Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-21

etero Mexico, witnessed daily sigh.
which contradicts the idea that Mex
leans were restricted in religious free
dom AT 8 o'clock in the morning the
bells of all churches began ringing
vigorously. and behold. every Mexican
upon the streets and IL the. shops
knelt In prayer, wherever they CHANGED
to be. The whole city was a place
of worship" 1t is not religion Of the
people, therefore which appears to be
under the ban of government, but Its
exploitation in nlonopoliStlc Segrega-
ton of property and in consp!racies to
control the government as we'll as the
liyelihccds of all the people.
From q brief but comprehensive
pamphlet by Margaret Shipman. Mex
ico's Struggle Toward Democracy, the
Mexican Revolutions of 1887 and 1870"
quote this
I'm 1856 law was passed providing
for the sale of the great church estates
on reasonable terms. The proceeds
went to the church, the object of the
law being not contSeation but distribu-
ton of the land 60 small farmers. Dur
ing that year S20,000.o0o worth Of land
passed into private hands: but the peo-
pie of small means dared not face the
largely to foreign capitalists, served to
establish a new landed 2ristocTaey.
In the same year constitutional
congress was called and the famous
constitution Of 1857 was framed This
church. meanwhile, was excoTAIntlnicatt,
ing all who bought her lands. an6 3
ferociaus papal bull was sent frcai
Rene. denounciag the government and
ordering disohsdience TO its DEGREES"
=
Juarez continued his revolution
against the chufch-sunportsd, Spanish
controlled government, and III 1851 MS
forces Were triumphant; he was re-
elected President and continued TO sell
the church propsrty--the proceeds GO
ing to the church and the land 10 the
purchasers. but unfortunately the law
was defective in that 1t failed TO limit
the purchasers to the poems. or Mexican
natives, and to prevent their resell.ng
their purchases for q term OF wears.
hence. as above stated, 1t failed OF It's
real purpose.
Then came the intrigue of France and
Austria and at first even of Great Brit
ain, in setting the Austrial Catholic
prince. Msximilian. upon the Mexican
throne. where he reigned until after our
Appomattox, when the Union Army APP
Monroe doctrine.
*
Juarex died in Office in 1879. and was
succeeded by Lerao de Teiada, justice
OF the supreme court, as provided by
the constitution, In 1879, by revoiu-
tion and coup d'atat. PoFiirio Diaz sue
ceeded Ia the presidency, and by force
of character and tyranny held the DIG
tatofship fer 80 years. Although DiaaS
PLATFORM was based upon the claim that
Iordo was not administering according
to tho constitution. his own policies
were to let down the bars TO the church.
Diaz welcomed foreign investors. ana
caused a law To pass in 1883 which pro-
vided that all who surveyed and mapped
pubile lands should receive as reeonf-
nsnse one-third Of the land they SUR
veyed, with an option 10 buy the re~a
mainder at a nominal rate, According 4
to official Mexican records, during thaf
Dias regime grants of land under this
law totaleC 1S0 coo 900 -thirte 4
of the area OF Mexico, Thus the peorsi
were thrown back into slavery as hope-l
less as before the 1910 revolution from
Suain. and all land fell into the handSIi
of about per cent of the population. .llsli
{isl.
The immensely OF the holdings OF
the landed proprsetorS may be madal.
tangible BY an incident, The writer was
guest OF the owner OF an estate ~
miles in diameter. inclusive OF CrizanQ
Mountain acquired under the Diaa lawf
of 1898 bv merely surveying" or travels
inc over its boundaries. From the vii.
LACE where administration headquarters
were located. out to the hacienda palacess
was several miles and the owner aoane1 E
his American guest a buggy. 10 when
the village priest added pair OF niuseS@l
The secretary OF thasowner rode horSe~
back alongside. as an official outrider, 1.Iil
The hundreds Of poems working TIT
the fields along the road recognised the
owners buggy, and as We passed. every
man stood facing the road. with hat In
hand, in salute. or at least an
attention" HI
According to the census of l9I0ii
; ,000. 600 people TILED the Son as SefIs
and with thsir dependents termed at
least two~thifdS OF tia entire popula-
ton, held in Slavery~~called more softly
"peonage." II was this class which
fought the revolution which oyertusEst'
piaa and brought 10 power Madero
Huerta, Gales and Obregon, Undsr the
niaz regime Saqu Indians were sold
into slavery at an average market price
Of $65 per head and carried down into
Yueatan To toll In the heneguen fields
II was from such MonopollStie and
feuelal conditions that tbs mestiSoS and
poems again revolted in 1910.
The greatest economic power now IN
Mexico Ii that Of foreign investors. The
fetal wealth Of Mexico Ii s.sS4 million
dollars.
or this total wealth, American ia
VestorS held l.0s6 million dollars worth
English hold sci million dollars; French,
lA3 million, and all other foreigners, li9
million, MeNleans hold only 7aS mill
lions Of the Investments In the resources
Of their own eonntrs~~-about fonr -ftehs
as much as Americans. We hold nearly
double thu holdings OF all other
tereigners Americans own nearly half
Of Mexican wealth. Yet all that we ask
Is legal protection Of title
: tconsslSht. iaas. HI Paul Y, Coillaa.f