' This is particularly true in More- 
 los, and the "good" citizens of this fighting state 
 want back this land. So the present government 
 is attempting a new means of pacification. It is 
 returning this property to the community. Simul- 
 taneously the government is announcing that all 
 political rivals, who swear allegiance to the gov- 
 ernment, will be pardoned. While this movement 
 is having all the success the government antici- 
 pated, its progress can only be very gradual be- 
 cause Zapata, like the Germans, is a propagan- 
 dist. He is telling his followers that if they sur- 
 render to Carranza they will be executed. He is 
 warning the farmers that if they desert him they 
 will be downtrodden by the Americans. And the 
 people of Morelos are suspicious of "outsiders." 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 57 
 
 This anti-American part of the propaganda is 
 very popular. Even the present government, ac- 
 cording to many Mexicans, is too friendly to the 
 United States. Most of the newspapers of Mex- 
 ico City, even those that are pro- Ally in their war 
 sympathies, have a grudge against the United 
 States. El Democrata, the chief organ of the 
 Germans, prints more articles of hate about the 
 United States than any other newspaper. Some 
 American journals are most effectively aiding the 
 Germans in Mexico by demanding armed inter- 
 vention. 
 
 j Redencion, another daily, seizes every oppor- 
 tunity to stir the slumbering Mexican against the 
 ''Yankees." On August 9th, 1917, it printed on 
 ithe first page a three column cartoon picturing a 
 nude woman, tied to a stake, representing the 
 revolution. The fire, kindled at her feet, repre- 
 jsented the ''enemy" of the revolution, and the 
 I fresh logs which had been placed on the flames 
 I were labelled: "Yankees," "United States," 
 "Friends of the Yankees," etc. Government offi- 
 cials who are friendly to the United States, such 
 as Senor Don Luis Cabrera, unofficially the Act- 
 ing Secretary of the Treasury, and Senor Don 
 Manuel Amaya, official introductor of Ambassa- 
 dors, are also "enemies." 
 
 El Democrata is one of the morning newspapers 
 which does not receive the Associated Press des- 
 patches. Its news, telegrams from the United 
 States and Europe, are sent to Mexico City from 
 
58 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 New York by the ' ' Spanish- American News Agen- 
 cy." These telegrams, which the United States 
 censor was permitting to pass while I was in 
 Mexico, were not only intensely pro-German, but 
 exceedingly anti- American. 
 
 Before the United States declared war the Ger- 
 man Embassy in Washington sent a daily telegram 
 to the German Minister in Mexico City, Herr von 
 Eckhart. This despatch contained the wireless 
 news circulated by the German Admiralty and 
 Foreign Office. When the United States declared 
 war the service ceased, and an organisation known 
 as the " Spanish- American News Agency," with 
 headquarters in New York, began to serve El Dem- 
 ocrata and several newspapers in South America. 
 
 Judging from the despatches I saw printed, 
 this concern succeeded the news service of the 
 German government, operating as a Mexican com- 
 pany. The '* Spanish- American News Agency" 
 was, and doubtless still is, doing more to cause 
 trouble between the United States and Mexico 
 than any other public agency in the Mexican Re- 
 public. 
 
 Another publicity prostitute is La Defensa, an 
 afternoon newspaper also controlled by German 
 interests. It announces daily some great catas- 
 trophe to the United States or the Allies. While 
 I was in the capital it proclaimed an American 
 revolution. It announced the sinking of several 
 American battleships and transports. It fore- | 
 casted American intervention and printed the | 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 59 
 
 most astounding *'news" about events in Wash- 
 ington. Some of this news had a basis in fact; 
 some had none at all. La Defensa receives most 
 of its telegrams from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. A 
 Mexican who lives in Laredo, Texas, crosses the 
 international bridge with copies of American 
 newspapers daily and from the Mexican telegraph 
 office he telegraphs his untruthful accounts to 
 Mexico City. He, too, is a trouble breeder, who 
 might, with advantage, be watched by the Depart- 
 ment of Justice. 
 
 Although several reports have been made to the 
 United States Government about the activities of 
 these newspapers, no steps have been taken to stop 
 such practices. German propaganda is a sort of 
 international dachshund which escapes the eyes of 
 the dog catchers by following neutral citizens as 
 soon as the Germans go into hiding. 
 
 The general opinion in Mexico City I found to 
 be that, as a group, the Germans are working very 
 i quietly. Many of these German citizens are re- 
 ilated to Americans and they correspond freely 
 iwith residents of the United States. They re- 
 jceive all of the American newspapers and mag- 
 azines and are able to keep almost as well in- 
 formed about events in the United States as the 
 German Embassy in Washington was before 
 |j;diplomatic relations were broken. While it is im- 
 !j possible to-day to send information to Berlin from 
 Mexico by wireless, the mail route via Cuba is 
 still open to Spain, and from that country the 
 
60 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 German representatives have the use of an nn- 
 censored wireless. 
 
 When in the summer of 1917 there were reports 
 that German agents in Mexico were plotting 
 against the United States President, Carranza 
 summoned the German Minister to inform him 
 that the government would not permit attacks on 
 a friendly government to be hatched on Mexican 
 soil. The Germans to-day are working quietly 
 with but one object. They believe that after the 
 war, when the real fight for raw materials and 
 commercial supremacy begins, the greatest possi- 
 bilities for Germany will be in Mexico. This | 
 country has many of the raw materials which 
 Germany will need, and the Germans figure that 
 it will be easier for German merchants to buy in 
 Mexico, if that country remains neutral, than in 
 any of the lands which were belligerents. For 
 this reason, alone, it is highly in the interests of 
 the Kaiser's Government that Mexico remain 
 friendly to Berlin. It is generally believed in 
 Mexico that one of the factors determining Presi- 
 dent Wilson's policy toward that country was the 
 attitude of Latin- America. The Carranza Govern- 
 ment was quick to recognise this, and now every- 
 thing possible is being done to fuse the bonds be- 
 tween Mexico and South and Central America. 
 Diplomats from the nations of South and Central 
 America who arrived in Mexico during my stay 
 were accorded the most enthusiastic receptions. 
 At that time the Republic of Argentine sent a new 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 61 
 
 envoy. When he arrived at Vera Cruz a delega- 
 tion of Mexican Ministers and officers were sent 
 to act as his escort to the capital. In the big 
 palace at the port the incoming diplomat was ten- 
 dered a banquet at which several speeches were 
 made about the value of Latin-American union. 
 To these cordial addresses the Argentinian re- 
 plied that his country, too, favoured such a union. 
 
 When the speaking had ended, a young general 
 (there are many generals under thirty in Mexico) 
 arose, and in a long, hesitating, after-dinner 
 speech, declared that he believed in the purposes 
 of such a union but considered the name an un- 
 fortunate one. 
 
 "I propose," said he, "that we call this union 
 a Latin-Mexican union and leave the America 
 out." 
 
 This general was one of the group of anti- 
 American army officers who are pro-German and 
 who carry around chips as shoulder straps. 
 
 One might imagine that a government with so 
 many internal problems to solve might be spared 
 international perplexities. Not so in Mexico. 
 Mexico's internal strife is the chief cause of her 
 international disputes. There are some radical 
 Mexicans who advocate the lynching of all for- 
 eigners. Others desire the confiscation of all 
 foreign property. This group of radicals was 
 influential enough at the Queretaro convention 
 held not long ago to insert confiscatory clauses 
 in the constitution. Some Mexicans will state 
 
62 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 that these provisions of the constitution will be 
 enforced some day, while others will remark: 
 
 ''Oh, but what is a constitution among 
 friends ? ' ' 
 
 Nevertheless the chief obstacle to reconstruc- 
 tion in Mexico to-day is the lack of confidence of 
 foreign investors in the stability and honesty of 
 the present government. As long as there are 
 rebels and grafting generals about the country, 
 and so long as the present government holds 
 property confiscated when the Constitutionalists 
 were a de facto government, foreigners will be 
 sceptical of Mexico. President Carranza and 
 his most trusted advisors know this but they are 
 still, to a certain degree, hampered by the radi- 
 cals, who know nothing and care less about inter- 
 national obligations. Where it is possible the 
 present government is returning confiscated 
 property, even that belonging to the old Cienti- 
 ficos, the so-called ''scientific grafters" of the 
 Diaz regime. 
 
 When the State Department sent Mr. George 
 A. Chamberlain to Mexico City to reopen the 
 United States Consulate-General, he selected a 
 house on Avenida Juarez which was built by Senor 
 Limantour, Secretary of the Treasury under 
 President Diaz. The house at the time was occu- 
 pied by General Urquizo under confiscation orders 
 of the government. Mr. Chamberlain told the 
 owners he wanted to rent the place on behalf of 
 the United States Government. General Urquizo 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 63 
 
 was ordered to evacuate. When he turned the 
 residence over to representatives of the Liman- 
 tour estate, who were to rent it to the Consul Gen- 
 eral, the palatial home itself was in as good con- 
 dition as it was when built, although all the ex- 
 pensive furnishings had disappeared. 
 
 While I was at the capital a forestry expert 
 who had been sent to Europe years ago by Diaz to 
 study the scientific care and planting of trees 
 and shrubs returned to Mexico City. President 
 Carranza sent for him and asked him to head the 
 Forestry Department of the present government. 
 
 These are instances which indicate a new pol- 
 icy on behalf of the Carranza Government. Gov- 
 ernment officials, including members of the Cham- 
 ber of Deputies, assured me that the government 
 intended to return all confiscated property as 
 soon as this became possible. 
 
 The Carranza Government is to-day operating 
 the tramways of Mexico City and all the national 
 railroads, even the English road from the capital 
 to Vera Cruz. 
 
 Several years ago there were many street car 
 systems in Mexico City, all in miserable condi- 
 tion. Belgian, English and French investors saw 
 the possibility of consolidating these lines and 
 the Mexican Tramways Company was organised. 
 The same investors to-day own the large power 
 plant located about one hundred miles from the 
 capital at Necaxa. In peace time this station 
 provided all the electric power and light for Mex- 
 
64 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 ico City, Pachuca, El Oro and other cities. The 
 Light and Power Company and the Tramways 
 Company are operated as distinct corporations. 
 
 Sometime in 1914 the Carranza forces *' inter- 
 vened" and took over the tramways without pay- 
 ing the investors interest or compensation. For 
 over two years the power company furnished the 
 electricity to run the cars free of charge. This 
 was confiscated property, pure and simple. 
 
 President Carranza saw that some day the 
 tramways would have to be returned to the own- 
 ers. He was informed that if they were returned 
 in their present condition the company might 
 claim millions of dollars worth of damages. So 
 the President ousted his former grafting "inter- 
 ventor" and appointed a young engineer, Senor 
 Francisco Cravioto, as director on behalf of the 
 government, responsible to Mr. Carranza alone. 
 Since Seiior Cravioto has been in ofSce he has 
 paid instalments on the electric power bills 
 amounting, up to midsummer 1917, to $40,000 a 
 month, and he has turned over a few hundred 
 thousand pesos to pay interest on the foreign 
 bonds out of many millions owing. Foreigners in 
 Mexico City to-day look forward to the time when 
 the tramways will be returned to the owners and 
 the old debts adjusted. 
 
 This is pointed out by the most optimistic for- 
 eigners as an example of what treatment foreign 
 business interests may expect from the Carranza 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 65 
 
 Government where the business men show a will- 
 ingness to co-operate. 
 
 The government is in need of financial assist- 
 ance. All problems of reconstruction virtually 
 rest upon the possibilities of this government re- 
 ceiving a loan. Granted a loan of $150,000,000 
 the most reliable foreigners in the capital believe 
 that Mexico will experience more prosperity than 
 it did under the Diaz regime. To-day the gov- 
 ernment is minting gold and silver as fast as 
 possible and all the banks in the Republic are 
 ''granting" so-called "forced loans" of gold and 
 silver which they have on deposit. 
 
 These, then, are some of the problems of recon- 
 struction in Mexico. The nation is passing 
 through a trying, tempting transition period. 
 Government officials have had practically no ex- 
 perience directing big business enterprises or in 
 administrating government affairs. Every ele- 
 ment which has in the past contributed to failure 
 is present in Mexico to-day and very few of the 
 requirements of success are to be found. There 
 are hatred, jealousy, suspicion, graft, intrigue and 
 the baneful influence of "relatives" who have 
 been appointed to office. Patriotism, sincerity, 
 good-will, faith, honesty and confidence are lack- 
 ing. But despite all these national elements the 
 Carranza party is the strongest one in Mexico, 
 and there are, I repeat, on the horizon no other 
 parties or leaders who could summon the support 
 which is being given to President Carranza. 
 
66 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 As I have just said, tlie government has been 
 seeking the friendship of the nations of Latin and 
 Central America. But the ''unkindest cut of all" 
 came from one of these nations. 
 
 In the United States it is understood that the 
 revolution was started against Diaz, the ''Dicta- 
 tor, ' ' and many people in Mexico will tell you that 
 the greatest benefit of the revolution was the over- 
 throw of the "Don Porfirio." But there are, per- 
 haps, some places where this is not understood, or 
 if it is, then Uruguay has a delightful sense of 
 humour. 
 
 One of the things the present government has 
 done has been to change the names of all streets in 
 the capital named after saints. Avenue San Fran- 
 cisco, the famous business thoroughfare, is called 
 "Francisco I. Madero." To carry out the gov- 
 ernment policy of winning the Latin countries 
 "Calle San Agustin" was changed to "Calle Uru- 
 guay" and the Uruguay Government was officially 
 notified that a street in the capital had been named 
 after that country. 
 
 In the course of diplomatic time, which is meas- 
 ured neither in hours or days except when ulti- 
 matums are sent, Uruguay replied that it was 
 highly honoured by the act of the Mexican Govern- 
 ment and had decided to change the name of one 
 of the streets in their capital to the "Avenue of 
 Porfirio Diaz ' ' in honour to the great Kepublic of 
 Mexico ! 
 
 Although this method of honouring foreign 
 
REBELS AND REVOLUTIONS 67 
 
 countries is frequently exhibited in the telephone 
 books, I was not able to find any streets named 
 for the United States. I passed, on several occa- 
 sions however, a bronze statue of George Wash- 
 ington, two blocks from the American Embassy on 
 the Plaza de Dinamarca, where the First President 
 of the United States stands with his right hand 
 extended and his left holding his three-cornered 
 hat. But the bronze table which tells who this hero 
 is has been removed and George Washington to 
 a passer-by might be any one of a number of local 
 or international heroes. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 GERMANY ^S ALLY AT TAMPICO* 
 
 AMERICAN warships are stationed at Tam- 
 pico to-day to watch Germany's ally in Mex- 
 ico. From time to time one of them lifts 
 anchor, steams out of the Panuco River and pa- 
 trols the Gulf Coast. Suspicious ships are exam- 
 ined, wireless messages are picked up, and night 
 and day the trained eyes of the lookouts search 
 the seas for hostile periscopes. When one returns 
 the other slips away under cover of darkness to a 
 secret destination. 
 
 From the Government wireless tower at Arling- 
 ton, Virginia, the Navy Department directs the 
 movement of these ships as it plans Uncle Sam's 
 moves on the great international oceanic chess- 
 board. Eternal vigilance is the price of peace at 
 Tampico, the greatest oil port in the world. From 
 the jungle sixty miles away flows the endless 
 stream that propels and lubricates the Allied mili- 
 tary machine; for the weapons with which the 
 United States, England and France are fighting 
 
 * A friend in Mexico City wrote the author that the article 
 in the Saturday Evening Post which is a part of this chapter 
 was not permitted to be circulated in the Kepublic. 
 
 68 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 69 
 
 the dictators of the Central Powers in European 
 waters, on land and in the air, are dependent upon 
 Tampico for fuel oil, gasoline and lubrication. 
 
 Because Germany's ally, the I. W. W., operates 
 in Tampico our battleships cruise in Mexican ter- 
 ritorial waters to protect this oil basin without 
 which the war cannot be won. 
 
 A few months before I arrived in Mexico agents 
 of the Industrial Work e rs of the World organised 
 a strike along the docks in an attempt to tie up 
 all shipping at the port of Tampico. Money was 
 sent from New York by German agents to Tam- 
 pico to be used against the oil companies and the 
 Allies. A special messenger carrying fourteen 
 thousand dollars was spotted as he landed. At 
 that time the quick intervention of United States 
 naval officers and the co-operation of the man- 
 agers of the oil companies and the Mexican au- 
 thorities aborted the German plot. The strike 
 failed and the I. W. W. leaders were temporarily 
 discredited ; but to-day the same plotters, inspired 
 by the same foreigners and financed by the same 
 interests, are working through the Labourers' 
 Union and the Union of Port Mechanics — the L W. 
 W. in sheep's clothing. I found them preparing 
 the workers for another lockout by urging the men 
 to strike for higher wages, though the wages being 
 paid were the highest in the world for this kind 
 of labour. The I. W. W. propaganda is as lawless 
 as the German agitation in Eussia. but always one 
 
70 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 American mau-of-war has its eyes on tlie city. 
 The captain in command, the United States consul 
 and the representatives of the American and 
 British oil companies are watching, working and 
 waiting. 
 
 The German-paid Industrial Workers take ad- 
 vantage of every event to incite the labourers, the 
 poor peon puppets of the ruthless leaders. They 
 are paid and inspired by German influences, as 
 even Herr Mueller, the Austrian consul, acknowl- 
 edged. When the governor of Arizona, for ex- 
 ample, shipped several hundred disloyal miners 
 out of his state the following appeal was printed 
 and scattered through the streets like dirty snow ; 
 
 WOEKEKS AND ENEMIES 
 
 The Union of Port Mechanics having knowledge 
 that 2,000 striking mine workers of Bisbee, Ari- 
 zona, U. S. A., have been deported to the Her- 
 manas Desert, New Mexico, being thus compelled 
 by force of rifles and machine guns to desert their 
 families, who remain there by the lawless work of 
 the enemies of the working class in the most 
 frightful misery and sutfering the greatest pri- 
 vations : 
 
 For this reason this Union, in a spirit of human- 
 itarianism and companionship, PROTESTS and 
 CUESES this action accomplished by the steel 
 kings, and publishes its discontent publicly against 
 all who act arbitrarily, restricting the right of 
 
THE U. S. WARSHIPS AT ANCHOR IN TAMPICO HARBOR. 
 THEY GUARANTEE THE OIL SUPPLY FOR THE 
 UNITED STATES AND ENGLAND 
 
 AN OIL GUSHER AT TAMPICO. THIS IS THE WAY THE OIL 
 COMES OUT BEFORE THE WELL IS CAPPED 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICQ 71 
 
 freedom to those who with pride call themselves 
 workmen. 
 For the Union of Port Mechanics. 
 
 The Committee. 
 
 AIT INJUEY TO ONE IS AIT INJURY TO ALL 
 
 In addition to the handbill propaganda the I. W. 
 W. publishes one daily and one weekly newspaper, 
 and the editors and writers have all come from the 
 United States since Congress declared war against 
 the Grerman Government. 
 
 But the I. W. W. is not the only lawless organ- 
 isation with which the oil companies have to con- 
 tend. While the Carranza Government controls 
 the city of Tampico, General Don Manuel Pelaez, 
 one of the rebel leaders, is the king of the oil 
 fields. President Carranza 's authority extends 
 only eight miles from the city limits and along 
 the railway line to Monterey, the industrial city 
 in Northern Mexico. The direct railway line from 
 Tampico to Mexico City is blocked. Senor Car- 
 ranza 's officials control the docks and the tank 
 reservoirs near the city. On the other side of the 
 Neutral Zone, or Mexico's No Man's Land, watch 
 the Pelaez soldiers. General Pelaez controls the 
 beginning. President Carranza the end, of the oil 
 business. Pelaez taxes the production; Carranza 
 taxes the exportation. Pelaez and his army — esti- 
 mated at three thousand to twenty-seven thousand 
 men, depending upon the authority quoted — get 
 
72 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 forty thousand dollars a month protection money 
 from the oil companies. Carranza gets one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars in taxes every month from 
 the Standard Oil Company; two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars a month from the Huasteca Petro- 
 leum Company, and more from the Lord Cowdray 
 interests. The oil producers maintain Pelaez, his 
 soldiers and his government, and they contribute 
 more than any other foreign interest toward the 
 revenues of the present Mexican Government. 
 
 But — and this is where the story of King Pelaez 
 begins — the trouble at Tampico has not been in 
 the territory controlled by the bandit, but within 
 the city limits, dominated by the central govern- 
 ment. There have been no strikes in the oil dis- 
 tricts where this black, crude product gushes from 
 the earth at the rate of nearly a million barrels a 
 day. No American lives have been lost ; no Amer- 
 ican or European property has been destroyed. 
 
 In Tampico itself strikes have occurred and may 
 develop at any time. No one can tell what a com- 
 bination of I. W. W. agitators and German in- 
 triguers may do. But the curious thing is that 
 the oil companies are satisfied. 
 
 *'We believe," remarked one of the managers, 
 "and the United States believes, that as long as 
 we are at war with Germany it is best to leave 
 well enough alone. We are getting oil out of 
 Mexico. That is our part. That is what the 
 United States and Great Britain want. That is 
 what the companies want." 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 73 
 
 ' * But how are you going to adjust this situation 
 finally?" I asked. 
 
 "Quien sabe?" they answered. They don't 
 know. No one else seems to know. But of this 
 they are certain: They don't want President 
 Carranza to control the oil fields, especially dur- 
 ing the war. They fear that if his generals con- 
 trol the wells they will submit to German influ- 
 ence and demand a prohibitive tax under threat 
 of cutting the pipe lines. The oil companies are 
 opposed to the policy of the United States Gov- 
 ernment in lifting the embargo on war material, 
 because they maintain that if the present govern- 
 ment begins an attack upon Pelaez the oil com- 
 panies will suffer. They declare that the only 
 thing that maintains peace is the lack of ammuni- 
 tion. 
 
 Time was when the oil interests were under the 
 thumb of General Pelaez. To-day Pelaez and his 
 chief insurgent, General Enriquez, are ruled by 
 the companies ; but the relations, at that, are very 
 cordial, though some of the smaller oil companies 
 do not feel this way. 
 
 I was sauntering through the hot streets en 
 route to my hotel one day when I met the secre- 
 tary of one of the small but important companies. 
 
 "I have some documents that may interest 
 you," he said, "providing the name of our com- 
 pany is not used. We have just been held up for 
 six thousand dollars." 
 
 T accompanied him to his office, where he showed 
 
74 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 me the correspondence he had had with General 
 Enriqnez, the so-called brains of the Pelaez Gov- 
 ernment because he is the only educated man on 
 the rebel leader's staff. 
 
 One of the notices in Spanish, as translated, 
 reads : 
 
 EEVOLUTIONAKY AEMY 
 
 Pelaez Division Military Command 
 
 CIRCULAE 
 
 I bfeg to advise you gentlemen that twelve days 
 are conceded to you, counting from this date, in 
 order that you may please cover your debts which 
 you have pending with this military command. 
 It is understood that if the same are not paid 
 within the term specified that I shall be obliged 
 to proceed in a manner I may deem convenient. 
 
 LIBEETY, JUSTICE AND LAW 
 
 Juan Casiano, Mex., August First. 
 
 Eneiquez. 
 
 The three impressive words — Liberty, Justice, 
 Law — ^make up the motto of the Pelaez Govern- 
 ment. Though one is tempted to look for prac- 
 tical evidences of the motto, one does not, because 
 it might not be safe ! Explorations in an oil jun- 
 gle should be limited to oil. At least that is what 
 I was advised. 
 
 It is not safe, either, to send money to Pelaez 
 or Enriquez, except by trusted messenger. The 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 75 
 
 danger is not so much that the money might be 
 lost or stolen as that some government authority 
 might hear of it and you might be arrested for 
 giving aid and comfort to an enemy of the Mex- 
 ican Government, The cautious policy is always 
 the safest in Mexico. This company, of course, 
 knew the rules of the game and despatched the 
 twelve thousand pesos to Enriquez. A note thank- 
 ing the general for his services in protecting the 
 company's properties accompanied the tribute. 
 A few days later General Enriquez acknowledged 
 it in the following manner : 
 
 Appreciable Sir: I take note of your courteous 
 letter of the second instant, and in reply I wish 
 to state that I take pleasure in offering myself to 
 your orders. 
 
 Your true and attentive servant, 
 
 Enriquez. 
 
 A few months before this when conditions were 
 less settled — one might say less unsettled, too — 
 King Pelaez used to require unusually large sums 
 at irregular intervals. But this was not an ap- 
 proved business method in the United States, so 
 it was explained to Pelaez, who a few years ago 
 was an ignorant rancher, and Pelaez was con- 
 vinced that he should receive his taxes regularly, 
 as all governments do. Pelaez has a teachable 
 mind ! 
 
 One time Pelaez demanded twenty thousand 
 
76 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 dollars from one of tlie companies. The corpora- 
 tion had already paid a large snm and could not 
 afford to meet his requirements ; but Pelaez was, 
 at the time, an unlimited monarch. He made war 
 or peace as freely as the German Kaiser. And 
 inasmuch as Pelaez had the army to destroy the 
 company's wells the treasurer knew the taxes had 
 to be paid, so he bought twenty thousand dollars 
 in counterfeit money and gave it to Pelaez. The 
 general did not examine the bills, and everything 
 was satisfactory. 
 
 The next day Pelaez paid his soldiers, and when 
 they attempted to pass it in the small villages the 
 shopkeepers refused anything but metal coin. 
 The general notified the treasurer and demanded 
 real money immediately. The treasurer explained 
 that he could not come to camp for several days 
 but that he would adjust the matter. It was quite 
 evident that a mistake had been made ! 
 
 Three days later he appeared at Pelaez 's head- 
 quarters. 
 
 "Where is that money? " he asked. 
 
 Pelaez handed it back. The treasurer took from 
 his pocket a rubber stamp that he had had made 
 and, one by one, stamped each bill with the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 Money of the Pelaez Govebnment. Good. 
 
 "Now if you can't get your soldiers to accept | 
 this money of your own government," the treas- ! 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 77 
 
 urer stated, ''I don't think much of your govern- 
 ment. ' ' 
 
 Pelaez was impressed. All governments should 
 have their own currency. Now Pelaez had his! 
 The soldiers accepted the money, and so did the 
 shopkeepers! The twenty thousand dollars cost 
 the treasurer two hundred dollars. 
 
 But not even a peon king can be fooled the same 
 way twice. Another company tried to give Pelaez 
 counterfeit money, but this brought the following 
 notice to all companies from General Enriquez: 
 
 EEVOLUTIONARY ARMY 
 
 Pelaez Division Military Command 
 
 CIRCULAR 
 
 In view of the fact that in the circulation of 
 the new ten-dollar gold pieces — twenty pesos — 
 many counterfeit coins are coming out, I have to 
 request of you gentlemen that in the future you 
 will please make your payments in coins of prior 
 coinage or in five-peso pieces. 
 
 liberty, justice and law 
 
 Enriquez. 
 Juan Casiano, Mexico, August 1, 1917. 
 
 These are only a few of the many interesting 
 circulars and letters that were shown me by the 
 oil companies. One does not wonder why the com- 
 panies do not protest when one learns how im- 
 
78 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 portant the protection by Pelaez and Ms band of 
 bandits is. These figures, taken from the records 
 of the United States consulate at Tampico as fur- 
 nished to the State Department by Claude I. Daw- 
 son, the consul, show that during the first six 
 months of last year 24,376,824 barrels of oil in all 
 forms were exported. 
 
 An illuminating table follows on page 79. 
 
 This calculation, however, is far below the pos- 
 sible production of the Tampico fields. With the 
 present equipment, pipe lines, pumping stations 
 and wells the oil companies operating can produce 
 as much as a million barrels of oil a day, but if 
 any more oil were produced there would be no 
 ships to carry it away. The submarine losses are 
 felt in Tampico too. 
 
 A million barrels of oil every twenty-four hours 
 — enough, seemingly, to fill the Hudson River, if 
 the basin of that river off Manhattan Island ever 
 went dry ! 
 
 The largest producing companies in the Tam- 
 pico district are El Aguila, the Mexican Eagle 
 Company, belonging to Lord Cowdray, and the 
 Huasteca Petroleum Company, founded by Mr. 
 E. L. Doheny, of Los Angeles. These two cor- 
 porations have the most wells and the largest 
 wells, measured by daily capacity. Both com- 
 panies have big camps in the oil jungle. At the 
 Cowdray camp at Terra Armeria General Pelaez 
 lives with his staff and soldiers. General Enri- 
 quez and his staff live at Juan Casiano, the big- 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 
 
 79 
 
 TOTAL OIL SHIPPED FROM JTAMPICO, JANUARY 
 TO JUNE, 1917, INCLUSIVE 
 
 Statement Prepared hy Mr. Claude I. Damson, U. S. 
 Consul at Tampico 
 
 BARRELS 
 Crude Oil Distillate Reduced Topped Kerosene 
 
 January, 1917 
 
 United States 2,018,733 
 
 Mexico 176,218 
 
 Foreign Countries 234,799 
 
 Total 2,429,750 
 
 February, 1917 
 
 United States 2,081,245 
 
 Mexico 400,424 
 
 Foreign Countries. . . . 494,027 
 
 Total 2,975,696 
 
 March, 1917 
 
 United States 3,087,903 
 
 Mexico 403,832 
 
 Foreign Countries .... 589,716 
 
 Total 4,081,451 
 
 April, 1917 
 
 United States 2,849,994 
 
 Mexico 271,134 
 
 Foreign Countries 866,407 
 
 Total 3,987,535 
 
 May, 1917 
 
 United States 3,072,181 
 
 Mexico 281,296 
 
 Foreign Countries 445,023 
 
 Total 3,798,500 
 
 June, 1917 
 
 United States 2,719,520 
 
 Mexico 298,594 
 
 Foreign Countries 523,182 
 
 414,100 105,500 
 
 70,000 357,700 
 
 59,000 557,750 
 
 19,000 
 
 60,000 
 
 128,000 443,000 61,000 
 
 90,000 407,546 40,000 
 
 135,000 494,000 73,000-48,000 
 
 Total 3,541,296 
 
 Total 20,814,228 896,100 2,365,496 
 
 Grand Total. . . 24,376,824 barrels 
 
 253,000-48.000 
 
80 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 gest Doheny camp. The Standard Oil Company, 
 the Mexican Gulf Company and the Texas Com- 
 pany are the largest refiners of oil. They pur- 
 chase the crude oil from many of the small pro- 
 ducers and make gasoline, fuel oil, kerosene and 
 thirty other products, which they ship to all parts 
 of the world. 
 
 ''Who is Pelaez?" I asked in Tampico. 
 
 "An ignorant Mexican rancher," was the uni- 
 versal reply. "He is a revolutionist, like all of 
 us, against the Carranza Government. He has a 
 loyal army that protects our property and work- 
 ers. Pelaez is king of the police in the oil dis- 
 tricts. ' ' 
 
 "And Enriquez?" I questioned. 
 
 "A Mexican doctor," answered the foreigners, 
 ' ' cultured, educated, refined, and a thorough gen- 
 tleman. He had a drug store in Tuxpan — another 
 port on the Gulf of Mexico, pronounced as if 
 spelled T-u-s-p-a-n. When the revolution broke 
 out the Carranza troops burned his store. He lost 
 forty thousand pesos and joined the forces against 
 the First Chief of the Constitutionalists. He is 
 fighting in the field to-day, awaiting the time when 
 a responsible government will be established in 
 Mexico City. Then he will go back into business. ' ' 
 
 I was talking to one of the producers one day 
 when he asked whether I would like to meet Pelaez 
 and Enriquez. 
 
 "The oil king?" I asked. "Certainly! Long 
 live the king ! ' ' 
 
THE GUSHER OF THE CERRO AZUL OIL WELL — 6oO FEET HIGH 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 81 
 
 When one is in Mexico one must do as tlie 
 Mexicans do! One must shout "Long live Pe- 
 laez!" when one is in his territory. 
 
 It is a safe policy anyway always to be Mex- 
 ican to a Mexican. I was lunching one day with 
 an American official who had been sent into this 
 country to meet the various factions. He told 
 me the difficulties he had in being Mexican, but 
 he said it paid him, and he cited the following 
 instance : 
 
 He was in a small coast town, where he called 
 to pay his respects to the governor. He desired 
 a friendly talk and knew the best place would be 
 about a banquet table, so he invited the general 
 and his staff to dinner. The officer was bashful. 
 That, indeed, was unusual. The general sent 
 word that while he would enjoy lunching with 
 American officers he was compelled to excuse him- 
 self because he had not been trained to dine with 
 such high personages! The American and his 
 staff were shocked upon finding a general who did 
 not proclaim hourly what a great, accomplished 
 gentleman he was even if, two years ago, he was 
 a night watchman in Vera Cruz. The Americans 
 urged the general to come, and he did. 
 
 Before the guests arrived the visitors held a 
 conference and the chief said: 
 
 ''General Blank, commander of the State of 
 Blank, is coming to dinner to-night. I want every 
 one of you gentlemen to take your table manners 
 from him. If he eats soup with tortillas, chicken 
 
82 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 with his fingers and drinks out of the finger bowl, 
 every man does the same ! The guests are not to 
 be embarrassed." 
 
 The Americans, in a cordial but not a very pol- 
 ished manner, welcomed the Mexicans. At the 
 table there was a great deal of talking at first, 
 and every one waited for the general to begin to 
 eat. But he didn't! And they waited a little 
 longer, until the soup was cooled. Finally the 
 American official, who had been in Mexico long 
 enough to know that one must do as the Mexicans 
 do, drank his soup. Without a smile or a mur- 
 mur every one did the same. When the meat was 
 served fingers and knives were used, and at the 
 close of the meal toothpicks instead of finger bowls 
 were passed. The general was delighted to think 
 that he could eat with Americans and be so con- 
 tented ! To this day he is pro- American ! 
 
 I had been in Mexico several weeks, and when 
 an opportunity came to see a live bandit I was 
 enthusiastic, and I got up as early on the morn- 
 ing we left as I did years ago when the circus 
 came to Kichmond, Indiana. 
 
