Page:Mexico's dilemma.djvu/149

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RISING OR SETTING SUN IN MEXICO
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while talking to Don Luis Cabrera in the Treasury Department, he remarked that, because the sentiment in the Chamber of Deputies was so strongly in favour of neutrality, the government would not change its policy; but, despite the statement of Mr. Cabrera and the official attitude of Washington, neutrality remains in a variable state.

It is not the attitude of the United States or Mexico to-day that is important. It is the position the two nations will assume when Mexico has to decide ultimately what she is going to do.

The sentiment among the Mexican people, so far as one can judge, is one with the motto "I don't care!" The opinion of the Intellectuals, the influential leaders back of the government, and of some high officials, is different. These men are pro-Ally because they are pro-Democracy in Mexico and Europe,

One Sunday afternoon an American banker gave a party at his home in the suburbs. One of the chief members of President Carranza's cabinet was present. His reputation as a master of anecdote had grown into fame since his visit to the United States, where he had learned to speak English.

"It was house-cleaning time in Hades," began the secretary, looking round the room, into the eyes of every woman and man present, to see what impression his first remark had made. It delighted him that his audience was international. There were present foreign diplomats, anti-Mex-