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I_THE CASE OF MEXICO. '

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THE CASE OF MEXICO. 1 ertiap8 mere never was an instance in modern history in which the arguments in favour of peremptory, despotic, and extreme intervention in the affairs of a foreign country were so strong or so unopposed. If Mexico could be replaced (or placed) under a vigorous, wise, and just Government, no nation in the world would have any reason to regret or com- plain-unless perhaps the Southern States of North America, whose sinister designs would be frustrated thereby. Most nations would be directly and enormously benefited by such a proceeding and no nation would be so much or instantly benefited as Mexico itself. Such intervention would be justified alike by the purest feelings of enlightened benevo- lence and by the most warrantable sentiments of retributive equity, Such intervention would be prohibited by none of the ordinary considerations which are urged against foreign interferences, for there is no government to be deposed, no party to be aided against another party, no Sovereign fight- ing to oppress his people, no people gallantlv contending for their freedom. thore is simple anarchy, ceaseless civil war, a helpless carcass of a country, fought over by mur- derers and marauders so that the State has become a curse to itself and to its neighbours. Its condition, too, is such as to invite and almost to excuse encroachments and aagres- sions from an adjoining Power, whose designs it is desirable in the highest interest of humanity and civilisation to baffle and forestall. If a strong Government and a perma- ncnt self-supporting State be not founded in Mexico,-and that ere long,-it will inevitably become the prey of the Slave Confederation of the South. No one can allege that intervention would be hasty or premature; since the pre- sent state of anarchy has lasted for a quarter of a century, has rapidly grown from bad to worse, and would appear utterly hopeless of remedy or termination from within. There is no Fower in Mexico—not even a capable military chief—from the efforts of which rescue can be expected. It is not a nation; it is not a State it is not a Government at aU;—? is simply a vast territory, overrun by armed bands, j and in which the very elements of society seem to be dis- solved Even if not a single Englishman or Frenchman bad settled in Mexico, even if not a single English or French claim were in question, the more kind and cornpas- sionate interest of human by-standers would appear irre- eistiHy to diQtate interposition, Then, again, Mexico is such a magnificent country. It has a population estimated at seven millions, and an aret of 1,600,000 square miles. All Europe has only twice as much. It lies within the tropics; but owing to the peculiar j configuration of the land and the high mountains in the interior, a great proportion of the territory enjoys a deli- ciously template climate. The consequence is that it can produce anything—from wheat and fla- to cotto", awl tolJftcc0 Its gold and silver minei were tho most pro- ductive in the worid before the Californian and Australian discoveries. When America was first discovered, the civili- sation of Mexico was of a nature to amaze and dazzle the rude Spaniards who conquered it; and for centuries after- wards it was the richest and most important of all the Spanish colonies. Since the days of Montezuma it has never sunk to so low an ebb as now. In good hands it might become almost anything. With such an administra- tion as France could establish, with such industry and capi- tal as England could supply, the country would in twenty years become as peaceful, happy, and productive us Ken- tucky or Brazil; and every Mexican, of whatever race, would have reason to bless the day when the higher civilsa- tion of Europe interposed to rescue him from the gulf of barbarism into which he was plunged by native incapacity and native vice. Under a just, strong, and enlightened Government, every indigenous wealth would be develor,?,, and every indigenous talent fostered and brought forward. That is what might be we know what is. But this is not allanother though an ulterior benefit I looms in the early future. If a strong State be established in Mexico, capable of holding its own, and of repelling all aggressions, the Slave Confederacy of America will be hemmed in between two Powers and two civilisations, caoh distinct and racy, but both free and well disposed for an alliance. The proximity would do wonders for the new Republic, whose expansion would be checked and whoso errors would be shamed. Slavery, unable to inundate fresh territories and compressed at home, would have to be dealt with as a social problem, for which, on peril of de- struction, a solution must be found. The extinction of that deplorable institution would be far more effectually and far more speedily ensured by the establishment of a powerful State in Mexico, than by the completest conquest and re- incorporation of the Secessionists by the North. In fact, and in fine, it would be difficult to name any single exercise of areopagitic authority by the presiding Powers of Europe, which would confer such indisputable benefits, immediate and ultimate, upon the commonalty of nations and the pro- gressive civilisation of the world, and would do this (so far as can be foreseen) at so trifling a cost and with so slight a risk,—as the establishment of a strong and suitable (not indigenous) Government in Mexico. This is one side of the pieture,-drawn strongly, though we cannot say unfairly, by the sanguine advocates of deci- sive intervention. Let us turn the shield. In the first place, we cannot and must not undertake any permanent or protracted responsibilities. We do not want another Turkey on the further side of the Atlantic. We must have no more protectorates," joint or single. It will never answer to establish any Government in Mexico which cannot maintain itself without our assistance, or which cannot be trusted to behave itself without our inter- ference. If we set up a weak Ruler, we shall be bound to support him. If we set up a bad Ruler, we shall be bound to control him. We are not prepared to enter into any en- gagements of the sort, either alone or in