 To reach the Mexican oil fields one must travel 
 between sixty and eighty miles south of Tampico. 
 At the wharf one boards a fast gasoline launch 
 at sunrise and travels through the canal and 
 Panuco Eiver some twenty miles to a landing sta- 
 tion belonging to one of the oil companies. Eight 
 miles out of the city one meets a band of eight 
 Carranza soldiers. They are on outpost duty to 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 83 
 
 see that no Pelaez followers enter the city. From 
 this point on one need not say, ''This belongs to 
 one of the oil companies," because everything be- 
 low, above and on the earth belongs to some oil 
 concern. The Lord Cowdray and the Doheny cor- 
 porations have more than a million acres each. 
 
 From this small dock one rides by automobile 
 twenty miles farther into the jungle, over the only 
 wagon road in this part of Mexico. Another 
 launch takes one across Lake Tamiahua to San 
 Geronimo. As one glides through the quiet waters 
 early in the day one sees thousands of flying fish, 
 and at times the horizon is blackened with wild 
 duck. There is so much game and there are so 
 few hunters that this is an undreamed-of para- 
 dise. 
 
 As the launch swerves toward the dock one sees 
 several hundred Mexican labourers standing about 
 the narrow-gauge railway track, awaiting the de- 
 parture of the work train for the fields. 
 
 Puffing along at eight miles an hour the dummy 
 engine jerks and whines through the jungle to the 
 camp at Juan Casiano. Beside the tracks one sees 
 mahogany and oak trees, banana plants, orange 
 groves, cornfields, and here and there the straw- 
 thatched roof of a peon's home. Men and women 
 are dressed in one-piece garments; many chil- 
 dren are naked; others like one boy I saw with 
 his mother's shirtwaist hanging loosely from Ms 
 shoulders. 
 
 Spanish moss, orchids and other plants grow as 
 
84 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 parasites over the trees, many of whicli are being 
 strangled to death by this growth. Many parts 
 of this territory have never been explored. Wild 
 beasts rule the forests and hills. There are wild 
 boars and snakes. Sometimes the latter come up 
 on the railway bed for their sun nap. There are 
 buzzards, the prehistoric scavengers, and Alice- 
 blue butterflies. Beautiful birds of the tropics fly 
 from bush to bush. Some places along the line 
 the natives have planted corn. Their cattle graze 
 along the roadway, and frequently the train stops 
 to give the cows time to get off the track. Fields 
 are so fertile that the corn averages more than 
 twelve feet in height. 
 
 The planting is as primitive as the people are. 
 The natives punch a hole in the earth with a stick, 
 drop a grain of corn and cover it up. In two 
 months they can gather the ears. 
 
 After one has travelled a few miles by train 
 one enters the oil fields. Between the hills of the 
 rolling country one sees the derricks where wells 
 are being drilled. When the oil begins to gush 
 out of the hole it is diverted into pipe lines, which 
 carry it sixty miles to Tampico. 
 
 Geologists estimate that this country for cen- 
 turies has floated on oil — ^but less than eighteen 
 years ago American explorers tapped the first 
 well. At that time there was only one company 
 in the field. To-day there are more than a score. 
 Then the land could be purchased for less than 
 fifty cents an acre. To-day the cheapest available 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 85 
 
 land rents for five hundred dollars an acre per 
 year, and the owners demand royalty on oil that 
 may be extracted. The largest well ever discov- 
 ered produced a million barrels a day, but only 
 for five days. To-day boiling water gushes out 
 into the lake. The next largest well is that of 
 Cerro Azul. Its capacity is estimated at two hun- 
 dred and sixty thousand barrels every twenty- 
 four hours. It has been running steadily since 
 1914. The best wells produce more than sixty 
 thousand barrels a day, and no well is considered 
 very productive that does not give up ten thou- 
 sand barrels between sunrise and sunrise. There 
 is so much oil in Mexico that it gushes out of the 
 ground as soon as a hole from two to three thou- 
 sand feet deep has been drilled into the mud, lime- 
 stone and sand. Some gushers have spouted oil six 
 hundred and a thousand feet into the air before 
 they were capped. One well emptied more than 
 a million barrels into one of the valleys before it 
 was capped. 
 
 From the railroad station we rode to the camp 
 in a buckboard pulled by four mules. As the 
 driver drew the reins General Enriquez saluted 
 us. At last we were at one of the headquarters 
 of the bandits. With Enriquez were his chief of 
 staff, an Indian general, interpreters and soldiers. 
 The general is short, heavily built and dark com- 
 plexioned. He has long thin fingers, small feet 
 and dark brown eyes. He wore a brown army 
 shirt, riding breeches and tan boots. Eound his 
 
86 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 instep were buckled heavy, hand-engraved silver 
 spurs. From the cartridge belt hung a forty- 
 eight-calibre revolver. 
 
 We sauntered uphill to Enriquez's headquar- 
 ters. Bill, the guide, Enriquez and I sat on the 
 general's bed. The three chairs were occupied 
 by his staff. Pelaez had been there for a confer- 
 ence the night before but had left for the Cowdray 
 camp at dawn. The conversation began with Car- 
 ranza and ended with the President. But most 
 of the talking was done by an Indian general who 
 had just returned from a thirty-five-day hunt for 
 Indians and others loyal to Carranza. His im- 
 agination was as unlimited as the oil fields and 
 he gloried in having a foreign audience. His last 
 battle was his most thrilling one. 
 
 It happened in this way : The Mexican Govern- 
 ment sent rifles and ammunition to General Ma- 
 riel, one of the Carranza leaders along the Gulf 
 of Mexico, who immediately armed the half- 
 civilised Teptzintla and Santa Maria Indians. 
 These wild men started to raid the outskirts of 
 the oil district and Enriquez 's Indian general with 
 a band of troopers was sent out to halt them. In 
 thirty-five days of wilderness fighting two hun- 
 dred Indians were accounted for, and then the 
 general entered a small town where he found seven 
 bandits — ^he called the Carranza troops bandits — 
 terrorising the village. Five were killed in the 
 first skirmish, but the general was shot four times 
 in his right knee and one of his soldiers was killed. 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 87 
 
 A Carranza soldier, he said, emptied his auto- 
 matic into the side of the trooper and then shoved 
 the pistol into the wound. When the remaining 
 two were captured they were executed. 
 
 The general told almost unbelievable tales. He 
 said the wild Indians in a war dance, a few days 
 before he arrived, had thrown women into the 
 flames as sacrifices. This is the Liberty, Justice 
 and Law of the oil jungle ! 
 
 For the benefit of the auto owner who, like my- 
 self, did not know how gasoline is produced, per- 
 mit me to make this explanation: The crude oil 
 as it comes from the earth is pumped to Tampico, 
 where the refineries are located. Some is shipped 
 to refineries in the United States. This oil is 
 heated in large tanks to three hundred and fifty 
 degrees. From these tanks it flows into cooling 
 tanks; the heavy oil goes to the bottom and the 
 vapour, or gasoline, flows out near the top. Gaso- 
 line is but the light ingredient of heavy mineral 
 oil. 
 
 When the crude oil reaches Tampico the trouble 
 begins. The Mexican Government taxes crude oil, 
 gasoline, distillate and other by-products so heav- 
 ily and the expenses of shipping it to England 
 and the United States are so great that crude oil 
 which costs twenty cents a barrel in Tampico must 
 sell for sixty cents a barrel in Texas. 
 
 All the oil ships in and out of Tampico must go 
 through the Panuco River, which flows into the 
 gulf seven miles from the eity. The river must 
 
88 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 be dredged constantly to enable the ocean-going 
 liners to reach the docks. Throughout the revolu- 
 tion all oil companies have been paying six cents a 
 barrel bar tax to keep the river deep enough for 
 their ships, but for nearly four years little dredg- 
 ing has been done. 
 
 A few months ago the central government noti- 
 fied the oil companies that an American dredging 
 concern had been engaged to work in the river 
 and that the oil companies would have to pay the 
 costs, amounting to one hundred thousand dollars 
 a month. 
 
 With conditions so unsettled and dangers lurk- 
 ing in every business deal the oil companies to- 
 day are doing no development work. They are 
 taking no chances. They believe that Article 
 Twenty-seven of the Mexican Constitution permits 
 the government to confiscate their property and 
 they declare that they cannot afford to spend more 
 money in Tampico until they know how the gov- 
 ernment intends to interpret this. 
 
 The companies are literally between the jungle 
 and the sea. No one knows what move the Car- 
 ranza Government may make. No one knows what 
 steps the United States and the Allies will take 
 to protect the oil country if the central govern- 
 ment begins an invasion, as President Carranza 
 announced it would do, in his speech before Con- 
 gress on September 3, 1917. At the opening of 
 Parliament he proclaimed his intention of driving 
 the rebels out of the oil fields. ' ' They have been 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 89 
 
 supported by foreign oil companies," he declared. 
 There is no doubt about the truth of this latter 
 statement, but the companies maintain that if the 
 fields were in the hands of the Mexican Govern- 
 ment the government could maintain a strangle 
 hold on the Allies — and Pelaez, they declare, is 
 pro-Ally. The oil companies want a status quo 
 until the war in Europe is over. Then, and per- 
 haps sooner, the real fight about Tampico will be- 
 gin. This part of the Mexican problem is not 
 settled. 
 
 But on the surface of things in Tampico there 
 is not a ripple. Pelaez cannot come into the city 
 and the Carranza forces cannot go into the coun- 
 try without a fight. No Man 's Land separates the 
 belligerents here as it does in France. 
 
 The I. W. W. and the Germans are taking ad- 
 vantage of this chaotic situation, and they are 
 preparing for eventualities. Some day there will 
 be a clash in the oil fields or in Tampico, and when 
 that hour comes the world will learn whether Ger- 
 many's ally or the United States and her Allies 
 control the situation. 
 
 Further trouble in Tampico or in the oil dis- 
 tricts will benefit Germany directly because it will 
 affect the oil supply of the United States and 
 Great Britain. 
 
 No one seems to know the solution in Tampico, 
 but every foreigner hopes that the ammunition 
 which the Mexican Government has obtained from 
 the United States will not reach the Gulf of Mex- 
 
00 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 ico. The foreigners want a status quo until Ger- 
 many is defeated. Then, then indeed, something 
 will have to be done to settle the jurisdiction over 
 the oil territory. Tampico oil is a world neces- 
 sity. Anarchy, another German ally, cannot rule 
 forever. Where there are smouldering flames of 
 discontent there will be smoke. 
 
 Before I went to Tampico the Chief Mexican 
 Manager of one of the largest oil producing com- 
 panies gave me a memorandum regarding the oil 
 supplies of the Allied powers. I print this here 
 as it contains a great deal of valuable information 
 and shows how vital Tampico is to England and 
 the United States in the war against Germany. 
 
 The writer is a man of very firm convictions 
 and the interpretations of clauses in the Mexican 
 Constitution and his opinions regarding the gov- 
 ernment are his, not mine! I present the mem- 
 orandum here because it is the statement of an 
 expert. 
 
 MEMOEANDUM. THE ALLIES' OIL SUPPLIES 
 
 By an American Business Man 
 
 1. Petroleum and gasoline are the two most 
 important war materials to-day. Neither aero- 
 planes, tanks, motor trucks, submarines, chasers, 
 destroyers nor battleships can run one foot with- 
 out one or the other. 
 
 2. To survey the world's production of crude 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 
 
 91 
 
 oil, necessary for tlie manufacture of gasoline, 
 Diesel oil and navy fuel : 
 
 The Dutch East Indies and Burmah: Too far 
 away to serve as a source of supply in the present 
 shortage of tank steamers. 
 
 Persia: Remote, and on the Mediterranean 
 route. Submarines have destroyed many tankers 
 on this route. Production small. 
 
 Russian Fields: Available only to the Russian 
 Allies. 
 
 Roumania: In Grerman hands. 
 
 Galicia: In Austrian hands. 
 
 United States: Practically the only source of 
 crude oil and gasoline supply for our allies and 
 our own forces. 
 
 But see annexed report of Hearing before Sen- 
 ate Committee, No. 1, page 32. The Department 
 of the Interior gives the following figures : 
 
 Year 
 
 Consumption 
 
 Percentage 
 Increase 
 
 Production 
 
 Drawn from Stock 
 
 1914 
 
 247,015,396 
 276,399,918 
 312,000,000 
 353,000,000 
 
 12 
 13 
 13 
 
 
 
 1915 
 1916 
 1917 
 
 281,000,000 
 296,000,000 
 286,990,000 
 
 None 
 18,500,000 
 67,000,000 
 
 Note that the Interior Department calculates 
 a shortage of 67,000,000 barrels of petroleum in 
 the United States for purely peace purposes for 
 1917. Elsewhere in the Report of the Hearing, 
 note statement by the Bureau of Mines that it cal- 
 culates an additional shortage of 20,000,000 for 
 war purposes. Since this estimate it has been 
 determined to build and operate from 35,000 to 
 
02 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 100,000 aeroplanes. This will take an additional 
 amount of from 3,000,000 to 9,000,000 barrels of 
 high-grade gasoline, which production will make 
 an additional shortage figured at from 40,000,000 
 to 63,000,000 barrels of crude. The total shortage, 
 therefore, is aroimd 137,000,000 barrels for all 
 peace and war purposes in the United States, 
 which, outside of Mexico, is the only practical 
 available supply. 
 
 Mexico : Mexico to-day can produce from wells 
 already drilled in, how largely capped or cut down, 
 1,059,000 barrels per day, and the field is only 
 wild-catted. The actual production (crude oil 
 sold or put in storage) is at present only about 
 50,000,000 per annum, or 137,000 barrels per day, 
 most of which goes to the United States. 
 
 Shipments to the United States from Mexico 
 are limited by: a. Lack of tankers. The largest 
 producing company (Mexican Petroleum Com- 
 pany) has turned seven of its tank steamers into 
 the British trade. The ships are chartered to the 
 British Government. More tankers, however, are 
 being completed. 
 
 b. Lack of transportation to tide water. The 
 total potential carriage from well to tanker is 
 now: 
 
 To Tampico — By river barges 25,000 bbl. per day 
 
 By Huasteca pipe lines. . 75,000 « « « 
 
 By Agnila pipe lines 25,000 « « « 
 
 125,000 " " " 
 
 To Tuxpam— By Penn-Mex pipe line . . 25,000 « " " 
 
 By Aguila pipe lines 50,000 « « « 
 
 Total present capacity pipe and barge . . 200,000 « « « 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 93 
 
 or 73,000,000 barrels per annum. In addition, 
 there are at least 9,000,000 barrels in storage at 
 Tampico and Tuxpam, ready for tanker transport 
 to the United States and her Allies. 
 
 The Mexican Petroleum Company and prob- 
 ably the Aguila stand ready to increase pipe line 
 facilities up to an additional 50,000,000 barrels 
 per iannum if they are only guaranteed protection 
 of their governments in the construction and in 
 their investment. See testimony of Edward L. 
 Doheny in annexed Eeport of Hearing, No. 3, 
 page 123. 
 
 The production of the United States can be in- 
 creased, if at all, only slightly. The Mexican pro- 
 duction is there already. It is in the hands of 
 American and British companies which have taken 
 the risk and made the great investment to get it. 
 If their rights are respected or made respected by 
 their governments there will he no shortage of 
 petroleum supplies for the United States and the 
 Allies in the war. There will actually be a pleth- 
 ora. 
 
 n 
 
 But we have to count with the real hostility of 
 the de facto government of Mexico, which is no- 
 toriously playing with the Germans. In January, 
 1917, a packed constituent assembly, at Queretaro 
 (membership in which was limited to ''those who 
 had served Carranza," or less than 1 per cent, of 
 the whole population) adopted a ''constitution" 
 
94 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 which contains the following provisions pertinent 
 to this subject: 
 
 Article 27. In the Nation is vested ownership 
 of petroleum and all hydrocarbons. 
 
 .... The ownership of the Nation is inalien- 
 able and concessions shall be granted by 
 
 the Federal Government to private parties or 
 
 corporations organised under the laws of 
 
 Mexico. 
 
 Article 28. There shall be no exemp- 
 tion from taxation 
 
 Article 123 (Of Labor and Social Welfare) 
 XVIII Strikes shall be considered unlaw- 
 ful only when the majority/ of the strikers shall 
 resort to acts of violence against persons or prop- 
 erty. 
 
 Article 27 deliberately confiscates the oil prop- 
 erties acquired by British and American com- 
 panies. Oil in Mexico has always been the prop- 
 erty of the owner of the fee. The companies men- 
 tioned have spent large amounts of money to ac- 
 quire oil rights by purchase and lease. The effect 
 of this ''constitutional" provision, if it is recog- 
 nised as legal, is to make Mexican petroleum the 
 inalienable property of the Nation. As such, be- 
 ing contraband, neutral Mexico cannot allow its 
 shipment to belligerent nations. 
 
 Legislation is now before the Mexican Congress 
 putting this ' ' constitutional ' ' provision into effect. 
 
 Article 28. The principal oil-producing com- 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 95 
 
 panies entered the field of oil exploration under 
 inducement contracts providing that no special or 
 export taxes should be levied against their prod- 
 ucts. The Mining Law of 1887, never repealed, 
 provides that petroleum shall not be specially 
 taxed. This article of the constitution of 1917 
 puts an end to this protection, violating contracts. 
 An excessive export tax on petroleum and gaso- 
 line, amounting to from 20 per cent to 50 per 
 cent of the value of the oil at the wells, has been 
 ''decreed," and is in effect and payable in July, 
 1917. 
 
 If the principle is accepted, Mexico is in a posi- 
 tion to embargo shipments of oil to the Allies by 
 increase of the export tax. No friendship toward 
 the Allied cause has been manifested by the de 
 facto government of such nature as to lead one to 
 suspect that Mexico will fail to so embargo ex- 
 ports. 
 
 Art. 123. By this article, 49 per cent of a body 
 of strikers may legally destroy properties and 
 lives. Only when 51 per cent are so engaged is 
 the strike illegal enough to justify the interven- 
 tion of the authorities. This seems childish; but 
 this very "constitutional" precept was invoked 
 by the Presidente Municipal and the Jefe de Ar- 
 mas of Tampico during the strike in the British 
 and American oil termini in May, 1917, to justify 
 their refusal to interfere with the ' ' strikers ' ' who 
 were carrying torches around the storage tanks. 
 Destruction was prevented only by the interven- 
 
96 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 tion of the American gunboats in the Pamico 
 Eiver. The strikers were openly and notoriously 
 paid during this tie-up out of the office of the 
 German Consul, Eversbusch. 
 
 The Imperial German Empire has a Minister 
 in Mexico, Consuls in all important centres, and 
 intelligent Germans scattered throughout the 
 country. They are hand-picked Germans. They 
 are most friendly with the Mexican authorities. 
 The Mexican army has many officers of German 
 birth and training. Fortunately for the Allies, 
 the oil fields are in the hands of a counter-revolu- 
 tionist, with a personal interest in the safety of 
 the fields. Should he (Manuel Pelaez) be driven 
 out by the German-officered Carranzistas, the wells 
 now producing would be in danger ; but such dam- 
 age as they could do would be repaired within two 
 weeks after the arrival of American troops in the 
 fields. 
 
 By the "constitutional'^ articles quoted above, 
 the Germans have three excellent means of block- 
 ing the oil supply of the Allies : 
 
 (1) By protesting against the shipment to 
 belligerents of a contraband material declared to 
 be the property of the Mexican Government. 
 
 (2) By encouraging the de facto government 
 to increase export taxes to the prohibitive point. 
 
 (3) By fomenting strikes in terminals and in 
 the fields and attendant legalised destruction of 
 oil in storage. 
 
GERMANY'S ALLY AT TAMPICO 9T 
 
 Assurance of the oil supply is simple : Refuse 
 to recognise the de facto Mexican Government as 
 a de jure government and make it plain that none 
 of the confiscatory and retroactive provisions of 
 the ''constitution" shall be enforced. 
 
 If the ''constitution" is enforced, German 
 agents have at least three distinct means of end- 
 ing the Mexican supply of crude oil, vitally needed 
 in the war. If British and Americans in Mexico 
 are simply protected in their legally acquired 
 rights and properties, by austere demands and 
 acts of the American and British Governments, 
 There Will Be No Petroleum Shortage. 
 
 Problem: To make the American and British 
 Governments see it. 
 
CHAPTEE V 
 
 THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 
 
 ON one of the main streets of Tampico 
 stands a solid one-story cement building 
 which, according to a large sign ribboned 
 across the top like a banner, is the Agenda Comer- 
 cial y Maritima. The members of the firm, judg- 
 ing from an announcement in equally prominent 
 letters, are Heynen, Eversbusch y Cia. A smaller 
 placard near one of the entrances states that this 
 is the Consulate of the Imperial German Govern- 
 ment; and under the glass cover of the bulletin 
 board, also on the outside of the building, are 
 notices to German citizens regarding service in 
 the Imperial Army. 
 
 I shall not describe the structure further, ex- 
 cept to remark that it stands on the sunny side of 
 the street and that it is the chief German banking 
 institution in this section of Mexico. The descrip- 
 tion is not important, except to fix in the reader's 
 mind the cementlike reality of the narrative the 
 events of the war have woven about the place, for 
 this imposing edifice is one of the chief way sta- 
 tions on the spider's web of the German Secret 
 Service in the republic south of the Eio Grande. 
 
 98 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 99 
 
 Before the United States Congress declared war 
 against the Berlin Imperialists, Senor and Herr 
 Carl Heynen was one of the active German agents 
 in the United States and Mexico. So important 
 was he considered by the United States Govern- 
 ment, whose detectives found him in the United 
 States when war was declared, that he was placed 
 in an internment camp, where he lives to-day in 
 peace and quiet. Herr Eversbusch, the other 
 member of the concern, being the German Consul 
 at Tampico, always remained in that city, to direct 
 the financial transactions of the institution and 
 protect Germany's interests. 
 
 Before America was a belligerent the Agenda 
 Comercial y Maritima communicated in code with 
 banks and individuals in the United States. When 
 a censorship was established these messages were 
 stopped ; but the pause was only temporary. The 
 State Department announced one day that those 
 concerns having business of a confidential nature 
 in the United States and Mexico might, by filing 
 a copy of the code with the United States censors, 
 continued to communicate as in the pre-war days. 
 
 At the time this pronouncement was made the 
 American Consul, Mr. Claude I. Dawson, was in 
 Washington, and a young vice consul was acting 
 in his stead. One day a representative of Herr 
 Eversbusch appeared at the Consulate with a code 
 of this bank and the statement that, inasmuch as 
 the bank did business with American concerns in 
 Houston, Texas, and in New York City, it was 
 
100 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 entitled to the use of its code. The secret docu- 
 ment was filed with the American authorities and 
 for an indefinite period — the authorities are not 
 quite certain how long — this German bank and the 
 German Consul in Tampico sent and received 
 secret messages to and from the United States. 
 The practice was not interrupted until Consul 
 Dawson returned to his post. 
 
 Of course it required considerable faith on the 
 part of Herr Eversbusch in the inability of the 
 United States to discover such an obvious scheme 
 at deception; but in this faith in Uncle Sam's 
 advertised laxity the German official was dis- 
 appointed. He was found out and this line of 
 communication was cut, as have been most of the 
 lines between German agents throughout the 
 world and the Berlin Government. 
 
 I cite this instance to show that, though Ger- 
 many has planted and selected her secret-service 
 operators in every country on the globe, the Allied 
 and American Secret Service offensive against the 
 lines of communication between enemy spies and 
 their Berlin headquarters has been so successful 
 that one may, for the first time during the war, 
 speak of the checkmating of the enemy's intelli- 
 gence service. Battles in the air have been more 
 spectacular, those on land more intense, and those 
 on the seas more baffling than the secret battles 
 between the belligerent intelligence departments; 
 but few have been more important. What, for 
 instance, could be more important, so far as the 
 
LA CUCARACHA 
 
 FRASES POPULARES 
 
 Los Tres de la Vida Airada. 
 
 CUM^ iruuc^ %^.<^^^ ^^-'-^^is-^ 
 
 PRECIO : 20 cealaros oro naclonil 
 
 ANOTHER VIEW OF GERMANY'S LEADERS 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 101 
 
 United States is concerned, than the checking of 
 the last German spy offensive in Mexico, which 
 had for its object a military clash between that 
 republic and the United States ? 
 
 The last spy offensive marked the climax to 
 German operations on the American continent, 
 just as the discovery of German-paid intrigue to 
 force peace in Europe has shattered the Imperial 
 plans for an Imperial peace. 
 
 Undoubtedly Germany still has her trusted 
 agents and their bribed assistants in Washington, 
 London, Paris, Rome, Petrograd and other cities ; 
 but most of them are like a swarm of wingless 
 bees miles away from the hive. The Allies and 
 the United States have had to fortify themselves 
 against spying as against military attack, and 
 their defences to-day are almost flawless. They 
 have succeeded in discovering if not in destroying 
 the channels through which information was sent 
 to and from Berlin. Sometimes, seemingly by 
 mere chance, a link has been broken, as in the case 
 of the wireless operator on an interned Teutonic 
 liner who escaped to Mexico before Congress de- 
 clared war. When I was in Mexico City, and even 
 before I left the United States, I heard reports 
 about secret German wireless stations ; but I was 
 unable to establish the location of any German 
 tower that was not deaf and dumb, and that had 
 any other sign language as a substitute. 
 
 After diplomatic relations between Washington 
 and Berlin were severed the chief wireless officer 
 
im MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 on one of the Hamburg liners formerly tied to a 
 Hoboken wharf dismantled and took apart the 
 plant on his ship, packed the essential parts in 
 trunks and suitcases, and boarded a train for Mex- 
 ico. Before April fourth he was safely across the 
 international border, bag, baggage and all. 
 
 This wireless operator had been ordered to Mex- 
 ico to construct one of the links in the proposed 
 chain of communication between this hemisphere 
 and the Kaiser's agents in Spain and Germany. 
 But he was only one of many suspected Germans 
 who escaped from New York before this country 
 was formally at war with the autocratic enemy. 
 There were many others, who were to spread the 
 nets of German intrigue in Cuba, Mexico and Cen- 
 tral America, and who left at the same time. By 
 June these men were scattered in all the leading 
 cities of the South, there to begin their operations 
 upon orders from abroad. 
 
 It is perhaps not necessary to state that before 
 this wireless operator packed his instrument he 
 invoiced and carefully examined it to make sure 
 he had all the parts needed. Those that were miss- 
 ing he bought through an agent; so when he left 
 Hoboken he was certain that every part needed to 
 make the wireless plant a success, with the excep- 
 tion of the tower and the electric power, was se- 
 curely registered in his baggage. 
 
 When he arrived in Mexico City he reported to 
 his All Highest officials, and within a short time 
 was ordered to rebuild the plant he had taken 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 103 
 
 from the interned liner. With true Teutonic plod- 
 ding thoroughness he assembled the parts, only to 
 discover that one of the pieces he was certain he 
 had packed, because it would be impossible to get 
 a substitute in Mexico, was missing. He searched 
 his baggage, re-examined the parts, consulted his 
 lists, and to his astonishment and amazement 
 learned that one of the most important features 
 of his instrument was missing. A closer inspec- 
 tion of his baggage showed that it had been 
 opened. 
 
 Some one — perhaps it is not necessary to say 
 who, but some one who evidently knew his scheme 
 — had entered his baggage and removed such an 
 essential part of the machine that it could not be 
 used in Mexico unless the part was imported from 
 the United States. And by this time the United 
 States was at war with Germany. This man tried 
 through many agents to get this part from the 
 North ; but at the time I left Mexico City, in Sep- 
 tember, 1917, he was still seeking the missing link. 
 
 Some one was just a little bit more clever than 
 he ; and that some one must have been an enemy. 
 
 Perhaps it was some one in the United States 
 Department of Justice, perhaps some one in the 
 British ; or it might have been some one in the New 
 York detective service. It really does not matter 
 who did the work; but it has meant a great deal 
 to the United States to have it impossible for this 
 German subject to erect his wireless station in 
 Mexico. 
 
104 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 German efforts in Mexico were divided into 
 three classes : the press propaganda ; the business 
 intrigue ; and the political endeavours. The press 
 work was placed in the hands of Herr von Lubeck, 
 a wealthy German merchant, who collected three 
 hundred thousand dollars from Germans in Mex- 
 ico City as an initial campaign fund. 
 
 About the middle of 1916 it was discovered that 
 these various organisations were not only making 
 detailed reports to Berlin, but that they were re- 
 ceiving instructions from headquarters there. 
 This correspondence, which was written as con- 
 fidential, was intercepted; and one document, 
 which I obtained, discloses in a general way the 
 activities of the German agents. 
 
 In order to make possible an efficient secret 
 service it was necessary for Germany to spread a 
 net over Mexico, as she did over the United States ; 
 but in casting this net in the well-known German 
 secret manner, it struck snags, and the holes torn 
 were so great that the German service in Mexico 
 has lost its effectiveness. All the German agents 
 in Mexico are known to the Allies. Every move- 
 ment is traced, though sometimes it is exceedingly 
 difficult to do so; and, though there are Germans 
 travelling throughout Mexico all the time, their 
 plans are nipped before they are well under way. 
 Mexico, which was to be the Spy's Paradise, has 
 become the German Spy's Hades. 
 
 Travelling on Mexican trains, I met a large num- 
 ber of Germans. On some railroad lines there were 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 105 
 
 more Germans than Americans. When I boarded 
 the train at Monterey for Tampico there were four 
 Grermans aboard and two Americans. The re- 
 mainder were Mexicans. Travellers in the in- 
 terior declared that German agents were travel- 
 ling in various parts of the country — on business ; 
 but through the loyal co-operation of American 
 business men and British commercial agents these 
 men are so effectively tracked that, even before 
 they can do anything to cause trouble, their plans 
 are exposed or placed before the Mexican Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 At one time Germany tried to place German 
 officers in the Mexican Army. At one time there 
 were forty active German officers in that army. 
 While I was in Mexico they were discharged. The 
 Mexicans discovered that they could not be trusted 
 in their posts, because, though they were employed 
 to drill the Mexican Army, it was learned that 
 their ulterior motives and their constant propa- 
 ganda against the United States were inimical to 
 the best interests of the Mexican Government and 
 people. 
 
 There is a great difference between American 
 and German activities in Mexico. Time was when 
 the Mexicans feared the Americans; when the 
 Mexican Government suspected American motives 
 and American plans in Mexico. And though that 
 time is not past, most Mexicans are beginning to 
 realise that, with the exception of a few big finan- 
 cial and business interests in the United States, 
 
106 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 no one, from the Government to tlie majority of 
 the American people, desires or would sanction 
 American military intervention in that country. 
 But the German plans are, almost without excep- 
 tion, made with military ends in view. 
 
 Early in 1915 there was organised in Mexico 
 City a Union of German Citizens. On April six- 
 teenth, 1916, the following report was sent from 
 this Union to the Deutscher Wirtschaftsverband 
 for Central and South America, with home offices 
 at Potsdamerstrasse, 28, Berlin. The significant 
 statement was made at that time, less than one 
 year before the United States broke off relations 
 with Berlin: ''It is not practicable for us to aid 
 Germany by force of arms." A bold confession, 
 indeed, that they had been thinking of military 
 co-operation; but because of the small number ol 
 Germans in Mexico it was not practicable to do 
 anything which might aid Germany against the 
 United States! 
 
 ''This is to advise of the organisation of this 
 society as far back as June sixteenth last year" — ■ 
 1915 — the report began. "As your association 
 is occupied in Latin- American countries, our so- 
 ciety will pursue the same course here. It is not 
 practicable for us to aid Germany by force of 
 arms; so our main intention will be to aid all 
 possible in an economic manner. 
 
 "The society was founded June sixteenth, hav- 
 ing 164 members; and the first committee was 
 chosen October twelfth, at which time the propa- 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 107 
 
 ganda was circulated in the capital and through- 
 out the interior. At the same time 245 Germans 
 of the Empire joined in the capital and 113 from 
 the interior, making a total of 522. 
 
 "As you can readily see from reading our stat- 
 utes, we will accept none as members save native- 
 born Germans, and their nationality must be 
 proved beyond doubt. That proscription also per- 
 mitted the Imperial authorities to recognise the 
 nationality of sixty Germans. Moreover, a great 
 number of Germans who, for various reasons, "by 
 not observing the ancient regulations, lost their 
 nationality,' have regained their standing as Ger- 
 mans, and have been rehabilitated under the new 
 liberal laws of the association. It is to be hoped 
 that excellent results will emanate from this 
 source. 
 
 "Up to the present a great number of publica- 
 tions on the war have been circulated in the cities 
 and throughout the country, dealing with the Ger- 
 man viewpoint, by the Ausschuss fiir Verteilung 
 von Aufklarungs-Material, who have been work- 
 ing for three months ; and a great number of Mex- 
 icans have been convinced that we are in the right 
 in the methods of conducting the war and in our 
 spirit of German culture. 
 
 "Also, the following technical works and serials 
 have been distributed : The Great War in Descrip- 
 tion ; The Actual War ; The Discourse of the Chan- 
 cellor, September 12, 1915 ; and The War and the 
 Right, by Dr. Ed. Llorens. 
 
108 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 ''The stories contained in the Herald, of Ham- 
 burg, received here in December, met with great 
 approval. 
 
 ' ' The circulation of the propaganda will be as- 
 sured by means of twenty-nine local committees, 
 and other members throughout the country; and 
 we are hopeful of the greatest results. 
 
 ''Free courses in German have been instituted 
 in the German schools by Mexican instructors 
 without special effort on the part of our associa- 
 tion, though a part of the general plan of the com- 
 mittee, and have been received with great ap- 
 proval by the pubhc, and add to our propaganda. 
 By this means the public will be given to under- 
 stand Germany and to receive the true communi- 
 cations of our General Staff on the happenings of 
 the war. The public will be disposed to accept our 
 announcements. 
 
 "It is desired to begin the immediate construc- 
 tion of a German hospital, which will be a great 
 impulse to our colony and will demonstrate to our 
 following the power of German science, German 
 ability, and the German spirit of organisation. If 
 the Empire approves and gives aid it will be a 
 great point for our propaganda. A committee of 
 physicians has this matter under study from the 
 scientific point of view. 
 
 ' ' The colony of Germans of the Empire here is 
 relatively small and the economical setbacks of 
 the country for the past five years have^ greatly 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 109 
 
 hindered our spirit of enterprise against the eco- 
 nomic strength of our enemies. 
 
