Page:Mexico and its reconstruction.djvu/91

Rh that time that those now at the head of the affairs of the republic control practically the entire national area and that its foreign trade has been unusually prosperous. Nevertheless the recovery of normal conditions and the resumption of the services of the foreign debts seems to outsiders still in the indefinite future.

Unfortunately, when the revolution is over, the international obligations of Mexico will not be measured by the loans the government had made previous to the outbreak of the civil war and the accumulations of unpaid interest. In every civil war there arise large numbers of claims by individuals for damages, which the government is called upon to settle. These, so far as the citizens of the country are involved, can be disregarded if the government so decides, but the damages suffered by foreigners are not so easily put aside.

The destruction wrought by the armies of various leadership that for the past decade have been keeping Mexican public life in a turmoil, and the destruction due to the actions of the governments themselves, especially in interfering with the operation of railroads and banks, the property of foreign interests, will be the basis of a host of claims that will probably amount to at least as much as the outstanding public debt. When peace comes to Mexico, the national obligations to others than its own citizens will thus have grown out of all proportion to those carried before the Civil War. It is not possible at this time to give a satisfactory estimate of the claims that will be presented for payment. A large number, and probably the most important, will be those of companies, especially those which were engaged in