The sun., 1892-02-21

|
Congress. OF Judges and Jefes Politicos. ant
to direct the course OF Legislation. In short
he is supposed to be the State. The Con
stitution. 1t Is admitted. is liberal instru
ment. abounding in checks and balances
and establishing an equal distribution o
power Tho press is free; the expression o
public opinion is guaranteed: suffrage !:
universal; but. somehow. tho people take
little interest in ballot-box politics. They
look first to n revolution to rid them OF ar
obnoxious or unpopular ruler.
| A plank in the platform Of Gen. DIAz
when he was working for the Presidency
was that. by constitutional provision. q
| President should not be eligible to succeed
himself. So when his first term OF office
| expired. he was succeeded by GONZALEZ
| In turn he succeeded GONZALEZ. and then
| the Constitution was changed to the ex-
tent OF permitting President to sue
coed himself once, Under this provision
D1Az was reelected. Subsequently the
Constitution was further amended by
removing all restrictions. and DIAz ls
candidate again. As he is supposed
TO control oil the machinery by which
elections are carried. it Is believed that he
will be successful: indeed. that he has be-
como fixture In the Presidential chair
during his life, unless he Gun be gotten rid
Of by force. This il the contest which Is
said TO be going on now. GARzA and his
friends hope to put him out, so that they
may get in: and tho Church is rcputed to
be furnishing GARzA with the sinews OF war
in the hope that his SUCCESS may restore 1t
to It's former state OF supremacy.
t.,x III S,s I,r1l- Al~,A A1,~
Church in Mexico has any part or lot in
this or in any revolutionary plot. Its
clerical privileges are not intcrfered with:
its possessions are beyond reach: its spir-
itual authority is exercised and felt in every
household in the land; the result OF q revo-
luton would be to disturb its values and
deprecatc its securities. Its Interference
in political matters has always resulted in
trouble. 1t teaches peace, and its prosper
ity lies in the paths OF peace. Besides. it
would be an incalculable evil to Mexico
should q revolution be attempted there.
Should it fail. which is more than
likely. for DIAz is popular with the
army. as we'll as with the people. it will
still cause disorder and confusion. If it
succeeds, tho era Of revolutions. Of which
In times past tho country was SO prolific.
will be inauguratcd again. On the inside
the nation will be convulsed; on tho
outside it will lose consideration: the con-
fidence in its stability which it now enjoys
will be lost; capital will be sure to keep be-
yond its limits; public improvements will
be suspended; and every public interest
will go backward.
Moreover, there is no excuse for rcvo-
luton. Whatever the Government has
done lately in clerical matters. has been
done in execution Of tho laws. Whatever
Gen. D1Az and his friends have done with
the Wow Of permitting President to sue
ceed himself. has been done under the Con-
stitution. That his administration Of the
affairs Of the nation has brought it to do
gree OF prosperity hitherto unknown is un-
deniablc When he reached tho Presi-
dency the trade Of tho country wus
in state Of collapse; tho revenues
were not appropriated to the purposes
for which they were collected; the public
highways were infested with bandits; us
late as 1880 there was only fortnightly
steamer plying between New York and
Vera Cruz: only ono railroad was in opera
tion. that from Vera Cruz to tho city
of Mexico. some $50 miles in length.
and taking eighteen hours to make the
trip; one line OF telegraph was in oper-
alton between the same points: another
reached from tho city Of Mexico to Mata-
moras. but it was so wretchedly served rs
to be quite useless: there was not q tele-
phone in tho country nor an electric light.
and the public schools were few. All
this is changed. The public roads
are free from robbers: line OF steamships
plies weekly between New York and Vera
Cruz: English. French. and Spanish steam
ers sail from that port regularly to and
from Europe; there Is daily mail service;
q cable from Vera Cruz to Galveston places |
the republic in touch with the other nations |
Of tho earth; twenty thousand miles OF |
wire. well served. transmit kilograms |
the country; the streets OF the |
principal cities are lighted by electricity: |
The telephone has service OF nearly five |
thousand miles; public schools and higher |
seats Of learning have been established, and |
are well frequented: some six thousand |
miles OF railroad are regularly operated. |
and many other lines arc building or pro-
ected. while commerce has greatly In
creased For instance. in 1884. the
exports OF the country amounted to
s46. .OOO. 900 and the imports to $35 OOO, ,OO0 In
1888 the value OF the exports was SGoOOOO 900.
md OF imports S44,OOO.OOO. thus showing
hat the wants Of the people have been
more generally supplied. and that there
las been more employment for the products
II the land. Taxes are not onerous or cx-
,essive; the expenses Of the Government
ire within reasonable bounds. and tho
'evenues last year were upward Of $3.OoO.-
100 more than sufficient to insure their
prompt payment. The national debt has
,een ascertained and provided for. the
interest thereon being regularly met. In
very department, the country is prosper
'us; its resources are developed more and
more every day. and its future seems
1t is Gen. DIAz who rescued
from anarchy 1t is he who gave to it the
blessing OF prosperity. 1t is he who has
ostcred the schemes OF others. and sug-
,ested some Of his own. which have placed
he public improvements Of the country in