 ''Address correspondence for the president to 
 Herr Ad. Christliebsen, Apartado 58, Mexico, or 
 to the secretary, Hugo von den Steinen, Apartado 
 1221, Mexico City." 
 
 When this communication was discovered en 
 route to Berlin another avenue of German intrigue 
 was opened up ; and, in view of the disclosures in 
 the letter from former Minister of Foreign Af- 
 fairs Alfred Zimmermann to the German Minister 
 in Mexico City, it is easy to see what use the Im- 
 perial Government could have made of the twenty- 
 nine branches of the Verband Deutscher Eeich- 
 sangehoriger in case Germany's efforts had suc- 
 ceeded in influencing Mexico to invade the United 
 States. Also, in view of the Zimmermann letter, 
 one can understand the statement of this society 
 in April, 1916, that ''it is not practicable for us 
 to aid Germany by force of arms." The society, 
 at that time, was just being organised, and was, 
 therefore, not powerful enough to carry on mili- 
 tary operations. Evidently Doctor Zimmermann 
 thought the German citizens in Mexico could vio- 
 late Mexican neutrality as easily as the German 
 Army scrapped the treaty with Belgium. 
 
 One can draw a remarkable contrast between 
 this method of organising foreigners in Mexico 
 with that of the American business men who, dur- 
 ing my stay in the capital, planned an American 
 Chamber of Commerce. The complete prospectus, 
 
110 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 published and signed by the leading American 
 business men and bankers, I have given in the 
 appendix of this book. The prospectus declared : 
 
 "It is proposed to establish a purely commer- 
 cial and non-political organisation, which will fo- 
 ment the friendly trade relations between Mexico 
 and the United States." 
 
 Among the benefits to be derived from such an 
 organisation were cited these : 
 
 "Increase of the market in Mexico for Ameri- 
 can goods of all kinds. 
 
 "Increase of export of Mexican products to the 
 United States and encouragement of production 
 in Mexico by enlisting capital and creating new 
 markets or improving present ones through better 
 methods. 
 
 ' ' The estabhshment of a much-needed bureau of 
 business information about Mexico, its resources, 
 opportunities and impediments, for the benefit of 
 Americans in the United States who wish such in- 
 formation but at present cannot get it from re- 
 liable sources." 
 
 Instead of being a secret report, as in the case 
 of the German BericM to Berlin, the American 
 report was published and widely circulated. No 
 mention is made of military operations, interven- 
 tion, and so on, and the object of the chamber will 
 be as beneficial to Mexico as to the United States. 
 That is the Great Divide between American enter- 
 prise in Mexico and German intrigue. The object 
 of the one is to develop honest business ; the Teu- 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 111 
 
 tonic object is to spread propaganda and convince 
 Mexicans that the German methods of conducting 
 the war are right. 
 
 It might have been stated at the beginning of 
 the war, because of the cleverness of the German 
 spies and the spotless organisation, that everything 
 they did was in the dark — at least, so far as the 
 enemy was concerned. Those were the days when 
 inconspicuous Belgian billboards, advertisements 
 in French and British newspapers, direct tele- 
 grams and letters from Russian traitors, and offi- 
 cial documents from Italy were messages and re- 
 ports from intelligence officers. To-day one might 
 as correctly assert that the sun never sets on Ger- 
 man intrigue, for practically every great scheme 
 by which Germany has sought to embroil neutrals, 
 destroy ships of friendly states, stir up discon- 
 tent within belligerent nations, and make peace, 
 has been discovered by the United States or the 
 Allies before these plans, plots and military 
 dreams came true. 
 
 One day I was sitting in the lobby of my hotel 
 in Tampico, chatting with an American editor, 
 when two young men entered, greeting my com- 
 panion. 
 
 ''Mr. Blume and Mr. Nieno,'* he said, introduc- 
 ing them. 
 
 We sat round the table and discussed the war, 
 when my companion remarked that I had been in 
 Germany and had written some articles about that 
 
112 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 country ; then, turning to one of the guests, he said 
 to me : 
 
 ''Herr Blume, here, is the head of the German 
 Secret Service." Then he smiled. 
 
 "So," remarked Blume in good English, "you 
 have been writing those lies about Germany! I 
 have read The Saturday Evening Post for many 
 years ; but when the war broke out I stopped read- 
 ing everything about Germany. None of your 
 magazines will publish the truth. The other night 
 I read every article in the Post, except one about 
 Germany. I did not want to read that one; but 
 I couldn't sleep because it was so hot that night, 
 and I read that article about one-thirty in the 
 morning. It made me so angry I didn't sleep all 
 night ! ' ' 
 
 "Well," I replied, "you ought to read every- 
 thing that is written about Germany, and maybe 
 you couldn't sleep for a week! But what are you 
 going to do when Germany becomes a democratic 
 nation?" 
 
 "Germany is democratic," he answered; and 
 then the conversation followed other, less belliger- 
 ent, channels. 
 
 Though it would not be safe to assume that be- 
 cause Herr Blume is considered by some of the 
 foreigners as the chief of the Kaiser's service 
 there, the fact that the allied foreigners can select 
 one or more men who do His Majesty's work is 
 significant in that it shows how even the ordinary 
 citizen, at home and abroad, is a member of 
 
El Embajador: J Mi estar all-rigthi 
 
 $0.25 
 
 i^OVER-CARTOON OF AMBASSADOR FLETCHER FROM 
 'i SMALL MAGAZINE, "mOMO/' MEXICO CITY 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 113 
 
 Democracy's secret service. In fact, what work 
 is being done in Mexico to-day for the United 
 States and the Allies is not the work of paid con- 
 fidential investigators so mnch as the voluntary 
 aid of American and Allied business men and 
 travellers. There are Allied eyes to-day on nearly 
 every German operation ; and more than one order 
 to Imperial agents in Mexico has failed of execu- 
 tion because of these sleepless eyes. 
 
 It is not difficult to learn about the German 
 moves in that country. The United States Gov- 
 ernment knows every possible means of communi- 
 cation between Mexico and the outside world. It 
 knows of the possibilities through Salvador, 
 Spain, Argentina and Japan. It knows the mes- 
 sengers and agents who travel between Cuba, 
 South and Central America, and Mexico;, and 
 most of the time the United States or one of the 
 Allies knows what is being sent. The system of 
 watching the German agents in this Latin Re- 
 public is so water-tight that most of the danger is 
 past. 
 
 One can meet many Americans who believe that 
 our system in Mexico is weak because it is so easy 
 for people to travel back and forth without pass- 
 ports. I heard directly of several instances where 
 Americans went to different parts of that coun- 
 try without official permission ; and I returned to 
 the United States without having to give up my 
 passport, which is required now by State Depart- 
 ment regulations. Some opium smuggling still 
 
114 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 goes on, some information still goes back and 
 forth, and some Germans succeed, through Mex- 
 ican and other neutral agents, in purchasing war 
 materials in the United States ; but the big moves 
 are almost always nipped in the bud. 
 
 Not even the Austrian Consul in Monterey, the 
 chief industrial and railroad centre in Northern 
 Mexico, is able to get his carloads of sulphuric 
 acid out of the United States, even though he has 
 the largest wholesale and retail drug store in that 
 part of the country. Whether his object is to 
 divert this acid from war purposes, or whether it 
 is for use in Mexico, it matters not. He was balked 
 even when he organised, through Mexican work- 
 ers, a wax-match factory, and ordered still more 
 sulphuric acid. His business and that of his satel- 
 lites may be the business of the Imperial German 
 Government ; and Uncle Sam is not taking chances. 
 
 The last spy offensive was another German 
 failure, as both Mexico and the Germans are be- 
 ginning to realise. Mexico and the United States 
 in the mid-summer of 1917 were on friendlier 
 relations than at any time during the war. 
 
 Since I wrote the first of the series of articles 
 which has led to the composition of this book there 
 have been certain events of more than ordinary 
 significance that change, in some respects, the 
 statements I made in those articles. Between the 
 time of the writing and the publication of the ar- 
 ticle entitled ''Eising or Setting Sun in Mexico," 
 President Wilson recognised the de jure Govern- 
 
THE LAST SPY OFFENSIVE 115 
 
 ment. President Carranza addressed an auto- 
 graph letter to President Wilson, notifying him 
 officially of his selection as President of Mexico 
 at the last election; and on August thirty-first, 
 1917, Mr. Wilson, without consulting his Cabinet, 
 extended our official recognition to the present 
 Mexican Government. 
 
 In Tampico the labour difficulties have in- 
 creased ; and General Carranza has sent two hun- 
 dred soldiers to the city to maintain order, while 
 a number of Mexicans have written to the United 
 States Consulate asking that American marines 
 be landed to protect the city at night. In these 
 letters the Mexicans declared that it was unsafe 
 to go on the street after dark in some neighbour- 
 hoods, and they requested American intervention. 
 
 Food and money continue to become scarcer 
 throughout Mexico, despite the official announce- 
 ments. In October, 1917, the Federal Gov- 
 ernment notified the governor of the state of 
 Nuevo Leon that hereafter the Central Federal 
 Treasury would be unable to give to the state that 
 portion of the federal taxes which had previously 
 been sent there. The governor was notified that 
 he would have to raise money for the state govern- 
 ment as best he could. 
 
 In the warehouses of Monterey there were in 
 August, 1917, over forty thousand hides ready for 
 exportation; but they could not be shipped be- 
 cause the Mexican Government demanded that the 
 duty be paid in gold, and it was impossible for 
 
116 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 the exporter to get the required amount. He 
 notified American officials that he had sixty thou- 
 sand hides in other warehouses, available to the 
 Allies whenever the required amount of gold was 
 permitted to leave the United States. 
 
 Business in the Monterey consular district has 
 continued to increase, even beyond the figures 
 quoted in the first article I wrote on Mexico : 
 "Mexico— Enemy or Ally?" In July, 1917, the 
 exportations amounted to $1,950,000; in August, 
 $2,500,000; and during the first fifteen days of 
 September, $1,500,000. This indicates a further 
 revival in business in this part of Mexico. 
 
 As to whether Mexico shall be an enemy or an 
 ally of the United States, the question is still un- 
 decided; but it seems at this time that the bonds 
 between the two nations are being fused tighter 
 at every rise of the sun. 
 
 But Mexico is and may remain for some time 
 as she was described to me by a foreigner in 
 Tampico. 
 
 ''Mexico," he declared, ''is the screen of a great 
 national moving picture. The operator and his 
 machine are in the skies. Four reels of the revo- 
 lution have been unwound. Nobody knows the 
 fifth, except the Great Author of Human Des- 
 tinies ; and the last act is just about to begin." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 
 
 THE sun rises unclouded in Mexico City one 
 day, but by that afternoon the clouds domi- 
 nate the battlefields of the skies. It rains 
 for a few hours, the dusty streets are washed, auto- 
 mobiles and coaches skid and race through the city, 
 and the people go home or to the theatres. The 
 next day they expect the morning sun to be as 
 bright and warm as it was the day before. Be- 
 cause, it may be, it is the rainy season now, they 
 await the afternoon shower and are prepared for 
 it when it comes. 
 
 In somewhat the same philosophic way they look 
 at politics. They expect to-morrow to be as peace- 
 ful as to-day; but during the past seven years 
 there have been so many unexpected revolutionary 
 storms that when a change comes they act as they 
 do when it rains in the morning, or when the sun 
 shines all day. 
 
 To-day, however, there are a few people who 
 would like to know whether Mexico is facing the 
 rising sun of a new, prosperous era, or whether 
 the sun is about to give way to the clouds of 
 
 117 
 
118 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 another troublesome period. Quien sahef say the 
 Mexicans. It is true, one never can tell. 
 
 A poor-rich nation is Mexico. Eich, because 
 foreign intellect, foreign capital, foreign engineers 
 and foreign business men developed her resources 
 and made her so. Poor, because the revolutions 
 have pestered the foreigners and Mexico in some- 
 what the same way that an army of Hessian flies 
 destroys a wheat field. But to-day the revolution- 
 ists have discovered that the battle cry, Down with 
 the foreigners who exploited us ! — though it may 
 win a revolution — does not help reconstruction. 
 The old sign which was illuminated throughout 
 the world under President Diaz — ^Welcome, for- 
 eigners! — is being put up again by timid hands; 
 and it will not be long before it is lighted so 
 brightly that it can be read in the darkest corners 
 of the sceptical business world. This poor little 
 rich nation wants to be as rich in gold as in natural 
 wealth, and the government is beginning to realise 
 that only the hated foreigners have the gold. 
 
 There is so much of the melodramatic in Mex- 
 ican life to-day that one is apt to overlook what is 
 going on behind the scenes. One hears about the 
 autocratic rule of various states ; one learns how 
 governors and generals hold up foreign business 
 interests, and about the inability of the central 
 government to enforce its orders ; one reads in the 
 newspapers about the street fights and military 
 duels ; and one imagines that the whole community 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 119 
 
 has nothing more to do. This is where one's imag- 
 ination is not a safe prophet. 
 
 To-day the United States and the Allies are 
 watching Mexico through a microscope. They 
 delayed official recognition of Don Venustiano Car- 
 ranza as president of the Republic. They were 
 waiting to see whether the sun is rising or setting. 
 They recognised the de facto government and in 
 August, 1917, President Wilson recognised the 
 official status of the Carranza Government. 
 
 The new constitution of Mexico, adopted at 
 Queretaro in January, 1917, contains two articles 
 that foreign governments consider confusing 
 and equivocal. There is a possibility that Ar- 
 ticle Twenty-seven may be enforced to the ex- 
 tent that every foreign property in Mexico shall 
 be confiscated by the government. Many millions 
 of dollars invested by foreigners are in the hands 
 of the government. Since January first, 1917, to 
 the time of this writing, for instance, the Mexican 
 Government had taken, through so-called forced 
 loans, thirty-seven million pesos in gold from the 
 banks of Mexico City, Monterey, Vera Cruz and 
 other cities. 
 
 In some cases the government has given re- 
 ceipts. In others the French, English, Canadian 
 and American bankers and depositors have no 
 records. The government has been compelled to 
 take this step because of the financial crisis that 
 faces the nation. There is no paper money in cir- 
 culation. Gold and silver coins are the only me- 
 
120 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 dmm ; and the expenses of the government and the 
 requirements of business are so enormous that 
 money must be had, no matter what measures are 
 necessary. 
 
 There are some Mexicans who declare that the 
 banks will be reimbursed ; but the time when this 
 will be possible depends upon how soon the gov- 
 ernment obtains foreign financial aid. 
 
 Mexico has endeavoured to obtain, through 
 agents, a loan from New York bankers or from 
 the United States Government. Early in August, 
 1917, a report reached Mexico City that the United 
 States would veto a loan if the bankers floated 
 it. On August twentieth the White House an- 
 nounced that, in the opinion of the United States 
 Government, a loan would not be looked upon 
 with disfavour. This was done to assure the Mex- 
 ican Government that the United States was not 
 trying to hinder Mexico in her financial aspira- 
 tions ; but as the despatch appeared in the Mexican 
 newspapers it gave the impression that the United 
 States Government had sanctioned a loan, and 
 that all Mexico had to do was to send a ship to 
 New York for the money. 
 
 The biggest financial obstacle is the army. 
 Nearly seventy per cent of the annual budget 
 goes to the army and navy. Since there is no 
 navy, this is purely an army expense. The pay 
 rolls contain nearly one hundred and fifteen thou- 
 sand names; but, according to conservative esti- 
 mates, there are not fifty thousand soldiers in all 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 121 
 
 the governmeiit's forces. The army of dead men 
 is so great that this form of graft is considered 
 as contraband of the revolution. 
 
 Generals are not the only ones who are becom- 
 ing millionaires, measured in pesos. In Pachuca, 
 the largest silver and gold mining city in the world 
 to-day, one government official recently deposited, 
 through an American firm, seventy-five thousand 
 dollars in a New York City bank during seven 
 months. Besides, he purchased considerable 
 property in the capital. The government and the 
 foreigners were sure that this man is dishonest; 
 but his method of grafting could not be discovered. 
 
 In Monterey a nephew of one of the highest 
 officials in the government offered local merchants 
 a proposition of importing articles from the 
 United States free of high import duties, provided 
 they would pay him from fifty to seventy per cent 
 of these duties for his work, which consisted in 
 getting the goods across the international border. 
 
 Fifteen years ago there thrived in Mexico City 
 what was known as the Thieves' Market. Prop- 
 erty stolen by maids, pickpockets, house servants 
 and others was placed on sale every Sunday 
 morning ; and Mexicans and foreigners went there 
 in search of missing articles and bargains. It 
 was easier to obtain them in this shop than to 
 start criminal investigations. 
 
 Though the Thieves' Market is still doing busi- 
 ness, it has competition now in the antique shops 
 and curio stores. The revolution has turned many 
 
122 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 a churcli and palace inside out. Saunter through 
 these places to-day and you will find church orna- 
 ments, silverware, jewels, Chinese silks, Japanese 
 idols, church bells and bishops' gowns for sale. 
 You can purchase pieces of the silk wall paper 
 with which Emperor Maximilian covered the walls 
 of the National Palace when he ruled the Mexican 
 people. Some day Mexico will be a rich field for 
 collectors. 
 
 This is part of the melodrama ; but the govern- 
 ment has already interfered in this business. 
 There is an embargo on the shipment of any 
 church property out of the country. 
 
 In London, Paris, Washington and Rome there 
 are, on file with the various governments, claims 
 of their citizens against the Republic of Mexico. 
 Until the Mexican Government determines upon 
 a definite policy in dealing with foreign interests, 
 and in settling these claims, recognition of the de 
 jure government will be withheld. President Car- 
 ranza has been informed that some day there will 
 be a reckoning ; and this is one of the chief prob- 
 lems he is trying to solve. 
 
 Interwoven with this question, like a black 
 thread in a piece of white cloth, is the question 
 of neutrality. To-day Mexico is not even a pas- 
 sive belligerent ; and the hope of the United States 
 Government, judged by its policy, is that Mexico 
 will adjust her internal affairs so that it will not 
 be necessary for America to divert her war 
 energies from the European battlefields. One day, 
 
-|'llMM4t**!»i2|5';;|*! 
 
 THESE ARE TERRA COTTA HEADS FOUND BY PROF. NIVEN. THEY 
 SHOW THE TWO TYPES OF "mEXICAn" SEVERAL HUNDRED 
 AND PERHAPS SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS AGO 
 
 AN AZTEC FAMILY TREE 
 
 THIS IS A PIECE OF TERRA COTTA GIVING THE LIFE HISTORY 
 
 OF AN AZTEC INDIAN FAMILY. FOUND BY PROF. NIVEN. PHOTO BY MR. NIVEN 
 
I 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 123 
 
 while talking to Don Luis Cabrera in the Treasury 
 Department, he remarked that, because the senti- 
 ment in the Chamber of Deputies was so strongly 
 in favour of neutrality, the government would not 
 change its policy; but, despite the statement of 
 Mr. Cabrera and the ojfficial attitude of Washing- 
 ton, neutrality remains in a variable state. 
 
 It is not the attitude of the United States or 
 Mexico to-day that is important. It is the posi- 
 tion the two nations will assume when Mexico has 
 to decide ultimately what she is going to do. 
 
 The sentiment among the Mexican people, so 
 far as one can judge, is one with the motto ''I 
 don 't care ! ' ' The opinion of the Intellectuals, the 
 influential leaders back of the government, and 
 of some high officials, is different. These men are 
 pro- Ally because they are pro-Democracy in Mex- 
 ico and Europe, 
 
 One Sunday afternoon an American banker gave 
 a party at his home in the suburbs. One of the 
 chief members of President Carranza's cabinet 
 was present. His reputation as a master of anec- 
 dote had grown into fame since his visit to the 
 United States, where he had learned to speak 
 English. 
 
 **It was house-cleaning time in Hades," began 
 the secretary, looking round the room, into the 
 eyes of every woman and man present, to see 
 what impression his first remark had made. It 
 delighted him that his audience was international. 
 There were present foreign diplomats, anti-Mex- 
 
124 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 ican Americans, anti- American Mexicans, and my- 
 self. 
 
 "No. It is not shocking, as you say in the 
 United States," he added with a smile. Th© 
 guests smiled politely, too, so as not to discourage 
 him. "Satan," he continued, "ordered his ser- 
 vants to dust and clean all the comers and rooms 
 of his palace, which stood at the entrance to his 
 estate." He spoke slowly, so as not to make a 
 mistake in his youthful English. 
 
 "It was evening when Satan made his inspec- 
 tion. He saw that everything was perfectly clean 
 inside; and then he looked at the" — ^he paused 
 for the word — "exterior. Above the gate Satan 
 read the old worn inscription: 'AH hope aban- 
 don, ye who enter here.' And Satan said: 'I 
 must have a new sign. That one is not modern. 
 It is not up to date' — as you say in New York. 
 
 * ' Satan thought a while. ' ' The secretary paused 
 and puffed his cigar. ' ' He consulted some of his 
 chief advisers. ' ' 
 
 "You mean his Cabinet," suggested an Amer- 
 ican. 
 
 "Ah, yes," replied the secretary; "Satan con- 
 sulted his Cabinet. And the next day the new 
 inscription above the gate read: Made in Grer- 
 many ! " 
 
 Though the secretary told this story with as 
 much enthusiasm as if he had been the author of it, 
 I imagine it was one he had heard in the States. 
 It served the purpose at this gathering, however, 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICOi 125 
 
 of crystallising an opinion held by many influen- 
 tial Mexicans. It would not be fair to give this 
 minister's name, or to conclude that, because he 
 is anti- German, the government is about to change 
 its policy toward the belligerents. 
 
 Mexico is awaiting a provocation. Perhaps it 
 would be better to say that it would not be wise 
 for Germany to provoke her. The famous Zim- 
 mermann letter, revealing the German opinion 
 regarding annexation, has been forgotten; but 
 Germany is again playing with neutrality by her 
 growing intrigues in Mexico. The I. W. W. have 
 become as active in Mexico against foreign inter- 
 ests as in the United States ; and the money they 
 use is called marks. 
 
 President Carranza's authority is, in some 
 states, only nominal to-day. A few governors, 
 especially if they are military leaders, interpret 
 and obey his orders as they see fit. For this 
 reason the Chief Executive is commonly called the 
 Easy Boss ; but what for some time Mr. Carranza 
 has been becoming is a Calm Dictator. He has 
 been accomplishing some reforms so quietly that 
 even the men deposed have been unaware of hisj^ 
 object. 
 
 When Seiior Carranza first took office he had to 
 appoint his popular generals to Cabinet positions. 
 To date he has eliminated most of them, and with 
 great skill. One man, who was thought to be dis- 
 honest and who was anti-foreign in every policy, 
 demanded a certain Cabinet berth — the Depart- 
 
126 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 ment of Fomento, or Public Works. Mr. Carranza 
 could not remove him, so he wrote a decree chang- 
 ing the duties of this department, taking all the 
 important foreign work out of his hands. The 
 foreigners were delighted ; and so was the Cabinet 
 officer, because he had other things to do. He 
 didn't care to deal with foreigners, anyway. i 
 
 A year ago from the time I was in Mexico ex- 
 President Diaz was regarded as having been the 
 worst dictator and boss Mexico ever had — ^by the 
 Mexicans. To-day he is being considered in a 
 different light, though his evil acts have not been 
 forgotten. Fifteen years ago, when a list of ten ; 
 names was placed before Diaz so that he might f 
 select a senator from Coahuila, he picked the jj 
 ninth, that of Senor Carranza. To-day this sen- ' 
 ator is Diaz's successor, and he had developed r 
 many of the qualities of leadership the old Indian | 
 had. Mr. Carranza 's friends say that he is devel- \ 
 oping a Democratic dictatorship in Mexico; but 
 the foreigners add: *'By his acts we shall judge 
 him." 
 
 Still, the question is asked: ''Was Diaz a 
 prophet, too?" 
 
 Because of the universal lack of education 
 among Indians and Mexicans, a representative | 
 government such as exists in Mexico to-day is, in ' 
 fact, only a representation of the strongest parties 
 and elements supporting Carranza; but Mexico 
 remains more of a nation over Mr. Carranza than 
 under him. He dominates the Central Govern- 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 127 
 
 ment and he holds the nominal support of his old 
 military chiefs ; though, very often, they take mat- 
 ters into their own hands, such as taxation of 
 foreign mines and ranches. Though the President 
 has compelled some of these men to resign, the 
 task is so enormous that it camiot be completed 
 for some time. Manana is a famous expression 
 in Mexico when one asks how soon something can 
 be done; and, though manana means to-morrow 
 when translated into English, it signifies a much 
 longer period when apphed to work. 
 
 The iron policy in Mexico, if one may call any 
 act there by that term, belongs to the military 
 chiefs. There is no lack of firmness when they 
 act. 
 
 Don Luis Cabrera, former Secretary of the 
 Treasury and now government leader in the Cham- 
 ber of Deputies, is considered the intellectual 
 leader of the country; but one of his hobbies is 
 the hunting of ducks. Still, this story is not to 
 be about a duck hunt. More interesting than such 
 excursions are his activities in Parliament. 
 
 A few days before the session adjourned, in 
 August, 1917, some members objected in uncen- 
 sored terms to the presence of Americans in Mex- 
 ico City as members of a financial commission 
 upon the invitation of the government. Their 
 activities were due more to Cabrera's initiative 
 than to any other official's. 
 
 Two American authorities — Professor Chand- 
 ler, of Columbia University, and Professor Kem- 
 
128 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 merer, of Princeton — ^had just reached the capital. 
 A member of the Deputies declared he thought 
 their presence ought to be investigated, and that 
 the government ought to be questioned about such 
 an important matter. He denounced Americans in 
 general and the government more particularly. 
 
 Cabrera, who is always on hand to support the 
 government, saw the members supporting the 
 speaker and in a clever speech stated that he 
 thought the government ought to be interrogated. 
 The investigation was set for the next day. 
 
 The next day he appeared in a different role. 
 Cabrera defended the government! A member 
 asked whether there were no Mexicans capable of 
 doing the work the Americans were asked to do; 
 whether Mexicans could not audit the govern- 
 ment's accounts. Certainly, replied Cabrera in 
 substance; but unfortunately most of these Mex- 
 icans are out of the country. Senor Limantour, 
 who is in Paris, could do it — ^Limantour was Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury under Diaz. 
 
 The opposition would not be quieted and 
 Cabrera began one of his famous orations. *' Be- 
 cause Thomas A. Edison, an American citizen, 
 invented electric lights is no reason why Mexico 
 should burn candles," declared Cabrera in part. 
 These experts, he added, had been consulted by 
 the United States and foreign governments; and 
 Mexico, desiring to obtain the services of financial 
 authorities, had invited them as any other govern- 
 ment might. 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 129 
 
 Cabrera's address and his knowledge of parlia- 
 mentary rules won the day for the government, 
 and the speaker escaped without a challenge to a 
 duel. 
 
 He has been challenged more than once ; but his 
 opponents know that he is a crack shot at ducks. 
 
 The visit of this American commission and 
 the growing tendency among officials to be more 
 friendly to the United States are the hopeful signs 
 in Mexico to-day. The financial experts were 
 charged with the duty of investigating the receipts 
 and expenditures of the government departments, 
 with the object of making recommendations to 
 establish efficiency and honesty. A giant's task 
 it was. 
 
 By many this was interpreted as the initial step 
 by the government in a new policy toward America 
 and outside interests. Be that as it may, the Car- 
 ranza Government was much more friendly to the 
 United States than it had ever been. The Chief 
 Executive time and again had ignored the protests 
 of the German Minister because American war- 
 ships were in Mexican waters at Tampico. This 
 form of friendly neutrality was not agreeable to 
 Herr von Eckhardt. What friendship there is to- 
 day is due to Ambassador Fletcher. He was 
 hissed on May first, 1917, when Carranza took the 
 oath of office, and Von Eckhardt was applauded. 
 If there were a celebration to-day the honours 
 would be reversed. That much the ambassador 
 did in four months. He may yet have the Mex- 
 
130 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 icans cheering Uncle Sam's troops in France. One 
 never can tell what diplomacy may do next. 
 
 One of the needs of Mexico is an efficient rail- 
 road system. A curious attempt at a refutation 
 of this asservation of mine I have printed in the 
 appendix of this volume. Here I reaffirm that for 
 seven years practically no repairs have been made 
 on any of the lines — either those owned by the 
 government or those owned abroad and operated 
 by the authorities. In Monterey there are the 
 wrecks of four hundred freight cars, burned by 
 General Villa as a sacrifice to his legions when 
 they made their last march through the city. 
 
 A government official has inspected other lines 
 and found four thousand cars that can be repaired ; 
 but money, labourers and materials are needed. 
 The first and third can come only from the United 
 States. And it has been explained to the govern- 
 ment by private parties that, even if Mexico had 
 the money to purchase engines and car-construc- 
 tion material, it would be three years before they 
 could be delivered, unless — there is always a way 
 to evade contracts — Mexico were an ally of the 
 United States. And in that case every effort would 
 be made to aid her. Allies always have the first 
 call. 
 
 Multiply the task that faced Diaz when he was 
 struggling with the conflicting elements of Mexico 
 in 1877 by the increase in population in Mexico, 
 and by the increase in foreign capital invested, and 
 you will have an understanding of what faces 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 131 
 
 Senor Carranza. Forty years ago the United 
 States would not recognise the official or de jure 
 government of Diaz, because he was struggling 
 with the same tasks and inactions of the present 
 day, but on a smaller scale. 
 
 Whether Senor Carranza will adopt the same 
 attitude toward foreigners that Don Porfirio did, 
 and whether he will try to reconstruct Mexico with 
 the assistance of outside brains, are questions 
 which events alone can answer. Senor Carranza 
 has the same opportunities. So far as the United 
 States is concerned, one might judge from the 
 former policy of President Wilson that he was 
 willing to help the Republic get on its financial 
 and reconstruction feet, even if the alignment of 
 Mexico on the side of the Allies were a temporary 
 burden. The United States is endeavouring to 
 help the nation by advice and counsel. 
 
 One suggestion which has been made to Presi- 
 dent Carranza is that he shall abolish the decree 
 fixing an artificial value in exchange for American 
 money. Formerly one dollar was equal to two 
 pesos in Mexican currency. To-day, by a govern- 
 ment order, a dollar is accepted by the government 
 as equal to but 1.85 pesos in gold, or 1.75 pesos 
 in United States bank notes. If the Mexican Gov- 
 ernment would agree to the old standard — so it is 
 stated — American gold and silver would be used in 
 exchange and increase the amount of available 
 currency. But the government has not acted. It 
 is claimed that an official is benefiting by the 
 
132 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 present arrangement; and he is apparently strong 
 enough to prevent a change. But perhaps not! 
 The government may not be convinced. 
 
 The mint in Mexico City is coining fifty thou- 
 sand dollars' worth of silver fifty-centavo pieces 
 every day, and much more gold. But no machine 
 or collection of machines can make money as fast 
 as a wasteful Eepublic can spend it. I doubt 
 whether one machine can make money fast enough 
 to pay the salary of a general who, by chance, may 
 be a governor, an inspector, and something else 
 too. One man in Mexico is not necessarily made 
 for one job. 
 
 Since the spring of 1917 there has been a change 
 in the attitude of certain foreign investors toward 
 the Carranza Government. There has been ap- 
 parent an inclination to work with the officials. 
 Canadian and American merchants have been 
 again looking after Mexican business. So, too, 
 the British. Some of these people have already 
 discussed claims with the government, and there 
 has been a belief that they will be able to agree 
 with the officials. This is shocking those who be- 
 lieved there was no chance of the Carranza Gov- 
 ernment's continuing so long. 
 
 While in Mexico, talking with a large number 
 of foreigners, I found that those who were show- 
 ing a willingness to co-operate with the authorities 
 were not only being encouraged by the results but 
 they believed it would be profitable. 
 
 ''Concessions" is the most hated of all words by 
 
PROFESSOR WILLIAM NIVEN, WHO HAS CHARGE OF 
 THE EXCAVATIONS NEAR MEXICO CITY 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 133 
 
 the revolutionists, because it was said that foreign- 
 ers robbed Mexico with concessions ; but that word 
 is actually being used to-day to describe what the 
 present government is doing. I met an American 
 who had recently obtained a water-power site near 
 Mexico City. Engineers calculated that the falls 
 would develop twenty-four thousand horse-power. 
 This was concession; and it had been granted by 
 the government that was opposed to such things 
 when it began. 
 
 Hated, cursed, vilified and condemned, Venus- 
 tiano Carranza remains the strongest political 
 figure in Mexico, and the only man who can guide 
 the fateful and fretful destinies of the Eepublic 
 to-day. All agree about this, Mexicans and for- 
 eigners. Carranza or intervention ! 
 
 There is no organised revolution to-day. Most 
 Mexicans will tell you that Villa has no political 
 influence, that his men are deserting from day to 
 day. But Villa is a Mexican Humpty-Dumpty 
 who falls to pieces one day and is put together a 
 few months later. 
 
 When I was in Tampico I was told that Villa 
 had been in communication with Pelaez and that 
 General Enriquez had been designated by Pelaez 
 to serve with Villa on his staff in case of another 
 revolution. It is significant, also, that the troops 
 of Manuel Pelaez call themselves ''Villistas." 
 
 At one time there was a plan under way for 
 Pelaez and Villa representatives to meet in New 
 York for a conference, but according to a public 
 
13* MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 announcemeiit by Villa in November, 1917, lie 
 travelled through Mexico in disguise and con- 
 ferred with the other rebel chiefs. 
 
 Whatever may be Villa's political objects and 
 aims one thing is apparent; that is that he could 
 not make a stand against the present government 
 of Mexico without assistance from interests in the 
 United States opposed to Senor Carranza, or from 
 German influences in Mexico. Villa is supported 
 by one or the other of these, perhaps by both. 
 
 One day in 1917 three hundred Villistas strolled 
 into Torreon, and then out to an American ranch, 
 where they informed the manager that Villa had 
 discharged them. Perhaps there was no more 
 loot ! Perhaps Carranza is an easy boss. It may 
 be that this is the only kind of dictator the Mexi- 
 can people will follow now. 
 
