Mexico of the Mexicans/Chapter II
CHAPTER II
THE MEXICAN CHARACTER AND FAMILY LIFE
The population of Mexico is divided into three well marked castes: that whose members are of more or less pure Spanish descent; the half-breed or mestizo class; and pure Indians. The proportions of these in a population of 13,500,000 is, according to the latest Census returns: Whites, one fifth; mixed bloods, 43 per cent.; and Indians, 38 per cent. There are also numerous sub-divisions of these castes which have arisen through intermarriage.
The upper classes are, of course, composed of the dominant white race of Castilian descent, between which and the rest of the population a great social gulf is fixed. The Upper
Classes. The Mexican Spaniard is exclusive in the extreme; and, although polite and most correct in his relations with strangers and foreigners, is by no means given to indiscriminate hospitality. Reserved and self-contained, he resents intrusion, and seeks relaxation amongst his personal friends, whom he has probably known since an early age. If the new-comer is well recommended to him, however, he will be found hospitable and anxious to extend a welcome. He usually possesses dignified manners, much native charm, and is cultivated and well-informed. He has a strong partiality for the sober and correct frock-coat and silk hat of civilisation, which attire adds to his inches, for, as a rule, although he carries himself well, he is not much above middle height. His Spanish is usually pure and polished, and without those jarring provincialisms which too often mar the speech of Latin-Americans in other republics.
If he is wealthy, the house he lives in is, as a rule, built in oblong shape round an interior courtyard open to the sky.
Only the main entrance—a great carriage-way—leads from the street, and all communication with the apartments within is from the court, which is surrounded by verandahs and balconies, and in some cases boasts a fountain. The reception rooms are, for the most part, situated in the lower storey. These are large and spacious, and are furnished in the French manner, for Gallic taste has a strong hold upon the Mexican cultured classes. The bedrooms are placed in the upper storey, are entered from a balcony, and are sometimes en suite and reached by communicating doors—an arrangement awkward for foreigners. The less wealthy reside in flats or viviendas, which, as a rule, contain from six to eight rooms. House rents in Mexico city are exceedingly high. Flats let from £60 to £200 per annum, and the larger residences for from £400 to £600 per annum. These exorbitant prices are due to the rapid rise in the value of real estate in Mexico city of late years and the much enhanced cost of building. In many of the provincial cities, however, rents are extremely moderate. Of late years, the "suburban" system of residing in villas in the lesser towns which surround Mexico has come into vogue. These districts are within easy distance of the capital by train or electric tramway, and residence within them is rendered more pleasant by the exquisite gardens which surround their villas, many of which are of some antiquity, are spacious and dignified, and possess none of the freakishness which too often disfigures English suburban localities.
The Mexican gentleman is frequently a fluent linguist, and, as he is almost invariably a great traveller, he finds plenty of opportunities to extend his knowledge of languages.The Mexican
Gentleman. His French is usually excellent, and very often his knowledge of English—acquired first-hand by education or residence in England or America—is good. His literary tastes are refined and catholic, with, naturally, a bias towards the literature of the Latin races. Often in youth he is prone to the making of much poetry. In his address there is little halting, no searching for words, no hesitation. He is fluent and eloquent—if he is young, perhaps too eloquent. Both in writing and speaking, he employs terms which appear to the colder Anglo-Saxon strained and exaggerated, but which to him are mere phrases of use and wont, lacking which his speech would seem to those who listen cold and insincere. He is idealistic to a degree, and possesses a keen sense of the aesthetic and beautiful in all its manifestations. It is not his Spanish origin alone which endows him with the rich gift of the seeing eye, for the despised Indian, whose blood flows in the veins of the noblest Mexican families, is extraordinarily talented in this respect, having a quick and appreciative sense for colour and form, and a quite distinguished musical ability. The gifted stock which old Spain sent to the shores of Anahuac has not only been quickened by intermixture with native blood, but has, perhaps, grown more eloquent, more rich aesthetically, by reason of the semi-tropical environment in which it has been placed.
It is difficult for a foreigner to advance an opinion concerning the women of the Mexican upper classes, because of the restraint in which they are held by custom and etiquette—a restraint almost Oriental, and dating from the Moorish usage of female seclusion in old Spain. Mexican
Women. Mexican girls of the upper classes are most jealously sheltered by their parents, and duennaship is prevalent. The whole life of the Mexican woman centres in love and marriage. Before the latter event, her social intercourse with men is of the scantiest, and she is usually "seen and not heard." Dark and Castilian in appearance, she possesses great feminine charm, ripening at an early age and usually attaining the appearance and proportions of maturity when most Anglo-Saxon maidens are in the transition stage of "flapper"-hood. She is romantic in the extreme, and prone to the consumption of novellas which recount the exploits of mediaeval dames and
courtiers rather than those which deal with the realities of everyday existence.
