The Mexican's opinion of revolution as expressed in the Mexican novel since 1910

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Authors Henry, Elizabeth McClaughry

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553132 THE MEXICAN’S OPINION OF REVOLUTION AS EXPRESSED

IN THE MEXICAN NOVEL SINCE 1910

by Elizabeth M. Henry

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts ; -';y. :-;v, in the College of Letters, Arts, and Soienoea, of the

University of Arizona

1 9 5 3

£ 979/ 7932. J>2.

aoknowledgmeht

Grateful acknowledgment is made to

Mr# George R. Nichols, under whose direction

this thesis was written, for his interest and

advice, and to Setior Julio Jimenez Rueda, of

the National University of Mexico, for helpful

suggestions in regard to sources of material#

E, M. H.

85749 PREFACE

A stormy career, Mexico's. What do the Mexicans themselves think of their strange nation­ al turbulence? What do they consider responsible for it? What do they believe it has accomplished? Do they feel that revolution is a deterrent or an accel­ erant to the progress of their civilization? In their opinion, what, if not armed rebellion, holds the solu­ tion to the problems of the nation? Into their at­ titude toward revolution as it is expressed by their own representatives, the Mexican novelists who have been writing since 1910— since the beginning of the most violent revolutionary era, it shall be our pur­ pose to inquire. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

I. Introduction: Outline of Mexico’s

Revolutionary History ...... • . 1

II. Attitude toward the Revolution of 1910 • . 5

III. Attitude toward Revolution In General . . 51

IT. Solution to Mexico's Problems ...... 67

7. Conclusions...... 83

Notes ...... 86

Bibliography...... 98 THE MEXICAN'S OPINION OF REVOLUTION AS EXPRESSED IN THE

!5mO A N NOVEL SINGE 1810

I. Introductioni Outline of I'ezioo'o

Revolutionary History

Perhaps tho nost striking fact of Mex­ ico's history Is the frequency of her revolutionse There was, first of all, the rebellion against Spain, beginning in 1810 and ending with the independence of Mexico in 1821

— this War of Independence, however, quite different in nature and purpose from the other merely civil wars which followed it# During the next hundred and eight years— of which thirty-three may be discounted as years of enforced peace under the Diaz regime— there have been at least six­ teen definite movements of revolt, eight of them, since 1909.

Some have been popular uprisings, others more political or military coups. But whatever their origin and aim, history records the following:

In 1822, shortly after the Independence,

Iturbid# was proclaimed Emperor of the new Mexican nation.

Almost immediately Santa Anna rose against him, and he was forced to abdicate In 1823. A revolt began in 1830 against 2

Guerrero, president at that time; a oounter-revolution in his favor ended with his death in February, 1831, Another

rebellion followed the assumption of the presidency by

Bustamante. In 1835 came the revolt of Texas (annexed to

the United States in 1848)— again, a movement falling in a rather different category. But in 1854 Mexico was back at the old game, with the Revolution of Ayutla, during the administration of Juan Alvarez. Soon afterward, Coraonfort, who succeeded Alvarez in 1856, had another revolt to com­ bat. In 1857 came an uprising under Zulnaga, followed by

the great revolution under Benito Juirez, which lasted from

1858 to 1861.

The next few years were free from oivil war, but apparently only because of the necessity of unified action on the part of the Mexicans to repel foreign invaders.

Then on January 15, 1876, revolution broke forth again, con­

suming the government of JuArez and, in 1877, installing

Porfirio Diaz in the presidential chair, which he occupied, 2 with but one interruption, until May 25, 1911.

During most of his long reign, the Dic­

tator suppressed with an iron hand any attempt at revolt.

But in 1910 his failing strength oould no longer dominate

a seething nation, and a widespread revolution, with Fran­

cisco Madero as its leader, forced him in 1911 to relin­

quish the presidency.

In 1912 Pasoual Orozco and then F&llz 3-

Diaz rebelled against Madero, renewing the oonfliot* which continued even after Huerta, commander-in-chief of the

Federal army, became president» upon the murder of Madero in 1913; for Carranza immediately inaugurated a revolution against him.

Huerta resigned JUly 15, 1914. One pro­ visional president followed another, and the revolution went on, conducted principally by Pancho Villa, even after a crushing defeat inflicted upon the latter by ObregSn in

1915. 1 Venustiano Carranza was elected pres­ ident of Mexico in 1917. In 1919 Villa was in action against him, and continued to give the Government trouble until he laid down his arms in 1921.

In 1920, a revolt in favor of Obregdn broke out in Sonora, and soon spread over the country.

Carranza left Mexico City Why 7, and was subsequently mur­ dered. Adolfo de la Huerta became provisional president until November, 1920, when Obreg^n was made chief execu­ tive. December, 1923, saw a revolt in behalf of De la

Huerta, then Cooperatist candidate for the presidency, which was crushed, however, in a few months. Calles, the

Agrarian candidate and Obregdn’s choice, was elected. In

October, 1927, a revolution under Francisco Serrano and

Arnulfo G&aez, No-reeleotionist candidates, was quickly 4- and finally put down when both leaders were captured and shot*

Obregdn, who was reelected July 1, 1988, was assassinated shortly after, and Fortes Oil took office when Dalles1 term as provisional president expired, on

November 30. A revolt against his government, in March, 3 1929, was suppressed by Dalles.

Ortiz Rubio became president of Mexico in February, 1930, and there have been no further revol­ utions to the present time (April, 1938)* II. ATTITUDE TOWARD THE REVOLUTION OF 1910

We shall first eonsider the Revolution of 1910 as it appears to the Mexican: whether or not it was necessary, what was expected of it, wherein it succeed­ ed or failed, and why. Later we shall examine his attitude toward revolution in general.

The verdict is almost unanimous that in

1910 a change was necessary. The power was in the hands of a few, and conditions for most of the population were dis­ tressing. Of course it was the poor who suffered most, and this was true particularly on the large estates, whose wealthy owners, according to the majority of the novelists, used the peons with cruelty and injustice. Denied posses­ sion of the land they worked, forced to toll from dawn to dark for a miserable wage, kept in a state of hopeless in­ debtedness to the landlord, compelled to buy all their sup- 4 plies at the tiendas de raya. where "the workers are ob- 5 liged to pay for the goods the price that the owners wish," and where "they were forced to receive their wages in the 6 form of rotten cereals, of mantas and calico, of deter- 7 8 9 iorated huaraphes and sombreros 1huiohole®1," subject to

the merest whim of the landlord, who had over them virtual 6

power of life and death, and from whom they bad m appeal,

the peons found their lot indeed a wretched one. That is why Herrera Friaont mentions "the brutal life which was

forced upon the countrymen there in his land (yera Orussl"

and G&mez Palaoio says, of Mexico in general, "On ranches

and haciendas they are reduced to living almost like beasts,

without intellectual nourishment, without moral stimulus, 11 without social benefits."

On the estates, "Poverty moaned at the

door of organized wealth." Ascension Reyes sums up the

financial abuse of the laborers when he tells of "the 111

treatment they receive from their master#, how the latter

rob them in different ways, paying them a miserable wage

in the first place, then with the tiendas de rava. and

finally, collecting a hundred per cent on what they at times

lend them. . . .Is there any baelends in the country on which

the workers are paid more than eighteen to twenty-five cents,

for work that lasts from dawn to dark, exhausting work, with­

out hope of improving ever; where.the workers are not ex- 13 plaited with the tiendas de rava?" ‘1ir'.r:“.^." .,n . In Mala Yerba, one of his pre-revolution­

ary- novels, Mariano Azuela presents another aspect of the

peon’s plight: the helplessness of the women against what

amounted to the droit du seigneur of the landlord, and the

futility of any attempt on the part of their men to defend -7 them. In Fttertee y debiles, L^pea Portillo y Rojas— al­ though he says that conditions at the tine were not so bad 14 as was generally believed — paints a convincing picture of the impotence of the countrymen on the hacienda de San

Yltor against the cruelty and the lust of the degenerate

Don Oheno•

• ' Ltiguel Area's resume of general con­ ditions on the great estates is perhaps the most forceful noted. He says: *nve have left the Indians who work our fields and raise our crops in the same state in which we received them at the time of the Independence, filled with fanaticism, unable to read, insufficiently nourished, work­ ing from dawn to dark for a wage which does not yield enough for them to live on, hafrassed, beaten, still call­ ing us 'Rente de razin' as if they admitted having no in­ tellect themselves, as the encomenderos affirmed: slaves to the managers of the haciendas, exploited through the tiendas de raya. crushed by hereditary debts which subject each family to a landlord whom it cannot leave, exactly as in feudal times; their lands have been taken away, their ambitions have been numbed, the most suggestive aspects of life have been hidden from them, permitting them only to vegetate in the long-suffering passivity of beasts that outside of their brutal labor have no relief but drunken­ ness; when their daughters are beautiful, the landlord's -8- son abuses them, and if the Indian protests he is sent by force to the barracks; or looked in the Jail where the judge is the landlord himself, since he has on the 16 haciendas prevenient and judiciary powers. .

L£p@z Portillo y Rojas raises the only dissenting voice when he says that although some landlords were cruel and unreasonable, this condition was not general: "The evil was far from being general and constant. . . . The slavery of the peons was no more than a fable, and the usurpation of the communal lands was not so prevalent that it had come to be a general 16 system."

As we have seen, however, the bulk of the evidence points the other way.

The position of the poor in the towns was also unfortunate. Their chief oppressors were the caciques. the wealthy, influential, and likewise unscrup­ ulous members of the community, whose word was law. The people had no rights, nor any way of securing them; the caciques directed their votes and their lives, and exploit­ ed their victims to the limit.

The book dealing most extensively with this aspect of the situation is Los caciques (sometimes entitled Del LLano Hermanos. S. en £.), by Azuela. It is an account of the incredible greed and ruthlessness of the -e- rioh Del Llano family, who capitalize the ideas and steal the property of the devoted old Don Juan, their most loyal follower. After a life time of honest work, the good, sim­ ple fellow is at last in comfortable circumstances. His dream now is to build with his savings a '’Model Neighbor­ hood,1’, where workingmen may live decently at small coat.

But the Del Llanos, seeing possibilities in the idea, man­ euver so that the project ruins him financially and reverts to them, to be used not for the good of the laborers, but for their own profit. The ’’gentlemen” whom Don Juan has trusted cause him to die in poverty and shame.

, Their infamy is further shown in the fact that, foreseeing a time of famine, they fix the price of corn at a low figure, buy all that is available, and hold it until the people, desperate with hunger, are forced to buy it back from them at an exorbitant price— a finan­ cial triumph for the Del Llano Hermanos.

Miguel Arce, in 86lo Til, similarly de­ picts the caciques as cruel and ruthless. For instance, a man who has fallen from grace with the local cacique tries in vain to seek protection against the persecution the lat­ ter carries on against him. A letter of complaint which the victim has written to the Governor is intercepted, and finally he himself is killed on hie way to protest to that v , 17 v- executive in person. -10-

The anger of the oaoique might also be responsible for sending the unfortunate victim to exile in the swamps and Jungles of southern Mexico. In Oarne de oaSon. which, although written between 1902 and 1908, was published in 1915, "under the auspices of the Revolution 18 of 1913," Davelos tells of the miseries of the "innumer- 18 able victims offered up to the Mexican Siberia," to whom the book is dedicated— of the horrors both physical and moral of life in the Territory, where the climate“burns 19 the heads of grain and blackens consciences." . Ernesto

Guerra, in Mdximo, also describes the dreadful lives of the exiles, condemned for insubordination of some sort, perhaps for striking against intolerable working conditions, to al­ most certain death from overwork and fever and slow starv- 20 ation in the swamps. He even goes so far as to say that people were actually sold into slavery by their caciques. 21 for trifling offenses.

Again we have cited evidence repres­ entative of the apparent opinion of the majority of the novelists upon whose works this study is based. Gonzilen, in Carranza, paints no such picture of oppression and hat­ red in the small town of Rosario. Perhaps there were two sides to the question. But the general belief seems to be that of Azuela: that although the caciques, unlike the pueblo, are pleasing one by one, taken all together the ... .. as group Is "the most odious that oan exist." The people are stupid and in some respects unpleasant, but "who oan

. • ■ ■ , ■ ' ... .8 8 feel more sympathy for the han@nan than for his victim?

"The caciques are the plague," says one of his humble char- 23 ...... actera, "that is sucking our blood." They are the mud in which wallow the froggish politicians of the cultured

84 . . . Classes. ' ' ' ' ' ■ .

Of the condition of the poor in the cities, not so much is actually said, perhaps because cities always have their slums. Aree, in Ladrona, implies that those in power oppressed the lowly when he shows policemen killing a workman merely because he protested 25 against their shooting his dog. In the same book and in s6lo T& he pictures In dark colors the squalor and vice of the poor quarters of Mexico City— -one is reminded In the latter novel of Pfo Baroje's Lucha por la Vida. But from what is implied of the cities, wo may consider Daralos words to be true of urban as well as suburban Mexico when he exclaims of the poor, anent some strikers who are going to be shot, "Hungry if they are children; exploited if they are youths; oppressed if they are adults; in wretched pov­ erty if they are old,vend to complete the picture, as for all who rebel against their chains,. , . shoot them en 26 masseZ" A more common theme, as far as the cities are oonoerned, is that of the graft and corruption of prac­ tically all government officials, and the impossibility of securing justice— conditions which were by no means confined to the cities, however* Office-holders have no thought of serving the public; they use their position for their own ends, and the government lets them. Their attitude in gen­ eral seems to coincide with that of the official in Kazimo, who tells a poor man invoking the Constitution that the con­ stitution is for “sensible people,” resigned to the ills sent to purify their souls, not for "hot-heads who go about 27 reading •Reivindioaoidn1.M The whole political structure, from the lowest clerk to the highest executive, seems to have been founded on graft. "The submission which was exacted from such functionaries [municipal presidents, eto.J was paid for by leaving them free to commit all the abuses they might wish. . .. The government sacrificed the good 28 of the people to its own convenience."

In Dona pfa (1919)* a play by ^uevedo y Zubieta (who has also published novels since the Revol­ ution) , when a man is spoken of who was sentenced to prison in 1900 "according to the sentence pronounced by a bribed 29 judge," one of the characters remarks, "We know what of- 29 fioinl justice is in this land and at this period."

Those few officials who want to do the

right thing are vigorously opposed. In Sin aaor, when a 13

zealous secretary Is reporting to the Judge his investi­

gation of a brutal murder, the magistrate outs him short:

"But man,’Don Petronilo, is it possible that in twenty years of working together I haven’t been able to teach you 30 to keep quiet about what doesn't concern you?"

Arenas Guzman says of one of him char­ acters in El Segor dinutado: "The inexperience of his twen­

ty years [in 1910] had not permitted him to appreciate yet, in all its magnitude, the state of corruption of Mexican

justice, especially when it was a question of matters re- 31 lating to politics," As the old Lioeneiado Canales puts

it, in Sin amor, "The judicature is ill, gravely ill . • .

some are suffering from oronic venality, others from acute 32 cretinism, and not a few from both ailments."

All these unsatisfactory conditions of

life in Mexico naturally combined to produce intense class hatreds. In 1910 the nation was seething under the surface,

ready to blow the lid off.

