Evening star., 1941-01-13
Urqes Realistic Policy
Toward Mexico
Correspondent Feors
Noble Antiquities
May Fail
Bv Hotcard F. Cline.

By HOtCdrd +. CHne.
That the representative of the Presi-
dent of the United States at the inaugu-
ration of Manuel Avila Comacho as
President of Mexico was Vice President
elect Henry A. Wallace is, by common
consent, fact of first-rate Importance.
1t is generally felt that the final result
of the meeting of these two men in
the mile-high capital of Mexico will have
repercuSsions extending beyond the
geographical limits of the two countries.
Specifically it is thought that their con-
versationS signiflcally will influence the
relations between TIC Sam and his other
American neighbors and that the rela-
tions will play an increasingly important
part in the world pattern of events.
The striking thing about Mexico is its
complexity. Economically, politically
and linguistically there are many an
tagonistic elements, disparate and con-
fuSing Mexico is a mechanical mix
ture, not an organic whole. The emo
tional and psychic bonds that are nee
essary for nationality do not exist. The
north of the country, from Nuevo Laredo
to Mexico City and the Valley of Mexico,
is unlike the country from the states of
Puebla to the Guatemalan border. The
man of Oaxaca has little in common
with the man of Sonora or Lower Cah-
fornia. The concept of "patria chica"
dhe little homeland as opposed to the
"patria grande" is an important item
in the mental baggage OF MeXlcans
What may be perfectly true in one Sec
ton of the country or for several sec
tions does not necessarily mean that it
is so elsewhere. Gringoes, for example,
may be thoroughly disliked in the north,
avidly initiated in the capital, and en-
tirely disregarded southwark.
Analogous, but in many ways more
important, is the essential dissimilarity
between the capital and the country.
When a Mexican talks of Mexico" he
refers to ia capital" Mexico City. 1t
is here that the news stories to the
United States emanate, as the foreign
correspondents make their rounds Of
embassy, government bureaus and Regis
Hotel, filtering rumor from fact. Con-
sequently the stories appearing in the
dailes reflect largely the information
and the views of one metropolis. And
Mexico City is no more typical of the
country as a whole than New York is
of the entire United States. Like his
Manhattan counterpart, the Mexican
from the metropolis who ventures into
the ninterlandS finds himself in a
strange new world. 1t is unfortunate
that groups who evolve panaceaS in
tended TO solve problems of agrarian re-
form, Indian welfare and the like are
centered in the capital and seldom sally
forth to test their theories in the field.
The capital is essentially unlike the
country for which it serves as intellec-
tual dynamo, and information that stems
from it is, at the least, likely to be less
than representative Mexico the coun-
try has, according to the recent, rather
haphazard census, about 20 100000 in
habitants, not more than 100000 of
whom are residents of the one metrop-
oils. Other urban centers are unlike it
in outlook and atmosphere, and are more
overgroWn villages than urban centers.
BY and large, Mexico is an agricultural
and eXtractive country, with a negligible
amount of manufacturing or industry.
1t is also a very poor country-no one
knows how poor, for no figures on its
public finances or national income can
be had. Production of crops has fallen,
lands are going out of cultivation, prices
are rising to the point where food riots
occasionally mar the tranquility of even
the most determined apologist Basic
foodStufS like beans and corn have had
to be imported into the country, mainly
from the United States. Price fixing has
been resorted to in an attempt to curb
the high cost of living, with the result
that both quantity and quality have
suffered.
The key to much of Mexico's problem
lies in its disparate population. At the
base socially-and by far the largest
element in the population-are the
Indians These are not homogeneous
but are dissimilar in language, customs
and the degree to which they can be
exploited without serious consequences.
Four hundred years of servitude since
the conquest have changed many of
them, but not SO radically as the non
Indian elements of the country would
like to have foreigners and themselves
believe. Non-essential reforms are
sometimes achieved but nothing basic is
touched. Some of the saddest letters
and reports in the republic stream across
the desk of Luis Chavez OroZcO head
of the Department of Indian Affairs.
Though they are seldom in the news,
the Indians are ponderable elements in
the situation. Their numbers, their
votes and their 30-30's left over from
revolutions make them so whether they
are aware of it or not.
The attitudes and feelings of the mixed
bloods, the mestizos, have made them
an important element in the Mexican
pattern. Although occasionally an out
standing Indian like Benito Juarez and