LIVING EMPIRE BUILDERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 75

LIVING EMPIRE BUILDERS.

STATESMANSHIP IN HIGH PLACES. Among the makers of empire in Europe, King Victor Emmanuel 111 is in many respects the ablest and most democratic of in-day. Much of the great industrial progress, in which Italy is rejoicing at the present time is due to his enlightened policy and fostering care. His attention is to give sunny Italy and its people a far larger measure of liberty under law, mere economic prosperity, and truer human relations than they have ever known before. Victor Emmanuel has the instincts of the spirit of progress, and his method, if left to himself, is opportunist and evolutionary. I Had he a strong Republican party at his back he would even move with greater celerity, yet, despite the difficulties aiising from the j.eculiar relations between, the Quirinal and the Vatican on the one band, and the fads of the extreme Socialists or- the otiher, he has had more success than his father or grandfather in mediating between these extreme parties in + he State. The Emperor William of Germany has for a number of years proved himself a German expansionist of the thorough-going school, and were it not that the consolidation of German interests at home demanded so much of his untiring energies, the Ivaisei would become a dangerous element in spheres of colonisation His autoCivtic temper and ambition are not less pronounced than his* accomplishments 'ne varied. To his achievements as ruler, statesman, orator, musician, painter, poet, art critic, theologian, to mention only a few, must bo added that of a successful riding-master. He is, as might be expected of him, a stern teacher. A Berlin writer tells us that he trusts the instruction of his sons in the art of horsemanship to no one but himself, just as he taught his two elder sons the management of their steeds, and still gives lessons to the yomiger princes. Englishmen luturaiiy regard with admiio,tion the triumphs of King Edward VII vs a pacific Eir.pire-builder of the most commendable type, while at the same time Bis wisdom and moderation are gtiai'antees for the continued tranquillity among European Powers. King Edward has taken his place not as the "First Gentleman in Europe," nor as a supporter of Coesarism, bu*" as; thie first citizen of the World and the chief minister of peace. — The Mexican Soldier-President. — Perhaps the palm on the list- of modern builders of Empire will be awarded to Porfirio Diaz, the .Soldiar-President of Mexico, whose record is unparalleled in eithei hemisphere. By the wonderful administrative gifts and courageous purpose of Diaz, a great nation has been awakened to a new life, and Mexico, in the eyes of the nations, is enacting a wonderful version if the old fable of the Plhcenix. Mexico presents the most remarkable object-lesson in ihe renaissance of an entire people that the nineteenth, or twentieth, or any other oentury has seen. So quietly has the transformation been effected within the last twenty-five years that its narrative comes to us almost as a revelation. And the magician who wrought this wonder is Porfirio Diaz, than whose life-story r.ot even the great Dumas could have invented anything more romantic in his marvellous tales. His career is one of the surprises of America, a continent full of surprises. — Romance and Achievement. — The history of General Diaz is a blend of romance and high achievement. Born in 1830, in Oaxaca, by his mother he was , a descendant from the Indian and by his • father from the Spanish races, consequently • therr is in his blood a str«in of the native , Aztec. From his earliest years the future

of Diae was foreshadowed. While young he showed a passion for -war, hunted, rode fearlessly, craved the open life, challenged adventuie, and was chief among his schoolfellows. Some of his feats recall those told of Napoleon at Brienne. Struggling through a period of early poverty, or, at least, very haid circumstances, he began real life as a lawyer, but finding little opportunity for the pracI tice of his profession in a land' so lawless ancli turbulent as the Mexico of half a century ago, he was led to bear arms. In 1824 the Mexican Republic was established, and, for years afterwards, the country was torn by civil war and drenched with blood. During this chequered history 52 Presidents tried to rule, many of "whom died a violent death, and the short-lived Republic came to an endi. Diaz, aspiring, reso- ( lute, alert, and intrepid, was ever active in these stormy times, intriguing, conspir- - ing, fighting, ere he came to the front in the early sixties as a marked leader, when ' he. helped to drive Santa Anna from Mexican soil. —Triumph After Defeat.— He next- supported the only full-blooded ' Indian who was ever President of Mexico, Benito Juarez, and after the French interj vention in 1862 he took the field again, i until the deserted Maximilian was cap- ! tured andi shot. In this strife Diaz was himself captured twice, and twice escaped ; in the course of which he performed thrillj ing feats of war, and became a foremost ( captain. A candidate for Presidency in j 1867. he was defeated by Juarez, from j which time he conspired against the Go- ! vernment, and finally fought against it, ! and, being louted, escaped to New Orleans. ! In 1872 Lerdj succeeded Juarez, and under j an amnesty Diaz returned, only to rise i again three years later, and once more :to suffer defeat. By the year 1876 his j partisans recalled him, and smuggled him J ashore from the steamer at Vera Cruz, in the guise of a coalheaver. This time vicj tory attended Diaz in his rebellion, and L-rd'o fled. Another reign of bloodshed | followed, and several candidates contended, for office, but Diaz triumphed, and for the first time he took oath as President in May, 1877, an office which he has since continuously held, winning the almost idolatrous ven-eration of his strange semicivilised subjects. Tne revolutionary became a statesman, and the rebel of former years, profiting by an unprecedented chapter of experiences, threw himself into the stupendous task of restoring peace to a distracted country. One idea seems to hav-e. dominated Diaz — namely, the restoration of stability and prosperity to the land of his birth. How far he has succeeded may be gleaned from the fairy tale of advancing Mexico in social, industrial, educational, and national progress. Extraordinary must be the man whc has transformed such a race, subd^led its inherited turbulence, established a stable Government, and brought his country, alone of the Latin-American I Republics, to a state of prosperity and)- ! well-being. ; — A Benevolent Despot. — President Diaz is the ablest man, the ! best rounded in his accomplishments, Central America has ever produced. He has no false ideas or brilliant, but impractical, thories as to the government of his people. He views his empire as a great estate over which he must exercise unceasing vigilance on bshalf of all classes, that his country may progress uniformly according to ambitious, though well-con-ceived plans. Mexico has no such institution as a government by the people, a legal succession, or any other recognised method of selecting a ruler. The strong man takes possession. He believes the Latin races need and ask for a strong reisonal government, and he has given it to the lace over which he has sway. He has made no change in Mexico's political &;* stem. -.fembers of Congress, Governors of States, judges, etc., while nominally ekcted, aie appointed' by Diaz as tiuly, for example, as a postmaster is appointed, say, by the President of the United States. Inasmuch as the masses of the Mexican people are no further advanced in the technique of self-govei-nment than they were under Spanish or French rule, President Diaz has been criticised for this defect in administration. In reply he remarks that the criticism implies an improvement of the masses and a political capacity not justified in the opinion of Diaz and his immediate counsellors. This indomitable dictator maintains stoutly that had he distuibed his subjects with political economies, and aroused their sense of political ambition, he would not have been able to work his own will in the past, which, so fortunately for Mexico, has always been for the weal of the majority. Modern Mexico is the result of the inspiration of one man, President Porfirio Diaz, the hero of 50 battlefields, who is "ablaze with decorations when in full dress, but with not enough medals to cover one apiece the sears that earned them." By sheer capacity and unexampled perseverance in opposing all enemies to rightlyconstituted' authority. Diaz has gained the full confidence of the people, and with if* the Presidency, in the exercise of which his rule has been entirely for good. On the American Continent he is widely revered as the greatest man of his age. — Leeds Mercury.