Page:Mexico and its reconstruction.djvu/35

Rh little from abroad and their demands are so few that they produce little that enters into general trade within the country itself, Nor do they contribute to export trade in proportion to their numbers. They are not now and they never have been important in the creation of public wealth."

At the other end of the racial scale is the white population which, since the time of the Spanish dominion, has shown a preference for life in the cities, especially the capital. In Mexico, however, there does not exist any sharp social cleavage such as separates those of color from the Caucasian in the United States. This has always been the case. The Spanish colonist did not as a rule bring with him a wife or wife and children but took unto himself a native wife and from such unions have sprung the mixed bloods who form the increasing percentage of the population of Mexico. There are among the upper class Mexicans many who are proud of pure Castilian descent and who evidence a desire to pass it on to their children, but this feeling appears to be one resting on tradition and family pride rather than on racial feeling. There is little if any disadvantage under which a person of mixed blood works in business life or in the seeking of public office.

The mestizo population, which has arisen between the