Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-10

cause they have been permitted to attend
such diversions when they could somehow
scrape together the price of admission. 1t has
been charged against them that their Idols
were matadors or clowns, circus riders or
heroic vaqueros. In their utter chldishness
and immortality they esteemed bandits above
statesmen, and followed a ragged drunken
liberator when they Stunned dictator in all
the magnfcence of foreign orders and gold
lace.
But has not the same charge been laid
against the masses of many great nations
that ultimately obtained the blessings Of DEM
ocratic institutions? Surely the British aris-
tocracy said harsh things of our ragged an
cestors and the uncouth savage demagogues
who led them against uniformed and armed
If illiterate, Hessians. Fault may be found
with these SMILES on the grounds Of patriot
ISM but close reading of the history of the
people of the United States will reveal CEN
tury of constant struggle against reactionary
influences and exponents of reactionary
thought, who said the same things concerning
the unfitness of our proletariat for the fran
chise that are said today by the reactlonary
group that denounces the possibility of the
Mexican peon benefting himself and his ma
tion by exercising the privilege of the ballot.
A Desperate Plight
The problem of how the submerged so per
cent will be raised to the point Of citizenship
with we'll defined constitutional sovereignty
will. OF course. be complex one. But If there
is to be a reconstruction of the Mexican Re-
public this problem must be faced squarely
and worked out with all the humanitarian aid
this country can afford to give. Otherwise
there can be no reconstruction toward prog
ress. The Diaz method was tried and met the
high approval OF the reactonary landed gem
try. But the iron heel of Daz merely held
down the lid on cauldron OF seething dis
content. The low-dOwn illiterate peon had
found a ray of light Notwithstanding the
stern effort of government to submerge him
in the darkness of ignorance. He may have
had only formless opinions Of a better state
and he may still have formless opinions of
| better state. However vague, 1t cannot be
worse than his present state. Whatever the
depths of his ilteracy he resembles the hu-
man kind in that he possesses definite i'm
! pulses for good that are sure, under favor
| able guidance, to dominate the impulses
| toward evil actions. Furthermore, Il is axio-
matte that II he is raised TO the dignity OF
being allowed voice in the matter he is go
! ing to strive harder for self-betterment than
he would under the lash and scourgs of the
old order OF things
The great task before this Government
will be to shape a positive uncompromising
course and provide the means for this guild
ance. In the desperate plight of Mexico there
must be get-together OF all classes on the
basis of self-preservation. There will be de-
lays and impediments vain threats and
stormy complaints. Selfish interests which
include the various groups that control great
investments and immensely valuable prop
critics. will be compelled to yield from their
old stand and accept some losses in the in
terest Of humanity There must be some
unselhsh investment for posterity in the early
reconstruction stages, The United States Gov
ernment is strong enough to compel this issue
without yielding in the slightest degree on
the essential principle that the peon cannot
be sold back into bondage and enforced A.
iteracy