Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-26
BY STUART CHASE.

Ia 04 OA%A NEAfA06s
IRON Father Hedalgo's call to rev.
- olution, which marked the begin
ming of Mexico's independence
L from Spain, to the fall Of Porflrio
Diaz was just 100 years. 1t was
a century Of hell. Two more decades
have passed over Mexico, more turbu-
lent and bloody than those which went
before, but with the underlying purpose
Of liquidating the lost century.
For the moment peace and stability
have been achieved; the liquidation,
however, is not complete. The most
that We can say is that the last few
years have shown a declining red bal
ance. The account may be cast up in
the following categories. Under Obre-
gon and Gales, Mexico finally achieved:
An increased national consciousness,
based on the conception Of continuity.
An initial solution Of the land
problem.
A status for industrial labor.
A small breach in the wah Of tri-
umphant militarism.
A small gain in the struggle against
disease.
A considerable gain in rural education.
A definite sovereignty over her own
natural resources which foreign capital
has been forced to recognize.
The divorce Of the church from eco
nomic and political power.
A renaissance Of the arts, particularly
painting, and a new regard for the
handicrafts.
Change Is Unlike Russia's.
As contrasted with Russia during the
same period, these gains and changes
seem slight enough. At the present
time, indeed, the two revolutions are
headed in opposite directions.
We can set down parallel after par
allel, but a major cleavage outweighs
them all. Russia has definitely aban-
doned handicraft culture and welcomed
industrialism to the tune Of thirty
billions Of new investments in her five
year plan. She has opened her arms to
mass production and the machine,
though on her own terms Of social con-
troll. Mass production languishes in
Mexico; industrialism is not making
marked Roadway on any terms. Handi-
craft culture Is more sturdy today than
under DiaZ, with more land, more dig
nifty, more intelligent recognition. While
Russia runs to mechanical horsepower,
the burros, newly blessed, foot their way
over the mountains to Mexico'S village
markets.
The handicraft economy Of Mexico
is economically stable and self-suffi-
Gent. There are no rich, no poor. no
pauperS, no sexual inhibitions beyond
the reasonably tolerant folkways.
Community Spirit Is Strong.
There is no local government worthy
Of the name, but strong community
spirit, finding expression not in after
dinner speeches and paid advertise
ments, but in helping naighbor har-
vest his corn and repairing the town
water supply. In such communities Pc
cuniary standards do not apply and
integrity is not luxury. Men are gov
erned not by clocks but by the sun and
the seasons; recreation is not matter
of paid admissions or forced disciplines,
but as spontaneous as eating. The in
dividual to survive must learn many
useful crafts; he does not atrophy his
personality by specializing on one.
Costs are lower for many articles
than is conceivable under the most
efficient methods of mass production,
and all work is directed to specific
function with a maximum economy
and a minimum of waste. Overpro-
duction is as unthinkable as unem-
ployment. Life in a handicraft COM
munity is to be lived, not to be argued
about. to be thwarted by economic
conditions or postponed hopefully until
one has made ones pile.
Illiteracy Appalling.
On the other side of the ledger we
find that the price of stability is the
absence of progress-whatever prog
resS" may mean. New methods are in
frequently invented; new aspirations,
new desires. new material wants are
all but unknown. The standard of
living, while adequate. is very low, and
the death rate per thousand particu-
larly among infants, is scandalously
high. Illiteracy is appalling, though
millions of Mexican villagers speak two
languages.
The assets Of handicraft economy
are great. but its net worth, after al
lowing for liabilities, is a lower figure;
a figure, however. black, not red
If we could but take the manifest assets
of Mexican villages and the manifest as
sets of Middletown and combine them.
Meanwhile there is much dis
cuSsion of Middletown's exporting both
its assets and its liabilities to Mexico.
1t is widely held that characterization
is inevitable, handicraft culture doomed
and a balanced consideration OF Its
virtues and failings purely academic
question, II not q TOTAL waste OF LlIne
Precisely why is mass production in
evitable in Mexico-or anywhere else
for that matter? Machine civilization
proper is still incomplete over the
United States; the map is spotted with
great uninfected areas in the South and
West. Cases may even be found in the
New England States. 1t is now moving
into North Carolina, accompanied BY
storms of protest from embittered
Southerners How long will machine
civilization require, at the present jerky
rate. to crawl from North Carolina to
Guanajuato? The distance is 1900
miles.
Rests on Early Laurels.
Mexico introduced the machine into
North America early and briskly with
the falconets of Cortez. She followed
by printing the first book on the CONT
nent in 1886, and the first newspaper
in 1893. Then she rested on her laurels
and has been resting ever since.
In 1925 there were 2,877 manufac.
turing establishments in the country
employing 95,775 workers, with a tota
investment of 81 loo 100000 The State
of Texas in 1925 had 3,606 factories
employing 106,792 workers. not includ-
ing light and power plants. which art
included in the Mexican figures. Mex