international friendship by the governments that claim the fruits of the revolution. President Carranza was quoted as saying: "We wish foreign capital but we will not give one special privilege, not one.[1] What such declarations mean is not clear, either from the use of such words in the past in the republic nor from the practice of those who now use them. What that characteristic of a privilege is that makes it special, so as to be objectionable, is by no means always easy to determine. It has long been a matter of dispute in the interpretation of constitutions and laws in the United States and elsewhere.
Is a special privilege, as that word is used in discussions of Mexican affairs, one which refers to an exclusive right to certain property? That can hardly be, for upon the basis of individual and corporate ownership of property all modern governments rest. If a privilege as to place is not in essence special and objectionable, is one giving rights not enjoyed by all, over a certain time or in regard to certain property, a special and objectionable privilege? Is exemption from taxation for a certain period, or the grant of public land, as reward for establishing a colony, introducing a new industry, or undertaking a public improvement a special privilege not to be endured? Is freedom to import the materials for constructing a manufacturing plant or a railroad never to be given because it is a special privilege? In the popular sense of the word such grants are undoubtedly special, but that such privileges may operate for
- ↑ World's Work, vol. 31, p. 124, 1915.
