The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1920-08-27
Mexico's Struggle
With Land Monopoly

! y
An American resident of Mexico
sends the following explanation of
recent revolutionary happenings:
! 1t is not generally known that Car
rama sold out in the last few months
of his administration. Many organs
of Big Business not realizing it, con-
tinued to denounce him, thus con-
fusing American radicals. Bonillas,
former Ambassador to the United
States, was Wall Streets choice, and
Carranza, through deal with the
very interests he had been fighting,
threw all the influence of the gov
eminent behind Bonillas. Oregon,
who is a popular idol, had nine -tenths
of the population with him. Car
rama resorted to force, and sent
troops to Sonora to force the people
of Obregon's home State to vote for
Bonillas. Revolt followed. You may
/ have noticed how almost unanimous
and bloodless it was. This was be-
cause it was practically one-sided.
The Mexican people stayed with Car
rama as long as he resisted Wall
Street, but when he surrendered and
tried to jam Gringo candidate down
their necks, they rebelled.
Oregon was praised by many
American capitalist papers who were
delighted to see instruction against
Carranza, and who did not know that
Carranza had gone over to the flesh
pots. At the same time it is evil
dent that Big Business made Carran-
"a a catspaw, egging him on to the
very tyranny that caused revolution
and hoping the revolution would last
long enough so that intervention
would be necessary. They miscalcu-
lated. The revolution could not last
long, because the masses went over
in body to the Obregon side, and
only a few politicians and generals
were left with Carranza.
Seeing that Obregon was the Win
ner, the big interests began to try
to fix things up with him. Obvious
ly economic intervention is cheaper
than military intervention. Oregon
seems to be honestly trying to i'm
prove the condition of the proletariat
and still avoid clashing with the oil
interests. 1t is ticklish problem.
| have thought he would prove to be
another Kerensky, but lasting longer
than Kerensky. 1t is a hard job to
strsd dle the fence in such a way,
no matter how sincere a man is
Yet it's barely possible that by COM
promising on the oil question, which
Obregon is certainly going to do,
he will be allowed free rein in other
respects for a while. This might
stave off intervention, give the I'M
ions a chance to develop industrial
unionism, and prepare the Mexicans
for a new social order later when it
would not be menaced by American
plutocracy
| believe Obregon is honest. Ditto
De La Huerta. And De La Huerta
things. Rehabilitation Of the army
is going on in good faith, and the
soldiers are being put on land as
fast as possible. A large amount of
land III OaXaca has already been di
vided among the poems.
The writer of the above is care
full observer, genuine democrat, and
competent to give correct economic
Interpretation of what takes place.
His communication clears up much
that has been puzzling observers on
this side of the Rio Grande who have
had to depend for information on
papers served by the Associated
Press.
1t speaks we'll for the Mexican
people that they followed Carranza
as Icing as he opposed American
land-grabbing interests, but refused
to let him deliver them to the en-
envy. The worst bandits in Mexico
are not the little bands that hide in
the mountains and deserts, but the
big predatory foreign interests that
are trying to rob the nation of its
sacrifice American lives to accom-
plish their design. 1t is the same
Bandit Business that is practicing
legalized banditry in the United
States. The strength of these BAN
dts lies in the power bestowed upon
them to control the use of certain
parts of the earth. The power has
been obtained in lawful ways in the
United States, but in Mexico it is
hard to see how grants of oil and
mineral rights can be lawful in view
of the plain provisions of the Mex
lean constitution requiring the nation
to retain title. Consistent upholders
of law and order must sympathize
with the efforts of the Mexican peo-
pie to regain property illegally alien
ated.
1t is not necessary, however, to
quarrel about titles either in Mexico
or the United States to secure res
toration to the people of natural re-
sources stolen from them. Proper
use of the taxing power will accom-
plish the same end. A tax on land
values heavy enough to take the en-
tire rental value for public use will
not interfere with landholders who
put theiI land to its most productive
use, but will force those to let go
who are holding land in an unused
or partially used condition. In ad-
dition, exemption of labor products
from taxation will help to expedite
the freeing of natural resources from
the grasp of monopoly. Let the
Mexican government apply this
method and see if Bandit Business