■R7?S t. A N' b 015 830 897 6 Conservation Resources Lig-Fre«® Type I Ph 8.5, Buffered OPEN LETTER TO THE HONORED PRESIDENT )F THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA F 1234 ^ by Modesto C. Rolland • La Paz, Lower California Copy 2 lexican citizen, and no less a citizen of the world of ideas, appeal to you „o uue leader of American thought and the interpreter of the true American spirit — that spirit which pulses in all your works, and by virtue of which the inhabi- tants of this land, the rightful heirs of the ideals of Washington, have raised you to the eminent station you occupy. We are not ignorant, Mr. President, of the fact that the enormous pressure urging you to lead in the conquest of Mexico is primarily due to the combined efforts of aliens resident in Mexico who have too easily acquired lands, oil fields, and concessions of various kinds, and who have extensive financial investments at stake. You are not ignorant either, Mr. President, of the fact that similar steps were taken preliminary to the occupation of Alorocco, of Egypt, of Persia, etc., etc. Nevertheless, you have not supported the theory that "the flag follows the investor" in China. You are well aware that when a weak people has to deal with that exploiting capitalism which knows no nationality, the latter seeks to employ as its agents the army and the navy, and condemns to death thousands of human beings deceived by false phrases of patriotism. The exploiters alone derive profit from the final catastrophe. Further, you know well. Mr. President, that the ammunition makers and the bankers induced the government of France to disgrace that country's history once more by the occupation of Morocco, sending to the coast of Africa an army of press men who devoted themselves to the task of disguising the facts, de- claring that in the interior of Morocco foreigners were tortured and the people were starving. This precipitated the movement "for the sake of the poor people." You know that these same tactics are now being applied to Mexico, and that this policy of nefarious activity has for its centres the city of El Paso and "somewhere in Mexico.'' You know better than any one else, Mr. President, that the octopus of com- mercialism has captured us Mexicans, and that it tries to utilize the superior might of the American people in order to make futile our resistance, and after- wards more easily to suck our blood. We are told that it is necessary to save us from ourselves because we are incapable of regeneration. I ask the whole world if the struggle our people has maintained against feudal oppression and militarism in combination with the entrenched privilege of the clerical party, is a symptom of incapacity? For more than one hundred years this struggle has gone on, culminating in a final upheaval which has shown sharply and clearly the need of a new social order founded on the economic liberation of the people. The great landowners systematically oppressed the people and kept them in ignorance. The church, contrary- to law, possessed enormous estates which she rented to the poorer class who could possess no land. They taught the people that it was their duty to obey and to be humble. Exploitation and lack of humanitarian principle was carried so far that the rich Catholic reclined on silk within the church, while outside he felt no responsi- bility for the misery of human beings treated solely as beasts of burden. Is not a people which has fought such formidable adversaries capable of regeneration? People who speak of the darkness of Mexico and of the necessity of pushing .\merican civilization do not understand that in Mexico there has been develop- ing a social phenomenon such as has taken place in all parts of the world and that our people really deserve admiration for their resistance and capacity to live through the most disheartening conditions. ilSFERiltt FWi Americans in general ought to be enlightened as to our situation, Mr. Presi- dent, in like degree with yourself, so that they might understand our situation, since they came to this continent in search of the very same ideals we are now pursuing. The Mexican people has known how to use force of arms and now is showing its aptitude to accomplish its national reconstruction. The revolution has released unimaginable forces. Wherever we have been able to secure peace there has been disclosed an intense desire for reconstruction under a new system. We are establishing the township system as the basis of self-government. We are resolving the agrarian problem by wise re-distribu- tion of land among the people. This land is expropriated wherever necessary at its intrinsic value. We are re-valuing the whole republic in the interest of just taxation. The great landowners did not pay into the treasury this proper share of taxes, in consequence of which tke burden of the administration fell on the few who held small properties. The labor problem is receiving especial attention. In various parts of the Republic the workers have advantages far greater than in the United States. The system of public instruction is so intensive now that we have ten times more schools than under Porfirio Diaz. Finally the revolutionary government is engaged in immense efforts to or- ganize little by little the finances of the nation, taking especial care not to fall into the clutches of pawnbroking bankers, eager to absorb the resources of weak nations. All these are facts in the light of day, but the press, controlled by great interests, has left the public in ignorance of them and under the impression that the revolution has ended in chaos. When the revolution tried to impose some measure of restraint upon the unmeasured exploitation of oil fields, the Mexican people were held up to view as outlaws, factions were accused of an intention to destroy property, and appeal for redress was made to the Government at Washington, with the result that a battleship was sent to Tampico for the protection of American properties. They will not be bound in Tampico by the regulations that they are obliged to abide by in the United States. We know that you, Mr. President, are aware of all this, and we cannot believe you desire war with Mexico, which could only result in devastation and misery, for which the blame would rest on you and disgrace and shame on a country so powerful and civilized as this, that would permit such a horror. We abominate with all the force of conviction in us, such illegal and brigand acts as have been committed, and these we have been the first to regret and dis- avow. Every sincere Mexican revolutionist has been filled with indignation at their occurrence. War would be a cruel parody of justice. Thousands of thousands of Ameri- cans would be destroyed. We Mexicans would disappear, and then the traders in war and the international pawnbrokers would plant their banners of triumph over a field of desolation. , Undoubtedly in the end they would defeat the Mexicans, but before that they would crush the spirit of democracy and equity which now inform this nation. Mr. President, for the sake of the American people, of mankind itself, it is for you to find a way to avoid war. The presence of American soldiers in Mexi- can territory, and the military pressure in general, whatever its immediate advan- tages or justification, is eminently dangerous. Through some unforseen accident it might inflame men's passions as to put an international clash beyond human control. Ill view of all the facts and considerations I have here advanced, however tentatively and incompletely, I respectfully beg 3^ou and all Americans sincerely desirous of the true welfare of humankind, to give the most earnest and unpre- judiced thought to the complex problem of Mexico and its future. MODESTO C. ROLLAND. New York, July 1916. LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS III li mil II 015 830 897 6