The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 11, 1926, Page 8

History of the Catholic Church in Mexico By MANUEL GOMEZ. (Chapter Three—Continued) “To Hell with the Constitution.” When the secretary of. the interior ordered all government employes to take the oath of obedience to the con- stitution of 1857, the catholic hier- archy deliberately advised, and even commanded disobedience to the order. The archbishop of Mexico sent circu- lars to all bishops under him declar- ing that since the constitution con- tained provisions inimical to the in- stitution, doctrine and rites of the catholic church, neither clergymen nor laymen could take the oath of alle- giance to it under any circumstances whatever, The bishops then sent cir- culars to their respective country vicars and parish curates, informing them: “First. That is was not lawful to swear allegiance to the constitution because its articles were contrary to the institution, do@trine and rites of ‘the catholic church. “Second, That this communication must be made public and copies of it distributed as widely as possible. “Third. That those who had al- ready taken this oath must retract it at the confessional and make this retraction as public as possible, and that they must notify the govern- ment of their action.” (Zamacois, “History des Mejico,” Vol, VIX, p. 525.) We therefore see that it is not only now that the catholic church has be- gun to resort to rebellion against a progressive constitution. The hypo- critical clerics who pretend to set so much store by “law. and order” and the principle of constituted authority —for the workers—have never scru- pled to attack these principles when erected’as a@ barrier against reaction. The oppressed classes in society can well take a leaf from the book of their enemies in this respect. “Law and order” represent in themselves noth- ing that deserves respect. They are a weapon of governmental suppres- sion. Only under a workers’ and farm- ers’ government can they serve the true interests of the toiling masses. Happy Days Under don Porfirio, We cannot here go into the long- drawn-out details of the struggle which the church and its allies car- ried on consistently for the overthrow of the liberal Jaurez regime. It cul- minated in the “Second Mexican Em- pire,” which lasted for three years, supported by French bayonets. On its overthrow Jaurez came back to power, He was succeeded by another liberal, Lerdo de Tejada. Then fol- followed the revolt of General Porfirio Diaz, who, basing himself on-the old aristocracy and the army, aswell as foreign concessionaries, maintained himself in power as dictator for a period of 32 years, I have already pointed out in pre- vious chapters how the church grad- ually regained much of its lost power during the “Dicdadora Porfliriana.” Diaz ruled by intimidation and sub- ordination. There was no such thing as free elections. Every governor, every local municipal president or “jefe politico,” every member of the chamber of deputies, every senator, | } was virtually an appointee of the dic- tator. A working class had begun to develop in Mexico, but strikes were forbidden by law, and were savagely suppressed. It was under Porfiirio Diaz that thousands of Indian peasants were robbed of the land that had been in their families and communities for generations and turned into peons on the lands they once owned. Privilege was thus more firmly intrenched than ever, Beginning of the Modern Struggle. But the Porfirian system carried with it the seeds of its own dissolu- tion, This brings us to the modern struggle. In 1910 began what is now . “TIN GODS.” HIS picture has its merits. Even the story is different. Not the “busy-business” man who deserts the wife in the “eternal triangle,” but, for a change (and the relief of abused husbandhood) the politically ambi- tious wife neglects the husband in this drama. The husband goes to South America and to pieces—to be saved by a fiery dance hall girl. An old theme, ’tis true, but remodeled to a thrilling climax with a tragic end- ing, which also is an unusual proced- ure for American pictures, Thomas Meighan is the leading ac- tor. His performance is not more than an adequate one—he has done better—and to be fair, no more can be said for Hileen Pringle, who acts ambitious womanhood. But the pic- ture rises to one above the average with the acting of Renee Adoree. Her characterization of + the passionate Latin dancing girl is, in the opinion of this humble critic, as fine a job as a director could ask for. This gifted lady who helped to make “The Big Parade” what it was, is an actress the equal of any in American films, “Tin Gods” is no great picture— but you’ve seen worse. It’s showing (until Monday) at the “Chicago.” —wW. Cc. “THE AMATEUR GENTLEMAN.” IPLOMATICALLY,. “with reserva- tions,” we advise you to see this picture. We liked it. Not that we want you to acquire the genteel quali- ties of a “gentleman,” for that is what the story deals with, but because of the other worth-while features about it. It has real pictorial beauty: the old English settings are a delight; old English customs, views of the life of the times, dress of the period and the architecture are all a setting which almost make the story unimportant. And it is unimportant, but it moves quite speedily even tho with consid- erable-clap-trap attached to it, The son of an inn-keeper and ex- champion