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168 dued. When Diaz assumed the reins of govern- ment he convinced himself of the impossibility of fulfilling the promises he made in the Tuxtepec plan, knowing that they would bring about a com- plete disorganization of the public finances, which were then in a very precarious condition, and he confined himself to carry out the promise which personally affected him, the one forbidding the presidenlial re-election, and the constitution was, therefore, amended accordingly. This amendment was again amended 18 Oct., 1887, permitting a president to be elected for two successive terms, and another amendment is now pending which allows re-election without any limitation. The difficulty of satisfying the wishes of all the disor- derly elements of the country, ready always to sup- port any revolutionary movement, caused several of Diaz's friends who had supported the Tuxtepec revolution to oppose and even to pronounce against him, as Negrete, Martinez, and others. Diaz then tried to reorganize his own party with the rem- nants left to him of the old revolutionary party, and additions from followers of Juarez and Lerdo who represented order, peace, and stability. He conferred important positions upon men belonging not only to these two political parties, but also upon persons who had served the French interven- tion and Maximilian, thus trying to ei'ase the dif- ferences produced by past political questions. Gen. Manuel Gonzalez was elected president of the re- public at the elections held in July, 1880, and was inaugurated 1 Dec. of the same year. Diaz was appointed secretary of public works of the new administration, and afterward elected president of the supreme court of justice, a position which was then, according to the constitution, equivalent to that of vice-president of the republic. He was elected soon afterward governor of the state of Oaxaca, a post which he occupied for some time, leaving it with the legislature's leave. About that time, near 1883, he came to the United States, where he was well received, travelling as far as Boston. Having been re-elected president in 1884 to succeed Gen. Gonzalez, he was inaugurated 1 Dec. of that year, and began his second constitutional term as president of Mexico. During his first term conces- sions for building various railroads had been granted by him to American corporations, but no work on them had been begun till the beginning of Gon- zalez's administration. The subsidies that had been granted had been paid regularly, but on Diaz's second inauguration he found the treasury abso- lutely empty. Besides this, about three quarters of the customs revenues had been pledged by his predecessor. The first official act of Diaz was to repudiate these pledges, without interfering with the railroad subsidies, which, however, he was obliged to stop in June. 1885. The question of settling the public debt now arose anew. In the " plan of Tuxtepec " a general repudiation of the sums due to England had been advised by Diaz, but this was afterward rejected as impolitic, and durnig the administration of Gonzalez a proposi- tion was made to appropriate a vast sum of money for the payment of the English debt alone. The apprehension, more or less grounded, felt as to the integrity of Gen. Gonzalez caused public demon- strations of opposition by students and journalists. After the beginning of Diaz's second term a plan for the settlement of the whole debt was made by congress, and is now (1898) in process of execution. In 1886 several unimportant revolts broke out in different parts of the country, but they were im- mediately suppressed. A decree was issued 17 March, 1886, suspending, in the case of kidnappers and persons guilty of crimes committed against the security of railways, the constitutional guaran- tees granted to individuals and establishing very summary proceedings for the invotigaticm of stich crimes and the death penalty for the ofi:'enders. The question raised by the arrest of Mr. Cutting threatened to cause a rupture between the United States and Mexico. Secretary of State Bayard made an official demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Cutting, who had been ar- rested tor publishing a libel in a newspaper that was issued in El Paso, Tex., but circulated also in Mexico. The trial continued, and Cutting was duly convicted and sentenced. The sentence pro- nounced in the first instance was sent to the su- preme court of the state of Chihualuia for revision, and before this tribunal could act upon the matter the plaintiff withdrew his demand and the case ended with the release of Cutting. Gov, Ireland, of Texas, also complained that Arrezures, a citizen of the United States, had been "foully murdered by the Mexican authorities," but his citizenship was denied, and the affair ended amicably. In Oc- tober, 1886, a letter from Diaz was putilished in Paris, in which he declared that the ex-mai-shal, Bazaine, during the French-Mexican war, pi-oposed to him to surrender the cities occupied by the im- perialists, including the munitions of war, together with the emperor himself and Gens. Miramon and Mejia. This letter caused a great sensation: Don Leonardo Marquez, one of the principal leaders of the reactionary party of Mexico, and the only one who has been out of the country since the with- drawal of the French troops, made in "El Autono- mista" of Havana some charges against Diaz, stat- ting that he offered to surrender the city of Oaxaca to Bazaine while the latter was besieging it. In the latter part of 1886 a movement was set on foot to abolish the article of the constitution that for- bids a presidcTit to be his own successor, with the intention of electing Gen. Diaz for a thii-d term. Under the administration of Diaz manufactures have increased, the resources of the country have been developed, commerce has multiplied, educa- tion has been advanced, the revenues have been appropriated to the purposes for which they were designed, travel is safe, bandits have been dis- persed, and railroads and telegraphs are extending. While it has been far from perfect, there has been no public scandal in it, and it lias been as clean as the circumstances of his surroundings have allowed. — His elder brother, Felix, better known by the name of " El Chato," was governor of Oaxaca in 1871. Although the brothers were not open ene- mies, there always existed a certain discordance and rivalry between them; yet, when the "Plan de la Noria" was proclaimed, Felix sided with his brother, and pronounced against the government. Juarez sent Gen. Alatorre against Oaxaca, who, after defeating Gen. Teran in the bloody battle of San Mateo, prepared to invest the city, when Felix Diaz abandoned it, and fled over the mountains toward Puerto Angel, but was overtaken by hostile Indians, and killed after suffering cruel tortures.

DIAZ, liny, Spanish soldier, b. in Seville, Spain, in luO;!; d. in Peru, 26 April, 1538. He went to Peru with the expedition of Diego de Almagro in 1532, and as captain took part. in the conquest of the interior of the country, and the capture of Cuzco, 1534. In the same year he was assigned to the command of Sebastian Velalcazar in his con- quest of the province of Quito, where he became proniincmt by his daring shown in the numerous bloodv encounters with the troops of the cacique Ruminahui. While reconnoitring, he was sur-