Mexico.
In 1892, when on a visit to America with my daughter, I was asked to proceed to Mexico, to endeavour to induce the Mexican Government to give their National Bonds in exchange for the bonds of the Mexican Southern Railway. These had been guaranteed by the several Mexican States through which the railway passed, but there had been default in the interest payments, and the bonds were in consequence greatly depreciated in value, the $100 bond selling in London for $25. I thought it was a hopeless mission, but decided to go. We proceeded from New York through Arkansas and Texas. It took us thirty-six hours in the train to cross Texas, travelling all the while; this will give some idea of the great size of this state.
On our way we saw in the newspapers that an insurrection had broken out in Mexico, headed by Gusman. The New York papers had long detailed accounts. This induced me to break our journey at Laredo, which is situated on the frontier of Mexico, as I did not wish to expose my daughter to any danger. On my arrival at the hotel at Laredo, I sent for the landlord and asked him where the rebellion was. He replied, "Right here, sir, in this hotel." I could not understand what he meant, and desired him to explain himself. "Well," he said, "I will tell you how it was. Some reports reached the north that a civil war had broken out, and one day fourteen newspaper reporters arrived. They came to this hotel and sent for me, and demanded how they could get to the seat of the war, and where Gusman, the leader of the rebels, was to be found. I told them there was no rebellion, and that I had seen Gusman in Laredo a few days before, selling cattle. They were not, however, satisfied, and said that they had come down to write up a civil war, and a civil war there must be. They stayed in this hotel ten days, sending to the north every day long accounts of the progress of hostilities, and then they returned home." I thought this was one of the best stories of the methods of American journalists that I had ever heard, and as I knew it to be true, I repeated it to President Diaz a few days later, on my arrival at the city of Mexico. The old President was much amused, and said it reminded him of the story of a tiger. He received news that the people of a certain village were being destroyed by a tiger, and dared not venture out for fear of the animal, so he sent down a company of soldiers; they found it was quite true that the villagers were scared to death, but there was no tiger. A puma is called in Mexico a tiger.
When I told the President the object of my mission to Mexico he laughed, and exclaimed, "Did I think he was going to give me his good money for my bad money?" In my heart I thought he had very aptly described the situation, but I replied that I hoped to convince him that the good credit of Mexico was in jeopardy by my railway bonds being in default, and if the Government would step into the breach it would place the credit of Mexico in a high position in the London money market. I, however, made very little impression upon him. I was asking for Mexican bonds worth £900,000 for my railway bonds worth at the outside £250,000. I had several interviews, but met with very little encouragement. I, however, got to know the President, and he became very friendly and pleasant to me. On one of my visits he told me of his birthplace, Oaxaca, situated about 200 miles south of the city of Mexico; he was evidently very proud of it. He spoke of the beauty of the situation, the richness of the country, both in the fertility of its soil and mineral resources, and the industry of the Indian population.
I thought it would not be a bad idea to run down and see Oaxaca. I was doing no good in Mexico, and I should also be able to see something of the Mexican Southern Railway, which ran about half the way to a place called Tehuacan. We proceeded by train to Puebla, where I left my daughter, and then down the long broad valley of Tehuacan. Every few miles we came to a magnificent church, which formerly had been the centre of a village or town, for during the Spanish occupation this valley contained a population of 1,000,000, and was very fertile and rich. We saw now and again the aqueducts and tunnels which had conveyed water through the valley for irrigation.
At Tehuacan we passed through several fine cañons; here we took horses, as the railway was not completed beyond this point, and rode through a very delightful country. The first night we slept at an Indian village, or tried to sleep, but were disturbed by the barking of dogs. Every house appeared to possess a dog, which made it its business to howl and make the night hideous. The village was quite tidy, the houses mostly built of bamboo and thatched with dried palm leaves. The Indians themselves, in their wide-brimmed hats and white calico clothes, often wearing woollen ponchos, were picturesque and interesting.
On our arrival at Oaxaca we put up at the hotel, which was far from inviting, and then called upon the governor and the archbishop, the latter an Irishman with a decided brogue; he is a very rich and powerful man, and practically rules over his diocese, both in temporal as well as in spiritual affairs.
Oaxaca was a charming little town, prettily situated in a valley; in the centre of the town is a public garden and bandstand. One of the secrets of President Diaz's popularity is his sympathy with the love of music so general among the Indians, and he has wisely provided every little town with its orchestra.
We were much interested in the market, and saw the country people bring in with their produce little nuggets of gold, which they had washed out of the gravel beds on their farms.
The Indians in these parts consist of two clans or tribes, the "Black" and the "White Hats"; the "Black Hats" were a troublesome people to control, but so far as I could see, the Indians are an industrious and well-conducted people.
On my return to the city of Mexico, the President was greatly surprised and delighted when I told him where I had been. He was much interested and asked me many questions, and from this moment my mission appeared to make headway; I had made the President my friend. A bill was introduced into the Legislature authorising the issue of Mexican bonds in exchange for my railway bonds. Although it met with some opposition, the President was all-powerful, and it passed the Legislature, and in six weeks I received the new Mexican government bonds for £1,000,000. I can well remember the smile of the chief clerk in the Treasury when he handed me the bonds. I asked him why he laughed; he said such a rapid thing had never been done in Mexico before, and he could not quite see why they should have hurried in this way; nor could I, save that my daily presence at the Treasury acted as a gentle stimulus.
We returned home via El Paso and Denver. The directors of the Mexican Southern Railway were greatly delighted at my success, and presented me with a cheque for £1,000. I look back upon this journey with much pleasure, not only from recollections of a very beautiful and fascinating country and people, but having enjoyed the friendship of two very remarkable men—President Diaz and Signor Don Limantour, the present finance minister in Mexico. One day in course of conversation with the President, I mentioned my great admiration for Signor Don Limantour, and I added that he had been educated at Stonyhurst, in England, which I considered a great advantage to him. It was, therefore, very gratifying to me to learn shortly after I had reached England that he had been made finance minister, with the understanding that he would succeed Diaz as President. In the hands of two such capable men the future of Mexico is assured.
President Diaz is a man of great commonsense and of strong will. To consolidate his rule in the early years of his presidency he was obliged to be severe. The country was infested with banditti, who put a stop to all commerce and travel. Diaz, when he caught the banditti, made them into rural guards, on the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief, and by this means he quickly restored law and order. Even when I was in the country gibbets were still to be seen, some having hanging to them the remains of their former victims. For some years after I returned President Diaz occasionally corresponded with me, and I kept him informed of the condition of things in Europe, and in particular of the position of Mexican finance in London.