(1920) carranza and his bolshevik regime (mexican politics)

8/9/2019 (1920) Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime (Mexican Politics)

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THE LIBRARYOFTHE UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA

RIVERSIDE


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Carranza and HisBolshevik Regime

ByJORGE VERA-ESTANOLFormer Secretary of the Interior andFormer Secretary of Public Education

of the Republic of Mexico

Wayside PressLos Angeles, Cal.

1920


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COPYRIGHT BYJORGE VERA-ESTANOL.FORMER SECRETARY OP THE INTERIOR ANDFORMER SECRETARY OF PUBLIC EDUCATIONOF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO


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TO MY COUNTRYMENDuring the year 1919 I published in

"Revista Mexicana, " a weekly periodicalof San Antonio, Texas, a series of seventeenarticles designed to show that the Mexicanconstitution which was adopted at Queretaroin 1917, and which is still in force, is spuriousin origin and that such of its articles aseffected any changes of serious import inthe provisions of the constitution of 1857were in direct conflict with the principlesof equity and the demands of nationalwelfare.At the time when the aforementioned

articles were written, the government ofVenustiano Carranza had been in existencemore than two years and during this periodit had not succeeded in restoring order inMexico nor in estaj)lishing truly cordialrelations with three of the largest worldpowers, the United States, France andEngland. Lacking a proper foundation orany real support, either within or without thebounds of its own country, the Carranza


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government was enabled to exist only bythe maintenance of an army of 100,000 menand the further fact that the neutrality lawsof the United States operated to prevent thearming of the nation against its rulers.The defection of a single state was all that

was necessary to cause practically all of thegenerals of Carranza's army to turn upon himone after another and to bring about thedissolution of the government in the shortspace of thirty days.And now we are concerned with the

question: ''Were the Carranza policiesrepudiated simultaneously with his downfall.''"Those at the head of the federal and stategovernments are the same men who battledwith Carranza in 1913, who styled him "FirstChief," who elected him president, who drewup the constitution of 1917, and kept him inpower for three consecutive years.But despite the identity of these men their

attitude of today contrasts favorably withthat of yesterday. No property has beenconfiscated, no churches have been profaned,no revenges have been exacted and no whole-sale executions have taken place. Insteadof the passionate outbursts inspired by hatredor cupidity that characterized the Carranza


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revolution of 1913 there fall today from thelips of its most conspicuous leaders wordsimbued with a spirit of moderation and adesire to conciliate. It appears to be theirpurpose to give guarantees of safety topolitical refugees that they may retiun totheir countrj^ to collaborate in the work ofreconstruction through the exercise of consti-tutional rights rather than by the grace ofhumiliating permits. And it has also beenmade known that property illegally seized byofficials of the Carranza government will berestored to its owners.And what is more, many revolutionists of

the Carranza regime, since the heat of thepassions which inspired the mistakes of 1917has cooled, recognize the faults of the consti-tution of Queretaro and the injustices whichit embodies and admit the desirability of therepeal of a considerable number of its pro-visions and the restoration of correspondingones in the constitution of 1857.Under such circumstances no effort should

be spared to legalize the constitution of 1917by a revision of the document in the mannerprescribed by the constitution of 1857 andreincorporated in the former, at the sametime writing into it such amendments as the


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present and future needs of the countryappear to demand along political, social andeconomic lines, while eliminating all thoseprecepts which are recognized obstacles inthe way of individual freedom, nationalwelfare and international harmony.

It is my wish to contribute my grain ofsand toward this constructive program, forthe opportunity at hand may, perhaps, bethe last which will be allowed to Mexicans toaccomplish, without aid or interference, theregeneration of their country. In the hopeof stimulating deeper and more conscientiousstudy of the subject I have decided to publish,in this form, the series of articles to which Ihave referred above. I beg my countrymento read the articles in the same unbiasedframe of mind in which they were written.

Los Angeles, Cal., May 18, 1920.JORGE \ ERA-ESTANOL


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CONTENTS PAGECHAPTER I.The Mexican constitu-tion of 1917 is illegitimate, viewedfrom a legal, political or revolutionarystandpoint 3

CHAPTER II.The Assembly of Quere-taro, which approved the constitutionof 1917, did not represent the will of theentire nation but merely that of an arm-ed minority of the proletariat. ... 13CHAPTER III.Religious freedom isnecessary to peace of conscience. Theconstitution of 1917 denies this freedom 23

CHAPTER IV.No other problem inMexico transcends that which involvesthe education of the masses. Recog-nizing this, the constitution of 1857stipulated that education should befree 33

CHAPTER v.The constitution of 1917places odious restrictions upon educa-tional freedom. It also places impedi-ments in the way of carrying out anynational educational program whichthe federal government may undertake. 42

CHAPTER VI.Considerations of hu-manity and the precepts of socialeconomy demand that labor be digni-fied. In this respect the constitution of1917 is progressive, though it reachescertain extremes which are incompat-


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ContentsPAGE

ible with a desire to guarantee securityfor invested capital 55

CHAPTER VII.The Constitution of1917 very properly confers upon theState the power to exercise due vigilancefor the preservation and conservationof natural elements; but Carranza hasendeavored to utilize this prerogativeto the extent of socializing industries ofa private nature 64

CHAPTER VHLThe mihtary casteappropriates two-thirds of the nation'srevenue w^hile the school-teachers gohungry. 84

CHAPTER IX.Under the provisionsof the constitution of 1857 privateproperty could be expropriated onlyupon the payment in cash of a sumcovering its actual value. Under theterms of the constitution of 1917,expropriation becomes nothing morethan spoliation, since no advance cashpayment is required and the indemnityallowed covers only a portion of theactual value of the property. ... 96

CHAPTER X.The laws enacted by theFederal Congress since 1884 and priorto the year 1917 have vested in theowners of the surface soil the deposits ofpetroleum, coal and other mineralfuels contained therein. The consti-


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Contents PAGEtution of 1917 despoils these owners oftheir previously granted rights. . .106

CHAPTER XI.The constitution of1917 withholds forty per cent of thesoil from foreign investors and alsoprevents stock-holders of mercantilecorporations from lending their power-ful aid to agricultural enterprises. . . 122

CHAPTER XII. The constitution of1917 imprudently confers upon theexecutive powers of the nation and ofthe states the discretionary power ofdetermining, in every instance, thelanded areas which may be owned bystock corporations engaged in non-agricultural enterprises 129

CHAPTER XIILThe so-called agrar-ian problem in Mexico is not one whichinvolves the land. It is concernedwith matters having to do with irriga-tion, investment problems, rural bank-ing institutions and the organization ofan autonomous agricultural class. Theconstitution of 1917, instead of pro-viding guarantees to property andfacilitating colonization, fails to recog-nize the efficacy of patent titles or theforce of res adjudicata and the pre-scription in questions pertaining torural property and at the same timeinjuriously restricts the land-holdingcapacity of foreigners 137


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Contents PAGECHAPTER XIV.Commendable safe-guards against illegal manipulation by-capital are provided by for the consti-tution framed at Queretaro but, hereagain, iniquitious extremes are reached,for exemptions necessary for thestimulation of new industries aredenied and the spoliation of the banks,authorized by Carranza, is legalized. 171CHAPTER XV.The electoral preroga-tive should be limited to properlyqualified voters. The constitution of1917 timidly undertakes to restrictsuffrage but does not guarantee, satis-factorily, the freedom of the press. . 195CHAPTER XVI.The constitution of1917 restricts the powers of the FederalCongress, while, on the other hand, itincreases the political, co-legislativeand even the judicial prerogatives ofthe Cliief Executive. As a matter offact, it makes dictatorship constitu-tional 210

CHAPTER XVII.Carrancism and theconstitution of 1917 are the most effec-tive proof of the failure of PresidentWilson's attitude toward the Mexicanquestion. Further pursuance of simi-lar foreign policies would inevitablylead to similar results 225


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CARRANZA AND HISBOLSHEVIK REGIMECHAPTER I

The Federal Congress of Mexico, com-posed of the Chamber of Senators and theChamber of Deputies, was the only legitimatebody authorized by the Constitution of 1857to revise and amend that Constitution. Toaccomplish this the action of a two-thirdsmajority of said body, followed by theratification of a majority of the State Legisla-tures, was necessary.

