Chapter XXIII: Appendix: The Plan of San Luis Potosí

By F. I. MADERO.

DECLARATION TO THE NATION

The people, in their constant effort to bring about the triumph of their ideals of liberty and justice, have deemed it necessary at certain historical moments to make the greatest sacrifices.

Our dear country has arrived at one of these times; a tyranny which the Mexicans had not been accustomed to endure, since we gained our independence, oppresses us in such a manner that it has become intolerable. In exchange for that tyranny, peace has been offered us, but a shameful peace for the Mexican people, as it is not based on right but on might; for it does not have as an object the advancement and prosperity of the country, but only the enrichment of a small group who, abusing their influence, have converted the public positions into fountains of benefit exclusively personal, exploiting without scruples all the concessions and lucrative contracts.

The legislative power as well as the judicial are completely under the executive; the division of power, the State sovereignty, the liberty of the municipal government and the rights of the citizen only exist as they are written in our Magna Charta; but as a fact, in Mexico it can almost be said that martial law reigns constantly; justice instead of imparting protection to the weak, only serves to legalize the plundering committed by the strong; the judges instead of being the representatives of justice are agents of the executive, whose interests they serve faithfully; the House of Congress of the Union has no other will than that of the dictator; the State Governors are appointed by him, and they in their turn appoint and tax in the same way the municipal authorities.

From this it results that the administrative gear, judicial and legislative, obeys with one will the caprice of Gen. Porfirio Diaz, who during his long administration has demonstrated that the principal motive that guides him is to maintain himself in power at all costs.

For many years deep uneasiness has been felt throughout the republic, due to the above form of management of the Government, but General Diaz, with great astuteness and perseverance, had well-nigh crushed out all independent elements, so that it was impossible to organize any kind of a movement to deprive him of the power, which he had so misused. The mischief was constantly aggravated, and the decided eagerness of General Diaz to impose on the nation a successor in the person of Mr. Ramón Corral, brought matters to a crisis and determined many Mexicans, although lacking political affiliations because it had been impossible to form them during the thirty-six years of dictatorship, to throw themselves into a struggle, intending to regain the sovereignty of the people and their purely democratic right to the land.

Among other parties which had the same object, the National Anti-Re-electionist Party was organized, proclaiming the principles of EFFECTIVE SUFFRAGE AND NO RE-ELECTION as the only ones capable of saving the republic from the imminent danger which menaced from the prolongation of a dictatorship each day becoming more and more onerous, more despotic and more immoral.

The Mexican people actively seconded that party and responded to the call which was made, sending its representatives to a convention, in which also was represented the National Democratic Party, which also interpreted the popular desires. The said convention appointed its candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the republic, those nominations devolving upon Dr. Francisco Vásquez Gomez and on me, for the respective charges of Vice-President and President of the republic.

Although our situation was extremely disadvantageous owing to the fact that our adversaries received the sanction of all the official element, on which they did not hesitate to rely, we believe it our duty to accept an honorable appointment like this in order to best serve the cause of the people. In imitation of the wise customs of republican countries, I travelled over a portion of the republic, calling upon my compatriots. My passing from one town to another was like a real triumphal march, for everywhere the people, electrified by the magic words Effective Suffrage and No Re-election, gave evident proofs of their irrevocable resolution to obtain the conquest of such secure principles. At length, the moment arrived when General Diaz began to notice the true situation of the republic, and understood that he could not advantageously struggle with me in the field of democracy, and sent me to prison before the elections, which were consummated while excluding the public from the primaries through violence, filling the prisons with independent citizens and committing the most shameful frauds.

In Mexico, as a democratic republic, the public power cannot have any other origin or base than the national will, and this cannot be subordinated to formulas consummated in a fraudulent manner.

For this reason the Mexican people have protested against the illegality of the last elections, and wishing to employ successively all the recourses which the laws of the republic offer, in due form they requested the annulment of the elections before the Chamber of Deputies, notwithstanding the fact that in that body a legitimate origin was not recognized, and it being known beforehand that the members of the same were not representatives of the people and only respected the will of General Diaz, to whom exclusively they owed their investiture.

