metals, thereby raising the value of money unduly, widening the gap between the rich and the poor, and benefiting the creditor at the expense of the debtor. Now the process would be reversed: the augmenting flow of gold would give the debtor a chance to pay his debts, it would allow the nation to meet the obligations of its national debt, it would enable the poor to become less poor. This effect of the gold production, in giving the industrial classes a larger share of the purchasing power of the world, was regarded, even by Cairnes, as "the greatest redeeming incident" of the economic upheaval. With this liberal interpretation of the events that we have been considering most men of generous mind will agree; the influence of the lavish output of gold was felt deeply during the years that followed, for the result was to give to the working classes not only purchasing power, but also political power, and thereby the production of gold becomes a potent factor in the trend toward democratic ideas of life. If we accept as our ideal the state of living that brings physical comfort and mental culture to all classes in the community, then we shall agree that the Argonauts of '49 contributed to the welfare of humanity and broadened the bounds of modern civilization.* The author will be glad to receive any corrections or criticisms; they should be addressed in care of the editor of the University of California Chronicle. SAND JESSIE E. SAMPTER Sand drags my steps, pulling against my feet I have a long way yet! Oh, but the wind is sweet! Blow, wind that is sweet, Cooling the sweat! Blow through the glare of the sun, Blow through the blare of the heat, Blow about and play with the sand Sand, shapeless sand, Taking the shapes that pass: Here is the mark of a barefoot child, Wagon wheels crunched deep, A cat with straight, still paws, Patter of a rat, Bird's dainty claws Are marked out fine On the fine sand up the hill, The fine, fine sand that chokes My feet with evil will Oh, it goes ill! The load upon my back Balks against the sand. Here, stuck in my own track, Stand a moment, afraid, And speak a little prayer, Under the acacia shade That breaks the heat and glare. And then move on at length With a stubborn, thwarted will, Toward the down side of the hill For there's a down side to the hill .... O Lord, give me strength To cross the hill! CALLES AND OBREGON AN ESSAY IN NATIONALISM HERBERT INGRAM PRIESTLEY It is plain to everyone that marked futility attends discussion of current phases of political problems. This is particularly true of any attempt to treat definitively the Mexican problem, because of the overnight changes which mark its movement, in spite of the fact that the real explanations of the current revolution lie in causes and conditions of fairly stable and unchanging nature. Only a few months ago it seemed that in our relations with Mexico we were heading straight on disaster after futile years of diplomatic impasse. The long petroleum deadlock threatened trouble at any moment if it could be fanned into flame by ever willing hands. Then without warning the Mexican president of his own volition sought to smooth out the situation, no doubt impelled by financial stringency and the prospect that the payments on the national debt would have to be deferred. Again, the futility of discussion is deeply impressed when we hear the rumor that high Mexican officials have indirectly approached certain oil people with a (promptly rejected) proposal to settle the controversy for a round sum. The historian cannot reckon with such alleged facts, for transactions of this nature remain forever undocumented. But the suspicion that international adjustments may be effected under cover of privacy and without official governmental intervention puts reserve into the thought and utterance of every student of affairs. There is also the difficulty of the effect of personalities upon the trend of events. At the moment, the public life of Mexico depends utterly upon the personal relations and the continuance in power of Obregón and Calles; in a political atmosphere of oriental intrigue and ruthlessness anything might happen to either, with consequences hardly to be foretold. The destinies of fourteen millions hang perhaps on a single personality. Government by the firing squad has its advantages in immediate effectiveness, but it stores up days of wrath to come. Since the days of Carranza, these two men have been associated in a Damon and Pythias brotherhood which none of the vicissitudes of political life have seemed to break, externally at least. They have stood continuously for a spirit of awakened nationalism. The revolutionary attitude was evoked by Madero, but in our country the anti-foreign position of this apostle was hardly realized because he seemed to be first of all the exponent of a new democracy which we made ourselves believe was just dawning. Madero's outcry was also against capitalistic domination, as much against privileged Mexicans as privileged foreigners. Madero's futile efforts to harmonize fact and theory led to Carranza, who became the most vehement exponent of anti-foreignism. His program of destruction of the exploitative elements in society found enunciation in his "pre-constitutional" decrees and the more socialistic provisions of the Constitution of 1917. The enforcement of his program was vitiated by lack of enabling legislation, by the grossest dishonesties among his military family, and by the steadfast resistance of American interests and diplomacy. His assassination marked a pitiful ending to the career of one who thought himself the great protagonist of the resurgence of Latinism against the financial penetration of the weak American countries by the United States. But the program he inherited in part from Madero was only delayed, hardly altered, during the incumbency of Obregón. There has not been, since the downfall of Díaz in 1911, any essential change in principle in Mexican domestic or foreign policy. If there has seemed to exist a |