credit and criticism from without; and from it emerged Argumedo with his counter-revolution, which was ephemeral because it lasted but thirty-five days with no results except to neutralize the influence of the other revolutionary faction, and tragic because a large number of white youths and numberless Indians were killed fighting practically against their own interests and will. The leaders of the Union of Railway Workers set themselves to resist the reactionaries, beating a retreat before superior forces after weakening the military power of their adversaries. In the end Argumedo, taking with him half a million in gold and accompanied by a crowd of his 'secretaries,' escaped to Cuba, where he spread the most alarming stories of the acts of the 'monster' who succeeded him in power, and who, so said Argumedo and his followers, was occupied in laying waste the country and martyring the women and children. tory was the appearance of Felipe Carrillo, who was first elected to the House of Representatives, afterward became its president, and eventually the suc cessor of Alvarado. The fall of Carranza occurred about this time and was caused by the same reasons as that of Madero. With Carranza fell the movement reacción de Zamarripa, so called from one of its principal leaders, which had considerable factional influence in the politics of the State under both Madero and Carranza, representing the State in the League of Resistance, a strong organization presided over by Felipe Carrillo after he became Governor. Carrillo is to-day one of the important men of Yucatan. Before he became so, however, appeared another factor in politics, Manuel Berzunza, one of the founders of both the Socialist Party and the League of Resistance, and to-day Secretary-General of the State of Yucatan. The headquarters of the Central League of Resistance are at Mérida, and from here Governor Carrillo rules both as party chief and personally. The League prints and distributes its own newspapers and other propaganda of all kinds, pedagogic, literary, scientific, and even feminist. It pretends to be extremely modern in its ideas. The following set of projects was passed by the Workmen's Congress lately held in the city of Izamal, which was presided over by Governor Carrillo in person. The projected measures were as follows: This 'monster' was General Salvador Alvarado, and his 'monstrosities,' at least so far as Yucatan was concerned, were fantastic creations of the imagination only. Alvarado entered Yucatan with the title of Military Commander of the States of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan, and as Governor de facto of this last State, titles which he bore during two of the bloodiest and most chaotic years of the whole struggle in Yucatan. He ruled as an absolute dictator, but was personally upright, modest, industrious, and well-meaning. He was the first to succeed in establishing Socialism on a firm basis and he was the author of numerous reforms, such as the real emancipation of the Indians, whom he made to realize both their rights and their obligations as citizens of the State. A significant event in Yucatan his- the State Legislature to oppose the 1. To ensure the fidelity of the members of the League of Resistance of the State to the Socialist creed. 2. To establish a Federal Council of the several Leagues of Resistance and at the same time appoint to it persons who are not public functionaries. 3. To allow the political representatives of the Leagues of Resistance in eëlection of functionaries, ignoring the redentials of those applying for reëlecion. 4. To fix the qualifications of the ominating committee of candidates or public functions, and those who call ogether the representatives of the Leagues in the Federal Council. 5. To establish the moral precepts that shall obtain in the Leagues of Resistance of the Socialist Party. 6. To administer all funds and to allot considerable portions to the Central League and to the Federal Council for their economic necessities, not forgetting in this connection the measures taken by the Congress of Workmen of Motul. 7. To determine the Communistic aims, from the point of view of agriculture, industry, and economics, that shall obtain in the League of Resistance. 8. To study and determine the means by which the agricultural and industrial wealth of the State shall be administered by the Leagues of Resistance, up to the point of full control. 9. To bring it about, meanwhile, that the Socialist Government shall pay full attention to such public utilities and private enterprises as tramways, lighting, electric power, and so forth. 10. To fix the term of office of the President of the Socialist Party and the members of the Federal Council of the Leagues. 11. To prevent Socialists from running for office, granting them in return privileges of equal value. 12. To constitute a Federation of Leagues of the Socialist Party of the Southeast and of the Socialist Agrarian Party of Campeche. 13. To raise the economic, and hence the moral and intellectual, standard of Socialists. 14. To decide the question, shall the Socialist Party of the Southeast adhere 1. The Communistic aim which should be sought by the Leagues of Resistance from the agrarian point of view should be the expropriation of land without indemnification of any sort, its exploiting to be carried out for the benefit of the inhabitants according to the particular system to be adopted for this purpose. 2. The Communistic aim which should be sought by the Leagues of Resistance from the industrial point of view should be the expropriation without redemption of the fruits of industrial production for the benefit of the proletarian state, since these fruits must be exploited by the workmen for the workmen. 3. The Communistic aim which should be sought by the Leagues of Resistance from the point of view of the proportionment of production should be the suppression of the intermediary between producer and consumer, or the middleman, for whom a system of socialistic interchange shall be substituted. The first resolution under measure number eight said that Governors of States were thereby called upon to present to the local legislatures a project of law, tending to secure the following results: (a) to acquire land and industrial properties, together with their respective mediums of exploita tion; (b) to place these under the management of the Leagues of Resistance, or to have them alienated without cost, and see that these properties shall be exploited for the benefit of the work men. Finally, under measure number nine, the following resolution was passed, hardly less illustrative of the situation than the others: The municipal government of Mérida and the other governments shall present to the local Congress a proposition with the object of securing the expropriation for the public use of all public utilities; at the same time they shall demand authorization to contract loans with a view to indemnifying the proprietors of these utilities. The Socialists of Yucatan and Campeche, besides being the governing power, as aforesaid, in the first of these States, where they already control the Governor and the local legislature, and also partly control the government of the second, already count among their numbers two senators and six deputies to the National Congress, and, to judge by all indications and from the partial elections which have taken place, the triumph of the Socialist Party will be