 But despite all this, the puzzle of the Mexican 
 Sphinx remains: What Will Mexico Do? How 
 will the government interpret the constitution? 
 Will the authorities return confiscated property? 
 Will the government adjust foreign claims ? Will 
 the banks be reimbursed? 
 
 Sphinxes are not found in many parts of the 
 world, but there are two in Mexico. Standing at 
 the corner of Calle San Francisco and Avenida 
 Juarez, looking toward Ghapultepec Park one can 
 see, on the right, the National Theatre, the so- 
 called White Elephant, with its incomplete marble 
 walls glistening in the sunlight like a giant 's helio- 
 graph. In the distance towers the rusty steel 
 
RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO 135 
 
 skeleton of the proposed Honse of Parliament. 
 The Mexicans call it the Black Elephant. 
 
 These are the Mexican Sphinxes — the symbols 
 of Mexico to-day. Whether these structures are 
 completed and transformed into modern architec- 
 tural monuments depends upon the answers to the 
 questions facing the government. Whether they 
 rattle to pieces or wear away unused depends upon 
 the replies Senor Carranza makes to the questions 
 the world is asking. These two buildings, or parts 
 thereof — ^just as Mexico itself — contain possibili- 
 ties for success or failure. But the question their 
 bleak walls and iron bones ask is answered with 
 the echo: 
 
 ''What will Mexico dor ' 
 
 Aristotle once remarked that, to be complete, 
 things must have a beginning, a middle and an 
 end. How simple ; and yet how informing ! This 
 chapter, so far, has only a beginning and a middle ; 
 therefore, it is not complete. 
 
 I began by asking whether the sun was rising 
 or setting in Mexico. I shall answer : The sun is 
 rising; but I cannot tell whether there will be 
 rain to-morrow. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE FUTURE 
 
 MUST the United States intervene in Mex- 
 ico before that country can take its place 
 among the great nations of the world?" 
 
 Mexicans and foreigners ask this question be- 
 cause to most men it seems a pity that a nation 
 with such great possibilities should be under a 
 shadow of internal strife from decade to decade. 
 
 The answer, to my mind, is: "Yes, but there 
 is more than one way to intervene in Mexico. ' ' 
 
 I do not believe that the United States would 
 be justified to-day in intervening in Mexico with 
 armed forces to protect American property or 
 American life because I have confidence in the 
 possibilities of a Mexican Government if the lead- 
 ers and the people are given an opportunity to 
 work out their own political destiny. But if Ger- 
 man intrigue, directed from Berlin, continues to 
 stir up hatred for the United States and continues 
 as a source of irritation and trouble, and if the 
 United States or her Allies during the war are 
 attacked from Mexico, the situation might change 
 over night. 
 
 It is obvious, I think, to most people who have 
 136 
 
THE FUTURE 137 
 
 travelled in Mexico recently that the people and 
 the government of that country cannot grow in 
 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. 
 
 The first need of the Mexican people to-day is 
 education. Of the population which is estimated 
 at fifteen million only about two million, accord- 
 ing to recent estimates, can read and write. Igno- 
 rance is at the bottom of banditry. Ignorance is 
 what enables unscrupulous men to rob the people 
 of land and wages. Ignorance is what keeps the 
 peons dressed in rags. 
 
 Mexico needs a public school system from one 
 end of the country to the other, and in establish- 
 ing such a system it should be understood by Mex- 
 ico that substantial progress can be expected only 
 by calling foreign educators to Mexico to superin- 
 tend the work. Mexico needs great educational 
 directors, such as the state superintendents of 
 public instruction in some of our states. Mexico 
 needs men like the Presidents of our great univer- 
 sities to help her build up an educational system. 
 
 Mexico needs an educational system that will 
 begin not only with the children but with the men 
 and women of to-day. They, too, must be taught 
 to read and write and think. Mexico needs tech- 
 
138 MEXICO'S DILEMMA 
 
 nical public school education for men. Think of 
 the hundreds of thousands of children in Mexico 
 who know nothing about schools ! 
 
 To develop her great resources Mexico needs 
 foreign brains and foreign capital. The United 
 States needed it in the early days of her existence. 
 Every country needs foreign help to "get on its 
 feet," and Mexico is very far indeed from being 
 an exception, especially after the many years of 
 revolutions. 
 
 Mexico needs foreigners to advise her regarding 
 finance, political economy and labour. Under 
 President Carranza Mexico began by asking two 
 university professors to come to Mexico City and 
 study the financial problems of the Eepublic. This, 
 indeed, is a step in advance. 
 
 Mexico's future depends upon her willingness 
 to have foreigners assist her. This is what I 
 would call political and social intervention. If 
 Mexico is to be helped this sort of intervention 
 must take place. 
 
 I look upon Mexico as having more possibilities 
 than any of twelve countries I have visited during 
 the jpast two years — possibilities for success or 
 failure. And while the nations of the world, par- 
 ticularly the United States and her Allies, might 
 be glad to advise Mexico, the choice rests entirely 
 with that country. Mexico can be a friend or a 
 foe of the United States and she has more to gain 
 through friendship than through enmity. 
 
 Within fifty years from to-day Mexico can take 
 
THE FUTURE 139 
 
 her place among the greatest nations of the world 
 if Mexico is willing to seek the co-operation of the 
 great Republics and Democracies of the world. 
 Mexico, as a Republic, owes a duty to her sister 
 nations as well as to herself. Opportunity knocks 
 at the doors of the Republic. The battle for Civili- 
 sation, for Humanity, for International Right and 
 for Democracy is being fought throughout the 
 world. Mexico is being tempted by the agents of 
 Berlin. Not only President Carranza but the 
 other leaders of Mexico must choose between a 
 German conquest and American and Allied 
 co-operation. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 BILLS PBESENTED TO THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES TO 
 RELIEVE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS 
 
 Translation — Bill presented to Congress of 
 Mexico providing for an interior or foreign loan 
 to cover the current deficit of tlie Government. 
 From El Democrata, Mexico City, July 8, 1917. 
 
 Mexico Needs to Obtain a Loan of 150,000,000 
 
 Pesos to Cover the Deficits in the 
 
 National Budgets. 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE, WITH THE SAME TENDENCIES WHICH 
 
 ACTUATED THE REVOLUTION, WILL AVOID ANY 
 
 FOREIGN LOAN AND ATTEMPT TO MAKE 
 
 THE FINANCIAL DEAL IN THE 
 
 COUNTRY. 
 
 IF IMPOSSIBLE HE BELIEVES IN ADVANCE THAT HIS 
 
 CONDUCT WILL BE JUSTIFIED SINCE HE IS 
 
 TRYING TO DEFINITELY REORGANISE 
 
 FINANCES. 
 
 In the Department of Finance and Public Credit 
 we were given yesterday by the Sub-Secretary in 
 
 143 
 
144 APPENDIX A 
 
 Charge of this Department, Don Eafael Nieto, a 
 copy of the following important bill in which the 
 Executive is authorised to negotiate a loan up to 
 150,000,000 pesos to be exclusively destined to 
 cover the deficit appearing in the national budgets 
 until they are adjusted. The text of the important 
 bill to which we refer, and which will soon go be- 
 fore Congress, states as follows : 
 
 ''The Congress of the Union has been already 
 informed by the Executive that the budgets of the 
 federation at present show a monthly deficit of 
 about 5,000,000 pesos. 
 
 "To make up this figure we took into account 
 only the normal expenses of administration, omit- 
 ting the great number of small obligations of the 
 Government which were not considered urgent, 
 but which in any case organise a great floating 
 debt which is increasing day by day. 
 
 "If, furthermore, we take into consideration the 
 high cost of living, higher every day, and the ne- 
 cessity which we will later meet as a consequence 
 of it of raising the wages of public employes; 
 if we take into account the possibility that the 
 work of pacification already is necessitating con- 
 stant expenses, the supposition that the real deficit 
 will exceed the amount above is not exaggerated. 
 
 ' ' In order to arrest the gravity of the foregoing 
 considerations it is sufficient to state others in 
 respect to the future which makes a favourable 
 
APPENDIX A 145 
 
 solution of the financial problems appear less re- 
 mote. 
 
 ' ' On the one hand for some time the Government 
 has not believed the time has come to pay divers 
 claims which may be presented on account of dam- 
 ages caused by the revolution, although it is now 
 studying the particular way to recognise and 
 liquidate them, and in due time will have to sub- 
 mit a bill covering this matter to Congress. 
 
 ''In the same order of ideas the Executive does 
 not believe that the payment of the public exterior 
 debt should be renewed until the deficit referred 
 to herein has been met. These two important re- 
 sponsibilities then may by the very force of cir- 
 cumstances be put off until later, and should there- 
 fore be excluded from consideration for the 
 present. 
 
 "On the other hand the present incomes, in 
 spite of the fact that conditions of the country 
 have not yet resumed normality, are in compari- 
 son greater than those which were being received 
 in the period before the revolution and in view of 
 this fact, which has some significance as showing 
 the vitality of our people, it is logical to hope 
 that when peace is re-established in the whole of 
 the Repubhc and railway service and communica- 
 tion in general are completely normalised, the 
 discrepancy between income and expenses will 
 gradually diminish until the day in which the dis- 
 crepancy, which is now one of the most serious 
 difficulties of the Government, shall disappear. 
 
146 APPENDIX A 
 
 ''As the indispensable bases for these objects 
 can be realised in the effective liquidation of the 
 present deficit, since its existence would indefi- 
 nitely retire the equilibrium desired, the Execu- 
 tive believes the time has come when it is neces- 
 sary to obtain a loan exclusively destined to fill 
 such objects, and hopes that the National Con- 
 gress, sharing with him the conviction that such 
 a means is the only effective way to meet this im- 
 portant emergency, will at once grant him the 
 authorisation necessary to begin due explorations 
 in financial centres in the Kepublic and in other 
 countries, impossible to know in advance even the 
 possibility of obtaining a loan of such a nature. 
 
 "On account of these same difficulties the 
 Executive could not propose to the Congress pre- 
 cise bases in respect to the exact amount of the 
 operation and the conditions of issue, maturity, 
 interest rate, etc., for the fiixing of these details 
 principally depends on the conditions of the 
 world's financial markets which, as one of the 
 many effects of the war, have lost all stability and 
 it may be said change from day to day. 
 
 ''Therefore, the Executive deems prudent to 
 ask at once the Congress of the Union to grant 
 him necessary powers to take all preliminary steps 
 which will permit him to fix in the proper time 
 these terms and possible conditions of the loan, 
 the nature of the guarantees that will try to be 
 established so far as possible on the basis that 
 it shall not impose a charge upon public taxes, 
 
APPENDIX A 147 
 
 the class of contracts which should be entered into 
 with the holders of former obligations and all 
 other aspects of the operations, reserving the 
 right to submit them definitely to the Congress so 
 that the Houses may determine the propriety of 
 carrying the project into execution. 
 
 "The Executive, following the same tendencies 
 which prompted the Eevolution to avoid any ex- 
 terior debt, will make all sorts of efforts to carry 
 out the financial transaction within the territory 
 of the Eepublic and will not apply to foreign 
 countries until he is convinced of the impossibility 
 of obtaining an interior loan. 
 
 "If this impossibility shall oblige him to dis- 
 obey the tendencies indicated, he believes in ad- 
 vance that his conduct will be justified in consid- 
 eration that the object he seeks is to definitely 
 reorganise by peaceful means the finances and 
 national public payments. 
 
 "In view of the foregoing, the Executive hopes 
 that the national representation will see fit to give 
 its approval to the bill hereto annexed. Mexico 
 City, July 7, 1917. V. Carranza (Rubrica)." 
 
 BILL PKOPOSED 
 
 "The Congress of the United States of Mexico 
 in use of the power conceded by Section VIII, of 
 Article 73, of the federal constitution, has seen 
 fit to decree the following: 
 
 "Art. 1st. — The Executive is authorised to nego- 
 
148 APPENDIX A 
 
 tiate a loan up to 150,000,000 pesos to be exclu- 
 sively destined to cover the deficits met in the 
 national budgets until they are adjusted. 
 
 "Art. 2nd. — The Executive is empowered to 
 contract the loan referred to in the foregoing 
 article either in the Eepublic or in foreign coun- 
 tries in the form of an operation over a long 
 period, or by obligations of the Treasury re- 
 deemable or convertible in a brief term according 
 to the greater or lesser difficulty encountered in 
 obtaining the funds. 
 
 ''He is also empowered to stipulate the condi- 
 tions of interest, the type of interest, the form 
 of amortization, the guarantee, and all other ar- 
 rangements relating to the operation, including 
 the contracts to be entered into with the holders 
 of legitimate former obligations. 
 
 "Art. 3rd. — All contracts entered into should 
 be submitted to the Congress of the Union so that 
 Congress may approve them as a condition prece- 
 dent to giving them value." 
 
APPENDIX A 149 
 
 II 
 
 Translation — Bill authorising the executive of 
 Mexico to negotiate a loan for the rehabilitation 
 of the National Eailways. — From El Universal, 
 Mexico City, July 10, 1917. 
 
 Loan of Fifty Million Pesos for the National 
 
 Lines. 
 
 will be destined to the repair of track, replace- 
 ment of equipment and the reorganisa- 
 tion of service. 
 
 The Executive has sent to the Chamber of Depu- 
 ties a bill in which the National Eepresentation is 
 informed that it is indispensable for the Govern- 
 ment to contract a loan of 50,000,000 pesos to cope 
 with the imperious necessities of the railway prob- 
 lem in the Kepublic. 
 
 The text of the bill is as follows : 
 
 STATEMENT OP THE QUESTION 
 
 By reason of the needs of the campaign, the 
 Constitutionalist Government found itself obliged 
 to take possession, first of certain lines of rail- 
 way crossing the country, and later of entire sys- 
 tems, very particularly of the system of the Na- 
 tional Railways of Mexico. To administer this 
 
150 APPENDIX A 
 
 great organisation, the Constitutionalist Govern- 
 ment created an autonomous Department, called 
 Direction of Constitutionalist Railways. The 
 execution of such acts was not arbitrary, but based 
 on express provisions of the Railway Law. 
 
 This state of affairs and the destruction caused 
 by the war created a situation, special to the 
 Mexican Railway and special to the National Rail- 
 way of Mexico Company, in which the Nation has 
 a preponderance of shares. This company re- 
 mains in existence to conserve its legal personal- 
 ity, and to administer certain properties outside 
 of the traffic service ; but the service of traffic was 
 suspended and the system of exploitation was 
 altered. This being so, on constitutional reorgani- 
 sation of the country, the National Government 
 must solve the grave problem of the rehabilitation 
 of the railway companies, that they may carry 
 on the service of traffic in the constant and sys- 
 tematic manner satisfactory to the needs of the 
 Nation, which cannot live without a proper service 
 of railway transport. 
 
 The condition of the National Railways of Mex- 
 ico Company particularly interests the Govern- 
 ment, as much because this system is the most 
 extensive and necessary for the national life, as 
 because the country has extended its guaranty 
 for the payment of its debt and is the owner of 
 the majority of its shares, by reason of which it 
 controls the system. 
 
APPENDIX A 151 
 
 THE BAILWAY PROBLEM 
 
 There are three problems related to the Na- 
 tional Eailways. First, the reconstruction of the 
 lines, including the repair of fixed material; the 
 construction of the works of art destroyed and the 
 replacement of equipment. The payment of the 
 indemnity which according to the Railway Law 
 the Government must make to the Company must 
 also be considered; in other terms, the first prob- 
 lem consists in the settlement between the Com- 
 pany and the Government. Second, the financial 
 reorganisation of the company, including the in- 
 dispensable arrangements with the Trust Com- 
 panies representing the bond holders, the consoli- 
 dation of the floating debt and the arrangements 
 relating to certain bonds to secure interests that 
 have matured. Third, the administrative and 
 technical reorganisation of the Company's serv- 
 ices, so that the system may be again operated by 
 the owner company on the new bases exacted by 
 the social transformation the Nation has suffered. 
 
 Of all these problems the most pressing is the 
 replacement of the lines, which public necessity is 
 imperiously demanding. At the same time the 
 solution of this problem is indispensable so the 
 rest may be studied and decided successfully. 
 
 The Executive of the Nation needs, then, to be 
 ready to cope with all the obligations related with 
 this preliminary problem, and for this needs the 
 authorisation of the Legislative Power in order to 
 
152 APPENDIX A 
 
 obtain the indispensable amount of money. The 
 ''modus operandi" of the investment of the neces- 
 sary sums, the preferred-claim nature that will 
 be given to the required moneys advanced, and the 
 further details and conditions of the expenditure 
 of the money, are secondary questions which can- 
 not be decided until the Government can dispose 
 of the sums to which I have referred. 
 
 For the foregoing- reasons, the Executive of the 
 Union asks for the passage of the following DE- 
 CEEE by the General Congress : 
 
 DECEEE 
 
 SOLE AETICLE :— The Executive of the Union 
 is authorised to charge the credit of the State up 
 to the sum of 50,000,000 pesos, destined to the re- 
 pair of track, replacement of equipment and the 
 reorganisation of the services of the National Rail- 
 ways of Mexico Company, it being understood that 
 the Executive shall submit to the General Con- 
 gress in advance the bases of the contracts he 
 may make and the investment of the loan he shall 
 obtain. 
 
 Mexico, July 9, 1917. 
 
 V. CARRANZA (Seal) 
 
APPENDIX B 
 THE MEXICAN CONSTITUTION OF 1917 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 H. N. BRANCH, LL.B. 
 
 With a Foreword 
 
 BT 
 
 L, S. ROWE, Ph.D., LL.D. 
 
 Copyright. 1917, by 
 
 American Academt of Political and Social Science 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 Here reproduced by cojj^esy of 
 The American Academy op Poutiq^l and Social Science 
 
 FHILAOELPHSi^ 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 The widespread interest in Mexican affairs has 
 led the Editorial Council of the Academy to ar- 
 range for the early publication of the Mexican 
 Constitution adopted at the recent Constitutional 
 Convention held in Queretaro. In a sense this 
 publication supplements the special volume issued 
 by the Academy in January last on ' ' The Purposes 
 and Ideals of the Mexican Revolution," 
 
 Since the first movement for independence from 
 the mother country in 1810, Mexico has passed 
 through an extraordinary constitutional develop- 
 ment. The idea of a Republican form of govern- 
 ment made its way but slowly amongst the found- 
 ers of Mexican independence. Between 1810 and 
 1824 the opinion of the country wavered between 
 a constitutional monarchy and a republic. It is 
 true that the earliest Mexican Constitution — ^that 
 adopted in Apatzingan by the first Constitutional 
 Convention — provided for a Republican form of 
 government with an Executive composed of three 
 persons elected by the National Congress. 
 Amongst the members of this triumvirate, a sys- 
 tem of rotation in office was established under 
 which each exercised the powers of Chief Execu- 
 tive during a consecutive period of four months. 
 
 155 
 
156 FOREWORD 
 
 This Constitution was regarded as provisional. 
 As soon as the struggle for independence was 
 over, the leaders planned to call another conven- 
 tion for the purposes of effecting the final organ- 
 isation of the country. During the period between 
 1815 and 1857, the country was torn by internal 
 strife and almost every conceivable form of Con- 
 stitutional systems was tried, ranging from a re- 
 publican triumvirate to the imperial system of 
 Iturbide. 
 
 The development of Federalism in Mexico 
 stands in marked contrast with the political evolu- 
 tion of the United States. In Mexico, Federalism 
 meant the sub-division of what had been, under 
 Spanish rule, a centralised, unified system; in the 
 United States, the establishment of a federal sys- 
 tem signified a closer union between separated 
 political units. In spite of the adoption of a fed- 
 eral system by Mexico in 1857, the highly central- 
 ised traditions of Spanish rule perpetuated them- 
 selves and finally resulted, under the Diaz admin- 
 istration, in the complete subordination of the 
 individual states to the national government. 
 
 The leaders of the revolutionary movement 
 against the Diaz regime were convinced that the 
 Constitution of 1857 had been used by self-seeking 
 politicians for personal ends and that its pro- 
 visions had contributed toward the domination of 
 the country by a self-constituted oligarchy. It is 
 not surprising, therefore, to find radical changes 
 in the Constitution of 1917. The revolutionary 
 
FOREWORD 157 
 
 leaders, headed by Venustiano Carranza, liold that 
 the avowed purposes of the revolutionary move- 
 ment, namely to secure for the masses of the Mex- 
 ican people better economic and social conditions, 
 must be incorporated into the organic law and it 
 is their hope that thereby the country will be pro- 
 tected against a possible reactionary movement. 
 To what extent these hopes will be realised, the 
 future alone can determine. 
 
 The Academy is under obligation to Mr. H. N. 
 Branch for his admirable translation of the Con- 
 stitution of 1917. 
 
 L. S. RowB. 
 University of Pennsylvania 
 
 May, 1917. 
 
Title I 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Of Personal Guarantees 
 
 Article 1. Every person in the United States of 
 Mexico shall enjoy all ^arantees granted by this 
 Constitution; these shall neither be abridged nor 
 suspended except in such cases and under such 
 conditions as are herein provided. (See Art. 29.) 
 
 Art. 2. Slavery is forbidden in the United 
 States of Mexico. Slaves who enter the national 
 territory shall, by this act alone, recover their 
 freedom, and enjoy the protection of the law. 
 
 Art. 3. Instruction is free ; that given in public 
 institutions of learning shall be secular. Primary 
 instruction, whether higher or lower, given in pri- 
 vate institutions shall likewise be secular. 
 
 No religious corporation nor minister of any re- 
 ligious creed shall establish or direct schools of 
 primary instruction. 
 
 Private primary schools may be established only 
 subject to official supervision. 
 
 Primary instruction in public institutions shall 
 be gratuitous. 
 
 159 
 
160 APPENDIX B 
 
 Art. 4. No person shall be prevented from en- 
 gaging in any profession, industrial or commercial 
 pursuit or occupation of his liking, provided it be 
 lawful. The exercise of this liberty shall only be 
 forbidden by judicial order when the rights of 
 third persons are infringed, or by executive order, 
 issued under the conditions prescribed by law, 
 when the rights of society are violated. No one 
 shall be deprived of the fruit of his labor except 
 by judicial decree. 
 
 Each State shall determine by law what profes- 
 sions shall require licenses, the requisites to be 
 complied with in obtaining the same, and the 
 authorities empowered to issue them. 
 
 Art. 5. No one shall be compelled to render 
 personal services without due compensation and 
 without his full consent, excepting labor imposed 
 as a penalty by judicial decree, which shall con- 
 form to the provisions of clauses I and II of 
 Article 123. 
 
 Only the following public services shall be ob- 
 ligatory, subject to the conditions set forth in the 
 respective laws: military service, jury service, 
 service in municipal and other public elective office, 
 whether this election be direct or indirect, and 
 service in connection with elections, which shall be 
 obligatory and without compensation. 
 
 The State shall not permit any contract, cov- 
 enant or agreement to be carried out having for 
 its object the abridgment, loss or irrevocable sacri- 
 
APPENDIX B 161 
 
 fice of the liberty of man, whether by reason of 
 labor, education or religious vows. The law, 
 therefore, does not permit the establishment of 
 monastic orders, of whatever denomination, or for 
 whatever purpose contemplated. 
 
 Nor shall any person legally agree to his own 
 proscription or exile, or to the temporary or per- 
 manent renunciation of the exercise of any pro- 
 fession or industrial or commercial pursuit. 
 
 A contract for labor shall only be binding to 
 render the services agreed upon for the time fixed 
 by law and shall not exceed one year to the preju- 
 dice of the party rendering the service ; nor shall 
 it in any case whatsoever embrace the waiver, loss 
 or abridgment of any political or civil right. 
 
 In the event of a breach of such contract on the 
 part of the party pledging himself to render the 
 service, the said party shall only be liable civilly 
 for damages arising from such breach, and in no 
 event shall coercion against his person be em- 
 ployed. 
 
 Art. 6. The expression of ideas shall not be the 
 subject of any judicial or executive investigation, 
 unless it offend good morals, impair the rights of 
 third parties, incite to crime or cause a breach of 
 the peace. 
 
 Art. 7. Freedom of writing and publishing writ- 
 ings on any subject is inviolable. No law or au- 
 thority shall have the right to establish censorship, 
 
162 APPENDIX B 
 
 require bond from authors or printers, nor restrict 
 the liberty of the press, which shall be limited only 
 by the respect due to private life, morals and pub- 
 lic peace. Under no circumstances shall a printing 
 press be sequestrated as the corpus delicti. 
 
 The organic laws shall prescribe whatever pro- 
 visions may be necessary to prevent the imprison- 
 ment, under pretext of a denunciation of offenses 
 of the press, of the vendors, newsboys, workmen 
 and other employees of the establishment publish- 
 ing the writing denounced, unless their responsi- 
 bility be previously established. 
 
 Art. 8. Public officials and employees shall re- 
 spect the exercise of the right of petition, pro- 
 vided it be in writing and in a peaceful and re- 
 spectful manner; but this right may be exercised 
 in political matters solely by citizens. 
 
 To every petition there shall be given an answer 
 in writing by the official to whom it may be ad- 
 dressed, and the said official shall be bound to in- 
 form the petitioner of the decision taken within a 
 brief period. 
 
 Art. 9. The right peaceably to assemble or to 
 come together for any lawful purpose shall not be 
 abridged ; but only citizens shall be permitted to 
 exercise this right for the purpose of taking part 
 in the political affairs of the country. No armed 
 assembly shall have the right to deliberate. 
 
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APPENDIX B 163 
 
 ful, nor may it be dissolved, which shall have for 
 its purpose the petitioning of any authority or the 
 presentation of any protest against any act, pro- 
 vided no insults be proffered against the said au- 
 thority, nor violence resorted to, nor threats used 
 to intimidate or to compel the said authority to 
 render a favorable decision. 
 
 Art. 10. The inhabitants of the United States 
 of Mexico are entitled to have arms of any kind 
 in their possession for their protection and legiti- 
 mate defense, excepting such as are expressly pro- 
 hibited by law and such as the nation may reserve 
 for the exclusive use of the army, navy and na- 
 tional guard; but they shall not bear such arms 
 within inhabited places, except subject to the police 
 regulations thereof. 
 
 Art. 11. Every one has the right to enter and 
 leave the Eepublic, to travel through its territory 
 and change his residence without necessity of a 
 letter of security, passport, safe conduct or any 
 other similar requirement. The exercise of this 
 right shall be subordinated to the powers of the 
 judiciary, in the event of civil or criminal respon- 
 sibility, and to those of the executive, in so far as 
 relates to the limitations imposed by law in re- 
 gard to emigration, immigration, and the public 
 health of the country, or in regard to undesirable 
 foreigners resident in the country. 
 
164 APPENDIX B 
 
 Art. 12. No titles of nobility, prerogatives or 
 hereditary honors shall be granted in the United 
 States of Mexico, nor shall any effect be given to 
 those granted by other countries. 
 
 Art. 13. No one shall be tried according to pri- 
 vate laws or by special tribunals. No person or 
 corporation shall have privileges nor enjoy emolu- 
 ments which are not in compensation for public 
 services and established by law. Military juris- 
 diction shall be recognized for the trial of criminal 
 cases having direct connection with military disci- 
 pline, but the military tribunals shall in no case 
 and for no reason extend their jurisdiction over 
 persons not belonging to the army. Whenever a 
 civilian shall be implicated in any military crime 
 or offense, the cause shall be heard by the corre- 
 sponding civil authorities. 
 
 Art. 14. No law shall be given retroactive effect 
 to the prejudice of any person whatsoever. 
 
 No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, 
 property, possessions or rights without due proc- 
 ess of law instituted before a duly created court, 
 in which the essential elements of procedure are 
 observed and in accordance with previously exist- 
 ing laws. 
 
 In criminal cases no penalty shall be imposed 
 by mere analogy or even by a priori evidence, but 
 the penalty shall be decreed by a law in every 
 respect applicable to the crime in question. 
 
APPENDIX B 165 
 
 In civil suits the final judgment shall be accord- 
 ing to the letter or the juridical interpretation of 
 the law; in the absence of the latter, the general 
 legal principles shall govern. 
 
 Art. 15. No treaty shall be authorized for the 
 extradition of political offenders, or of offenders 
 of the common class, who have been slaves in the 
 country where the offense was committed. Nor 
 shall any agreement or treaty be entered into 
 which abridges or modifies the guarantees and 
 rights which this constitution grants to the indi- 
 vidual and to the citizen. 
 
 Art. 16. No one shall be molested in his person, 
 family, domicile, papers or possessions, except by 
 virtue of an order in writing of the competent 
 authority setting forth the legal ground and justi- 
 fication for the action taken. No order of arrest 
 or detention shall be issued against any person 
 other than by competent judicial authority, nor 
 unless preceded by a charge, accusation or com- 
 plaint for a specific offense punishable by im- 
 prisonment, supported by an affidavit of a credible 
 party or by such other evidence as shall make the 
 guilt of the accused probable ; in cases in flagrante 
 delicto any person may arrest the offender and his 
 accomplices, placing them without delay at the 
 disposition of the nearest authorities. Only in 
 urgent cases instituted by the public attorney 
 without previous complaint or indictment (see 
 note to Art. 21) and when there is no judicial 
 
166 APPENDIX B 
 
 authority available may the administrative au- 
 thorities, on their strictest accountability, order 
 the detention of the accused, placing him at the 
 disposition of the judicial authorities. Every 
 search warrant, which may only be issued by the 
 judicial authority and which must be in writing, 
 shall specify the place to be searched, the person 
 or persons to be arrested and the objects sought, 
 to which the proceeding shall be strictly limited; 
 at the conclusion of which, a detailed written state- 
 ment shall be drawn up in the presence of two 
 witnesses proposed by the occupant of the place to 
 be searched, or, in his absence or refusal, by the 
 official making the search. 
 
 Administrative officials may enter private 
 houses solely for the purpose of determining that 
 the sanitary and police regulations have been com- 
 plied with ; they may likewise demand the exhibi- 
 tion of books and documents necessary to prove 
 that the fiscal regulations have been obeyed, sub- 
 ject to the respective laws and to the formalities 
 prescribed for cases of search. 
 
 Art. 17. No one shall be imprisoned for debts 
 of a purely civil character. No one shall take 
 the law into his own hands, nor resort to violence 
 in the enforcement of his rights. The courts shall 
 be open for the administration of justice at such 
 times and under such conditions as the law may 
 establish ; their services shall be gratuitous and all 
 judicial costs are accordingly prohibited. ^ 
 
APPENDIX B 167 
 
 Art. 18. Detention shall be exercised only for 
 offenses meriting corporal punishment. The place 
 of detention shall be different and completely sep- 
 arated from that set apart for the serving of sen- 
 tences. 
 
 The Federal and State Grovernments shall or- 
 ganize in their respective territories the penal 
 system — ^penal colonies or prisons — on the basis of 
 labor as a means of regeneration. (See Art. 5 
 and Clauses I and II of Art. 123.) 
 
 Art. 19. No detention shall exceed three days 
 except for reasons specified in the formal order of 
 commitment, which shall set forth the offense 
 charged, the substance thereof, the time, place and 
 circumstances of its commission, and the facts 
 disclosed in the preliminary examination; these 
 facts must always be sufficient to establish the 
 corpus delicti and the probable guilt of the ac- 
 cused. All authorities ordering any detention or 
 consenting thereto, as well as all agents, subordi- 
 nates, wardens or jailers executing the same, shall 
 be liable for any breach of this provision. 
 
 The trial shall take place only for the offense or 
 offenses set forth in the formal order of commit- 
 ment. If it shall develop in the course of trial 
 that another offense different from that charged 
 has been committed, a separate accusation must be 
 brought. This, however, shall not prevent the 
 joinder of both causes of action, if deemed ad- 
 visable. 
 
168 APPENDIX B 
 
 Any maltreatment during apprehension or con- 
 finement; any molestation inflicted without legal 
 justification; any exaction or contribution levied 
 in prison are abuses which the law shall correct 
 and the authorities repress. 
 
 Art. 20. In every criminal trial the accused 
 shall enjoy the following guarantees : 
 
 I. He shall be set at liberty on demand and 
 upon giving a bond up to ten thousand pesos, ac- 
 cording to his status and the gravity of the offense 
 charged, provided, however, that the said offense 
 shall not be punishable with more than five years ' 
 imprisonment; he shall be set at liberty without 
 any further requisite than the placing of the stip- 
 ulated sum at the disposal of the proper authori- 
 ties or the giving of an adequate mortgage bond 
 or personal security. 
 
 II. He may not be forced to be a witness 
 against himself; wherefore denial of access or 
 other means looking towards this end is hereby 
 strictly prohibited. 
 
 III. He shall be publicly notified within forty- 
 eight hours after being turned over to the judicial 
 authorities of the name of his accuser and of the 
 nature of and cause for the accusation, so that he 
 may be familiar with the offense with which he is 
 charged, may reply thereto and make his prelim- 
 inary statement. 
 
 IV. He shall be confronted with the witnesses 
 against him, who shall testify in his presence if 
 
APPENDIX B 169 
 
 they are to be found in the place where the trial 
 is being held, so that he may cross-examine them 
 in his defense. 
 
 V. All witnesses which he shall offer shall be 
 heard in his defense, as well as all evidence re- 
 ceived, for which he shall be given such time as 
 the law may prescribe; he shall furthermore be 
 assisted in securing the presence of any person or 
 persons whose testimony he may request, provided 
 they are to be found at the place of trial. 
 
 VI. He shall be entitled to a public trial by a 
 judge or jury of citizens who can read and write 
 and are also citizens of the place and district 
 where the offense shall have been committed, pron 
 vided the penalty for such offense be greater than 
 one year's imprisonment. The accused shall al- 
 ways be entitled to trial by jury for all offenses 
 committed by means of the press against the pub- 
 lic peace or against the safety, domestic or for- 
 eign, of the Republic. 
 
 VII. He shall be furnished with all information 
 of record needed for his defense. 
 
 VIII. He shall be tried within four months, if 
 charged with an offense the maximum penalty for 
 which does not exceed two years' imprisonment, 
 and within one year, if the maximum penalty be 
 greater. 
 
