A BOOK OF THE. DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2138, 2 May 1914, Page 9

A BOOK OF THE. DAY.

MODERN MEXICO. Mr. E. j. Mac Hugh, author of "Modern Mexico" (London; Methuen and COOI is an experienced war correspondent, and trained observer and student of foreign"countries, their peoples, and their politics. lieturning to London after tho Balkan War, during .which ho actcd as special correspondent with tho Servian Army for the "London Daily Telegraph," Mr. Mac Hugh was dispatched to Mexico, to investigate tho conditions prevailing there. Some of his letters which appeared in tho "Telegraph" have been reproduced and expanded, much new material -has been utilised, and a preliminary historical sketch has been added. Tho result is a very readable work, tho opinions expressed in which are. claims the author, entirely unbiased, as ho has "no interests whatever, either financial, political, or social in tho Mexican .Republic."

After dealing With the ancient history of the country to which the eyes of'the world aro now being directed with such curiosity, Mr. Macrlugn gives an interesting sketch of tho political history, of'modern Mexico, ho country in the world has witnessed a greater number of Governments du'-jng tlie same period. Between 1821 ana 1913, Mexico- has had two Emperors and sixty-two Presidents and "Provisional .Presidents,at the head of the Government. Of tho Presidents, one, the great Diaz, ~ was in power for thirty-olio . years. . Hii predecessor, Benito Juarez, who almost .annihilated tho previously all-dominant political power,of the "Clericals,", was m office lor fifteen years, so that "the averago reign of. the others was only a few months each." ■ One gentleman, Senor Laufiscan,' the interim President between Francisco Madero and General Hiierta, nominally, at least, the Mexicaii President of to-day, held ofßce for exactly twenty-six minutes. This is surely a record, and puts the New Zealand precedent for brevity of office-hold-ing, the record achieved'by the "Clean Shirt Ministry," quite in the shade.

Mr. Mac Hugh speaks • well of the lengthy and notable Diaz regime. It is true Diaz was practically a dictator, although nominally he ruled under tho form of constitutional democratic powers, but under his firm rule brigandage \vas practically suppressed, and the country, save for /minor disturbances, free from the horrors of civil war. He encouraged the building of railways, cotton and silk manufacture, tho production of wine, cocoa, -and quinine, he amended the forestry laws, introduced reforms in elementary and higher education, and set, the national finances on a sound basis. "Taking every factor into consideration," says tho author,

"it can be said with truth that the Diaz regime stands out pre-eminently as the brightestj/period iini Mexican- history since" the .' country first- '..became known to. Europeans." What, thinks tho author, Mexico needs more than anything, else, is a strong Government, and under Diaz that was precisely what it 'got. Mr. Mac Hugh tells us that a military dcspotifcnv is the only kind of government to which tho poorer classes are accustomed! for they lack both the education and the organisation to insist upon - any definition or recognition oftheir civil and legal rights. He says: "In this strange land men change sides in the niost casual and lighthearted fashion. Tho -great bulk 'of the population, that is, the Indians and 'Mestizos,' or people of mixed Tace, are illiterate and ignorant to a degree. They have no idea of tho real, meaning of representative government, or oir the principles upon which it is based. . . . Prompt and adequato banging ; and' shooting, without any elaborate. preliminary inquiries as to its justice or otherwise, is the method which most appeals to the heart of the average .Mexican, and much of Porforio Diaz's success as President was duo to his entire readiness to govern the country in accordance with tho accepted ideas of 'tile, majority."