In such a state of affairs the people, who are the only sovereign, also protested in an energetic manner against the elections, in imposing manifestations consummated in different parts of the republic, and if these did not spread through all the national territory, it was due to the terrible pressure exercised by the government, which always smothers in blood any democratic demonstration, such as passed in Puebla, Vera Cruz, Tlaxcala, Mexico and other parts.

But this situation so violent and illegal could not last long.

I have understood very well that if the people have appointed me as their candidate for President it is not because there may have been an opportunity of discovering in me the faculties of a statesman or a governor, but only the virility of a patriot resolved to sacrifice himself if necessary in the cause of liberty, and to help the public free itself from the odious tyranny which oppresses the nation.

From the time when I threw myself into the democratic struggle I knew very well that General Diaz had no respect for the freewill of the nation and the noble Mexican people, and upon attending the primaries I knew also very well the attacks that awaited them; but notwithstanding these facts, the public gave to the cause of liberty a numerous contingent of martyrs when these were necessary, and with admirable stoicism met at the polls to receive all sorts of annoyances.

But such conduct was indispensable to demonstrate to the world at large that the Mexican people are ready for democracy, that they are thirsty for liberty, and that their present governors do not meet their aspirations.

Besides, the attitude of the people before and during the elections, as well as after them, demonstrates clearly that they opposed with energy the government of General Diaz, and that if their electoral rights had been respected I might have been elected as President of the republic.

Taking this into consideration and echoing the public sentiment, I declare illegal the past elections, and as the republic for that reason is without legitimate governors, I assume provisionally the Presidency of the republic, while the people appoint according to law their governors. To attain this object it is necessary to hurl from power the audacious usurpers, who for all the titles of legality boast a scandalous and immoral fraud.

With all honor I declare that I would consider it a sign of weakness on my part and treason to the public who have confided in me, not to place myself in front of my fellow-citizens who anxiously call upon me from all parts of the country, to compel General Diaz by force of arms to respect the national will.

The present Government, although it originated in violence and fraud from the moment that it was tolerated by the people, yet can hold for foreign nations certain titles of legality up to the 30th of the coming month, in which their tenure expires; but as it is possible that the new government emanating from the last fraud, may not by that time be in power, at least because the greater part of the nation is making an armed protest against that usurpation, I have appointed SUNDAY, the 20th of next November, from 6 o’clock in the afternoon on, for all the towns and villages in the republic to take up arms against the government under the following

PLAN.

1st. The elections for President and Vice-President of the republic, Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and Deputies and Senators, held in June and July of the present year, are hereby declared null and void.

2nd. The present government of General Diaz is not recognized, nor the power of any authority emanating from the popular vote, for not having been elected by the people, they have lost what little title they did have of legality, aiding and favoring for their own interests the most scandalous electoral fraud ever known in the history of Mexico, with the money placed at their disposal by the public.

3d. To avoid as much as possible the upheavals incident to all revolutionary movements, all the laws promulgated by the present administration and the rules pertaining to the same, with the exception of those which are found to be decidedly opposed to the principles set forth by this plan, are declared to be in force, until such as require adjustment may be reformed according to constitutional methods. Also, exception is made of laws, sentences of courts, and decrees which may have been sanctioned regarding the accounts and handling of funds of all the functionaries of the Porfirista administration, in all their branches. For as soon as the revolution triumphs the formation of commissions of investigation will be initiated to decide on the responsibilities which the functionaries of the State and city federations may be able to incur.

In all cases the obligations contracted by the Porfirista administration with foreign governments and corporations before the 20th of the coming month, will be respected.

Abusing the law of waste land, numerous small proprietors, mostly all quite poor, have been despoiled of their possessions, through the connivance of the Secretary of Public Welfare, or by decrees of the courts of the republic. It being only just to restore to their former owners the lands of which they have been despoiled in such an arbitrary manner, such dispositions and decrees have been declared subject to revision, and there will be demanded of those who acquire them in such a lawless manner, or of their heirs, to make restitution to their former proprietors, who will also pay an indemnity for the injuries suffered. Only in cases where such lands have passed to a third person before the promulgation of this plan, the former owners will receive indemnity from those in whose benefit the spoliation was accomplished.

