The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1895-02-04

when combined, should make her invincible.
She is a nation fun armored in maturity,
without the memory of childhood. or the
mistakes Of adolescence. This side the
river "a nation from the darkness of whose
past 80 is hard TO gain q CLEAN of light.
Books are fitted. il is true. with wonderful
stories Or great nations upon the plain
OF Auah~uc, but their descendants Of to-
day give little evidence Of it. Mexico IS
generally spoken Of as a Spanish country.
bat TO say that is TO hold these people to
am unjust accountability. The Spanish
blood that has found its way into the
veins cf these people is hardly 2arfept,he
AlcEia1 IS Gu Indian nation. i~.'ny'rne
Indian test that she should be gagged.
The Hand OF Juarcz.
one cannot look into the faces Of these
people ami ho.u them to the same account
liability as ne would the white Up 10
1885, when Juarez triumphed and had
framed the constitution. which is in eN-
Istcuse today, the Spauiards had really
continued the ruling power, through force
of wealth and social position. But the
hand Of the lrl.an-for Juarez WIS as pure
hlooded an Indian ass ever wrapped his
blanket about nim-las brushed all that
away. ana these Spanish MeXicans who
DO not live abroad, are content to retire
within the shades of their own dignity and
enjoy that awful eXclusiyeEess which they
mistake for superiority.
Consul GrneIa~ Talks.
One Of The best educated MeXicans whom
I have met is Or =. Orne.as. OF the con-
sular S,rvice. lie has been educated in
the best colleges of the world. and enjoys
an acquaintance with English and Ameri-
can literature 10 be rarely found. From
him / gained much Of interest in relation
to Mexican life ana character.
My people are very much misunder-
stood abroad" he said, land it Is wonder
ful that intelligent men should allow them
selves 10 be SO much out Of the way.
"MeNico has apparently been a land OF
revolution. The frequency OF such revO-
Iutions as we have had has been increased
hy the Kindness OF the press. which seems
ready TO magnify every little street dis
tuybdnce. For ninety years the people Of
MeNico have been fighting for freedom
for personal liberty. We did not begin
with the favorable auspices OF the people
u the United States. The discomfort
against Spain. which resulted In the rcvo-
luton of 1921 was ON the part of Spanish
born people i'm Mexico, Who took but little
more account of the common people than
Spain did of them. Whilst Mexico had
gained her independence from Spain, yet
the people Of NeNico had not gained their
independence from class and privilege ana
institutions, which had come down TO her
as a legacy. The Offices were in the
hands Of the same men, the expressions OF
class continued. Against these the pco-
pie had To fight. gaining little at a time
but always pressing forward to the just
aim Of personal liberty. For this they
had to live. learn, labor and transmit that
which was not completed to their chill
dren. From the first principle they had
everything to learn.
''Then came the constitution of 1851. which
Is stiu of force. The age which led up
to that document is known as the heroic
period Of MeNicau history. As the price
OF that constitution over 100000 lives were
lost. The man who led that tight to its
conclusion was Bcnito Juarez. himself
sprung from the native race Of Mexico.
That constitution was the elimination oe
the struggle OF the people for relief from
caste and privilege.
Ansnisonizin- the Church.
1T became necessary in that struggle to
antaGonize the church--not the church re-
liSiouslv, but the church as an establish
ment Of state. The church held large
amounts OF property outside of that re-
qured for church purposes. Its dlSnitaries
adhered TO 10 the kindred establishments
by which it was accompanied Its ac-
cumulation of wealth was continuous. and
what angered McNicans was that this ac-
cumulatic1 OF wealth added TO the political
Importance and weight OF men who. while
priests, were at the same time the active
political adherents of the very classes
which the people were determined TO over
throw. When the liberal government was
IN need Of funds calling upon citizens for
aid the church refused to contribute from
its wealth. That but started a war which
easily widened its scope, until the revolt
ton was reached that the church should
no longer exist as political power. Here
you must distinguish between the political
and financial establishment, and the church
as religious body. There is not a more
Catholic nation on the globe today than
the Mexican-not even excepting Ireland.
which is par excellence, the Catholic ma
ton of Europe.
NO sooner was the constitution of 1851
adopted than was begun that conceit of