The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-09-04

Should Save Her.
The accounts from Mexico, which we publish
ed in our yesterdays issue, are such as might
have been anticipated from the long continued
internal strife In that country. The govern
ment that prevails in the capital, and which ar
rogstes to itself the title of the National
government, has not only lost all respect for
the principles upon which public authority ia
founded, but has turned highwayman, and taken
to robbing people in the most outrageous man
ner. The subscriptions to a national bank,
which were forced upon natives and foreigners
alike, and against which our Minister SO rightly
protested, were done under the forms of law.
But the arrest of Senores Escandon and Brin-
gas, because they refused to discount the NOES
of hand Of corrupt clergy, is one of the most
scandalous proceedings that has ever been
performed under the prostituted name Of
government.
President Zuloega is the creature of the
church, and is said to be guided by the Chris
tian maxims of the priests On the one hand,
and the imperial counsels Of the French
Minister on the other. But the fruits
which these are producing throughout Mexico
have little of the appearance of Christian
charity or Of imperial skill. The land every
where a scene Of internecine strife; one hun
dred towns sacked by the contending forces
| private citizens incarcerated by hundreds
| without crime; the farms plundered Of their
| products; foreigners driven from the country
because they will not be despoiled in silence;
travel and commerce suspended; the merchants
on the brink Of bankruptcy; the press destroyed,
and destitution staring the people in the face
such are the fruits of the conflict between the
church and its opponents in Mexico and this
sanguinary strife is maintained under the cry
of " religion on one side, and elderly" on
the other. But there is neither religion nor
liberty in it. The one party is impelled by
fanaticism and the other by thirst for ven
gesnce and destruction.
/ 1t is not to be wondered that foreign citizens
should look to their own governments for a
shield from the evils that weigh upon them, nor
that the peacefully disposed inhabitants should
long for foreign Intervention. But these mis-
fortunes have far deeper origin than any that
can be reached by the interposition Of
foreign governments. They flow from the
breaking up of the political organization and
the dissolution Of society in that republic.
They can be remedied only by the operation of
causes existing within the republic itself or by
foreign conquest. There is no national or
ganzaton from which foreign government
can demand reparation Of the injuries to its
citizens, or force to impose respect for the
obligations Of international duties. Foreign
Intervention in behalf of the peaceful inhabi-
tants Of Mexico is thing out Of the question.
The duties Of government, like those of indi-
viduals, are limited to the care of its own
household. Conquest is not to be thought Of,
for besides that ii is in opposition to the spirit
| of the age in which we live, 1t is cad truth,
but one universally admitted, that Mexico with
Its present population of mixed and insubordi.
nate races is not worth conquering.
There is but one remedy for the present dis
orders Of Mexico. There exists amid her
crumbling social elements a c,ass OF wealthy
..a puworfuI ciuzens, which, though being
rapidly diminished in numbers, has still the
power to cave the State. But they must com.
bine for action before their means are gone. They
must take the government of the country into
their own hands, and re-establish the rule of
authority and order. This they have now the
power to do; but the day is approaching when,
if the present state Of things continues to exist
and to follow its natural Development, they
will not possess it, Their hsciendas are being
depopulated and destroyed. Their mines are
ceasing to he worked. The consumers of the
products Of their lands are fast losing the
ability TO pay for them, and when they cannot
pay for them necessity will compel them to still
wider robbery and greater violence. The ten
dency Of Mexico now il rapidly towards war
Of races, and the feelings and passions which
have been invoked under the cry of liberty, in
the conflict with the church power, have given
that tendency an impulse which forebodes the
direst results.
When the conflict does come, IL Is not difficult
To foresee that the classes possessing the fewest
wants and the greatest power Of endurance of
privation must triumph. The men who now
enjoy in Mexico, through their wealth, social
petition which has hitherto placed them even
above the power Of the government will
soon disappear. Not one Of their sons
will enjoy the influence they now possess
They have seen the men Of intellect, who we're
once their compeers, swept away. They have
beheld the commanders Of the army, who gain
ed their rank and position by years of faithful
service to the nation, displaced by upstart In
surgents and highway robbers They know that
their Statesmen have been showed aside by plot
ting priests and plunderers Of the public trea.
sury. They, too, cannot escape the rule OF de-
cay which surrounds them IL they do not rouse
themselves to meet IT, II is of no use TO call
upon Jove and foreign nations Jove only
helps those who help themselves, and this truth
the men OF Mexico must take to heart II they
would save themselves and their country from