1898] Days of Porfirio Diaz 



develop admirable powers of skill and helpful- 

 ness. 



Those were the palmy days of Porfirio Diaz, 

 an Indian who knew his kind, and whose rule was 

 a singular compound of tribal affection, hard- 

 fisted order, and alliance with foreign interests. 

 The old Presidente then enjoyed unbounded popu- The adored 

 larity; his word was law and every tongue sounded Presidente 

 his praise. Communities he visited would ask to 

 be allowed to add to their names the phrase "de 

 Porfirio Diaz"; and the problem of ruling an il- 

 literate and poverty-stricken population in a land 

 of great potential wealth, owned almost entirely 

 by Spanish landholders and foreign corporations, 

 seemed for the time measurably solved, though by 

 methods sure to break sooner or later. At the 

 best, however, the problem is most complex. For 

 leaving out of consideration the character of the 

 people themselves, the very nature of the country 

 and its industries makes large holdings a necessity. 

 Mines, cattle ranches, irrigated valleys, rubber plan- 

 tations, all require large capital and, by tradition, 

 servile labor. 



Most Mexican towns have a stately air, at least 

 when seen from a distance, their shining, dome- 

 shaped towers dominating the landscape. But the view ft 

 view from the Heights of Chapultepec across the Cha P ulte ~ 

 Valley of Mexico is one of the noblest on earth: 

 for majestic background the two huge snow-crowned 

 volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, 1 next, in 

 the middle distance, the great city with its glitter- 



1 In Aztec popo'ca, smoke; te'petl, mountain; iz'tac, white; ci'huatl, woman. 

 Popocatepetl is 17,794, Iztaccihuatl, 16,200 feet high. 



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