Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-21
SAYS UNITED STATES HAS
SAME SORES AS MEXICO

SAN BERNARDINO, Cal, Oct. 10
[Editor Herald: As a Mexican 1 have
been interested in your editorial,
Shake, Merico." In this you deal with
the recent meeting of Presidents Taft
and Diaz. But regrettably you make
that meeting anything but cordial. The
incident seems to have merely afforded
you an incentive to express your senti-
ment of Mexico, which, if 1 am not
mistaken, is plainly more imaginary
that real. May 1 quote this much
from you? "So-Shake hands, Sister
Mexico! The lash on the convicts
back, the clanking chain at the heel
of the political felon, the firing squad
and the short shrift for the radical,
the capricious taxation which asks
How much will he give up without
fighting?' the unsanitary condition of
the houses Of the poor, the lifelong
drudgery of the peon, the continual
preying of the class upon mass, are
all part of your system
Having studied your home, internal
affairs, and presumably read the
Criminal History of England" writ
ten by Patrick Ford about 80 years
ago, you must have found it easy to
paint the picture you have painted.
But why should you have christened
it Shake, MeXico?" Every condition
you mention is rife in this country,
and while l do not hold up Mexico
as ideal perfection, yet very little of
those conditions exist in your sister
republic.
The condition of the poor in Mexico
is easy to picture, as it is easy to pic
ture the condition of the poor of any
country. But let this all be as it may
the taxation of Mexico has not yet
forced her down to a condition of
"child labor" to be held up as a ma
tional disgrace and heralded all over
the civilized world. And still you in
fer: How much will the Mexican give
up without fighting?" If l should dare
say the same thing of the American
would you not say that 1 was trying
to incite anarchy?
You say, Our sister republic is a
prey to political corruption. Ask any
citizen who has lived and transacted
business on a large scale in Mexico to
tell you what his privileges cost him. -
etc.
If this question should be answered
as put, you would be told that it cost
the Rockefeller ring eXorbitantly. Mex
leo simply asked too much for her
government, country and people, SO
that THE Rockefeller Ring had to
step down and out Since then the
ring" has been kicking. And here
may 1 ask Is it not this kick that
you espouse? Private American capi-
talists are investing in Mexico on a
very large scale; they find good in
vestments for their money, and you
can ask any of them if they have any
complaint. This class of investors are
always welcome in Mexico, since they
are not seeking the whole country,
body and soul, and the final omnipo-
| tent power to say, "The public be
damned"
In so far as unsanitary conditions
and diseases are concerned in Mexico,
I don't think that vital statistics are
| in accord with your claim. In this re-
gard Mexico is far from the pitable
plight of the American people. Even
in this, you are grated to the extent
| of 81 100000 in New York, solely pre-
| tending to fight a "single" disease and
unsantary conditions. How do you
account for it? Would it not be well
| to look after a whole lot of imaginary
things that promise to tax this nation
to the point of starvation?
Referring to the freedom of the
press in Mexico and Dictator Diaz,'
as you style him, there is enough in
this for a deep and touching contro-
versy. I shall not say much, however
! You know that the press of Mexico
says what it has to say regardless OF
who is hurt. while the press of this
country can publish only what the
press ring" gives it. the stuff" to be
filled in with sensational matter. Diaz
is no part of the Mexican press, nol
is he a dictator. 1t is simply his sterr
qualities and tenacity of purpose that
| give him that appearance. He has
safeguarded Mexico as no other mar
could have done; he has brought har-
mony out of chaos and while doinG
So gained the goodwill of his people
and the respect of the nations around
him. In all of his career he has no
condemned a man as IAN undesirable
citizen" nor has Taft. So at leas