 IX. He shall be heard in his own defense, either 
 personally or by counsel, or by both, as he may 
 desire. In case he shall have no one to defend 
 him, a list of official counsel shall be submitted to 
 
170 APPENDIX B 
 
 him in order that he may choose one or more to 
 act in his defense. If the accused shall not desire 
 to name any counsel for his defense, after having 
 been called upon to do so at the time of his pre- 
 liminary examination, the court shall appoint 
 counsel to defend him. The accused may name his 
 counsel immediately on arrest and shall be en- 
 titled to have him present at every stage of the 
 trial; but he shall be bound to make him appear 
 as often as required by the court. 
 
 X. In no event may imprisonment or detention 
 be extended through failure to pay counsel fees 
 or through any other pecuniary charge, by virtue 
 of any civil liability or other similar cause. Nor 
 shall detention be extended beyond the time set by 
 law as the maximum for the offense charged. 
 
 The period of detention shaU be reckoned as a 
 part of the final sentence. 
 
 Art. 21. The imposition of all penalties is an 
 exclusive attribute of the judiciary. The prosecu- 
 tion of offenses belongs to the public prosecutor 
 and to the judicial police, who shall be under the 
 immediate command and authority of the public 
 prosecutor. The punishment of violations of 
 municipal and police regulations belongs to the 
 administrative authorities, and shall consist only 
 of a fine or of imprisonment not exceeding thirty- 
 six hours. Should the offender fail to pay the fine 
 this shall be substituted by the corresponding pe- 
 
APPENDIX B 171 
 
 riod of arrest, whicli shall in no case exceed fifteen 
 days. 
 
 Should the offender be a workman or unskilled 
 laborer, he shall not be punished with a fine 
 greater than the amount of his weekly wage or 
 salary. 
 
 Art. 22. Punishments by mutilation and in- 
 famy, by branding, flogging, beating with sticks, 
 torture of any kind, excessive fines, confiscation of 
 property and any other penalties, unusual or 
 working corruption of the blood, are prohibited. 
 
 Attachment proceedings of the whole or part of 
 the property of any person made under judicial 
 authority to cover any civil liability arising out of 
 the commission of any offense, or by reason of the 
 imposition of any tax or fine, shall not be deemed 
 a confiscation of property. 
 
 Art. 23. Capital punishment is likewise for- 
 bidden for all political offenses ; in the case of of- 
 fenses other than political it shall only be imposed 
 for high treason committed during a foreign war, 
 parricide, murder with malice aforethought, ar- 
 son, abduction, highway robbery, piracy, and 
 grave military offenses. 
 
 Art. 24. Every one is free to embrace the re- 
 ligion of his choice and to practice all ceremonies, 
 devotions or observances of his respective creed, 
 either in places of public worship or at home, pro- 
 
172 APPENDIX B 
 
 vided they do not constitute an offense punishable 
 by law. 
 
 Every religious act of public worship shall be 
 performed strictly within the places of public wor- 
 ship, which shall be at all times under govern- 
 mental supervision. ( Drawn largely from ' ' Leyes 
 de Reforma" of December 14, 1874. See note to 
 Art. 130.) 
 
 Art. 25 Sealed correspondence sent through the 
 mails shall be free from search, and its violation 
 shall be punishable by law. 
 
 Art. 26. No member of the army shall in time 
 of peace be quartered in private dwellings, with- 
 out the consent of the owner ; nor shall he demand 
 any other exaction. In time of war the military 
 may demand lodging, equipment, provisions and 
 other assistance, in the manner provided by the 
 corresponding martial law. 
 
 Art. 27. The ownership of lands and waters 
 comprised within the limits of the national terri- 
 tory is vested originally in the Nation, which has 
 had, and has, the right to transmit title thereof to 
 private persons, thereby constituting private 
 property. 
 
 Private property shall not be expropriated ex^ 
 cept for reasons of public utility and by means of 
 indemnification. 
 
 The Nation shall have at all times the right to 
 
APPENDIX B 173 
 
 impose on private property such limitations as the 
 public interest may demand as well as the right to 
 regulate the development of natural resources, 
 which are susceptible of appropriation, in order 
 to conserve them and equitably to distribute the 
 public wealth. For this purpose necessary meas- 
 ures shall be taken to divide large landed estates ; 
 to develop small landed holdings ; to establish new 
 centers of rural population with such lands and 
 waters as may be indispensable to them; to en- 
 courage agriculture and to prevent the destruction 
 of natural resources, and to protect property from 
 damage detrimental to society. Settlements, ham- 
 lets situated on private property and communes 
 which lack lands or water or do not possess them 
 in sufficient quantities for their needs shall have 
 the right to be provided with them from the ad- 
 joining properties, always having due regard for 
 small landed holdings. Wherefore, all grants of 
 lands made up to the present time under the de- 
 cree of January 6, 1915, are confirmed. Private 
 property acquired for the said purposes shall be 
 considered as taken for public utility. 
 
 In the Nation is vested direct ownership of all 
 minerals or substances which in veins, layers, 
 masses, or beds constitute deposits whose nature 
 is different from the components of the land, such 
 as minerals from which metals and metaloids used 
 for industrial purposes are extracted ; beds of pre- 
 cious stones, rock salt and salt lakes formed di- 
 rectly by marine waters, products derived from 
 
174 APPENDIX B 
 
 the decomposition of rocks, when their exploitation 
 requires underground work; phosphates which 
 may be used for fertilizers; solid mineral fuels; 
 petroleum and all hydrocarbons — solid, liquid or 
 gaseous. 
 
 In the Nation is likewise vested the ownership 
 of the waters of territorial seas to the extent and 
 in the terms fixed by the law of nations ; those of 
 lakes and inlets of bays; those of interior lakes 
 of natural formation which are directly connected 
 with flowing waters; those of principal rivers or 
 tributaries from the points at which there is a 
 permanent current of water in their beds to their 
 mouths, whether they flow to the sea or cross two 
 or more States; those of intermittent streams 
 which traverse two or more States in their main 
 body; the waters of rivers, streams, or ravines, 
 when they bound the national territory or that of 
 the States ; waters extracted from mines ; and the 
 beds and banks of the lakes and streams herein- 
 before mentioned, to the extent fixed by law. Any 
 other stream of water not comprised within the 
 foregoing enumeration shall be considered as an. 
 integral part of the private property through 
 which it flows ; but the development of the waters 
 when they pass from one landed property to an- 
 other shall be considered of public utility and shall 
 be subject to the provisions prescribed by the 
 States. 
 
 In the cases to which the two foregoing para- 
 graphs refer, the ownership of the Natipn is in- 
 
APPENDIX B 175 
 
 alienable and may not be lost by prescription; 
 concessions shall be granted by tbe Federal Gov- 
 ernment to private parties or civil or commercial 
 corporations organized under the laws of Mexico, 
 only on condition that said resources be regularly 
 developed, and on the further condition that the 
 legal provisions be observed. 
 
 Legal capacity to acquire ownership of lands 
 and waters of the nation shall be governed by the 
 following provisions : 
 
 I. Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and 
 Mexican companies have the right to acquire own- 
 ership in lands, waters and their appurtenances, 
 or to obtain concessions to develop mines, waters 
 or mineral fuels in the Eepublic of Mexico. The 
 Nation may grant the same right to foreigners, 
 provided they agree before the Department of 
 Foreign Affairs to be considered Mexicans in re- 
 spect to such property, and accordingly not to in- 
 voke the protection of their Governments in re- 
 spect to the same, under penalty, in case of breach, 
 of forfeiture to the Nation of property so ac- 
 quired. Within a zone of 100 kilometers from the 
 frontiers, and of 50 kilometers from the sea coast, 
 no foreigner shall under any conditions acquire 
 direct ownership ot lands and waters. 
 
 II. The religious institutions known as churches, 
 irrespective of creed, shall in no case have legal 
 capacity to acquire, hold or administer real prop- 
 erty or loans made on such real property; all 
 such real property or loans as may be at present 
 
176 APPENDIX B 
 
 held by the said religious institutions, either on 
 their own behalf or through third parties, shall 
 vest in the Nation, and any one shall have the 
 right to denounce property so held. Presumptive 
 proof shall be sufficient to declare the denuncia- 
 tion well-founded. Places of public worship are 
 the property of the Nation, as represented by the 
 Federal Government, which shall determine which 
 of them may continue to be devoted to their pres- 
 ent purposes. Episcopal residences, rectories, 
 seminaries, orphan asylums or collegiate estab- 
 lishments of religious institutions, convents or any 
 other buildings built or designed for the adminis- 
 tration, propaganda, or teaching of the tenets of 
 any religious creed shall forthwith vest, as of full 
 right, directly in the Nation, to be used exclusively 
 for the public services of the Federation or of the 
 States, within their respective jurisdictions. All 
 places of public worship which shall later be 
 erected shall be the property of the Nation. 
 
 III. Public and private charitable institutions 
 for the sick and needy, for scientific research, or 
 for the diffusion of knowledge, mutual aid so- 
 cieties or organizations formed for any other law- 
 ful purpose shall in no case acquire, hold or ad- 
 minister loans made on real property, unless the 
 mortgage terms do not exceed ten years. In no 
 case shall institutions of this character be under 
 the patronage, direction, administration, charge 
 or supervision of religious corporations or institu- 
 tions, nor of ministers of any religious creed or of 
 
APPENDIX B ITT 
 
 their dependents, even though either the former or 
 the latter shall not be in active service. 
 
 IV. Commercial stock companies shall not ac- 
 quire, hold, or administer rural properties. Com- 
 panies of this nature which may be organized to 
 develop any manufacturing, mining, petroleum or 
 other industry, excepting only agricultural indus- 
 tries, may acquire, hold or administer lands only 
 in an area absolutely necessary for their establish- 
 ments or adequate to serve the purposes indicated, 
 which the Executive of the Union or of the re- 
 spective State in each case shall determine. 
 
 V. Banks duly organized under the laws gov- 
 erning institutions of credit may make mortgage 
 loans on rural and urban property in accordance 
 with the provisions of the said laws, but they may 
 not own nor administer more real property than 
 that absolutely necessary for their direct pur- 
 poses ; and they may furthermore hold temporarily 
 for the brief term fixed by law such real property 
 as may be judicially adjudicated to them in execu- 
 tion proceedings. 
 
 VI. Properties held in common by co-owners, 
 hamlets situated on private property, pueblos, 
 tribal congregations and other settlements which, 
 as a matter of fact or law, conserve their com- 
 munal character, shall have legal capacity to en- 
 joy in common the waters, woods and lands be- 
 longing to them, or which may have been or shall 
 be restored to them according to the law of Jan- 
 uary 6, 1915, until such time as the manner of 
 
178 APPENDIX B 
 
 making the division of the lands shall be deter- 
 mined by law. 
 
 VII. Excepting the corporations to which 
 Clauses III, IV, V and VI hereof refer, no other 
 civil corporation may hold or administer on its 
 own behalf real estate or mortgage loans derived 
 therefrom, with the single exception of buildings 
 designed directly and immediately for the pur- 
 poses of the institution. The States, the Federal 
 District and the Territories, as well as the munici- 
 palities throughout the Republic, shall enjoy full 
 legal capacity to acquire and hold all real estate 
 necessary for public services. 
 
 The Federal and State laws shall determine 
 within their respective jurisdictions those cases in 
 which the occupation of private property shall be 
 considered of public utility; and in accordance 
 with the said laws the administrative authorities 
 shall make the corresponding declaration. The 
 amount fixed as compensation for the expropriated 
 property shall be based on the sum at which the 
 said property shall be valued for fiscal purposes 
 in the catastral or revenue offices, whether this 
 value be that manifested by the owner or merely 
 impliedly accepted by reason of the payment o^ 
 his taxes on such a basis, to which there shall be 
 added 10 per cent. The increased value which the 
 property in question may have acquired through 
 improvements made subsequent to the date of the 
 fixing of the fiscal value shall be the only matter 
 subject to expert opinion and to judicial determi- 
 
APPENDIX B 179 
 
 nation. The same procedure shall be observed in 
 respect to objects whose value is not recorded in 
 the revenue offices. 
 
 All proceedings, findings, decisions and all op- 
 erations of demarcation, concession, composition, 
 judgment, compromise, alienation, or auction 
 which may have deprived properties held in com- 
 mon by co-owners, hamlets situated on private 
 property, settlements, congregations, tribes and 
 other settlement organizations still existing since 
 the law of June 25, 1856, of the whole or a part of 
 their lands, woods and waters, are declared null 
 and void ; all findings, resolutions and operations 
 which may subsequently take place and produce 
 the same effects shall likewise be null and void. 
 Consequently all lands, forests and waters of 
 which the above-mentioned settlements may have 
 been deprived shall be restored to them according 
 to the decree of January 6, 1915, which shall re- 
 main in force as a constitutional law. In case the 
 adjudication of lands, by way of restitution, be 
 not legal in the terms of the said decree, which 
 adjudication have been requested by any of the 
 above entities, those lands shall nevertheless be 
 given to them by way of grant, and they shall in 
 no event fail to receive such as they may need. 
 Only such lands, title to which may have been ac- 
 quired in the divisions made by virtue of the said 
 law of June 25, 1856, or such as may be held in 
 undisputed ownership for more than ten years 
 are excepted from the provision of nullity, pro- 
 
180 APPENDIX B 
 
 vided their area does not exceed fifty hectares. 
 (1 hectare = 2.47 acres.) Any excess over this 
 area shall be returned to the commune and the 
 owner shall be indemnified. All laws of restitu- 
 tion enacted by virtue of this provision shall be 
 immediately carried into effect by the administra- 
 tive authorities. Only members of the commune 
 shall have the right to the lands destined to be 
 divided, and the rights to these lands shall be in- 
 alienable so long as they remain undivided; the 
 same provision shall govern the right of owner- 
 ship after the division has been made. The exer- 
 cise of the rights pertaining to the Nation by vir- 
 tue of this article shall follow judicial process; 
 but as a part of this process and by order of the 
 proper tribunals, which order shall be issued 
 within the maximum period of one month, the ad- 
 ministrative authorities shall proceed without 
 delay to the occupation, administration, auction, 
 or sale of the lands and waters in question, to- 
 gether with all their appurtenances, and in no case 
 may the acts of the said authorities be set aside 
 until final sentence is handed down. 
 
 During the next constitutional term, the Con- 
 gress and the State Legislatures shall enact laws, 
 within their respective jurisdictions, for the pur- 
 pose of carrying out the division of large landed 
 estates, subject to the following conditions : 
 
 (a)^ In each State and Territory there shall be 
 fixed the maximum area of land which any one 
 
APPENDIX B 181 
 
 individual or legally organized corporation may 
 own. 
 
 (b) The excess of the area thus fixed shall be 
 subdivided by the owner within the period set by 
 the laws of the respective locality ; and these sub- 
 divisions shall be offered for sale on such condi- 
 tions as the respective governments shall approve, 
 in accordance with the said laws. 
 
 (c) If the owner shall refuse to make the sub- 
 division, this shall be carried out by the local gov- 
 ernment, by means of expropriation proceedings. 
 
 (d) The value of the subdivisions shall be paid 
 in annual amounts sufficient to amortize the prin- 
 cipal and interest within a period of not less than 
 twenty years, during which the person acquiring 
 them may not alienate them. The rate of interest 
 shall not exceed 5 per cent per annum. 
 
 (e) The owner shall be bound to receive bonds 
 of a special issue to guarantee the payment of the 
 property expropriated. With this end in view, the 
 Congress shall issue a law authorizing the States 
 to issue bonds to meet their agrarian obligations. 
 
 (f ) The local laws shall govern the extent of 
 the family patrimony, and determine what prop- 
 erty shall constitute the same on the basis of its 
 inalienability; it shall not be subject to attachment 
 nor to any charge whatever. 
 
 All contracts and concessions made by former 
 governments from and after the year 1876 which 
 shall have resulted in the monopoly of lands, 
 waters and natural resources of the Nation by a 
 
182 APPENDIX B 
 
 single individual or corporation, are declared sub- 
 ject to revision, and the Executive is authorised to 
 declare those null and void which seriously preju- 
 dice the public interest. 
 
 Art. 28. There shall be no private nor govern- 
 mental monopolies of any kind whatsoever in the 
 United States of Mexico ; nor exemption from tax- 
 ation; nor any prohibition even under cover of 
 protection to industry, excepting only those relat- 
 ing to the coinage of money, to the postal, tele- 
 graphic, and radio-telegraphic services, to the is- 
 suance of bills by a single banking institution to 
 be controlled by the Federal Government, and to 
 the privileges which for a limited period the law 
 may concede to authors and artists for the repro- 
 duction of their work ; and lastly, to those granted 
 inventors or improvers of inventions for the ex- 
 clusive use of their inventions. 
 
 The law will accordingly severely punish and 
 the authorities diligently prosecute any accumulat- 
 ing or cornering by one or more persons of neces- 
 saries for the purpose of bringing about a rise in 
 price ; any act or measure which shall stifle or en- 
 deavor to stifle free competition in any produc- 
 tion, industry, trade or public service ; any agree- 
 ment or combination of any kind entered into by 
 producers, manufacturers, merchants, common 
 carriers or other public or quasi-public service, to 
 stifle competition and to compel the consumer to 
 pay exorbitant prices; and in general whatever 
 
APPENDIX B 183 
 
 constitutes an unfair and exclusive advantage in 
 favor of one or more specified person or persons 
 to the detriment of the public in general or of any 
 special class of society. 
 
 Associations of labor organized to protect their 
 own interests shall not be deemed a monopoly. 
 Nor shall cooperative associations or unions of 
 producers be deemed monopolies when, in defense 
 of their own interests or of the general public, 
 they sell directly in foreign markets national or 
 industrial products which are the principal source 
 of wealth of the region in which they are produced, 
 provided they be not necessaries, and provided 
 further that such associations be under the super- 
 vision or protection of the Federal Government or 
 of that of the States, and provided further that 
 authorization be in each case obtained from the 
 respective legislative bodies. These legislative 
 bodies may, either on their own initiative or on 
 the recommendation of the Executive, revoke, 
 whenever the public interest shall so demand, the 
 authorization granted for the establishment of the 
 associations in question. 
 
 Art. 29. In cases of invasion, grave disturbance 
 of the public peace, or any other emergency which 
 may place society in grave danger or conflict, the 
 President of the Republic of Mexico, and no one 
 else, with the concurrence of the council of minis- 
 ters, and with the approval of the Congress, or if 
 the latter shall be in recess, of the Permanent 
 
184. APPENDIX B 
 
 Committee, shall have power to suspend through- 
 out the whole Eepublic or in any portion thereof, 
 such guarantees as shall be a hindrance in meet- 
 ing the situation promptly and readily; but such 
 suspension shall in no case be confined to a par- 
 ticular individual, but shall be made by means of 
 a general decree and only for a limited period. If 
 the suspension occur while the Congress is in ses- 
 sion, this body shall grant such powers as in its 
 judgment the Executive may need to meet the sit- 
 uation ; if the suspension occur while the Congress 
 is in recess, the Congress shall be convoked forth- 
 with for the granting of such powers. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Of Mexicans 
 
 Art. 30. Several of the provisions of this article 
 follow the Naturalization Law of May 28, 1886, 
 while others are a radical departure in the ju- 
 ridical theories hitherto accepted in Mexico. A 
 Mexican shall be such either by birth or by nat- 
 uralization. 
 
 I. Mexicans by birth are those bom of Mexican 
 parents, within or without the Republic, provided 
 in the latter case the parents be also Mexicans by 
 birth. Persons born within the Republic of for- 
 eign parentage shall likewise be considered Mexi- 
 cans by birth, who within one year after they come 
 of age shall declare to the Department of Foreign 
 Affairs that they elect Mexican citizenship, and 
 
APPENDIX B 185 
 
 who shall furthermore prove to the said Depart- 
 ment that they have resided within the country 
 during the six years immediately prior to the said 
 declaration. 
 11. Mexicans by naturalization are : 
 
 (a) The children of foreign parentage born in 
 the country, who shall elect Mexican citizenship in 
 the manner prescribed in the foregoing clause, and 
 in whom the residence qualification required in the 
 said section does not concur. 
 
 (b) Those persons who shall have resided in the 
 country for five consecutive years, have an honest 
 means of livelihood and shall have obtained nat- 
 uralization from the said Department of Foreign 
 Affairs. 
 
 (c) Those of mixed Indian and Latin descent 
 who may have established residence in the Eepub- 
 lic, and shall have manifested their intention to 
 acquire Mexican citizenship. 
 
 In the cases stipulated in these sections, the law 
 shall determine the manner of proving the req- 
 uisites therein demanded. 
 
 Art. 31. It shall be the duty of every Mexican : 
 
 I. To compel the attendance at either private 
 or public schools of their children or wards, when 
 under fifteen years of age, in order that they may 
 receive primary instruction and military training 
 for such periods as the law of public instruction in 
 each State shall determine. 
 
 II. To attend on such days and at such hours as 
 
186 APPENDIX B 
 
 the town council shall in each, case prescribe, to 
 receive such civic instruction and military training 
 as shall fit them to exercise their civic rights, shall 
 make them skillful in the handling of arms and 
 familiar with military discipline. 
 
 III. To enlist and serve in the national guard, 
 pursuant to the respective organic law for the 
 purpose of preserving and defending the inde- 
 pendence, territory, honour, rights and interests 
 of the country, as well as domestic peace and 
 order. 
 
 IV. To contribute in the proportional and equi- 
 table manner provided by law toward the public 
 expenses of the Federation, the State and the 
 municipality in which he resides. 
 
 Art. 32. Mexicans shall be preferred under 
 equal circumstances to foreigners for all kinds of 
 concessions and for all public employments, offices 
 or commissions, when citizenship is not indispen- 
 sable. No foreigner shall serve in the army nor 
 in the police corps nor in any other department of 
 public safety during times of peace. 
 
 Only Mexicans by birth may belong to the na- 
 tional navy, or fill any office or commission therein. 
 The same requisite shall be required for captains, 
 pilots, masters and chief engineers of Mexican 
 merchant ships, as well as for two-thirds of the 
 members of the crew. 
 
APPENDIX B 187 
 
 CHAPTEE III 
 
 Of Aliens 
 
 Art. 33. Aliens are those who do not possess 
 the qualifications prescribed by Article 30. They 
 shall be entitled to the guarantees granted by 
 Chapter I, Title I, of the present Constitution ; but 
 the Executive shall have the exclusive right to ex- 
 pel from the Eepublic forthwith, and without judi- 
 cial process, any foreigner whose presence he may 
 deem inexpedient. 
 
 No foreigner shall meddle in any way whatso- 
 ever in the political affairs of the country. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Of Mexican Citizens 
 
 Art. 34. Mexican citizenship shall be enjoyed 
 only by those Mexicans who have the following 
 qualifications : 
 
 I. Are over 21 years of age, if unmarried, and 
 over 18, if married. 
 
 II. Have an honest means of livelihood. 
 
 Art. 35. The prerogatives of citizens are : 
 
 I. To vote at popular elections 
 
 II. To be eligible for any elective office and be 
 qualified for any other office or commission, pro- 
 vided they have the other qualifications required 
 by law. 
 
188 APPENDIX B 
 
 III. To assemble for the purpose of discussing 
 the political affairs of the country. 
 
 IV. To serve in the army or national guard for 
 the defense of the Republic and its institutions, as 
 by law determined. 
 
 V. To exercise the right of petition in any mat- 
 ter whatever. 
 
 Art. 36. It shall be the duty of every Mexican 
 citizen : 
 
 I. To register in the polls of the municipality, 
 setting forth any property he may own and his 
 professional or industrial pursuit, or occupation; 
 and also to register in the electoral registration 
 lists, as by law determined. 
 
 II. To enlist in the national guard. 
 
 m. To vote at popular elections in the electoral 
 district to which he belongs. 
 
 IV. To fill the elective Federal or State offices 
 to which he may be chosen, which service shall in 
 no case be gratuitous. 
 
 V. To serve on the town council of the munici- 
 pality wherein he resides and to perform all elec- 
 toral and jury service. 
 
 Art. 37. Citizenship shall be lost: 
 
 I. By naturalization in a foreign country. 
 
 II. By officially serving the government of an- 
 other country, or accepting its decorations, titles 
 or employment without previous permission of the 
 Federal Congress, excepting literary, scientific 
 
APPENDIX B 189 
 
 and humanitarian titles which may be accepted 
 freely. 
 
 III. By compromising themselves in any way 
 before ministers of any religious creed or before 
 any other person not to observe the present Con- 
 stitution, or the laws arising thereunder. 
 
 Art. 38. The rights or prerogatives of citizen- 
 ship shall be suspended for the following reasons : 
 
 I. Through failure to comply, without sufficient 
 cause, with any of the obligations imposed by 
 Article 36. This suspension shall last for one year 
 and shall be in addition to any other penalties 
 prescribed by law for the same offense. 
 
 II. Through being subjected to criminal prose- 
 cution for an offense punishable with imprison- 
 ment, such suspension to be reckoned from the 
 date of the formal order of commitment. 
 
 III. Throughout the term of imprisonment. 
 
 IV. Through vagrancy or habitual drunkenness, 
 declared in the manner provided by law. 
 
 V. Through being a fugitive from justice, the 
 suspension to be reckoned from the date of the 
 order of arrest until the prescription of the crim- 
 inal action. 
 
 VI. Through any final sentence which shall de- 
 cree as a penalty such suspension. 
 
 The law shall determine the cases in which civic 
 rights may be lost or suspended and the manner in 
 which they may be regained. 
 
190 APPENDIX B 
 
 Title II 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Of the National Sovereignty and Form of 
 Government 
 
 Art. 39. The national sovereignty is vested es- 
 sentially and originally in the people. All public 
 power emanates from the people, and is instituted 
 for their benefit. The people have at all times the 
 inalienable right to alter or modify the form of 
 their government. 
 
 Art. 40. It is the will of the Mexican people to 
 constitute themselves into a democratic, federal, 
 representative republic, consisting of States, free 
 and sovereign in all that concerns their internal 
 affairs, but united in a federation according to the 
 principles of this fundamental law. 
 
 Art. 41. The people exercise their sovereignty 
 through the federal powers in the matters belong- 
 ing to the Union, and through those of the States 
 in the matters relating to the internal administra- 
 tion of the latter. This power shall be exercised 
 in the manner respectively established by the Con- 
 stitutions, both Federal and State. The constitu- 
 tions of the States shall in no case contravene the 
 stipulations of the Federal constitution. . 
 
APPENDIX B 191 
 
 CHAPTEE II 
 
 Of the Integral Parts of the Federation and the 
 National Territory 
 
 Art. 42. The national territory comprises the 
 integral parts of the Federation and the adjacent 
 islands in both oceans. It likewise comprises the 
 Island of Guadalupe, those of Eevillagigedo, and 
 that of ' 'La Pasion," situated in the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Art. 43. The integral parts of the Federation 
 are: The States of Aguascalientes, Campeche, 
 Coahuila, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, 
 Gruanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, 
 Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit (see Art. 47), Nuevo 
 Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, 
 Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, 
 Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas, the Federal Dis- 
 trict, the Territory of Lower California, and the 
 Territory of Quintana Roo. 
 
 Art. 44. The Federal District shall embrace its 
 present territory; in the event of the removal of 
 the Federal Powers to some other place it shall be 
 created into the State of the Valley of Mexico, 
 with such boundaries and area as the Federal Con- 
 gress shall assign to it. 
 
 Art. 45. The States and Territories of the Fed- 
 eration shall keep their present boundaries and 
 
192 APPENDIX B 
 
 areas, provided no boundary question shall exist 
 between them. 
 
 Art. 46. The States having pending boundary 
 questions shall arrange or settle them as provided 
 by this Constitution. 
 
 Art. 47. The State of Nayarit shall have the 
 territorial area and boundaries at present com- 
 prising the Territory of Tepic. 
 
 Art. 48. The islands in both oceans embraced 
 within the national territory shall depend directly 
 on the Federal Government, excepting those over 
 which the States have up to the present time exer- 
 cised jurisdiction. 
 
 Title HI 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Of the Division of Powers 
 
 Art. 49. The supreme power of the Federation 
 is divided for its exercise into legislative, execu- 
 tive and judicial. 
 
 Two or more of these powers shall never be 
 united in one person or corporation, nor shall the 
 legislative power be vested in one individual ex- 
 cept in the case of extraordinary powers granted 
 to the Executives, in accordance with the pro- 
 visions of Article 29. 
 
APPENDIX B 193 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Of the Legislative Power 
 
 Art. 50. The legislative power of the United 
 States of Mexico is vested in a general Congress 
 which shall consist of a House of Representatives 
 and a Senate. 
 
 SECTION- I 
 
 Of the Election and Installation of the Congress 
 
 Art. 51. The House of Representatives shall 
 consist of representatives of the Nation, all of 
 whom shall be elected every two years by the 
 citizens of Mexico. 
 
 Art. 52. One Representative shall be chosen for 
 each 60,000 inhabitants or for any fraction thereof 
 exceeding 20,000, on the basis of the general census 
 of the Federal District and of each State and 
 Territory. Any State or Territory in which the 
 population shall be less than that fixed by this 
 article shall, nevertheless, elect one Representa- 
 tive. 
 
 Art. 53. There shall be elected an alternate for 
 each Representative. 
 
 Art. 54. The election of Representatives shall be 
 direct, in accordance with the provisions of the 
 electoral law. 
 
194 APPENDIX B 
 
 Art. 55. Eepresentatives shall have the follow- 
 ing qualifications : 
 
 I. They shall be Mexican citizens by birth (see 
 Art. 30) and in the enjoyment of their rights. 
 
 II. They shall be over twenty-five years of age 
 on the day of election. 
 
 III. They shall be natives of the States or Ter- 
 ritories respectively electing them, or domiciled 
 and actually resident therein for six months im- 
 mediately prior to the election. The domicile shall 
 not be lost through absence in the discharge of any 
 elective ofiice. 
 
 IV. They shall not be in active service in the 
 Federal army, not have any command in the police 
 corps or rural constabulary in the districts where 
 the elections respectively take place, for at least 
 ninety days immediately prior to the election. 
 
 V. They shall not hold the office of secretary nor 
 assistant secretary of any executive department 
 nor of justice of the supreme court, unless they 
 shall have resigned therefrom ninety days imme- 
 diately prior to the election. 
 
 No State Governor, Secretary of State of the 
 several States, nor State Judge shall be eligible in 
 the Districts within their several jurisdictions, un- 
 less they shall have resigned from their office 
 ninety days immediately prior to the day of elec- 
 tion. 
 
 VI. They shall not be ministers of any religious 
 creed. 
 
APPENDIX B 195 
 
 Art. 56. The Senate shall consist of two Sen- 
 ators from each State and two from the Federal 
 District, chosen in direct election. 
 
 Each State Legislature shall certify to the elec- 
 tion of the candidate who shall have obtained a 
 majority of the total number of votes cast. 
 
 Art. 57. There shall be elected an alternate for 
 each Senator. 
 
 Art. 58. Each Senator shall serve four years. 
 The Senate shall be renewed by half every two 
 years. 
 
 Art. 59. The qualifications necessary to be a 
 Senator shall be the same as those necessary to be 
 a Eepresentative, excepting that of age, which 
 shall be over thirty-five on the day of election. 
 
 Art. 60. Each House shall be the judge of the 
 election of its members and shall decide all ques- 
 tions arising therefrom. 
 
 Its decisions shall be final. 
 
 Art. 61. Representatives and Senators are in- 
 violable for opinions expressed by them in the dis- 
 charge of their duties, and shall never be called to 
 account for them. 
 
 Art. 62. Representatives and Senators shaU be 
 disqualified during the terms for which they have 
 been elected from holding any Federal or State 
 
196 APPENDIX B 
 
 commission or office for which any emolument is 
 received without previous permission of the re- 
 spective House; in the event of their accepting 
 such commission or office they shall forthwith lose 
 their representative character for such time as 
 they shall hold such appointive office. The same 
 provision shall apply to alternate Representatives 
 and Senators, when in active service. The viola- 
 tion of this provision shall be punished by for- 
 feiture of the office of Representative or Senator. 
 
 Art. 63. The Houses shall not open their ses- 
 sions nor exercise their functions without a 
 quorum, in the Senate of two-thirds, and in the 
 House of Representatives of a majority of the 
 total membership; but the members present of 
 either House shall meet on the day appointed by 
 law and compel the attendance of the absentees 
 within the next thirty days, and they shall warn 
 them that failure to comply with this provision 
 shall be taken to be a refusal of office, and the 
 corresponding alternates shall be summoned forth- 
 with ; the latter shall have a similar period within 
 which to present themselves, and on their failure 
 to do so the seats shall be declared vacant and new 
 elections called. 
 
 Representatives or Senators who shall be ab- 
 sent during ten consecutive days without proper 
 cause or without leave of the President of the re- 
 spective House, notice of which shall be duly com- 
 municated to the House, shall be understood as 
 
APPENDIX B 197 
 
 waiving their right to attend until the next ses- 
 sion, and their alternates shall be summoned with- 
 out delay. 
 
 If there shall be no quorum to organise either of 
 the Houses or to continue their labours, once or- 
 ganised, the alternates shall be ordered to present 
 themselves as soon as possible for the purpose of 
 taking office until the expiration of the thirty days 
 hereinbefore mentioned. 
 
 Art. 64. No Eepresentative or Senator who 
 shall fail to attend any daily session without 
 proper cause or without previous permission of 
 the respective House, shall be entitled to the com- 
 pensation corresponding to the day on which he 
 shall have been absent. 
 
 Art. 65. The Congress shall meet on the first 
 day of September of each year in regular session 
 for the consideration of the following matters : 
 
 I. To audit the accounts of the previous year 
 which shall be submitted to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives not later than ten days after the open- 
 ing of the session. The audit shall not be confined 
 to determining whether the expenditures do or do 
 not conform with the respective items in the 
 Budget, but shall comprise an examination of the 
 exactness of, and authorisation for, payments 
 made thereunder, and of any liability arising from 
 such payments. 
 
 No other secret items shall be permitted than 
 
198 APPENDIX B 
 
 those which the Budget may consider necessary as 
 such ; these amounts shall be paid out by the sec- 
 retaries of executive departments under written 
 orders of the President. 
 
