The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-21

tmately are set forth In a vol
ume by Edward !. He'll, called "The Po-
ltical Shame Of Mexico" to be pub
lishcd this week by Mcbride, Mast and
Company. Mr.. Bell was the editor and
publisher of the newspapers La Prehsd
and the Daily Mexican in Mexico city
Tor several years and during the trou-
blous times following Diaz's resignation.
In describing the Mexican centennial
festivities he says that the thirty Sep
TENDER days of bunting and glitter and
military show, the thirty blazing nights
OF electrical effuigencc toned 70 tender
ness in the se2iusion of patio and bou-
dor-the never To he forgotten Centen-
NAL nights -foated away at last upon
the river. OF time whose sombre bosom
they had frightened for a space. The
Presidents ball, that Belshazzar feast
or the Diaz regime. at which Mexico's
monarch aided by 1000 OF his richly
attired people received the gold laced
diplomats OF the world-that revel
where twenty carloads of champagne
were poured out by 500 picturesquely
costumed servitors In rivers and lakes
Of wine flooding tho Palacio Nacional
and overlooking into tho Plaza dc la
Constitucon-thats gorgeous celebration
went fiaring into the past And in the
light OF ordinary day the government OF
Porfirio Diaz doomed as large as 1t had
seemed amid the torches, and the voice
OF his authority was as loud as the in
Vulnerable instruments Of music which
had just performed an anthem to his
glory.
All these things surely happened, and
there was no unusual lack OF sincerity
among the participants. but what Is .he
truth that lay behind The way TO dis
cover H. is To forget for the moment all
the 'personages present Mt this remark
able celebration and concentrate our at
tention upon one who was not there. the
most powerful man connected with the
Mexican Government at that time. tn :
man upon whom, fer more than upon
the aged dictator, the safety of the
state had for some years depended His
absence. rightly underwood may rank
among the most notable features CT the
occasion and provide ne with an essen
tial clue TO the long train % subsequent
disasters. The man was Jose Yves
Limaneour.
The name is we'll known to flnanciers
In Europe and America, but for the in
formation of the general reader a few
words Of introduction will be necessary
Jose Yves Llmantour is of French par
entage, the son OF that Jose Yves Lii
mantour who In the 1sI0s attempted TO
establish claims to important parcels OF
land on the coast of California, lnclud-
Ing four square leagues now covered by
the city OF San Francisco The claims
were based on grants dated in lSs3. and
bearing the name of Manuel Michel
torena, Governor Of California while 1t
was Mexican province prior to the
cession OF lS4s.
The fin tncial problems OF Mexico, as
that country struggled into cohesion
and order afforded a broad and fertile
field for Limantour's talents, and the
attention of Porfirio Diaz was drawn TO
him. He was made Sub Secretary OF
Finance in 1898, and succeeded to the
portfolio in 1894, and 1t was as Minister
Of Finance that he carried out the plan
which placed Mexico on a 80 per cent.
gold basls--a plan which bears his
name. Values had for a long time been
shifting up and down with the unceas-
ing fluctuations OF the silver market.
The Limantour plan introduced kind
of stability by which the nation profted.
individuals also were benefited none
more conspicuously than the business
managers OF the circle which had de-
veloped from the Society of the Friends
OF Porfirio Dlaz and which came to be
known as the Cientificos.
The significance OF the name Glen
tifco Is difficult to convey: 1t was not
I'm every instance a brand Of odium. The
Cientifcos who were members OF the
DiaE Cabinet accepted the title as a
distinction. They were proud OF their
positions and jealous of their personal
honor. They were overrated men with
two exceptions, Limantour and Ramon
Corral. Limantour possessed even a
greater brain than popular estimates
credited him with, Corral was quite
correctly placed as unfit for preferment.
4 railroad merger Influenced the
course of Mexico's fortunes in various
ways, and the end is not yet. The
matter is important here because in
the inwards OF 1t will be found the chief
reason for Senior Lmantour's absence
from the Diaz centennial and from his
country for some months before and
after that extraordinary festival. Dur
Ing that absence the mischief which the
United States and Mexico are now pay
ing for was Matched. and 1t is necessary
to follow up the clues which promise
an explanation Of what took place.
The idea Of the merger was not Ii
mantours; It originated In the brain
of Edward Fl. Harriman--uness some
mute, inglorious clerk conceived It while
his skull happened to be in range of his
great masters vision. Let Hartman
stand as the real author. He perceived
In the disjointed railways OF Mexico an
opportunity to extend his own dominion
and secure very valuable permanent
advantage for the Southern Pacific,
which runs alongside the Mexican from
tier from the gull to the western ocean.
He studied the subject with character
istic thoroughness and was deeply i'm
pressed Then he opened communica-
ton with Mexico city. making his APP
proach not TO Porfirio Diaz but to
Finance Minister Lmantour. This was
In 1902.
Hartman wasted no time with the
malls or in sending a representative to
prepare the way. He cabled to Imam
tour asking for 1. secret interview upon
important matters whose nature he did
not state. The Minister of Finance re-
piled agreeably, and few days there
after Hartman arrived at Mexico city
incognito, proceeding at once to Imam