4th. Besides the constitution and laws in force, the supreme law of the republic is declared to be the principle of NO RE-ELECTION of the President and Vice-President of the republic, Governors of the States and Municipal Presidents, while the respective constitutional reforms may be made.

5th. I assume the character of Provisional President of the United States of Mexico, with the necessary faculties to make war on the usurping government of General Diaz.

As soon as the capital of the republic and half of the States of the Federation may be in the power of the army of the nation, the Provisional President will call for extra general elections for a month thereafter, and will deliver the power to the President who may be elected, as soon as the result of such election may be known.

6th. The Provisional President, before handing over the authority, will give account to the Congress of the Union of the use which has been made of the faculties which the present plan confers upon him.

7th. The 20th day of the month of November, from the 6th of the afternoon on, all the citizens of the republic will take up arms to hurl from power the authorities which at present govern them. (The towns which are situated away from the railway lines will take up arms from the evening on.)

8th. When the authorities present armed resistance, they will be compelled by force of arms to respect the popular will; but in this case the laws of war will be rigorously observed, attention being specially called to the prohibitions relative to not using expansive balls, nor shooting prisoners. Also attention is called respecting the duty of all Mexicans to have consideration for all foreigners and their interests.

9th. The authorities who oppose resistance to this plan will be sent to prison so that they may be judged by the courts of the republic, when the revolution may be over. As soon as each city or town recovers its liberty, there will be recognized as legitimate temporary authority the principal chief at arms, with the faculty of delegating his functions to any other citizen, who may be confirmed in his charge or removed by the Provisional Governor.

One of the first measures of the provisional government will be to put at liberty all the political prisoners.

10th. The nomination of Provisional Governor of each State that may have been occupied by revolutionary troops, will be made by the Provisional President. This Governor will be under strict obligation to convoke the elections for the Provisional Governor of the State, as soon as it may be possible to do so, according to the judgment of the Provisional President. There is excepted from these rulings the States that for two years have sustained democratic campaigns for a change of government, for in these the man who was the candidate of the people will be considered as Provisional Governor, of course it being understood that he is expected to adhere strictly to this plan.

In case that the Provisional President has not made a nomination of Governor, or the nominee has not arrived to take charge of his position, or if the person so honored does not accept for any reason, then the Governor will appoint by vote among all the chiefs of the army who may operate in the territory of the respective State, with the understanding that his nomination may be ratified by the Provisional President as soon as it may be convenient.

11th. The new authorities will dispose of all the funds that are found in the public offices for the ordinary expenses of the administration and for the expenses of the war, keeping account scrupulously. In case that these funds may not be sufficient to meet the expenses of the war, loans are to be contracted, either voluntary or forced. These last to be consummated only with citizens or national institutions. Account will also be carefully kept of these loans, and receipts will be tendered in due form to the interested parties, with a view to making restitution to those who have loaned, the revolution having triumphed.

TRANSITORY. A. The chiefs of the volunteer army will hold the rank which may correspond to the numbers of forces on hand. In case of operating military forces and volunteers together, the chief of the highest rank will take command of them, because in the event of both chiefs holding the same rank, the command will be for the military chieftain.

The civil heads will profit by said rank while the war lasts, and once terminated, these appointments on petition of the parties interested, will be revised by the Secretary of War, who will confirm the various ones in their charges, or remove such as he may see fit.

B. All the chiefs, civil as well as military, will keep their troops under the strictest discipline, as they will be held responsible by the Provisional Government for any misbehavior of which the soldiers under their command may be guilty; excepting in such cases where they may justify themselves by proving that it was impossible to restrain the troops, and to have imposed on the offenders the merited punishment.

The severest punishments will be inflicted on any soldiers who sack any town or kill defenceless prisoners.

C. If the army and the authorities sustained by General Diaz shoot prisoners of war, the same procedure will not be observed with those who fall into our hands, as reprisals; but on the contrary, the civil or military authorities in the service of General Diaz, who may, after the initiation of the revolution, have ordered, decreed in any form, sent an order, or shot any of our soldiers, will be shot within twenty-four hours after a court-martial.

From this sentence the highest functionaries will not be exempted; the only exception will be that of General Diaz and his ministers, who in case of their ordering shootings or permitting them, will receive the same punishment, though after having judged them in the courts of the republic, when the revolution may have terminated.