How could such a barbarous state of af­

fairs have existed at all in a supposedly civilized country,

in the goth Century?

Gome of the novelists of Mexico lay the

immediate blame on the policy of Diaz, the absolute dictator, who had held sway for more than thirty years. For our pur­

poses, it will not be necessary to go into their varying

various attitudes toward Don Porfirio himself; it is enough -14- to say that acme considered him a patriot, some a knave, and others merely a pawn In the hands of fate. But their attitude toward the effect of his rule on the nation is important.

Only two seem to regard the Dictator­ ship as good in the main. Quevedo y Zubleta, in Mexico manloomlo* speaks of the folly of the poor in thinking, at the entrance of Oarranza into Mexico City, that "the vic- - ' : ' . ■ ' 33 tors would bring back again the good times of Porfirio," saying again of Diaz, "During a 31 his time this country had 34 security and cheap bread." Carleato (Teodoro Torres), in his anti-revolutionary satire, Como oerroa % gatos, mentions

Porfirio as "that old shepherd of reactionary flocks who took his sheep (among which were a few goats) through fer­ tile fields, where they had only to stretch out their noses 38 ■ , : to find pasture," These two men, it will be noticed, con­ sider only the material aspects of the question.

Two others feel that the Dictatorship was a temporary necessity. Says Carlos Conz&lez Pella, in

La fuga de la oulmera: "Do you think that young countries, which lack racial unity, exploited wealth, education, and above all, the spirit of discipline, can be governed by means of flattery and caresses? The PorfIrian dictatorship, 36 as you call it, , . . obeys a historical necessity." . . .

"The Dictatorship gave us order, which was a great deal to give, in this country. . . where the people lived with their ^ 37 souls hanging by a thread." Similarly Arenas Guzman: 15-

MThe people divined in el profirlsao a gentle political oppression indispensable, up to a certain point, to the 38 national progress and evolution#

A%uela says more dubiously, "Porfirio

Dfaz was the injection of morphine which does not our®, i 39 but which gives relief.”

But all three of these writers believe that by 1910 the Dictatorship had been long outgrown, and had become a source of actual harm--that it should have yielded place gracefully to a newer form of government, and by its failure to do so was responsible for bringing 40 on the Revolution.

Most of the novelists feel that even the thirty years of pence for which the Dfaz regime is famous were merely one doubtful result of an oppressive and wrong policy. Asoensidn Reyes pictures the Dictator as announcing that he would enforce peace by relentlessly 41 wiping out all revolts, regardless of their cause.

Taraoena agrees: n. . . it is thus, by terror and cruelty, that the despot Porfirio Diaz has maintained peace in the 42 country.” Bo also Arenas Guzman: ”Political rights?

Who thought of them under the wise and paternal government of General Diaz, who, at the price of the hopeless oppres­ sion of the under dogs, had established a mechanical peace, in the duration of which even the highest mentalities of 43 the period had come to believe?" One gathers that the great evil of the policy of Dfaz was that he ruled by force entirely, making no effort to raise the moral, intellectual, and civic level of the people, crushing with an iron heel any expression of discontent, instead of eliminating the cause.

But the underlying reasons for the ex­ istence of the conditions described previously were deeper- rooted than the power of any one man. They lay in the eenturies-old oppression of the Indians, in the ignorance of the Mexican people, to a certain extent in the influence of the Church, and, according to at least one author, in

Mexicofs repeated revolutions.

Before the Spanish conquest in the 16th •

Century, the Indians lived happily enough, with no part of 44 the population exploiting any other. The "gachuplnes" began the process of reducing them to the level of animals, to a state not only of physical wretchedness, but also of intellectual and moral abjection. That abuse, our novelists agree, did not cease with the ejection of the Spaniards from

Mexico; on the contrary, the ruling classes have continued to regard the Indian as a beast of burden merely, and to treat him as such. "The aborigines, despoiled as they have been since the centuries of the Iberian domination, and with­ out hope of redemption, live sadly in an eternal, dumb rancor against their oppressors, call them Porfirio Dfaz, overseers, 17

45 * gringos *, or fgaohupineB».w

Arcs, ever the champion of the.oppres­

sed, describes the results of this oppressive policy in

greater detail; "As for the tribes which are still patri­ archal, they try to rule them through strange caciques or ' : through eaclcues of their own subsidized by the government; they are left forgotten, without schools, the government

taking care only that they pay their.taxes and conform to

its edicts, without trying to see that they understand the

reason for those edicts and those taxes, which they see only as the imposition of the mighty for the advantage of

the mighty; as for the untamed tribes, when they tire and

come down from the mountains bearing the arms which they

have been patiently accumulating, cruel battle is waged

against them, they are subjugated, they are again left in

their ignorance, with their hatred increased by their help­

lessness and by the loss of their loved ones.* * . The

other Indians, the most numerous, the most patient, those

who live among us and mingle with us daily, those who till

our fields and raise our crops, we have left in the same

date in which we received them at the time of the Indepead- 46 enoe. .

Guerra notes an unfortunate circumstance;

that even those Indians who succeed in making a little money

ally themselves with the despoticrs of their own people* 47 "Poor, poor Indian, even his own betray him. . A more violent result of the attitude toward the Indians was the cruel war of extermination waged by Dfaz against the Yaquia In Sonora. The horrors of the campaign and the pathos of the exile of those sturdy people to alien country, to the Tierara Oaliente, whore the major­ ity pined and died, are movingly pictured by a number of 48 the authors.

Attempts to mask with high-sounding phrases the facts of the Indian policy have not altered them, according to Teja ZabZe: "Four centuries of blind slavery weigh like four immense leaden curses . • . and the worst of the actual slavery is that it is masked with soft, words. . * When the white man begins to discuss a new way of redeeming the Indian, it's an evil day for the Indian; that redemption will leave him with somewhat less 49 land and liberty."

The reason for the prolonging of the oppression to the time of the Revolution is recognized by

Aroe when he says, "The bad part of it is that in Mexico there ore five million masters, the whites and the oriollos

[sic], and ten million servants, the Indians, and it hurts 50 us to remain without blind servitors, without slaves."

Mancisidor also admits practically the same fact: "The In­ dians are subjugated, debased, prostituted by those who, in order to exploit them, find it convenient to keep them in the 51 sad condition of outcasts." -19- '

Azuela sees i^iorenoe as a main reason for the state of being of Mexico in 1910. In the first place, the snobbishness of the so-ealled cultured classes, who have no justification for their pride, and their heart­ lessness in their dealings with each other, as well as with the poor, are a result of their lack of a broad, humane educ­ ation. He makes this clear particularly in Sin amor, a novel dealing almost exclusively with the stupidity of the high society•

He is heartfelt on the subject of educ­ ation as it affects women, saying in Sin amor, "Oh, the frivolity of our icmen is only the result of the deficiency 52 of the national education." Again,in Los caciques, with reference to the "education and instruction we Mexicans have given to our women," Timoteo says to his wife, "We have 53 taken more care of the dog and the cat than of you."

But his chief concern is with the ignor­ ance of the masses. If the educational status of the priv­ ileged classes leaves something to be desired, that of the people leaves much more. "If with us, the middle class," says Bsool4stioa Plrem* the school teacher of Sin amor, "the

thing goes so badly, with the unprotected classes it is even worse; the proletariat of the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz shows not one span's advance over that of the time of the

encomenderos. The disinherited classes lack absolutely the 54 attention of our government." And though the author is se­ nt) t always In sympathy with Esoolastioa, one feels that in this case she expresses his own feeling#

The ignorance of the masses has had a two-fold responsibility: it has made it possible for them to be so oppressed in the first place, and impossible for them to see clearly their own plight, and to demand a remedy.

Many of them in 1910 were like Don JUan, in Los caciques# who "had no opinions of his own, or rather, he had those of 65 the gentlemen who know* like Don Ignacio del Llano.* Some of them even held the belief, to Azuela evidently prepos­ terous , that "if the poor eat, it is because the rich give them money so that they may eat# Without the money of the ^ 56 rich, they would die of hunger," It is interesting to note# however, that Juan Mateos admits some truth in that theory, for he says, "The poor live off the rich, although the rich m may live at the expense of the poor."

Azuela implies that ignorance was respons­

ible for a certain habit of submission among the masses, and for an admiration for mere forob,which attitudes checked the impulse to revolt. The submissive spirit prevented their realizing the degradation of their "superiors"; for instance, in Sin amor, passersby in the street, attracted by the

drunken reveling of the elite in the tavern, "listen cur­

iously to their noisy merriment, look at them a moment, and 58 smiling with an idiotic air, continue meekly on their way." -21

As even Don Tlmoteo, of Los caoloues, says— and his Intel­ lectual level is muoh higher then is common in his class- 59 ’•The quality are the qualityi and have their place apart.n

The aoknowledgment of their suscept­ ibility to the fascination of strength supplies one rather shrewd answer to the question of why the peasants had not revolted before. For in spite of the ’’thousands of hatreds accumulated by their eternally dominated race, unhappy race SO of slaves," in the ignorance which could recognize none but brute force, they felt before the violent deeds of their masters "an invincible admiration, the paralysis which seizes the hare before the open mouth and hypnotic eyes of the ser­ pent. Notwithstanding' contrary intentions, all felt them­ selves dragged in an impulse of blind veneration toward the superior man, the man of power. The ancestral influence held • ' ... .-. 61 . them motionless at the feet of their executioners."

The full harm of this ignorance is re­ cognized by Don Tlmoteo, though, as we have seen, he himself is to some extent a victim of it. He has jus t said that the caciques are sucking the blood of the poor. Mariquita, her­ self one of the victims, asks, "And who, then, are these caciques?" "Did you hear that, Doloritas?" cries Tlmoteo to his wife, "Merujita doesn’t know who the caciques are!

Just what I am preaching every minute: the national misfor­ tune lies in the ignorance of our masses. . . Whoever does not fight against ignorance is a criminal. Because of the ignoranoe of the maaeea we have endured for twenty-fire jmrs 62 the boot of the dictator Forfirio Diaz."

While on the whole there is little said about the Church as a cause of conditions, though some writ­ ers are obviously pro- and others obviously anti-Cathollo, it does receive some blame. Guerra hints that it is at least partially responsible for.the docility of the masses when he represents a padre as preaching to the peons submission to 63 their masters.

In Los caciques. the priest is allied with the caciques* and is as cruel and hypocritical as they.

He is even made to say to them that according to the Church,

"one may wound, kill, do all one may wish, provided that it 64 redounds ad mayorem Dei Glorlam."

Asoensidn Reyesf attitude is that for

some time the Church has been more showy than real, and has

failed in its duties toward the people. "For a long time

Jesus Christ and His Gospel have not been preached in Mexico, and that is one of the reasons why the lower classes become 65 ‘ less and less moral daily." He says also, speaking sup­ posedly from the point of view of 1876, "Just see if the

Church has not a great mission to fulfill, that of recall­

ing their duties to rich and poor, in order to establish

harmony between capital and labor, and thus avoid a tremend- 66 ous social revolution in the future." In view of the fact. that this was actually written in 1%20, after the ^tremend­ ous social revolution" had taken place, one infers that the writer believes the Church did fail to fulfill its mission, and thus shared the responsibility for the conditions which led up to that revolution#

The same author also speaks of Mexico’s numerous revolutions as another cause of the distressing conditions that we have noted# Referring directly to the hatred between classes, he says, "Before the Independence this hatred did not exist# . . Afterward, all the habits of order, discipline, and work relaxed among the people, and the rich became more egoistic. The continual revolutions which agitated the country helped to relax public morality still more. The poor, as well as the Indians, had ended by being considered mere cannon fodder, used by each band for its own ends, and so that a few ambitious ones could elevate themselves upon torrents of blood of the down- 67 trodden. . So much, then, for the conditions ex­ isting in 1910, and the reasons for them. All together they made of Mexico a rumbling volcano, which in November of that same year burst into flame, with the Madero revol­ ution. One revolutionary movement succeeded another, and the unhappy country was torn by civil war almost constantly for the next ten years, and at intervals for ten years there­ after. The term "Revolution of 1910" will be used loosely -24- in this paper to designate the whole upheaval of 1910-20; unless specified, no attempt will be made to distinguish, the Madero revolution from the Huerta revolution, ete., since from the psychological angle with which we are con­ cerned they all constitute one continuous phenomenon.

The question arises: Gould the Revol­ ution, or should it, have been avoided? Lopez Port!11a y

Rojas is the only novelist who answers in the affirmative.

He saya very definitely: "The excesses committed by some landlords, either on persons or things, could have found remedy in the law, which condemned and persecuted them, 68 and for that reason a revolution was not necessary." The others who express themselves on the subject find it both inevitable and just although in the abstract they may disap­ prove of revolution as a means of progress.

To Arenas Guzman , it was an inevitable result of the final attitude of Diaz: . . the revolu­ tion, good or bad, was an inevitable phenomenon, after Gen­ eral Dfaz left unprotected the people who were calling on 69 him." The direct responsibility for it lay, however, upon the men who surrounded him and who, because it was to their interests that the economic feudalism of Mexico continue, deceived him into thinking that the people still wanted him in power, and prevented his carrying out "the noble inten­ tions which were palpitating at the close of the Qreelaan

i •8S*»

69 Interview.n

Gkmzilest Pena also expresses this same

Idea when he says, "There would not have been a revolution at this stage if the Dictatorship had not forgotten the words of our great Justo Sierra: ’The people are hungering 70 and thirsting for Justice.

Mateos finds it inevitable partially beeause of a certain quirk in the Mexican character. "After thirty-six years of silence, the people felt the nostalgia for revolution which had agitated them during so much time of struggle, without knowing that civil war might put the 71 nation in danger.H But it was so mainly, he seems to think, as a historically necessary step in the evolution of

Mexico. "It was a human wave which flowed over an outworn society. A sun which lighted up the barren fields of the past. It was History wielding its power over all that de- 72 dines and disappears." "The government falls as do all 73 things that are old."

Alfredo Gona&lez expresses the same idea when he says, "The revolution is an inescapable his­ torical movement. If Carranza had not existed, some one 74 else would have put himself at the head of it."

Arcs, judging by what he says of the proud old Federal officer, Don Sabde, in Solo tu. agrees with them: ". . • the Federal army was to him a victim of the propitiatory sacrifice to progress. . • it must fight to the finish not to out off the new ideas and stop the new men, but to leave them a lesson (of loyalty to their ideal] which would serve them as a firm basis for 75 the future.”

Quevedo y Zubieta, whom we have al­ ready noted as favorable to the Dfaz government, tempers this idea with the implication of a mere whim for change on the part of the people. It is true that in the time of the government of Diaz they enjoyed "security and cheap bread • . • But that has gone out of style • • • like 76 crinolines . •

Arce, through Don Sabas, says in so many words that the revolution was Just. "I have to fulfill it

(his promise as a soldier] although I know that the revolu- 77 tion will triumph . . because it is just."

Several others imply that it was, as we should expect from the nature of their portrayal of con­ ditions leading up to it. Davalos, in 1808, foresees the 78 people at last in righteous revolt against their chains.

