MEXICO. 



501 



of its territory, or the proper 



reaped <>t' t lie constitution and tlio lawn. Its eno- 

 mie ! 'ih another government 



..ithout lii'injf able to consummate 



iiuiiKil iiiti-uti"in. After four years, the Gov- 



'itv of Mexico with the flag 



i, anil with the same laws, without 



li:i\ in.- lor one moment abandoned the national ter- 



ilov.-rimu-iit did not wish or desire less, and 



it, in tlio hour of its complete triumph, let 



i.iivil !>y any thought of passion against 



combated against it ? 



iuis been and is balanced by the exii'rn- 

 ili all the considerations of benig- 

 nity. Tlio temperance of ita conduct in all the 

 \v lii-re it has resided has demonstrated its de- 

 sire 01" '.', in what is possible, the rigor of 

 justice, i-oiK-il'tuting indulgence with the duty of ap- 

 : the laws in what is indispensable to establish 

 .nd the future of the nation. 

 .ii-ausj let all our work be directed to obtain 

 and consolidate the benefits of peace. Under her 

 auspices it will bo efficacious in the protection of the 

 laws and the authorities for the rights of all the in- 

 habitants of the Republic. 



Let the Government and the people respect always 

 the rights of all. Between individuals, as between 

 nations, the respect of another's right is peace. 



We trust that all Mexicans, with the lessons they 

 have received by the prolonged and sorrowful expe- 

 rience of the calamities of the war, will cooperate to 

 the advancement and well-being, and to the pros- 

 perity of the nation, which can only bo obtained by 

 an inviolable respect for the laws and obedience to 

 the authorities elected by the people. 



In our free institutions, the Mexican people are 

 their own arbiters, with the only object of sustaining 

 the cause of the people during the war, whilst they 

 could not select these authorities. I ought to con- 

 form to the spirit of the constitution, and preserve 

 the power that has been conferred upon me. The 

 war oeing terminated, my duty is to convoke imme- 

 > the people, without any pressure or force, and 

 without any illegitimate influence, to elect with abso- 

 lute liberty any person to whom they wish to confide 

 tlu-ir destinies. 



Mexicans ! We have reached to-day the greatest 

 good we could desire, seeing consummated for the sec- 

 ond time the independence of our country. We will all 

 cooperate so as to leave the inheritance to our chil- 

 dren, on the road to prosperity, loving and sustaining 

 always our independence and our liberty. 



BENITO JUABEZ. 

 MMICO, July 15, 1867. 



The President immediately began the reor- 

 ganization of his government by the appoint- 

 ment of a new cabinet, at the head of which 

 Lerdo de Tejada was retained as Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs. The whole country was then 

 divided into five military districts, to each of 

 which one of the great loaders of Juarez's 

 army was assigned, with four thousand men, 

 and invested with full powers as military gov- 

 ernors, responsible to the President alone. 



On the 14th of August Juarez issued a Letter 

 of Convocation, ordering an election to be held 

 on the Gth of October for the choice of Presi- 

 dent of the Republic and members of the Con- 

 At the same time, he submitted to the 

 consideration of the people several amend- 

 ments to the Constitution of the country, to be 

 voted on at the October election. These were, 

 for the most part, suggested by provisions in 

 the Constitution of the United States. The 



principal amendments proposed were that 

 tin- le;:i-|;tti\i- power be vested in t 

 that tli- I'r.'-iil.-ut luive tlio power of veto upon 

 the acts of Congress, subject to be 

 by a two-thirds vote of both nouses; that com- 

 iminieations \vith tlio Legislature should be held 

 in writing by messages from the President, and 

 reports from his ministers; that the clergy be 

 allowed tlio right of voting, and being voted 

 for; and that the press should be responsible 

 to the Government until the Republic should 

 be thoroughly established. These proposition^ 

 served to divide the people into two parties, 

 one of which supported Juarez for reelection 

 to the presidency and favored his constitutional 

 amendments, and the other of which was in 

 general opposed to him and his policy. General 

 Porfirio Diaz was the presidential candidate of 

 the opposition. The election resulted in the 

 choice of Juarez for a second term ; but the 

 votes on the constitutional amendments had 

 not, at the close of the year, been fully can- 

 vassed. Considerable excitement attended the 

 election of the governors of the various h 

 but no serious difficulties occurred, and candi- 

 dates were chosen, in most cases, who were in 

 accord with the general policy of the central 

 Government. 



Congress was convened on the 8th of Decem- 

 ber, for the first time since 1863. In his mes- 

 sage to the National Legislature, President Jua- 

 rez congratulated the country on the issue of 

 the long struggle through which it had passed, 

 and defended the policy of the Republic through- 

 out the war. He then dwelt upon their relations 

 to foreign powers. Relations with European 

 nations had been and were still suspended, but 

 they had received the sympathy and moral sup- 

 port of all the American republics. " With the 

 Government of the United States of America," 

 says the message, " we preserve the same re- 

 lations of friendship which existed during our 

 struggle. The constant sympathies of the 

 people of the United States, and the moral 

 support lent by its Government to our cause, 

 merited, and still justly merit, the sympathy and 

 consideration of the people and Government of 

 Mexico." At the last Congress, on the 27th 

 of May, 1863, special dictatorial powers had 

 been granted to the President to be exercised 

 until thirty days after the meeting of the next 

 Congress. These he now returned to the body 

 from which he had received them on the first 

 day of its new session. Seflor Montez, Presi- 

 dent of Congress, in his reply to the Chief 

 Magistrate's address, expressed his regret that 

 " the necessity of assuring peace had not per- 

 mitted the Government to be as clement in the 

 victory of last June as it had been afterward." 

 With regard to the condition of the country at 

 that time, he said: 



Five months have not elapsed since the Govern- 

 ment returned to the capital, and in several States ita 

 constitutional authorities are governing; the Con- 

 gress of the Union to-day opens the first term of its 

 ordinary sessions, and very soon the other two federal 

 powers will be installed. The diligent solicitude of 



