Barbarous Mexico: An Indictment of a Cruel and Corrupt System

Book Synopsis: "A tale of human misery, of avarice, and brutality as terrible as one can well conceive." - Spectator
"A thrilling narrative of the heartless cruelty that is practiced at our very doors." - The Pacific Unitarian
"A stirring and confounding description of the dark side of life in the southern republic." - Hearst's International
"Turner must realize that the barbarities of the Diaz regime were angelic as compared to the deeds of the 'Imps of Hell' who now ravage the country." - Thrilling Stories of Mexican Warfare (1916)

From 1908-1911, John Kenneth Turner, posing as an American investor seeking to buy a tobacco plantation, was involved in the revolutionary movement in Mexico, and Turner's 1910 book "Barbarous Mexico," criticizing the corruption and brutal labor system under the regime of Porfirio Diaz played a role in accelerating the revolution.

When Turner arrived in Mexico, he found a country with a written constitution and written laws, which for the most part are almost as fair and democratic as our own, but with neither constitution nor laws in operation. A country without political freedom, freedom of speech or press, a jury system, or political parties, and a country where slavery in its most dreadful form is a fact.

In relating an interview with one government official about enslavement of Yaqui tribe members, Turner writes:
"'These Yaquis,' he said, 'sell in Yucatan for $65 apiece-men, women and children. Who gets the money? Well, $10 goes to me for my services. The rest is turned over to the secretary of war. This, however, is only a drop in the bucket, for I know this to be a fact, that every foot of land, every cow, every burro, everything left behind by the Yaquis when they are carried away by the soldiers, is appropriated for the private use of authorities of the state of Sonora.'"

To get some idea of the treacheries and unspeakable cruelties perpetrated upon the Yaquis, one must read John Kenneth Turner's chapters on this topic in "Barbarous Mexico." For thirty years campaigns of extermination were waged against them under all sorts of pretexts, and thousands were sold into slavery as far south as Yucatan. But the lands seized from them were apportioned not only among influential Mexicans, but also among Americans and other foreigners.

In describing the "Diaz System" of maintaining power Turner notes that "in order to impose his rule upon an unwilling people General Diaz found it necessary not only to reward the powerful of his country and to be free and easy with the foreigner, but also to strip the people of their liberties to the point of nakedness. He took away from them all governmental powers, rights and securities and all powers to demand the return of these things."

About the author:
John Kenneth Turner (1879-1948) was an American publisher, journalist, and author.