G^mez Palaeio quotes a young man fighting in the Federal ranks as saying to himself, of the revolutionists: "It can't be doubted that these men are right, at bottom. . •

Because they are coming to claim what Nature does not deny 79 them, can it be,right to receive them with shots?" Mateos, speaking of the downfall of Dfaz, says: "He had proclaimed -s?» tbe divine right of the Caesars, and the human right of 80 the worshippers of liberty beat him down." And Kunguia, calls the revolutionists "the deliverers of an oppressed 81 people."

The motives of the different sorts of people who went into the Revolution are variously described. l6pez Portillo y Rojas pictures at once the cold, calcul­ ating instigation of the rebellion and the blind, destruc­ tive madness of the masses, when he says of one Alcocer,

"Sinee what he sought was not the well being of the op­ pressed nor the triumph of justice, but his own eminence and profit, he made into an absolute thing that which was only relative, padded the facts, invented hair-raising stories,_and did not cease to arouse the passions of the un­ happy and ignorant working class, in order to convert it In­ to a blind and raging mob, which would trample and destroy everything, capital, buildings, and seed-fields, until the land should be changed into a waste of debris and desola­ tion. Upon a heap of ruins he thought to establish his 82 dominion." He shows little sympathy for the Revolution from any angle.

Gonzdlez Pena also speaks harshly of the leaders, of the "atavistic and immoral ambition of the 83 chiefs who led the revolutionary soldiers to victory."

But on the whole, little is said of the leaders in oonneo- tlon with the beginning of the Revolution; they come in

for their share of censure later on.

In the populace, who were the most directly concerned, the novelists show greater interest.

Odmez Falselo pictures them in an unfavorable light, as

far as their own mental attitude is concerned, when he

, describes a gathering of revolutionists as follows: "They

were going with their hopes directed toward pillage and

• ...... ' . . . . : ; . '84 looting; they went inflamed by lusts and rancours." But

the others are more sympathetic. JLroe, for instance, re­

presents the aims of the people as being "to possess a

strip of land, to avenge that friend killed by the over- 85 seer. . and Mungufa says that when a liberating army

appeared on the horizon to tear down a dictatorship of thir­

ty years, "the people hungry for liberty and glory, rushed 86 enthusiastically into the files of the revolution."

Some of the novelists feel that in

spite of their selfishness, and in spite of the ignorance

that made impossible any conception of the true nature and

scope of the Revolution and any other than an essentially

selfish outlook, there stirred deep within the people some

impulse of idealism, however vague and inarticulate: "those

poor improvised soldiers . . . had left their homes . . .

impelled by a chimera or an ideal." '

For example, L&pez Ituarte says of / - . ' Satanas, when the latter joins the revolutionary troops,

"There he would satiate hia adventurous Instincts and his hatred against the powerful and abusive master," but adds (somewhat paradoxically), "He was fighting for the triumph of a cause, without niggardly and abject ambitions. In his spirit ideas of liberty and democracy were taking hold, without his being able to grasp the true meaning of the words. He was not struggling for the violated Con­ stitution, nor to oast down an illegal Government. # .

More than anything else, Satanas had an intuition that those words held in them something very great for the down­ trodden who lived as he had lived, under the yoke of over- 88 seers and at the mercy of the landlords."

This attitude was characteristic, Munoz thinks, of the ranchmen of the north, whom he distinguishes from the peons, however denying the latter any but purely material aspirations. His six "Lions of San Pablo," when they present themselves before Villa to join the Revolution do so "with the vague intuition that they were going to fight for a cause whleh favored them. They themselves did not know exactly what the Revolution wanted, but each one had his own motives for complaint and his own desire for a better.situation. Their hatreds, their desires for vengeance, their longings for economic betterment— they

expected to be able to satisfy them all. Those ranchmen,

once and for all, went to dispute in the Revolution not an ear of c o m nor a home, but the right to a higher life#

They had never been peons, and they did not go to the

Revolution, as the latter did, with their.dele desire— 89 a piece of land to call their own#" And later, although

disillusionment has come, Tiburolo, the last of the "Lions,"

olings to the belief that some were idealistic in entering

the fray: "Why doubt that there were . . . others like

him, who went into the combat Impelled by the common senti­

ment, in many of them never defined, of seeking a general

betterment for the country people? Who presented them­

selves with their horses and their rifles to the nearest

revolutionary chief, offering their blood and their lives 90 to overthrow a government founded on crime?"

The analysis which Alfredo Gon&dlez

makes of the motives of the people seems to be the keenest

and the fairest, acknowledging as it does the good and the

bad: "The revolution . . . i s the refuge for all who long

for something better— those who have suffered, those who

hope, those who are never contented in this world. It is

formed of the greater part of the people. All the immense

past crowds up at once, passions are aroused, noble and

perverse impulses reach the heights of greatness or of

cruelty. Not only those who understand the revolution go

to it; perhaps there are few who know its postulates. Those

who go are the ones who desire justice, who long for glory. -31- 91 who are discontented— the better part of humanity."

On the.whole.though, there is a feel­ ing of enthusiasm and idealism.implied in the attitude of thinking people at the beginning of the revolution— a feel­ ing expressed by one Sudin, in La magestad oa£da. when he says, "The revolution is ours beeause it constitutes a forward step on the road of progress, illumined by the 92 light of liberty." Gunman records this sentiment con­ cretely, saying, "All the revolutionary youth of the first moments abounded in pure ideals, in a disinterestedness 93 clean and without blemish." "The revolution, like all movements of deliverance in their origin, was an impulse 94 undeniably pure, of regenerating vitality." Conversely, he remarks of a certain character, bringing out thus the force of the affirmative statements, "Buelna did not radiate the enthusiasm of the revolution, but its sadness. . . He was one of the very few Constitutionalists who felt the tragedy of the revolutions the moral impossibility of not being with it, and the material and psychological impos­ sibility of accomplishing with it the immense and good work 96 which was necessary."

But with the progress of the Revolution came disillusionment• Its course was not such as to nourish ideals. It was one of cruelty, Injustice, and oppression on the part of all, revolutionists and federals alike. Whoever had the upper hand abused those who were at hie mercy. People 32 forgot that they were fighting for general liberty; as they acquired power themselves, the liberty of others meant noth­ ing to them.

The novels of the Revolution are full of pictures of unnecessary destruction by revolutionary soldiers, of brutality, of treachery. Torrents of blood wantonly shed flowed over Mexico. The only law was viol­ ence. The death sentence was given to soldiers and to civil­ ians, whom the Revolution was to have "saved," for any of­ fense, or none; for instance, according to Nellie Caapobello,

General Urbina had his chauffeur shot merely because he ac­

cidentally hit a bump which caused the General1s head to 98 strike the top of the ear. The people were as much vic­

tims of each successive army of triumphant revolutionists as they had ever been of the upper classes before the Revol­ ution. As Arenas Guzm&i says, the soldiers were "tacitly 97 authorized to give themselves over to looting," and the

citizens were completely at the mercy of the victorious, who

took no pity even on their sympathizers. This is pointed 98 out in Los de abalo. by Azuela, and particularly in Oampamento.

by Gregorio iZpez y Puentes, ‘^he latter is simply the ob­

jective account of a one-night encampment of revolutionary

troops, picturing the thieving, the brutality, the violence

which, we infer from him and other writers, was the rule in

revolutionary Mexico. 1,6pez y Fuentes notes pointedly the

cruelty toward the aborigines of the soldiers supposedly '33- fighting to redeem them— how one Indian who was selected to guide a party of mounted revolutionists was foroed to run ahead of their horses for more than a day, and how when he lagged from weariness, one of the officers deliberately rode his iron-shod mount upon the Indian's heels, crushing 99 them. "The revolution is being made with the blood of 100 Indians."

El dguila £ la serpiente probably brings out the violence of the revolutionists in all its aspects more strongly than any of the other novels, although per­ haps it should share honors with Cartuoho by Nellie Campo- 101 bello. Cartuoho. a series of brief descriptions of viol­ ent episodes, told from a child's point of view, has the distinction, so far as we have been able to ascertain, of being the only book of the Revolution written by a woman.

Guzman's novel is filled with the bloody deeds of the revol­ utionary soldiers and officers; perhaps the most revolting is the killing in cold blood of three hundred prisoners, who are turned loose in small groups and shot down like 102 rabbits, as they try frantically to escape.

This novel and Carranza, by Gonz&lez,

trace the growth of disillusionment more clearly than any others. Both are autobiographical. The former is the

personal history of a civilian, watching from the side­

lines, the latter that of an officer in the revolutionary -34

anay, showing how he loses the idcalistio enthusiasm with which he Joined, as he sees how the Revolution is made the instrument for cruelty and personal a£graadizemeat. La sombra del Cauaillo, also by Guzmin, is full of bittern###* too, but more specifically in connection with the politic# of the Revolution*

r Aroo offers come Justification for the cruelty of the Revolution, la sdlo tu, when Federico, who has become a revolutionary officer, wants the fighting to be carried on humanely, his lender and friend, Pedro Orullo, says to him, "• • . Iho means must be cruel, sines the triumph of the revolution, progress . . • and Justice • • • can be achieved only at the cost of overcoming thoce who hinder because the continuance of their power depends upon their opposing the new order* Vigor is necessary for the work, and in order to have vigor there must be discipline without sentimentality* * • When blood has to be shed, it should not be measured. * • The cacique will not renounce with a snile what the government has conceded to him * .

You yourself appear as an impostor when you pretend that the revolution can triumph without blood, when you know that the government has, to combat it, thousands of men who don’t carry gun® just to give caresses. . « for great evils, great remedies. '-The men of good will have done all that was possible in the newspapers, in the clubs • • • Patience has been exhausted and anger has surged up, and the anger will not cease until one of the two opponents falls. They are the ones who should fall, not we, and to secure their de­ feat it is necessary to put aside all things that will hln- 103 der, among them the kindness which weakens, like yours."

But the others find it needless and debasing, and to most of them the entire conduct of the

Revolution was very disappointing. They seem to ask, with

Arenas Guxmdn, "Could it be, in truth, a law of God, or of

Nature, or of History that our revolution should be moved 104 only by assassins and aoeomplioes of assassins?" And to say with him, after the first few years, "People no longer fought for the revolution, but for its booty, and even those who were making a sincere effort to save the work of

the revolution . . . did so without losing sight of the 105 personal fruits of the victory."

Azuela’s cynicism, in Los de abajo.

goes back to the beginning of the struggle. To Anastasio, who wonders why they must keep on fighting after the Con­ vention has ended (1915), the soldiers explain, laughing,

". . . Because if you carry a gun in your hands and your

cartridge box full of shells, it must certainly be to fight

Against whom? In favor of whom? That has never mattered -106 a to anybody I' "A symbol of the revolution In those clouds

of smoke and those clouds of dust, that ascended frater­

nally, embraced, merged into each other and vanished into 107 nothingness, — in the words of Azuela.

tiuoh, then, was the psychological re­

action to the progress of the Revolution* Was anything

accomplished by those years of "Gold, Grime, Blood, and 108 Salt"? Nothing, most of the authors agree. Not only

do they think the Revolution failed to bring about any

change for the better, but that it did actual harm to Mex­

ico.

It failed in that there was no better­ ment of general conditions. The wrong people benefited,

graft continued, and the masses suffered practically as

before. It seems to be the consensus of opinion that

there was merely a substitution of oppressors. Such is

Azuela’s belief, given as the prophecy of Luis, in Los de

aba .1o, early in the Revolution. "You will take up the hoe

and the shovel; half alive, always hungry and naked, you

will be just as you were before, while we, those above you,

are making millions of pesos. . . A useless sacrifice of

all the life poured forth, of all the widows and orphans,

of all the bloodshed! , . . For what purpose? Go that a

few rascals can enrich themselves and general conditions • 109 remain the same as or worse than before!” In Las moseas,

realization of the prophecy is admitted by the author, who

says: "In the stubborn logic of Juan Pablo there can never

be room for this idea that after the triumph of a revolution

of the people, some should still continue to be the slaves -57'

110 of others.

Aauela sees a decided breakiag down of morale, consequent upon the Revolution. He alludes to one aspect of it when he speaks of "the coarse women brought in 111 by the revolution,” and to another, more serious, when he says that Serapio, in Domitilio quiere ser diputado, finds that in one morning he can make more money by asking favors of the general for his friends than he could have made in 112 forty years of work before the revolution. This author

seems to think that the philosophy developed by the Revol­ ution was that expressed elsewhere by Serapio: "If the

revolution has desolated the country, learn to change a moan into a oup of chocolate, a tear into a gold coin, a

drop of blood into a black pearl. . . If in normal times

the nails should be worn short, or at least impeccably white and polished, in abnormal tines, they should be mi­ lls lowed to grow, and the blacker the better."

In Mexico nanioomio. by Quevedo y

Zubieta, Mexico City is pictured as a gigantic madhouse

during the various administrations which follow the Madero

revolution. It is in the depths of physical and moral

misery. The impelling motives of the officials and the

masses are graft and hunger respectively. Hunger is the

warhorse on which successive candidates ride to victory.

Generals have no respect for private property. "Alleging 114 noble ends, they reached the point of Communism." Hard- -30- ly a tribute to the suooess of the Revolution!

Others feel that free rein was given to the most unscrupulous people. Arenas Guzaln shows first how

"impudent and shameless individuals. . . invaded every corner of the house of the triumphant chief, and their audacity secured for them attentions which were not bestowed upon the 115 true revolutionists." Later he remarks on "the indignation produced by seeing that the cause of the revolution . . . had served as a medium for the advancement of the social dregs, of rogues formerly beyond the pale of morality and repudiated 116 by society," "• . . ambitious and unmoral people to whom 117 the revolutionary movement had given free rein. . . "

There was as little personal liberty as before, even for doing the right thing. Carlos, in LI Sefior

Piputado,gives up law because he is incapable of the toady­ ing that is the secret of success in that profession, espeo- 118 ially under the regimes of the successors of Madero. In

La sombra del Caudlllo» the doctor attending a man injured for political reasons is afraid to say anything about the

cause of his injuries before the Minister of War, "whose mere proximity was for him, as a good professional man of

Mexico, the announcement of odious political complications 119 and tremendous personal annoyances. . . "

Conz&lez Pe&a thinks that one evil out­

come of the Revolution may have been the stirring to life once more of the revolutionary habit of the Mexican people#

"It seems to me dangerous that this country. . . should 120 taste revolution anew." . . . "O that the movement which nor/ triumphs may not become chronic 1 I fear it greatly.

Looking at the calamitous past of the Republic, I cannot help recalling. . . the words of Rivero1 at the beginning of the French Revolution: ,Woe unto him who stirs the depths 12& of a nation! There is no age of enlightenment for the mob!1

Azueln mentions a result that no one else suggests: that the middle class is "condemned to dou­ ble torture, in intimate contact with.the base and vulgar populace, than whom it has never been either better or worse, but who now, in their arrogance, spit insolently in 122 its face."

