The National tribune., 1906-09-20

new lands with his speech and his faith
Cor lack of it,, but only by filling them
with his own blood. never by changing
the native. The United States, for ex-
ample, speaks English, but what Indian
tribe ever spoke English? In the great
ly vaster Spanish-America every Indian
tribe speaks Spanish, and has done so
for centuries
1t is curious fact that no other Ma
tion in history ever produced, legiti-
mately, so many crosses with aboriginal
blood as has Spain. The early conquis-
todor was human. but the hand of the
Church was always on his shoulder. In
dividually and casually he might elude
1t. but broadly he could not.
The same astonishing individuality
which has stamped itself forever upon
the offspring of his union with other
bloods has. when he stayed unmixed. as
remarkably preserved his family like
ness. Among the civilized Nations only
the Jew hands down the ancestral face
persistently through the ages.
In the face of all this American and
English capital and enterprise are the
factors which have brought about the
great awakening. The great break
water which surrounds Vera Cruz, the
largest port of entry for vessels in the
Republic. was built by an English firm.
and most of the railroads, public i'm
lEoiIty .SSSlttiiS nave
been installed by American firms 1t
gives an American an idea of the mag
nitude of his country when he enters I
street car in Mexican City and finds
that it was built in st. Louis or Will
mington, Del.
AntiquGfed Hotels.
Yet there is the other side OF the
story. The hotels are uniformly anti
quated, from an American standpoint,
even in the larger cities, while in the
smaller towns they range from bad 10
worst. The lower classes of the people
the Indians, are uniformly dirty and
| squalid, and contact with them is not
| pleasant. They, like many others of the
| races which have deteriorateyi, are pc
culiarly susceptible to cold. and it is an
| amusing sight to see Mexico City po-
| liceman at night, muffied in an over
| coat which to us would be burdensomC
in zero weather, while American ladies
| pass him clad in the lightest of Sum
mer fabrics. Tney work for an Infinite
sinai wage, and live in a manner that
would surely kill an American in d
| short time, very rarely tasting meat, but
! living on beans and tortillas a kind OF
fiat cake made by grinding corn on a
| fiat slab by a longer stone in the same
primitive manner that has been fol-
| lowed for centuries, and after pattine
a piece of sheet iron over charcoal
fire. AS may be imagined. this is not q
diet conducive to great physical
strength, yet the soldiers Withstand long
| marches on it, seemingly with no i'll
effects.
The restaurants are. however, uni
formly excellent, and if one will accus-
tom himself to the native Dishes the
cuisine will be found a very healthful
one. In Mexico City there are several
so-called American restaurants" but /
was unable to find one where our favor
ite viands were anything but poorly
prepared-in fact, in most cases unfit
to eat, for they were always prepared
by Mexican cooks. 1t Is well, too, for
the traveller to avoid investigating the
kitchens too closely, for the sight is not
an appetizing one
The future of the Republic is great
one. but the chances for an American
without capital are practically nil. All
the arabic land. all the mines, all the
great haciendas or plantations are own
ed by capitalists, and the conditions
only go to justify the saying that "it
takes money to make money" The diff
difficulty in obtaining labor are all ele-
ucts, the changed conditions, and the
difficulty in obtaining labor are all ele-
ments which make against the small
farmer at the present time. There will
be, however, in the not far future a
time when the colonist will not only be
welcomed as he is now, but will be able
to sell his produce to advantage, and
when the mineral resources, even now
hardly in the beginning of their devel-
opment, will add to our own wealth, as
well as enrich the sister Republic at our
doors.