Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/588

568 a standing army which separates the soldiers from the citizens in a republic, for the maintenance of the internal peace, almost throws such a commonwealth out of the category of republic. A true republic implies the existence of a people capable of governing and defending themselves. A permanent army implies the inability of self-government, and the necessity of a standing menace to make the people behave.

In the United States the position of the soldier is below that of the average citizen; in Mexico it is far above. The poor people are exceedingly poor, ill fed and clothed, and worked like beasts of burden; hence the soldier will remain such as long as he can get his pay. And the ignorant and timid people must pay the cost of his support, while the high official alone commands his services. Having been kept so long under the yoke of a foreign despotism, its equivalent is continued now in the form of military rule, moral courage and independence in certain quarters are paralyzed, and there is presented this singular state of things, namely, a people with a representative government, nominally sustained by universal suffrage, held in helpless subjection by a one thousandth part of their number armed and organized.

By a law of November 4, 1848, the army was limited to 10,000 men, namely, 6,000 infantry, 1,800 cavalry, 1,800 artillery, and 400 sappers, all to be voluntarily enrolled, partly from old troops, and consequently with a higher rate of pay to secure them. The