Como perros y gatos, by Torres, is one

long arraignment of the Revolution, from beginning to end#

Its results are pictured very darkly. "The right of as­

sault on the highways, ignominiously suppressed by the

Dictatorship, was automatically restored by the revolution "123 ' - ."... target practice . . . has come to be more necessary than oratory in the debates of the revolutionary 124 Legislature ..." short, "in order to find colors which would give Ilfe "to this epic picture [the period from

1910 onj, we should have to m k e contracts with all the coal­

yards in the country to supply us with the necessary 125 material." -40-

Among the authors dissatisfied with the results of the upheaval should be Included three whose feel­ ing, though not actually put into words, is revealed by the cynical tone of their novels. These are Martin Gomez Pal- aoio, Gregorio L6pez y Puentes, and Xavier Icaza.

Others whose accounts are strictly ob­ jective, and show no sentiment one way or the other as to the outcome are Rafael RuHoz, Oelestino Herrera Prlinont, and Nellie Campobello.

Various reasons are advanced for the failure of a movement that began with sueh high hopes.

Azuela has a rather interesting theory— which is voiced, however, with reference only to the Madero revolution— that it was a mistake, because it was a revolution for "an

enlightened country,n and countries that are governed by bandits do not understand "enlightened revolutions "— they 126 must have revolutions of bandits.

One cause for the alleged failure of

the movement as a whole has been indicated before, and need

not be dwelt on here: namely, the low motives attributed to

certain groups in going into the Revolution.

A second factor, to which we have also

alluded, is the degeneration of the ideals of those who did 127 - have them at the start. Those who kept theirs were apt

to fare badly, as Azuela points out; Because simple, good

Juan Pablo, the illiterate general of Las mosoas, wants to go on fighting for the people, seeing that the triumphant revolution has done nothing for them, he is shot for treason .. ••■188 ... - to the oause— for faithfulness to M s ideal.

The following incident from Los de abajo expresses the cynical note that is not uncommon in connection with any reference to the ideals of the period:

Valderrama apostrophizes, "Juohipila, cradle of the Revolution of 1910, blessed soil, sprinkled with the blood of martyrs, with the blood of dreamers. . . of the only good ones . .

"Because they hadn't time to be bad," 129 says an ex-Federal officer passing by.

Arenas Guzman notes a marked contrast between the earlier and the later leaders, the former "some- 130 what mystic," the latter "somewhat vulgar."

The general lack of education and parti­ cularly of ethical sense among the leaders receives the greatest amount of blame. As for the generals, even being one, as Oastilo puts it, was merely "a question of awaiting an opportunity. As soon as there is talk of a rebellion, 131 let him get a sombrero tejano and a pistol, and131 rise in aims, followed by three or four more individuals." Naturally, then, their state of literacy often leaves much to be desired and as for ethics, most revolutionary leaders were, as Guza&n says, "very far from being sufficiently disinterested and idealistic." Azuela*s books are full of the Ignorance of these self-made generals, not all of whom, however, real­ ize their handicap as does Demetrio, In Los do aba.lo when he / sighs, "Lo que es esc de saber leer % escrebirl " In

Azuela’s eyes, their Ignorance Is largely responsible for their misdeeds and excesses•

More serious arraignments are also made by him, and by other writers; among them that principles mean nothing to the leaders; that their interest is not in a cams, but in their own bread and butter— with rather generous amounts of butter. They support the oauee that is most advantageous „ to them at the time. So in Las moseas. General Cebollina, a soldier of the Carranza revolution now, admits that he had served Huerta, and that in the time of Diaz he had had more

Maderistas executed than Huerta, Blanquet, and Urrutia to-

...... ' ' ' ‘ 134 gather have been able to put out of the way.

Purely personal motives govern every so- . 135 tion. Thus the brutal guero Kargarito of Los de abajo would out off the soles of Pascual Orozco's feet and make him walk for twenty-four hours through the Sierra, not be­ cause he was the one who killed Madero, but because he slap­ ped Margarito once, when the latter was a waiter in Chihus- v 156 bua.

The loyalties that do exist are personal,

Aguhre, the minister of war in La sombra del Caudlllo, sums up thus his years of service to his chief; "Ten years . . . of doing deeds which link us infinitely and for eternity: of shooting common enemies; of putting out of the w a y - pursuing them, denying them, "betraying them— hindrances 137 and rivals only mine because they were yours • . No mention of the nation they were both supposed to be serving.

This intensely personal attitude is manifested in the split of the revolutionary party, which was an omen of failure for the movement, and which Guzman explains thus: "At bottom, it reduced itself to the dis­ pute, eternal among Mexicans, between plural groups dis­ posed to seize the power, which is singular: the predom­ inance, in all, of immediate ami selfish ambitions over great and disinterested aspirations; the confusion of the mediocre impulse which leads one to seek the prize of a ...... 138 work with the noble impulse of the work itself."

Of course these faults were not con­ fined to the revolutionists themselves. The office-holders of the revolutionary party had them to combat in the streams of civilians who were continually besieging them with de­ mands for favors. Those who were upright found in this phenomenon a further hindrance to the work of the Revolution

We have already seen how Arenas Ouzmdn describes this sort 139 of thing in El Selor Pluutado.

The leaders could fix rules of conduct

for the public with a sublime disregard, practically an un­

consciousness, of whether or not they themselves measured up to those rules. In common with mo at ignorant people, they did not know themselves. Thus Villa summarily sen­ tences three men to death for counterfeiting, assuming a very indignant attitude about their misdemeanor, when he 140 himself is turning out counterfeit pesos by thousands.

The hypocrisy that ia an essential part of this attitude is brought out again by Azuela, in

Los de abajo, when a group of revolutionary generals and other officials wax most indignant over an old woman’s story of how she had been robbed of all her savings,

"1*11 tell you the truth, I don’t think it’s bad to kill, because when you kill, you always do it with courage, — but stealingT* cries the ftiiero Margarito very righteously.

The others give vigorous assent.

But then one of them admits that he has stolen, finally the others confess that they have, too, 141 and they all end by boasting about their thefts.

It is to a more transcendent sort of hypocrisy, of whieh Mexican politics is quilty, that Arenas

Guzm&n attributes directly the failure of the Madero revolu­ tion; the hypocrisy that caused the rulers to "attempt to present the past struggle as a simple political movement and to affirm emphatically that the only princi^ss the Re­ volution was under obligation to fulfill were those which had served it as slogans: •Effective Suffrage* and *No

Reelection*. nothing of social reforms» nothing of re- ' ■ . V , , deeming the peon in the country from the state of slavery in which he was still kept, on various haciendas, in dif- 143 ferent sections of the Republic. .

As he says elsewhere, "The Revolution, victorious in the field of arms, began to be defeated in , ■ 145 the cross-roads of polities."

The truly upright man was powerless to

do anything. Aroe shows the unprincipled agitator Estremera

speaking thus of the good leader whom he was using as a

cloak for his own nefarious activities; "He is a poor

devil. . . an idealist, a patriot, a redeemer, a luminary

whom his own uprightness keeps hidden, et sic de coeterls

. . . and since he has money • . .He has the virtue, of 144 stubbornness and the vices of innocence and stupidity."

Like this leader, Carlos, the protagon­

ist of El senor Dinutado. a youth of truly democratic

ideals, was made the dupe of unscrupulous individuals mas­

querading as friends of the people, this circumstance giv­

ing rise to the following observation of the author: "Car­

los • •• • had allowed himself to be the victim of one of

the many farces that the men who take possession of the

central power in Mexico are accustomed to hatch up, at the

cost of the purest emotions which vibrate in the souls of

the sound and idealistic part of society." • «*4§-

Guzman. notes the Ineffectuality of the few who are actuated by noble motives, and offers an ex­ planation of it. "Dreadful days those, in whleh murders and robberies were the chimes of the clock which marked the passage of time! The revolution, the noble aspiration of four years before, was threatening‘to dissolve in lies and

©rimes. What did it avail that a tiny group preserved their ideals.intact? The less violent that group was now, and would continue to be, the more incapable for the struggle; which f6 0 t, in itself, was making the revolution into a paradox: that of committing to the most egoistic and orim- 14# Inal a movement essentially generous and purifying."

Conversely, the men who rose to power and influenee in the Revolution, eeeordlng to this group of writers, were those like Felipe Orozco, who, after a career of beastly violence and wrongdoing, quite without regard for the enouneed principles of the Revolution, be­ came the acifor Dlnutado of Arenas Guzman’s title, and celebrated his inauguration with a speech of the most brazen hypocrisy, eondludlng: "Here [in the Chamber] there should only be room for those of us who have offered our blood, ©ur sacrifices, our heroism, to the sacred cause of 147 the Revolution."

There is; however, a reverse to the picture shown previously. At least three novelists believe -47

that the results were essentially good.

Says Mateos, "It began as a revolt, con­ tinued as a revolution, and ended as a historical evolution 148 of progress.n

Taraoena has arrived at his optimistic outlook after a period of disillusionment. "I love the re­

generating work of the Revolution. As a child I was nour­

ished on the Anti-reelectionist press, and I was one of those who felt a new horizon opening, upon the triumph in Jharez.

When Madero was elected President of the Republic, my en­

thusiasm turned to disillusionment on seeing haw everything went on as before. I doubted, and even thought that since

all men became more evil on attaining to power, a strong

government which would dominate anarely would be preferable.

With the years and the advent of Articles 27 and 123 of our

Political Constitution, I have been able to convince myself

of the benefits of this immense social upheaval. I believe

that as from the French Revolution the Rights of Man cane

forth, so from our Mexican Revolution have sprung the Rights

of Nations, symthesized principally in Article 27, which is 149 today being adopted by various countries of Latin America.11

The following thoughtful summary by Arcs

is worth considering as a resume of the whole period of the

Revolution of 1910. It is interesting to note that although

he trace# the struggle through all its developments, evil as well as good, this author yet reaehes an optimistic

oonoluaion. as to the results. (It should be remembered

that Aroe considers that revolution is harmful in itself, but that it may be necessary in extreme cases to achieve

desired ends.) From the very beginning, then, he outlines

the course of the Revolution thuei

"The groups of rebels were growing; the Federals were mobilising; . . . The hatred of the low­ ly, humiliated for so many years-in the fields, robbed by the landlords, debased by the powerful, was taking up arms, and rushing to vengeance or to battle, to kindle the new dawn of democracy.

"For the first period of six months, the struggle was mild, almost benevolent. They were fighting for a simple thing, to overthrow a dictator who had mocked the vote of the people and to install the man they wanted; and since their only enemies were those who; depended on the government directly or in­ directly for their employment, for their perquisites, or for their concessions, the opinion of the people had its way. The army, loyal and self-sacrificing, poured out its blood in vain. . . The dictator fled and the masses were apparently satisfied; they were told that they had conquered; they were noisily ac­ claimed, and they began to be moved, softly hypo­ critically, by the same threads which had moved the same puppet-show before, until they believed the time had come to break the threads once more, and treason sprang up, destroying the body of the idol. Then the populace did not issue a gentlemanly challenge, be­ cause that was useless; it roared and withdrew in a fury to the deserts and the mountains, whence it des­ cended like a torrent of wrath, wiping out all that oame in its way . . .

"Diseord surged within it. One group be­ lieved everything accomplished; the other thought it was hardly the beginning. So that treason should not spring up again, it was necessary to tear from the depths of the earth the roots which might feed it; new men must be brought, with new ideas, with new laws; one must crush pitilessly theories believed to be wise, principles praised as just, customs respected as pure; the neutral was an enemy, the conciliator was dangerous; the reactionary should not live; the people believed not only in their strength of the moment, but in their eternal strength# Equality was established at the sacrifice of the most legitimate inequal­ ities; progress was eoneeived upon bases which until then had inspired fear in all the sociologists; the concepts of property, of religious liberty, of in­ dividual capacity for betterment, should be dif­ ferent; learning was of secondary importance, and conduct had nothing to do with merit. And the trag­ edy continued to unfold, more inflamed, more cruel, more painful, until it overcame even its radical leaders. But so many theories had been incubated that it was impossible to find the cohesive form which would elevate them into a uniform, consistent, harmonious whole. There followed disorientation, incompetence to make a government of a triumphant revolution, the insufficient measure, the false step, ruin. Then a new act of force was imposed which may be an interlude of wisdom and equanimity, or which may be indeed the first step on the clear and luminous way, triumphant with the purified synthesis of the realized principles, high and un­ ique in the history of the nations, drawn from the most righteous longings and the most costly ex­ periences, by dint of tears and blood.

The ddad are forgotten, the ruins are rebuilt, hatreds pass, crimes are forgiven, and Mex­ ico remains erect, nervous, with tremors of wrath, with fluttering of wings, standing upon the intrepid snow of her volcanoes, gazing straight at the new sun which is rising on the future— a sun which only those eyes can resist that know the red of bloody nightmares as well as the blue-white of the moon in the musical nights of the tropicse"150

So there is a wide divergence of opinion as to the results of the upheaval. It is difficult to know with certainty the conditions that actually prevail in Mex­ ico now, but it would seem that something has been accom­ plished by the Revolution, and that there is more truth in the opinions just quoted than in the former completely pes­ simist io statements which branded it an utter failure.

This concludes, then, the first main -50- diTlalon of our projcot— the examination of the Revolution of 1910 alone, as it appears to the contemporary novelists of Mexicoe 51-

III* ATTITUDE TOWARD REVOLTJTIOM IN GENERAL

In this division, in which we shall as­ certain the novelists• opinions of revolution in general, in that land whose name has become practically synonymous with the word, we shall follow a course roughly parallel to that of Part II. Later we shall discuss their beliefs as to what, if not revolution, may hold the solution for Mex­ ico's problems.

Various reasons are advanced for the frequency of her uprisings. f ■ ( Lopez Ituarte attributes them to the injustice of the laws and their application* "Oppressive laws are one reason for our civil wars. . , The legal de­ ficiencies and the base, selfish, and brutal procedure against the rural servants of the nation are partially to 151 blame for our internal rebellions."

( Closely allied to this stand is that of placing at least a part of the blame on the politics of the unhappy nation, which is what Arenas Guzman does. The whole of El senor Diputado is a protest against the pol- - m

itionl system, and the following specific mention is made of the method of oendueting elections as a cause of revolu­

tions 0 "In those days the Republic witnessed one of those

electoral farces which on more than one occasion have con­

stituted the determinative cause of our great national " 158 ' catastrophes."

A further development of that thought

is Quevedo y Zubleta'o statement that the presidency of

the nation is like the directorship of the insane asylum:

the incumbent "hardly makes ready to enter when they al- . • • - - . . * ready say that he is leaving, devoured by the same prying,

effeminate, gossiping system of which he declares himself 153 master."

' Guzain speaks in a similar vein, saying,

"It is evident to us that in Mexico suffrage does not exist; there exists the violent dispute between the groups who i ' ■ , ■■■ | covet the power, supported at times by public opinion. This !

is the real Constitution of Mexico; the rest, cure farce." 1 - ' ' " 1 But as for the "rules possible in our political struggles, |

. . . the rule is only one: if you don't beat your oppon- 154 ent to it, he will beat you."

