"How can one be a patriot?" asked a Mexican officer, "if he is on the losing side?" The question is an interesting one; and its answer has a vital bearing on the history, not only of Mexico, but also of the entire world.

Devotion to lost causes has never been a characteristic of Mexican political upheavals. Its absence, perhaps, may explain why Mexico has failed so far to establish a settled government. The greatest achievements in history have more than once been the outcome of lost causes. Contemporary observers may have spoken of Thermopylae or Valley Forgo as colossal futility, and branded Leonidas or Washington as stupid and obstinate for not deserting with their forces to the enemy the moment defeat seemed evident. But in both cases obstinacy, had its final result; and in both cases it was the "losing side" that won.

The lesson of the Mexican officer's remark is a valuable one. There is hardly a greater virtue than obstinacy, if obstinacy is construed as refusal to recognize apparent defeat and turn it to personal advantage. The nations that today possess the soundest traditions of orderly government are the ones that have sacrificed most for it in the past. Their history is filled with the record of lost causes, which have in the end been victorious. It is difficult to predict the exact outcome of the present Mexican revolution. Just now it seems likely that a new government may be established within a very short time. But unless there is a marked change in the Mexican character, it is not likely that the displacement of another leader will do much good. For the nation as for the individual, time-serving is never the best policy; and until the Mexican leaders, army and people have learned to place principle above immediate profit, there can be no permanent reform.