In such cases where General Diaz may decree that the laws of war may be respected, and the prisoners who fall into his hands are treated with humanity, his life will be safe, but he must explain in the courts as to how he has handled the funds of the nation, and as to how he has complied with the law.

D. As it is an indispensable requisite of the laws of war that the belligerent troops may wear some uniform of distinction, and as it would be difficult to uniform the numerous forces of the people who are going to take part in the contest, there will be adopted as distinctive of all the liberating army, whether they be volunteers or regular soldiers, a tricolored ribbon, in the cap or on the arm.

FELLOW CITIZENS. If we are called to take up arms and overturn the government of General Diaz, it is not only for the offence committed during the last elections, but only to save the country from the dark future which awaits her, if she continues under his dictatorship, and under the government of the abominable scientific oligarchy, that unscrupulously and with great rapidity are absorbing and wasting the national resources; and if we permit them to continue in power, within a very brief space of time they will have completed their work; they will have carried the nation to ignominy and degradation; they will have absorbed all of her riches and left her in total misery; they will have caused the bankruptcy of our finances and the dishonor of our country, which, weak, impoverished and manacled, will find herself unable to defend her frontiers, her honor and her institutions.

With respect to me, I have a tranquil conscience, and no one can accuse me of promoting the revolution for personal interests, for the whole nation understands that I did all that was possible to arrive at a peaceful arrangement, and was disposed even to renounce my candidacy if General Diaz would only have permitted the people to appoint the Vice-President of the republic; but dominated by incomprehensible pride and by unheard of haughtiness he was deaf to the voice of the country, and preferred to precipitate the nation in a revolution before conceding one jot toward returning to the people an atom of their rights, before executing, although it might be in the last stages of his life, a part of the promises he made in Noria and Tuxtepec.

The present revolution was justified when he said: “That no citizen may be charged with and perpetuated in the exercise of power, and this will be the last revolution.”

If in the mind of General Diaz there had been more attention paid to the interest of the country than the sordid interests of himself and his counsellors, this revolution might have been avoided by making some concessions to the people; but it has not been so--so much the better! The change will be rapid and more radical, for the Mexican public in place of lamenting like a coward, will accept the challenge like a hero, and even if General Diaz pretends to depend upon brute force to imposing his ignominious yoke, the public will rely on the same force for throwing aside this yoke, for hurling this dismal man from power and for reconquering liberty.

FELLOW CITIZENS. Do not hesitate a moment: Seize the arms, throw the usurpers from power, recover your rights as free men, and remember that our predecessors bequeathed us an inheritance of glory which we must not stain. Remember how they acted: invincible in war, magnanimous in victory.

EFFECTIVE SUFFRAGE. NO RE-ELECTION.

SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, October 5, 1910.

(Signed) FCO. I. MADERO.

NOTE. The present plan will circulate only among the co-religionists of the greatest confidence up to November 15th, from which date it will be re-printed; the plan will be prudently divulged from the 18th and profusely from the 20th on.

PROTEST AGAINST MEETING OF DIAZ AND TAFT

(Reprinted from _The Evening World_, September 3, 1909.)

_To the President of the United States._

SIR: The national press has lately startled thoughtful men with the most unusual of announcements. We are told we may shortly expect to witness the meeting of the popularly elected President of this great Republic with the uncrowned Czar of Mexico. Calculated to inspire enthusiasm in the minds of the ignorant or the falsely informed, this piece of news brings dismay to those who know the truth and honor American traditions. For the last thirty years the world has only heard unchallenged reports of the genius, the equity and the kindness of Porfirio Diaz. All this being true, it would only be fitting and proper that the two neighboring chiefs should exchange international courtesies.

But as a matter of history Porfirio Diaz represents in Mexico what Abdul Hamid was to Turkey. On his white head rests the responsibility for the massacres of over 50,000 Mexican Christians; the slavery of thousands of Yaqui and Maya Indians who escaped fire and sword; the destruction of all liberties, personal as well as public; the corruption of the judiciary; the creation of a financial system which has mortgaged Mexico to European and American bankers; for the persecution of all the Mexican liberals in the United States, which reached a climax of brazenness and impudence when a Mexican liberal was kidnapped across the Rio Grande from an American jail by the help of American detectives in the payroll of the Czar.