 II. To examine, discuss and approve the Budget 
 for the next fiscal year, and to lay such taxes as 
 may be needed to meet the expenditures. 
 
 III. To study, discuss and vote on all bills pre- 
 sented and to discuss all other matters incumbent 
 upon the Congress by virtue of this Constitution. 
 
 Art. 66. The regular session of the Congress 
 shall last the period necessary to deal with all of 
 the matters mentioned in the foregoing article, but 
 it may not be extended beyond the thirty-first day 
 of December of the same year. Should both 
 Houses fail to agree as to adjournment prior to 
 the above date, the matter shall be decided by the 
 Executive. 
 
 Art. 67. The Congress shall meet in extraordi- 
 nary session whenever so summoned by the Presi- 
 dent, but in such event it shall consider only the 
 matter or matters submitted to it by the President, 
 who shall enumerate it or them in the respective 
 call. The President shall have power to convene 
 in extraordinary session only one of the Houses 
 when the matter to be referred to it pertains to its 
 exclusive jurisdiction. 
 
 Art. 68. Both Houses shall hold their meetings 
 in the same place and shall not move to another 
 
APPENDIX B 199 
 
 without having first agreed upon the moving and 
 the time and manner of accomplishing it, as well 
 as upon the place of meeting, which shall be the 
 same for both Houses. If both Houses agree to 
 change their meeting place but disagree as to the 
 time, manner and place the President shall settle 
 the question by choosing one of the two proposals. 
 Neither House may suspend its sessions for more 
 than three days without the consent of the other. 
 
 Art. 69. The President of the Eepublic shall 
 attend at the opening of the sessions of the Con- 
 gress, whether regular or extraordinary, and shall 
 submit a report in writing ; this report shall, in the 
 former case, relate to the general state of the 
 Union; and in the latter, it shall explain to the 
 Congress or to the House addressed the reasons 
 or causes which rendered the call necessary and 
 the matters requiring inunediate attention. 
 
 Art. 70. Every measure of the Congress shall 
 be in the form of a law or decree. The laws or 
 decrees shall be communicated to the Executive 
 after having been signed by the Presidents of both 
 Houses and by one of the secretaries of each. 
 When promulgated, the enacting clause shall read 
 as follows : 
 
 ''The Congress of the United States of Mexico 
 decrees (text of the law or decree)." 
 
200 APPENDIX B 
 
 SECTION- II 
 
 Of the Origin and Formation of the Laws 
 
 Art. 71. The right to originate legislation per- 
 tains : 
 
 I. To the President of the Eepublic; 
 
 II. To the Representatives and Senators of the 
 Congress ; 
 
 III. To the State Legislatures. 
 
 Bills submitted by the President of the Republic, 
 by State Legislatures or by delegations of the 
 States shall be at once referred to committee. 
 Those introduced by Representatives or Senators 
 shall be subject to the rules of procedure. 
 
 Art. 72. Bills, action on which shall not pertain 
 exclusively to one of the Houses, shall be discussed 
 first by one and then by the other, according to the 
 rules of procedure as to the form, time of pres- 
 entation and other details relative to discussions 
 and votes. 
 
 (a) After a bill has been approved in the House 
 where it originated it shall be sent to the other 
 House for consideration. If passed by the latter 
 it shall be transmitted to the President who, if he 
 has no observations to make thereto, shall imme- 
 diately promulgate it. 
 
 (b) Bills not returned by the Executive within 
 ten working days with his observations to the 
 House in which they originated, shall be oonsid- 
 
APPENDIX B 201 
 
 ered approved, "unless during the said ten days 
 the Congress shall have adjourned or suspended 
 its sessions, in which event they shall be returned 
 on the first working day after the Congress shall 
 have reconvened. 
 
 (c) Bills rejected in whole or in part by the 
 Executive shall be returned with his observations 
 to the House where they originated. They shall 
 be discussed anew by this House and if confirmed 
 by a two-thirds majority vote of the total mem- 
 bership shall be sent to the other House for re- 
 consideration. If approved by it, also by the 
 same majority vote, the bill shall become law and 
 shall be returned to the Executive for promulga- 
 tion. 
 
 The voting in both Houses shall be by yeas and 
 nays. 
 
 (d) Bills totally rejected by the House not orig- 
 inating them shall be returned with the proper 
 observations to the House of origin. If examined 
 anew and approved by a majority of the mem- 
 bers present, they shall be returned to the House 
 rejecting them, which shall once again take them 
 under consideration, and if approved by it, like- 
 wise by the same majority vote, they shall be sent 
 to the Executive for the purposes of Clause A; 
 but if the said House fail to approve them, they 
 shall not be reintroduced in the same session. 
 
 (e) Bills rejected in part or modified or 
 amended by the House of revision shall be dis- 
 cussed anew in the House of origin, but the dis- 
 
W2 APPENDIX B 
 
 cussion shall be confined to the portion rejected 
 or to the amendments or additions, without the 
 approved articles being altered in any respect. If 
 the additions or amendments made by the House 
 of revision be approved by a majority vote of the 
 members present in the House of origin, the bill 
 shall be transmitted to the Executive for the pur- 
 poses of Clause A ; but if the amendments or ad- 
 ditions by the House of revision be rejected by a 
 majority vote of the House of origin they shall 
 be returned to the former House in order that the 
 reasons set forth by the latter may be taken into 
 consideration. If in this second revision the said 
 additions or amendments be rejected by a major- 
 ity vote of the members present the portion of the 
 bill which has been approved by both Houses shall 
 be sent to the Executive for the purposes of Clause 
 A. If the House of revision insist by a majority 
 vote of the members present upon the additions 
 or amendments, no action shall be taken on the 
 whole bill until the next session, unless both 
 Houses agree, by a majority vote of the members 
 present, to the promulgation of the law without 
 the articles objected to, which shall be left till the 
 next session, when they shall be then discussed 
 and voted upon. 
 
 (f) The same formalities as are required for 
 the enactment of laws shall be observed for their 
 interpretation, amendment or repeal. 
 
 (g) No bill rejected in the House of origin be- 
 
APPENDIX B 203 
 
 fore passing to the other House shall be reintro- 
 duced during the session of that year. 
 
 (h) Legislative measures may be originated in 
 either House, excepting bills dealing with loans, 
 taxes or imposts, or with the raising of troops, 
 which must have their origin in the House of 
 Eepresentatives. 
 
 (i) Whenever a bill shall be presented to one 
 House it shall be first discussed there unless one 
 month shall have elapsed since it was referred to 
 committee and not reported, in which event an 
 identical bill may be presented and discussed in 
 the other House. 
 
 (j) The President shall not make any observa- 
 tions touching the resolutions of the Congress or 
 of either House when acting as an electoral body 
 or as a grand jury, nor when the House of Eepre- 
 sentatives shall declare that there are grounds to 
 impeach any high federal authority for official 
 offences. 
 
 Nor shall he make any observations touching 
 the order for a call issued by the Permanent 
 Committee as provided in Article 84. 
 
 SECTION- nr 
 Of the Powers of the Congress 
 
 Art. 73. The Congress shall have power : 
 I. To admit new States or Territories into the 
 Federal Union. 
 
204 APPENDIX B 
 
 II. To grant statehood to Territories whicli 
 have a population of eighty thousand inhabitants 
 and the necessary means to provide for their 
 political existence. 
 
 III. To form new States within the boundaries 
 of existing ones, provided the following requisites 
 are complied with : 
 
 1. That the section or sections aspiring to 
 statehood have a population of one hundred and 
 twenty thousand inhabitants at least ; 
 
 2. That proof be given to the Congress that it 
 has sufficient means to provide for its political 
 existence ; 
 
 3. That the legislatures of the States affected 
 be heard as to the advisability or inadvisability 
 of granting such statehood, which opinion shall be 
 given within six months reckoned from the day 
 on which the respective communication is for- 
 warded ; 
 
 4. That the opinion of the Executive of the 
 Federal Government be also heard on the subject ; 
 this opinion shall be given within seven days after 
 the date on which it was requested. 
 
 5. That the creation of the new State be voted 
 upon favorably by two-thirds of the Eepresenta- 
 tives and Senators present in their respective 
 Houses. 
 
 6. That the resolution of the Congress be 
 ratified by a majority of the State Legislatures, 
 upon examination of a copy of the record of the 
 case, provided that the Legislatures of the States 
 
APPENDIX B 205 
 
 to wMch the section belongs shall have given their 
 consent. 
 
 7. Th^at the ratification referred to in the fore- 
 going clause be given by two-thirds of the legis- 
 latures of the other States, if the legislatures of 
 the States to which the Section belongs have not 
 given their consent. 
 
 IV. To settle finally the limits of the States, 
 terminating the differences which may arise be- 
 tween them relative to the demarcation of their 
 respective territories, except when the differences 
 be of a litigious nature. 
 
 V. To change the residence of the supreme 
 powers of the Federation. 
 
 VI. To legislate in all matters relating to the 
 Federal District and the Territories, as herein- 
 after provided: 
 
 1. The Federal District and the Territories 
 shall be divided into municipalities, each of which 
 shall have the area and population sufficient for 
 its own support and for its contribution toward 
 the common expenses. 
 
 2. Each municipality shall be governed by a 
 town council elected by direct vote of the people. 
 
 3. The Federal District and each of the Terri- 
 tories shall be administered by governors under 
 the direct orders of the President of the Republic. 
 The Governor of the Federal District shall de- 
 spatch with the President, and the Governor of 
 each Territory shall despatch with the President 
 through the duly constituted channels. The Gov- 
 
206 APPENDIX B 
 
 ernor of the Federal District and the Governor of 
 each Territory shall be appointed by the Presi- 
 dent and may be removed by him at will. 
 
 4. The Superior Judges and those of First In- 
 stance of the Federal District as well as of the 
 Territories shall be named by the Congress, act- 
 ing in each case as an electoral college. In the 
 temporary or permanent absences of the said 
 Superior Judges these shall be replaced by ap- 
 pointment of the Congress, and in recess by tem- 
 porary appointments of the Permanent Com- 
 mittee. The organic law shall determine the man- 
 ner of filling temporary vacancies in the case of 
 judges, and shall designate the authority before 
 whom they shall be called to account for any 
 dereliction, excepting the provisions of this Con- 
 stitution with regard to the responsibility of offi- 
 cials. From and after the year 1923 the Superior 
 Judges and those of First Instance to which this 
 clause refers may only be removed from office for 
 bad conduct and after impeachment, unless they 
 shall have been promoted to the next higher grade. 
 From and after the said date the compensation 
 enjoyed by said officials shall not be diminished 
 during their term of office. 
 
 5. The office of the Public Attorney (Minis- 
 terio Publico) of the Federal District and of the 
 Territories, shall be in charge of an Attorney 
 General, who shall reside in the City of Mexico, 
 and of such Public Attorney or Attorneys as the 
 law may determine; the said Attorney General 
 
APPENDIX B 207 
 
 shall be under the direct orders of the President 
 of the Republic, who shall appoint and remove 
 him at will. 
 
 VII. To lay the taxes necessary to meet the 
 expenditures of the budget. 
 
 Vm. To establish the bases upon which the 
 Executive may make loans on the credit of the 
 nation ; to approve the said loans and to acknowl- 
 edge and order the payment of the national debt. 
 
 IX. To enact tariff laws on foreign commerce 
 and to prevent restrictions from being imposed on 
 interstate commerce. 
 
 X. To legislate for the entire Republic in all 
 matters relating to mining, commerce, and insti- 
 tutions of credit, and to establish the sole bank of 
 issue, as provided in Article 28 of this Constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 XI. To create or abolish Federal offices, and 
 to fix, increase, or decrease the compensations as- 
 signed thereto. 
 
 XII. To declare war, upon examination of the 
 facts submitted by the Executive. 
 
 XIII. To regulate the manner in which letters 
 of marque may be issued ; to enact laws according 
 to which prizes on sea and land shall be adjudged 
 valid or invalid ; and to frame the admiralty law 
 for times of peace and war. 
 
 XIV. To raise and maintain the army and 
 navy of the Union, and to regulate their organiza- 
 tion and service. 
 
 XV. To make rules for the organization and 
 
208 APPENDIX B 
 
 discipline of the National Guard, reserving for the 
 citizens who compose it the right of appointing 
 their respective commanders and officers, and to 
 the States the power of instructing it in conform- 
 ity with the discipline prescribed by the said 
 regulations. 
 
 XVI. To enact laws on citizenship, naturaliza- 
 tion, colonization, emigration, immigration and 
 public health of the Eepublic. 
 
 1. The Public Health Service shall depend di- 
 rectly upon the President of the Eepublic, with- 
 out the intervention of any executive depart- 
 ment, and its general provisions shall be binding 
 throughout the Eepublic. 
 
 2. In the event of epidemics of a grave or dan- 
 gerous nature, of the invasion of diseases from 
 abroad, the Public Health Service shall put into 
 force without delay the necessary preventive 
 measures, subject to their subsequent sanction by 
 the President of the Eepublic. 
 
 3. The sanitary authorities shall have execu- 
 tive faculties and their determinations shall be 
 obeyed by the administrative authorities of the 
 country. 
 
 4. All measures which the Public Health Serv- 
 ice shall have put into effect in its campaign 
 against alcoholism and the sale of substances in- 
 jurious to man and tending to degenerate the race 
 shall be subsequently revised by the Congress, in 
 such cases as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
 latter. 
 
APPENDIX B 209 
 
 XVII. To enact laws on general means of 
 oommnnication, postroads and post offices and to 
 enact laws as to the use and development of the 
 waters subject to the Federal jurisdiction. 
 
 XVni. To establish mints, regulate the value 
 and kinds of the national coin, fix the value of 
 foreign moneys, and adopt a general system of 
 weights and measures. 
 
 XIX. To make rules for the occupation and 
 alienation of public lands and the prices thereof. 
 
 XX. To enact laws as to the organization of 
 the diplomatic and consular services. 
 
 XXI. To define the crimes and offenses against 
 the Nation and to fix the penalties therefor. 
 
 XXII. To grant pardons for offenses subject 
 to federal jurisdiction. 
 
 XXIII. To make rules for its internal govern- 
 ment and to enact the necessary provisions to 
 compel the attendance of absent Eepresentatives 
 and Senators and to punish the acts of commis- 
 sion or omission of those present. 
 
 XXIV. To issue the organic law of the office 
 of the Comptroller of the Treasury. 
 
 XXV. To sit as an electoral college and to 
 name the Justices of the Supreme Court, and the 
 Superior and Inferior Judges of the Federal Dis- 
 trict and Territories. 
 
 XXVI. To accept the resignation of the Jus- 
 tices of the Supreme Court and of the Superior 
 and Inferior Judges of the Federal District and 
 
210 APPENDIX B 
 
 Territories, and to name substitutes in their ab- 
 sence and to appoint their successors. 
 
 XXVII. To establish professional schools of 
 scientific research and fine arts, vocational, agri- 
 cultural and trade schools, museums, libraries, 
 observatories and other institutes of higher learn- 
 ing, until such time as these establishments can 
 be supported by private funds. These powers 
 shall not pertain exclusively to the Federal Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 All degrees conferred by any of the above in- 
 stitutions shall be valid throughout the Republic. 
 
 XXVIII. To sit as an electoral college and to 
 choose the person to assume the office of Presi- 
 dent of the Republic, either as a substitute Presi- 
 dent or as a President ad interim in the terms 
 established by Articles 84 and 85 of this Constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 XXIX. To accept the resignation of the Presi- 
 dent of the Republic. 
 
 XXX. To audit the accounts which shall be 
 submitted annually by the Executive; this audit 
 shall comprise not only the checking of the items 
 disbursed under the Budget but the exactness of 
 and authorization for the expenditures in each 
 case. 
 
 XXXI. To make all laws necessary for carry- 
 ing into execution the foregoing powers and all 
 other powers vested by this Constitution in the 
 several branches of the Government. 
 
APPENDIX B 211 
 
 Art. 74. The House of Eepresentatives shall 
 have the following exclusive powers : 
 
 I. To sit as an electoral college to exercise the 
 powers conferred by law as to the election of the 
 President. 
 
 II. To watch by means of a committee ap- 
 pointed from among its own members over the 
 faithful performance by the Comptroller of the 
 Treasury in the discharge of his duties. 
 
 III. To appoint all the higher officers and 
 other employees of the office of the Comptroller 
 of the Treasury. 
 
 IV. To approve the annual Budget, after a dis- 
 cussion as to what taxes must in its judgment be 
 laid to meet the necessary expenditures. 
 
 V. To take cognizance of all charges brought 
 against public officials, as herein provided, for 
 official offenses, and should the circumstances so 
 warrant to impeach them before the Senate ; and 
 further to act as a grand jury to decide whether 
 there is or is not good ground for proceeding 
 against any official enjoying constitutional privi- 
 leges, whenever accused of offenses of the common 
 order. 
 
 VI. To exercise such other powers as may be 
 expressly vested in it by this Constitution. 
 
 Art. 75. The House of Eepresentatives, in 
 passing the Budget, shall not fail to assign a defi- 
 nite compensation to every office created by law, 
 and if for any reason such compensation shall not 
 
212 APPENDIX B 
 
 be assigned, the amount fixed in the preceding 
 Budget or in the law creating the office shall be 
 presumed to be assigned. 
 
 Art. 76. The Senate shall have the following 
 exclusive powers : 
 
 I. To approve the treaties and diplomatic con- 
 ventions concluded by the Executive with foreign 
 powers. 
 
 II. To confirm the nominations made by the 
 President of diplomatic ministers or agents, con- 
 suls general, higher officials of the treasury, 
 colonels and other superior officers of the army 
 and navy, in the manner and form by law pro- 
 vided. 
 
 III. To authorize the Executive to allow na- 
 tional troops to go beyond the limits of the Re- 
 public, or to permit foreign troops to pass 
 through the national territory, and to consent to 
 the presence of fleets of another nation for more 
 than one month in Mexican waters. 
 
 IV. To consent to the Executive disposing of 
 the national guard outside of the limits of its re- 
 spective States or Territories, and to fix the 
 amount of the force to be used. 
 
 V. To declare, when all the constitutional 
 powers of any State have disappeared, that the 
 occasion has arisen to give to the said State a 
 provisional governor, who shall call for elections 
 to be held according to the constitution and laws 
 of the said State. The appointment of snch a 
 
APPENDIX B 213 
 
 governor shall be made by the Senate with the 
 approval of two-thirds of its members present or 
 during recess by the Permanent Committee by the 
 same two-thirds majority, from among three 
 names submitted by the President. The official 
 thus selected shall not be chosen constitutional 
 governor in the elections to be held under the call 
 which he shall issue. This provision shall gov- 
 ern whenever the State Constitutions do not pro- 
 vide for the contingency. 
 
 VI. To sit as a Grand Jury to take cognizance 
 of such official offenses of functionaries as are ex- 
 pressly prescribed by this Constitution. 
 
 VII. To exercise such other powers as may be 
 expressly vested in it by this Constitution. 
 
 VIII. To adjust all political questions arising 
 between the powers of a State whenever one of 
 them shall appeal to the Senate or whenever by 
 virtue of such differences a clash of arms has 
 arisen to interrupt the constitutional order. In 
 this event the Senate shall decide in accordance 
 with the Federal Constitution and the Constitu- 
 tion of the State involved. 
 
 The exercise of this power and of the foregoing 
 shall be regulated by law. 
 
 Art. 77. Each House may, without the inter- 
 vention of the other: 
 
 I. Pass resolutions upon matters exclusively 
 relating to its own interior government. 
 
 II. Communicate with the other House, and 
 
214 APPENDIX B 
 
 with the Executive through committees appointed 
 from among its members. 
 
 III. Appoint the employees in the office of its 
 secretary, and make all rules and regulations for 
 the said office. 
 
 IV. Issue a call for extraordinary elections to 
 fill any vacancies which may occur in its member- 
 ship. 
 
 SECTION IV 
 
 Of the Permanent Committee 
 
 Art. 78. During the recess of the Congress 
 there shall be a Permanent Committee consisting 
 of twenty-nine members, fifteen of whom shall be 
 Eepresentatives and fourteen Senators, appointed 
 by the respective Houses on the eve of the day of 
 adjournment. 
 
 Art. 79. In addition to the powers expressly 
 vested in it by this Constitution, the Permanent 
 Committee shall have the following powers : 
 
 I. To give its consent to the use of the national 
 guard as provided in Article 76, Clause IV. 
 
 II. To administer the oath of office, should the 
 occasion arise, to the President, to the Justices of 
 the Supreme Court, to the Superior Judges of the 
 Federal District and Territories, on such occa- 
 sions as the latter officials may happen to be in the 
 City of Mexico. 
 
APPENDIX B 215 
 
 III. To report on all pending matters, so that 
 they may be considered in the next session. 
 
 IV. To call extraordinary sessions in the case 
 of official offenses or offenses of the common order 
 committed by Secretaries of Executive Depart- 
 ments or Justices of the Supreme Court, and offi- 
 cial offenses committed by State Governors, pro- 
 vided the case shall have been already instituted 
 by the Committee of the Grand Jury, in which 
 event no other business of the Congress shall be 
 considered, nor shall the sessions be prolonged 
 beyond tlie time necessary for a decision. 
 
 CHAPTER ni 
 
 Of the Executive Power 
 
 Art. 80. The exercise of the supreme executive 
 power of the Union is vested in a single indi- 
 vidual, who shall be called ''President of the 
 United States of Mexico." 
 
 Art. 81. The election of President shall be di- 
 rect, in accordance with the terms of the electoral 
 law. 
 
 Art. 82. The President of the Republic shall 
 have the following qualifications : 
 
 I. He shall be a Mexican citizen by birth, in 
 the full enjoyment of his rights, and he must be 
 the son of Mexican parents by birth. 
 
216 APPENDIX B 
 
 II. He shall be over thirty-five years of age 
 at the time of election. 
 
 in. He shall have resided in the country dur- 
 ing the entire year prior to the election. 
 
 IV. He shaU not belong to the ecclesiastical 
 state nor be a minister of any religious creed. 
 
 V. In the event of belonging to the army, he 
 shall have retired from active service 90 days im- 
 mediately prior to the election. 
 
 VI. He shall not be a secretary or assistant 
 secretary of any executive department, unless he 
 shall have resigned from office 90 days prior to 
 the election. 
 
 VII. He shall not have taken part, directly or 
 indirectly, in any uprising, riot or military coup. 
 
 Art. 83. The President shall enter upon the 
 duties of his office on the first day of December, 
 shall serve four years and shall never be re- 
 elected. 
 
 The citizen who shall replace the constitutional 
 President in the event of his permanent disability 
 shall not be elected President for the ensuing 
 term. 
 
 Nor shall the person designated as Acting 
 President during the temporary disabilities of the 
 constitutional President be re-elected President 
 for the ensuing term. 
 
 Art. 84. In the event of the permanent disabil- 
 ity of the President of the Republic, if this shall 
 
APPENDIX B 217 
 
 occtir within the first two years of the respective 
 term, the Congress, if in session, shall forthwith 
 ac^as an electoral college, and with the attendance 
 of at least two-thirds of its total membership shall 
 choose a President by secret ballot and by a ma- 
 jority vote; and the same Congress shall issue 
 the call for Presidential elections and shall en- 
 deavor to have the date set for this event as far 
 as possible coincide with the date of the next elec- 
 tion of Representatives and Senators to Congress. 
 
 Should the disability of the President occur 
 while Congress is in recess, the Permanent Com- 
 mittee shall forthwith designate a President ad 
 interim who shall call Congress together in 
 extraordinary session, in order that it may in turn 
 issue the call for Presidential elections in the man- 
 ner provided in the foregoing paragraph. 
 
 Should the disability of the President occur in 
 the last two years of the respective term, the 
 Congress, if in session, shall choose the substitute 
 to conclude the period of the presidential term ; if 
 Congress shall not be in session the Permanent 
 Committee shall choose a President ad interim 
 and shall summon Congress in extraordinary ses- 
 sion, in order that it may act as an electoral college 
 and proceed to the election of the substitute 
 President. 
 
 The President ad interim may be chosen by 
 Congress as substitute President. 
 
 The citizen designated as President ad interim 
 for the purpose of calling elections, in the event 
 
218 APPENDIX B 
 
 of the disability of the President within the two 
 first years of the respective term, shall not be 
 chosen in the elections held to fill such vacancy 
 and for which he was designated. 
 
 Art. 85. If the President-Elect shall fail to 
 present himself at the beginning of any constitu- 
 tional term, or the election not have been held and 
 the result made known by the first of December, 
 the outgoing President shall nevertheless vacate 
 office and the President ad interim chosen by the 
 Congress, or in its recess by the Permanent Com- 
 mittee, shall forthwith assume the executive 
 power. All action taken hereunder shall be gov- 
 erned by the provisions of the foregoing article. 
 
 In case of a temporary disability of the 
 President, the Congress, or the Permanent Com- 
 mittee if the Congress shall not be in session, shall 
 designate an Acting President during such dis- 
 ability. If a temporary disability shall become 
 permanent, the action prescribed in the preceding 
 article shall be taken. 
 
 In the event of a leave of absence granted to 
 the President of the Republic the person acting 
 in his stead shall not be disqualified from being 
 elected in the ensuing period, provided he shall 
 not have been in office during the holding of elec- 
 tions. 
 
 Art. 86. The President shall not resign office 
 except for grave cause, upon which the Congress 
 
APPENDIX B 219 
 
 shall pass, to whicli body the resignation shall be 
 tendered. 
 
 Art. 87. The President, before entering upon 
 the discharge of the duties of his office, shall make 
 the following affirmation before the Congress, or 
 in its recess before the Permanent Committee : 
 
 "I do solemnly affirm that I will defend and 
 enforce the Constitution of the United States of 
 Mexico and the laws arising thereunder and that 
 I will faithfully and conscientiously perform the 
 duties of President of the United States of Mex- 
 ico, to which I have been chosen by the people, 
 having ever in mind the welfare and prosperity 
 of the Nation; if I shall fail to do so, may the 
 Nation call me to account." 
 
 Art. 88. The President shall not absent him- 
 self from the national territory without the per- 
 mission of the Congress. 
 
 Art. 89. The President shall have the following 
 powers and duties : 
 
 I. To promulgate and execute the laws enacted 
 by the Congress, providing, within the executive 
 sphere, for their faithful observance. 
 
 II. To appoint and remove at will the Secre- 
 taries of Executive Departments, the Attorney 
 General of the Kepublic, the Governor of the Fed- 
 eral District, the Governors of Territories, the 
 Attorney General of the Federal District and 
 
220 APPENDIX B 
 
 Territories; and to appoint and remove at will 
 all other Federal employees whose appointment 
 or removal is not otherwise provided for by law 
 or in this Constitution. 
 
 III. To appoint, with the approval of the 
 Senate, all ministers, diplomatic agents and con- 
 suls general. 
 
 IV. To appoint, with the approval of the Sen- 
 ate, the colonels and other superior officers of the 
 army and navy and the superior officials of the 
 treasury. 
 
 V. To appoint all other officers of the national 
 army and navy, as by law provided. 
 
 VI. To dispose of the permanent land and sea 
 forces for the domestic safety and foreign defense 
 of the Union. 
 
 VII. To dispose of the national guard for the 
 same purposes, as provided by Article 76, Clause 
 IV. 
 
 VIII. To declare war in the name of the United 
 States of Mexico, after the passage of the cor- 
 responding resolution by the Congress of the 
 Union. 
 
 IX. To grant letters of marque, upon the terms 
 and conditions fixed by the Congress. 
 
 X. To conduct diplomatic negotiations and to 
 make treaties. 
 
 XI. To call Congress, or either of the Houses, 
 in extraordinary session, whenever in his judg- 
 ment it may be advisable. 
 
 Xn. To afford the judiciary the assistance 
 
APPENDIX B 221 
 
 necessary for the expeditious exercise of its func- 
 tions. 
 
 XIII. To open all kinds of ports, establish 
 maritime and frontier custom houses and desig- 
 nate their location. 
 
 XIV. To grant, according to law, pardons to 
 criminals sentenced for offenses within the juris- 
 diction of the Federal tribunals, and to all persons 
 sentenced for offenses of the common order in the 
 Federal District and Territories. 
 
 XV. To grant exclusive privileges for a limited 
 time, and according to the respective laws, to dis- 
 coverers, inventors or improvers in any branch 
 of industry. 
 
 XVI. Whenever the Senate shall not be in ses- 
 sion the President may temporarily make the 
 nominations enumerated in Clauses III and IV 
 hereof, but these nominations shall be submitted 
 to the Senate so soon as it reconvenes. 
 
 XVII. To exercise such other rights and duties 
 as are expressly conferred upon him by this Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 Art. 90. For the transaction of administrative 
 matters of the Federal Government there shall be 
 the number of Secretaries of Executive Depart- 
 ments which the Congress may by law establish, 
 which law shall likewise assign among the various 
 departments the several matters with which each 
 shall be charged. 
 
222 APPENDIX B 
 
 Art. 91. No person shall be appointed Secre- 
 tary of an Executive Department who is not a 
 Mexican citizen by birth, in the enjoyment of his 
 rights and who has not attained the age of thirty 
 years. 
 
 Art. 92. All regulations, decrees and orders 
 of the President shall be signed by the Secretary 
 of the Executive Department to which the matter 
 pertains. They shall not be binding without this 
 requisite. All regulations, decrees and orders of 
 the President touching the government of the 
 Federal District and the administrative depart- 
 ments shall be transmitted directly by the Presi- 
 dent to the Governor of the District and to the 
 chief of the respective department. 
 
 Art. 93. The Secretaries of Executive Depart- 
 ments shall on the opening of each regular session 
 report to the Congress as to the state of their 
 respective Departments. Either House may sum- 
 mon a Secretary of an Executive Department to 
 inform it, whenever a bill or other matter per- 
 taining to his department is under discussion or 
 consideration. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Of the Judicial Power 
 
 Art. 94. The judicial power of the Federation 
 is vested in a Supreme Court and in Circuit and 
 District Courts, whose number and powers shall 
 
APPENDIX B 223 
 
 be fixed by law. The Supreme Court of Justice 
 shall consist of eleven members ; its sittings shall 
 be in banc and its hearings shall be public, except 
 in the cases where public interest or morality 
 shall otherwise require. It shall meet at such 
 times and under such conditions as by law pre- 
 scribed. No sittings of the court shall be held 
 without the attendance of at least two-thirds of 
 its total membership, and all decisions rendered 
 shall be by a majority vote. 
 
 The Justices of the Supreme Court chosen to 
 this office in the forthcoming elections shall serve 
 two years; those elected at the conclusion of this 
 first term shall serve four years, and from and 
 after the year 1923 the Justices of the Supreme 
 Court, the Circuit and District Judges may only 
 be removed for malfeasance and after impeach- 
 ment proceedings, unless the Circuit and District 
 Judges be promoted to the next higher grade. 
 
 The same provision shall govern, in so far as 
 it be applicable to the terms of two and four years, 
 respectively, to which this article refers. 
 
 Art. 95. The Justices of the Supreme Court 
 shall have the following qualifications : 
 
 I. They shall be Mexican citizens by birth, in 
 the full enjoyment of their civil and political 
 rights. 
 
 II. They shall be over thirty-five years of age 
 at the time of election. 
 
 III. They shall be graduates in law of some 
 
224 APPENDIX B 
 
 institution or corporation authorized by law to 
 confer such degrees. 
 
 IV. They shall be of good repute and not have 
 been convicted of any offense punishable with 
 more than one year's imprisonment; but convic- 
 tion of larceny, deceit, forgery, embezzlement or 
 any other offense seriously impairing their good 
 name in the public mind shall disqualify them for 
 office, whatever may have been the penalty im- 
 posed. 
 
 V. They shall have resided in the country for 
 the last five years, except in the case of absence 
 due to public service abroad for a period not ex- 
 ceeding six months. 
 
 Art. 96. The members of the Supreme Court 
 of Justice shall be chosen by the Congress, acting 
 as an electoral college; the presence of at least 
 two-thirds of the total number of Representatives 
 and Senators shall be necessary for such action. 
 The election shall be by secret ballot and by a 
 majority vote, and shall be held as among the 
 candidates previously proposed, one being nomi- 
 nated by each State legislature, as provided in 
 the respective State laws. 
 
 Should no candidate receive a majority on the 
 first ballot, the balloting shall be repeated between 
 the two candidates receiving the highest number 
 of votes. 
 
 Art. 97. All Circuit and District Judges shall 
 
 be appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice; 
 
APPENDIX B 225 
 
 they shall have such qualifications as by law re- 
 quired, shall serve four years and shall not be 
 removed except by impeachment proceedings or 
 for incapacity to discharge their duties, in accord- 
 ance with the law. 
 
 The Supreme Court of Justice may remove the 
 District Judges from one District to another, or 
 it may fix their seats in another locality, as it 
 may deem most advantageous to the public busi- 
 ness. A similar procedure shall be observed in 
 the case of Circuit Judges. 
 
 The Supreme Court of Justice may likewise ap- 
 point auxiliary Circuit and District Judges to 
 assist in the labors of such courts as have an 
 excessive amount of business, in order that the 
 administration of justice may be speedy; it shall 
 also name one or more of its members or some 
 district or circuit judge or shall designate one or 
 more special commissioners, whenever it shall 
 deem it advisable or on the request of the Presi- 
 dent or of either House or of any State Governor, 
 solely for the purpose of inquiring into the be- 
 havior of any judge or federal justice or into 
 any fact or facts which amount to a violation of 
 any individual rights or to the subversion of the 
 popular will or any other offense punishable by 
 Federal statute. 
 
 The Circuit and District Courts shall be 
 assigned among the several Justices of the Su- 
 preme Court who shall visit them periodically, 
 
226 APPENDIX B 
 
 shall observe the conduct of their judges, listen 
 to any complaint presented against them and per- 
 form all such other acts as the law may require. 
 The Supreme Court shall appoint and remove at 
 will its clerk of the court and other employees 
 on the roster established by law. The Circuit and 
 District Judges shall likewise appoint and remove 
 at will their respective clerks and employees. 
 
 The Supreme Court shall choose each year one 
 of its members to act as Chief Justice, with the 
 right of re-election. 
 
