THE MEXICAN
MOVEMENT HEADED
AIMS TO ESTABLIS
7 FORM OF POi
(The better element In Mexico Is I
and integrity and the fact that hs ata
not of men.)
The view of th? ordinary American
citizen in regtuu io Mexico Is that
it has become just one Provisional
President after another. Changes
have been so kaleidoscopic and the
dally news has been so conflicting
that it has become almost Impossible
for "the man on the street" to understand
the true situation in the Repub
UU IU lilt? bUUlii UI UtS.
HI" exasperation has reached that
pol.?* where he now dismisses the
whole affair with a comment that "a
lot of bandits seem to be fighting
among themselves in Mexico as to
who shall be allowed the privilege
of looting the country and I reckon
Uncle Sam will have to step in one of
these days and straighten things out."
The one significant fact that has
served to make Americans believe that
possibly behind the present turmoil in
Mexico there may be after all something
big and serious, has been the
? broad humanitarian view that President
Wilson has onnaistentlv taken ill
regard to the Mexican revolution.
A brief history of the present revolutionary
movement in Mexico tends
to clear up many of the things that
have remained incomprehensible to
Americans and sheds a light on the
entire situation that gives a true understanding
of the conditions in thut
country as they exist today.
The present revolution actually had
its inception with Francisco Madero
in lulu, ilium Aiut'ncuu? art) luimiiar
with the rapid and unexpected triumph
of Madero over Diaz, but it is
not generally known that Madero't?
regime failed to be a success and live
up to the high hopes and expectations
that had been born with it, because
he had been too generous in compromising
with the reactionaries and that
they on account of their dominance of
the two hold-over houses of Congress
were able to defeat all his plans for
the betterment of his people.
Assassination of Madero.
The shameful assassination at the
instigation of Huerta excited such a
feeling" of indignation in the United
States as to make President Wilson's
stand in refusing to recognize the
Government set up by Huerta on the
dead body of Madero, as being eminently
just and in keeping with the
beBt traditions of thia country.
Madero's death put the old cienti
flooa, reactionaries and clerics back
again in power. This necessitated
that the struggle Madero hud successfully
waged must again be taken up.
and accordingly there came into existenco
with the new movement a new
shibboleth that has rung from one
end of Mexico to the other: "Justice
and Reform and no compromise."
The first man to refuse to accept
the authority of the dictator Huerta
and to fling into his face a bitter defiance
was Venu8tiano Carranza. then
Governor of the State of Conhuila.
Carranza has been o?e of the strong
<>8t supporters of Mndero and during
tho previous revolution had acted as
Minister of War in tho assnssinated
President's provisional cabinet.
Carrunza's patriotic stand drew tho
attention of all liberty loving Mexicans
to Conhuila and there soon rallied
around the Governor's standard
a number of high-minded and patriotic
Mexicans, who banded together to
overthrow the usurper lluerta and reestablish
a constitutional government
in Mexico.
Accordingly it was under these circumstances
the much heard of. but
little understood plan of Gundalui>e
catne into existence. The miin planks
of this plan are as follows:
"For the organization of the military
forces necessary to make compliance
with our purposes, we nutne as
First Chief of the forces which shall
be called 'Constitutionalists,' Don
V'onifui lenn Poreonoo ?.* ?Wa
? \/nnnut.a, Ul/icillWI UI IUO
State of Coahuila.
"On the occupation ^ the Constitutionalist
forces of the City of Mexico.
the Executive power shall be taken
charge of by Hon Venustiano Carranza.
First Chief of the forces, or whoever
may he substituted in command.
"The president ad interim of the Republic
shall convoke general elections
as soon as peace shall have been established,
delivering the power to the
person who shall be elected."
Genesis of Revolution.
This wns the genesis of the revolution
against Huerta. which had, as can
be s'-en. r.s its one big hope, tl.e reestablishment
of a constitutional form
of government in Mexico. Following
f hla f rinmnh I ho nnpoqitnrv rnfnrma
mat die country cried for were
thought to follow as a necessary conr
sequence.
