dued. When Diaz assumed the reins of govern-
ment he convinced himself of the impossibility of
fulfilling the promises he made in the Tuxtepec
plan, knowing that they would bring about a com-
plete disorganization of the public finances, which
were then in a very precarious condition, and he
confined himself to carry out the promise which
personally affected him, the one forbidding the
presidenlial re-election, and the constitution was,
therefore, amended accordingly. This amendment
was again amended 18 Oct., 1887, permitting a
president to be elected for two successive terms,
and another amendment is now pending which
allows re-election without any limitation. The
difficulty of satisfying the wishes of all the disor-
derly elements of the country, ready always to sup-
port any revolutionary movement, caused several
of Diaz's friends who had supported the Tuxtepec
revolution to oppose and even to pronounce against
him, as Negrete, Martinez, and others. Diaz then
tried to reorganize his own party with the rem-
nants left to him of the old revolutionary party,
and additions from followers of Juarez and Lerdo
who represented order, peace, and stability. He
conferred important positions upon men belonging
not only to these two political parties, but also
upon persons who had served the French interven-
tion and Maximilian, thus trying to ei'ase the dif-
ferences produced by past political questions. Gen.
Manuel Gonzalez was elected president of the re-
public at the elections held in July, 1880, and was
inaugurated 1 Dec. of the same year. Diaz was
appointed secretary of public works of the new
administration, and afterward elected president of
the supreme court of justice, a position which was
then, according to the constitution, equivalent to
that of vice-president of the republic. He was
elected soon afterward governor of the state of
Oaxaca, a post which he occupied for some time,
leaving it with the legislature's leave. About that
time, near 1883, he came to the United States, where
he was well received, travelling as far as Boston.
Having been re-elected president in 1884 to succeed
Gen. Gonzalez, he was inaugurated 1 Dec. of that
year, and began his second constitutional term as
president of Mexico. During his first term conces-
sions for building various railroads had been granted
by him to American corporations, but no work on
them had been begun till the beginning of Gon-
zalez's administration. The subsidies that had
been granted had been paid regularly, but on Diaz's
second inauguration he found the treasury abso-
lutely empty. Besides this, about three quarters
of the customs revenues had been pledged by his
predecessor. The first official act of Diaz was to
repudiate these pledges, without interfering with
the railroad subsidies, which, however, he was
obliged to stop in June. 1885. The question of
settling the public debt now arose anew. In the
" plan of Tuxtepec " a general repudiation of the
sums due to England had been advised by Diaz,
but this was afterward rejected as impolitic, and
durnig the administration of Gonzalez a proposi-
tion was made to appropriate a vast sum of money
for the payment of the English debt alone. The
apprehension, more or less grounded, felt as to the
integrity of Gen. Gonzalez caused public demon-
strations of opposition by students and journalists.
After the beginning of Diaz's second term a plan
for the settlement of the whole debt was made by
congress, and is now (1898) in process of execution.
In 1886 several unimportant revolts broke out in
different parts of the country, but they were im-
mediately suppressed. A decree was issued 17
March, 1886, suspending, in the case of kidnappers
and persons guilty of crimes committed against
the security of railways, the constitutional guaran-
tees granted to individuals and establishing very
summary proceedings for the invotigaticm of stich
crimes and the death penalty for the ofi:'enders.
The question raised by the arrest of Mr. Cutting
threatened to cause a rupture between the United
States and Mexico. Secretary of State Bayard
made an official demand for the immediate and
unconditional release of Cutting, who had been ar-
rested tor publishing a libel in a newspaper that
was issued in El Paso, Tex., but circulated also in
Mexico. The trial continued, and Cutting was
duly convicted and sentenced. The sentence pro-
nounced in the first instance was sent to the su-
preme court of the state of Chihualuia for revision,
and before this tribunal could act upon the matter
the plaintiff withdrew his demand and the case
ended with the release of Cutting. Gov, Ireland,
of Texas, also complained that Arrezures, a citizen
of the United States, had been "foully murdered
by the Mexican authorities," but his citizenship
was denied, and the affair ended amicably. In Oc-
tober, 1886, a letter from Diaz was putilished in
Paris, in which he declared that the ex-mai-shal,
Bazaine, during the French-Mexican war, pi-oposed
to him to surrender the cities occupied by the im-
perialists, including the munitions of war, together
with the emperor himself and Gens. Miramon and
Mejia. This letter caused a great sensation: Don
Leonardo Marquez, one of the principal leaders of
the reactionary party of Mexico, and the only one
who has been out of the country since the with-
drawal of the French troops, made in "El Autono-
mista" of Havana some charges against Diaz, stat-
ting that he offered to surrender the city of Oaxaca
to Bazaine while the latter was besieging it. In
the latter part of 1886 a movement was set on foot
to abolish the article of the constitution that for-
bids a presidcTit to be his own successor, with the
intention of electing Gen. Diaz for a thii-d term.
Under the administration of Diaz manufactures
have increased, the resources of the country have
been developed, commerce has multiplied, educa-
tion has been advanced, the revenues have been
appropriated to the purposes for which they were
designed, travel is safe, bandits have been dis-
persed, and railroads and telegraphs are extending.
While it has been far from perfect, there has been
no public scandal in it, and it lias been as clean as
the circumstances of his surroundings have allowed.
— His elder brother, Felix, better known by the
name of " El Chato," was governor of Oaxaca in
1871. Although the brothers were not open ene-
mies, there always existed a certain discordance
and rivalry between them; yet, when the "Plan
de la Noria" was proclaimed, Felix sided with his
brother, and pronounced against the government.
Juarez sent Gen. Alatorre against Oaxaca, who,
after defeating Gen. Teran in the bloody battle of
San Mateo, prepared to invest the city, when Felix
Diaz abandoned it, and fled over the mountains
toward Puerto Angel, but was overtaken by hostile
Indians, and killed after suffering cruel tortures.
DIAZ, liny, Spanish soldier, b. in Seville, Spain, in luO;!; d. in Peru, 26 April, 1538. He went to Peru with the expedition of Diego de Almagro in 1532, and as captain took part. in the conquest of the interior of the country, and the capture of Cuzco, 1534. In the same year he was assigned to the command of Sebastian Velalcazar in his con- quest of the province of Quito, where he became proniincmt by his daring shown in the numerous bloodv encounters with the troops of the cacique Ruminahui. While reconnoitring, he was sur-