 Each Justice of the Supreme Court on assuming 
 office shall make an affirmation before Congress, 
 or if this is in recess, before the Permanent Com- 
 mittee, as follows: 
 
 The Presiding Officer shall say : "Do you prom- 
 ise to perform faithfully and conscientiously the 
 duties of Justice of the Supreme Court with which 
 you have been charged, and to defend and enforce 
 the Constitution of the United States of Mexico 
 and the laws arising thereunder, having ever in 
 mind the welfare and prosperity of the Nation!" 
 To which the Justice shall reply, ''I do." On 
 which the Presiding Officer shall answer: "If 
 you fail to do so, may the Nation call you to 
 account. ' ' 
 
 The Circuit and District Judges shall make the 
 affirmation of office before the Supreme Court or 
 before such other authority as the law may de- 
 termine. 
 
APPENDIX B 227 
 
 Art. 98. No temporary disability of a Justice 
 of the Supreme Court not exceeding one month 
 shall be filled, provided there be otherwise a 
 quorum. In the absence of a quorum the Con- 
 gress, or in its recess the Permanent Committee, 
 shall name a substitute selected from among the 
 candidates submitted by the States for the election 
 of the justice in question and not chosen, to serve 
 during such disability. If the disability does not 
 exceed two months, the Congress, or during its 
 recess the Permanent Committee, shall choose at 
 will a temporary justice. 
 
 In the event of the death, resignation or dis- 
 qualification of any justice of the Supreme Court, 
 a new election shall be held by the Congress to fill 
 this vacancy as provided in Article 96. 
 
 If the Congress shall not be in session, the Per- 
 manent Committee shall make a temporary 
 appointment until such time as the Congress shall 
 convene and proceed to the corresponding elec- 
 tion. 
 
 Art. 99. The resignation of a justice of the 
 Supreme Court shall only be accepted for grave 
 cause, approved by the Congress, to whom the 
 resignation shall be tendered. In the recesses 
 of the Congress the power to act on this matter 
 belongs to the Permanent Committee. 
 
 Art. 100. The Supreme Court shall grant all 
 leaves of absence of its members, when they do 
 
228 APPENDIX B 
 
 not exceed one month; sucli as do exceed this 
 period shall be granted by the House of Represen- 
 tatives, or during its recess by the Permanent 
 Committee. 
 
 Art. 101. No Justice of the Supreme Court, 
 Circuit or District Judge, nor clerk of any of these 
 courts shall under any circumstances accept any 
 State, Federal or private commission or office, 
 excepting honorary titles from scientific, literary 
 or charitable associations. The violation of this 
 provision shall work a forfeiture of office. 
 
 Art. 102. The office of the Public Attorney 
 shall be organized in accordance with the law, and 
 its officers shall be appointed and removed at will 
 by the Executive. They shall be under the direc- 
 tion of an Attorney General who shall possess the 
 same qualifications as are required for the office 
 of Justice of the Supreme Court. 
 
 The Public Attorneys shall be charged with the 
 judicial prosecution of all Federal offenses ; they 
 shall accordingly sue out all orders of arrest, 
 assemble and offer all evidence as to the respon- 
 sibility of the accused, see that the trials are con- 
 ducted in due order so that the administration of 
 justice may be speedy, pray the imposition of 
 sentence, and in general take part in all matters 
 required by law. 
 
 The Attorney General of the Republic shall per- 
 sonally intervene in matters to which the Federal 
 
APPENDIX B 229 
 
 Government is a party, in cases affecting minis- 
 ters, diplomatic agents and consuls general, and 
 in all controversies between two or more States 
 of the Union, between the Federal Government 
 and a State or between the several powers of a 
 State. The Attorney General may either person- 
 ally or through one of the Public Attorneys take 
 part in all other cases in which the Public Attor- 
 neys are called upon to act. 
 
 The Attorney General shall be the legal advisor 
 of the Government, and both he and the Public 
 Attorneys under his orders shall faithfully obey 
 the law and shall be liable for all breaches or for 
 any violations which they may incur in the dis- 
 charge of their duties. 
 
 Art. 103. The Federal tribunals shall take cog- 
 nizance of: 
 
 I. All controversies arising Out of laws or acts 
 of the authorities which shall infringe any per- 
 sonal guarantees. 
 
 II. All controversies arising out of laws or 
 acts of the federal authorities which limit or en- 
 croach upon the sovereignty of the States. 
 
 III. All controversies arising out of laws or 
 acts of the State authorities which invade the 
 sphere of the Federal authorities. 
 
 Art. 104. The Federal Tribunals shall have 
 jurisdiction over : 
 I. All controversies of a civil or criminal na- 
 
230 APPENDIX B 
 
 ture arising out of the application and enforce- 
 ment of the Federal laws, or out of treaties 
 concluded with foreign powers. Whenever such 
 controversies affect only private rights, the reg- 
 ular local courts of the States, the Federal Dis- 
 trict and Territories shall, at the election of the 
 plaintiff, assume jurisdiction. Appeal may be had 
 from all judgments of first instance to the next 
 higher tribunal of the same court in which the 
 case was first heard. Appeal may be taken from 
 sentences of second instance to the Supreme Court 
 of Justice, which appeal shall be prepared, sub- 
 mitted and prosecuted, in accordance with the pro- 
 cedure provided by law. 
 
 II. All cases pertaining to admiralty law. 
 
 III. All cases to which the Federation may be 
 a party. 
 
 IV. All cases arising between two or more 
 States, or between any State and the Federal 
 Grovernment, as well as those arising between the 
 courts of the Federal District and those of the 
 Federal Government or of a State. 
 
 V. All cases arising between a State and one 
 or more citizens of another State. 
 
 VI. All cases concerning diplomatic agents and 
 consuls. 
 
 Art. 105. The Supreme Court of Justice shall 
 have exclusive jurisdiction in all controversies 
 arising between two or more States, between the 
 powers of government of any State as to the con- 
 
APPENDIX B 231 
 
 stitutionality of their acts, or between one or more 
 States and the Federal Government, and in all 
 cases to which the Federal Government may be a 
 party. 
 
 Art. 106. The Supreme Court of Justice shall 
 likewise have exclusive jurisdiction to determine 
 all questions of jurisdiction between the Federal 
 tribunals, between these and those of the States, 
 or between those of one State and those of another. 
 
 Art. 107. All controversies mentioned in 
 Article 103 shall be prosecuted by the injured 
 party in accordance with the judicial forms and 
 procedure which the law shall establish, subject 
 to the following conditions : 
 
 I. The judgment shall always be so drawn as 
 to affect exclusively private individuals, and shall 
 confine itself to affording them redress in the 
 special case to which the complaint refers; but, 
 it shall make no general statement as to the law 
 or the act that may have formed the basis for 
 the complaint. 
 
 II. In civil or penal suits, excepting those men- 
 tioned in Clause IX hereof, the writ of ''amparo" 
 shall issue only against final judgments when no 
 other ordinary recourse is available by which these 
 judgments may be modified or amended, if the 
 violation of the law shall have occurred in the 
 judgment, or if, although committed during the 
 course of the trial, objection was duly noted and 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 protest entered against the denial of reparation, 
 and provided further that if committed in first 
 instance it shall have been invoked in second in- 
 stance as a violation of the law. 
 
 Notwithstanding the foregoing provision, the 
 Supreme Court may in penal cases waive any 
 defects in the petition when there has been a mani- 
 fest violation of the law which has left the peti- 
 tioner without recourse, or when he has been tried 
 by a law not strictly applicable to the case, pro- 
 vided failure to take advantage of this violation 
 has been merely an oversight. 
 
 III. In civil or penal suits the writ of 
 "amparo" shall issue only if substantial portions 
 of the rules of procedure have been violated, and 
 provided further that the said violation shall de- 
 prive the petitioner of means of defense. 
 
 IV. In addition to the case mentioned in the 
 foregoing paragraph, the writ of "amparo" shall \ 
 issue only on a final judgment in a civil suit, — 1} 
 provided the requirements set forth in Clause II ■ 
 hereof have been complied with, — when the judg- 
 ment shall be contrary to the letter of the law 
 applicable to the case or contrary to its legal 
 interpretation, when it includes persons, actions, 
 defenses, or things which have not been the object 
 of the suit, or finally when all these have not been 
 included either through omission or express re- 
 fusal. 
 
 When the writ of ''amparo'^ is sought against f 
 mesne judgments, in accordance with the provi- 
 
APPENDIX B 233 
 
 sions of the foregoing clause, these rules shall be 
 observed, as far as applicable. 
 
 V. In penal suits, the authorities responsible 
 for the violation shall stay the execution of final 
 judgment against which the writ of ' ' amparo ' ' has 
 been sought ; for this purpose the petitioner shall, 
 within the period set by law, give notice, under 
 oath, to the said authorities of the interposition 
 of this recourse, accompanying it with two copies 
 of the petition, one of which shall be delivered to 
 the opposing party and the other filed. 
 
 VI. The execution of a final judgment in civil 
 suits shall only be stayed when the petitioner 
 shall give bond to cover damages occasioned 
 thereby, unless the other party shall give a 
 counter bond (1) to guarantee that the normal 
 conditions and relations previously existing be 
 restored, and (2) to pay the corresponding dam- 
 ages, in the event of the granting of the 
 ''amparo." In such event the interposition of 
 the recourse of ' ' amparo ' ' shall be communicated 
 as provided in the foregoing clause. 
 
 VII. If a writ of ''amparo" be sought against 
 a final judgment, a certified copy of such portions 
 of the record as the petitioner may desire shall 
 be requested from the authority responsible for 
 the violation; to this there shall be added such 
 portions as the other party may desire and a 
 clear and succinct statement by the said authority 
 of the justification of the act protested ; note shall 
 be made of this on the record. 
 
234 APPENDIX B 
 
 VIII. When a writ of ''amparo" is sought 
 against a final judgment, the petition shall be 
 brought before the Supreme Court; this petition, 
 together with the copy required by Clause VII, 
 shall be either presented to the Supreme Court or 
 sent through the authority responsible for the 
 violation or through the District Court of the cor- 
 responding State. The Supreme Court shall ren- 
 der judgment without any other formality or 
 procedure than the petition, the document pre- 
 sented by the other party and that of the Attorney 
 General or the Public Attorney he may name in 
 his stead, and shall comprise no other legal 
 question than that contained in the complaint. 
 
 IX. When the acts of an authority other than 
 the judicial are involved or the acts of the 
 judiciary exercised outside of the suit or after 
 the termination thereof, or acts committed during 
 the suit whose execution is of impossible repara- 
 tion, or which affect persons not parties to the 
 suit, the writ of "amparo" shall be sought before 
 the District Court within whose jurisdiction is 
 located the place where the act protested was com- 
 mitted or attempted; the procedure in this case 
 shall be confined to the report of the authority 
 and to a hearing, the call for which shall be issued 
 in the same order of the court as that calling for 
 the report. This hearing shall be held at as early 
 a date as possible, the testimony of both parties 
 offered, arguments heard which shall not exceed 
 one hour for each side, and finally the judgment 
 
APPENDIX B 235 
 
 which shall be pronounced at the same hearing. 
 The judgment of the District Court shall be final, 
 if the interested parties do not appeal to the Su- 
 preme Court within the period set by law and in 
 the manner prescribed by Clause VIII. 
 
 In case of a violation of the guarantees of Arti- 
 cles 16, 19 and 20, recourse shall be had through 
 the appellate court of the court committing the. 
 breach or to the corresponding District Court. An 
 appeal against the decision of any of these courts 
 may be taken to the Supreme Court. 
 
 If the district judge shall not reside in the same 
 locality as the official guilty of the violation, the 
 judge before whom the petition of ' ' amparo ' ' shall 
 be submitted shall be determined by law; this 
 judge shall be authorized to suspend temporarily 
 the execution of the act protested, in accordance 
 with the terms established by law. 
 
 X. Any official failing to suspend the execution 
 of the act protested, when in duty bound to do 
 so, or when he admits an insufficient or improper 
 bond, shall be turned over to the proper authori- 
 ties ; the civil and penal liability of the official shall 
 in these cases be a joint liability with the person 
 offering the bond and his surety. 
 
 XL If after the granting of an '' amparo," 
 the guilty official shall persist in the act or acts 
 against which the petition of ' ' amparo ' ' was filed, 
 or shall seek to render of no effect the judgment 
 of the Federal authority, he shall be forthwith 
 
236 APPENDIX B 
 
 removed from office and turned over for trial to 
 the corresponding district court. 
 
 XII. Wardens and jailers who fail to receive 
 a duly certified copy of the formal order of com- 
 mitment within the seventy-two hours granted by 
 Article 19, reckoned from the time the accused is 
 placed at the disposal of the court, shall bring this 
 fact to the attention of the court, immediately 
 upon expiration of this period ; and if the proper 
 order be not received within the next three hours 
 the accused shall be set at liberty. 
 
 Any official who shall violate this provision and 
 the article referred to in the foregoing paragraph 
 shall be immediately turned over to the proper 
 authorities. Any official or agent thereof who, 
 after an arrest has been made, shall fail to place 
 the accused at the disposition of the court within 
 the next twenty-four hours shall himself be turned 
 over to the proper authority. 
 
 If the detention be effected outside the locality 
 in which the court is situated, there shall be added 
 to the period mentioned in the preceding sentence 
 the time necessary to travel from the said locality 
 to that where the detention took place. 
 
 Title IV 
 Of the Responsibility of Officials 
 
 Art. 108. Senators and Eepresentatives of 
 Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, Secre- 
 taries of Executive Departments and the Attorney 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 General of the Republic shall be liable for all com- 
 mon offenses committed during their term of office, 
 as well as for all official offenses or acts of com- 
 mission or omission in which they may incur in 
 the discharge of their duties. 
 
 Governors of States and members of State 
 Legislatures shall be liable for violation of the 
 Constitution and the Federal Laws. 
 
 The President of the Republic may only be im- 
 peached during his term of office for high treason 
 and common offenses of a serious character. 
 
 Art. 109. If the offense belongs to the common 
 order the House of Representatives, acting as a 
 grand jury, shall determine by a majority vote 
 of its total membership whether there is or is not 
 any ground for proceeding against the accused. 
 
 If the finding be favorable to the accused, no 
 further action shall be taken; but such finding 
 shall not be a bar to the prosecution of the charge 
 so soon as the constitutional privilege shall cease, 
 since the finding of the House does not in any 
 way determine the merits of the charge. 
 
 If the finding be adverse, the accused shall ipso 
 facto be removed from office and be placed at the 
 disposition of the ordinary courts of justice, ex- 
 cept in the case of the President of the Republic, 
 who may only be impeached before the Senate, as 
 in the case of an official offense. 
 
 Art. 110. No constitutional privilege shall be 
 extended to any high Federal functionary when 
 
238 APPENDIX B 
 
 tried for official offenses, misdemeanors, or omis- 
 sions committed by him in the discharge of any 
 public function or commission, during the time in 
 which, according to law, the privilege is enjoyed. 
 This provision shall be applicable to cases of com- 
 mon offenses committed under the same circum- 
 stances. In order that the proceedings may be 
 instituted when the functionary returns to the 
 exercise of his own functions, the rules set forth 
 in Article 104 of the Constitution shall be observed. 
 
 Art. 111. The Senate acting as a grand jury 
 shall try all cases of impeachment : but it may not 
 institute such proceedings without a previous ac- 
 cusation brought by the House of Eepresentatives. 
 
 If the Senate should, after hearing the accused 
 and conducting such proceedings as it may deem 
 advisable, determine by a majority vote of two- 
 thirds of its total membership that the accused 
 is guilty, the latter shall be forthwith removed 
 from office by virtue of such decision, or be dis- 
 qualified from holding any other office for such 
 time as the law may determine. 
 
 Wlien the same offense is punishable with an 
 additional penalty, the accused shall be placed at 
 the disposition of the regular authorities who shall 
 judge and sentence him in accordance with the 
 law. 
 
 In all cases embraced by this article and in those 
 included by the preceding both the decisions of 
 
APPENDIX B 239 
 
 the Grand Jury and the findings of the House of 
 Kepresentatives shall be final. 
 
 Any person shall have the right to denounce be- 
 fore the House of Eepresentatives offenses of a 
 common order or of an official character committed 
 by high Federal functionaries ; and whenever the 
 said House of Representatives shall determine 
 that there exist good grounds for impeachment 
 proceedings before the Senate, it shall name a 
 committee from among its own members to sus- 
 tain the charges brought. 
 
 The Congress shall as soon as possible enact a 
 law as to the responsibility of all Federal officials 
 and employees which shall fix as official offenses 
 all acts, of commission or omission, which may 
 prejudice the public interest and efficient adminis- 
 tration, even though such acts may not heretofore 
 have been considered offenses. These officials 
 shall be tried by a jury in the same manner as 
 provided for trials by jury in Article 20. 
 
 Art. 112. No pardon shall be granted the 
 offender in cases of impeachment. 
 
 Art. 113. The responsibility for official 
 breaches and offenses may only be enforced during 
 such time as the functionary shall remain in office 
 and for one year thereafter. 
 
 Art. 114. In civil cases no privilege or immu- 
 nity in favor of any public functionary shall be 
 recognized. 
 
240 APPENDIX B 
 
 Title V 
 
 Of the States of the Federation 
 
 Art. 115. The States shall adopt for their in- 
 ternal government the popular, representative, 
 republican form of government; they shall have 
 as the basis of their territorial division and politi- 
 cal and administrative organization the free mu- 
 nicipality, in accordance with the following pro- 
 visions : 
 
 I. Each municipality shall be administered by 
 a town council chosen by direct vote of the people, 
 and no authority shall intervene between the mu- 
 nicipality and the State Government. 
 
 II. The municipalities shall freely administer 
 their own revenues which shall be derived from the 
 taxes fixed by the State Legislatures which shall 
 at all times be sufficient to meet their needs. 
 
 III. The municipalities shall be regarded as 
 enjoying corporate existence for all legal pur- 
 poses. 
 
 The Federal Executive and the State Governors 
 shall have command over all public forces of the 
 municipalities wherein they may permanently or 
 temporarily reside. 
 
 Constitutional State Governors shall not be re- 
 elected, nor shall their term of office exceed four 
 years. 
 
 The prohibitions of Article 83 are applicable to 
 substitute or ad interim governors. 
 
APPENDIX B 241 
 
 The number of Eepresentatives in the State 
 Legislatures shall be in proportion to the inhabi- 
 tants of each State, but in no case shall the number 
 of representatives in any State Legislature be less 
 than fifteen. 
 
 Each electoral district of the States shall choose 
 a Representative and an alternate to the State 
 Legislature. 
 
 Every State Governor shall be a Mexican citizen 
 by birth and a native thereof, or resident therein 
 not less than five years 'immediately prior to the 
 day of election. 
 
 Art. 116. The States shall have the power to 
 fix among themselves, by friendly agreements, 
 their respective boundaries ; but these agreements 
 shall not be carried into effect without the ap- 
 proval of the Congress. 
 
 Art. 117. No State shall— 
 L Enter into alliances, treaties or coalitions 
 with another State or with foreign powers. 
 
 II. Grant letters of marque or reprisal. 
 
 III. Coin money, issue paper money, stamps 
 or stamped paper. 
 
 IV. Levy taxes on persons or property passing 
 through its territory. 
 
 V. Prohibit or tax, directly or indirectly, the 
 entry into its territory, or the withdrawal there- 
 from, of any merchandise, foreign or domestic. 
 
 VI. Burden the circulation or consumption of 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 domestic or foreign merchaiidise with taxes or 
 duties to be collected by local custom houses or 
 subject to inspection the said merchandise or re- 
 quire it to be accompanied by documents. 
 
 VII. Enact or maintain in force laws or fiscal 
 i:'egulations discriminating, by taxation or other- 
 wise, between merchandise, foreign or domestic, 
 on account of its origin, whether this discrimina- 
 tion be established with regard to similar local 
 products or to similar products of foreign origin. 
 
 Art. 118. No State shall, without the consent 
 of the Congress : 
 
 I. Estabhsh tonnage dues or other port 
 charges, or impose taxes or other duties upon im- 
 ports or exports. 
 
 II. Keep at any time permanent troops or ves- 
 sels of war. 
 
 Art. 119. Every State shall be bound to deliver 
 without delay to the demanding authorities the 
 fugitives from justice from other States or from 
 foreign nations. 
 
 In such cases the writ of the court granting the 
 extradition shall operate as a sufficient warrant 
 for the detention of the accused for one month, 
 in the case of extradition from one State to 
 another, and for two months in the case of inter- 
 national extradition. 
 
 Art. 120. The State Governors are bound to 
 publish and enforce the Federal laws. 
 
APPENDIX B 243 
 
 Art. 121. Full faith and credit shall be given 
 in each State of the Federation to the public acts, 
 records and judicial proceedings of all the other 
 States. The Congress shall by general laws pre- 
 scribe the manner of proving the said acts, records 
 and proceedings and the effect thereof. 
 
 I. The laws of a State shall only be binding 
 within its own confines, and shall therefore have 
 no extra-territorial force. 
 
 II. Movable and immovable property shall be 
 governed by the lex sitae. 
 
 III. Judgments of a State court as to property 
 and property rights situated in another State shall 
 only be binding when expressly so provided by 
 the law of the latter State. 
 
 Judgments relating to personal rights shall only 
 be binding in another State provided the person 
 shall have expressly, or impliedly by reason of 
 domicile, submitted to the jurisdiction of the court 
 rendering such judgment, and provided further 
 that personal service shall have been secured. 
 
 IV. All acts of civil status performed in ac- 
 cordance with the laws of one State shall be bind- 
 ing in all other States. 
 
 V. All professional licenses issued by the au- 
 thorities of one State in accordance with its laws 
 shall be valid in all other States. 
 
 Art. 122. The Powers of the Union are bound 
 to protect the States against all invasion or exter- 
 nal violence. In case of insurrection or internal 
 
244 APPENDIX B 
 
 disturbance they shall give them the same protec- 
 tion, provided the Legislature of the State, or the 
 Executive thereof if the Legislature is not in ses- 
 sion, shall so request. 
 
 Title VI 
 
 Of Labor and Social Welfare 
 
 Art. 123. The Congress and the State Legisla- 
 tures shall make laws relative to labor with due 
 regard for the needs of each region of the Repub- 
 lic, and in conformity with the following prin- 
 ciples, and these principles and laws shall govern 
 the labor of skilled and unskilled workmen, em- 
 ployees, domestic servants and artisans, and in 
 general every contract of labor. 
 
 I. Eight hours shall be the maximum limit of 
 a day's work. 
 
 II. The maximum limit of night work shall be 
 seven hours. Unhealthy and dangerous occupa- 
 tions are forbidden to all women and to children 
 under sixteen years of age. Night work in fac- 
 tories is likewise forbidden to women and to 
 children under sixteen years of age ; nor shall they 
 be employed in commercial establishments after 
 ten o 'clock at night. 
 
 III. The maximum limit of a day's work for 
 children over twelve and under sixteen years of 
 age shall be six hours. The work of children under 
 twelve years of age shall not be made the subject 
 of a contract. 
 
APPENDIX B 245 
 
 IV. Every workman shall enjoy at least one 
 day's rest for every six days' work. 
 
 V. Women shall not perform any physical 
 work requiring considerable physical effort during 
 the three months immediately preceding parturi- 
 tion ; during the month following parturition they 
 shall necessarily enjoy a period of rest and shall 
 receive their salaries or wages in full and retain 
 their employment and the rights they may have 
 acquired under their contracts. During the period 
 of lactation they shall enjoy two extraordinary 
 daily periods of rest of one-half hour each, in 
 order to nurse their children. 
 
 VI. The minimum wage to be received by a 
 workman shall be that considered sufficient, ac- 
 cording to the conditions prevailing in the respec- 
 tive region of the country, to satisfy the normal 
 needs of the life of the workman, his education 
 and his lawful pleasures, considering him as the 
 head of a family. In all agricultural, conamercial, 
 manufacturing or mining enterprises the workmen 
 shall have the right to participate in the profits 
 in the manner fixed in Clause IX of this article. 
 
 VII. The same compensation shall be paid for 
 the same work, without regard to sex or nation- 
 ality. 
 
 VIII. The minimum wage shall be exempt from 
 attachment, set-off or discount. 
 
 IX. The determination of the minimum wage 
 and of the rate of profit-sharing described in 
 Clause VI shall be made by special commissions to 
 
^46 APPENDIX B 
 
 be appointed in each municipality and to be subor-. 
 dinated to the Central Board of Conciliation to 
 be established in each State. 
 
 X. All wages shall be paid in legal cnrrency 
 and shall not be paid in merchandise, orders, 
 counters or any other representative token with 
 which it is sought to substitute money. 
 
 XI. When owing to special circumstances it 
 becomes necessary to increase the working hours, 
 there shall be paid as wages for the overtime one 
 hundred per cent more than those fixed for reg- 
 ular time. In no case shall the overtime exceed 
 three hours nor continue for more than three 
 consecutive days ; and no women of whatever age 
 nor boys under sixteen years of age may engage 
 in overtime work. 
 
 XII. In every agricultural, industrial, mining 
 or other class of work employers are bound to 
 furnish their workmen comfortable and sanitary 
 dwelling-places, for which they may charge rents 
 not exceeding one-half of one per cent per month 
 of the assessed value of the properties. (See Art. 
 27, Clause VII, second paragraph.) They shall 
 likewise establish schools, dispensaries and other 
 services necessary to the community. If the fac- 
 tories are located within inhabited places and more 
 than one hundred persons are employed therein, 
 the first of the above-mentioned conditions shall 
 be complied with. 
 
 XIII. Furthermore, there shall be set aside in 
 these labor centers, whenever their population 
 
APPENDIX B 247 
 
 exceeds two hundred inhabitants, a space of land 
 not less than five thousand square meters for the 
 establishment of public markets, and the construc- 
 tion of buildings designed for municipal services 
 and places of amusement. No saloons nor gam- 
 bling houses shall be permitted in such labor 
 centers. 
 
 XIV. Employers shall be liable for labor ac- 
 cidents and occupational diseases arising from 
 work; therefore, employers shall pay the proper 
 indemnity, according to whether death or merely 
 temporary or permanent disability has ensued, in 
 accordance with the provisions of law. This 
 liability shall remain in force even though the 
 employer contract for the work through an agent. 
 
 XV. Employers shall be bound to observe in 
 the installation of their establishments all the pro- 
 visions of law regarding hygiene and sanitation 
 and to adopt adequate measures to prevent acci- 
 dents due to the use of machinery, tools and work- 
 ing materials, as well as to organize work in such 
 a manner as to assure the greatest guarantees 
 possible for the health and lives of workmen com- 
 patible with the nature of the work, under penal- 
 ties which the law shall determine. 
 
 XVI. Workmen and employers shall have the 
 right to unite for the defense of their respective 
 interests, by forming syndicates, unions, etc. 
 
 XVII. The law shall recognize the right of 
 workmen and employers to strike and to lockout. 
 
 XVIII. Strikes shall be lawful when by the 
 
248 APPENDIX B 
 
 employment of peaceful means they shall aim to 
 bring about a balance between the various factors 
 of production, and to harmonize the rights of 
 capital and labor. In the case of public services, 
 the workmen shall be obliged to give notice ten 
 days in advance to the Board of Conciliation and 
 Arbitration of the date set for the suspension of 
 work. Strikes shall only be considered unlawful 
 when the majority of the strikers shall resort to 
 acts of violence against persons or property, or in 
 case of war when the strikers belong to establish- 
 ments and services dependent on the government. 
 Employees of military manufacturing establish- 
 ments of the Federal Government shall not be in- 
 cluded in the provisions of this clause, inasmuch 
 as they are a dependency of the national army. 
 
 XIX. Lockouts shall only be lawful when the 
 excess of production shall render it necessary to 
 shut down in order to maintain prices reasonably 
 above the cost of production, subject to the ap- 
 proval of the Board of Conciliation and Arbitra- 
 tion. 
 
 XX. Differences or disputes between capital 
 and labor shall be submitted for settlement to a 
 board of conciliation and arbitration to consist of 
 an equal number of representatives of the work- 
 men and of the employers and of one representa- 
 tive of the Government. 
 
 XXI. If the employer shall refuse to submit 
 his differences to arbitration or to accept the 
 award rendered by the Board, the labor contract 
 
APPENDIX B 249 
 
 shall be considered as terminated, and the em- 
 ployer shall be bound to indemnify the workman 
 by the payment to him of three months ' wages, in 
 addition to the liability which he may have in- 
 curred by reason of the dispute. If the workman 
 reject the award, the contract will be held to have 
 terminated. 
 
 XXII. An employer who discharges a work- 
 man without proper cause or for having joined a 
 union or syndicate or for having taken part in a 
 lawful strike shall be bound, at the option of the 
 workman, either to perform the contract or to 
 indemnify him by the payment of three months' 
 wages. He shall incur the same liability if the 
 workman shall leave his service on account of the 
 lack of good faith on the part of the employer or 
 of maltreatment either as to his own person or 
 that of his wife, parents, children or brothers or 
 sisters. The employer cannot evade this liability 
 when the maltreatment is inflicted by subordinates 
 or agents acting with his consent or knowledge. 
 
 XXIII. Claims of worlnnen for salaries or 
 wages accrued during the past year and other in- 
 demnity claims shall be preferred over any other 
 claims, in cases of bankruptcy or composition. 
 
 XXIV. Debts contracted by workmen in favor 
 of their employers or their employers ' associates, 
 subordinates or agents, may only be charged 
 against the workmen themselves and in no case 
 and for no reason collected from the members of 
 his family. Nor shall such debts be paid by the 
 
250 APPENDIX B 
 
 taking of more than the entire wages of the work- 
 man for any one month. 
 
 XXV. No fee shall be charged for finding work 
 for workmen by municipal offices, employment 
 bureaus or other public or private agencies. 
 
 XXVI. Every contract of labor between a 
 Mexican citizen and a foreign principal shall be 
 legalized before the competent municipal author- 
 ity and viseed by the consul of the nation to which 
 the workman is undertaking to go, on the under- 
 standing that, in addition to the usual clauses, 
 special and clear provisions shall be inserted for 
 the payment by the foreign principal making the 
 contract of the cost to the laborer of repatriation. 
 
 XXVII. The following stipulations shall be 
 null and void and shall not bind the contracting 
 parties, even though embodied in the contract : 
 
 (a) Stipulations providing for inhuman day's 
 work on account of its notorious excessiveness, in 
 view of the nature of the work. 
 
 (b) Stipulations providing for a wage rate 
 which in the judgment of the Board of Concilia- 
 tion and Arbitration is not remunerative. 
 
 (c) Stipulations providing for a term of more 
 than one week before the payment of wages. 
 
 (d) Stipulations providing for the assigning 
 of places of amusement, eating places, cafes, tav- 
 erns, saloons or shops for the payment of wages, 
 when employees of such establishments are not 
 involved. 
 
 (e) Stipulations involving a direct or indirect 
 
APPENDIX B 251 
 
 obligation to purchase articles of consumption in 
 specified shops or places. 
 
 (f) Stipulations permitting the retention of 
 wages by way of fines. 
 
 (g) Stipulations constituting a waiver on the 
 part of the workman of the indemnities to which 
 he may become entitled by reason of labor acci- 
 dents or occupational diseases, damages for breach 
 of contract, or for discharge from work. 
 
 (h) All other stipulations implying the waiver 
 of any right vested in the workman by labor laws. 
 
 XXVIII. The law shall decide what property 
 constitutes the family patrimony. These goods 
 shall be inalienable and shall not be mortgaged, 
 nor attached, and may be bequeathed with simpli- 
 fied formalities in the succession proceedings. 
 
 XXIX. Institutions of popular insurance* es- 
 tablished for old age, sickness, life, unemployment, 
 accident and others of a similar character, are 
 considered of social utility ; the Federal and State 
 Governments shall therefore encourage the orga- 
 nization of institutions of this character in order 
 to instill and inculcate popular habits of thrift. 
 
 XXX. Cooperative associations for the con- 
 struction of cheap and sanitary dwelling houses 
 for workmen shall likewise be considered of social 
 utility whenever these properties are designed to 
 
 * In the desire to adhere as closely as possible to the original, 
 the term "popular insurance" has been used. It would seem, 
 however, that in making use of the expression " Seguros Popu- 
 lares," it was intended to convey the full connotation of the term 
 "Social Insurance." (See "Social Insurance," Seager, 1910.) 
 
252 APPENDIX B 
 
 be acquired in ownership by the workmen within 
 specified periods. 
 
 Title VII 
 Of General Provisions 
 
 Art. 124. All powers not expressly vested by 
 this Constitution in the Federal authorities are 
 understood to be reserved to the States. 
 
 Art. 125. No person shall hold at the same 
 time two Federal offices or one Federal and one 
 State elective office; if elected to two, he shall 
 choose between them. 
 
 Art. 126. No payment shall be made which is 
 not included in the Budget or authorized by a law 
 subsequent to the same. 
 
 Art. 127. The President of the Eepublic, the 
 Justices of the Supreme Court, Representatives 
 and Senators and other public officials of the Fed- 
 eration who are chosen by popular election shall 
 receive a compensation for their services, which 
 shall be paid by the Federal Treasury and deter- 
 mined by law. This compensation may not be 
 waived, and any law increasing or decreasing it 
 shall have no effect during the period for which the 
 functionary holds office. 
 
 Art. 128. Every public official, without excep- 
 tion, shall, before entering on the discharge of his 
 
APPENDIX B 253 
 
 duties, make an afSrmation to maintain this con- 
 stitution and the laws arising thereunder. 
 
 Art. 129. In time of peace no military authori- 
 ties shall exercise other functions than those bear- 
 ing direct relation to military discipline. No per- 
 manent military posts shall be established other 
 than in castles, forts and arsenals depending di- 
 rectly upon the Federal Government, or in camps, 
 barracks, or depots, established outside of 
 inhabited places for the stationing of troops. 
 
 Art. 130. The Federal authorities shall have 
 power to exercise in matters of religious worship 
 and outward ecclesiastical forms such intervention 
 as by law authorized. All other officials shall act 
 as auxiliaries to the Federal authorities. 
 
 The Congress shall not enact any law establish- 
 ing or forbidding any religion whatsoever. 
 