The movement against lluerta was
a magnificent effort on the part of the
Mexicans to regain the Ideals MaderoLad
given them, and not to sink back
-. gain into the despotic days of Diaz.
The present struggle In Mexico has
not Justifiable grounds for Its existinee.
Villa has made this issue: "I
cm to dominate Mexico." and has en.dcavored
to cloak it la a mantle of
v * <
REVOLUTION."
BY GARRANZA
H CONSTITUTIONAL
PULAR GOVERNMENT
behind Carranza beeause of his honesty
inds for a government of principle and
; verbal patriotism and empty sounding
I platitudes. The element behind Carranza
is not supporting the personality
of Carranza. At all times it has
nuuu5 iu oaci uitc nun lUl mw
greater good of the country. It has
simply rallied to him in this present
conflict, because of his honesty, integrity
and deep seated patriotism, and
becuuse he stands for a government
of principle and not of meu.
The revolution agninst Huerta swept
through Mexico with the irresistible
force that has ever animated every
real struggle for liberty and the dash i
ing victories of Villa, Gonzales, Obrogou,
Herera and others against the
' Federal troops brought the victorious
revolutionists into Mexico City after
17 months of struggle. Huerta lied
an exile to Spain.
Only one small cloud specked the
horizon of the revolution during its
early days. This was when Villa being
ordered by Carranza to send reinforcements
to a brother general, re
fused to accept the commands of his
superior officer and carried his in
subordination to such a length thut
when his resignation as division commander
was accepted by Carranza, he !
paid no attention to this action and !
continued to remain in charge of his I
army.
Carranza's position in this matter
vas similar to that of President Lin- j
coin during our Civil War, when Mc- |
Clollan, Fremont, Hooker, llurnside
and Meade scoffed at the President's
knowledge of military strategy and refused
to give any heed to his directions
as Commander in Chief of the
Union forces. In each case, Uncoln
was compelled to remove the insubordinate
general from his command.
Carranza Retires.
Carraqza, setting aside all personal
considerations and desirous, above
anything else, of bringing the revolution
to a triumphant conclusion,
agreed to allow General Gonzales to i
hoid a conference with General Villa,
in order that the personal differences
between the two men might be ad- j
: justed and the welfare of the constitutionalist
cause not be jeopardized. I
This was effected, but it was clear to j
the minds of all Mexicans that unless ;
Villa changed Ills mcntnl attitude and
! ceased to allow a certain clique of re- j
actlonaries, who had come close to
liis confidences, to inflate bis vanity
beyond control, that they would use
1 him as a tool to undermine the now
nil but attained success of the revolu- :
tion. Events afterwards proved these J
apprehensions to be well grounded.
Prom the moment that Villa first began
to dream dreams of an empire
and the traitorous kitchen cabinet that ,
surrounded him begnn to see the probability
of their nefarious work ripening
into success, there began a well
organized and systematic campaign
of publicity in this country with the I
purpose of painting Carranza as AntiAmerican,"
"ambitious," "hostile,"
"dictatorial," "stubborn." etc. He was
dubbed an "old man in his tottering
senility," and other such libelous descriptions
of him were sent broadcast
a^ to create In this country an lmnrp<s
fion that Carranza was totally unfit ..
1 to act as the Chief Executive of Mex- ,
j ico.
! Carranza is not a diplomat, in fact, I
his blunt honesty Is at times discon- '
! certing in its sincerity; straight cuts
' rather than winding paths, are the fa- j
; vorite ways of his mental trains. He
is essentially Anglo-Saxon in his men- j
' tal workings and utterly lacks th<i usu.
nl Latin habits of circumlocution and
procrastination.
Vera Cruz Note.