Nevertheless, Carranza called together aspecial assembly which met in Queretaro, thesole object of which assembly was to approvethe fundamental code which is in force todayin Mexico.

Carranza foresaw since his first decree ofSeptember 19th, 1916, that the nationor, touse his own term, the "reactionaries"would not fail to protest against the bastardityof the Constitution's origin. He, therefore


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4 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeat once attempted to justify himself byadvancing the argument that the revohitionof Ayutla, which overthrew the tyrannj^ ofSanta Anna, had also convened a ConstituentCongress and sanctioned a fundamental codewithout abiding by the regulations of theConstitution of 1824.What ignorance, or shall we say duplicity,

did he display in citing this precedent!According to the wording of the "Plan de

Ayutla"amended at Acapulco"Those ofits good sons who launched forth to vindicatetheir rights so scandalously trampled upon,cherished not even the vaguest idea of impos-ing conditions upon the sovereign will of thenation, either re-establishing by force of armsthe federal system or restoring things to thesame state in which they were at the time ofthe 'Plan de Jalisco': for, all those thingsrelating to the form under which the nationmust definitely establish itself must be sub-mitted to the Congress wliich shall be called tothat end; thus is it made known publicly andexplicitly even now.'''

Consistent with this program, the fifthclause of the above mentioned plan promisedthe nation that "fifteen days after the president'ad interim' undertakes his new duties, he


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 5shall convene a special congress in conformitywith the provisions of the law enacted forthat purpose on the 10th of December, 1841,which shall devote itself exclusively' to thework of organizing the nation as a popularrepresentative republic and investigating theacts of the present government, and those ofthe provisional executive, which are treatedof in Article 2. This constituent congressis to meet four months after its convocation."Thus w^e see that the Revolution of Ayutla

did not offer to restore to the nation a formerconstitutional system, but rather to convene aconstituent assemblage, the form of whichhad been previously agreed upon, with theobject of drawing up a representative, re-publican and popular constitution.

This was the explicit pledge of the Revolu-tion of Ayutla and it was carried out to thevery letter. Nor did the leaders of thatrevolution deceive the people with the in-tention of dragging them into armed strife,nor did they defraud them after victory wasobtained.The revolution of Carranza proceeded along

entirely different lines.From its very origin, it proclaimed itself

"the restorer of the constitutional system,


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6 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimewhich, it declared,|had^beenViolated with theoverthrow of Madero. This system was estab-lished by the Constitution of 1857. Eventhough in the course of its development, therevolution of Carranza was obliged to pro-claim the necessity of political, economic andsocial reforms, nevertheless it did not re-nounce, at least publicly, its originally de-clared purpose. In addition to the fact thatit assumed the deceiving name of "Constitu-tionalism," there are numberless documents inwhich it pledged itself expressly or by impli-cation to support the Constitution of 1857,with the amendments so loudly advocatedappended.

It is unnecessary, in order to prove theforegoing statements, to quote the officialand confidential messages transmitted byCarranza agents to the United States Govern-ment. Suffice it to say that Carranza'smanifesto to the Nation, issued on June 11th,1915, to which I shall refer later on, was theoutcome of pledges made in Washington dur-ing the course of negotiations relative to therecognition of the de facto government. Proofof this fact was furnished by Richard H. Cole,one of Carranza's confidential emissaries, whomade public the following telegram sent to


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 7him in care of the Mexican Embassy atWashington by Carranza on the 23rd of May,1915: "Received your courteous message.The proclamation will be issued in due time.

It will suffice also to quote the followingstatements published by the American press,with reference to the Mexican-American con-ference held in New London on the 12th ofSeptember, 1916: "The Mexican Deputiesexpect that the election of the Congress whichwill formulate and submit the new Constitutionto the various state legislatures will be simul-taneous with the local elections." Like allreports given out by the press at that time,this report was published after being passedby these same deputies and therefore, therecan be no doubt as to its authenticity. Thisreport shows, unquestionably, that in theopinion of the official representatives of the defacto Carrayiza government the approval ofCongress, that is, the Senate and the Chamberof Deputies, and of the State Legislatures wasnecessary in order to sanction any changesin the constitution.But I must speak, not exactly of the diplo-

matic pledges made by Carranza, but rather ofthose which he gave to the Mexican people.These were numerous and explicit.


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8 Carranza and His Bolshevik RegimeArticle 2 of the decree of February 19th,

1913, issued by the Legislature of the Stateof Coahuila, as the initial act of the Carrancistainsurrection, authorizes the Executive of saidState "to arm forces in order to co-operate insustaining the, constitutional system of theRepublic.'^ This constitutional system of theRepublic was precisely that of the Constitutionof 1857.The circular issued on the same day by

Carranza in which he "urges co-operation inthe legitimist movement" affirms that "it isthe duty of the general Congress to meet forthe purpose of calling at once a specialelection as provided in Article 81 of ourMagna Charta." Our Magna Charta was ofcourse the Constitution of 1857. And thesame circular adds that "the Governmentof the State finds itself obliged to hoist theflag of legality in order to uphold theconstitutional government which grew outof the last election." That government towhich Carranza referred could be noneother than the one established in pursuancewith the provisions of the Constitution of1857.

In the "Plan de Guadalupe" of the 26th ofMarch, 1913, not one word is said regarding


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 9the reconstruction of the Nation under a newconstitution. On the contrary, in order tojustify its stipulations, it states that the"Legislative body and the Judiciary haverecognized and supported General VictorianoHuerta contrary to the constitutional lawsand precepts." The said constitutional pre-cepts were those of the Constitution of 1857.The decree modifying the "Plan de Guada-

lupe" issued on the 12th of December, 1914,asserted that the "constitutional order ofthings" (originating from the Constitution of1857) "had been interrupted" as a resultof the events which took place on the 19th ofFebruary, 1913; and as the "ConstitutionalGovernor of Coahuila had solemnly swornto uphold and cause to be upheld the generalConstitution," which was none other thanthat of 1857, "he was bound to take up armsin order to re-establish the constitutionalsystem in the Mexican Republic," that is,the Constitution of 1857. And, therefore,"at the triumph of the revolutionthe First Chief shall issue thecall for election of the Congress of the Union,and "shall submit to it the reforms pro-claimed and put in force during the strife sothat the Congress may ratify, amend, or


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10 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimesupplement them and may constitutionalizesuch amendments as may be necessary beforethe constitutional order of things can bere-established." Such Congress of the Unioncould be no other than the Senate and theChamber of Deputies established in con-formity with the Fundamental Code of 1857.Even more explicit is the manifesto which

Carranza himself issued to the Nation on the11th of June, 1915, in order to secure recogni-tion as a de facto government according to histelegram to Richard H. Cole, quoted above,since the following unmistakable statementscan be read in said manifesto: "As Governorof the State of Coahuila and in obedience tothe Constitutional mandates, articles 121 and128 of our fundamental Code,"that of 1857"I then assumed the representation of ourRepublic under the terms in which such rightis vested in me by the same Constitution"that of 1857. Not satisfied with simplymentioning these articles, the First Chiefmade the following exact quotation from them"Every public official, without any exception,before assuming his duties, shall take solemnoath to uphold this Constitution''that of1857"and all laws emanating therefrom.""This Constitution shall not lose its force


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 11and vigor even though its observance beinterrupted by a rebellion. In case that byany public disturbance a government con-trary to the principles which it sanctions isestablished, its force shall be restored as soonas the people regain their liberty."

Carranza, therefore, very definitely support-ed the revolution against the government ofHuerta upon the precepts of the Constitution of1867; he called the people to armed strifeunder that flag; he promised to re-establish theConstitution of i


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12 Carranza and His Bolshevik RegimeAssembly of Queretaro was the bastard off-spring of a cou]) d'etat, and its worktheConstitution of 1917also illegitimate, isinevitably' condemned to disappear when ''the^people regain their liberty'^ as stipulated inArticle 128 of the Magna Charta of 1857quoted by Carranza in his manifesto of the11th of June, 1915.