boxer of England, on com- ing into an inherited fortune, desires to become “a gentleman.” He con- vinces his father of his manhood by beating him in a boxing match (these scenes are most interesting if you are interested in the manly art of squash- ing noses). On his journey to Lon- don he falls in love with a “lady,” ac- quires a valet, who becomes also his social mentor, and after many adven- tures (which, because of the old Eng- lish settings, are quite interesting), learns to his sorrow that “gentlemen are born—not made.” Ho-hum! But he gets the “lady” “for keeps” and, being a blond, it seems that even at THOMAS MEIGHAN in “Tin Gods.” A Paramount Picture. Oa REST SE AE italy that early date gentlemen preferred them, We recall a scene in this picture of three monocled “gentlemen” viewing a painting. The arrangement of this scene was so striking pictorially that we advise you to carefully look for it if you see the film. Richard Barthel- mess does a good job of his leading part, his “lady” friend is above the average and the director deserves a vote of thanks for his job and espe- cially his choice of phofographers. —W. C. “VARIETY”—Excellent, say most critics including ours. Coming to Chicago week of Sept. 13 (Roose- velt Theater.) “MOANA”’-+A thing of beauty. “BATTLING BUTLER’—G, W. says “fair.” 4 “THE ROAD TO MANDALAY”— The road to boredome. “MARE NOSTRUM”—Just stal War propaganda. “UP IN MABEL’S ROOM”—Ah, that’s something else again! “MANTRAP”—Has nothing to do with “Up in Mabel’s Room.” “SENOR DAREDEVIL”— You'll be sorry if you go. “THE SON OF THE SHIEK”— —Valentino’s last picture (Uptown). “La BOHEME”—A. S. says “fine.” “The BAT”—Ssh ... . spooks! “PADLOCKED” — G. W. says “well... if you can find nothing better.” NOTE: Only Chicago theaters showing a program for one week are listed. Pictures of current week changed Monday. ee ee ——eeeeea————aam—q~=aeeeOOOeeee began to maneuver against the Made- ristas from the inside. De la Barra was a catholic and a wealthy aristo- crat. In the elections that followed the national catholic party named him as its candidate for president against Madero. Popular pressure was so great, however, that his candidacy had to be withdrawn. The church then resorted to the sly strategem of en- dorsing Madero for president, but run- ning de la Barra for vice-president against the Maderista candidate, Pino Suarez, Clasping the Bloody Hand of Huerta. Madero was overthrown and mur- dered, together with Pino Suarez, thru the treachery of General Victo- known as the Mexican revolution.|riano Huerta, MHuerta’s regime, an When Francisco I, Madero led the |attempt at iron-fisted dictatorship on revolt against Diaz under the slogan |the Porfirlan model, even outdid its of “Effective suffrage and no re-elec-\|originalein brutality and degradation, tion,” a movement was being initiated | It is known for its countless crimes as of far deeper significance than that |“the bloody dictatorship,” indicated by the inadequate slogan. The slogan merely expresses the un- certainty of the bourgeoisie under Ma- dero, With these forces were fused the agrarians led by Zapata—and, at a later stage, the newly-born working class. It was one of the greatest movements in all Latin-American his- tory. All the forces of progress in Mexico were with it. The church, of course, was with the enemy. No sooner had the Madero move- ment triumphed than Francisco de la Barra, installed as provisional presi- “The so-called upper classes, the wealthy and, above all, the conserv- ative or catholic plutocracy, gave the nascent dictatorship its support and its applause,” writes Manuel Calero, who was himself a member of Huerta’s cabinet. “The catholic party, by its traditions, naturally sympathized with the new regime. « + »« Eduardo Tamariz, prominent and wealthy member of the cabinet, was called to Huerta’s cabinet and made president of the chamber of deputies, formed by Huerta after the forcible dissolution of Its legiti- dent after the flight of don Porflirlo,| mate predecessor In October, 1913. + « . Among the deputies impris- oned by Huerta after the dissolution of congress there was not a single one who belonged to the catholic party. Finally, an outstanding cleri- cal, don Francisco Garcia, was named special magistrate to judge the deputies of the dissolved con- gress.” (Calero, “Un Decinio de Po- litica Mexicana,” p, 128.) The New Magna Charta. It is not surprising, therefore, that when the present Mexican constitu- tion was adopted in 1917, following the overthrow of Huerta by the revo- lutionary forces under Carranza that the old anti-clerical provisions of 1857 were re-affirmed and even improved upon. This is the constitution which President Calles is now trying to apply in the face of reactionary catholic re- bellion. The Mexican revolution clashes nat- urally with the church because the church in politics represents every- thing that the revolution must sweep away. The presént chapter of our story has shown us that the church not only intervenes in politics but that at every critical stage of Mexti- can history the church has fought mill- tantly in the very forefront of the re- actionary enemies of Mexican progress. (The next chapter of “The History of the Catholic Church in Mexico” will show how the church has systemati- cally allied itself with foreign enemies threatening the very independent ex- Istence of the Mexican nation.)