■ Mr. Macllugh has a very poor opinion of the man who succeeded Diaz. He styles Madero a "man of weak character, an idealist, and a visionary," who surrounded himself with a group - of politicians who had no experience of administration, and were almost wholly without knowledge of tho art of government. ."Favouritism, self-seeking, andpeculation becamo rife, tho extravagant promises of reform and improvement which had been made by Senor Madero end his supporters remained unfilled, and-in a few months the peoplo of Mexico were as much dissatisfied with tho Madero Government as they had been witli : that of President Diaz in tho later years of his .administration.'' Mr.. MacHilgh regards . tUo story of Francisco Madero as "supremely tragic." Ho is said to "have bad recourse to spiritualism in his endeavours to find light and guidanco through the difficulties which surrounded him." His brother, . Gustavo Madero, 13 described as more capable but wholly vnscrupuJous. It is .disappointing that , the author makes so' brief a refereuce to the circumstances under which tho brothers met their, death. '• Of tho nowadays so much discussed" Huerta, Mr. Mac Hugh attempts no character-sketch; but makes clear bis view , that President Woodrow "Wilson blundered badly in not granting tho Huerta Government full recognition.' The Maderistas, or Carranzistas, wero becoming disheartened, thero was a general wish for a cessation of_civil war, and had the Huerta Government, composed, as it was then, of men of a much higher degree of patriotism and ndmmistrativo ability than thoso who are now tho President's loading supporters, been formally recognised at •Washington, tho author considers that the country might soon have settled down to something like reasonable quietudo. Ho frankly accuses President Wilson and his Secretary of State Mr. W. J. Bryan, of "a plentiful laclc o? knowledge of Mexican affairs," in refusing recognition of Huerta as provisional President of Mexico. He shows that Huerta's position in that regard is exactly similar to the position of Poriirio Diaz, who becamo President in 1876 after a successful revolt against President Lerdo. Diaz had to wait sixteen months before tho United States recognised him. "All the other Governments," wo read, "made formal recognition of Diaz scon after tho constitutional inauguration. Tho delay on tho part of tho United States, besides being a great disappointment, was a source of much embarrassment to tho new administration in Mexico." How singularly appropriate are those words, from the memoirs of tho United States Minister in Mexico in 187G, to tho present situation.

A long and valuable account is given of past troubles between - tlio United States and Mexico, from the days when the Washington Government began negotiations for tlio purchase of. Texas, tlien a Mexican State, to the present time". In 1847, following upon the independence of Texas, is » result of the

defeat of tho Mexicans, under President Santa Anna, by a Texan military adventurer, General' Sam Houston, Texas "dropped into tho Anjericun hat," the "Lone Star" State becoming a state of tho Union. The Mexicans bitterly resented this, rushed into war, and were' badly bea=en, tlio Stars' y and Stripes being hoisted in Mexico City in c-eptember, 1847. by the ensuing treaty "'Mexico ceded over 700,000 squaro miles of territory to the United States,. including New Mexico and California." By a further treaty, in 1803, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada ivero also ceded. Naturally this gradual dismemberment of Mexico has not contnbuted'to make tho Americans beloved by tho Mexican people. Nevertheless, Mr. Mac Hugh thinks that "in the event of American intervention" it is "in tlio last-degree unlikely that there would be anything in the nature of a general massacre." "No doubt,"'lie thinks, "there might bo individual murders and assassinations of American subjects," but the Mexicans, 110 says, "although a very turbulent and even bloodthirsty people, are not absolute savages, and tliey have a wholesome dread of the retaliation which, they know would inevitably ensue if anything like a wholesale slaughter or United States subjects was attempted."

As to the future—and it must be remembered that Mr.' Mac Hugh's book brings tho story of . Mexico up to the beginning of January, 1914—tho author holds strongly the view that if the Republic found itself engaged in a campaign in Mexico, which involved,, as it certainly would involve, an enormous expenditure of blood and treasure, the cry for "intervention" would speedily become a demand for "annexation." This demand, he says, would bo based partly upon a claim for.compensation for the effort that had been mado and partly as a guarantee against any possible necessity for its renewal ill the futurq, but its strength, if it onco got hold of the imagination of the people, would bo such as no Administration could withstand.- Mr. Mac Hugh, howover, did not foresee, when writing as above, tho possibility of another "intervention," tho intervention of the LatinAmericans of the southern part of the continent, which, judging Iby recent cables, threatens to bccome a most potential.factor in the international situation.

Mr. Mac Hugh has high opinion of the younger Diaz, General Felix Diaz, a "young man still under forty, possessed of great force of character and a strong will,-and with a breadth of view and statesmanlike grasp of affairs which promises well for the future of the Republic, should its fate ever bo placed in his hands." He admits, however, that at present "that probability seems somewhat remote." In the course of a lengthy description of thb land system, which, sooner or later, whatever political faction comes "out on'top," must-bo changed, he mentions the fact that although Mexico is as largo as France, Germany, and Austro-Huiigary combined," or "about fourteen- times 'as largo as England, tliia landowners only number a few hundreds. Ono single landowner, General Tcrrazas, of whose brutal treatment by the.. "Constitutionalist" leader, General Villa, wo have recently heard so'much, "holds in his' own .hands, nearly' twenty-million acres, equal to half the total area of England." No wonder the great bulk of the peons, or agricultural labourers, live 'in what is practically a state of serfdom, and that they should find fighting—with its pleasant, possibility of loot—a much more desirable occupation than peaceful toil, remunerated by starvation wages.