Therefore, I protest in the name of humanity, common decency and national dignity as distinguished from political expediency and international courtesy against such an exchange between the deeply trusted and patriotic President of the United States and the treacherous, unpopular and bloody-handed Nero of Mexico.

You might retort that it is no business of mine to couple your name with an attack seemingly so unwarranted.

My answer is that I speak no more than truth and not otherwise than I have spoken in a recent book on the real political conditions in Mexico. I am moved to repeat these truthful characterizations of Mexico’s president and the rule he stands for, because this pamphlet has been suppressed by an indictment against me in an American court brought about by the Mexican Government, which used your own brother, Henry W. Taft, as their lawyer against me, transparently to gain for their case the weight of an implied connection between it and the Administration.

You might reply that the American Government cares nothing about the internal policy of the Mexican government as long as it behaves and protects American interests.

I answer that if a neighbor be a good neighbor it might be sufficient unto you; but if your neighbor should torture or attempt to kill his children would it not be your duty to protest?

If the excuse for meddling in another nation’s affairs is only found in the destruction of American lives and their property, under what pretext did the American Government protest against the Armenian massacres? What brought about armed intervention in Cuba? Why did the State Department undertake to refund the unjust Chinese indemnity? And how are you to explain the wherefore of the tremendous struggle to stamp out slavery?

The reason for this system of intervention lies deeper than in financial and political interests. It proves to the civilized world that the American nation is something mightier than a rich, powerful and progressive republic; that it is likewise a moral entity backed by the conscience of a people.

The propaganda about Mexico has its source in the knowledge of the real history of Porfirio Diaz. At the beginning of his career he concealed his real political face, but the higher he rises in power and statecraft, the more he uncovers his fundamental lack of principle.

Even as I write these lines the report is wired from Mexico that General Diaz has ordered the demission of the Governor of Coahuila as the latter showed a marked tendency in favor of General Reyes’s candidacy. Imagine the Republican President of the United States asking for the resignation of Governor Johnson of Minnesota because of his Democratic leanings!

Political evolution in Mexico will move faster in the next twelve months, inasmuch as the new generation is impelled by cleaner, more honest and patriotic motives than those of the malevolent Czar and his infamous camarilla. Porfirio Diaz is fashioning the tools of his own destruction and as a last resort is using the handshake across the Rio Grande to countenance in advance the arbitrary repressions and assassinations which are sure to take place in the false elections of next year.

When that period is passed the mask of this master Machiavelli will have been torn aside. The American people will then realize with humiliation that their honored President has exchanged an intimate greeting with the basest slave-driver of modern times.

CARLO DE FORNARO,
National Arts Club.

_Translation._

LETTER FROM ARCHBISHOP GILLOW TO URRUTIA.

HACIENDA DE CHAUTLA, July 11th, 1913.

SR. DR. AURELIANO URRUTIA,
Minister of the Interior, Mexico.

_Esteemed Sir and Friend_:

I returned to this hacienda yesterday and was informed that up around Huejotzingo, capital of this District, things are rather unsettled, due to a few disturbers who molest the authorities, and consequently disturb public peace. Having in mind the kind offers which you made to me during my recent visit in that city, I now take the liberty of addressing you.

The disturbers of Huejotzingo are a certain Luis Pinto and his brother. They own real estate and small houses to the amount of may be Three Thousand Dollars each, in that locality. They put on airs of caciques, and have for some time even gone so far as to pretend to subordinate the local authorities. They have become more overbearing since the time of Madero.

While Mr. Alberto García Granados was Minister of the Interior, the referred-to Pinto brothers attempted to overthrow Mr. Enrique Acevedo from his position as Governor of the Province. Mr. Acevedo has maintained the peace and well-being in this district ever since he came into office. As Mr. Granados, owner of the Hacienda de Chagua, near Huejotzingo, knows Mr. Acevedo, he maintained Mr. Acevedo as Governor, and the Pinto brothers did not molest him any more until Mr. Granados resigned the secretaryship.