This was strikingly evidenced in his
so-called Vera Cruz note to this coun- ]
try. Carranza felt that the ocupation
of Vera Cruz by our troops was ,
n violation of the sovereignty of Mexico
Northerns in the Civil War would i
have entertained the same feeling of
J resentment against England had she
; on account of some differences with
the Confederacy occupied Mobile. All
America would have been united in
hostile array against the Rrittsh A j
somewhat similar sentiment animated j
Mexico when the United States army
by force took possession of Vera Cruz, j
Fortunately, after a storm of aggra- j
vation had swept this country over
what was termed "Onrranza'a insolent
stand." the administration came to
ippreeiatj Carranza's position and
nothing that marred the friendly feeling
between the White House and the
'"onstitutlonaiist came of this unfor- j
tui. tie incident. In due time the
greater part ol the American people
also arrived at the understanding of
the patriotism that had prompted Carranza.
After Carranza hud established a
government in the national capita! he
Issued a call to all the military leaders
jv;?j governors of States who had j
signed the plan of Guadalupe to meet
in convention on October 1st, in Mexi- ,
co City, for the purpose of drafting
a program of reforms and to name a
date for the calling of general elec- j
dona.
villa, evei since his first break with
Oarranza, had been throwing obstacles
in the way of a successful pacification
of tho country. In order to show him
that he harbored no ill feelings Carranzn
named Villa to go with General
Obregon on a pence mission to settle J
a local strife in the State of Sonora.
Villa in the course of. these nesotia- '
Hons became sa incensed at Obregon.
who held an equal rank with him in
tho Constitutionalist army, because
the latter refused to accept his unauthorised
dictation and withdrew GenA
cyai "htii fiTsw "Soirera m -craer -rest
Governor Maytorena, Villa's ally,
might control the situation and array
that State against Cnrranza's authority,
that In a frenzy of anger he attempted
to kill Qbregon. Fortunately
being restrained from this by subordinate
officers, he highhandedly placed
Obrcgou under arrest. These events
happened but a few days before the
time that the Mexico City convention
was to assemble.
When Carranza was Informed of
Villa's unwarranted persecution of
Obregon, he ordered the train service
north of the City of Aguascalientes.
some distance south of where Obregon
was held by Villa, discontinued
temporr.rily from Mexico City, until he
could determine whether or not Villa
intended his treatment of Obreeon to
presage a hostile military movement
against Carranza.
Villa's Insolence.
Villa sent a telegram to Carranza
asking him to explain what he termed
this hostile action against his division
of the North. Carranza sent him the
following reply: "Before answering
your message which I have just rer
i J
i *
SlilS A '
I ^
VENUSTIANC
Flrrf P.hi^f n# (hi
t
ceTved T desire TO explanation "bT your
conduct towards General Obregon In
Chihuahua." Instead of Villa giving
the requested explanation to his superior
officer he replied insolently that
he would no longer recognize Carranza
the First Chief of the Republic.
In explanation of this traitorous conduct
Villa gave the ridiculous and petty
reason that he had broken with Carranza
and was willing to plunge the
country into a civil war, because Carranza
did not have sufficient intelligence
or ability to govern Mexico. How
farcicai this statement reallv was can
be best understood when it is ex- |
plained that Villa can scarcely read j
or w rite and has never read a single !
book in bis life, whilst on the other
band Carranza is a man of education,
culture and business experience.
The convention that Carranza had
railed to meet in Mexico City opened
its sessions on the appointed day. Carranza
tendered his resignation as First
Chief to the convention and asked the
delegates to accept it if they thought
thereby such action would be conducive
to establishing permanent
peace in Mexico. The convention
unanimously rejected his resignation
and passed a vote of confidence in the
First Chief.
Villa and his army of the North had
refused to send delegates to this con- ;
\ention. In a last efTorc to settle the
difficulty between the Division of the !
North and the remainder of the Constitutionalist
army, certain leaders
among the Constitutionalists proposed
that a commission be sent to treat
with Villa and that the convention
itself adjourn from Mexico City to
Aguascallentes. Carranza, foreseeing,
as afterwards came to pass, the futility
of this action, opposed it, but finally
allowed the delegates of their own
volition to move to Aguascalientes to
treat with the chiefs of the Northern
Division.