Her chances of meeting suitable partis are rather limited. In the evenings she will seat herself at one of the barred windows of the paternal residence; and Courtship. should she be sought by a lover, he signifies his desire to pay his addresses by passing and re-passing her dwelling on horseback, sometimes at a trot, at others at a furious gallop. If the youth be considered eligible, he is, after a while, admitted to the house, where, however, his converse with the object of his adoration is scrupulously superintended. He is now known as the lady's novio (fiancé), and marriage usually follows after what is considered a suitable season of courtship. But should the young people not "take to" one another after a reasonable period of acquaintanceship has elapsed, it is not regarded as a slight by either party should the other withdraw from the companionship.
The courtship period of a Mexican youth or maiden's life is assuredly the most romantic in his or her career. British people accustomed to absolute freedom between the sexes can scarcely comprehend the conditions prevailing in a community the female portion of which is so closely and jealously guarded as is the case in Latin-America. The Mexican lover considers no stratagem too novel or too extreme which will gain him access to the object of his devotion, who, on her part, if she be amenable, will practise every art to further his object and defeat the watchful parents, duennas, or servitors in charge of her. It is not uncommon for a Mexican suitor to disguise himself as a workman, a postman, or otherwise, so that he may have speech with his beloved or convey a written message to her; and even after parental consent has been given, the young people frequently put a romantic finish to their love story by an elaborate and theatrical elopement!
Once married and settled down, the Mexican woman's existence is usually placid and home-keeping. Should she have children, she is a mother to them in the real sense of the word. Divorce is most unpopular in Mexico and, besides being discouraged by the Roman Church, is looked upon with disfavour by the people at large.
The Mexican lady is, as a rule, a hard-and-fast devotee of etiquette, and Europeans visiting Mexico should bear in mind that they and not their neighbours Social
Etiquette are supposed to make the first advances in the establishment of acquaintanceship. The general custom is to announce one's arrival in the local Press, and to send a copy of such announcement to everyone of importance in the neighbourhood. It is also absolutely essential that the stranger should be well and suitably recommended by letters of introduction to someone in the vicinity where he is to take up his abode, as the Mexican, like the Spaniard, attaches the greatest importance to such introductions, and will assuredly give no countenance to anyone who is without them. It is quite a mistake to regard the Mexicans or other Latin-American peoples as resembling our colonists in frankness and indiscriminate hospitality. The Mexican is not at all casual. His code of etiquette dates from Spanish colonial days, and is thus even more rigorous than that of modern Spain itself. But once his confidence is gained, there are few more hospitable than he or more ready to extend full domestic intimacy to the properly accredited stranger within his gates.
Mexican ladies of the past generation were not far removed in their customs from their great grandmothers of the colonial period. But their emancipation has proceeded apace within recent years. No longer do they set out upon a shopping expedition accompanied by a duenna and veiled, and closely concealed within the depths of a carriage. Their amusements, too, have greatly changed, and to-day include lawn-tennis and even golf. They, in common with their men-folk, do not share the Anglo-Saxon relish for afternoon tea—a meal
which they affect more because of its universal popularity and "smartness" than because they care for the principal item in its restricted menu. In Mexico, the afternoon cup of tea is nearly always accompanied by wine, even champagne being partaken of along with the tea, for the purpose (one may be pardoned for suggesting) of drowning the taste of the infusion, which is nauseous to most Mexicans.
Among the upper classes the standard of personal integrity is high. The average Mexican gentleman is proud of his honour and punctilious in his care that it shall not in any way become smirched. Public integrity, too, as instanced in the Press, is idealistic; but there is no law which can suppress comment upon a case while it is sub judice, and, in consequence, justice occasionally suffers. In certain contingencies, the law is none too scrupulously adhered to in a country where lawyers abound—the sceptic might be inclined to say for that precise reason; for just as in highly civilised Scotland, where the percentage of lawyers is very large, private legal abuses are frequent and notorious through the laxity of the great legal corporations, in Mexico the lawyer is seldom answerable for his misdeeds to any higher authority; and as he composes the class that makes the laws and administers them, abuses are likely to flourish and continue so long as such conditions prevail.