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CHAPTER IIInasmuch as the Constitution of 1857 pro-

vides for its own amendment, and alsospecifies the legal proceedings to be followed inorganizing the administration, why, instead ofconvoking an illegitimate constituent assem-bly, did not Carranza immediately call electionsfor a Federal Congress and President of theRepublic at the same time, and compel themilitary governors of the States to do likewiseso as to restore state authorities as well?Why did he not wait for the Federal Con-gress and the State Legislatures to be convenedin order to submit the constitutional amend-ments which the revolution had proposed?The answer is simple.If the laws of the Magna Charta of 1857

had been honestly observed, all social classeswould have participated in the general elec-tions. It would have been impossible towithhold the suffrage either from the Villistafaction, which disagreed with the Carrancistas,or from the agrarian faction, represented byZapata and his followers, or from the scattered


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14 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeadherents of the old regime, or, in general, fromall the passive or orderly classes capable, onaccount of their education, of comprehendingthe importance of the moment.But such participation of all the social

classes in the coming election augured withabsolute certainty the defeat of the rulingfaction and its elimination from power.As a matter of fact, the Carrancista faction

was composed of a small percentage of theproletariat. With one or two exceptions,those in its ranks acting as advisers were un-successful and embittered professional men,underpaid primary school teachers, mainlyfrom the rural districts, untrained students,and journalists. The officers and heads ofthe revolutionary army had been recruitedfrom the ranks of foremen, muleteers, police-men, clerks, milkmen, and included alsoquite a number of drudges, farm hands, peons,and jail-birds.Such was the group of men which had

seized the government by violence, whichhad confiscated both individual and publicproperty, which had so easily enriched itselfwith the proceeds of confiscation, levies, andspoliation concomitant with and followingthe military campaign. Having obtained


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 15victory, they naturally were determined toenjoy the spoils, for they considered that theNation had become their patrimony.They knew full well that in a free political

contest they would be eliminated, not onlybecause of their ignorance and their anteced-ents, but also because they represented ascanty minority.One of the foremost members of this group,

Machorro Narvaez, speaking before the Con-stituent Congress, said: ''The present revolu-tion is not as yet popular in Mexico. Thegreater part of the Mexican people are stillagainst the revolution; the higher class, partof the middle and the old intellectual elementare against the revolution, as well as thelaboring class of a certain rank; clerks andoffice employees who constitute mainly themiddle class are also against the revolution.We are still in the minority.'' (Diario de losDebates, Vol. II, page 71).The ignorance of this revolutionary caste is

well known to all, and recognized even by thevery mouthpieces of the Carrancista faction.Bojorquez, another of the members of theConstituent Congress, made this statement:"I can say, and many of my fellow congress-men can say with me, that we do not only lack


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16 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimethat preparation"in financial affairs"butalso all preparation in constitutional and allother laws; we decide these momentousquestions after hearing the pros and cons"sometimes without even hearing them"be-cause when we vote we are led more by ourrevolutionary instinct than by our understand-ing . " (Diario de los Debates,Vol. II, page 367).And as a sample of the boasted revolutionary

instinct, as well as of the ignorance of theleaders, let us hear what one of the pillars ofthe Carrancista party, General Nafarrete,also a member of the Constituent Congress,in discussing the article referring to thefreedom of education says: *"As to theexplanatory part which treats of individualguarantees, which declares that Mexico isfree because it states that Mexico is releasedfrom the restriction of those rights which thepeople declare of its sovereign and free initia-tive, I believe that it is the representativeshare of the Executive of the Union in orderto state its policy, who is the only one that canoccupy that tribune and tell us: 'I deem itnecessary, in order to sustain this contro-

(1)I offer a literal translation of a part of General Nafarrete's speechwhich is as anintelligible in Spanish as it is in English.Author's Note.


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 17versy, to suppress these guarantees,' and notcome, gentlemen, to invade the office of theFirst Magistrate of the Nation so to speak ina manner particular to the ideas. Ideas aresacrifices, gentlemen, as we soldiers sacrificeourselves. I am willing to justify that thecongressmen are invading the office of the FirstChief, of the First Magistrate of the Nation,who is the only one who can ask the legislativepower whether the suppression of guaranteesis to be conceded in whole or in part, for weare in the explanatory session in which we saythat man is free. I ask, sir, that my speechmay be meditated upon, because the honorof the home is being invaded." (Textual).(Diario de los Debates, Vol. I, page 470).Thus spoke and thought not the elect of the

people, but the select of the triumphantfactionBut if on the one hand this faction, ignorant

and in a minority, could expect nothing from afree vote of the people, on the other hand itcould rely upon might to keep itself in power.Inasmuch as the Constitution of 1857 was anobstruction to this end, it was necessary togive it a death blow; and inasmuch as thebanner of the Constitution was also an ob-struction, it was necessary to tear it to pieces.


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18 Carranza and His Bolshevik RegimeAs a result, the proletariat in arms assumed

the exclusive right of citizenship, declared it-self the proprietor of the Nation and thearbiter of its destiny.The heads of the military caste joined in

what they called the "Liberal Constitutional-ist Party, " pledged themselves to support thecandidacy of Carranza for the Presidency ofthe Republic and that of the members of thissame caste or its followers for the ConstituentAssembly.The lists of congressmen were drawn up by

the military chiefs and revised and arrangedby their agent, the Secretary of the Depart-ment of the Interior; the congressmen wereelected at the polls under the armed pressureof the local military posts and of the militarygovernors of the States in an atmosphere ofdeath and oppression. If here and there acongressmanfor example those who hadbelonged to the "Partido Renovador" of the26th Legislature, during the administration ofMaderosucceeded in entering the Consti-tuent Congress, it was through the specialefforts of Carranza, and in absolute oppositionto the head of the military caste. GeneralAlvaro Obregon, who went so far as to requestCongress to reject the credentials of the*'Renovadores."


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 19"I come to point out to this Assembly"

said Candido Aguilar, son-in-law-to-be ofCarranza"that it is becoming a victim ofministerial intrigue. I come to tell the trutheven though General Obregon and Mr. Acuna(Secretary of the Interior) are my friends.The intrigue against Mr. Palavicinione ofthe

' Renovadores 'has been hatched by Mr.Acuna and General Obregon, and though youare all aware of the intrigue, only few ofyou have the moral courage to oppose it;you always oppose the downfalien. Thatintrigue, gentlemen, dates from the meetings ofthe Liberal Constitutionalist Party . . ." "Ido not come to incite government crises, Icome to speak of personal intrigues, for suchwere those of Chapultepec. Once, when Iwas in the company of Mr. Acuna and GeneralObregon, a man whom I admire, esteem, andlook upon as a pride of the Nation, they saidto me, 'that man, Palavicini, is giving toomuch trouble; but he will see, he will not get toCongress." (Diario de los Debates, Vol. I,pages 154-227).

If the Secretaries of War and of the Interiorso treated their associates, is it possible tothink that they would allow any one not amember of the military faction of the Carran-cistas to enter the Constituent Congress.'^


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20 Carranza and His Bolshevik RegimeThe decree of the 15th of September, 1916,

has the following provisions: "... besidesthose disqualified by the said Constitution(that of 1857) no one shall be elected whoeither by taking up arms or by holding govern-ment positions, has aided the governmentsand factions hostile to the constitutionalistcause." (Art. 40).The letter of convocation for the elections,

of the 19th of the same month of September,adds that "those should be considered citizensof a State"one of the requisites for election"who had resided in their locality for atleast six months prior to the date of theelections" (Art. 8, Section III), "and thosewho had been qualified citizens or residents oftheir respective States during the ten daysof the uprising in the City of Mexico, providedthat they had proved afterwards with actualdeeds their adherence to the constitutionalistcause." (Art. 8, Section IV).And the electoral rules of the same date

state that the census to be used shall be "thelist of voters for the last municipal elections."(Art. 20).In the lists, a large number of voters not

identified with the Carrancista cause had beeneliminated. Nevertheless, as has been seen.