As Mr. Acevedo is well acquainted with the intrigues of the Pinto brothers, he has kept them well watched, and they, resenting this, have hostilized him, to the degree of having trumped up false accusations against him before the municipality of Puebla. They did not however, obtain their end, for they were unable to obtain his removal, though he was for a time suspended from office, much to the regret of the honest contingent of Huejotzingo. The Mayor replaced him during this time.

On the other hand, Mr. Ramon Vargas, Judge of the Primary Court of Claims of Huejotzingo, has been for three months working unceasingly to put to date all pending cases, which had been accumulating, due to the fact that his predecessors, partly due to indifference and partly to fear of the Revolution, often absented themselves, abandoning their offices. Among those who most distinguished themselves of these last mentioned, was a certain Felipe Ramirez, whose wife is a Huejotzingo woman, on which account he was of course interested in holding that position in Huejotzingo. The mother of the lady in question also found a way to take advantage of the situation, and arranged things so that those who wished their cases attended to, had to have a recommendation from her, if they wanted a favorable judgment. For this she was of course paid a certain sum, and she managed to derive quite a fine income.

This by-play came to the knowledge of Mr. García Granados, and he managed to obtain the Puebla Municipality to offer the Judge Felipe Ramirez to transfer him to Matamoros, which offer he declined, staying in Huejotzingo and exercising his profession of lawyer. This Mr. Ramirez works in harmony with the Pinto brothers, and the three of them, openly antagonize Acevedo the Governor, Ramon Vargas, the Judge and Sidronio Primo, Commissioner of the Ministry, who is an old employé in this locality and who works together with the other two last mentioned.

With the foregoing details, and prompted by the desire to maintain order and peace in this district, I beg you to exert your good influence with the government of Puebla, to have Mr. Acevedo return to his post, and to have Mr. Ramon Vargas the present Judge, and also Mr. Sidronio Primo, stay in their positions. The presence of Mr. Felipe Ramirez, who still pretends to occupy the position of Judge in this District, is very harmful to public interests, as is also the presence of the Pinto brothers, so that although I harbor no feelings of personal enmity towards them for I do not know them except from hearsay, I beg to suggest the advantage of their being removed from this locality, in whatever way you may deem most appropriate.

Kindly forgive the length of this letter, but I feel justified in giving you all these details, for the sake of the preservation of peace in this region, which has some importance due to its relations to Puebla and Mexico.

Thanking you in advance for whatever you may deem fit to do in the interests of the honest citizens who have given me the above information, and which I transmit to you confidentially, I beg to remain,

Very respy., etc., etc.,
EULOGIO G. GILLOW,
Archbishop of Oaxaca.

LETTER FROM MINISTER URRUTIA TO ARCHBISHOP MORA.

MEXICO, July 9th, 1913.

_Very illustrious Sir_--

Kindly allow me to acquit myself of the pleasant duty of expressing, to you, very sincere thanks for the good assistance you have been lending to the Government in the re-establishment of peace,--a task the more useful because accomplishing it, as you are doing, with intelligence and common sense, it might be able to effect a durable benefit to the country.

In the name of the government to which I belong and with which you are happily connected, I earnestly beg of you to continue your good work, if possible, with more energy than before.

In this connection and prompted by the confidence which your kindness invites, I take the liberty of telling you that some memorial services held in honor of the Madero brothers, made a bad impression in social circles, and especially on the Government, and therefore I would ask of you to take such measures as you may deem necessary, to prevent a repetition of demonstrations of this nature, which might contribute to retard the success of the work undertaken by the Government in order to put an end to our internal wars.

I also must call your attention to the necessity of stopping at all costs, a certain person in the clergy, from continuing his propaganda against the Government, and this for the same reasons as above expressed. With your intelligence and tact, I am sure you will find an efficacious means to put a stop to the workings of the person in question.

I remain, etc., etc.,
URRUTIA.

GLOSSARY OF SPANISH WORDS.

CARRANZISTA Political follower of Venustiano Carranza.

CASAS DE VECINDAD Tenement houses.

CIENTIFICO A group of politicians headed by J. I.
Limantour, who took as a basis of
their political party some of the Comte
theories. They believed in a scientific
government. The term cientifico
is now applied to political
exponents of graft in politics.

CIUDADELA Citadel.

