The Cordova daily times., 1915-01-09
WHAT HE FOUND
 WENT INTO MEXICO
Causes Which Have Been Respon- SibIe For the Conditions In
 the Troublesome Republic.


 use of for this purpose. The minimum fee of the church for marriage. bap- tisn and ceremonies of like character is 10 pesos. No peon could accumulate or have so much wealth at one time. If he is ambitious to wed his wife in church or to have his frslborn bap- tized the fee. with the expense of the fiesta. makes him debtor for life. The debts of the peOns are regarded as real property and are invcntOried with 1t and added to the purchase price in case of sale of the estate will men ton as Illustrative Of the conditions that the fertile Sttic ,f Murelos, In which the Zapata movement has been rampant for years. k owned by twen- ty seven men
 Influence of United States.
 What Is true in respect to ugricul- tural labor k in Il measure true of Oth- CT labor, except where labor conditions and wages fin the United States have affected conditions in Mexico. With the development of southwestern Texus, the growth of mining industry along the border and the extension Of continuous lines of railway to the isthmus. new world has been thrust upon the horizon of the Mexican of the north. Instead of 2j ccntavos he Is able to earn 3 to pesos q day in the Texas cotton fields. on the Amcri can railways and in the mines. He is uhle to get married in church. tu have his children baptized, to live in de. cent house and to educate his children: and he does ull these things
 He hns learned to read his own Ian guage and in most instances has picked mp little English The better clrcum stnnccd of the northern Mexicuns in yarinbly learn English and educate their children in the United States. II Is these facts thnt make them rebels against the conditions of the south and of the old Mexico The new lcayen is at work. and no Diaz nor thousand Huertas, with all the money in the world. could restore the peace of the | old regime unless enough foreign sol diers were brought in to put the ndult Mexican population underground The way the Mexican peOn has rc. SpOnded tO these new conditions k not | only n hopeful sign for the future. but | it is a marvellous demonstration of the potential power of the race. A few years ago the National Railways of Mcxico-somc l2.0OO miles-wcrc whol- l ly operated by Americans. Today that l entire system, from division superin tcndcnts to tracEmcn, K in the hands of peons who q generation ago had not | heard steam puff.
 Peon Responsive to Progress. They do the engineering. superin tend and manage the shops. construct | ears, coaches and locomotives that | would do credit to any shop on this | side of the line. Of course all of the men doing this great work are not of the peon class. Mnmy are of the prop erty owning. cultured class In their case however. the change Is equally miraculous. A generation ago men of that class would have lost caste if 1 they had turned their hands to gain l full occupation.
 i When l saw and reflected over these things l asked myself and asked some of the critics of President VII sons policy whether 1t was not within the range of probability that a people who within brief generation had re 1 sponded with such facility to the new social and economic environment might make equivalent progress in the field of politics and government if af- forded fair chance. 1 am hopeful yes. confident-that they will. l do not look for uninterrupted success We have been administering our own alfnirs and practicing self government for nearly 300 years, and still we have problems, old as well as new, that have not yet been adequately solved.