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 21this was not considered enough, and those whohad supported the governments or factionshostile to the Carrancista cause were alsoexchided.But not even this ehmination satisfied the

mihtary caste, and they finally exacted as aqualification for electors, a residence of sixmonths immediately preceding the election.Such a ruling deprived of the franchisehundreds of thousands of citizens who, fleeingfrom the atrocities of the revolutionary rabble,had removed from hamlet to town, from townto city, from city to State Capital, and fromState Capital to the Metropolis.And in order that the exclusion might be

absolute, all inhabitants who had not provedwith actual deeds their adherence to theCarrancista cause, or, in other words, to thedominant proletariat caste, were declared non-residents.Thus the Assembly of Qiieretaro, beside

the fact that it had usurped constitutionalpower, did not even originate in the will ofall the social classes expressed at the polls.The Carrancista mobs, and they alone,

organized under the direction of their generalsand with the name of Liberal Constitution-alist Party, manufactured the lists of congress-


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22 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimemen and obtained credentials for these infraudulent elections, availing themselves ofthe public forces managed by the Secretariesof War, of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior,by the military commanders acting as Govern-ors of the States, and the heads of garrisonsand military posts.


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CHAPTER IIIThe separation of Church and State de-

serves special consideration as being one of thegreatest victories for pubHc rights gained bythe Constitution of 1857 and subsequentamendments.The Church is a society organized to teach

the flock of the faithful the road to Heaven.The State is a society established to normal-

ize the inter-relations of men living in the samecommunity.The former seeks spiritual, the latter,

temporal perfection. The Church is supremein dogma, discipline and worship, so long asher external manifestations are not opposedto the public welfare; the State is supremein its function of regulator of social conduct,but cannot go beyond the threshold of thesacred tribunal of conscience.Members of different religious communities

and at the same time of one lay community,can live at peace with their consciences andwith their fellowmen only on condition thatthe Church refrains from all interference in


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24 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimepublic matters and the State abstains from allmeddling in matters of faith. If it werenecessary to confirm with historical evidencethis truth, which is now an axiom, it wouldsuffice to cite the crime of the Inquisition inorder to condemn the Church political, andto recall the madness of the worship of Reasonin order to anathematize the State pontifical.From these facts, we draw two conclusions

Firstly, that all political actions on thepart of the Church not only pervert herspiritual ends, but also imperil the peace ofnations. No action, no practice of a dog-matic character should serve as a means forobtaining control of governments.

Secondly, as to the individual, the inviola-bility of conscience must be absolute.With reference to the first point, the Con-

stitution of 1857 has no other explicit stipula-tion than that all ecclesiastics are deprivedof the privilege of holding certain offices.Taking advantage of the fact that the Con-

stitution of 18.57 did not expressly forbidreligious institutions as such to organize intopolitical parties, the Catholic Church, immedi-ately after the revolution of Madero, formedthe "Catholic Party" with a view to taking-part in the elections of 1912. The party was


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 25supported by the clergy. All from the highestto the lowest, availed themselves of religiousoffices, the confessional, the pulpit, doctrine,dogma, faith, superstition, and all the in-struments at hand to gain proselytes. Theyworked on the consciences of the people, theirfriends, and their servants, using the formid-able argument of eternal salvation, and whenthe ballot-boxes were installed they placedabout them standards bearing significant]legends. On many of them for example, wer*inscribed the words: "Here you vote for God.The Catholic Church attempted in this

way to convert itself into a temporal power inrivalry to the State; it endeavored to re-establish the theocratic regime of the middleages. It was thus false to the lofty andspiritual ends for which it was instituted atthe same time that it substituted religioussentiment for the patriotic spirit in organizingthe administration.We, sincere and earnest liberals, lovers of

the State, and solicitous for its progress anddevelopment, cannot but applaud the provis-ions of the Constitution of Queretaro whichdeny to ministers of any religion the right tohold office, to organize for political ends, touse the pulpit, the confessional, or any other


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26 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeclerical function as an instrument for politicalpropaganda, whether by word of mouth or inwriting. We also are in complete accordwith the provisions which forbid the similaruse of publications and periodicals of areligious character and those which forbid anygroup or political faction to assume a nameimplying adherence to a religious creed, andfinally, that which prohibits any politicalmeetings to be held in temples of worship.But in order to be consistent with the same

principle of public right, it is only just toadmit that the Church must be supreme inquestions of faith, that it must enjoy absolutefreedom in the determination of its dogmas,in the adoption of its doctrines, in the externalforms of its worship, and even in its precepts ofmorality, with no other restriction on the lasttwo, than a prohibition against perturbing orimperiling public peace or retarding the workof the masses; it must, in addition, be free toorganize its hierarchy and to appoint itsdoctrinal and officiating personnel.The Constitution of 1857 with its amend-

ments of 1873 places no restriction on libertyof conscience in these matters, and as toexternal forms of worship and discipline,empowers the federal authorities, to exercise


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 27any supervision over them designated by law.In addition to this, it prohibits monasticorders.The first of the foregoing restrictions was

quite justifiable. It was inspired only bythe wish to preserve public order which, owingto the ignorance and fanaticism of the massesof our people, was very easily disturbed atthat time, as it is even now, if the externalforms of worship are not properly regulated,especially when services are held outside thechurches.

The second restriction, the necessity forwhich was easily explainable at that time be-cause of political and economic conditions,should no longer be in force in all its rigor, atleast in so far as it concerns orders of piouswomen consecrated to good works, as forexample, the Sisters of Charity. The Stateshould limit itself in this matter to denyingcivil sanction to monastic vows.Although ostensibly the Constitution of

Queretaro recognizes liberty of conscience,as a matter of fact, it violates its most funda-mental manifestations. I shall treat of thesebriefly, leaving for a later chapter the mostimportant, freedom of education.The Constitution of Queretaro begins by


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28 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeprohibiting foreigners to exercise the functions

I of the priesthood. Can anything be more\ ridiculous? Such a prohibition is equivalent\to establishing a national religion, and nationalreligions in the twentieth century are worsethan the Incjuisition at the dawn of the nine-teenth. When religious institutions and their

\ ministers are not allowed the enjoyment ofI political rights while discharging their priestlyI duties, what difference does it make whetherit is a native or a foreigner who impartsdoctrines, moral commandments, or the con-solations of religion?

Carranza himself, shocked by this excessI of tyranny, felt obliged to allow three foreignl.^ priests to hold services in Mexico City. It/ is true that he used as an excuse a demand onI the part of congregations for services inforeign languages in order to justify so flagrant

I a transgression of his own constitution, but,as a matter of fact, one of the priests was a

\ Spaniard.Another provision of the Constitution of

Queretaro authorizes each State of the Feder-ation to determine the number of ministers ofreligion that shall practice their profession inits territory. Granted the separation of


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 29Church and State, is not this another abso-hitely unjustifiable interference?

If catholics, protestants, and in general,members of any religious body or sect are ^privileged to follow their form of worship, \all limitations of this right trample upon jliberty of conscience, inasmuch as the preach- \ing, doctrine, religious ceremonies and propa- \ganda are essential manifestations of such vfreedom. jAs a proof of this we can recall the state of

tenseness bordering on rebellion which ob-tained in Jalisco due to the decree limitingthe number of priests in that State. Asfurther proof, we can also point to the factthat this same decree was revoked because ofpressure brought to bear by President Car-ranza himself at the cost of the sovereignty ofthis same State, thus conceding the indisput-able fact that more than any conception ofstate sovereignty, society needs peace ofconscience.

Finally, in the same article 130, the Consti-tution of Queretaro authorizes the formulationof laws bearing upon "religious discipline inthe Churches." Are laic and civil laws toset the standard of religions discipline insidethe churches.^ They may dictate regulations


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30 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimefor policing, for morality, and for hygiene, butvesting the State with the power of regulatinginternal religious discipline is tantamount todenying and repudiating freedom of worship.

This encroachment on religious libertyresulted from the fact that the Constitutionof 1917 was not drawn up by the Mexicanpeople nor for the Mexican people. ThatConstitution was an agreement of the "armedcitizens" formed by a minority of the sub-social classes turned into fighters, and theirworks are born of the passions, hatreds andanimosities which formed the revolutionarybond of union of this neo-military caste.

f The Secretary of War, Alvaro Obregon,tfhierophant of the so-called "Liberal Consti-1 tutional Party," boasted not many months} before of having "traversed the Republicfrom end to end followed by the maledictionsof the priests, " and proudly exclaimed : " What

';, greater honor could be mine?" (El Liberal,i Mexico Citv, May 4th, 1915).

