Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1915-01-07
WHAT He FOUND
WENT INTO MEXICO
Causes Which Have Been ReSpon.
SibIe For the Conditions In
the Troublesome Republic. =

landowners take good care that all
their poems are In their debt. The reli-
gious instinct Of the poor peon is made
use of for this purpose. The minimum
fee Of the church for marriage, bap-
tism and ceremonies of like character
is 10 pesos. No peon could accumulate
or have so much wealth at one time.
IL he is ambitious to wed his wife In
church or to have his firstborn bap-
tized the fee, with the expense Of the
fiesta, makes him debtor for life.
The debts of the poems are regarded as
1t and added 10 the purchase price in
case of sale of the estate. l will men
ton as illustrative of the conditions
that the fertile state of Morelos, in
which the Zapata movement has been
rampant for years, is owned by TWEEN
ty-seven men.
Influence of United States.
What is true In respect to agricul-
tural labor is in measure true Of 9th
or labor, except where labor conditions
and wages in the United States have
affected conditions in Mexico. With
the development of southwestern
Texas, the growth of mining industry
along the border and the extension OF
continuous lines of railway to the
isthmus, a new world has been thrust
upon the horizon OF the Mexican Of
the north. Instead of % centavos he
is able TO earn 3 to 4 pesos a day in
can railways and in the mines. He is
able TO get married in church, to have
his children baptized, TO live in de-
cent house and TO educate his children
and he does all these things.
He has learned TO read his own Ian
guage and in most instances has picked
up little English. The better circum-
stanced Of the northern MeXicans in
.variably learn English and educate
their children in the United States. 1t
Is these facts that make them rebels
against the conditions of the south and
of the old Mexico. The new leaven Is
at work, and no Diaz nor a thousand
Will an lnt iiiOHCf III tbt
world. could restore the peace of the
old regime unless enough foreign sol
diers were brought in to put the adult
Mexican population underground.
The way the Mexican peon has re-
sponded TO these new conditions is not
only hopeful sign for the future, but
1t is q marvellous demonstration of the
potential power Of the race. A few
years ago the National Railways Of
Mexico-some 1900 miles-were Who'll
ly operated by Americans. Today that
entire system. from division superin-
tcndents to- trackmen. is in the hands
OF poems who n generation ago had not
heard steam puff.
Peon Responsive to Progress.
They do the engineering, superin-
tend and manage the shops, construct
cars, 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. Many are Of the prop
erty owning, cultured class. In their
ease. however, the change is equally
miraculous. A generation ago men of
that class would have lost caste IL
they had turned their hands to n gain
full occupation.
When i saw and reflected over these
things l asked myself and ! asked
some of the critics of President VIII
sons policy whether it was not within
the range of probability that people
who within a brief generation had re
sponded with such facility to the new
social and economic environment
might make equivalent progress in the
field of politics and government II af-
forded a fair chance. am hopeful
yes, confident-that they will. do
not look for uninterrupted success.
We have been administering our own
affairs 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.