of Chihuahua, issued--on
the heels of reiterated promises of fealty to the Government--a
_pronunciamiento_ in favor of the revolution and delivered the state
which had been entrusted to his keeping to the revolutionists, at whose
head he now placed himself.

The new malcontents declared that Madero had betrayed the revolution,
and that they were going to overthrow him and themselves carry out the
promises he had made. This sounds heroic, noble, and patriotic, but
will not bear close inspection. In the first place, many of the
revolutionists with whom the new faction allied itself had been in arms
since before Madero was even elected--a trivial circumstance, however,
which did not seem to shake their logic. Moreover, as any honest,
fair-minded person must have recognized, the promises of Madero were
not such as he could fulfil with a wave of his hand or a stroke of his
pen. They were big promises and they required time and careful study
for their successful undertaking and the cooperation of the people at
large against the public enemies, whereas Madero was not given time nor
favorable circumstances nor the intelligent cooperation of any but a
small proportion of the population.

As a matter of fact, Madero himself, far from overstating the benefits
of the revolution led by him or making unwise promises of a Utopia
impossible of realization, addressed these words to the Mexican people
at the close of that conflict: "You have won your political freedom,
but do not therefore suppose that your _economic_ and social liberty
can be won so suddenly. This can only be attained by an earnest and
sustained effort on the part of all classes of society."

It is to be feared that for long years to come Mexico must stand judged
in the eyes of the world by the disgraceful and uncivilized conduct of
the various rebels, or so-called rebels, and simon-pure bandits who are
contributing to the revolt and running riot over the country; but there
is, nevertheless, in Mexico a class of people as educated, as refined,
as honorable as those existing anywhere. And these people--the
_obreros_ (skilled working men) and the professional middle class, as
well as the better elements of the laboring classes, are supporting
Madero--not all in the spirit of his personal adherents, but because
they realize the tremendous peril to Mexico of continued revolution. In
1911 the revolution was necessary--the peril had to be incurred,
because nothing but arm