Easily can we imagine what his satellites inthe Assembly of Queretaro felt impelled tothink and to shout.Congressman Gonzales Torres declares that

all religions "are absolutely corrupt and havebeen converted into a woof of tales and


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 31legends; of absurdities and aberrations."(Diario de los Debates, Vol. I, page 520).Congressman Recio states in recording )

his vote that "we are obliged to prevent and -^correct all that which may contribute to the^,^immorality and corruption of the Mexican ipeople, freeing them at the same time from/the claws of the crafty priest who takes ipossession of consciences in order to carry Ion his iniquitous work of prostitution." IHe proposes, as a result, that the ministers of ]any sect be forbidden to hear confessions, ;and that the practice of their ministerial ^profession be limited to Mexican citizens /by birth, imposing upon them the obligation *of marrying according to the civil law if jthey have not reached the age of fity. (Diario |de los Debates, Vol. II, pages 741-2, 750-1).Congressman Alonzo Romero wins loud japplause on ending with this tirade: "There is 't

no doubt that any woman who goes to confes- |sion is an adulteress and any husband who ipermits it is a procurer, and a party to such 5immoral practices." (Diario de los Debates, :Vol. II, page 774).Congressman Gonzalez Galindo affirms the

following: "It has been agreed upon thatreligion had an evolutionary progress until it


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32 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimereached Christianity, which is supposed tobe the most perfect form; theologians saythat it is the most truthful; I call it a farce;I call it a string of lies and fables. " (Diariode los Debates, Vol. II, page 753).What could be expected from the men whoshot at images of saints in Monterey, whoharassed and expelled the priests and nuns ofZacatecas, who held the bishop of Durangoin a well in order to extort from him a richransom; who violated virgins consecrated toa religious life, who looted and desecrated theJosephine College, in Mexico City, and whosacked and pillaged every church in theRepublic.^ What could they do in the nameof liberty except to crush and profane thereligious convictions of. the ninety-nine percent, of the Mexican people, pursuing themeven to the sacred precincts of conscience?How could these fanatics who upheld the

bloody and concupiscent canons of pre-consti-tutionalism permit their victims to seekconsolation in that sublime love and grandrenunciation which defied 'the Master.'^


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CHAPTER IV.Over four-fifths of the Mexican people

are illiterate; this indicates the extent oftheir lack of culture.Thirty per cent, of the inhabitants of the

country are of a pure indigenous race, a largeproportion of these do not speak the Spanishlanguage and all of them live in a state of sub-civilization. Within the same borders, there-fore, there is a double nationality; the sub-civilized and the civilized. The former arestill in the period of subordination; while thelatter have already reached that of co-ordination. Must we Mexicans of high idealsleave the subcivilized in their state of sub-ordination ?

If their inferioritj?^ were ethnical, if theirrace w^ere opposed to progress, there could beno other course than to let them live as theyhave lived and utilize their muscular forcefor the good of the rest of the communityuntil the law of natural selection had definite-ly wiped them out.But there is no such ethnical inferiority ; the


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34 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimenative race is strong, intelligent, tenacious inits purpose, and at the same time open toadvice and frugal, although in certain regionsinclined to the use of alcohol. They reveal allthese qualities in a passive way because theyhave lived for four hundred years under thepolitical, social, economic and mental oppres-sion of the conquering race and its descendantswhether full-blooded or mixed.But all these faculties, now passive, are

capable of becoming active. The power ofimitation of the native can be transformed intoinitiative; his ability to endure suffering andadversity into a persistent and tenacious de-sire for useful work; his docility, resulting fromage-long obedience, can bring about conscioussocial discipline. The only thing that hasbeen wanting to effect this metamorphosis iseducation.There are, nevertheless, many who opposethis, the sole way to regeneration, with tkeargument that it will only awaken appetitesand ambitions in the masses. Those whopredict such dangers are retrogressive. Theywish to preserve their own privileges, and willheed neither the lessons of history nor theteachings of social science. Ignorance cantemporarily hold the masses in meek sub-


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 35jection, but at the same time it makes them aneasy prey to agitators and demagogues and isthe underlying cause of anarchical uprisings.Let the sad picture of Mexico in the past nineyears, and the gloomy spectacle which EasternEurope now presents, in contrast to well-ordered conditions in the United States, standas a proof of this contention.Not a few oppose the education of themasses, arguing that it does not go hand inhand with a moral progress necessary as acheck upon anti-social instincts. Those whothink thus forget that the most ignorantpeoples in the world are not the most moral;that if, in truth, civilization brings its retinueof vices, they are only new forms of those whichalready existed, and to offset them, it isaccompanied by virtues which serve as acounterbalance.On the other hand, when we speak ofeducation, let it be understood that we mean apractical education which may guide thetalents of the people towards the work of econ-omic, civic and moral co-ordination.

It must, therefore, be an economic educationto create in man needs and aspirations at thesame time that it provides the means ofsatisfying them by productive labor. It must


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36 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimebe a civic education to which end the school,as a communitj^ in itself, could use as a dailyobject lesson the rights and duties, theliberties and restrictions, that every commun-ity prescribes for the individual. It must,finally, be a moral education, which is easyto infuse into young minds by the use ofselect stories and fables.Reading, writing, arithmetic, and the otherbranches of knowledge which form the con-structive part of education are not ends inthemselves but, rather, means towards reach-ing the above-named economic, civic andmoral ends.

It is not possible, therefore, to doubt thatthe public authorities are under the strictestobligation to extend education to the masses,and that in our countrj^ this duty is mostpressing because upon it depends the issuingforth from the state of subconsciousness ofhalf the Mexican people.

Hence, the civilizing mission of our govern-ment will not be fulfilled until the number ofschools in each city, town, or village issufficient to accommodate all children of schoolage. Furthermore, the government, far fromplacing obstacles in the way of privateschools, should favor and even financially


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 37assist them, limiting itself, insofar as elemen-tary education is concerned, to providing thatplans, programs, text-books, and officialmethods of education be adopted which haveas their primary and essential object theadaptation of man to the practical conditionsof social life.

Instruction imparted in oflficial institutionsshould be secular, this being the most naturalconsequence of the independence of Churchand State and the most perfect guarantee ofreligious liberty. By secular, we understandthat the public school should neither defendnor attack any religious dogma, but it mustexpound facts, state their causes and disclosetheir natural laws, even though thereby it con-tradicts this or that Biblical myth, or deniesdogmas of revealed truth, or destroys legendsof miracles.But there is a long step between this and

forbidding all religious instruction, or, tospeak franldy. Catholic propaganda, in pri-vate elementary schools; or carrying intoler-ance so far as to close all schools directed byor in charge of religious societies or ministersof any sect.

Religions, the Catholic among them, arenot injurious to the people. Ignorance is


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38 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeinjurious, because where it exists, religioncarries to the soul only superstition. Onlythat dogma is sterile which is unaccompaniedby the principles of individual and socialethics.Can anyone deny that the fear of God is an

immeasurable restraint upon the actions ofthe large majority of men and that at presentat least there is no substitute for it? Cananyone question the stupendous influencethat the gentle word and ineffable abnegationof Christ have exercised upon the humanconscience.'^ How, then, is it possible tocontend that the Christian decalogue will betransformed into a corrupting influence merelybecause its teachings are united with theeducation of the rest of the faculties of thechild.?We, sincere freethinkers, renounce and

condemn such an unreasonable and intolerantspirit. We want many, very many schools,we earnestly desire the education of themasses, physical, mental and moral; but,above all, the education of the will and of thecharacter, without which all other qualitiesare barren and harmful, and with which eventhe roughest and most ignorant man becomesuseful to himself, to his family, to his friends,


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 39to his community, to his state, and to hiscountry. If we could attain that educationwithout rehgious institutions, we should pre-fer it; but inasmuch as that is impossible, wewelcome any who wish to aid us in this workwhether they call themselves Catholics orreformists, orthodox or heterodox, whateverbe their sect or creed, so long as their standardof morality represents the highest type ofindividual-social human conduct.Nor do we, freethinkers, condemn the in-

fusion of religious sentiments into man ; ratherdo we long for them in the masses, not onaccount of the dogma they may contain, towhich we are indifferent, but on account ofthe moral strength they develop. If we couldmake a Socrates of each man, we would attainour ideal; morality for the sake of morality;good for the sake of goodness.

