238 REPORTS OF INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



Chapter II. — The Provisional Organic Act of May 15, 1856, and the Consti- 

 tution of February 5, iS^y: 



Analysis of the work of the Constitutional Convention of 1856-57. Report 

 of the Committee on Draft. Reception given the report by the Convention. 

 Irreconcilable differences of opinion. Adoption and promulgation of the 

 constitution. 



Chapter III. — Amendments to the Constitution of i8^y: 



In this chapter the numerous amendments to the Mexican Constitution are 

 studied and the conditions which necessitated them are analyzed. 



The following chapters are required to complete the monograph ; 



Chapter IV. The reform laws. 



Chapter V, The organization of the Federal Government. 



Chapter VI. The division of functions between Federal and State governments. 



Chapter VII. The constitutional position of the States. 



Chapter VIII. Constitutional guarantees under the Mexican Constitution. 



Appendices : 



I. Bibliography. 

 II. Documents illustrative of the constitutional development of Mexico. 



The difficulties involved in the study of the Mexican political system are 

 greatly increased by reason of the fact that the existing histories of Mexico, 

 especially those that deal with the critical periods of the country's constitu- 

 tional development, are untrustworthy, owing to the pronounced partisan 

 standpoint from which they are written. 



The same is true, although for reasons of a different nature, of the numer- 

 ous commentaries on the Constitution. Without a single exception, Mexican 

 constitutional writers have dealt with the "paper constitution" rather than 

 with the actual political system of the country. Instead of analyzing the 

 institutional life of the country, the purpose of the commentators seems to 

 be to create the impression that Mexico has reached the highest stage of 

 democratic development and that the study of the written constitution is 

 sufficient to obtain an accurate acquaintance with the political institutions of 

 the country. Fortunately, the documentary material for the study of the 

 constitutional development of the country has been preserved and is readily 

 accessible. 



The first task, therefore, was to undertake a study of the bases of the Mex- 

 ican Federal system and the antecedents of the Constitution of 1857. This 

 is the ground covered in Chapter I. 



Synopsis of Chapter I. 



The Bases of the Mexican Federal System and the Antecedents of the Constitution of 



1857. 



(i) Analysis of contrast between the political condition of Mexico and that of the 

 United States immediately after the declaration of independence from the 

 respective mother countries. 