The integrity of the Mexican shopkeeping class is less punctilious than that of its betters. Most Mexican shop-keepers have a different price for their fellow-countrymen and for the unfortunate estrangeiro; and as imported goods are already sufficiently highly ticketed, by the time the Mexican merchant has appraised them to the visitor they have mounted to an extortionate figure. Firmness is essential in dealing with traders in the better shops of the capital, unless the purchaser be one of those happily-circumstanced folk who can afford to disburse a profit of 150 per cent., and who prefers to do so rather than submit to an encounter in the unpleasant art of haggling.
Family life in Mexico is planned upon patriarchal lines. The Mexicans are most united in their family ties and affections; and parents and children, brothers and sisters are, Family
Life. as a rule, deeply attached to each other, and display much warmer sentiments in their relations than is the case in colder England. In Mexico, woman has not yet lost her natural charm and influence, which in the home she exercises to the full. The male members of the family are, as a rule, most amenable to the influence of the mother, the wife, the sister; and the Mexican woman exerts herself to retain the affection of her male relations in a manner that would astound a daughter of Britain. It has even been said that Mexican men are subject to a great deal of feminine "coddling" —a stupid term bestowed upon delicate attention and affectionate regard, the nature of which the Anglo-Saxon wholly fails to comprehend.
Mexican family life is patriarchal in that the young Mexican man does not leave his parents' house when he comes to years of discretion, and even upon marriage he frequently remains with them. Often a son-in-law is adopted into the family, and it is quite common to find the parents of either husband or wife in a Mexican home.
Courtesy is the rule and not the exception in Mexico. Even in the poorest circles the day-labourer will address his neighbour as "Don” and expects to be so Courtesy. entitled in return. Roughness and asperity are conspicuous by their absence in the relationships of everyday life. No matter into what grade of society one may penetrate, he will find himself the object of the most respectful, nay, even solicitous, politeness. This courtesy is the natural endowment of the race. The peon, scion of the grave and punctilious Aztec folk, is not to be outdone even by the descendant of the proud yet courtly Castilian. Indeed, the uniform respect with which the peasant class treat those whom chance has placed above them in the social scale, has not now its parallel in any European country, unless, perhaps, in Russia or some of the more out-of-the-way parts of the Austrian Empire. From the Mexican peon you will receive not only fair speech and a nice, discriminating politesse, but, on occasion, fervent and what seem heartfelt prayers for your welfare here and hereafter.
The dwellings of the peon class are, for the most part, primitive in the extreme. They are usually constructed of adobe or daub-and-wattle, often with the stone fireplace outside. Peasant
Dwellings. Otherwise a hole in the roof serves as a chimney. The principal furniture of such an abode usually consists of cooking utensils, a large earthen pot or olla, which must withstand the daily application of fire in lieu of an iron pot or kettle, and which also serves as an oven for baking. It is also the peon woman's only frying-pan and stewing-pan. The rest of her gear consists of a metate or board upon which the maize flour is ground, and other similar primitive articles.
The tortilla or maize pancake forms the staple of peon diet in Mexico. The maize which is to compose it is first ground on the stone metate or grinding-board, after having been boiled with the addition of a little lime, which softens it somewhat. It is then mixed with water until it attains the consistency of a thick paste, and is rolled into pancake form and baked in an earthenware dish. Tortillas are made freshly every morning, and with frijoles, a small brown bean in shape like a haricot, form the pièce de résistance of every peon's breakfast, dinner, and supper. The tortilla serves, too, as a plate, on which the beans are placed, with the addition, in some cases, of a sauce of Chili pepper, so fiery that only a native palate can successfully negotiate it. Frijoles are first boiled and then fried. The camote or sweet potato is much relished and to be had in abundance, and these delicacies are reinforced by goat's milk cheese and strips of dried meat like the pemmican of the North American Indians.
