10 A-
This It Mtxico
MONDAY. JANUARY U. 1963
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON
Mexico, Land of Contrasts, One of Most Complex Nationsof Americas
By HARRY FERGUSON
Mexico City -U1FD- Man
' persons are convinced the av-
erage Mexican is a lazy lei
low who reclines all day
against an adobe hut sleeping
off heavy meals of chili con
came. There is exactly
. much truth in that as there
is in the undying legends that
every Englishman wears
bowler hat and every French'
man keeps a mistress.
The average Mexican
likely to wear (arm or tactory
overalls and work eight hours
a day.
Chili con came was invent
. ed by an Inspired chef in Tex
as and is unknown in Mexico
except . in restaurants cater
ing to American tourists.
, Mexico probably is the
most complex nation in the
two Americas. And It is a land
of violent contrasts. It was
born in violence an uncount
ed number of years ago when
a massive upheaval of the
earth determined Its present
topography of a central pla
teau ranging up to 8,000 feet
above sea level, until the last
three decades it lived in vio
lence with war and revolu
tion being the normal way of
life.
Wilion Lotei Tamper
Governments were over
thrown with such dizzy speed
that one president was in of
fice only 47 minutes. Killing
the chief executive was so
firmly established as a way
of changing administrations
that President Woodrow Wil
son, a patient man, finally
lost his temper and denounced
Mexico for "government by
. assassination."
Mexico City, the capital, Is
a modern, shining mas of
glass and steel architecture.
, Not too far south of it there
is thick jungle where the land
and the people have not
changed much in the last 300
years. There are 90 separate
languages or dialects spoken
in Mexico and there are pock
ets of people who might as
well be living on the moon
so far as outside contact
concerned.
In the southern state of
Chiapas a high ridge runs be
tween the villages of Zina
cantan and Chamula. If there
were a road between the two
towns, It would run for about
eight miles. But there isn't
any road, and there is no neeJ
for one. The residents of Zina
cantan and Chamula speak
different languages and wear
different kinds of clothing.
Each village is ruled by
council of elders, and the fed.
eral government is some mys
terious force that is too far
away in time and distance to
worry about. A resident of
Zinacantan would think
long about walking eight
miles to Chamula as an Amer
ican would of taking a trip
to Borneo.
Land of Contrasts
The violent contrasts are
everywhere. Mexico is more
than SO per cent Catholic, but
the church is forbidden to
own property. The church it
self, the ground beneath it
and the air above it are the
property of the nation and
the Catholic clergy uses it
only on a sort of lend-lease
basis.
The streets of Mexico City
and other large urban cen
ters are jammed with auto
mobiles, but there is no such
thing as a Mexican motor car.
Foreign firms do manufacture
some parts of a car in Mexico,
but the remainder of the auto
usually the engine has to
be shipped in and assembled
after arrival.
Communism is detested by
an overwhelming number of
Mexicans, but they live hap
pily under a system that has
borrowed heavily from Marx
ist philosophy, including the
nationalization of many in
dustries and the expropriation
of land to be divided among
the peasants, many of whom
live on communal farms.
Early Cities Found
There Is strong evidence
that there was a highly devel
oped civilization in Mexico
1,000 years before Columbus
discovered America. Archeol
ogists, patiently fitting togeth.
er the pieces of the puzzle,
are convinced that splendid
cities were being built in Mex
ico when Britain was a fog-
bound outpost of the Roman
Empire inhabited by savages
and Germany was a dense
forest in which men lived like
animals. .
Progress continued down
through the years in Mexico
and moved to a pinnacle when
the Aztecs established their
capital on the site of. what is
now Mexico City. A prophet
had told them to keep wan
dering until they saw an eagle
devouring a serpent. Then
they were to stop and settle
down.
This is said to have hap
pened in 1325 on an island
in a lake. The eagle was
perched on a cactus plant de
vouring a serpent and the Az
tecs began the construction of
the city of Tenochtitlan. It
may have grown to as much
as 1,000,000 population, but
in any event it was one of the
largest cities in the known
world. Much of the lake has
dried up now, but Mexico
City is still the capital and
the eagle devouring the ser
pent still is imprinted on Mex
ican coins.
Astecs Wroia Poetry '
It was a highly developed
civilization. The Aztecs knew
how to reckon time, how to
raise cotton and weave it Into
cloth, apparently understood
the rudiments of astronomy,
had an army and a navy, and
wrote poetry. They also built
enormous stone temples,
which can still be seen and
in which they appeased their
gods with human sacrifices.
Some historians say 20,000
prisoners and slaves were sac-
Like a Funeral
Opening of Congress Had Floral
Trimmings and Lots of Handshaking
1 r'
'.-::. -
Ara.
WMt
By DICK WEST
Washtngton-HJPl)-My mental
impressions are not always
as reliable as plaster of pads,
, but the open-
lng of the
88th Congress
in some ways
reminded me
of a gangster's
funeral,
Among other
things, there
were gather
ings of rela
tive j dressed
to the nines, profouse sprout
ings of hot house flowers and
lines of curious onlookers.
Such trappings are associ
ated in my mind with the last
rites of a prohibition era
crime czar. I half expected to
see a horseshoe wreath with
a streamer reading "So long,
pal."
But if the background was
somewhat funereal, the spirii
that prevailed was more like
old home week. There is no
warmer camaraderie than the
reunion of politicians who
have survived an election.
Fully 30 minutes before
the session began at noon,
senators and congressmen
were assembling in their re
spective chambers lo catch
up on their handshaking.
They lhoo. hands with
ach other Individually, and
than they shook hands with
ach othar In groups, ring-around-tha-roty
style. Oc
casionally, they tvan t'-ook
hands with themselves.
