Page:The Story of Mexico.djvu/447

Rh in the different cities and states of Mexico, there are many who have done so in the intention of earning honest livelihoods, without interfering with their neighbors, and even with the higher motive of improving the condition of those around them, it is not yet possible to say that the example of the foreigners settling in Mexico has been an advantage to its natives. Many of the acts of violence ascribed to Mexicans might be traced to men of other blood, who have sought that territory because they were not tolerated elsewhere. The general testimony of such observers as civil engineers, telegraph men, and others who in the development of the resources of the country have penetrated remote parts of it, is that the native Mexican is peaceful and quiet in disposition, leading a domestic life with his faithful wife, fond of his children, and diligently toiling to support his family. Of course there are exceptions to this, especially when the pulque habit has brutalized its victims; but it is asserted that the drunken quarrels in obscure places, often reported in newspapers, resulting in pistol-shot or dagger stroke, frequently arise less through the fault of the native than of the adventurers from other lands.

Testimony to the good intentions of the government of Mexico is in the improved condition of education there. The system of public instruction is by no means perfect, but it is certainly growing better and better. Free schools, sustained by city or state, are found in most towns and villages, even the smallest. Moreover, private schools are numerous in all the large towns and cities, and colleges and