But, as it is impossible to make philosophersof all men, or even of a small minority of men,because of the absence of ethical conceptions,we welcome religions when they bring to ussentiments of altruism.With an intensely broad-minded spirit,

the Constitution of 1857 thus dealt with theproblem of national education. As to theduty of the State, we quote the following


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40 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimepaternal precept of its article 32: "Laws shallbe enacted to improve the condition of in-dustrious Mexicans, by rewarding those whodistinguish themselves in any science or art,to foster labor, and to found colleges andmanual training schools.

It did not limit the power of founding thosetraining schools only to the states, but bythis broad ruling, also empowered the FederalGovernment concurrently to carry out thatgreat essential function for the betterment ofthe masses; for the education of the peopleis not an obligation of this or that town orvillage, of this or that state or territory, butrather of the nation as a whole.

Since the Constitution of 1857 urged theFederal Government and at the same timethe states and municipalities to stimulatelabor and to found practical schools of arts andcrafts as well as colleges, evidently the Feder-ation, the states, and the municipalities wereconcurrently empowered to establish rudi-mentary, elementary and grammar schools inevery corner of the Republic and to workout in them a plan adequate for civic, economic,mental and moral education.For the proper understanding of this subject,

it is well to state that primary schools in


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 41Mexico are of three types, namely: "Superiorschools," corresponding to the grammarschools as known in the United States;"elementary schools," comprising only thefour or five lower grades of the grammarschools, and finally, the "rudimentaryschools," with a less extensive curriculum,intended to be established in rural districtsparticularly for the benefit of the Indianpopulation and to be converted later on intoelementary schools.As to individual initiative, the Constitution

of 1857 placed absolutely no impediment inits way. On the contrary, it sanctioned it inthese simple words of Article 3: "Instructionis free.The statute which aspires to raise the level

of the masses without any distinction, totruly regenerate them through education, is anational monument; the statute that com-mends such a lofty mission to all the executiveagencies of governmentmunicipal, state andfederalis a national monument; the statutethat calls all social classes to collaborate inthis great work without discrimination basedupon political or religious creeds, be it as alucrative profession, or for beneficent motives,is a national monument.Such a monument is the Constitution of

1857.


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CHAPTER VTo THAT armed ochlocracy which lately

usurped the privilege of voicing in a newConstitution the popular sentiment, was re-served the honor of placing the most flagrantobstructions, now by theories, now by hatredsand excesses, in the way of the civilizinginfluence of the school upon the illiteratemasses.Up to the year 1910 neither the states northe municipalities had satisfactorily solvedthe problem of universal education.Based upon the figures afforded us on the

subject by Miguel E. Schultz (Course inGeography) and accepting, empirically, theestimate that children between the ages of6 and 15 represent 25 per cent, of the generalcensus, we have drawn up the following table:Divisionsof theNation


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 43From this table we get the following

averagesDivisionof theNation


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44 Carranza and His Bolshevik RegimeThe cause of such deficiency, quantitative

and quahtative, on the part of the States intheir educative functions had been none otherthan lack of resources. There was no reasonfor expecting that this penury would dis-appear, nor that the States would better theirschool systems in the near or distant future.Their institutions of learning were so poor,that the States could not have raised them toa capacity of 100 per cent, of the schoolpopulation except at a cost of $29,190,666,an amount greater than the sum of therevenues of all the States and Territories.

Persuaded of this inability on the part of theStates to fulfill one of their primary socialfunctions, and absolutely convinced of thefact that not only the progress, but even thevery stability of Mexican nationality wasdependent upon the school, which alone couldbring about the regeneration of the unlearnedmasses, when I assumed the duties of Secretaryof Public Education in the last two months ofthe administration of General Diaz, I an-nounced a new educational policy on the partof the National Government. I announcedthat my Department was determined toestablish an extensive educational scheme, notlimiting itself to the narrow boundaries of the


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 45Federal District and the Territories, butembracing the whole Republic.

It was not the intention of the FederalGovernment to encroach upon the functionsof the various States, for it did not intend tosupplant their schools with the national ones.Its purpose was simply to establish schoolswhere there were none, and to erase graduallyfrom the map of the nation those dark spots ofilliteracy, countless and oppressive.

Willingly would the Federal Governmenthave opened elementary schools with a com-plete curriculum under the advice of educa-tionalists; but such a program was financiallyimpossible. In order to carry it through,taking as a basis the average cost of theschools run by the Government in the Terri-tories, it would have required an additionalannual disbursement of $73,530,027, whichwas impossible at the time in view of the factthat the sum total of the revenues of theadministration just barely reached 110 millionpesos annually.Taking facts and possibilities into consider-

ation, therefore, the Department of Educationsubmitted a plan for the installation ofrudimentary schools with the simplest coursesof study, with the view of enlarging its scope


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46 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimein quality and in quantity in proportion toan increase in revenue.This project, though approved by the Fed-

eral Congress of the Provisional Governmentwhich immediately followed that of GeneralDiaz, was opposed by the then Governor ofthe State of Coahuila, Venustiano Carranza.He cited no reasons for his attitude; hedid not prove, nor could he prove, that the

schools established in his state were sufficientin number and capacity or so located thatthey could impart education to all individualsof school age. He limited himself to settingforth the empty conceptualism of State Sover-eignty.* As if such sovereignty had beenestablished for the purpose of holding thepeople in ignorance, and worse than in ignor-ance, in a state of subcivilization ! As if theeducation of the masses were not a vitalnecessity for all communities, towns, villages,cities, municipalities and States of the Feder-ation.The Madero Government, which followed

the Provisional Government, was too absorbedThe sovereignty of the States is a fact in a Confederation; it is only a

restricted home-autonomy in a federal government originating, as did thatof the United States of America, "e pluribui unum," and it is a legal fiction, anempty conceptualism in a country where the States did not exist before theNation but were created by the provisions of a national Constitution, as wasthe case in Mexico.


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 47in politics to worry about carrying out thisprogram of universal education, or even tothink seriously of placing it on the road tofulfillment.The Department of Education which I

headed during the first months of the Hucrtaadministration, was the one which revivedthe project, this time with greater momentum,faith and energy. It presented to the FederalCongress for approval a vast plan for theinstallation of five thousand rudimentaryschools throughout the country during thefirst year, with a view to following it up withsimilar efforts in successive years.The idea was accepted with enthusiasm by

all those who knew about it; many privatecitizens hastened to offer their services free ofcharge to the Government in the work ofsetting up and supervising these rudimentaryschools; many a property holder spontaneous-ly offered land for the schools; and manywere the communities of Indians that en-thusiastically pledged themselves to workwithout wages in the construction of thebuildings if they were supplied with thenecessary materials.

So powerful was this popular wave ofopinion, that the Chamber of Deputies,


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48 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeregardless of political creeds, including, infact, members of the opposition, approved andeven increased a budget of more than sixmillions of dollars for the first year.The project of the Department of Education

divided the country into 36 scholastic zones,the boundaries of which were set, not accord-ing to the geographical boundaries of thevarious States, but according to the generalcensus, the illiterate population and thefacilities of communication; and it subdividedeach zone into districts, each with ten schoolswhich would be placed in the centers ofgreatest mental backwardness.At the head of each school there was to be

one teacher, and, wherever necessary, thisteacher would be provided with an assistant;every ten schools were to have a visiting in-spector who was a graduate teacher and whowould take charge of the work of installingthe schools of his district and supervise them.At the head of each zone there was to be anormal professor under whose direction therewould be established a normal school forteachers of rudimentary branches with a viewto forming gradually the teaching staff ofthat institution.

