The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-08-25

| from say, Sicily. The question is how
 to awaken their dormant intelligence
 and so multiply their wants. had heard before coming here that these h. dians were degenerate and good Tor
 nothing but extinction. It is not so.
 They are good class, but their brains
 are benumbed. They will come for ward fast under the stimulus of higher
 wages and kind treatment"
 Mexico's greatest problem is the edu-
 cation of the masses of her population,
 the conversion of seven million of un- educated people into citizens fit to ex-
 ercise their constitutional right to vote.
 To give them that right now would be
 to burlesque free institutions. But the work that the government is doing is directly in this line. The new railways, encouraged by the Federal authorities, bring in the light everywhere The lo- comotive is a missionary, teacher, and a mental emancipator. It is won- derful how instinctively the Indians seem to welcome the great machine.
 They know that it means much for them.
 | very cultivated and progressive
 man of purest Indian blood, who
 speaks several languages and has trav- | eled, said to me:
 Our people will yet dominate here. The Indian will not be kept down. We have no liking for the Spaniards, or for his descendants, or for any of his works, When we become enlightened, we ask. What do our conquerors be- lieve?' and then we instinctively reject 1t. We have been hardly dealt with,
 our minds have been enslaved, and we
 are. as a race, just beginning to have ambition. It is source of pride to us
 that so many of our race are occupying
 high places in the nation. It means that we already can furnish our quota
 of talent, and by the aid of the common
 schools which President Diaz is every where establishing, and which he will protect to the utmost, we shall soon de- | velop deal of intelligence now dor
 mant
 T am very 'American;' I know your
 country and admire your wonderful provision for education. Our Mexico, l the Mexico of the educated and enfran- chised Indian, will not be content to follow In the beaten path
 | "The civilization imposed upon us is not ours; we have neither act nor part | in it. Tn religion we shall be indepen- l dent investigators, following where sci | ence and our own good sense dictate
 Be sure 1t will not be the beliefs of a | decadent race that shall dominate us in the future. The best that the white
 race may give us will be none too good;
 hence we turn toward America, and are | k l a cfa DiaZ rules here, for heiis of us and | knows us, and believes in the native
 race and it's capacity, of which he IS
 himself, as was Juarez, triumphant proof and illustration"
 An Indian of a different intellectual ! level. poor man without instruction, said to me:
 .srhey tell me the machines that draw the railway cars come from your | country; you must be great people up there, and we like you. Your people I help US to rise in the world. The rail- road is a great thing.
 | Phe next presidential term of General Diaz will be signalized by the work he
 will do for popular education. That re-
 markabe ruler daily receives visitors l in a vast apartment hung with red silk,
 covered with imperial crowns and the eagles of Mexico. The transitory Max
 imilian was failure, although he had
 behind him all the traditions of the
 house e Hapsburg; but this man,
 sprung from the soil, a Mexican of
 Mexicans, with the strong Indian blood 1 in his veins, is every inch ruler He
 lives wholly for his beloved country. None of the abuses which have been cited in this letter have his approval;
 he is a civilizing and reforming force
 in this land, and already he has per formed wonders. The Mexico of to-day
 and that of twenty years ago are two
 different countries Now the path is
 open to talent the poorest Indian may
 aspire to the highest post.-Boston Herald.