These examples will suffice to prove with what contempt the French regarded the Mexicans and how the officers especially lost no opportunity of turning the Emperor’s subjects against him, even while they themselves were still supposed to be in Maximilian’s service. It would be unjust, however, to accuse the whole army of this treacherous behavior, nor can Napoleon Third be held responsible for it. He was a warm personal friend of Maximilian in the first place, and it seems reasonable to assume that he was ignorant of such conduct on the part of Bazaine or he would have recalled him and sent some one else in his place.
On the third of October, 1865, a report having been generally circulated that Juarez had fled from Mexico and taken refuge in Texas, the Emperor issued a decree for which he has been severely criticised. It ran in substance as follows: All persons belonging to armed bands or companies, political or otherwise, not lawfully authorized, under whatever appellation or for whatever purpose, shall be tried by court-martial, and if found guilty shall be condemned to death and executed within twenty-four hours from the date of sentence.
Bazaine is believed by some to have been the real author of this edict, which was aimed at the destruction of the robber bands that infested the country, but by authority of which Maximilian himself was afterward sentenced to death by Juarez. As, however, it was signed by all Maximilian’s liberal ministers it seems more probable that they were responsible for a decree so little in accordance with his kindly nature.
Whether or no Bazaine had any share in the framing of this edict, he certainly did all in his power to further its execution, as appears from a confidential message to his generals sent with a copy of the decree. He concludes, “You are hereby commanded to notify the troops under your orders that no more prisoners are to be taken. All individuals found under arms, irrespective of person, are to be shot on sight. In future there will be no more exchange of prisoners; on both sides, it is kill or be killed.”
By these cruel means he hoped to prejudice the people against their sovereign, thereby furthering his own ambitious schemes for becoming President of Mexico himself, schemes which were destined never to be realized, however.
Chapter VIII
Fruits of the New Government
We have seen from the preceding chapters what the state of affairs in Mexico was when Maximilian assumed the government. By the beginning of the second year of the Empire matters had already materially changed. Most of the country folk had returned to their farms, and city merchants who dealt in agricultural implements soon saw their stock disappear, and were forced to order fresh supplies. This led to a steady commercial intercourse with the United States which greatly increased after the close of the Civil War. In the Spring of 1865 the duties to Mexico from New York alone amounted to 1,700,000 pesos in a single week. Trade with the West Indies, South America, and Europe was also extensive. Merchants who at first had been obliged to purchase on credit, owing to the prevailing lack of funds, were by this time able to pay cash for goods. This was certainly one good result of the new government, as must have been recognized by all public-minded Mexicans.
With the prospect of profit and an assured market, trades and crafts also revived. Hundreds of youths, who had been torn from their peaceful occupations and forced to join the revolutionist bands, returned to their apprenticeships. Channels of trade were improved. A regular line of mail steamships was established in the Gulf of Mexico, and intercourse was resumed with all Pacific ports. Fine steamers made monthly trips from San Francisco to La Paz, Guaymas, and Mazatlan, and twice a month from Guaymas to Acapulco. Construction was begun on the railroad between Vera Cruz and the capital, though it was afterward suspended. A telegraph line was built from Mexico to San Luis Potosi. The national finances were also much improved. Customs receipts steadily increased and the mints coined more dollars than ever before, though still bearing the stamp of the Republic.
These were some of the happy results of the new administration. That they were of but brief duration was not the fault of the government nor yet of the Emperor, but of Juarez who, still passing as President, succeeded only too well in his schemes for undermining the Empire.
With increasing prosperity came a revival of various sports and amusements, of which the Mexican people are naturally so fond. Early in the year 1865 most of the European ambassadors arrived with their suites, and a series of splendid entertainments followed at the imperial court. Later the marriage of Marshal Bazaine to the seventeen-year-old niece of General Lopez furnished occasion for more festivities. These diversions, however, did not cause the Emperor to slacken his labors for the improvement of the country. On the third of March, 1865, he had the Empire divided into fifty departments and revived the so-called “Indian Council,” which had existed in the days of Spanish sovereignty, placing at its head the advocate, Faustin Chimalpopoca, a pure Aztec. The Indians still formed the larger part of the population of Mexico in spite of the efforts of the Republic to enslave and crush them. Realizing the importance of this class of people, Maximilian took the greatest interest in their protection and welfare, while they in turn remained loyal to him to the last.