Mexico's dilemma/Introduction
ONE OF THE MOST DOMINANT CIVILIAN OFFICIALS
INTRODUCTION
Mexico's Dilemma has three horns.
They are: 1. Financial ruin of Mexico and internal disorders unless a loan is obtained. 2. The possibility of subjugation to German influence with all of its liability for external strife. 3. Cooperation with the United States, England, France and America.
What will Mexico do?
The answer is one which future events will determine. In this book the author has tried to tell what forces and influences are sharpening each of the three horns. There are bandits, disloyal Mexicans, ambitious officials, patriotic citizens, honest business men, Teutonic intriguers, spies, propagandists, diplomats, millionaires, army officers and I. W. W. firebrands at work. Is it any wonder, then, that Mexico finds herself in such a Dilemma?
Mexico has always been a home and workshop for foreigners. Several thousand years ago the Chinese settled in that country and, judging from the relics which are found to-day, in and about Mexico City, Chinese civilisation flourished there for a few hundred years. Terra cotta relics are found showing an unmistakable Mongolian type of face, and, because a large number of art objects similar to those found in China have been unearthed, archeologists conclude that Mexico was once the foreign colony of the Chinese.
After the Chinese civilisation disappeared the Aztec and pre-Aztec Indians dominated the land. A few hundred years ago the Spaniards landed and Mexico passed through a period of conquest which ended with the execution of the Austrian, Emperor Maximilian. And to-day, in Monterey is preserved the rifle which was used at this execution, preserved even by the Rebels during the revolutions.
A few decades ago English, French and American capitalists went to Mexico to develop the wonderfully rich resources, and Mexico under President Porfirio Diaz became a great, internationally respected nation.
The revolution which overthrew Diaz drove thousands of these foreigners from the country, and the immigration of Germans and Austrians, which had started earlier, increased until to-day the Teuton strength is so great that Mexican politics is interwoven with German intrigue. Where a few years ago The Mexican Herald, an English language newspaper, had a wide circulation and commanded the respect and attention of all foreigners, there is to-day a Deutsche Zeitung von Mexico.
Germany is active in Mexico, honestly and dishonestly. The character of many of the German citizens there cannot be attacked and their honesty cannot he questioned, but, as is the case in the United States and in all countries where the German Government intriguers have worked, all Germans in Mexico are hearing the burdens of a corrupt, dishonest, deceitful government in Berlin. Most of the things which the Germans are doing there, both against the United States and against Mexico itself, are done at the direction of Berlin. Who would have expected Mexico to think of invading the United States to "get back" American territory until it was suggested to the German Minister in Mexico City by Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, former Secretary of State? What honest, intelligent Mexican favours war with the United States when there is nothing to gain for Mexico except flattery from Berlin? What capable Mexican business man, or government official, favours labour riots at Tampico to cut off the oil supply which is bringing millions of dollars to the Mexican Treasury? What is there for Mexico to gain if the oil wells and mines are destroyed? Mexico loses by such things and Berlin gains.
When I returned from Germany to America in March, 1917, I found so many people asking what the Germans were doing in Mexico that I proposed to the Editor of The Saturday Evening Post that I go to that country for the purpose of making an investigation. It seemed to me that public opinion in the United States was divided; that some people thought the German activity in Mexico was no greater than, if as great as, that in the United States, while others believed it much more portentous.
In July, having my two passports in order, as both an American and a Mexican passport were needed, I left New York City for San Antonio, Texas, where I met and talked with a large number of Mexicans, including Mr. Sam Belden, the attorney for the Mexican Consul; Señor don Manuel Amaya, Official Introducer of Ambassadors in President Carranza's cabinet; General Salinas and a Mexican physician from Monterey. I remained at San Antonio until Ambassador Henry Prather Fletcher and Mrs. Fletcher arrived en route to Mexico City. Upon the invitation of Señor Amaya I travelled on the special train which took Mr. Fletcher to the Mexican capital.
I crossed the International Bridge with the official party and drove through the dusty streets of Nuevo Laredo to the railway siding where the train was waiting. That evening, after considerable delay— bandits had destroyed a bridge just outside the city—reached Monterey, in company with Mr. Randolph Robertson, Acting Consul-General for the United States, and several Mexicans, including a Captain attached to the National Palace.
