that capacity for self-sacrifice, for sinking of all selfish interest, and devotion to the public good that it means when used on this side of the Rio Grande. In short, it may be truthfully said that nowhere in the world has Doctor Johnson's famous definition of patriotism as "the last refuge of a scoundrel" been so fully realized as among the Latin-Mexican governing class.
The French sociologist, Gustave le Bon, as the result of his study of the influence of the Latin element on government in the Americas, says;
"In general and fundamentally the political problem of the Latin-American democracies is the problem of public thieving."
This expression, as applied to all Latin-American republics, may be too broad, but it certainly does no injustice to the record made by the Latin element in Mexico.
An educated and public-spirited Latin-Mexican, Francisco Bulnes, who for many years was prominent in the political, industrial, and literary life of his country as a member of its Senate and House of Representatives, a civil and mining engineer j the head of various civic commissions, an editor of important periodicals and a profound student of Mexican affairs, has recently published a book entitled, "The Whole Truth about Mexico."