One infers from the tone throughout

Como perros y gatos that it is because "oarioato" is of the

same general opinion that he concludes with the following

statement about his book: "If there is anything sincere

in all these exaggerated farces that compose it, it is the B o o m for polltlo# that appears on every oae of these 155 pages.*'; ...... ■ - ... Oastilo evidently thinks the politi­ cos are guilty, for in,the republic of the bees, as he describes it in Ayer, hoy . . . maHana. — a republic notable for its air of peace and happy cooperation— a worker says of a drone she has killed, . He was in­ citing me to rebellion* As I know from a cricket who de­ dicates himself to metempsychosis, this one who is now a 156 corpse was in his other life a Mexican politician." An­ other statement which he makes of the same idea we shall 157 quote later in another connection *

Paradoxical as it may seem, Ascensidn

Reyes attributes the deliberate fomentation of revolutions, from Mexico's very beginning as a nation, to the leaders of Federal troops* "From the Independence to the present time, when a revolution or a movement of banditry gathers force, the worst enemy of the government which pursues them is the army itself, or rather, the leaders charged with combatting them, for whom the disorder becomes a bril­ liant business transaction^ so that it is to their interest that that state of affairs continue indefinitely. . . That has happened in all our revolutions, and is. the cause of 188 their being prolonged indefinitely."

The same author also sees the backward­ ness of the nation as a cause of its revolutions, in that it makes it a fertile field for agitators, and blinds the people to the vlees and inconsistencies of the self-appoint­

ed leaders# "The promoters of rebellions understand in­

stinctively that in a backward country like Mexico, anyone

can set himself up as a leader, because there will always

be fools or rascals who will follow him, without its mat­

tering to them that the caricature of a leader who today

curses the previous regime, may have been one of those who

prospered most in its shadow, without its having seemed to

him then that such regime was tyranny or inconceivable

despotism, and who, even though he was able and was under

obligation to raise his voice in favor of the people, would

never have said a half dozen words of disapproval of many

unjust laws, which he later censures as tyrannical.

"And while there is in Mexico an Ignor­

ant majority, vicious and poverty-stricken, we shall be

exposed to the plague of multi-oolored and shameless leaders

who brazenly burn today that which yesterday they worshipped

We also find mentioned certain defects

in the civic character of the general public, many of them

interdependent with the backwardness of the nation#

The low level of public opinion, for in?

stance, is scored by Guzm&n, who says that it is but the

voice of cowardly classes, of classes debased by the fiivie

order, and that it does not dare do anything more than set the opposing forces on each other, like the spectators at 160 a prime fight. L He blames in particular the short-sight­ edness ©f the Mexicans, who he thinks are unable to see the true significance of events in their relation to the future.

"In Mexico," he declares, "we lack a mass of opinion capable of realizing that a political failure may constitute a bril­ liant sueeeee for the ultimate destiny of the country, and, on the other hand, that apparently important political suc­ cesses may be enly obstacles in the great path of history.

Lacking a national conscience sensible to the primal values of nationality, and to its most lasting interests, in Mexieo we allow ourselves to be dragged, almost always, by the fragmentary consciences of the various political groups, who identify their momentary successes with the successes of 161 the nation."

Guzman hints at another, more subtle, reason for the instability of Mexico, in a certain defense mechanism which he Implies in the national character. "The son of Mexico (as of every nation that feels itself phys­ ically weak before Nature or before the power of other nations) compensates his weakness by taking refuge in an excessive faith in the power of the spirit face to face with brute force. Which, if bad in one way, 1c good in another; bad, because it leads to failures and kills in it® cradle every impulse to build upon tangible, secure foundations— 56

is there anything more eharaoteriatioally ours than the oon-

vietion that all things oan spring, at a given moment, from

the vary bosom of nothingness? — and good since it prepares

souls for the rare occasions. . . i n which the instability

of physical power oan indeed be remedied by virtue of a 168 greater spiritual draught upon the side materially weaker.*1

All this last group of factors in the

proneness of Mexico to revolt has been rather well summed

up by Gonz4lex Pena, as follows, when he says with regard X" to the Revolution of 1910; "The extraordinary lack of

patriotism which shows at times in various periods of the

national history; the unrestrained ambition characteristic

of the race; the intense egoism, which has never known how

to yield before the imperious demands of the group; and,

more than all, the lack of knowledge of themselves, on the

part of governors and governed, which has led the nation

fatally from catastrophe to catastrophe, from the moment it 163 enjoyed independent life, were culminating now. . .**

Over and above these reasons, and more

interesting to the foreigner, who thinks of Mexico ns the

laud of revolutions, is the acknowledgment by a number of

writers of an innate spirit of war and revolution in the

people. No lees than ten novelists mention it specifically

— ’!that fighting ardor that forms an intrinsic part of our

' ' ' " . ' 164 national character." Two of them, Mateos and Gonz&lez Pefia,

believe the love of tearing down to be not only characteristic -57 of Mexicans, but oorctnon to the masses of mankind, irree- 165 pective of race, althou^i the latter mentions Mexico as 1S6 ■ . a country "eminently revolutionary.M Others, however, believe the love of rebellion to be peculiar to their own nation.

Quevedo y Zubieta is particularly out­ spoken on this point." In Mexico maaloomio. as the young doctor Porr&s reads over the list of manias in the Manual de psiquiatria. his colleague Tallin observes, "one mania 167 is missing. The revolutionary mania of the Mexicans. .

Ho seems to impute a special belligerence to the North, for he mentions it as r,a well-spring of men always ready for 168 rebellion."

Torres makes a similar general observa­ tion: "Don’t you know that in Mexico people may be lacking who will make an irrigation ditch, but if you change the name and say that that is going to be a trench, they will 169 take the shovel from your hand?"

OnernSn notes that among the partisans of

Aguirre, when a future uprising is mentioned, ", . . there was apparent, although In intangible forms, as if hidden voices of command were stirring deep within them, the in­ stinct to fight and conquer. . . Axkand, actor and spectator, tried to penetrate the essence of those emotions, which were also touching him . . , in order to read in . . . the im­ passioned expressions of all who surrounded him, as in the 50- letters of a written language, the national truth which might 170 be hidden in all that.*

And Ascension Reyes shows the effect of that spirit as follows: . in all the revolutions, the people know nothing of their presumed deliverers, and the soldiers fight without knowing for whom nor why* * * In every revolt and in all parts of Mexico there are always 171 people ready to adhere to any rebel flag. • ,* As Munoz says, '"The Revolution’1 The sonority of the cry seduces 172 rebellious spirits. • •"

Guerra says practically the same thing, at once uttering a general truth and making a specific ap­ plication of it: Armed rebellion, if Diaz does not permit a free election in 1910, will be a dangerous recourse, "be­ cause we run the risk afterward of not being able to restrain all the 'hard boiled eggs' who will want to shoot up every­ body in sight. All those 'birds' that of late years have been hiding in the coalsheds, when the phantom of Porfirio

Diaz disappears, will come out from everywhere, and in Sense clouds like locusts will sow desolation and death through 175 all the country.n He also speaks of the people as a whole as having lived always "like submissive and abject slaves, or

like perpetual rebels to all principles of justice and disoip- 174 line." •

Guzman refers to "the Mexican sport of 175 civil war," and Quevedo y Zubieta, when he mentions "el -59- . oarranaigaot* explains, "* * that is, the eternal Mexican 176 revolution dressed in legality.” The letter's attitude toward the Mexican propensity is further cryptically ex- 177 pressed in this dialogue from Doga Pia:

"Lioenciado Espinot With all peoples, the most fruitful movements begin in tumult.

Doha P£a: Here, they begin and never end*

Lloenolado Bepino: There is no omelette without broken eggs.

DoSa Pfa: That is true in France; here there are broken eggs and no omelette.”

As vie have seen, then, our novelists

recognize that revolutions are unusually frequent in Mexico,

and they suggest various reasons why this should be so.

Let us inquire now into their attitude

toward revolution in general, in its relation to the progress

of civilization. We saw that while there was much sentiment

against it in connection with the Revolution of 1910, there

were those who believed that its results in that base were

beneficial. But we shall find, in examining the opinions of

the contemporary novelists of Mexico on the value of revolu­

tion as a general thing, that while some believe, as they

did in the narrower question of the Revolution of 1910, that

It may be at times a necessary evil, none of them say that

it is capable of constructive good, and the opinion of the

majority is that its effects are decidedly harmful* Guerre believes that revolution is some­ times useful; though he detests the use of brute force, he accepts It "in extreme eases, when evolution by peaceful 178 means is impossible." He admits that "evolution alone will never be able to make its way; it has always had need of revolution with which it can collaborate not only with the rifle, but in a thousand other ways, and running the same 179 risk."

From iMximo as a whole, one gathers that revolution is a necessary evil, but decidedly an evil, and not a solution to the problem. It is helpful sometimes in making evolution possible, but Guerra is of those who con­ sider revolution in itself impotent to do any real good, it is apt to result, he says, merely in a substitution of op- 180 pressors. In this Azuela agrees, declaring that by means of revolution "not a single people has succeeded in doing 181 anything but replacing vampires with other vampires."

Asoensidn Reyes notes that all revolu­ tionary proclamations have been and will be the same, imply­ ing thus that nothing is accomplished by the respective up-

182 •' ' ' : ' ' . ^ ‘ heavals. Gomsiles Fefla,a statement is In part an explana­ tion: "What I dotibt is that the principles of the revolution will ever be established by violence, when what is required 183 to achieve them is, rather, learning, political genius."

The same author says, In more bitter vein— and we may take his statement as a summary of the impotence of aimed revolt— "there are no good revolutions. • . because they presuppose • • -... • 184 the virtue of men, which does not exist.1’

Most of the authors Just quoted imply, if they do not express, a belief that revolution not only does no good, but that it does actual harm.

Their observations regarding the nature of revolutions in general and those in Mexico in particular suggest this belief. Speaking generally, Azuela says, "The thinkers prepare the revolutions, the bandits carry them 185 - ■ out."

AsoenaiSn Reyes criticizes adversely the jail deliveries customary in Mexico’s revolutions: "There happened then what has happened In every revolution, from the Independence to our time; the doors of the jail were opened, and all the prisoners armed and inoorporated into the files of the revolutionists. • . with the greatest pleas­ ure they Join the ranks of the rebels, without its mattering 186 to them what may be the eause they are defending. . •"

Villa’s order to execute three men whose names he did not even know calls forth this remark from

Guzn4n: "Condemned beforehand, they were going to be tried ■ ■■ . ■ ■ ■ ' 187 now, at midnight and aeoording to the law of our Quartelazos and revolutions. Summary judgments to disguise asaassina- 187 tionsl”

Ascension Reyes is the most specific in his statements of the harm of revolution, ". . . Bernal saw 62 elearly that each new revolution, far from raising the moral

, , ' .• : level of society, raised Instead the social refuse* and 188 . oaused the audacity of the wicked to have no limits#11 He saw that in order to realize him dreams of freeing the peons from their hard servitude, "more than an armed revolution, which will only produce countless evils in the country, the education and uplifting of the people is needed. Otherwise, the revolution, in ease it should triusph, will have made the peons and workers not free, but insolent, and if they succeed in taking possession of positions of authority, the tyranny and the infamy will be infinitely greater than they : 189 - - ' . ■ ■ ; - are now,"

OonnAlez Fefta expresses his ideas about revolution in a negative way; "Qobernista I have always been, if by that is understood subjecting oneself to the authority of a government, without detriment to one * s own ideas, which should always remain one's own, taking care that they never degenerate into rebellion. . . Good or bad, any government is better than the most brilliant mob. If there is any reason for Mexico's suffering the horrible revolutionary epidemic during three quarters of a century, it is because very few Mexicans— since all have indiscipline 190 in their blood— have come to understand that simple truth." In what has been said about the failure of revolution, something of the reason for this failure has been implied. A few specific applications of it may be mentioned here. Analyzing closely, we shall find that the basic reason underlying all those to which we are about to

refer is that the people lack sufficient idealism to begin with, and that revolution is unable to supply it.

According to Guerra, this low morale takes the form of a blinding egoism. The agents of a

triumphant revolution "imagine that they alone did every­

thing; they forget the numberless anonymous efforts which prepared the triumph, and in the name of Liberty they ask

absolute submission to all their whims, as others ask it in 191 the name of Divine Right."

Guzmdn feels that it causes the people

to be moved by momentary enthusiasms, rather than by a deep

and serious purpose which would make sure that the conditions

which the revolution was ostensibly to bring about should

be actually realized. n. . • A nation deprived of great

nuclei conscious of the need of a disinterested and gener­

ous patriotism, is perforce subject, in order to produce

sound and irresistible popular movements, to the contingency

of stirring events which are not repeated at short intervals.

That work of ephemeral enthusiasm [alluding to the revolu­

tion against Huerta] based on emotion would have no reason

to continue, now that the necessary thing was the lasting

and deep enthusiasm founded on an ideal. What was going to

follow would be precisely the ruin of the first saving en­

thusiasm: its dissolution in the form of a number of per­ sonal ambitions; its fictitious survival depending on the diesimulation of three or four hollow ideas invented for the use of the leaders, the least sincere and most servile intellectual advisers, or rather, those most submissive to the glitter of exterior force, not to the austere virtue 192 of inner ideals. . : :

Gonzilez Peila agrees with him: "... .

In these eternally revolutionary countries, all revolutions abort and forget their principles as soon as they come into 193 power."

Azuela remarks paradoxically that a successful revolution fails because upon "succeeding" it becomes the government, and no government is good— not, he Implies, that it is bad intrinsically, but rather, limited by the low level of the people on whom it depends.

One feels that the following statement, although it concerns the LTadero revolution specifically, is meant to have a gen­ eral application! "Maderismo is the revolution now, and every revolution, always, without fail, carries with it an aspiration of justice that we partially balanced people carry in our hearts. Let us suppose that Maderismo triumphs, that Maderismo kills itself, becoming the Government (since

Government is nothing but the injustice, made lawful, that every rascal carries in his heart. . . Is it illogical to 194 be Haderista today and anti-Maderlsta tomorrow." *©5*"

As Gonzales Pena says, ^Revolutions do not change the soul

198 - . of the people.*

So the failure of revolution, the nov­

elists think, is due to the same element that brings it in­

to being— the low level of patriotism and idealism of the general public. • The conclusion is that it should be

avoided. A few authors express definite opinions as to

how its absence could be insured in the future# Education

is the antitoxin, according to Gonzilez Pelia— education and

peaceful reform; and this is the implied belief of most of

the others. The work of raising the level of the people

must be carried out; suffrage must be limited *until the

task of educating all Mexicans intellectually and morally

is fulfilled, in order that they may be conscious of their

civic rights and duties. • • Until all these and other

things com® to pass, dictatorships will follow revolutions

and revolutions dictatorships, as happens with the majority 196 of the unhappy countries of Spanish America•* "We

shall jump repeatedly from revolution to dictatorship until

we are convinced that the good of the masses can be attained

only with wise legislation, with justice, with culture, with

Industries, with commerce, none of which are secured wlth- 197 out peace."

Aeeensidn Reyes lays special emphasis

upon the Christian education of the masses. "The Christian

/ education of such portion of the population [the workers3 » and its continual increase, until these conscientious, moral, and industrious working people shall form the majority, will be the only thing which will in the future make revolutions .198 impossible in '.lexica.

Castile, whimsical as usual, has a diverting solution to offer— with a sting of truth in its tail. "There, in the fiery veins of the chile, in the yellowish meal of the tortillas, in the indigestible sauce of the moles, in the colorful *D&le-m#le* of the enchiladas. in the delicious- looking and tasting butter of the guaoamole, palpitates the spirit of our race, integral, eternal. In then is the true cause of our surprising ’revolutionism’. . . Let us reject these things from our diet, and, as a final and indispensable 199 remedy, put the politicians on bread and water."

