The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-13
SOME OF THE BIG QUESTIONS AGTTATING MEXICO

Copyright 1918, by Frank G. Carpenterj
Mexico City.
TN this. my last letter from Mexico,
want to give you some of the under
currents of public opinion which are
rapidly changing the possibilities OF TINS
republic The man who thinks that the
troubles here are only the struggle of the
ins and the outs is mistaken. The peo-
pie have been aroused to the possibilities
of liberty. and there is strong hope
that the whole social and economic sys-
TEN will be recognized So far the re-
public is still in the melting pot 1t is
difficult to discuss parties, for parties are
only In their formation.
cao reason for this is the long auto
cratic reign of Diaz For more than
generation he controlled the country with
an iron hand, in which was held two
edged sword Every head which rose
above the average level was cut off, and
his enemies were wiped out without re-
gard to anything but the success of the
administration. Diaz often said that he
believed in much. government and but
little politics. The result was that politi-
cal parties were practically extinguished
by his long reign.
When Madero became president it was
with a promise of reorganization. He
preached reform and equal rights to all,
and he succeeded in planting the germs
of discomfort among the common people.
He preached but he did not accomplish
and his non-accomplishmen was only of
the elements that brought his overthrow
Tie new administration of Huerta is now
preaching and promising, and parties are
n IN f,au4 le fhof-
revolution or so before order is brought
out of chaos. but there is little doubt
but that the old Mexico has passed away
forever, and that new one will eventu-
ally take its place.
Dividing the Big Estates
Among the great questions which are
agitating the country are those which re-
late to the landed estates and their own
ers. The people are beginning to realize
that ii is not right that 1000 families
should practically own this mighty terri
tory. Mexico is divided into enormous
ranches, some of which contain millions
OF acres and are worth many millions Of
dollars. These estates have been listed
fol taxation of many times less than their
value. A property worth million dollars
In gold will be assessed at 100000 and
one worth 100000 may be assessed at
$4,000. For a long time there were no
estates are still returned at such a low
valuation that their owners pay practi-
cally nothing TO the government On the
other hand the small holders are taxed
to the full.
The man who has a 2OO-acre farm,
which may be worth thousand dollars
dares not list it for $780, as the decrep-
aney is too evident. As a result he pays
taxes on very nearly the full value. This
has long been the grievance of the small
land owners, and they are now among
the diseontents, who are in the saddle.
They want reorganization of the tax
system, and they have made themselves
so felt that this question is discussed all
over Mexico.
The Communal Lands
Another movement, which agitated the
chamber of deputies and which forms
the text of many stump speeches, is the
restoration of the communal lands to
whom they formerly belonged. About
fifty or sixty years ago every town in
Mexico had certain lands surrounding it
which were divided among the citizens
and each householder had his own little
plot, upon which he could raise enough
corn for his family and where he could
pasture his cows.
These blocks af land, with the town in
the center We're often in the heart of, or
adjoining a big estate, which had come
from grants given by the kings of Spain
wanted the lands to add to their already
large tracts, and so during the admins-
tration of President Juarez they succeed
ed in abolishing the communal system
and passing a law to divide up the lands
among the people of the villages. These
people were mostly poems or Indians, so
simple that they sold out for practically
nothing. The owners of the large estates
were ready to buy from them and the
result was that the communal lands came
into the hands of these rich owners liv-
ing nearby.