complete everywhere. We believe that we have now said enough to give an idea of the Socialist movement in Yucatan, and we feel like insisting upon qualifying it as a political-social situation of the very greatest importance in the LatinAmerican development of to-day. We believe that we have at the same time proved our initial statement in its true significance: that the revolution in Mexico was the first universal crystallization of socialistic propaganda, although geographical and international conditions kept it from having the celebrity of that in Russia. Mexico was Bolshevist before the Bolsheviki. Finally we are of the opinion that in all Mexico no great political enterprise or any government whatever will succeed for any length of time without the support of the militant proletariat, as events in Yucatan have proved. Now that the Socialists are at last able to build upon a solid foundation, they will be able to rear a practical monument of sincerity and justice everywhere and to every man, and to awaken in the national consciousness of the people, by means of books, the platform, and literature, the ideals of Socialism, broad and free, untrammeled by moral or ideological sectarianism. BY PIETRO BERTOLINI [The widow of Italy's ex-Minister of State has published his diary, from which we print extracts below. In her short foreword she expresses the hope that 'all will appreciate the high patriotism which compelled him to keep silence' after the declaration of war and until his end; but it was his wish that this diary should be made public after his death. 'His friends,' she adds, will understand the reasons for this publication."] From Nuova Antologia, February 1 MONTEBELLUNA, August 25, 1914 EVER Since the first days after our declaration of neutrality a steadily growing portion of our press has begun to express itself very openly in favor of the Entente, arguing and predicting that the measures taken for military preparedness have the object of preparing us for an intervention against the Central Powers; aspirations concerning Italia Irredenta are being fanned up to intensity. I receive the impression that our country · consciously, so far as the majority is concerned - is compromising the position assumed by our Government with almost general consent. This position was unavoidable because of our deficiency in supplies - grain, coal, cotton, and so forth — let alone all other considerations. un In view of the conditions under which the European crisis broke out, I believe that our present position is the most advantageous for Italy. I think, in fact, that our neutrality-which must be an armed, and a very well armed neutrality—will enable us, if we take due advantage of the course of events, to obtain satisfaction of our interests. I am fully conscious of the importance of these interests; but I am also convinced that without clear necessity we ought not to risk heavy sacrifices. The other day . I wrote to several eminent deputies, drawing their attention to the foregoing. Sidney Sonnino was the only one who gave me an answer worth noticing. This letter, as well as the undecisive character of the other answers I received, induced me to go to Rome in order to present my perplexities to those immediately in charge of the government. On the twenty-second of August I had a talk with Signor Salandra. He told me that he greatly regretted the intemperate mood of the press; that he had in mind certain measures to bridle it however, rather difficult to carry out. He even asked me to assist him through the Venetian press. I replied that I could do but very little, but, to fulfill my obligation as a friend, I promised him to talk with the chief editor of the Gazzettino, a paper of much influence -which I promptly did. measures, In the course of the conversation Salandra remarked that our eventual participation in the war could not be regarded as altogether impossible, and hinted at the Treaty of Campoformido. I replied that of course the future might require extreme measures from us; and that it was in view of precisely such eventualities that I had fully agreed with our Government's intentions of arming the nation as exten sively and as carefully as possible. But I could not refrain from expressing the opinion that the imposing military strength which Italy would thus gradually acquire made a comparison between the actual conditions and those existing at the time of the Campoformido Treaty quite out of place. I added that, in order to assure our liberty of decision on a basis of armed neutrality, the country ought to be amply stocked with necessary supplies. On the same day I had a conference with Marquis Sangiuliano. Up to a certain point he fell in with my views; but later he said that it was impossible to put obstacles in the way of a current that every day was growing stronger. However, he added, he had already asked the assistance of his colleague of the Interior in this matter, and he would speak to him again. ROME, October 29, 1914 Yesterday I was received by the President of the Council of Ministers. ... I repeated to him that in my opinion the supreme interests of Italy required an absolute neutrality. He agreed, but added that neither the Monarchy nor the existing institutions would survive the conclusion of a European peace from which no political and territorial aggrandizement resulted for Italy. . . . ROME, December 4, 1914 Immediately after the Government made its statements to the Chamber of Deputies, I approached Signor Sonnino and expressed to him my deep regret over the fact that the Government, while protesting a firm decision of neutrality, had caused an antineutralist demonstration at the Chamber by the equivocal phrase about Italy's 'just aspirations to be affirmed and supported.' This would all find country-wide response and would ex cite the public. Signor Sonnino, like Salandra, replied by emphasizing the necessity of the Monarchy's recovering, through the opportunity of the present war, some portion of Italia Irredenta. ROME, December 12, 1914 Because some vague notions have been current in the Chamber concerning the intentions of the Italian Government to negotiate with Austria for the return of the unredeemed territories, I determined to express to Signor Sonnino during to-day's session my opinion, which was absolutely opposed to such negotiations. I believe that in case of failure these negotiations would constitute a grave danger for the maintenance of peace, being at the same time a violation of our neutrality toward the Entente. Under the existing conditions, an agreement with Austria, if it comes to the knowledge of the Entente, as it inevitably would, should be rightly regarded as a participation in the conflict on the side of the Central Powers. Yet, we are still insufficiently supplied with grain, coal, and so forth, to withstand eventual repressions from the English. I seized the opportunity to insist on my plan, already communicated to Signor Salandra and to the other statesmen in the course of the autumn, which consisted in a most extensive provisioning of our country to assure ourselves a complete freedom of choice in international policies. Sonnino put an end to the conversation without giving me an inkling of his opinion on the subject. ROME, April 16, 1915 During the last few days I have become positive that official negotiations with Austria are in full swing. Disturbed by this news I went yesterday to confer with Signor Salandra. |