Primarily the purpose of the Aguasenlipntes
meeting was simply to endeavor
to persuade Villa to send representatives
to the convention. After
wards it usurped sovereign powers
that it did not possess and which
Cnrranza never sanctioned. But Carran/.a,
putting aside the considerations
and rising nobly to the demands of the
situation, expressed to the convention
in writing hla willingness not
only to resign as First Chief in charge
of the executive power of the nation,
hut to become an exile from his country
if the delegates ask this of him.
The single condition that he stated
must govern this abdication was that
Villa should resign his command of
the Constitutionalist army of the
North and If the convention so decreed,
must also leave Mexico.
Story o* Convention.
The convention on November 6th
pass*>d a resolution calling for the re- i
Urement of both Carrnnx* and Vlllc
.1 I - I II ?
"Xntonfol. A'iliareai. Chairman of the |
convention, thus describes subsequent (
events:
"After the absurd selection of General
Gutierrez as Provisional Presi- 1
dent for 20 days, which had been done :
In deference to the wishes of Zapata, j
myself and three others were comrais- j
stoned to serve notice on the First i
Chief that he was to resign. Villa |
had already agreed, so his represents- j
Hvok ctntpfl to tnnHnr hla moionatl/vn
v. . W- u%w%wu, V V ?vu?iva UIO I coi^iianuil. j
We would have shortly secured Carranza's
retirement had not General
Gutierrez, bullied Into action by pressure
brought upon him by Villa, summoned
the latter to Aguascalientes
and placed him in command of all the
military forces In the country.
"This act violated the previous resolution
of the convention and was contrary
to its own mandates, or in other
words, contrary to the desires of what
was left of it. as it must be remembered
that out of the 155 registered
delegates many had withdrawn for one
reason or another until at last there
were only 60 members left and 18 out
of this 60 had been recalled by their
signatories. A quorum in the convene
tion necessitated 79 delegates.
?i
I CARRANZA
s Constitutionalists.
" \ hrtpf rpanma r\f Ihp uWm.fi>..,
this critical time might be stated as
follows: We said to Carranza: 'Retire
or we will fight you. your retirement
being made with the understanding
that Villa will be forced to withdraw." i
We said to General Gutierrez and to j
the convention: 'That Villa retire or ;
we will fight him and uphold the reso- ;
Iution of the convention. Villa's retirement
being with the understanding
thut Carranza will be forced to retire."
"The reply wo received from Gen- j
eral Gutierrez was that he had given
Villa the command of the forces which
were to fight against Carranza; that
is, he had violated the fundanfental
resolution of the convention, which
was the basis of tho'whole agreement
and the essential condition of our obligation.
"This violent and illegal decision relieved
us of every obligation toward
an assembly without patriotism or
moral force, the tool of an ambitious
and savage faction to which we had
shown undeserved complacency out
of love for peace, but whose blind and ,
unconditional figureheads we could
not and would not be.
"TlrnrntnrAn nra i??UK # ?!!
consciousness of our act, certain that
we were following? the courBe of patriotism
and duty, to fight Francisco
Villa with all our force until we had
removed from the horizon of the na
tion this menace of reaction and barbarity."
Carranza a Civilian.
Carranza Is essentially a civilian
rather than a military man. From the
inception of the revolution he sought
to direct its destinies ns did Presidents
Lincoln and Davis control
events In our Civil war. Accordingly
when Villa commenced his military
campaign against Carranza the latter
had not a single soldier directly under
his personal command. His only
strength lay in the justice of his cause
and the only means he used to organize
an army was to unfurl the banner
of patriotism and to allow such
generals and their armies to gather
around it ns desired to combat for
*Jght and Justice. The entire Constitutionalist
army, exclusivo of the Division
of the North, commanded by Villa,
flocked to the support of Carranza.
Carranza withdrew from Mexico
City anil established the national capital
at Vera Cruz.
