It is well known that, in decreeing, in 1877, the erection of Guatematzin’s monument, the government also decreed that in the following glorietas should be erected others to the heroes of the Independence and of the Reform; and, no one doubts that, the government persevering in its plan of embellishing the finest paseo in our metropolis, this paseo will come to be a most beautiful spot, consequently most visited by both citizens and foreigners. We believe that, to the laudable efforts of the Federal Government, those of the Governors of the federative states should be united. We shall state, in what way.
In the great Paseo de la Reforma, there already exist pedestals, destined to support statues and other works of art, appropriate to a place of resort, where daily gather the most distinguished members of society; until the present, there has been no announcement regarding the statues and art works for which these pedestals are intended.
It is plain that, however great may be the willingness of the Federal Government, it will need to employ large sums and many years, in carrying out, unaided, the whole work of adornment, demanded by a paseo of the magnitude of that of the Reforma, since they must be in consonance with the artistic value of the monuments already erected and those in contemplation. What would be of slow and expensive realization for the Federal treasury, would be easy, prompt, and convenient, if each of the Mexican States should favor our plan.
However poor any one of the smallest fractions, into which the Republic is divided, may be, it is certain that it could, at no sacrifice at all, pay the cost of two life-size statues—such as these pedestals could support; and, however meagre may be the annals of some of these fractions, no one of them can have failed to produce two personages, worthy of being honored with a monument, which, recalling his deeds, perpetuates them.
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... the three conditions, which ought to be demanded in accepting the sculptures:
1. That the honor should be decreed only to the notable dead.
2. That all the statues should be of life-size and of marble or bronze.
3. That the plans or models should be approved by a special jury, named by a cabinet officer, in order that only true works of art, worthy of figuring in a paseo in which exist monuments of the importance of those of Columbus and Cuauhtemoc, may be accepted.
Sosa’s suggestion was well received and, up to the present, something like forty statues have been erected, forming a notable gallery in which the nation and the states may well take pride. The states have taken their turns and one, each year, presents two statues, on the anniversary of National Independence—September 16. On the whole the statues have met the three requirements and not only form a Mexican house of fame, but an artistic adornment to a beautiful driveway.