Preservings $20 Issue No. 26, 2006 - Home at Plett Foundation

Yes, my beloved pilgrims, all of you who
will hear and read this, let us go hand in hand,
that we will not fall. For the precipices are
steep and should we fall, we cannot come to
that city, we so often long for. We will surely
reach it if we keep on climbing, for there up
high shines the crown that Jesus will hand to
us when he says, “I am the Way, the Light, the
Door through me you can enter in. I will carry
thee to that place, where thou shalt see my
holiness. The mountains will have to depart, for
to you I am the highest. As often as you find a
safe gate, I will help you over safely. Your last
request or plea I hear. I place on you the crown
of life, in airy choruses of angels I will now
bring your soul within, here thou shalt be with
God forever. I am thy shield and great reward
I, Oh Son of God.”
So, with God’s help through the huge
mountains, we arrived in San Marcos on February
14 at 12:00 p.m. We left shortly for the huge
city named Guadalajara, arriving there at 4:00
p.m. We were now due for a resting period; we
were very tired. In this big city we saw street
cars, the same as in the most modern cities in
Canada. In this city we were shown a river
flowing beneath it, closed in on top and people
were walking and driving on the enclosed river.
This is supposedly the most beautiful place in
Mexico. We were told the temperature doesn’t
rise higher than twenty-seven degrees Reaumur
in summer and not below zero degrees in winter.
It was now bedtime, and we thanked and
praised our creator for being with us and not
leaving us. We had a good night’s sleep.
The next morning coming out of my
quarters, I met the two old uncles, who were
refreshed and happy, they had a good night’s
sleep. Now all of us were more ambitious and
happy. We had no real pain from riding the
donkeys. In fellowship we all ate breakfast,
after which we again toured the city, the huge
buildings, and the covered river, (mentioned
earlier). We were not very interested though,
because our thoughts were mainly on Mexico
City where we were supposed to meet the President.
This was very important to us. I also met
a German person who wanted to sell me some
land, but I was not interested now, because I
was not sure we wanted to buy land here. Our
privileges of freedom of religion and our faith
were more important than land at this time.
I asked this person about weather in Mexico.
How much rain they had, did it thunder
when they had rain? Yes, he said, often lightening
as if the whole heavens were burning, a
great amount of lightening, thunder and very
great cloudbursts of rain. I left this friend, for
the day had come to an end. Approximately at
5:00 p.m. we again left in a long train. It was
full of many different kinds of people, giving
us reason to closely watch our baggage. Upon
leaving the city, our thoughts were that we
might never see it again.
We again travelled through mountains and
valleys, past islands and a lot of land that was
under cultivation. We travelled all through
the night and finally on the 16 th of February
at 9:30 a.m. we arrived in Mexico City. On
Old Colony Mennonites departing to Mexico from the Hague train station in the 1920s. Photo credit: Leonard
Doell.
our trip we had seen many grain fields with
good irrigation systems, and old areas with
very expensive land. We were welcomed in a
friendly manner into this huge city that has a
population exceeding well over one million. A
hotel named Mageskeet was our resting place
after the long journey.
We were now far south of Canada, where
our loved ones were, and how nice it would
have been to get a letter. We did a lot of walking
around in Mexico City the next day, thinking
about the huge undertaking ahead of us. We
met Arthur J. Bronof, who was supposed to
take us to President Obregon. He had been
notified ahead of time by uncle Johan Wiebe,
who had worked with Mr. Bronof and Mr.
Lopez earlier.
The time passed quickly until we were to
meet the President. We were notified by Solis to
go see the President on the evening of the 17 th ,
but to first go to the man in charge of acreages.
We were silent, thinking of what we would say
to “Your High Honour,” for we didn’t want
to make any mistakes. We planned who was
to present our wishes, choosing uncle Julius
Loewen, with the rest of us helping out where
and whenever possible.
The evening soon came, and after preparing,
we went to the office of the Minister of
Acreages. Together with him, we went with
cars to the palace of the President. Arriving
at the gate of the yard, we were met by a host
of armed soldiers. The Minister drove in first,
and we were all granted permission to enter.
In the huge court yard we were led by armed
guards to the palace door where we entered
and were seated. We waited awhile, and then
the President came. He greeted us warmly and
shook our hands, using his left hand for his
right arm was missing because of a shooting
which occurred years ago. We were asked to
be seated and Julius Loewen presented to the
President our wishes on paper. We were asked
many questions about how we lived, etc. and
we answered the best we could. The following
is an account or write-up of our interview
with the President, which we drew up later in
our quarters.
Mexico City, February 17, 1921. The following
is an account of our presentation on
the above mentioned date in the palace of the
President Alvaro Obregon, in the presence of
the President, the Minister of Acreages, A.J.
Bronof and Daniel Solis Lopez as interpreter.
1. Marriages: The Mexican government had
experienced before hand, that marriages were
performed by a minister without both parties
being in love. This was disapproved of by the
Government, and so a rule was enforced that
a judge be present in the house of the couple
wishing to wed, with both sets of parents in attendance,
who were then asked if their children
were going to be wed of their own free will. If
this was answered with a yes then notice was
given for three weeks, one week at a time, or
a notice was posted. If in this time no one had
anything against their marriage, the wedding
was approved.
Their rules were strange to us, so we talked
them into not interfering with our customs.
However, if our newly weds were to register
through the Government, they had to appear
before the judge, before or shortly after the
marriage. They both had to say that they married
of their own free will, then sign papers
which were registered, and it would be ruled a
marriage. The reasons for these rules was that
if later the marriage became illegal, or they
divorced, the woman in the marriage that had
been registered, could claim possessions and
be protected by the law. A marriage that is not
registered leaves the woman unprotected.
2. The Waisenamt: The President’s answer
to this was, that in order to make it easier for
them, they would follow our testament, if
troubles should arise. They did not have a rule
for orphan inheritance. However, if trouble
arose, these would rule as follows. They would
42 - Preservings No. 26, 2006