EXIT DIAZ.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 92, 8 June 1911, Page 7

EXIT DIAZ.

Estimates of the por.soimi character ami public administration of General I), i'orliii.) Diaz,' who in his eightyfirat year—-for I .lie last thirty-four of which lie was, with the exception of nno toi'iu, iTcxidont and Autocrat of tho Republic of Mexico—has he on comp: lied by pressure of adverse < irecmstances to go into voluntary cxi!?, will vary a comding to the p.ililical and moral standpoint oi the individual. Th.me are tlm.se who regard l)ii:; as one of the gieatesi. men not or.lv of his own country, hut <>l any aye or country. Accepting ihe record of liis past- as due to the circumstances then ruling, ami therefore as done in the, heat interests of Mexico, the majority of his eulogists have passed a sponge over the oxpresidont’s earlier carcor, till'd have based their judgment, almost wholly on tho histoiy of the Republic since Ins (iist election in 1876. This view was eloquently expressed by the Secretary of State lor foreign Adairs (Sir "Edward Drey) at the celebration of the Mexican centenary oi indepcnclon.eo in London last year. On that occasion our Foreign Minister referred to the generation of consistent progress which had been made, and the example to the world of increasing prosperity, progress, and ctrengtn Unit Mexico afforded. 11ns admittedly marvellous transformation in the internal condition and general status of the country was, Sir Edward went on to say, largely the work of one man. It. is not merely tho success of the nation and the country, but it is the fact that that success has boon so closely associated with such a remarkable personality as that of President Dina, that arouses so much interest in the world at largo in regard to Mexico. He is famous in Mexico, and so famous in Mexico that, he is famous in tho whole world. ITo is one of the groat men of tho world. lie has displayed heroism and endurance in limes of trouble as a soldier, but followed that up by displaying the highest gifts of statesmanship in times of peace—a great, double record for any man. . . .The President of tho United States of Mexico has shown how wisdom, energy, and strength can he combined in one person. Tho whole world respects the position which Mexico as a country has gained and established, and it honours the great qualities and , genius ol its President. It would hardly be possible to line! a higher or more sincere estimate of the life and work of President Dias than that uttered the Foreign Secretary, and the figure that lies at the hack of his tribute of admiration possibly justify all that can he said in this regard. Tho statistical tables furnish remarkable testimony ol tho reality of the transition of tho Mexican people from long years ol farreaching indigence and distress to those of comparative affluence and comfort. I lie history of Mexico, prior to the accession ol Diaz to power in 1870, was a record ol savage, sanguinary, and devastating civil war. There was scarcely a year that was not marked by some revolt, some rapine, and some violence, oi the uprising and downfall of some teniporarily-successful Dictator. From the year 1823 to 1876 there were no less than fifty-two presidents, one emperor, and a regency. It was dining this period, too, that Napoleon Jlf sent the unhappy Archduke Maximilliau of Austria on his mad mission to Mexico, there to meet lus death at the hands of tho public executioner. The land everywhere was in a state of chronic wav of the worst kind. There was nothing heroic, or noble, or inspiring, or even patriotic about it. The predatory .armies, or rather hands of would-be Dictators, roved the country, killing, torturing, burning, unci outraging, until it seemed as though tin* wrath oi must hlot.it out of existence. From this welter General Poriirio Diaz emerged triumphant. It was impossible that his hands should he wholly clean. The apprenticeship he had served was not conducive to the developement of an Arthur or a Bayard. But this at least has been said: Diaz mav not have had perfectly clean hands, hut he stands head and shoulders above the rest of his countrymen in almost everything that entitles a man to respect and reverence. Let it not ho forgotten when attempting to estimate the greatness o such a man as the cx-Dies,dent that tho Mexico the world knows to-day is not the Mexico of Diaz’s youth and early manhood. All judgments will he sadly at fault unless 1 the clear, ip.ciii. contrasting line o denialcation between the two is home m mind. And the measmo ol Ins sopramaev to that of his follmv-countrv-men and contemporaries is the mea.•ure that exists between the Mexico of the early seventies and the Republic of uvciay. Due, ‘‘is n w was autocratic, hut few, if any, have tho liMifc to sav that an autocrat was not what Mexico needed, nor lias the mu ion got rid of despotism by its dcoosition of Diaz. ‘ It has prooah.y only changed the form rglher than he spirit of its government. to law. given Mexico the free Dress v Uo Loo mstitnlions, ami the Lee i a; iiamems, elected on nniveis il snfiiago, such a:, we have in New Zealand and ia othei of the sail-governing Dominions o tae Empire. would not improbably Itave been followed by the chaos.and lioirois of the ante-Diaz regime. J em a it was teat the long I 'residency of t.io , rr n„l, nder ami mlmiidsti atm became a despotism. In tiic words ol that element philosophci and comimm tiuyr, Mr. Dooley:

Gin’ral Diaz’s molhnds iv govornin’ th’ pcopb is mild bn; fir.... He •■nbi'iits" all quest ions to tbim, aiy saves tbim th’ thimighb iv tluiikm about tbim bo tailin’ thhn th’ ausweis first. Mo cooris opposition, as ho thinks it improves th mark.smanship iv his somrs. A ilia Mp.vi,an feels like criticisis the Guyon unin t lie’s pvrlVckiy free to do .■a ii he- is in Paris' an lias suit I i his fam’lv. Avan if he is an avowed ini in v iv th’ Govmammt an' Ins told- hie uifo that he thinks t.m ml Diaz’s pants hags at th’ knees, no harsh measures .ar-re adopted to ids him. ’l’ll’ .Piisidint only asks him to put his head agin a wall, shat his eyes, an’ listen to reason. It ia Ih’ rule iv th’ Gnv.crnmint to carry lII’ baft \\ nnaids iv aven til’ most severe critic iv Mi’ Administlnai ion to th’ lamilv, on less thy ai-io iv an incindyary chai ackter. | fin re is, of course, some truth in Mr. | Dooh'y’s summary. That satirical individual most ol ten rellecLs "hat sterner and loliicr critics have said in different words. Still, when all is (•.aid in tliis relation that can he writ1, n, it, remains lino ilmt President IV;:,V, tram formed the Mexican inferno ol liis younger dnys into a hi place ol human liahitation, and gave a land time for fifty years and more had been the s'-mie ol ceaseless intei no( me ctrifo neatly foity years ol peace. That 1 10 had outgrown Ids usei illness am) lagged behind the new spirit of the ago is probable. Iris successors, however, who have gained their reward at tho cost of much misery and ’■loodflied, will have earned tho iipyoval of mankind if at the end of a 1 renovation as much can he said for them us men now say of Diaz.