Although largely devoted to the political history and present conditions of. tho country, Mr. Mac Hugh's book gives a detailed and valuable description of the agricultural and pastoral and mining industries, tho fine system of State raitways, and the habits and customs of the people, and coming as it does at a timo when Mexico is so prominently in tho world's eye, the -work possesses an importance and valuo which should ensure it being widely read. Somo well-produc-ed illustrations enhance tho interest of tho text.. (New Zealand; price, 145.)

THE "NATION'S LIBRARY," 'Two recent additions to Collins and Sons' "Nation's Library" (Collins's Clear Typo Press) are "British Commerce," by H. M. Bassett, editor of "Tho Financial Review of Reviews"; and "A Book of Folk-Lore" by tho veteran author, Rev. S. Bariug-liould. Mr. Bassett gives a useful account of the foundations of British commerce, the staple industries of Great Britain, and the general volume of British trade, and deals concisely, but always informatively and suggestively, with the aspects of.Britain's foreign trade, undeveloped commercial fields, the increasing cost of production, and tlio disturbance of trade by industrial strife. He warmly _ advo-, cate? the establishment of a Ministry of Commerce, and argues in favour of the advantages'of university training when applied to practical trade. In his final cliaptor he dwells upon the relationship between employer and employed and tbe'fnture of British commercc. The book, which is essentially- practical throughout, should be read with interest and advantage, by all' students of sociology. Much valuable statistical information, is given-in tho appendices, and the'Yoliimo contains an unusually extended bibliography. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has long been recognised as an authority on primitive manners and customs, and their curious perpetuation even into modern times, when extended education would, it might bo thought, have.rendered the survival of local superstitions impossible. In successive chapters ho deals with quaint and ancient beliefs as to the spirit of man; the body of man; tho ancient divinities; sacrifice; tho mystery of death; fetiches; skulls; pixies and brownies; and birth and _ marriago. His book is thickly studded with curious and. entertaining stories as to the survival of ancient beliefs and superstitions. Some of tho old-time marriago oustoms, still present, though perhaps in diluted form, in various country districts in Great Britain, are vastly amusing. To those who cannot afford expensive works on folk-lore, such as those of Dr. Frazer, tho late Andrew Lang, and other authors who might bo mentioned in this conncction, Mr. Bar-ing-Gould's little book should be very weicomo. (New Zealand price, fifteenpence per volume.)

THE EARLIER POEMS OF WILLIAM MORRIS. To that admirable series, "Tlio World's Classics" (Oxford Press; Humphrey Milford), Kits been added "Tlio Defence of Guenevcre," "The Life and Death of Jason," and other of the earlier poems of tlio lato Willian Morris. Dedicated to "My friend, Dante Gabriel Hossetti," tlieso earlier poems of Morris arc strongly reflective of the general literary and artistic tendencies of the Pre-Haphnelitos. Tlieio is a strongly archaic fla.our about them all, this being specially noticeable in such ballads as "Welland River." Many of the shorter poems' wore contributed to "Tlio Oxford and Cambridge Magazino," of which Morris was 0110 of the founders.

.Amongst the "Miscellaneous Poems,"' 185G-Gi>, which, in this volume, follow tho ambitious effort, "Tlio Life and Death of Jason," is tho striking ballad, "Tlio God of tlio Poor," which first appeared in "Tho Fortnightly llcviow" for August, IS6B, and in which moro than one writer on Morris has chosen to seo somo yorsical suggestion of those Socialistic opinions which later 011 played so important a part in the poet-craftsman's life. Tho littlo volume, like everything which bears tho imprint of- the Oxford Press, is beautifully printed, and an index of tho first lines of the poems is a useful feature. A delightful littlo vohimc for tho pocket or tho bookshelf. (New Zealand price, fifteenpencc.)