But whatever the means they recommend, most thoughtful Mexicans agree to the end: the avoidance of revolution in the future. IT. SOLUTION TO MEXICO’S PROBLEMS

Some hint has already been given of means other than revolution that may be taken to solve the * problems of the Republic. Let us see, before going more fully into the remedies for Mexico's situation, what ob­ stacles must be overcome before the ideal Can be realized— a peaceful and prosperous state, with equal rights and op­ portunities for all.

In the first place, Mexico is a back­ ward nation. The novelists make no bones about that. They are severe in their charges. She will not leave her rut, will not adopt the new methods and Institutions that otheir nations have found to be good, says Ascension Reyes. "The great misfortune of us Mexicans Is that we will not leave our routine, and that we do not see, nor care to see, any­

thing but what is familiar to us. That is why the eccles­

iastics who go to Europe devote themselves to studying the

way to combat Aryanism, which disappeared from the world

more than five centuries ago. As for the diplomats, most

of them are occupied only with passing their lives in all comfort. . . It seems to be a punishment from heaven that we Mexicans accept all the evil there may be in other coun­ tries, and yet refuse to imitate the great amount of good BOO to be found in them." Those Mexicans are very rare who have gone to Europe, and who "on returning to their coun­ try implant the new methods in vogue over there in the sciences and arts, and that are adopted in Mexico only when they are already being replaced by ether, better ones, in 201 the Old World."

On the other hand, and complementing the opinion of Ascension Reyes, Gonzalez Pefla declares,

"That is the misfortune of our national characters We need the bait of foreigners in order to swallow our own good 208 things."

In the novel H&ximo. Guerra notes a num­ ber of evidences of Mexico1s unprogressiveness, particularly • 205 ' in regard to family life and the position of women, and in 204 the outworn marriage and divorce laws. He blames the

Roman Catholic Church. "The customs, the accursed trad­

itions, . • . the absence of the intellectual . . . Because

of this we long for reform. We have a great deal of re­

ligious hypocrisy; the priests exercise a tremendous in­

fluence upon our families, which still live three or four . 805 centuries behind the times." ,

Teja Zabre makes the most serious ar­

raignment when he says; "Let us learn to combat the weight and the heaviness which hang on our republic in the form of stale traditions, prejudices of caste, of class, ex­ aggerated patriotism, and imitation of foreigners; which ensconce themselves in cellars to cultivate the mushrooms and mosses of outworn rites, superfluous laws, the art of affectation, filthiness, apathy; which apeak only with the laggard refrains of gQui^n sabe, . ?*, *Ka5ana, . , • 1,

*DiQ8 dir6'. , .*, and have not sufficient vigor to utter bravely the strengthening cry: ’Upward and onwardI1 M

Her politics, both a cause and an ef­ fect of her backwardness, is a source of great bltterneea to the novelists, particularly to Guzm&n, as we shall see shortly.

Torres states the case briefly when he says that the only difference between banditry and politics 807 la that the latter is less dangerous.

• "The ideals of most politicians are 208 rooted in their stomachs," Guerra explains. There is no

thought of unselfish service;' . . i n politics the favors or the services which are done are always those which are convenient. The politician never works against his own 209 Interest." "Mexican polities,* says Guzm&m, "conjugates 210 but one verb: madrugar" — which means "beat the other fellow

to it."

Nor is there any thought of being sailed

by the people. As one presidential candidate points out to *?©- another in La sombra del Caudlllo. "The nation is calling neither you nor me. We are called by the groups of would- be grafters (leaving aside three or four fools and three or four visionaries) who are on the trail of a hook from which to hang; that is, three or four bands of petty pol- 811 itioianse* The eeeoad eendidate talks of the "masses"

. . • ■ - ' backing him. But the first reiterates that, with few exceptions, there are only politiqueros behind them both.

On the other hand, the politicians consciously betray and exploit the ignorant masses, Axkanl the one upright and conscientious character of the novel

Just mentioned, laments this fact as he sees the laborers gathered to greet the candidates at Toluca. "He felt that there was something touching in that political assembly of a thousand men whose coarse cotton clothing hardly covered their flesh. Their bronzed faces expressed somehow the happiness of an aspiration. ’Yea/ thought Axkandf, 'this is the aspiration which the politicians exploit and betray

Somewhat the same idea Is conveyed by leaza, in this bit from his satirical Panohito Chanonote:

"The tyrants . « . sacrifice oneself for the People

. . . The some high-sounding words ring out once

more.

All the Chiefs; ’The People. The Mexican People. The Salvation of the People. • ,1

The People: 'Were they talking about me? Don't bother me. Let me rest. What I have, friend, is a great desire to sleep.'" The result, aocording to Ascension Reyes, is that the government and the people regard each other aa foes* "The Government has always been divorced from society, and both have ended by seeing each other as enemies* This is the great ill of Mexico, which, if not remedied, w i n lead the country to ruin*" He ©oatinues, with this characteristic constructiveness, "If the Government always counted on soc­ iety, if it had confidence in it, if it called in to colla­ borate all the vital forces of the country, without suspicion, without hatred, without party spirit, the great national pro­ blems would be settled easily. But up to the present, ao

Government has tried to be national, and for that reason all 814 have fallen through. « .I.

Guzman's two novels and Mexico manicomio

are full of the corrupt practices of the politicians, and a

number of other books, as we have seen before, touch on those

same practices. "In Mexico • • . there is no worse class of

natural-born criminals than that from which the governments

215 ('- -: take their retainers." .But the strange and hopeless thing

about it, according to Guzman, is that good men have no

chance in positions of authority in Mexico, so low is her

state of civic morality. "Do we reward of even respect the

honest and upright functionary, I mean the functionary who

would be considered honest and upright in other countries?

No, we attack him, we despise him, we shoot him. And what

happens here, on the other hand, with the functionary who 78 is false, lying, thieving— I refer to the one who would be qualified as suoh in the nations where the common and usual

*hioal values rule? He reoelves among us honor and power, and if the occasion arises, he may even be proclaimed, the day after he is dead, 'benem&rlto de la natrla*." So the judges find more profit in favoring immorality and violence; the police, far from upholding the law, are usually the worst offenders; the lawyers dare not defend prisoners, for fear of the powers that be. In short, to do justice, which in other places presupposes only modest and generally prac­ tised virtues, demands in Mexico the qualifications of a . 316.1 — . hero or a martyr.* As Quevedo y Zubieta exclaims, "How ' - - " ■ - 217 much use there is for Biblical simplicity among us MexicansJrt

Oumtii notes the part that historians, 218 likewise, attribute to the army, in Mexico’s political coups.

When Aguilar, the protagonist of La sombre del Caudillx). re­ fuses the presidential candidacy, all the other politicians believe that move to be merely "a stratagem to secure greater advantages from the beginning. , . They supposed Aguilar to be stretching out the final wires of the military trap which, 219 Mexican fashion, would then carry him to victory.”

But the same author places the blame for

the state of Mexico’s politics directly on the middle class.

The masses are innocent, for they are unable to understand

the tide of politics; but on the other hand, "notice well,"

says Axkand, the only good politician, "the smile of the 1decent1 peopleI They lack in such marked degree the sense of citizenship that they don't even see that it is their guilt, not ours, that makes the politics of Mexico what it is. I don't know which can be greater, their foolishness or their timidity.” They do not feel obliged to interest themselves in politics,even "to safeguard their fortunes, ■ ■ - ' ' - 180 . ' ..... ' : :■ their liberty, or their lives."

This indifference of the middle class might well be considered a part of the third hindrance to the solution of Mexico's problems— an obstacle which is multiple, and so closely interwoven with the other two— her backwardness and her politics— , that it is difficult to say which is cause and which effect. It consists of certain faults of the people as a whole, certain defects characteristic of Mexicans. Again, some of these have been hinted at before, in other connections. But we shall here mention several specifically.

Let us take first the scattered refer­ ences that are made to the standards governing private, as distinguished from civic, affairs.

The soldiers, who stand for the large portion of the population from whioh they are drawn, are berated by Asoeneidn Reyes, when he speaks of the "low in­ stincts of the unrestrained soldiery, which in Mexico per­ haps more than in any other country, is avid for lioentlous- 881 . , • ■ ' . - ness and slime." But Quevedo y Zubieta, in his description of an instance of the disgraceful institution of omsanobr

amiento— decoying the soldiers of a defeated army into

the ranks of their @om%m®ror#— , blames the officers, who

represent the ruling class, rather more than the soldiers,

the humble class, for the lack of honor involved on both

sides of the transaction* He says of the enlisted men that

there is in them "a germ of military honor, which could be saa cultivated, but is not."

All through Guerra*s novel Maximo, the

protagonist, Mdhcimo likewise, draws odious comparisons be­

tween Mexican standards of honor and those in force in

other countries, notably England. For instance, a baggage-

room employe in England goes out of his way to help M&ximo

with his trunk, without being moved by mercenary motives,

and without attempting to take advantage of the young Mex­

ican. Says the author, for the latter, "That honorable

attitude, unknown in his own country, showed him what can 283 be accomplished with education."

Xavier loaza sees the materialism of

the people as a hindrance to Mexico*s progress, "ill the

people set out to make money. The only idol that remains

upright is the golden calf. The Saxon gospel triumphs.

Mediocrity brings ruin* The ideal becomes more and more 224 distant."

Azuela is decidedly peaetoistio on the subject of idealism in his native land. Arce thinks it is 225 to be found in a part of the people, at least• Teja Zabre thinks so too, but believes that it sometimes leads its possessors unwittingly into doing harm; "Our history," he says, "is full of honorable men and noble souls who, for 226 an ideal, join forces with great bandits." But Azuela sees on the faces of the Mexicans "the grimace, at one# 287 frightful and grotesque, of a race unredeemed." And again he speaks of the "psychology of our race, condensed in two words; rob, kill! . . # Race without ideals, race of ty- 228 rants I"

Gonz&lez Pefia is the only one who sug­ gests in this connection the influence of the mixed blood of the Mexicansi "Together with the virtues, we have the -•••••' 829 atavistic vices of two races."

Teja Zabre laments the tendency of Mex­ icans to excess, their inability to keep to the mean. .

History tells us that we are a people accustomed to excess, lurching from despotism to anarchy, from prodigality to misery, from the fainting apathy to heroic exaltation, from barbarous ignorance to pedantic learning; that we admire 230 neither moderation, temperance, nor sobriety."

Life for his countrymen is one long

flight from reality, Gon&iles PeHa thinks. "We Mexicans,

like all the Latin peoples of America, have lived on lies -?s- and lyricisms. . . we grow drunk with oratorical inflation, and riding through the realms of the ideal, we usually toother very little about real, eonerete things• Thus it is that the smiling lie has for us more allure than the harsh 231 truth." Guerra also recognizes the national habit of 238 subterfuge.

With respect to the civic conscience of the Mexicans, some rather harsh things are said. Two writers regret their extremely personal attitude toward public af­ fairs. Says Guerra, "In Mexico we make * everything a personal

issue. There we believe in the importance of particular 233 men." . . . Among us Latins, we soon make the matter personal, 234 and wander from the end which we pursue." "Carieato, ”

throwing a slightly different light on the matter, says that because of the exaggerated, fetlchismo the Mexican possesses,

Mexico's public men cannot stand the criticism which those 235 of other countries take as a matter of course*

Carloa Gonzilez PeSa makes an accusation which is amplified by Ascensi6n Reyes. "We Mexicans always

demand rights without remembering the duties," says the

former. And the latter, more specifically: "We Mexicans

want to pay the least we can to the Government, but in ex­

change we demand that the Government give us the greatest 236 possible number of guarantees." . . * "We Mexicans are

shameless. We want everything to be given us; we want to

have a good police force without its costing us anything; "77'* ■ wo want to havi sufficient Federal forces without paying them; good Judges without remunerating them properly; in short, we want all public officials, from the President of the Republic to the Inst gendarme, to be angels, not only for the purity of their lives, but mainly because they 237 would have no need of food and clothing."

Gonzdlez PeHa places on the teachers of history most of the blame for the people’s ignorance of their own shortcomings end of the true conditions of their country. "The teachers of history are in large measure res­ ponsible for our misfortunes. . . They have deceived each successive generation, hiding from it the follies of the past, a knowledge of which might well have been useful in remedying the future. And, all of them fed by the horrible lie, the new generations grow up, ignorant of the fact that we constitute a poor nation (our wealth is possessed by

foreigners!), weak, lacking ethnical unity, bristling with problems, bowed by vices, and, more than any other, in need of great humility to comprehend and correct our own weakness-

In the face of all these difficulties,

how 1® Mexico’s salvation to be effected? Revolution, as we

have seen, is not the means to the end. ITor is anarchism 839 . 240 241 the answer, nor socialism, . nor communism. The change

must be wrought by evolution and order. "I am for the slow

transformation of the existing social order, and not for •?e~ the immediate •oppression of all law and all government, much less by means of force. The majority of laws and governments are detestable, for they serve only the in­ terests of capital and of those who wield the power, but if we have not the capacity to modify those laws and pur­ ify those governments, much less shall we be able to live ' 843 ■■ ■' ... happily and peacefully without them."

The progress which the bees achieve, and which we should emulate, so Gonzilez thinks, is "a peaceful progress, filled with love, with honey, with

light. , . not like that which the revolutionists try to . 243 implant by dint of shots and killing."

"It is time," says Arce, "that our

ideals be realized in the true democratic form, that is, 244 within the bounds of order."

"The urgent thing is to advance, to

develop, to progress, and in order to do so, let us seek

the support of Soienoe and of Art," the usually flippant 345 Oastilo says with sincerity.

Our novelists suggest several specific

means of bringing about this peaceful transformation.

Some urge social and legal reform.

Guerra, for instance, thinks that laws should be enacted to 246 better the conditions of women. He believes further that

real reform would include measures in favor of birth control

community owning of land; the suppression of the right of testament, so that fortunes would revert to the State at the death of th@ owners; pensions and State aid, properly administered; the rational education of the peonle; and

■ , : ' 247 . ■ the teaching of an International tongue. Keptranto is a pet hobby of his; he refers several times to its benefits, and to the superiority of internationalism over patriotism, which he considers conducive to narrowmindedness and alii- ' 2 4 8 . , tarism.

Ascension Reyes advocates a system of

legislation '*similar to that of Germany"--one which would provide accident^insurance, old age pensions, etc., for the working classes. "The only practical means of aiding the people is that being used in Arroyo Seoo Can ideal mining

community], where the miners have a Mutual Benefit Society,

a Co-operative Society, a Savings Bank; and other social L *00 , institutions. . .*

Aroe, their special champion, urges the

\ physical, mental, and moral betterment of the Indians, in

whom he believes the hope of Mexico to lie, for they are

". . • gentle when they are well treated, intelligent when

they are instructed; merely teaching them to read, and put­

ting trousers and shoes @n them is enough to produce in

them the desire for betterment; if they are superstitious,

stubborn, secretive, and suspicious, we are to blame; but

when we put them on the road of progress, their superstition

will become spiritual elevation, their stubbornness will lieoome noble f irraneaa, their aeoretlTenoss will be dl@~ oration, and their suspicion will be foresight and prudence

• * •” The first thing that should be done with the untamed tribes of the mountain regions, if it is desired "that they adhere to our civilization, is to show them the advantages of that civilization* without persisting obstinately in the opinion that merely through the miracle of our wanting it 251 ourselves they will understand and follow us.rt All the tribes should be given lands and rights, should be taught decent standards of living, should be encouraged to develop their own arts and special abilities— their music, painting, knowledge of herbs, etc. Thus will be suppressed not only

the evil, but the origins of the evil; in the schools will 252 be produced men "who will learn to be loyal.”