 Marriage is a civil contract. Marriage and all 
 other acts relating to the civil status of individuals 
 shall appertain to the exclusive jurisdiction of the 
 civil authorities in the manner and form by law 
 provided, and they shall have the force and valid- 
 ity given them by said laws. 
 
 A simple promise to tell the truth and to com- 
 ply with obligations contracted shall subject the 
 promisor, in the event of a breach, to the penalties 
 established therefor by law. 
 
 The law recognizes no juridicial personality in 
 the religious institutions known as churches. 
 
254 APPENDIX B 
 
 Ministers of religious creeds shall be considered 
 as persons exercising a profession, and shall be 
 directly subject to the laws enacted on the matter. 
 
 The State legislatures shall have the exclusive 
 power of determining the maximum number of 
 ministers of religious creeds, according to the 
 needs of each locality. Only a Mexican by birth 
 may be a minister of any religious creed in Mexico. 
 
 No ministers of religious creeds shall, either in 
 public or private meetings, or in acts of worship 
 or religious propaganda, criticise the fundamental 
 laws of the country, the authorities in particular 
 or the Government in general ; they shall have no 
 vote, nor be eligible to office, nor shall they be 
 entitled to assemble for political purposes. 
 
 Before dedicating new temples of worship fo*- 
 public use, permission shall be obtained from the 
 Department of the Interior (Gobernacion) ; th^ 
 opinion of the Governor of the respective State 
 shall be previously heard on the subject. Every 
 place of worship shall have a person charged with 
 its care and maintenance, who shall be legally 
 responsible for the faithful performance of the 
 laws on religious observances within the said place 
 of worship, and for all the objects used for pur- 
 poses of worship. 
 
 The caretaker of each place of public worship, 
 together with ten citizens of the place, shall 
 promptly advise the municipal authorities as to 
 the person charged with the care of the said place 
 of worship. The outgoing minister shall in every 
 
APPENDIX B 255 
 
 instance give notice of any change, for which pur- 
 pose he shall be accompanied by the incoming 
 minister and ten other citizens of the place. The 
 municipal authorities, under penalty of dismissal 
 and fine, not exceeding 1,000 pesos for each breach, 
 shall be responsible for the exact performance of 
 this provision; they shall keep a register of the 
 places of worship and another of the caretakers 
 thereof, subject to the same penalty as above pro- 
 vided. The municipal authorities shall likewise 
 give notice to the Department of the Interior 
 through the State Governor, of any permission 
 to open to the public use a new place of worship,, 
 as well as of any change in the caretakers. Gifts 
 of personalty may be received in the interior of 
 places of public worship. 
 
 Under no conditions shall studies carried on in 
 institutions devoted to the professional training 
 of ministers of religious creeds be given credit or 
 granted any other dispensation of privilege which 
 shall have for its purpose the accrediting of the 
 said studies in official institutions. Any authority 
 violating this provision shall be punished crimi- 
 nally, and all such dispensation of privilege be null 
 and void, and shall invalidate wholly and entirely 
 the professional degree toward the obtaining of 
 which the infraction of this provision may in any 
 way have contributed. '' 
 
 No periodical publication which either by reason 
 of its program, its title or merely by its gen- 
 eral tendencies, is of a religious character, shall 
 
256 APPENDIX B 
 
 comment upon any political affairs of the nation, 
 nor publish any information regarding the acts 
 of the authorities of the country or of private in- 
 dividuals, in so far as the latter have to do with 
 public affairs. 
 
 Every kind of political association whose name 
 shall bear any word or any indication relating 
 to any religious belief is hereby strictly forbidden. 
 No assemblies of any political character shall be 
 held within places of public worship. 
 
 No minister of any religious creed may inherit, 
 either on his own behalf or by means of a trustee 
 or otherwise, any real property occupied by any 
 association of religious propaganda or religious 
 or charitable purposes. Ministers of religious 
 creeds are incapable legally of inheriting by will 
 from ministers of the same religious creed or from 
 any private individual to whom they are not re- 
 lated by blood within the fourth degree. 
 
 All real and personal property pertaining to 
 the clergy or to religious institutions shall be gov- 
 erned, in so far as their acquisition by private 
 parties is concerned, in conformity with Article 
 27 of this Constitution. 
 
 No trial by jury shall ever be granted for the 
 infraction of any of the preceding provisions. 
 
 Art. 131. The Federal Government shall have 
 exclusive power to levy duties on merchandise 
 imported, exported or passing in transit through 
 the national territory, as well as to regulate at 
 
APPENDIX B 25T 
 
 all times, and if necessary to forbid for the sake 
 of public safety or for police reasons, the circula- 
 tion in the interior of the Republic of all kinds of 
 goods, regardless of their origin ; but the Federal 
 Government shall have no power to establish or 
 decree in the Federal District and Territories the 
 taxes and laws to which Clauses VI and VII of 
 Article 117 refer. 
 
 Art. 132. All forts, barracks, warehouses, and 
 other real property, destined by the Federal Gov- 
 ernment for public service or common use, shall 
 be under the jurisdiction of the Federal authori- 
 ties, in accordance with the law which the Con- 
 gress shall issue on the subject; any of these 
 establishments which may subsequently be ac- 
 quired within the territory of any State shall like- 
 wise be subject to Federal jurisdiction, provided 
 consent thereto shall have been obtained from the 
 respective State legislature. 
 
 Art. 133. This Constitution and the laws of 
 the United States of Mexico which shall be made 
 in pursuance hereof and all treaties made or which 
 shall be made under the authority of the President 
 of the Republic, with the approval of the Congress, 
 shall be the supreme law of the land. And the 
 judges in every State shall be bound by this Con- 
 stitution and by these laws and treaties, anything 
 in the Constitution or laws of any State to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. 
 
^58 APPENDIX B 
 
 Art. 134. Bids shall be called for on all con- 
 tracts wMch the Government may have occasion 
 to enter into for the execution of any public works ; 
 these bids shall be submitted under seal and shall 
 only be opened publicly. 
 
 Title VIII 
 Of the Amendments to the Constitution 
 
 Art. 135. The present Constitution may be 
 added to or amended. No amendment or addi- 
 tion shaU become part of the Constitution until 
 agreed to by the Congress of the Union by a 
 two-thirds vote of the members present and ap- 
 proved by a majority of the State legislatures. 
 The Congress shall count the votes of the legis- 
 latures and make the declaration that the amend- 
 ments or additions have been adopted. 
 
 Title IX 
 Of the Inviolability of the Constitution 
 
 Art. 136. This Constitution shall not lose its 
 force and vigor, even though its observance be 
 interrupted by rebellion. In case that through 
 any public disturbance a Government contrary to 
 the principles which it sanctions be established, 
 its force shall be restored so soon as the people 
 shall regain their liberty, and those who have par- 
 ticipated in the Government emanating from the 
 
APPENDIX B 259 
 
 rebellion or have cooperated with it shall be tried 
 in accordance with its provisions and with the 
 laws arising under it. 
 
 TKANSITOEY AETICIiES 
 
 Article 1. This Constitution shall be published 
 at once and a solemn affirmation made to defend 
 and enforce it throughout the Republic; but its 
 provisions, except those relating to the election 
 of the supreme powers, Federal and State, shall 
 not go into effect until the first day of May, 1917, 
 at which time the Constitutional Congress shall 
 be solemnly convened and the oath of office taken 
 by the citizen chosen at the forthcoming elections 
 to discharge the duties of President of the Repub- 
 lic. 
 
 The provisions of Clause V of Article 82 shall 
 not be applicable in the elections to be called in 
 [accordance with Article 2 of the Transitory Arti- 
 icles, nor shall active service in the army act as a 
 disqualification for the office of representative or 
 benator, provided the candidate shall not have 
 active command of troops in the respective elec- 
 toral district. 
 
 Nor shall the secretaries nor assistant secre- 
 taries of executive departments be disqualified 
 from election to the next Federal Congress, pro- 
 vided they shall definitively resign from office on 
 or before the day on which the respective call is 
 issued. 
 
260 APPENDIX B 
 
 Art. 2. The person charged with the executive 
 power of the Nation shall immediately, upon the 
 publication of this Constitution, call for elections 
 to fill the Federal offices; he shall see that these 
 elections be held so that Congress may be consti- 
 tuted within a reasonable time, in order that it 
 may count the votes cast in the presidential elec- 
 tions and make known the name of the person who 
 has been elected President of the Republic; this 
 shall be done in order that the provisions of the 
 foregoing article may be complied with. 
 
 Art. 3. The next constitutional term shall be 
 computed, in the case of Senators and Representa- 
 tives, from the first of September last, and in the 
 case of the President of the Republic, from the 
 first of December, 1916. 
 
 Art. 4. Senators who in the coming election 
 shall be classified as ''even" shall serve only two 
 years, in order that the Senate may be renewed 
 by half every two years. 
 
 Art. 5. The Congress shall in the month of 
 May next choose the Justices of the Supreme 
 Court in order that this tribunal may be consti- 
 tuted on the first day of June, 1917. 
 
 In these elections, Article 96 shall not govern 
 in so far as the candidates proposed by the State 
 Legislatures are concerned ; but those chosen shall 
 be designated for the first term of two years pre- 
 scribed by Article 94. 
 
 Art. 6. The Congress shall meet in extraordi- 
 nary session on the fifteenth day of April, 1917, 
 
APPENDIX B 261 
 
 to act as an electoral college, for the computing 
 of the ballots and the determination of the election 
 of President of the Republic, at which time it shall 
 make known the results; it shall likewise enact 
 the organic law of the Circuit and District Courts, 
 the organic law of the Tribunals of the Federal 
 District and Territories, in order that the Supreme 
 Court of Justice may immediately appoint the In- 
 ferior and Superior District and Circuit Judges; 
 at the same session the Congress shall choose the 
 Superior Judges and Judges of First Instance of 
 the Federal District and Territories, and shall 
 also enact all laws submitted by the Executive. 
 The Circuit and District Judges and the Superior 
 and Inferior Judges of the Federal District and 
 Territories shall take office not later than the first 
 day of July, 1917, at which time such as shall have 
 been temporarily appointed by the person now 
 charged with the executive power of the nation 
 shall cease to act. 
 
 Art. 7. For this occasion only, the votes for 
 the office of Senator shall be counted by the Board 
 of the First Electoral District of each State or of 
 the Federal District which shall be instituted for 
 the counting of the votes of Representatives. This 
 Board shall issue the respective credentials to the 
 Senators-elect. 
 
 Art. 8. The Supreme Court shall decide all 
 pending petitions of *'amparo," in accordance 
 with the laws at present in force. 
 
 Art. 9. The First Chief of the Constitutionalist 
 
262 APPENDIX B 
 
 Army, charged with the executive power of the 
 Nation, is hereby authorized to issue the electoral 
 law according to which, on this occasion, the elec- 
 tions to fill the various Federal offices shall he 
 held. 
 
 Art. 10. All persons who shall have taken part 
 m the Government emanating from the rebellion 
 against the legitimate government of the Eepublic, 
 or who may have given aid to the said rebellion 
 and later taken up arms or held any office or com- 
 mission of the factions which have opposed the 
 constitutionalist government, shall be tried in ac- 
 cordance with the laws at present in force, unless 
 they shall have been previously pardoned by the 
 said constitutionalist government. 
 
 Art. 11. Until such time as the Congress of the 
 Union and the State Legislatures shall legislate 
 on the agrarian and labor problems, the bases 
 established by this Constitution for the said laws 
 shall be put into force throughout the Republic. 
 
 Art. 12. All Mexicans who shall have fought in 
 the ranks of the constitutionalist army and their 
 children and ^dows and all other persons who 
 shall have rendered service to the cause of the 
 revolution, or to public instruction, shall be pre- 
 ferred in the acquisition of lots to which Article 
 27 refers, and shall be entitled to such rebates as 
 the law shall determine. 
 
 Art. 13. All debts contracted by working men 
 on account of work up to the date of this Consti- 
 tution with masters, their subordinates and agents. 
 
APPENDIX B 263 
 
 are hereby declared wholly and entirely dis- 
 charged. 
 
 Art. 14. The Departments of Justice and of 
 Public Instruction and Fine Arts are hereby abol- 
 ished. 
 
 Art. 15. The citizen at present charged with 
 the executive power is hereby authorized to issue 
 the law of civil responsibility applicable to all 
 promoters, accomplices and abettors of the 
 offenses committed against the constitutional 
 order in the month of February, 1913, and against 
 the Constitutionalist Government. 
 
 Art. 16. The Constitutional Congress in the 
 regular period of sessions, to begin on the first day 
 of September of the present year, shall issue all 
 the organic laws of the Constitution which may 
 not have been already issued in the extraordinary 
 session to which Transitory Article number 6 
 refers; and it shall give preference to the laws 
 relating to personal guarantees and to Articles 
 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 107 and the latter part of 
 Article 111 of this Constitution. 
 
 Signed at Queretaro de Arteaga, January 31, 
 1917. 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 A STATEMENT KEGARDING THE MEXICAN RAILWAYS 
 
 The Mexican News Bureau in Washington re- 
 cently sent to the newspapers of the United States 
 propaganda notes attempting to disprove state- 
 ments made in articles of mine which appeared in 
 the Saturday Evening Post. 
 
 Copies of these ''News Notes" follow: 
 
 NEWS NOTES PROM MEXICAN NEWS BUREAU, 613 RIGGS 
 
 BLDG., WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 
 
 1917 
 
 Railroad Repairs and Recognition 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the condition in 
 Mexico and who have followed the steady march 
 of events in that country during the past six or 
 seven years, have been surprised at some recent 
 statements appearing in the Saturday Evening 
 Post of October 6, by Carl W. Ackerman, regard- 
 ing that country. One is to the effect that : ' ' For 
 seven years practically no repairs have been made 
 on any of the railway lines — either those owned 
 by the Government or those owned abroad and 
 operated by the authorities," 
 
 264 
 
APPENDIX C 265 
 
 As a matter of fact, nothing could be further 
 from the truth than this assertion. Repairs to 
 all the lines in the Eepublic have been prosecuted 
 diligently and zealously even during the worst 
 periods of the revolution, and it has been unani- 
 mously conceded by foreigners who have travelled 
 over the various lines, government as well as pri- 
 vate ones, that their condition compares most 
 favourably with lines in the United States — is, 
 indeed, well up to the standard in such matters. 
 Bridges have been rebuilt, tracks relaid and re- 
 ballasted, and except for the presence of an occa- 
 sional pile of bent and twisted rails or of iron 
 work from burned cars by the side of the track, 
 one might well believe he were travelling over one 
 of the best roads in the United States. It is true, 
 many stations were burned during the troubles, 
 but as a rule these were of the poorer class. The 
 fine edifices at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Hermo- 
 sillo, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, Guada- 
 lajara, Colima, Vera Cruz, Orizaba, Cordoba, 
 Puebla, one (a stone structure) at Monterey, those 
 in Mexico City, as well as many others, in fact 
 all the best ones in the Republic, were not injured 
 in the least. Most of those that were damaged 
 have been repaired and constant work in this di- 
 rection is being prosecuted. All these facts are 
 well known to travellers in the Republic and 
 should have been known to the Post's correspon- 
 dent, as they are apparent to all. 
 
 So, too, with the rolling stock. The various rail- 
 
me APPENDIX C 
 
 road repair shops in all portions of the Republic 
 have been busy for over two years in repairing 
 engines, freight and passenger cars, and the 
 amount of work thus accomplished has been re- 
 markable considering the conditions. The iron 
 work of hundreds if not thousands of cars has 
 been utilised in the construction of new ones and 
 the process is going steadily forward. Loco- 
 motives that had been wrecked or temporarily 
 disabled have been put in commission by the score, 
 and the repair shops at all the railway centres are 
 kept fully occupied with the work, as they have 
 been continuously since the restoration of peace 
 and as rapidly as the lines were again controlled 
 by the Government. 
 
 The foregoing are well }?:nown facts easily sus- 
 ceptible of demonstration by personal observation, 
 yet the Post correspondent has apparently pre- 
 ferred to repeat the allegations of antagonists of 
 the Government rather than seek proof himself at 
 first hand. 
 
 AS TO RECOGNITION 
 
 Fully as surprising is the statement that the 
 United States and the Allies have not recognised 
 the present government of Mexico as a de jure one, 
 and ''that their ambassadors and ministers are 
 not at this writing (some time in September from 
 all appearances) accredited to the de jure gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The Government of Mexico was recognised by 
 
ff" 
 
 THE RUINED RAILWAY DEPOT AND FREIGHT CARS AT 
 MONTEREY. GENERAL VILLA's OFFERING UPON 
 HIS RETREAT FROM THE CITY 
 
 A TYPICAL MEXICAN RAILWAY .TRAIN — FREIGHT, 
 PASSENGER AND ARMED GUARD COMBINED 
 
APPENDIX C 267 
 
 the United States Government as a de jure govern- 
 ment in March last and has since that date been 
 so regarded. 
 
 NEWS NOTES FEOM MEXICAN NEWS BUREAU, 613 RIGGS 
 
 BLDG., WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 
 
 1917 
 
 Some Facts About Mexican Railways 
 
 Rolling Stock of All Kinds Now Equal to Pre- 
 
 Eevolution Days — Official Statements 
 
 on the Subject. 
 
 An interesting light is thrown upon statements 
 recently made in the Saturday Evening Post and 
 also in the Mining and Scientific Press of San 
 Francisco concerning the condition of the rail- 
 ways in Mexico, which are far from the truth as 
 will be shown. Great stress is laid by both pub- 
 lications upon the alleged wholesale destruction of 
 engines and cars during the Revolution and upon 
 what is claimed to be a present shortage of roll- 
 ing stock. 
 
 The last annual report of the National Railways 
 of Mexico, made in 1916, shows the following 
 facts : 
 
 In 1913 before there had been any destruction 
 of consequence there were 435 passenger coaches 
 of broad gauge and 118 of narrow gauge. In 
 1916 there were 414 broad gauge and 101 narrow 
 gauge — or a loss of but 21 and 17 respectively. 
 
268 APPENDIX C 
 
 In 1913 there were 16,661 freight cars of broad 
 gauge and 1,831 of narrow gauge. In 1916 there 
 were 13,222 of broad gauge and 1,396 of narrow 
 gauge — a loss of 3,439 of the one and 434 of the 
 other. 
 
 In 1913 there were 635 broad gauge locomotives 
 and 94 narrow gauge. In 1916 there were 596 of 
 the broad gauge and 83 of the narrow — a loss of 
 83 and 11 respectively. 
 
 Since the date of this report large additions 
 have been made to the rolling stock of all kinds, 
 by repair, construction and purchase. Further ad- 
 ditions are constantly being made. 
 
 General Agent De Hoyos, who represents the 
 Constitutionalist railways in New York, is respon- 
 sible for the statement that within the last six 
 months there have been purchased 600 freight 
 cars, 80 passenger cars and sixty locomotives. 
 Three thousand cars are now under repair in the 
 company's own shops, which when completed will 
 bring the equipment practically to the same point 
 as in 1913 — ^in fact, it is larger so far as regards 
 locomotives and passenger coaches, and but a 
 trifle less in regard to freight cars. 
 
 In replying to these charges one must consider 
 the fundamental inaccuracy contained therein, that 
 is, that many of the railway lines which the pres- 
 ent government are operating do not belong to 
 the government at all. The Constitutionalist gov- 
 
APPENDIX C 269 
 
 ernment ''intervened," or confiscated this prop- 
 erty and has been operating it for several years 
 without paying the owners and investors one cent 
 of dividend. This is very much like the situation 
 in Mexico City with regard to the Street Railways. 
 Until this summer they were operated as confis- 
 cated property by the government, contrary to 
 all principles of international law. So when the 
 Mexican News Notes speaks about the ''wonder- 
 ful" progress which the government is making it 
 is necessary for the reader to remember that some 
 of these railroad lines belong to private 
 individuals, not to the Mexican Government. 
 
 With regard to the statement about work which 
 has been done on the railroads I may say that 
 President Carranza last summer authorised an 
 American railroad expert, a personal friend of his, 
 to travel throughout the country and investigate 
 the railroad situation. In a confidential report 
 this official said that there were 4,000 destroyed 
 freight cars throughout the Republic and that be- 
 cause of a shortage of materials repairs could not 
 be made until the materials were imported from 
 the United States. 
 
 In the Monterey railroad yards there are 400 
 skeletons of freight cars destroyed during the 
 revolution and not one of them has been touched. 
 
 During my stay in Mexico I travelled from 
 Laredo, Texas, to Mexico City ; from Mexico City 
 to Monterey and from Monterey to Tampico by 
 railroad. During the first day's trip our train was 
 
270 APPENDIX C 
 
 held up five hours because of a destroyed bridge 
 which was put together so poorly that four weeks 
 later when I returned this way the engineer had 
 to stop the train to test the bridge before pulling 
 the passenger train across. 
 
 Railroad traffic between Vera Cruz and Mexico 
 City is so poor that when I was ready to leave 
 the capital for Vera Cruz a member of Mr. Car- 
 ranza's cabinet told me to go north to Tampico 
 because the line to Vera Cruz was not ''safe." 
 
 The railway line between Tampico and Mexico 
 City is not running because the bandits have 
 destroyed some sections and because the Mexican 
 Government cannot protect the trains. 
 
 The only repair work which is going on, so I 
 was informed by American officials and other busi- 
 ness men in the Republic, is that under the direc- 
 tion of foreign corporations. 
 
 In Monterey the Manager of the large Five 
 Million Dollar Steel mills told me that he had to 
 rebuild all locomotives and freight cars which his 
 corporation used because the Mexican Government 
 was not in a position to do so. He showed me 
 about twelve freight cars in his shops which were 
 being repaired and explained that under his con- 
 tract with the government he had exclusive use of 
 these cars for two years. I saw in his repair shops 
 not less than five locomotives which his workmen 
 were repairing. He stated that he had not only to 
 rebuild the rolling stock but had to supply engi- 
 neers, firemen and brakemen to operate the trains. 
 
APPENDIX C' 271 
 
 The American Smelting and Refining Company 
 owns and operates all tlie trains it uses in Mexico 
 for hauling ores and metals. It had to do this be- 
 cause the Mexican Government was not in a posi- 
 tion to furnish it with the necessary rolling stock 
 to take care of its shipping. In Tampico the for- 
 eign oil companies are using their own oil cars to 
 ship their product in Mexico, and because of the 
 bad condition of the Mexican railways, because of 
 the delays, etc., the companies are now considering 
 the construction of an automobile road from Tam- 
 pico to the Texas border, or the laying of a pipe 
 line. 
 
 Reports made to the American Consular Office 
 at Monterey show that shipments are being held 
 up not days but weeks and months because of a 
 lack of rolling stock. 
 
 If the Mexican railways are 'indeed well up to 
 the standard (of the United States) in such mat- 
 ters" it would be interesting to know why the 
 Pullman company will not permit any of its cars 
 to cross the Rio Grande. It would be interesting, 
 too, to know why none of the American railway 
 companies will permit either passenger or freight 
 cars to go into Mexico. When the revolutions be- 
 gan the Pullman company withdrew practically 
 every car from the Mexican service. A few were 
 "caught" in remote sections of the country and 
 these are now being used as private cars by Mex- 
 ican officials. 
 
 If conditions in the United States and Mexico 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 with regard to the railways are so similar one 
 might ask the editor of the Mexican News Notes 
 why it is that in Mexico federal troops are sent 
 as escorts on all railway lines to protect the pas- 
 sengers and the property? If conditions are so 
 normal why did the government send a special 
 troop train to escort Ambassador Fletcher to the 
 capital and why did this special train, with a heavy 
 guard, run only during the day? Why, too, are 
 most of the trains running between Mexico City 
 and Laredo detained at night within some railway 
 station? 
 
APPENDIX D 
 
 THE PEOPOSED AMEKICAN CHAMBEE OF COMMEECE 
 
 When I was in Mexico City the American busi- 
 ness men were discussing the advisability of or- 
 ganising a Chamber of Commerce. In the Chapter 
 on **The Last Spy Offensive" I mentioned what 
 a contrast there was between the German intrigue 
 in Mexico and the American business methods. I 
 am adding the official statement of the American 
 committee so that the reader may see what the 
 full plans of the Americans are. In so doing I 
 wish to add that contrary to the oft repeated 
 charges in the United States that all Americans 
 _and foreigners in Mexico were exploiting the peo- 
 ple I found that those Americans in Mexico to-day 
 are the same high type men who are a credit to 
 the United States business world. I met during 
 my stay in Mexico only one pessimistic American 
 merchant who lamented the disappearance of the 
 ''good old days" when President Diaz permitted 
 the foreigners to do about as they pleased. He, 
 the Pessimist, advocated intervention in order 
 that these ''good days" might return, forgetting 
 perhaps that if the United States ever intervened 
 in Mexico the methods would not be German. 
 
 273 
 
274 APPENDIX D 
 
 The American folder runs as follows : 
 
 PROJECT FOR AN 
 
 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 
 
 OF MEXICO 
 
 A committee has decided to submit to American 
 residents and American firms established or inter- 
 ested in Mexico a proposal for the formation of 
 an American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico 
 City. 
 
 It is proposed to establish a purely commercial 
 and non-political organisation which will foment 
 the friendly trade relations between Mexico and 
 the United States, and which, in co-operation with 
 the representatives of the United States in Mex- 
 ico, will be able to initiate as active a campaign 
 for American trade as is now being carried on by 
 organisations of other countries for their own 
 interests. 
 
 To establish a nucleus upon which all American 
 interests may centre and present a united front 
 not only toward internal problems of trade, but 
 also, through intercourse with chambers of com- 
 merce in the United States, toward the attitude of 
 a great body of American manufacturers who, by 
 reason of misinformation and by inaction, are im- 
 periling their hold on a market which under all 
 economic laws should be inalienably theirs. 
 
 To form a clearing house wherein business of- 
 fered to firms outside of their particular line may 
 
APPENDIX D 275 
 
 be promptly brought to the attention of such firms 
 as are equipped to handle the same. 
 
 To establish headquarters in Mexico City for 
 local organisation and for affiliation with cham- 
 bers in the United States and with American 
 chambers in the cities of Latin America and 
 Europe. 
 
 To offer membership to American firms and 
 American residents in the Republic of Mexico and 
 in the United States. 
 
 To secure correspondents throughout Mexico 
 and especially in localities that do not afford the 
 services and co-operation of American consular 
 officers. 
 
 To compile information thus gathered and to 
 distribute or utilise it for the benefit of members 
 and for promotion of American trade and indus- 
 try; applying such information to inquiries from 
 the United States and helping non-residents to 
 discriminate between desirable and undesirable 
 enterprises. 
 
 To publish a periodical bulletin and market re- 
 porter, carrying paid advertisements, and ulti- 
 mately to establish and let space for exhibits both 
 of American manufactures, and of the products of 
 Mexico. To take up such other activities as the 
 members may determine. 
 
 With these objects in view Americans are in- 
 vited to join in organising an American Chamber 
 of Commerce of Mexico. 
 
 The State Department at Washington, on being 
 
276 APPENDIX D 
 
 informed of the plan to establish a chamber of 
 commerce here, has authorised its consuls through- 
 out Mexico to co-operate and to assist the chamber 
 under the supervision of its consuls general. 
 
 Proposed Plan of Organisation 
 
 (Subject to Change hy the Subscribing Members) 
 
 Directors and Officers 
 
 A board of fifteen directors to be elected by the 
 members of the chamber and to have general 
 charge of its affairs. Of these, five to be elected 
 for one year, five for two years and five for three 
 years. 
 
 The officers of the chamber shall be selected by 
 the board and shall consist of a president, two 
 vice-presidents, treasurer and secretary. All ex- 
 cept the secretary must be members of the board. 
 Honourary president and vice-presidents may also 
 be chosen by the board. 
 
 An executive committee shall be designated by 
 the board from its number. The board shall deter- 
 mine various committees to be established, appoint 
 the members thereof and supervise their work. 
 
 Committees 
 Committees are recommended as follows: 
 
 1. — Executive, 4. — Publicity, 
 
 2. — Membership, 5. — Constitution, 
 
 3. — Finance, 6. — Entertainment, 
 
APPENDIX D 277 
 
 7. — Trade, 10. — Transportation, 
 
 8. — Industrial, 11. — Agriculture, 
 
 9. — Mining, 12. — General Development. 
 
 Some committees would be of more immediate 
 importance than others, but time would be saved 
 for the future by appointing the most of them at 
 once and getting their work started. Interest 
 among merchants, manufacturers and financiers in 
 the United States toward Mexico, although latent 
 now, is widespread and will become active as soon 
 as the European war closes or the situation clears 
 further in Mexico. 
 
 Location" 
 
 Suitable rooms will be secured and kept open 
 daily, making this a common meeting place for 
 members and visitors, with facilities for reading 
 and writing. Space could be provided and let for 
 foreign and native exhibits and samples. 
 
 Membekship and Dues 
 
 The membership, limited to Americans, to be 
 made up of these classes : 
 
 Members Entrance Fee Quarterly Dues Vote 
 
 Active f Corporate 100 pesos 25 pesos 2 
 
 \ Individual 50 " 12.50 « 1 
 
 Associate Resident 25 " 6.25 " None 
 
 Associate ( Corporate 50 " 12 . 50 " None 
 
 Non-Resident 1 Individual 25 " 6.25 " None 
 
 Active members may be either resident or non- 
 resident. 
 
278 APPENDIX D 
 
 A resident individual or firm engaged in busi- 
 ness that employs a capital of more than 10,000 
 pesos shall be classed as a corporate member in 
 regard to entrance fee, dues and votes. 
 
 A local firm or company with not more than 
 10,000 pesos capital may be classed as an indi- 
 vidual active member with respect to entrance 
 fee, dues and vote. 
 
 Americans residing in the Federal District and 
 not engaged in business may enter either as active 
 individual members or associate resident members. 
 
 Only active members shall serve on the board 
 and on committees and be entitled to vote at meet- 
 ings of the chamber. 
 
 Representation of corporate members at formal 
 meetings must be by Americans. 
 
 Mexican corporations owned and controlled by 
 Americans shall be considered American corpora- 
 tions. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 By the Committee 
 
 H. P. Lewis K. M. Van Zandt, Jr. 
 
 H. T. Oliver M. V. Stewart 
 
 H. A. Basham W. L. Vail 
 
 F. J. Dunkerley Ralph Smith 
 
 Carl Holt Smith A. B. Mohler 
 
 S. W. Rider, Chairman 
 Consul General, G. A. Chamberlain, 
 Advisory Member. 
 September, 1917. 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 PBESIDENTIAL ELECTION 
 
 The Mexican Review, published at Washington, 
 printed the following statement regarding the elec- 
 tion which was held after the adoption of the new 
 Constitution. 
 
 Herewith are given the complete returns of the 
 Presidential election held on March 11th, can- 
 vassed by Congress and announced as the official 
 figures. 
 
 In every instance the ballots were blank, a space 
 being left for the voter to inscribe the name of his 
 favourite candidate. As will be seen, several thou- 
 sand votes were cast for others than President 
 Carranza, Generals Gonzales and Obregon leading 
 in this respect. Many others received smaller 
 numbers of votes, including General Alvarado and 
 other prominent revolutionary leaders. 
 ._ The figures follow on page 280. 
 i 
 
 CAEEANZA OFFICIALLY DECLARED PRESIDENT 
 
 After canvassing the returns of the election 
 
 from the various States, the Chamber of Deputies 
 
 I adopted a resolution in the following words, an- 
 
 279 
 
280 
 
 APPENDIX E 
 
 States Carranza Gonzalea Obregon 
 
 Aguascalientes 7,394 28 17 
 
 Colima 4,874 27 19 
 
 Coahuila 26,841 52 219 
 
 Campeche 2,061 6 3 
 
 Chihuahua 5,883 2 57 
 
 Chiapas 14,277 3 
 
 Durango 6,816 17 202 
 
 Guanajuato 91,226 3,328 708 
 
 Guerrero 9,825 
 
 Jalisco 34,135 28 52 
 
 Mexico 52,513 1,676 620 
 
 Michoacan 33,627 1,615 120 
 
 Nuevo Le6n 33,166 8 10 
 
 Oaxaca 60,964 138 73 
 
 Puebla 57,519 1,215 193 
 
 Quer^taro 14,754 491 111 
 
 S. L. Potosi 22,638 71 51 
 
 Sinaloa 12,710 24 169 
 
 Tabasco 6,163 2 5 
 
 Hidalgo 19,949 70 32 
 
 Tlaxcala 21,724 176 53 
 
 Yucatan 25,717 12 14 
 
 Zacatecas 20,732 67 66 
 
 Vera Cruz 39,455 276 172 
 
 Sonora 20,667 6 367 
 
 Tepic 8,856 2 9 
 
 Baja California 3,056 25 
 
 Quintana Roo 345 12 2 
 
 Dietrito Federal 70,003 1,773 553 
 
 Totals 797,305 11,615 4,008 
 
 The total number of votes cast was 812,928. 
 
 nouncing ofScially that in the election held on 
 March 11th the Citizen Vennstiano Carranza re- 
 ceived 797,305 votes, against various other candi- 
 dates with a much inferior number of ballots. The 
 resolution was unanimously approved. It reads 
 as follows : 
 
 The Chamber of Deputies of the Twenty- 
 seventh Congress of the Eepublic of Mexico, con- 
 stituted in an Electoral College and in use of the 
 rights and faculties conferred upon them by Sec- 
 tion I of Article 74 of the Political Constitution 
 of the Eepublic, have decreed, after a careful ex- 
 
APPENDIX E 281 
 
 amination of the electoral computations verified on 
 the second Sunday of March of this year : 
 
 Article I — The Citizen Venustiano Carranza is 
 declared President for the term of four years be- 
 ginning from December of 1916 until November 
 of 1920, in virtue of having obtained an absolute 
 majority of votes in the election. 
 
 Article II — In virtue of this, the Citizen Venus- 
 tiano Carranza is cited to appear on May the first 
 before the Chamber of Deputies, and with all the 
 formalities of the law take the oath of office as 
 President of the Eepublic. 
 
 Chamber of Deputies, Mexico, April 26, 1916. 
 Eduaedo Hay, President. 
 Jesus Lopez Lira, Secretary. 
 FiLOMENo Mata, Second Secretary, 
 
3li.77 
 
I 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 006 049 230 A