Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-12-30
Tho Two MexicOs.

The Two MexicOs.
From the Worlds Work.
In order to understand the situa-
| ton In Mexico 1t is necessary to get
| firmly in our minds that there. are
In reality two Mexicos. One may be
called American Mexico and the other
| Mexican Mexico Get down your map
you can grasp the Mexican problem
in no other way-and find the city
of San Luis Potosi. From this draw
straight line to the Atlantic to the
east and the Pacific to the west. The
enormous stretch of country north of
this line may be considered roughly
as American Mexico; the country
south as Mexican Mexico.
South of this imaginary dividing
line the average Mexican Is a simple,
ignorant, rather helpless creature.
He Is man for whom the sun still
literally rises and sets, for whom the
stars are still minute fiery specks in
the sky. Perhaps he knows hazily
that the world in somewhat larger
than that which he has before his
eyes; he may even have heard of a
great and wicked nation to the north,
but his brain contains no concrete
image of it. On occasions he will join
revolutionists and fight-he does not
particularly care upon which side.
Naturally, however he Is peaceful and
submits willingly to any government
that will leave him in peace Under
proper direction he will work indus
triously-at least until he gets few
dollars ahead.
North of the line, however, we shall
have to revise our ideas of Mexican
social classes. The largest States,
Sonora, Chihuahua and Coahuila,
touch upon the United States. They
are the natural continuation of Ari-
IONA, New Mexico and Texas. And
In many ways the people resemble the
citizens of these States. The southern
American border is half Mexican, half
American in character; Spanish is
still freely spoken in New Mexico and
Arizona. These States, originally cut
off from Mexico, represent merely
American civilization laid over the
original Spanish settlements. The
same process has been going on in
tho northern tier of Mexican States.
The people of Sonora and Chihuahua
have as much in common with those
of New Mexico and Arizona as they
have with their fellow citizens of the
south. Here are not two but three
social classes. The peon still exists in
considerable numbers, but he Is rapid
ly making progress. He is learning
to read and write; his children go to
school; he lives In real house and
not in a mud hut. In numerous cases
he is becoming a genuine farmer, US
ing American agricultural machinery.
In others he branches out as trades
man and wears ready-made clothes.
He becomes an artisan, mechanic,
a clerk, a railroad man, rancher. In
atI, dc hn 10 n a
middle class. The upper social strata
send their children into the United
States for education and are constant
ly crossing the border.
Colonel Gorgas at Johannesburg.
From the Engineering and Mining
Journal
Colonel William c. Gorgas is going
to Johannesburg to assist that mu-
nicipality In combating a host Of en-
demic and industrial diseases. as
noted In our johannesburg notes. OF
the three colonies eminent in Panama
canal history, Gorgas is pre- eminent
In the far-reaching effects of his work
for humanity, world over. Since the
Zacapa (Guatemala) outbreak of yell
low fever, in 1906, that malady has
become so rare in Central America as
to cause it to be considered not en-
demic north of the canal. Malarial
cases in Panama have been reduced
from 120 cases per 1000 population in
1906 to 81 per 1000 in 1912. The credit
for these records belongs to Colonel
Gorgas and his staff.
Time was when sea captains had
to shanghai able-bodied seamen to
man a ship bound for Aspinwall, so
vicious was the reputation of that
ports insanitary state. So they
changed the name then the first
colonel acquired the canal zone and
sent the second colonel to purge it of
disease so the third colonel and his
men could build the big ditch. The
result is that Aspinwall has long been
forgotten; there is-no fear of Colon
and Panama; Ancon and Cristobal
have the reputation of spas. All this
Is the result of Gorgas's work.
Although at an elevation or 5000
feet above sea level, Johannesburg
has been the centre of one of the
worlds most renowned malarial dis
tricts; but of almost as evil reputa-
ton is the prevalence of pulmonary
disease among the gold miners of the
Rand. Miners phthisis, silicosis, tu-
berculosis and other diseases of the
respiratory organs, and ankylosto-
miasis cause such a large proportion
of the mortality of Transvaal mine
workers that the Chamber of Mines
and the government some time ago
determined to exhaust every means
of reducing the pernicious effects that
the country's principal industry pro-
duced on the workmen. The services
of Sir Almroth Wright were enlist
ed, and now Colonel Gorgas has been