conjunction with our allies. Whatever Government, therefore, we did set up, must be one that could satisfy us that it would be self- supporting, and that it would be capable and just. It is perfectly obvious, therefore, that it must not be a native Government. It must be a foreign rule, maintained, in the first instance at least, by foreign troops. -What and whom must we establish i Is there any eligible candidate or any even moderately promising arrangement that can be sug- gested ? There can be no doubt that a British Prince, backed by 10,000 British troops, aided by a moderate subsidy of Bri- tish money, and surrounded by British Counsellors and British Generals, would soon restore order, establish justice, and inaugurate prosperity in Mexico. Such a Government would perhaps never be popular, but at least it would be strong, beneficent, and equitable. But it is, of course and on the face of it, absolutely out of the question. It would excite the fiercest rage of the United States it would be rendered impossible by the jealousy of France; and the proposal would be almost unanimously rejected as soon as proposed to Parliament. The Puritans among us would feel that it looked grasping the Economists would de- nounce it as costly and unrepaying and statesmen gene- rally would condemn it as vastly and gratuitously trouble- some. Aloreover, our hands are full, our taxes are heavy, and our liabilities are immense. That scheme, then, may be put aside as impossible, even if it were desirable. There can be no doubt that a French Prince, with French troops and French administrators, would do the work per- haps even better and more sp?ediiy than wo should do, They would be less scrupulous, les3 formal, loss merciful, and more prompt than ourselves. They are used to such work, and would soon transform the whole face of the coun- try. They would keep the Yankees in check, too, for the resJ; of the century at least. lnere are Yrenctl princes enough also, out of employ, and of very competent ability. The Duke de Nemours, the Prince de Joinville, the Duke d'Aumale, would any of them do capitally, and are not likely under any circumstances to be required in France. But then, even if Louis Napoleon were willing to aid in or to permit such an elevation of the House of Orleans, there would be other difficulties in the wav. We could not trust Frenehmon to govern Mexico for the benefit and salvation vf tt?,, MCAIUHUS. "We snould focl tht W? could not thorouhly trust them to govern righteously, and yet that we could not meddle with them if disposed to govern selfishly and oppressively. We should always have a painful sense of responsibility for their sins and shortcomings. The old traditional statesmen of Great Britain, moreover, would be horrified at such an aggrandisement of our hereditary rival. For ourselves, indeed, we entertain no such sentiments of alarm or jealousy. We do not think that the possession of Mexico would really strengthen France much, and we are sure it would employ her well. It would gratify her vanity, occupy her energies, and task her resources both of men and money for a time and though we do not hold French civilisation to be the most pcrfect or improving in the world, yet it is unquestionably and immeasurably superior to the civilisation of the Spanish Creoles and half-breeds. A more serious objection is that the French fire peculiarly and inhe- j rently antipathic to Spaniards, and to all of Spanish origin and in Mexico just now they are, we believe, even more unpopular than Englishmen. Still, if we could, cooscien- tiously aud with secuiity for the results, connive at Franco governing Mexico, wo have no doubt that Mexico would be incalculably the better, and that wa should be none the worse. The third alternative of allowing and perhaps assisting Spain to reconquer, or rather to repossess her old colony, is perhaps o;)en to less objection than either of the preced- ing. The Spaniards would appear likely to assimilate better with the Mexicans thon either the English or the French. They would have more comprehension of their man- ners, more tolerance of their follies, more sympathy with their religion. Previous occupation, too, would seem to give them a short of undefinable prior claim to unilerta ke the task—if they are competent to fulfil it well. But this is the question, and herein lies the difficulty. Spain for- merly lost many of her colonies by misgovernment, and she has never been famous either for the energy, the purity, or the advanced sagacity of even her home administration. She has indeed the form, and to a considerable extent the reality, of free itistittitiozis but her finances are not pros- perous, her political economy is not advanced, and her officials are incapable and usually corrupt. She has not always paid her debts much more punctually or willingly than Mexico itself; and Spanish bonds are not in much bettor marketable repute than Mexican ones Moreover, Spain, though no doubt greatly improved and having of late shown unmistakeable symptom of reviving spirit and vi- gour, is by no means certainly a match for all probable assail- ants. She might not, therefore, be able to hold the country without assistance, or be trusted to govern it hon- estly and wisely without interference. Now the necessity for future interference either to sustain or to control the Government which may be set up, is precisely what it is most imperative upon us to avoid. It appears, then, as the result of a consideration of the whole case, that a joint occupation of Mexico is particu- larly undesirable that there are very grave if not insur- mountable objections to every one of the only three feasible single occupations and that the precedent which occupa- tion would establish is one which is almost appalling. It may surprise our readers that we have not noticed the objection to any taking possession of the Government of Mexico at all, which springs first and most naturally to the mind,—grounded on the consideration that the country does not belong to any of us. The truth is that we do not feel this objection we even go so far as to question its validity. But this is too grave and difiicult a matter to be disposed of by a few sentences at the end of a long article.—Econo- miot.

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