Imperial Valley press., 1920-12-20
BY RALPH H. TURNER

4
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17.-People
become keenly philosophical in a
country where revolutions have been
featured throughout that country's
history.
Everday philosophy in Mexico,
therefore-a philosophy which fire.
quently is expressed by no more than
shrug of the shoulders-has been de-
veloped to the highest point. And yet
even the Mexican, despite his feeling
of Indifference and his sense of the
futility of everything, is preparing to-
day to begin life over again. He is
going ahead in anticipation of a
new DEAL" believing that he and his
children have greater cause for hope
than at any time in the last ten
years.
That spirit, with its varied mani
fcstations, is the index to the social
condition of Mexico today. 1t repre-
sents the thought of Mr.. Average
Man.
The whole population, with the eX
ception Of a few disgrunted politicians
and military men, is sick of revolu,
ton; the country has been looted
lIOHl OIS emu ~ Iiic OlllSi
And s. the Mexican makes ready
for another part. People who flooded
into Mexico City from the provinces,
because the capital offered greater
degree of shelter from marauding
rebels, are beginning now to retrace
their Steps. They are going back to
/ the farm or the store. EXiles who
were expelled by one or the other of
! the various regimes since the fall OF
Porfirio Diaz in 1910 are streaming
home from New York and London,
Paris and Madrid.
But the present is still the period of
transition. Not until the new gov
ernment finds it's stride and turns its
attention to a score of pressing do
mestic and international problems, at
the same time obtaining financial
and moral aid from abroad, will Mex
lean national life approach a state
of well-being. In the meantime, the
Mexican offers further proof - if
such were needed--that human nature
remains the same, no matter how
many international boundary lines
are crossed. The Mexican goes to the
movies (American movies, grumbles
about the high cost of living, and
loves his children.
|. In Mexico City, thoroughly mod
ern capital, he attends the theatre
stages an exuberant party" with
about the same regularity as ar
American did in the pre-amendment
, days, and goes to the bull fight or
Sunday afternoon. He is a devou1
Catholic, but has never heard of {
"bluc law" He probably spends his
money more lavishly than an Anglo
Saxon person with similar income
Tie cost of living, for Mexican with
+ o cmofortable income, needn't vary
much from what it costs in the Unltet
States. One thing just about bal
ances another. He must pay more
for a great many articles, because
they are imported, but he can main
: tain whole corps of servants fo-
l the same expenditure that one woult
involve from the Rio Grande north
:. Vegetables, fruit and some of tn
g meats (the goat, especially the kid
. is popular), cost less than in al
e American metropolis. Fuel is mino
G item in Mexico City, because of th'
5 temperate cline. If the Mexican
e lives at a hotel, he may pay any
where from So to So Omitted State
\ currency a day for his room, thougI
n he won't receive the modern accom-
t modations that most Americans de
s mand. House rents are high, as prac
S tically no building has been don
during the revolutionary days. 1t /
c beginning now to revive.
: One difficulty with life in Mexic'
e City-the one thing that most Amer
i cans encounters the social condition
: that has overlooked any provision TO
n the middle class. The "high class
Mexican generally limits his busines
activity to either OWING property am
deriving tho income therefrom, o
playing some part in the management
s OF the government. Both have beel
+ paying propositions i'll the past. Til
= merchandising business and the oper
alton Of mines, oil properties and 9th