Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-09-26
AN INDISPENSABLE REFORM.

While it may not be possible for us,
with the limited and imperfect infor-
nation available, and in the face of
the conflicting reports, cOlored as they
are in favor of this OF that interest, to
Judge accurately as to the merits of
any of the controversies in Mexico, or
to say who. among the rival leaders
there are actuated by patriotic mo-
tives and who are seeking the graft
fication of their own cupiditiy or their
own ambition, one fact stands out
clearly, namely, that there must be a
radical change in the system of land
tenure before Mexico will be at peace.
Missionaries may teach the people
their catechisms, and school teachers
may teach them their A. B. C.'s, but
so long as those people are unable
to dispose of their. own labor. and to
reap the fruits thereof, there will be
no peace in Mexico save the peace
that is due to the power Of the mailed
fist; and we are witnessing across the
fist can do for nations.
Inability to dispose of their labor
and to enjoy it's fruits means slavery.
slavery as real as that of the black
before our civil war, and that is the
condition in which the masses of the
which they will remain so long as the
ownership of land is monopoly in
the hands of a small aristocracy.
We in the United States are stick
lers for political liberty. There should
be political liberty of the broadest
kind. But political liberty without
economic freedom is a hollow mock
cry. The ballot is a poor thing in the
hands of a chattel. 1t is more impor-
tant that the peon shall be able to
own his few acres. his cabin. his gar
den, his COW and his chickens, that
he shall be secure in the possession of
them, and that he shall be taxed only
in proper proportion to his earning
capacity. than it is that he shall vote,
that he shall go to school, or that he
shall go to church. All of the latter
things are highly desirable and neces-
sary. in their place. but they cannot
create the superstructure of citizen
ship anless there is first the founda-
tiGn OF u real stake in the country,
something tangible to live for some
hing to build upon, something to
possess something to transmit.
This need lies at the root of the sit
uation i'll Mexico. Constitutions may
hn
and new constitutions may take their
place. Governments. elective, dicta-
torlal, bureaucratic or what not, may
succeed each other, schools, churches
and polling places may be established
at every cross road, and it will all
be futile So long as the peon is un-
able to root himself in soil which is
his own he will remain the restless,
irresponsible, turbulent man that he
is.
Diaz sought to maintain a govern
ment without the great essential, land
ownership by the masses. and he was
driven out. Madero, unable or un-
willing to carry out his promises for
this reform, had failed before murder
cut short his life. Huerta attempted
to set up government without it, and
he failed. If it is the purpose of Car
rama to ignore this imperative neces-
sity, he will fail. And if, as some OF
his spokesmen say. Villa has broken
with Carranza because of his recogni-
tion of this need, and his determina-
ton to fight until be gets it, Villa,
primitive barbarian though he is, is
right and he is showing greater
craftsmanship than any other man in
Mexico.