The next day the train stopped at San Luis Potosi. Ambassador and Mrs. Fletcher were entertained by General Barragan, the Governor of the state, and his staff. At the banquet I sat beside Señor Montezuma, a direct descendant of the famous Indian chief. From San Luis Potosi to Mexico City we passed through a beautiful stretch of country under armed escort.
In Mexico City I met members of the cabinet, Mexican Generals, members of the Chamber of Deputies, American and English business men, bankers, newspapermen and others. I employed a young Mexican student from the University of Texas as an interpreter, journeyed about the city and the suburbs, and studied, in every way possible for me, the social and political conditions in the capital of the Republic.
Before I left the United States I had encountered two classes of citizens, those who had faith in the possibilities for good of the Carranza Government and those who violently opposed this government. In Mexico I found quite the same situation. Not only were the foreigners divided in opinion but the Mexicans themselves, though here those opposing the government were not as pronounced in the expression of their judgment for fear of Article 33 in the Mexican Constitution. This article reads:
"Foreigners are those who do not possess the qualifications prescribed in Article 30. They shall be entitled to the rights granted by Chapter I, Title I of the present constitution; but the executive shall have the exclusive right to expel from the Republic forthwith and without judicial process, any foreigner whose presence he may deem inexpedient.
"No foreigner shall meddle in any way whatsoever in the political affairs of the country."
From this section developed the phrase "to be Thirty-threed," meaning to be exiled without trial or hearing, from Mexico.
From Monterey I travelled to Tampico on the regular morning train which was crowded with Mexicans, Indians and Germans long before the hour of departure. Most of the Germans left at towns along the line, but a few continued to the great oil port.
In Tampico I had the assistance and the same cordial co-operation from the Americans, especially the representatives of the oil companies, that I had had in Mexico City. As I look back now upon my contact with the Americans in Mexico they appear to me to be, with only one exception that I can recall, all active, energetic business men, who, far from being in that country to "rob" it are there working and striving for the same things that business men, bankers, clerks and labourers honestly strive for in the United States.
Early one September morning I boarded a large oil tanker in Tampico harbour, crossed the Gulf of Mexico to Sabine Pass, Texas, when that great body of water was as quiet and smooth as a small lake. Arriving in Texas, and looking back upon my experiences in Mexico, I felt that I had had an opportunity of studying conditions at first hand, not, indeed, as they were during the revolution, but as they were then. Nothing, though, that I know of changes like Mexico. What one day is the situation the next day may not exist at all.
In the first article which I wrote for The Saturday Evening Post I spoke of the two policies which faced Mexico: either Mexico could join the United States and the Allies, at least to the extent of breaking diplomatic relations with Berlin, or Mexico might stay out of this league of nations and by so doing give the German propagandists further opportunity of creating hatred, suspicion and fear between Mexico and the United States. In case of the latter event, should it continue long enough, no one can be sure that Mexico, under German influence, may not some day be an enemy of the United States.
That is what I wrote in July, 1917. By mid-November, the former Associated Press correspondent in Mexico City had reached New York. A letter from Mexico stated that he was exiled because he wrote a series of articles for the "A.P.," telling of the campaign which the Germans were conducting, in co-operation with the bandit leaders, to prevent the Carranza government from breaking with Berlin. The letter, which I received, said the correspondent, whom I had met while I was there, was tapped on the shoulder one night by a secret service agent and told to leave the next morning for the United States.
So it is in Mexico. Zimmermann is not alone in his intrigues.
With the sincere hope that this book will help Americans to understand Mexico as it is I submit it to the reading public. Everything, including future peace between the two nations, Mexico and the United States, and their mutual prosperity, depends upon our having a full understanding of the situation. This book does not pretend to contain all there is to be known about Mexico to-day but the author believes it to present a true account of conditions and politics in Mexico at the time of its writing.
I have employed in this book the major portion of five articles written for The Saturday Evening Post to which I have added considerable new material. I am indebted to so many Americans and Mexicans for assistance and information, some whose names might be mentioned, others whose names cannot be given, that I welcome this opportunity to thank them all.
C. W. A.