Pathetic in its note of helpiessn^m
is the story that President Gutierrez
told of condition* existing In Mexico
City while he occupied the presidential
chair. He narrated this after
he had fled from the city and endeavored
to attach himself to Carranza.
The following parts of his narrative
are taken up after he recites in detail
(he executions of Alberto Oarcia Aragon,
Vice-President of the Aguascallrntes
convention and Professor David
MerlanRo, another distinguished mem
D6r or the convention; both oT WhOTn
had been brutally murdered by the
orders of Villa.
He says: "The members of the
A'_,uascalientes convention which was
now meeting in Mexico City, Justly
alarmed by these daily murders, informed-me
that they desired to change
their residence from Mexico City to
the town of San Luis Potosi, where
they expected tp convene in safety.
"A large number of the members of
the convention proceeded to the above
city and General Villa having been informed
by his agents of what had happened
had the audacity to issue orders
of arrest and execution against
these persons whose immunity was
absolute and who were the source
from w hich Villa derived the authority
with which he is invested.
Delegates Flee. ^
"In view of these terrible orders the
delegates, carrying the flag of the convention.
called for protection on the
Carranza Governor of the State of
Nuevo Laredo, in which State they
are at present,"
Indicative or what an empty honor
Gutierrez held and how the so-called
convention party now means but one
man?Villa?is the following excerpt
from the same narrative:
"On Sunday, December 31st, General
Villa came to my home, revolver
in hand, accompanied by ten or
twelve armed men, besides two thousand
cavalry, who surrounded my
house and removed the meager guard
of twenty men who were defending
tne. With the courage instilled in him
by such an nrray of force, Villa shamefully
insulted me and hurled baseless,
mortifying and criminal charges at
me.
'With shame and Indignation I had
to be a spectator of all these outrages
because I did not have sufficient force
to halt the reign of murder and robbery
that Villa conducted."
The flight of Gutierrez from Mexico
City, accompanied by many prominent
men in the so-called Convention
party, strikingly illustrated to the
world the impossibility of this or any
other kindred government ruling in
Mexico that was not subservient to the
wishes of Villa
The abandonment of Gutierrez and
the other prominent men of the Convention
party has left Villa isolated
and alone and made the issue in Mexico
now -Teflnite and certain. It is:
Shall Villa be allowed to become the
dictator of the country, or shall the
people themselves rule?
The outlook in Mexico at present
is really encouraging, though 'he confusion
attendant upon military opera
tions has served to make this eountry
consider the situation more dark than
ever before. A11 the patriotic elements
in Mexico are rallying to Carranza's
standard. Villa with his own
division of the army is fighting the
rest of the nation and an indication
of what his movement really signifies
is the fact that he has invited all the
old Federal army officers against
whom the Madero revolution and its
successor that drove Huerta from power
was waged, to join him.
World conditions are such that no
government in Mexico can exist without
the friendship of this country and
without its moral and financial help.
In a sense then, Americans are in duty
bound to look upon the situation in
Mexico from an intelligent and a sympathetic
angle.
Carranza Misunderstood.
Carranza has been grossly misunderstood
in this country. He is a
man of probity, clean living and intense
patriotism. He is not a wealthy
man. He has reared his family in
comfort, having made his living from
the raising of cattle. He himself has
visited the United States many times.
He hftfi had htn fomilv oHnrntorf In
this country.. Every man whom he
has selected to become a member of
his Cabinet he has first sent to this
country to become acquainted with the
American idea, system and plan of
conducting the office he is about to assume.
Carranza Is unmilitary, educated,
having taken a law degree, intensely
Mexican, and whole-heartedly desirous
of helping the downtrodden peon
to obtain "his chance in life." Villa
contrastingly is uneducated, ignorant,
brutal, unrestrained in his passions,
totally unapprecialive of the needs of
his country and Is simply riding his
vanity to what he hopes will be the
dictatorship of Mexico.
