--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Pearson, Sarah E. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 4 number: 6 published: 1901-04 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Sarah E. Pearson, "Widowed: A Poem," *Improvement Era* 4, no. 6 (April 1901): 438.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0406unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0406unse start_page: 438 end_page: 438 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1901-04) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0406unse publication_year: 1901 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1901, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Widowed: A Poem 436 IMPROVEMENT ERA tended, that shows Diaz to be not only a soldier but a statesman and diplomat as well. Many of his contemporaries govern by right of succession. They execute the laws framed by parliament and legislative bodies through whom the public opinion of an intelligent constituency ex- presses its will. Whatever greatness they achieve is largely due to the fact that they do the will of the people over whom they preside. Diaz has made public opinion. Instead of becoming the incarnation of Mexican sentiment, he has made Mexican sentiment the incarnation of his own master mind. When Porfirio Diaz was declared elected president of the United States of Mexico, in 1877, the country was engaged in civil war. The Porfiristas, the name by which the supporters of Diaz were known, had taken up arms against the government of Sebas- tian Lerdo de Tejada, who, as chief justice of the supreme court, had assumed the presidency on the death of Juarez, and after des- perate fighting, in which the superior generalship of Diaz gave him the victory, he was elected president of the republic. To pacify this discordant, revolutionary element, with three men, each with an army at his command, claiming the presidency at the same time; to replenish a national treasury which had been looted by dishonest officials; to reestablish public credit abroad and start moving the wheels of industry at home, was the task which confronted Diaz when he assumed the presidency. From the day of his inauguration, it became evident that a new era had dawned upon Mexico, for his departure from the beaten path which had been traveled by his predecessors was pronounced and radical.In strong contrast to the exclusive, partisan policy of Lerdo he took the ground that he had ceased to be the representative of a party or faction, but was the chief magistrate of the . Mexican nation, and entitled to the support of every loyal citizen. He protested against the pomp and display which had characterized former administrations, insisting in the most democratic way, in occupying a private residence, when not engaged in executive duties, instead of living at the national palace as had been customary. He inaugurated reforms in the government departments, making strict economy and honesty in handling public funds imperative. He provided for the enlargement and extension of