Page:Mexico and its reconstruction.djvu/54

36 freedom of action. These became bodies that in practice registered the will of the administration.

Even though a state has not a people who have risen to conditions that may make a true popular government possible, it may have a constitutional government if the small governing class is organized for expressing its own divisions of sentiment and disposed to respect the provisions of the constitution by abiding by the decisions so expressed. Mexico has not arrived at that status. Admirable as are the intellectual qualities of the upper-class Mexican, he has not yet developed a spirit of cooperation and forbearance which leads him to comply with constitutional standards in the choice of public officials even by the small class to which he belongs. He has not shown a willingness to give obedience to the standards that the opinion thus narrowly determined demands. Unfortunately for Mexico her political life has seldom indeed risen above a camarilla stage and the ruling camarilla has seldom been strong enough to control the man who for the moment was at its head.

No government in power in Mexico in the old régime ever failed to control the elections that it called. To be sure there were dissenting groups that did succeed not infrequently in defeating the government candidates in the Congressional elections but they never rose to the dignity of true parties and their success could have been cut down doubtless had the administration felt it necessary or politic to do so.

Even a class government may be a step toward democracy. Mexico, properly speaking, has never had a governing class. She did not have it under Diaz and