Illustrative of the character of the
two men is the fact that Carranza, not
even to gain valuable political ends,
would stultify himself to the extent of
currying favor with the Washington
administration as long as our troops
were at Vera Cruz. His feelings of
friendship he kept locked In his heart
until the time he deemed proper to
express them. Villa, on the other
hand, has been one thing to this
country and another to Mexico. He
has taken every occasion to slobber
ingly express his regard and frlQndship
for this country and the admin
Istratlon. while In Mexico he has attempted
to gain recruits for his army
by demagogically declaring that the
Halted States Intends to annex Mexico
and that he In the role of his country's
savior calls upon the ex-Federals to
join him in resisting the invasion that
he announces soon is to come. Villa
is forced to make this explanation to
his own troops because otherwise they
would keenly resent the presence of
these Huertistas in their ranks.
Carranza and the Constitutionalist
cause has been assailed in this coun
try as being not only Anti-Catholic,
but Anti-Religious. The true facta
show both these accusations to bo
false. The Constitutionalist cause is
opposed to any church taking part In
the politics of the country and Is ??
hemently opposed to its aligning itself
with the reactionaries and privileged
classes, as unfortunately the Catholic
ehurcn has done fiinrn tlie onlnnliotlnn
of Mexico by the Spaniard.
Rafael Zuberan Capmany, former
agent of the Constitutionalists in
Washington, and now minister of the
interior in Oarranza's Cabinet, stated
in the following manner the Constitutionalists'
position in this respect:
Church Question.
"Let the Catholics of America understand
that the occurrences which
have happened and are explainable
under the present disturbed conditions,
do not, nor cannot constitute a
part of the program of the Constitutionalists
who are pledged to the principle
of the separation of the State
and church, and are firm belle vera In
the principle of religious lIBertyT*
One of the main reasons that has
prevented a better feeling of cordial*
1 ity existing between Mexico and this
country has been the fafct that the
ordinary American looks upon all
Mexicans as "greasers" and affecta an
air of superiority towards the nation,
that has bred the worst of understanding
between the two countries. The
tower, class of Mexicans, commonly *
i called the "peon," is undoubtedly ig|
norant and ill-kempt, but he has Bter|
ling virtues of honesty and a genuine
love of his country that deserves re|
spect. ^
President Wilson by his Just atti
tilde towards Mexico has wiped out
the old memories that country haa
held of us since the Mexican war,
when we took fron it the Ki eater
tion of its territory. Mexicans now
universal'/ recognize that the only
ambition this country has in regard
to Mexico is to be of help and assistance
to it.
MADE STUDY OF THE LiuL~
Writer Tells of Times When There
Was Almost Universal Search
of the Scriptures.
I committed to memory and recited
in Sunday school, between my
seventh year and my sixteenth, the
whole of the four Gospels, the Acts
of the Apostles, portions of the
epistles, the story of Joseph, from
the thirty-seventh chapter of Genesis
to the close of the hook (omitting
*110 thirty-eighth chapter), with
quite a number of the Psalms, and
not one verse of all this did 1 learn
in Sunday school; it was all committed
to memory at home. It was
not possible that I should forget this
task; those who hail the can' of me
made sure that my lesson was ready
every Sunday morning.
Family worship, also, in those old
times, was not universally hut was
quite generally practiced; morning
and evening the whole family assembled
and a chapter was read, usually
"verse about," each child with
a Bible taking his turn in the reading.
The reading was always in
course, and in this way the entire
Rible was read through several times
during my boyhood. Ordinarily we
skipped the lists of names in the
Chronicles, but once wo labored
through most of them, with some
uncertainties of pronunciation?perhaps
for the reason which a friend
of mine once gavejiie: "If I should
happen to meet one of those old duffers
in heaven, it would be rather
awkward to have to confess that. L
had never heard of him."?WashingIon
Chidden, in the Atlantic.
She?Ah! James, couldn't you .
just stand here and gaze at the view
forever?
He?Sure?Come on; there goes
de dinner l>ell!
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