Political events well known to all, prevented


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 49the fulfillment of this really popular programfor the actual advancement of the masses;a program which from its very nature couldnot but build Mexican nationality on a basisof homogeneity in civilization.The so-called Constitutionalist Government,

headed by the former Governor of the Stateof Coahuila, did not restrain even for patrioticreasons its hatred of the past regime; on thecontrary, because of that very hatred, andprejudiced by his empty conceptualism ofState Sovereignty, the First Chief proposedto the Assembly of Queretaro that Article 32of the Magna Charta of 1857 should be struckout, and this was done. According to thisArticle 32, the Federation, the States andthe Municipalities could together arrange aplan for universal education.The First Chief went further still: he sub-

mitted to the same Assembly, which approvedit, a scheme to deprive the Federal Govern-ment of the power to establish primaryschools in the States, and to that end theConstitution of 1917 dedicated the followingArticle 73 :" Congress has the powerXXVII. To establish professional schools ofscientific research, and fine arts, and technicaleducation, vocational, agricultural and trade


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50 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeschools, museums, libraries, observatories, andother institutions of higher learning, until suchtime as these establishments can be supportedby private funds. These powers shall notpertain exclusively to the Federal Govern-ment. "

This article, which authorized the FederalGovernment to establish schools of highereducation, carefully omitting primary schools,taken in conjunction with Article 124, deniedto it the right to open rudimentary, elementaryor grammar schools.The Constitution of 1917 consequently

abolished the Department of Education whichis as necessary to an illiterate country aswater to a thirsty man. And it placed onceand for all time an insurmountable obstaclean article of the Constitutionin the way ofany action on the part of the Federal Govern-ment looking towards the education of thatvery people whose welfare and advancementhad served as a pretext for the CarrancistaRevolution.Nor will it be possible now to distribute over

the country the five thousand rudimentaryschools the erection of which was approved bya legally elected Congress, nor will it bepossible in the future to develop any national


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 51program for the regeneration of the peopleby means of the school.

If on the one hand the empty nominalismof State Sovereignty joined with politicalhatreds dealt a death blow to the broadFederal plan of education, on the other hand,religious intolerance was the cause of closingmore than 2,500 private primary schoolsscattered over the Republic, merely becausethey were supported or run by religious in-stitutions or by ministers of a sect.

In fact, opposite the broad article 3 of theConstitution of 1857 which stated withoutreserve that "instruction is free," the Code ofQueretaro inscribed its everlasting ignominyin the following retrograde injunction: "Noreligious corporation, nor any minister of areligious sect shall be allowed to found ordirect schools of primary education."As a pretext for such a prohibition, it was

said that religious propaganda deforms themorality and mentality of childhood. Butthe true motiveswe have already provedthem with authentic quotationswere a politi-cal grudge against the Catholic clergy and theblind spirit of intolerance which dominatedthe Assembly of Queretaro.We agree that when dogmas, rites, or


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52 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimelegends take a higher place in religiousdoctrines than the canons of morality, re-ligious propaganda is easily turned intosuperstition.But superstition is not combatted by the

suppression of schools, even though the schoolsdepend for their support upon religious in-stitutions. Ignorance is not the best nor themost powerful shield against fanaticism, noris the school the only place where religiouspropaganda can be promulgated.

In this connection, let us not forget thatthe most liberal men of the period of reformwere educated in seminaries.How much better and more liberal would ithave been to have recognized the right ofreligious institutions and ministers of anysect to carry on the work of education, thoughrequiring them to adopt in their primaryinstitutions official plans, methods, text-books,and courses of study, and making it obligatoryfor students of national history, moral andcivic, to undergo examination by state in-spectors. By such a ruling, the governmentcould have availed itself of the powerful educa-tive force of the Church, with the object ofcivilizing the masses and inculcating in thema civic, moral and sound idea of nationality!


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 53But how could one expect such wonders

from the Congress of Queretaro, when in hisfamous speech of the third of March, 1915,ah'eady quoted, Alvaro Obregon, leader ofthat caste of "armed citizens" which formedthe majority in the Congress, boasted that"the malediction of the priests carries withit a glorification?"And the ignorant so-called representatives

of the people in the Congress of Queretarosaid through the mouth of Citizen Bojorquez,"I am firmly convinced of the fact that thebest and most just men, those who can bestexpress a sentiment and maintain an ideal,are those who have least cultivated theirintelligence, and this is not spoken in praiseof ignorance." (Diario de los Debates, Vol.II, p. 734).And Congressman Recio, member of one of

the reporting committees, supplementing theforegoing idea spoke as follows: "I am nowgoing to appeal to the same element of theHouse, because the intellectual element (thefew tolerant representatives), the more in-tellectual it is considered, the more retrogradeit is in its attitude toward the progress ofthe masses." (Diario de los Debates, Vol.II, pp. 741-2).


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54 Carranza and His Bolshevik RegimeWhat greater glorification for the "armed

citizens" than the maledictions of the priests!So long as they are obtained, what matter if2,500 primary schools are closed!What a constructive and fertile conceptual-

ism, that of State Sovereignty! So long asthat is realized, what matter if 79 per cent, ofthe population is deprived even of the hopeof learning the alphabet?What an unspeakable gratification to stupid-

ity! To think that the government schoolsin the States have been decreasing in numberand that in the Federal District they havedecreased from 473 in 1910 to 360 in1919!*The Constitution, which inspired by empty

conceptualisms of State Sovereignty, dictatedby political hatreds, religious intolerance,and real cretinism, condemns a whole peopleto vegetate in the most degrading sub-civilization, does not voice, cannot voice, thenational aspirations of the people; it expressesthose of a caste; it is not national.Such is the Constitution of 1917!*Id accordance with information received from the Department of Educa-

tion of the Federal District, "El Excelsior," a newspaper of the Capital,announces that during the month of September, 1919, of the 360 primaryschools mentioned, 224 were closed.


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CHAPTER VINo ECONOMIC relation between man andman can last and reach its highest efficiency

in modern communities unless it is based uponequality, not an equality in fact, which doesnot exist in human nature, but an equalityof right, without which the natural law of theeconomy of forces cannot operate. All legalinequality results in a lack of equilibrium;strife among men instead of co-operation, adeduction from instead of an addition to orcombination of energies. The slavery oflabor and the abject submission of the laborerto the magnate when sanctioned by law, areabsurd anachronisms.The Constitution of 1857 established theprinciples of economic equality in its articles4 and 5. The first decrees that every man isfree to embrace the profession, industry orlabor that best suits him as long as it is usefuland honorable, and enjoy the benefits thereof,no one having the right to curtail suchfreedom except as ordained by law. Thesecond abolishes all contracts, pacts or agree-


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5Q Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimements for work which have as an object theimpairment, loss or irrevocable sacrifice ofman's libert3^However, when the Constitution of 1857

was adopted there had not arisen, at least incritical states, either capitalism or the conflictsbetween capital and labor to which the formerhas given rise in modern society.

In the realm of principles, therefore, wesincerely believe that the Constitution ofQueretaro makes a great step forward indrawing up certain laws relative to thecondition of the working classes.We include in this appreciation the re-

strictions on night work of women, youngpeople and children, the standardizing of thelength of a working day for young people andthe designation of Sunday as a day of rest;the ruling that the minimum wage, subjectto conditions in each locality, shall be enoughto satisfy the normal needs of a laborer andprovide for his education and legitimaterecreation; the equality of wages for anequality of work regardless of sex or national-ity; exemption from seizure or deduction ofthe minimum salary ; the payment of wages inlegal money; the construction of comfortableand sanitarv houses with moderate rents


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 57for the laborers; the erection of schools,hospitals and other buildings for general usein working centers; the prohibition of saloonsfor gambling dens in such centers; the liabilityfor accidents and occupational diseases; theprovisions for safety in industrial plants; theright of working men to form unions or syndi-cates, the power to declare themselves inpeaceful strike; the preference of wages andsalaries over other credits in case of bank-ruptcy; and the prohibition of certain stipu-lations in labor contracts relating to thealready-mentioned exemptions; and the timeand place of payment of wages, the forcedpatronage of stores owned by employers orthe retention in whole or in part of wages inpayment of fines.

All these regulations emancipate labor witha view to making it a free factor in the pro-duction of wealth.There are indeed some precepts that should

not appear in a Constitution, on account ofbeing too rigid to conform with the variableconditions of labor at different seasons and indifferent regions of the country ; as for example,that limiting the working day to eight hours,the one relating to women employed duringpregnancy, and also the one making an


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58 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeinflexible addition of 100 per cent, of thewages for overtime work.But the leading defect of this Constitution

is that it errs on the side of radicalism. Thatlabor may not be a slave, it makes it a tyrant;that capital may not enslave, it tyrannizesover it.

In this respect, the Constitution of Quere-taro shows clearly that in regulating therelations of capital and labor, its framers wereled not so much by love for the working-manas by hatred for the capitalist, and for thatreason we can only classify it as Bolshevik.

