Page:Mexico under Carranza.djvu/80

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MEXICO UNDER CARRANZA

part of the total amount due from the railroad company to the Hydroelectric Company for power. Of course the balance of the income has gone to pay the expenses of the Carranza government, which consist largely of salaries to army officers.

Other concerns have been taken over in the same way, and, with the constitution amended as proposed by the president, any business in Mexico which appears to be earning a profit, from running a railroad to farming, can be seized and used by the government, as the street railways in the Federal District were.

Article 33 of the new constitution provides:

"The executive shall have the exclusive right to expel from the republic forthwith and without judicial process any foreigner whose presence he may deem inexpedient."

The significance of this article is twofold: First, it is undoubtedly intended to provide against any foreigner remaining in Mexico who might be disposed to make himself disagreeable by opposing any violation of his rights. Should he attempt such a thing, the president has power, from which there is no appeal, to banish him. That power has already been exercised in numerous instances. One use of it that attracted some attention a short time ago occurred when John C.