Teja Zabre wants for them freedom from

the white man's hypocritical protection, which is merely a

cloak for exploitation. ”The only thing I want for the

Indians is that they be not 'protected' so much, that they 253 be allowed to live.”

Though leaza does not commit himself,

one infers that he shares the opinion he attributes to Diego

Rivera, with regard to the salvation of the Fatherland; "We

must act t. iv We must not talk. . * We mist create. We must be Mexicans. . . Let our work be essentially Mexican. 354 We must be national. We must express Mexico."

But, in general, the emphasis is laid on the uplifting power of education, and on the moral regenera­ tion of the people.

Arenas Guzmin Is eaphatle on the former point: ", . . While there weighs on the nation the burden of illiterates who constitute a frightful percentage of her

total population, that democracy will never be more than a beautiful Utopia, which, upon being practically applied by those who will take it upon themselves to prostitute it, will bring social anarchy, with its terrible wake of misery, ' " ■ 858 of slackening of discipline, of immorality. .

Azuela*s belief in the necessity of

education has already been shown. Quotations from Gonz&lez

PeHa, Guerra, Arce, and others have indicated their strong

sentiment in its favor. But let us hearken again to Gon­

zalez PeHa as he not only reiterates his opinion concerning

education, but also urges the necessity of a change of soul

in the people: "We cannot attain to a pure democratic gov­

ernment until the work of culture, of morallzation, of ool- 856 leotive well-being through wealth is fulfilled. . •M The

future direction of the country, he says, is in the hands

of the intellectual and cultured class created by the Bie-

tatorahip. "It will be Thought which will oppose victor­

iously the attacks of the evil atavistic instinct# whieh

have retarded the progress of the nation, . . While the peo­

ple do not change in soul, they cannot change in institu-

tlon.867

The same author brings out more strongly

elsewhere the latter point, the supreme importance of a -88- ohang© In the national character. "On the day when the national vanity disappears, wiped out by culture, when we aro industrious, modest, and serious, and when, thinking that we are the last, we aspire to be the first, we shall 258 have built a great Fatherland. . ."

AaoenaiSn Reyes, aa we have seen, be­ lieves that the Church should play a part In this regenera­ tion. Teja Zabre, whose Alas ablertas was inspired by the inception of the national air force of Mexico, feels that the aeroplane can show his countrymen the way to the bal­ ance which they so much need. "Let us hear the lesson of equilibrium, in order that we may not fall into slavery or BBS ■ . death."

And we may consider that he is summing up for his colleagues their own formulae for the realization of Mexicofs dreams, when he continues: "With a reorganiza­

tion which will utilize all the vital forces of the country, we shall be able to construct the delicate instruments and

the delicate institutions that modern civilization demands

of all peoples who long to be free. It is necessary for us

to fill in the moats of savage individualism and of com­

mercial selfishness; to kill waywardness, to temper pio- .. . ■. / ■ .859 vlnoialism and rivalry; to work in peace!" 65-

V. CONCLUSIONS

Mexico *8 history as an independent nation has been little more than a series of revolutions, with the period from 1910 to 1980,— that following the destruction of the enforced peace of Porfirio Diaz— lead­ ing all others in violence. The Mexican novelists who have been writing since 1910, and from whose opinions, as repres­ enting those of their countrymen in general, we have drawn these conclusions, agree that by that time drastic steps had to be taken to relieve the miserable state of the people. Revolution, they think, was practically inevitable, under the distressing conditions which prevailed throughout the Republic.

When the conflict came, the working classes, so long bowed down with crushing burdens of poverty and abuse, rushed with enthusiasm to battle for a better life.

But because of the Mexican lack of patriotism, of true un­ selfishness, the Revolution of 1910 soon degenerated, and became merely the pretext for abuses and excesses of all sorts. The hopefulness of the early period turned to dis­ illusionment, as it became evident that the people were not to be freed after all, that the cruel struggle whioh wa# oosting so dear in tears and blood was to achieve nothing but a change of oppressors. Sueh, in fact, was the net

result, in the eyes of most of the novelists, although,

there are a few who admit that the Revolution did accom­ plish some good,— who see it as the dawn of a new and bright­

er ere— a view that seems more reasonable, even if those who hold it are in the minority.

The majority feel that morally the long struggle was harmful in bringing about a general slackening of conscience among the Mexicans, and in stirring to life cnee more their revolutionary spirit that our authors recog­ nize as a national characteristic. The Revolution, as an

instrument for good, was defeated by the very factors which,

in the last analysis, had brought it into being: the utter

ignorance of a large portion of the population, the evils

of the political system, and certain deep-seated weaknesses

in the Mexican character. Speaking generally of revolution in

Mexico, the novelists find that its prevalence has been due

to oppressive laws, to the work of self-seeking agitators

who have known how to make the successive struggles a source

of profit to themselves, and again, to the ignorance and

low morale of the people, and their innate love of rebellion.

But Mexico ts addiction to civil war ie to be regretted. Although revolution may be a times a -8B- neoessary evil, not only is it powerless to ae@ompll#%,positive good, but, aoeording to most of the writers whose works we ere considering, it must inevitably result in ootual harm to the nation. Far from being a cure for her ills, it merely makes them moro acute#

The cure will not be an easy process. Any attempts to remedy Mexico's condition will have serious ob­ stacles to overcome, in the backwardness of the nation, in the corrupt state of her politics, and in the extreme egoism and the low standards of honor that prevail among her people. But although the task of building her into a sound, enlightened \ country may be slow and difficult, it can be accomplished: not through revolution, Which is an attempt to treat the sym­ ptoms instead of the disease, but through legal and social reform, through honest toil, through a humble recognition of her national faults and a sincere effort to correct them, more than all, through edueatlony-not through revolution, but through evolution, and peace. ~®B~

NOTES

!• The term is used advisedly, as presidential "elections"

in Mexico have practically never expressed the will of the people.

8. Source of information to this point: De Lara and Pinohon,

The Mexican People: Their Struggle for Freedom.

3. Bourses of information to this point: Williams, Mary

Wilhelmine, The People and Politics of Latin America;

Terry, T. Philip, Guide to Mexico, pp. ooxxxvi-coxlvib.

4. A sort of commissary store on the hacienda, at which the

peon was compelled to buy, and from which he might be

obliged to accept his wages, or raya, in whatever form

the landlord might wish.

5. Ascension Reyes, J.* Heraolio Bernal. p. 174.

6. A coarse cotton cloth,, the usual material for the peon's

clothing.

7. A certain kind of sandal, typical of Mexico,

8. Large hats made from the fiber of the huichole.

9. Arenas Guzm&n, D., El sefior Diputado, p. 246.

10. Herrera y Frlmont, 0., La Linea de ffuego. p. 21.

11. Gdmez Palaoio, M., El major de los aundos posibles, p. 36.

12. Aroe, M . , S&lo td, p. 128.

13. Ascension Reyes, J., Heraolio Bernal, p . 173.

14. See page 8 of this study. 15. Aroe, M., s6lo pp. 72 ff. .

16. L<5pez Portillo y Rojas, J., Fuertes y albiles, pp. 346-7.

17. Aroe, M., s6lo t6, pp. 82-88.

18. Davalos, M., G a m e de oanon, title page.

19. Daveloe, M., G a m e de oagon. P. 41. 20. Guerra, E. E., I/iximo. p. 64.

21. Guerra, E. E., Mdximo. pp, 61-62

22. Azuela, M.f Los oaoiques, p. 55.

23. Azuela, M., Los oaoiques. p, 9.

24. Azuela, M., Los oaciauea. p. 39.

25. Aroe, M., Ladrona, p. 131.

26. Davalos, M., G a m e de oanon, p. 41.

27. Guerra, E. E., M&ximo, p. 68.

28. Aeoenal^n Reyes, J., Heraolio Bernal, p. 48.

29. Quire do y Zubleta, S., JDofia Pla, p. 80.

30. Azuela, M., Sin amor, p. 222,

31. Arenas Gumdn, D., El senor Dinutado. p. 104.

32. Azuela, M., Sin amor, p. 224.

33. Queredo y Zubleta, S., Mexico maniooraio, p. 44.

34. Queredo y Zubleta, S., Wxloo manioomlo, p. 50.

35. Torres, T., Como perros jr f-atos, p. 83.

36. Gonz&lez PeEa, G., La fuga de la quimera, p. 91.

37. Gonzilez Pena, 0., La fuga dd la quimera, p. 120.

38. Arenas Cumin, D. , El sonor Dlputado, p. 42.

39. Azuela. M.. Andres Perez, maderlsta, p. 59.

40. Arenas,Guzmin, D., El senor Dlputado, pp. 231-232; Oonzilsz

Pena, 0., La turn de la quimera, p. 120. -as-

41. Asoensidn Beyeo, J., Heraclio Bernal, p. 200. 42. Taraeena, A., ^ el v&tiRO de la rovoluoi6n aexioana, p.ll 43. Arenas Guzm&n, D., 51 senor Dimitado, p. 74.

44. Name oontemptuomsly applied in Mexico to Spaniards.

45. Taraeena, A., En el rirtim de In revoluci&n mexicana, p.ll 46. Arce, M. , Sdlo td, p. 72*

47* Guorra, E. E. . Mixlmo. p. 47.

48. For Instance, Asoensidn Reyes, J., Heraclio Bernal, p. 197;

Arce, M., S6lo t&* pp. 70-71; Guerra, E, E., iMximo, pp.

108-112.

49. Teja Sabre, A., Alas abiertas. p. 85,

50. Arce, M., Sdlo t6, p. 74.

51. Maneleidor, J. La asonada, p. 31.

52. Asuola, M., Sim amor, p. 186.

53. Asuela, M . , Los caciques, p. 40.

54. Azuela, M., Sin amor, p. 96.

55. Azuela. M. t Los caoiouoo. p. 48.

56. Azuela, M., Los caciques, p. 34.

59. Mateos, J. A., La ma^estad oalda, p. 93.

53. Azuela, il., Sin amor, p. 28.

59. Asuela, IU, Los caciques, p. 41.

60. Azuela, I.-!,,. Mala yerba. p. 160.

61. Azuela, M., Mala yerba, p. 16. -

62. Azuela, M . , Los caciques, p. 9.

63. .Guerra, E. E., iMxlrao, p. 48. . ' .

64. Azuela, M., Los cacloues, p. 51.

66. Asoensidn Reyes, J.* Heraclio Bernal, p, 69. -8t-

66# AaoenaiSn Reyes, J., Heracllo Bernal, p. 70,

67. Asoenetdn Reyes, J., Heraollo Bernal, p. 64. 68. iZpez Portillo y Rojas* J., Fuertes y d4blles, p. 346. 69. Arenas Guzman, D., El seBor Dioutado. p. 252. 70. Oonzilez PeSa, G., La fuga de la qulraera. n. 120.

71. Mateos, J. A., La magestad oaida. p. 46.

72. Mateos, J. A., La macestad oaida, p. 133.

73. Mateos, J. A., La maRested oaida, p. 108.

74. Gonzalez, A., Carranza, p. 73. This refers to the

7 r. Carranza revolution in particular.

75. Aroe, M., Solo tu. p. 201.

76. Quevedo y Zubieta, S., Mexico maniooaio* p. 50.

77. Aroe, M., Solo tu. p. 29.

78. Davalos, M. , G a m e de cagon, p. 171.

79. 06aez Palacio, !.!., El nejor de los mundoa Wslbles. p. 36.

80. Ito-teos, J. S., La maaestad oaida. p. 353.

81. Muagula Torres, J., Almas rleleras. p. 57.

82. L6pez Portillo y Rojas, J.. Fuertes y dlbiles. p. 346.

83. Gonzilez Pels, C., La f u m de la ouimera. p. 94. 84. CkSnez Palacio. H., El major de los nundos posiblea. p. 15. 85. Aroe, M., s6lo tu, p. 129. See also: Azuela, M. , Los

de aba.lo. p. 39.

86. Mungula Torres, J., Almas rleleras. p. 47.

87. Gonzdlez, A.. Carranza, p. 167.

88. L6pez Ituarte, A . , Satends, p. 19.

89. MuSoz, R..T4monos con Pancho Villa, p. 24. 90. Mumoz, R.. Vamonos oon Panoho Villa. p. 147.

91. Oonzalez, A., Carranza, p. 73.

92. Mateos, J. A., La aagestad oalda. p. 74.

93. Guzman, M. L., El &gulla y la seraiente, p. 109.

94. Guzmdn, K. L., El 4gulla X la .se^lente, p. 81.

95. Guzradn, M. L., El digulla jr la serplente. p. 140.

96. Campobello, IT.. Cartucho. p. 108.

97. Arenas Guzman, D., El senor Dipatado. p. 319. 98. Azuela, M., Los de aba.to. especially p. 72.

99. Lopez y Puentes, G., Oaapamento. pp. 82 ff. 100. L6pez y Puentes, G., Oaapamento. p. 84. 101.See also: Guzman, M. L., La sombre del Gaudillo: L&pez y Puentes, G., Campamento: Mufioz, R., fimonos con Panoho

Villa: Azuela, K. , Los de abajo.

103. Guzm&n, M. L., El Manila x. Is, serplente. p. 178.

105. Aroe, M., s6lo td, p. 176.

104. Guzman, M. L.» El aguila y la serplente. p. 334.

105. Guzman, LI. L., El aguila y la serplente. p. 299. The

allusion is to the time of Carranza.

Azuela, M., Los de aba.lo. p. 112. - 107. Azuela, M., Los de aba.lo. p. 65.

108. Torres, T. . Como perros y Ratos, p. 36. 109. Azuela, M., Los de abajo. p. 40.

110. Azuela, M., Las aosoas. p. 192.

111. Azuela, LI., Las aosoas. p. 16. 112. Azuela, M., Las aosoas. p. 175. 113. Azuela, M. , Las moseam, p. 163. -91-

114. ^uevedo y Zubieta, S., I^exico aanicomio. p. 185. 115. Arenas Guzman, D., El senior Dinut ado, p. 239. 116. Arenas Guzmdn, D., 21 selior Diputado. p. 338. 117. Arenas Guzm4n, D., 21 senor Diputado, p. 363.

118. Arenas Guzm&n, D., El aenor Dlnutado. p. 364. 119. Ouzm4n, IU L,, La. sombra del Caudlllo. p. 197. . 120. Gons&lez Pefia, C., La- fnm de la oulmera. p. 60. 131. Gonz4lez Pels, C., La fuga de la qulmera. p. 93.