According to this new Code, if the manu-facturer does not live up to his contract, thelaborer is given effective and practical re-paration; if the laborer is negligent or remiss,in theory he is responsible, but in practice heis immune. If a court of arbitration handsdown a decision, the manufacturer mustsubmit under pain of incurring grave penal-ties, while the workman remains free from allobligation.There are very many cases where a just

cause might exist for dismissing a workman,but either it cannot be substantiated byevidence or is found insufiicient by a court ofarbitration. In all such cases, the employer


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 59is obliged to pay three months' wages, andthere will certainly be more than enough lazyfellows who will dishonestly exploit such aprivilege.

According to the Constitution of Queretaro,strikes are declared lawful under the elasticcondition that their object be to establish anequilibrium between the various factors ofproduction by adjusting the rights of capitaland labor. It would be only just and equit-able that suspension of work on the part ofproducers should be lawful under the samecondition. But such is not the case. Itmatters little if the economic balance betweencapitalists and laborers has been lost due to anexcess of wages and a corresponding lack ofprofit, the enterprise must continue to operateeven though it be at a loss. Suspension ofwork is considered lawful only when there isno equilibrium between the demand and thesupply of products manufactured, and let itbe understood that this sole exception wasadmitted to protect the " Comision Reguladorade Nenequen," a concern officially belongingto the Government of the State of Yucatan,at the time the Constitution of Queretarowas being discussed.However, the most momentous innovation


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60 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimeis the article which obliges all enterprises,agricultural, commercial, industrial or mining,to give the workman a share in the profits.

This precept will either not be put intopractice or will result in most chaotic arbitrar-iness and corruption on the part of the menappointed to carry it through. What basiswill be used to determine the share? Whatproportion, in consideration of the length,nature and quality of the service of the work-man; what allowance for risks and differencesin estimates will be used as a basis for anequitable division?Viewing it from another angle, if this en-

actment that frames a seductive ideal whichshould be pursued as a goal of civilization,were sanctioned in all countries, and if theeconomic, social and political conditions ofMexico could be compared with those ofother nations, then the enterprises would notrun the risk of being ruined on account ofthe workman's share in the profits.

Facts are different: Mexico, setting anexample to the world, may have written themost beautiful page in romantic literature,but she has made the existence of the working-man more precarious still; for we must notforget that capital, whatever its nationality


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is Bolshevik Regime 61may be, migrates towards those regions ofthe world where it can obtain the greatestprofits; and without capital, there can beno factories, no industries, no progressiveacquirement of wealth, under our presenteconomic methods.And when in addition to the above, we take

into consideration the fact that in the con-flicts between the two factors of production,the deciding vote in the courts of arbitrationis left to a salaried representative of thegovernment, no one can doubt the sad resultsof such a system of inequality; because thosewho constitute that government at presentare the armed proletariat, openlj^ hostile tocapital.

In 1915, one of the Cabinet members ofthe de facto government longed to return tosmall industry methods and so proposed it.At the end of 1916, another Cabinet memberof the same government, the "cuistre"* ofthe revolution, explained that the progressivetax had been placed upon mining claims inorder to force big enterprises to abandon alarge number of their mines.

*"Cuistre" is the term applied by H. Taine to Maximilian Robespierre.The author here uses the same term to designate Luis Cabrera, a phrase-maker who, on many occasions, attempted to justify, by means of sonorouswords, the worst outrages of the Carrancista revolution.


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62 Carranza and His Bolshevik RegimeOn the 14th of December, 1918, the Federal

Executive presented to Congress an amend-ment to Article 27 of the Constitution ofQueretaro to the effect that no suspension ofwork or strike should be considered lawful,without the consent of the Executive; failure toobtain this consent would result in theExecutive taking over the administration ofprivate factories or business concerns whichin his judgment might be of public interest.What confidence, what security can capital-

ists and investors feel in Mexican industry,when they know they are at the mercy of thewhims or despotism of courts of arbitrationor of the Executive Power, and when they arewell aware that these are both animated byhatred, covetousness and ill-will towards menof capital?The scanty Mexican capital still availablewill move even further from industrial enter-

prises ; foreign capital will seek more profitablefields of action; factories and industries willgradually languish and eventually disappear.The workingmen will be left with greatprerogatives, but with no work; with theo-retical rights and high wages, but withoutreal salaries; with the vision of wealth, andthe reality of penury. Thus they are living,thus will they continue to live.


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime G3There are two paths to equality. Follow-

ing one we must raise those below; followingthe other we must lower those above. Theformer is the way of love, progress, construc-tion; the latter is that of grudge, annihilation,Bolshevism. The Congressmen of Queretarochose the latter, and for that reason their workis barren and sterile.


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CHAPTER VIIAs WE have seen in preceding chapters, and

shall have opportunity to emphasize in thosewhich follow, the letter of the law in many anarticle of the Constitution of Queretaro isBolshevik.The spirit which animates such law is more

Bolshevik still, if that were possible. It isinspired, not by love of justice, but by hatredof all non-proletariat classes, particularly thewealthy; and is dominated by a lust for wealth.The period of plunder and spoliation which,

under the name of " incautacion " (seizure ofproperty), prevailed prior to the adoption ofthe Constitution of Queretaro, clearly showsthat it was not an ardent desire for justicethat really inspired certain laws of thatpolitical code.

Such plunder and robberies were perpetratedindividually by the so-called "armed citizens"the unsound portion of the proletariat andthe escaped convictswho ironically assumedthe name of Constitutionalists and laterbecame the nucleus of the Liberal Constitu-


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 65tionalist Party ; eventually forming the major-ity of the so-called Constituent Congress.The "cuistre" of the revolution, estrangedfrom his former associates, denounced thedemands of the so-called "armed citizens"for money, arms, horses, pasture, provisions,etc., and charged them with having receivedfunds amounting to round millions withoutever having rendered accounts; impudentlyapproving, however, the action taken byCarranza in reserving to himself the preroga-tive of auditing accounts, instead of submittingthem to Congress, giving as a reason that "inthe history of Mexico the call for a renderingof military expense accounts has been theorigin of 90 per cent, of the military uprisings.We do not doubt that the First Chief, if heis well acquainted with Mexican history, willapprove all accounts" (in other words, thathe will sanction all the systematic robberies)**with relative liberality in order not to fallinto the historic error of other eras."(Segunda Meditacion, "El Universal," Mex-ico, June 6, 1917)."Under a normal government," continues

the same exponent of Carrancista ethics,"it is not conceivable that a governmentoflScial could appropriate government property


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66 Carranza and His Bolshevik Regimefor personal use ; but, during the Constitution-alist Revolution" (and we must add alsoduring the so-called Constitutionalist Govern-ment) "it had, unfortunately, happened withgreat frequency." Under pretext of "incau-tacion" (official seizure), a large quantity ofprivate property has been appropriated, po-session having been taken presumably forthe nation, but instead of handing it overdirectly to the proper authorities, those whoseized such property have kept it for their ownprivate use, or have disposed of it in order tosecure funds. It is needless to cite proofs ofthis charge, inasmuch as unfortunately nearlyall seizures of enemy property, with a fewhonorable exceptions, have been made with thedeliberate intention of turning to private usethe property attacJied. This applies to theseizure of a horse or saddle, the commandeer-ing of seeds and pasture, which were neverused for the benefit of the troops, and eventhe occupation of houses, lands, farms andhaciendas, which, having been attached, wereworked and exploited directly by the menwho attached them, ostensibly for the purposeof securing funds for the Government, butas a matter of fact, in many instances theproducts of these lands never reached the National


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Carranza and His Bolshevik Regime 67Treasury.'' (Tercera Meditacion, "El Uni-versal," Mexico, June 7, 1917).No wonder that this man, who was at thetime of the above mentioned outrages, and isat present the Secretary of the Treasury of theCarrancista Government, recentlj^ stated inan interview that he had no faith in humanjustice. Wiat could be expected of a man soincapable of appreciating that sublime virtue?And the then First Chief, in his official

report of April 15, 1917, to the Congress ofthe Union, was forced to acknowledge inthe following terms the cupidity of his chiefsand co-workers: "A source of revenue, morenominal than actual, consisted in the seizureof enemy property" (all were consideredenemies who had property worth seizing)"and this seizure of property was in thebeginning a movement of an entirelyspontaneous character" (yes, spontaneous,as is the act of a burglar) "on the part of themilitary f

(1920) carranza and his bolshevik regime (mexican politics)

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