But little more remains to be said of the government of Mexico up to the
present time. President Diaz was able to consolidate his power, and to
retain his seat without civil war, although this has been imminent at
times, especially towards the end of his term. In 1880 General Manuel
Gonsalez was elected, and on the 1st of December of that year, for the
second time only in the history of the Republic, the retiring President
gave over his office to his legally elected successor. That this was
possible, is proof of great improvement in stability and the growth of
steadiness and good judgment among the Mexicans. The administration of
Gonsalez passed through its four years without any important outbreak,
in spite of the difficult questions there were to deal with, chief among
them the huge debt to England, contracted in the early days of the
Republic, and ever increasing by reason of unpaid interest.
At the end of that term, General Diaz was re-elected and became
President December 1, 1884. The treasury of the country was empty, the
Republic without credit, yet he has, by heroic measures, succeeded in
placing his government upon a tolerably stable financial basis, and done
much to restore the foreign credit of the Republic. President Diaz is
disposed and able to serve his country by an advanced and liberal
policy. The result of his firmness and judgment is already seen in the
returning confidence of nations and foreigners alike in Mexican affairs,
and with it the rapid development of the resources of the country.
President Diaz, with his handsome wife, the daughter of his Minister of
the Interior, Manuel Romero Rubio, has not been able to resist the charm
of Chapultepec, in spite of the melancholy associations hanging about
the spot Carlotta loved and Maximilian adorned for her enjoyment. The
Pompeiian apartments are restored, and the hanging gardens bloom with
roses all the year, while fountains sparkle in the sunlight. From the
broad terrace gleam in the distance the cold peaks of the volcanoes,
while Mexico spreads wide in the valley its rectangular lines, every
year stretching out farther in all directions, a practical proof to the
wise chief of the administration, as he looks down upon them from the
now peaceful height of his terrace, of the success of his schemes of
improvement and progress.
Let us hope that the tranquillity is permanent and that a long season of
peace and prosperity has come to settle upon the long tormented, much
enduring valley of Mexico, and the broad plateau of Anahuac.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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