important exception is found in the textile mills. There ignorance has stood in the way to prevent advance to responsible positions. In the few cases where this has not been the case the better paid places have not infrequently been reserved for foreigners by the management or, if Mexicans were put into places of responsibility, they were given lower wages than were paid to Europeans doing similar work. The success of certain of the native employees in the face of these difficulties shows that some, at least, have aptitude for the skilled trades. There is no doubt that even in the textile mills the abilities of the native population have not been fully tried out in the past.
The government has done little to furnish education which would develop the latent industrial ability of the people. "By the change of régime in the present century the indigenes have made no advance, they have only changed their tutors and tutor Congress, to tell the truth, has done less for them than the tutor Viceroy."[1]
Under these conditions it is evidently unfair to judge what the Mexican laborer can do from what he has done. He has never had a chance to prove his worth and his cause has been an unpopular one even in his own country. The ruling class have consistently alleged his great possibilities and especially in late years not a few, when comparing themselves to foreigners, have developed a sort of Indian cult and have professed themselves of
- ↑ Ibid., p. 31. See also Alberto Robles Gil, Memoria de la secretaría de fomento presentada al congreso de la union, Mexico, 1913, p. 500.