See also p. 840. 182. Azuela, M., Las tylbulactones de una faailia deoente,

p. 139.

183. Torres, T., Oomo perrps y gatos, p. 41.

124. Torres, T., Oomo nerros y gatos, p. 142.

125. Torres, T., Oomo perros y patos, p. 36. 126. Azuela, H., Los oaolques, p. 39. 127. See page 35 of this study.

128. Azuela, K., Las moscas, p. 195. Azuela, H., Los de aba jo, p. 119 • V: 130. Arenas Guzaiin, D., 21 senor Diputado, pp. 63-64.

131. Oastilo, G.. Ayer, hoy. . .mahana, p. 145. "Texan" hat

broad-briciHiGd 132. Suzmfcn, M. L., El abulia y la serpiente, p . 116.

Azuela, M., Los de aba Jo, p. 41.

134. Azuela, K., Las mosoas, p. 180.

135. The common word in Mexico for "blonde.* 136. Azuela, M., Los de abajo, p. 90. 137. Gmail!, M. L,, La sombra del Caudlllo; p. 78. 133. Guzmin, U, L.» 21 isuila y la serpieate. p. 84.

139. See page 38 of this study.

140. Guzm&n, M. L., El igulla y la serplente, p. 331.

141. Azuola, K., Los de abajo, pp. 106-107.

142. Arenas CMsanan, D., El segor Dlputado . p. 253. 143. Arenas Guzman, D.. El sehor Dlputado.- n. 192. 144. Aroe, M. , Ladrona. p. 75.

145. Arenas Guzmin, D., El segor Dlputado, p. 358. 146. Gmm&a, M. L., El igulla y la serplente. p. 353.

147. Arenas Guzmin, D., 21 segor Dlputado. p* 390.

148. Mateos, J. A., La magestad oafda, p. 149.

1491 Taracena, A. ', En el vertigo , de la revoluol6n mezlcana,

p. 5,

150. Aroe, M . , Ladrona, gp. 197 ff.

151. L&pez Ituarte, A., Satanas, p. 11.

152. Arenas Guzman, D., El sonor Dlputado, p. 70.

153. Quevedo y Zubleta, S., M^xioo manloomlo, p. 118.

154. Guzmdn, M. L., la sombra del Caudlllo, p. 280.

155. Torres, T.', Como nerros y Ratos, p. 187.

156. Oastilo, G., Ayer, hoy. , .manana, p. 35. 157. See page 66 of this study.

158. Asoensi6n Reyes, J., Heraclio Bernal, pp. 87-88.

159. AseenslOa Reyes, J., Heraollo Bernal, p. 62.

160. Guzmdn, M. L., La sombra del Caudlllo, p. 272. 161. Guzmin, M. L., El aguila y la serplente, p. 369. - S3*

1 M . Ouaoin, M. L,, El dguila y la serpiente. p. 123*

163* - Goazdloz Pefto, 0., la fuga de la guliaera, pp. 240-241. 164. Arenas Guzn4n, D., El sogor Dinutado. p. 212i

165. Oonzdlez Pe5a, 0., La de la quimera. pp. 60* 93;

Mateos, J. A,, La ma^estad calda. p. 145. 166. Gonzales Pena, G., La fuga de la telmera, p. 60. 167. quevedo y Zubleta, S., M&ioo manicomlo. p. 167.

16®. quevedo y Zableta, S., W z l o o manicomlo. p. 113.

169. Torres, T., Como oerros y Ratos, p. 169. .

170. Guzmdn, M. L., La spmbra del Caudlllo. p. 47.

171. Asoensldn Reyes, J., Heraollo Bernal, p. 185.

172. HuSoz, R., V&mnoB con Pancho Villa, p. 24. 173. Guerra, E. E., Maximo. p. 275. 174. Guerra, E. E., Mixlmo, p. 57.

171. Guzmdni M. L., El &;ulla % la serpiente. p. 323.

176. quevedo y Zubleta, S., Mexico manleomlo. p. 200.

177. Quevedo y Zubleta, S., DoRa Pia, p. 33.

178. Guerra, E. E., W x l m o . p. 208.

179. Guerra, E. E., W z i m o . p, 17.

180. Guerra, E. E., Maximo, pp. 168, 270. 181. Azuela, ,M., Andr4s P4rez, maderista. p. 93.

182. Asceneldn Reyes, J., Heraollo Bernal, p. 84.

183. OonxAlez PeSa, G., la fuga de la quimera. p. 93.

184. ' Oonzdlez Pe8a, C., La fuga de la quimera. p. 122.

185. Azuela, M., Las moseas, p. 17. 186. Aseeaalia Reyes. Heraollo Bernal, p. 109.

187. GuzmAn, M. L., El Apulia y la serpiente. p. 331. The

mllltaiy revolts so common in Mexico’s history. 188i Aseenaidn’Reyes, J., Heracllo Bernal, p. 47.

189# AseeBsiim Reyes, J., Heracllo Bernal, p. 836^ 190. Gonzilez Pefia, C,, La fum de la qulmera, p. 240.

191. Guerra, 1. 1., iMximo, p. 870.

192. Guzmdn, M, L., El ^guila y la serciente. P. 368. 193. Gonzalez Pela, 0., La fuata de la qulmera, p. 141. 194. Azuela, U., Los caciques. p. 15.

198i Gtonz&les PeHa, 0., La fuga de la qulmera, p. 71:

196. Gonz&lez Pena, C., La fuga de la qulmera, p. 93. 197. Gonzdlez PeSa, C., La fu^a de la qulmera, p. 141.

198. Ascension Reyes, J., Heracllo Bernal, p. 62. 199. Gastllo, G. , Ayer, hoy. . . manana, p. 106. The refer-

- ences are to Mexican foods which have no American

- - counterparts. 1

200. Ascension Reyes, J., Heracllo Bernal, p. 71.

201. Ascension Reyes, J., Heracllo Bernal, p. 67.

202. Gtoazdlez PeKa, C., La fuea de la qulmera. p. 140.

203. Guerra, E. E., iMxlmo, p. 139.

204. Guerra, E. E., Mzimo, p. 143.

205. Guerra, E. E., iMxlmo, p. 119.

206. Teja Zahre, A., Alas abiertas, p. 209. The quotations

are typically Mexican expressions, which lose their

flavor in translation. Literally, "Who knows?", "To­

morrow. . . "God shall say. . 207. Torres, T., Como perros y Ratos, p. 108.

208. Guerra, E. E., M x l m o , p. 125. 209. Guzndn, M. L., La somhra del Caudillo, p. 51. •§5-

210• Quan^n, M. L., La soabra del Oaudillo, p. 302.

211. Guznin,' M. L.» La soiabra del Oaudillo* p. 88.

212. Qua*Aaf :Ii. L., La sombra del CauaUOo , p. 119. 213. Icaza, X., Panchito Qhapopote. p. 79.

214. Ascension Reyes, Heracllo Bernal, p. 119.

215. Qwbm&xx, H. L,, La sombra del Oaudillo, p. 166. 216. Gusnin, M. L., La sombra del Oaudillo, p. 182.

217. quevedo y Zubleta, S.. Ii4xlco mnicoalo, p. 161.

218. For instance, De Lara and Piaobon.

219. Guzmdn, lu. L., La sombra del Oaudillo,, p. 99*

220. ' Qusfcrin, M. L., La sonbra del OaMlllQ, P* 189.

M l * ' Aeceaslia Reyes, Heraclip, Bernal, p. 210.

222. quevedo y Zubleta, S., Mexico ataniGonilo, p. 58.

223. Guerra, 132.

884. lease, X., Panchito Ohapoaote, Alcancc appended to book

BBS* Aroe, hi,, StSlo til, pp . 29, 154.

BBS. Teja Zabre, A., .Uao ablertas, p. 194.

887. Azuela, H. , Los do abajo, p. 56.

228. Azuela, H., Los de abajo, p. 64.

229. Gonzdlez Pefia, C., La.ruga de la quimjra, p. 92.

230. Teja Zabre, A., Alas ablertas, p. 209.

231. Gonzdlez Pe&a, 0.. La turn de la quimera, p. 119.

238. Guerra, 3. E., Mdxlmo, p. 148.

233. Guerra, E. E., iraxlmo, p. 167.

234. Guerra, E. E., rixlgo, P» 257. 235. ' Torres, T.. Como perrps y £atos, p. 133.

236. Asoensidn Reyes, J., Heracllo Bernal, p. 121. 23f• Ascension Reyes, J., Heraolio Bernal, p. 171

238i Gonz&lez.PeSa; C., La funa de la qulmera; p. 241.

839i Ascension Reyes, J.. Heraolio Bernal, p.'68.

240; Asoensldn Reyes, J., Heraollo Berna 1, p.87.

241. Guerra, 35. E., iMziino, p. 270. 248. Guerra, E. E., K^bdao, p. 271.

243; Gonzdlez, A., Carranza, ?. 38. 244; Aroe, M., Ladrona, p; 169.

245< Castilo, G.', Ayer, hoy. . « tiallana, p. 96.

840, Guerra, E. E., iMzlmo, p. 164.

247. Guerra, E. E., iMzlmo, p. 244. 248. Guerra, E. I., Wzlmo, pp. 121, 198.

249. Aaoensl^n Reyes, J., Heraello Bernal, p. 64.

250. Asoensldn Reyes,J., Heraello Bernal, p. 27.

251., Aroe, M., 3^3^^ tiA, p* 72 *

252. Arce, M., s6lo tig, p. 176.

253. Teja Zahre, A., Alas ahlertas. p. 195,

254. leaza, I., Panehito Chaoopote, Aloanoe.

255. Arenas Guzman, D., El senor Dinutado, p. 248.

256. Gonzilez Pena, C., La fuca de la qulmera, p. 9 3 .

257. Gonzilez PeKa, 0., La furs, de la qulmera, p. 92.

258. Gonzilez Pena, C., In fuca de la qulmera, p. 141.

259. Teja Zabre, A.,ALas abiertas, p. 809.

260. Although neither the following book® nor definite in­

formation about them were available for this study, it

was thought that they might contain pertinent material:

Oalooa, Lauro,G., El llrlo de la fuente (Ouentos). Mex­

ico, 1924. Castellanos, Esteban, La ruing de la oasona; San Antoni©

CkJmoz Palacio, MartjCn, B1 aanto horror, 1985*

Gutierrez de Lara, L*, Los bribones. Los Angeles, Calif­ ornia, no date* loaza, Xavier, Gents Mexicans. • 1924.

‘ La Hacienda. 1925. •

Rabasa, B», La Guerra de Tres AHos. ■ 1S51*

Tarasena, Alfonso, Ba.jo el fue^o de hellos.

Urquizo, E. L.. De la vida milltar mexicana. San Antonio

Texas. ' ' ' 260 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Araquistrain, Luis, La Rovoluol&n aexioana. Madrid^ 1930*

Aroe, Miguel, .Ladrona^San Antonio, Texas, 1928. [Copyright

86lo tA. San Antonio, Texas, 1928. [Written 19863

Arenas CuzmAn, Diego, (Saide, Genaro), El senor Diputado. MAxieo, 1931. —

AsoeasiSa Reyes, J., El Autom6vll Gris. Novela de los tiempoe de la Revolucion Constitucionalista. San Antonio, Texas, 1929. [copyright 1922

San Antonio,

Azuela, Mariano, Andrcfs Pirez, maderista. Wxioo, 1911.

^Los caciques. Novela de eostumbres naoionales. Mexico, 1917. [Written 19140

; Los de aba.1o. Mexico, 1920.

; &Iala yerba. 1'4xico, 1924. [v?ritten 1909 j

Las mo sea a. Doinitilio quiere ser diputado.

Sin Amor. Mexico, 1912.

Las tribulaolones de^una fatal 11a decente. Cuadros y escenas lo place of publication, no date.

Breoeda, A., Mexico revolucionario (1915-1917). Tomo I, Mad-

Bunge, Carlos Octavio, Nuestra America. Buenos Aires, 1918.

Campobello, Nellie, Cartuoho. Xalapa, 1951. Oastilo, Guillermo, (pseudonym, Jlibilo), Ayer, boy. . . man- a m . .. Ho place of publication, no date.

DaTaloo, Karcellno » Parse de caSon. (Cuentos) Publioada bajo ibs auspicios d© la Bevolucibn de 1913. ^xicqf, 1915.

Gbmez, Palaoio, Hartin, B1 major de los mtmdos nosibles (Romance deEpisodios Kacionales.) San Pedro de los Pinos, D, 1927,

Gonzalez, Alfredo, Carranza; Novela de^la Revolucidn* San

Gonzalez Pena, Carlos, La fuga de^la^qulmera. No place of

Guerra, Ernesto E., Kdximo:^ Luchas^civilistas. Barcelona, ^

Luohas pre-revolucionarias 3

Gutierrez de Lara, L., and Pinchon, Sdgcumb, The Mexican People;^ The!r0^ r^fT^| 7for Isbepend-

Guzmin, Martin Luis, El aeuila 2. 3a serpiente. liadrid, 1928.

La sombra del Caudlllo* Madrid, 1929. •

Herrera Frimont, Celestino, ____La linea de fuego. (Narraclones revoluoionar:.onarias]: Xalapa, 1930. loaza, Xavier, Panchito Chapopote. Mexico, 1988.

L6pez y Puentes, Gregorio, Campaiaento. Madrid, 1931.

Ldpcz Ituarte, Alfonso, SatantCs. La invasion de W m Cruz y el oonflicto ©on la Casa Blanca. Mexico, 1914.

Lbpez Portillo y Rojas, Jos4, Fuertes y deblles. I.l4xioo, no date.

La parcela. Mexico, 1904.

Manoisldor, Jos4, La Asonada. Xalapa, 1931*

Mateos, Juan Antonio, La magestad ca£da, £ la RevolucIon Kex- ioana. Mexico; Buenos' Aires, no date.

Munguin Torres, J., Almas rieleras. Mexico, 1929. [First 100

Mtt&os, Rafael, El feroa cabecilla, jr otros cuentos de la Revolution ea el norte. lidxioo, 1928.

El honbre^malo, otros^relatos. Tilla^ataca

Vdinonos oon Panoho Villa. Madrid, 1951.[First editions Priestley, Herbert I., ’'Mexican Literature on the Recent Re­ volution," Hispanio-^jnerican Historical Review, Yol. II, pp. 286-511, Baltimore, 1919:. quevedo y Zubieta, Salvador, Dona Pia, o el contmohocue. Mixico, 1 9 B 7 ~

Mexico manloomio. Rovela biet^rica contempor-; « p < >oa de Yenustiano Oarranxa) I^adrid, 1927.

R a w s , Roberto, Biblioprafia^de^j-a Revoluc^^i6n .Mexicana. XHasta

Mexicanas, 230. 21. ^L'dxioo, 1931.

Taraoena, Alfonso, En

Teja Zabre, Alfonso, Alas abiertas. Mexico, no date.

Terry T. Philip, Guide to Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1928. tOopy right 1909 3

Torres, Teodor®, (pseudonym Carioato), Como perros y gatos. San Antonio, 1924. {Written 19213 1 l^irst edition^

Williams, Mary Wilhelmine, The People and Politics of Latin Anerloa. Ginn and Co•, 1930. \

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