The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-02-09
WHAT MEXICAN FARMERS WANT

Wnlcn he and his ancestors have
many years been filling for mas
tiers.
We have been hearing much OF the
peon class in Mexico on Of
the revolution. Perhaps it is but
natural for US TO fall into the erro-
neouS idea that all the poor Of that
country belong to that class. Besides
the peon there is the other exploited
labOring mamie who works in the
mines, the factories, on the railroads.,
and the city artisan. But the ranks
OF the revolution are not made up OF
the latter.
We know now what the past Of the
peon has been-miSery, starvation |
slavery, and humiliation.
What future will he make for him.
self after the destructive period Of
the small farmer in Mexico has con.
Quoted himself.
In the first place We must take into
account the deep passion of the Mex
lean tillers Of the soil for the land.
| have seen them-sturdy. puritan.
honest fellows, who stand all of the
h%ardships OF life with tremendous
power of resistance, who bear with
| resignation the loss of their belovcd
ones-crying like children when they
| have been evicted from their small
| patch Of land.
This great passion of the Mexican
farmer or peOn. shows itself SOme
times in a strange way. l have
watched him prone upon the earth
nearly m~otionless for hours, scratch-
ing the ground with his fingers. 1t
my inquiry about his peculiar action,
he has told me of his endeavor to
analyze the soil according to his limit
ed knowledge, his purpose being to
take every advantage Of the compost
ton of the soil. Men of such high
q M hilton and intol1ioopcpf What NAV
we expect Of them when the Depart
ment Of Agriculture is r~eOrganized
for n sole purpose Of assisting the
farmer in his endeavor to make Moth
er Earth produce,
Famine In a Land OF Plenty.
Thirty-fve years ago there were in
Mexico about loco, 000 small farmers,
and in spite of the ack of systems OF
irrigation then, there is 10 record OF
a cereal famine in the country. 1t is
very significant indeed that, since the
beginning Of the last twenty-five
!, years, and cOinciding with the de-
spoilation of the small farmer under
the Diaz rule, cereal famines began to
ppear periodically every year, anC
became more and more acute unit
: within the last decade these famine:
became SO intensified as to produce
great suffering among the poor al
! over the country. The government
ignoring the real cause of these fam
6 ines (Which was the lack OF cultiva
ton of the lands due to the estab
\ lishment of big landordism), endeav
: ored to remedy the lack of crops b.
= the importation of corn from tn
United States. And Mexico is essen
a TALLY a corn-producing country!
Besides work Of this Vegetable-pro
, ducing LAND (intense ~cultivation) W
q have extensive cultivation in tn
- oo.,th nv bot lands Tho nr06l1rtin
is larger and richer. but the crop
are harder to cultivate because Q
the intense heat.
Il This work exists on the large Ia
ciendas, or plantations, Of coffee
pineapple, sugar cane, rubber, ba
IF nanas. tobacco, rice, about thirty va
rs rieties Of different tropical fruits, tn
vanilla bean, and hemp. These plar
,e tations may remain unsubdivided, du
is to the extensive crops and the ma
at chinery necessary for their cultlVs
l. ton. The peon, being the owner Of
S patch Of land somewhere else, Will RI
Of fuse to work On these haciendas Il
er low hire, n this will force the d.
velopment Of modern machinery.
The purpose Of the present stru:
s. gle in Mexico is to secure the distr
I'd button Of the large haciendas tn
at should by rights be subdivided.
IN The PEG and the Soil.
p The ~hacendado, as the great lam
lord is called, has been driven OF
the country at the point Of the ba
e. onet. He dare not return, for Ii
is dearer to him than land: out
rs the peon who loves the land whi'
or he has been cultivating this land
dearer to him than life. Was he n
US ready to give up his life for it VIII
n he shouldered his rife and Joined t
ng ranks to light for it? Was it for q,
a certain and ambitious Individual tn
in he was eager to make such a sac
lis fee?
lily Having driven from the field t
ks large land owner, the peon cOntlnu
to to cultivate the same piece of grou'
lei that he had been c~ultivating for |
he master for years, with this differenS
VS., he is now keeping the products
bic his toll. And this is the patch
land tina he wants, not the land til
some other peon has been c%ultivatil