Then began the ceremonial
opening, which is as highly
aiyllzed as the mating dance
of the whooping crane. But
each chamber docs It differ
ently. The Senate, being a con
tinuing body, knew In ad
vance who its presiding offi
cer would be - vice Presi
dent Lyndon B. Johnson, as
stipulated in the Constitution.
The Constitution doesn't
stipulate Johnson exclusively,
however. Any vice president
will do.
The Senate proceeded swift
ly to the swearing in of new
members, most of whom actu
ally were old members.
Among the returnees was the
84-year-old dean of the Sen
ate, Sen Carl Hayden CD-
Ariz.),
Among the newcomers
was a 30-year-old Massa
chusetts Democrat whose
nama I didn't catch - Can
nady, or something Ilka
that.
The House knew in advance
who its presiding officer
would be, too, but It had to
pretend that It didn't. It must
elect a speaker every two
years.
This year's contest-was be
tween Reps. John W. McCor
mack (D-Muss.) and Charles
A. Halleck (R-Ind.). McCor
mack won, 256-175, the point
Grant Given To
Record Languages
Portland - A grant to re
cord some of the nearly ex
tinct languages of Oregon has
been awarded to a Portland
State college associate pro-
lessor oi aninropology.
Dr. Joe Pierce will study
"Indigenous Languages of
Oregon" under a year's grant
or $10,900. awarded by the
National Science Foundation.
There were approximately
52 languages being spoken In
Orrgon at the time of white
contact, Dr. Pierce said. An
thropologists have scanty data
on about 10 Oregon lan
guages; grammars for two and
almost no Information on sev
eral others, he said.
Dr. Pierce pointed out there
is an extreme urgency in re
cording some of the languages
before Ihcy disappear entire
ly. He cited some 15 languages
with loss than 10 speakers
each left In the slate, while
several other languages arc
thought to be extinct.
CANDID
St. Louis-IUPII-Christ Church
Cathedral (Episcopal) Dean
Ned Cole called for increased
interest In the church choir,
with the comment that "a
good singing voice is not a requirement."
spread being almost identical
to the party line-up 1 1 the
House.
McCormack must have
been confident of the out
come. Copies of his extempo
raneous acceptance speech
reached the press gallery even
before the voting started
PAYOFF
Now York -luril- Credit life
insurance policies have paid
off $836 million In debts for
Americans who died In the
past decade, according to the
Institute of Life Insurance.
Japanese Forester
Plans 05U Lectures
Corvallis - Dr. Ayaakira
Okazaki, professor of forest
management at University of
Kyoto, Japan, will be lecturer
In the Oregon Slate university
school of forestry during
spring term.
Okazaki will come to Ore
gon in late March under the
auspices of the Louis W. and
Maud Hill Family Foundation
of St. Paul, Minn.
He is author of more than
50 publications on Japanese
forestry and is a worldwide
traveler. H i s professional
trips include two visits to the
United States earlier and a
special lecturing fellowship to
Germany.
During spring term at Ore
gon State university, the Jap
anese forestry leader will de
liver a series of public lec
tures, conduct seminars, and
confer with forestry faculty
members and students.
COMEDIAN MARRIED
Hollywood - tUPIl - Comedian
Bob Newhart was married
Saturday In St. Vincent's Ro
man Catholic Church to Vir
ginia Q u I n n, 22-year-old
daughter of actor William
Quiim, ,
50
NEW
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no halloon payment and no
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your deal . . .
S7J.731Sar 773.J13f
man FtDiui otrosiT msuivict com
EXAMPLE:
You wtKt a ntw cur priced at
Your irmU-in f worth syOO.
Vmi borrow SI ft) (or 30 mon.
Your (itrrct bunk loftn lMmvntS
Art only per month.
I. Medtord 701 I. Jackson Si.
Rooue Vjll.y 1 109 Court St.
ft
rare.
rificed at the dedication of n
temple in 1487.
What brought about the
downfall of this Indian civili
zation was an ancient legend
that some day white gods
wearing beards would come
out of the east. In 1519 when
Montezuma II was emperor
of the Aztecs runners from
the east coast brought word
to the capital that the white
gods had arrived.
Corias Conquers Mexico
The chief white god was
a 34-year-old Spaniard named
Hernando Cortes who had
sailed out of Cuba in search
of glory and plunder. He was
a bold soldier, a cunning dip
lomat and he had a wide
streak of meanness in his
make-up as Montezuma was
to learn to his sorrow. Cortes
landed on the east coast of
Mexico, founded the city of
Veru Cruz and signed up a
beautiful Indian girl named
Malintzin to be his interpreter
and to aid and comfort him
in any other way he chose
to specify.
Then Cortes burned h i s
boats to cut off the last line
of retreat and marched inland
with 508 Spanish foot soldiers,
32 archers, 13 musketeers and
200 Indian burden bearers.
Malintzin got one of the 16
horses in the expedition as
payment for services render
ed. Montezuma greeted the
white god with affection and
reverence. In a few years
Montezuma was dead, the Az
tec empire had collapsed and
Cortes had so thoroughly con
quered Mexico that the land
and the people would never
be the same again.
Next: Tht Mexican People
today who thty are and
how they got that way.
"OIL TO BURN"
Mobilheat
S ft H Green Stamps
MEDFORD FUEL CO.
772-2111
RANGE READY BULL SALE
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1:00 P.M.
KLAMATH COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
(0 Horned Hartford's, 10 Palled Hereford!
10 Aberdeen Angus, 2 Shorthorn
Sorted for Quality Good Breeding Condition
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KLAMATH CATTLEMAN'S ASSN.
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