The national beverage of Mexico is pulque, which is as ubiquitous in the Republic as is beer in Germany or tea in Australia. It is made from the fermented Pulque. juice of the agave Americana, and in appearance is white and viscid, with an unpleasant resemblance to soapsuds. Its effect when that of the strongest quality is freely drunk is stupefying and deadening in the extreme. The word pulque is of South American origin, the real Aztec term for the drink being octli. In ancient Mexico, indulgence to excess was forbidden to all save the very old and certain grades of warriors; and the establishment of some such measure is devoutly to be wished for at the present time, when the peasantry is deeply immersed in bondage to this insidious and brutalising beverage, to procure which they will pledge almost the last garment which stands between themselves and nakedness. Large pulquerias, or establishments for the sale of pulque, are prominent in the lower quarters of all the great cities, and these frequently bear grandiose and heroic titles which scarcely match with their degrading purpose. The exteriors of these pulque palaces are frequently painted and decorated in the most gaudy and extravagant manner, their façades forming a marked contrast to the sordidness of their interiors. It is not too much to say that the native abuse of pulque is as much detrimental to the progress of the Mexican Indian race as was the Russian consumption of vodka, or the excessive whisky drinking in the lower parts of Scottish and Irish towns, to the labouring classes in these countries.
When in January, 1916, the governor of the Federal District issued a proclamation prohibiting the use and sale of pulque within the limits of his jurisdiction, his action was applauded by practically all the better classes, and the bold stand taken by him gained for him the feeling that he was a man of courage who had resolved to attack one of the great social evils at the very root. For a time the measure seemed
in a marked degree successful, but gradually there began to appear in place of the saloon signs those of private clubs. In other cases these were changed to "Restaurant" and a few tables and chairs placed in view, backed by shelves filled with bottles. The doors of others were to be seen sealed by Court orders, and all business was suspended. Gradually these seals have disappeared, and the pulquerias are little by little resuming their old-time aspect.
At last a decree was published in the Press that certain conditions which prevailed last winter now no longer obtained. The decree of 14th January was annulled, and the sale of pulque of the first class and of the commoner grade known as tlachique went on merrily as before.
The peon is a great smoker, and manufactures his own cigarettes, wrapping the tobacco in the dried husk of the maize and twisting down one end of the cigarette so that it will hold together. He smokes constantly. It is one of his few relaxations.
Some of the Mexican peasantry are penurious and saving in the extreme. The chief object of many Indians or half-breeds is to save a substantial sum and bury it in a secure place. To employ money thus hoarded never occurs to the peon. Indeed, he regards money once buried as out of commission and unspendable. Perhaps it is because he has to toil so hard for his money that he values it so highly. But most of thepeon class are born gamblers, and will stake their last coin on a turn of the dice. The native population is also superstitious in the extreme, with a very real dread of the supernatural, a legacy in all probability from their ancestors of pre-Conquest days.
Socialism has of late years intruded itself upon the horizon of the Mexican peon with strange results. The comparative freedom he has enjoyed within the last twenty years has failed to banish his sense of subservience, and the new doctrine which has been sedulously preached to him by peripatetic agitators has made him a grumbler without in any way strengthening his hands, and has induced "swelled head" to the detriment of proper pride and manhood.
The average peon is untidy and shaggy in appearance, uncleanly, given to gambling, superstitiously religious, patient, intelligent, and witty. He is hot-tempered and apt to be homicidal, and has Peon
Characteristics. a tendency to petty pilfering if a suitable occasion presents itself. He is piously obedient to his parents and his priest, and, when treated fairly, will perform a good day's work. If ill-used, he grows sullen and malingers. His womenkind make good nurses and mothers, and are economical and clever housekeepers. Indeed, there are probably no better managers in the domestic sphere any-where than the Mexican women of all classes. The peon woman is pathetically obedient to her husband, fond of her home, and prone to the love of Mammon (when he comes her way). She is dressy when she can afford to be so, and, as a rule, her fiesta, or holiday attire, is good of its kind, if showy and somewhat reminiscent of the wardrobe of a travelling circus.
The servant problem is quite as acute in Mexico as it is in our own country. Factories bid so highly for female labour, that to secure good native service is extremely Mexican
Servants. difficult. Mexican "generals" and house-maids are quite as touchy as the British "slavey," and a good deal more careless and quick-tempered. They usually refuse to do their hair in a civilised fashion, and wear it hanging or in plaits in the native style to the scandal of their long-suffering mistresses. Men-servants will not appear in livery if they can possibly avoid doing so, and they are usually lazy and perfunctory in the execution of their duties. But they are never impolite, even when refusing to obey an order; and if this courtesy be unreal, as certain travellers assert, it is much more refreshing and desirable than the pertness and surly rudeness of the average British domestic when his or her "back is up." The Mexican does not cringe nor is he sycophantic in any degree, and his natural sense of the fitness of things and a certain tact which is native to him, keep him from becoming offensive even when he most offends.