Evening star., 1947-03-09

L
City, waving in greeting and re-
ceiving CHEEKY acknowledgement.
When he went into the rural dis
tricts. 1t was the same story on a
reduced scale.
A good example of the feeling of
his hosts was furnished Wednes-
day when Mr.. Truman drove
through the countryside to see the
Pyramids of Teotihuacan. En- route
he stopped at the village of Acolman
to view the ancient church of St.
Augustine, started by priests of the
Augustinian Order in 1889.
f On the return trip that afternoon
all the children of the village were
lined up along the highway, chant
ing:
Serenaded Along the Way.
"Good-by, neighbor, come back
again"
Other communities also turned
out to do Mr.. Truman honor.
Sometimes there were bands of bril-
liantly clad musicians to speed him
on the way. Always, there was a
profusion of American and Mexican
flags, obviously of home manufac-
ture and making up in color what
they might have lacked in symmetry
of design.
officials led by President Miguel
Aleman also spared no effort to
show their feelings. Honor guards
of soldiers and police invariably
were on hand when Mr.. Truman
appeared in public, and when the
President took off from Mexico City
for Washington before dayhreak
Thursday, President Aleman and
other dignitaries were at the airport
to bid him farewell.
At the American Embassy lunch
con rendered by Mr.. Truman to
President Aleman, the latter hailed
him as the new champion of Ameri-
can solidarity, and comment often
repeated by longtime observers of
the Mexican scene was that after
100 years, Mr.. Truman had healed
the scars left by 1847.
Banner Chapultepec Story.
/ The thing that seemingly con-
trihuted most to this feeling on the
+ part OF the Mexican people was the
Presidents Actiorf In visiting the
Chapultepec monument commemo-
rating the valor of handful OF
military cadets who gave their lives
In q vain effort to, turn back in
vading Americans at the Battle of
Chapaltepec. =
! Without any advance notice, the
President, after making the Gus
tomary official visit to the Inde-
pendence Monument, on the second
day OF his visit, drove on to the
modest stone shaft which is sacred
in Mexican history, to place small
wreath at its base.
Reporters with him only realized
the significance of this act when
drivers in the press cars, with evil
dent feeling, shook hands all around.
"This is the greatest day in Mex
ican history" one exclaimed. News
papers universally hammered the
story.
At a later press conference, Mex
leo City reporters asked the Pres
ident what prompted the tribute.
He said that he knew all about the
valiant youngsters from reading his
tory and that he always recognized
bravery when he saw 1t.
That press conference, held. at
the pyramids, also gave the Pres
ident an opportunity to amplify
the doctrine Of nonintervention he
stressed in the speech he delivered
at the state dinner which Presi-
ident Aleman gave for him at the
National Palace on the first night
Of his stay.
"Next-Door Neighbor' Policy.
The reporters wanted to know
about the new legislation under
which this Government will CO.
operate with the government Of
Mexico in seeking to stamp out the
hoof and mouth disease.
Mr.. Truman stressed that 1t was
cooperation and nothing else that
was intended. The United States
is not going to interfere with Mexi-
can business, he added.
Mr.. Truman told another ques-
toner that he hoped to visit around
in Latin America and that he had
come to Mexico first because he
thought he ought to start with his
next-door neighbor. One observer
told reporters afterward that Mr..
Truman here made a point that
had an important bearing not only
on relations between this country
and Mexico. but throughout the
Latin world. In these other coln-
tries, this man argued, the people
look on the United States Mexico
situation as the "key" and ask how
this country can expect to get along
with nations further removed, un-
less its association with its nearest
neighbor Is q happy one.
Industrialization . Topic.
That same press conference also
was responsible for bringing out the
fact that the two government heads
were having what President Tru-
man described as business discus
sions In which they found them
selves In complete agreement in
large areas.
Mr.. Truman did not amplify, but
it was assumed that President Ale
mans projected industrialization
program for a country now predom-
inantly agrarian figured largely.
Just how much of a part this
country is expected to play in Mex
|ico's expansion may be developed
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