COLORADOS Reds, red-flaggers. Name given to the
guerrilla troops under Orozco, because
besides carrying a red flag they
carried destruction everywhere by fire
and sword.

COMPADRE Godfather, an expression which means
protector, benefactor,--and implies
great obligations and great sacrifices.

CUARTELAZO A military mutiny. From cuartel, a
military barrack.

DON Title of courtesy given to people of the
better class. Formerly in Spain,
when addressing a person of aristocratic
lineage, it was customary to
write before the name,--De origen
noble--(of noble origin). It was
afterwards abbreviated to D. O. N.
One should be careful to use the Don
only before the first name, or together
with first and second names,
for instance--Don Porfirio Diaz, never
Don Diaz, as it implies an insulting
meaning.

EGIDOS Communal lands surrounding villages
and cities in Mexico.

FELICISTA Political follower of Felix Diaz.

FIESTA Holiday, merry-making.

FOMENTO Excite, encourage. Ministerio de Fomento:
the department for the development
of the country, industrially
and commercially.

GACHUPINES Nickname given to Spaniards.

GRINGO Nickname used in Mexico and South
America to designate Americans.

HACIENDA Plantation, ranch, farm.

HUERTISTA Political follower of Victoriano Huerta.

INCOMUNICACION Incommunication. The position of a
man in prison who is not permitted to
communicate with his friends, lawyers
or any one from the outside.

JEFE Chief.

JEFE POLITICO Political chief. Head of a district
under the jurisdiction of the Governor.
Under Diaz they had almost unlimited
power for mischief.

LEY FUGA The Runaway Law--which was resorted
to for the purpose of doing
away with obnoxious political enemies
or agitators; while they were
taken from one prison to the other,
they were shot from the back, and
the pretext was that they had tried
to run away.

MADERISTA Political follower of F. I. Madero.

MOCHO Contemptible term to designate members
of the clerical party in Mexico.

NEO-CIENTIFICO New scientist. A political party which
was a continuation of the old cientifico
party. They came into power
under Madero, and were headed by
Ernesto Madero, uncle of Don F. I.
Madero, and by Rafael Hernandez, a
cousin of the president.

PACIFICO A peaceful Indian, one that cultivates
the land and does not carry arms.

PELADO “Skinned.” Term applied to a very
poor Indian.

PEON Indian worker on plantation or mines.

PLAN DE AYALA Written by a school-teacher, Montaño,
for Zapata. It was aimed against
the neo-cientificos in the Madero cabinet,
--the provisional president was
supposed to be P. Orozco, and in case
of his absence Emiliano Zapata. The
Plan was essentially an agrarian plan,
local in its ideas of reforms.

PLAN DE GUADALUPE A Manifest written by V. Carranza to
rally the Mexicans in the overthrow
of the Huerta dictatorship. It did
not attempt to bring about any reforms,
--only the elimination of
Huerta and his supporters.

PLAN DE SAN LUIS POTOSÍ Was the political plan written by F. I.
Madero against the Diaz régime on
October 5th, 1910.

PORFIRISTA Political follower of Porfirio Diaz.

PORRISTA A member of the Porra, a political club
created by the friends of F. I. Madero,
supposed to be headed by Gustavo
Madero, to fight and intimidate the
enemies of the Maderistas.

RELIGION Y FUEROS Battle-cry of the clericals since the
revolution. “Religion & Privileges.”
The Church and the army under
Spanish rule had special courts composed
of either religious clerics or of
soldiers, which judged members of
the church or soldiers in criminal
cases. The Clericals now demand a
return of their old privileges.

VILLISTA Political follower of F. Villa.

ZAPATISTA Political follower of Zapata.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Full text of letter will be found in Index.

[2] Full text of the Plan of San Luis Potosí will be found in Index.

[3] From “Mexico the Land of Unrest,” by Henry Baerlein.

[4] “Barbarous Mexico,” J. K. Turner.

[5] “The Revolution and F. I. Madero,” Roque Estrada, 1912.

[6] “The Political Shame of Mexico,” E. I. Bell, 1914.

[7] See Plan in Index.

[8] The New York _Call_ published the first article of the exposé, May 5, 1911.

Transcriber's Notes:

Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.

Perceived typographical errors have been changed.