taken over from the banks manu militari amounted to about $54,000,000 Mexican "according to the official figures of the Carranza government."[1]
Before leaving the discussion of the foreign debts of Mexico it is worth while calling attention to several features of their history which may have a bearing on what may be expected or what should be demanded by investors in the period of reconstruction.
First of all, it is often asserted by Mexicans and by mistaken friends of Mexico that the republic has always meticulously fulfilled its financial obligations. The facts concerning the foreign debts above outlined make it necessary to interpret these words in a very special way if they are to be held to state the truth. As has been indicated, the earlier history of Mexico shows important readjustments of the claims of foreign creditors which cut down the amount they were to be paid. To be sure the creditors agreed to the scaling of their claims and it may be insisted that Mexico did not repudiate the obligations, except in the justified cases of the Maximilian era. Nevertheless, it is true, of course, that the reduction of claims was not a free-will offering upon the part of the creditors. They consented because the finances of the republic had come to such a state that they felt it desirable to sacrifice part of their property in order to obtain a chance to save the rest. Mexico may not have repudiated her obligations actually but
- ↑ Manuel Calero, Ensayo sobre la reconstrucción de Mexico, New York, 1920, p. 89. This review published by a group of nine prominent Mexicans headed by Manuel Calero is a good summary of moderate progressive opinion on Mexican affairs.
