statements and deductions he believes he finds ample warrant in the published diplomatic and consular correspondence of the United States during the last decade, and in an extensive personal correspondence with railroad and commercial men, who, from continuous residence, have become well acquainted with Mexico.[1] Making every allowance, however, for differences of opinion respecting minor details,
- ↑ From one of these latter the following warning against publishing anything in the way of observations or conclusions was received by the writer:
"City of Mexico, April 13, 1886.
"The papers are filled with the letters of travelers about Mexico. If you do not conform to what many people here want you to say, you are put down as having taken a hasty or dyspeptic observation of the country, and had no opportunity to know anything. If you pass one week in an hotel, and should write conformably to what various interests would have you, you are at once quoted as a 'most intelligent and experienced traveler.' A thorough investigation scrapes off all the varnish, and will often expose the motives of not a few people in Mexico, who would have American capital plant itself there under conditions which afford no protection by their Government or ours."
