Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, March 1, 1915, Page 2

MOVEMENT HEADED BY CARRANCA AINS TO ESTABLISH CONSTITUTIONAL FORM OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT his honesty better element in Mexico is behind Carranza because of ‘and (II:.gmy and the fact that he stands for a government of principle and not of men.) The view of the ordinary American citizen in regard to Mexico is that 1t has become just one Provisional President after another. Changes bave been so kaleldoscopic and the dally news has been so conflicting that it has become almost impossible for “the man on the street” to under- stand the true situation in the Repub- lic to the south of us. His exasperation has reached that point 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 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 some- thing big and serious, has been the broad humanitarian view that Presi- dent Wilson has consistently taken in regard to the Mexican revolution. A brief history of the present revo- lutionary 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 un- derstanding of the conditions in that country as they exist today. The present revolution actually had its inception with Francisco Madero in 1910. Most Americans are familiar with the rapid and unexpected tri- umph of Madero over Diaz, but it is not generally known that Madero's regime failed to be a success and live up ta the high hopes and expectations that had been born with it, because he had been too generous in compro- mising 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 {nstigation 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 emi- nently just and in keeping with the best traditions of this country. Madero’s death put the old cienti- ficos, reactionaries and clerics back sgain in power. This necessitated that the struggle Madero had success- fully waged must again be taken up, and accordingly there came into ex- {stence 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 de- flance was Venustiano Carranza, then Governor of the State of Coahuila. Carranza has been one of the strong- est supporters of Madero and during the previous revolution had acted as Minister of War in the assassinated President's provisional cabinet. Carranza’s patriotic stand drew the attention of all liberty loving Mexi- cans to Coahuila and there soon ral- lied around the Governor's standard & number of high-minded and patriot- ic Mexicans, who banded together to overthrow the usurper Huerta and re- establish a constitutional government in Mexico. Accordingly it was under these cir- cumstances the much heard of, but little understood plan of Guadalupe came into existence. The main planks of this plan are as follows: “For the organization of the mili- tary forces necessary to make compli- ance with our purposes, we name as First Chief of the forces which shall be called ‘Constitutionalists’ Don Venustiano Carranza, Governor of the Btate of Coahuila, “On the occupation by the Consti- tutionalist forces of the City of Mexi- co, the Executive power shall be taken charge of by Don Venustiano Carran- £a, First Chief of the forces, or who- ever may be substituted in command. “The president ad interim of the Re- public shall convoke general elections as soon as peace shall have been es- tablished, delivering the power to the person who shall be elected.” Genesis of Revolution. This was the genesis of the revolu- tion against Huerta, which had, as can be seen, as its one big hope, the re- establishment of a constitutional form of government in Mexico. Following this triumph, the necessary reforms | who shall be allowed the prlvlen‘ TURNED RAGE TO LAUGHTER; How Resourceful Man Saved City of. Madrid From Fury of Revolu- tionary Mobs. It was in the year 1868, after a bat-; things in saving countries by long, tle in the Spanish revolution of that, terrible rides at night, or by the sac- year, and the streets of Madrid were | rifice of oneself by dylng in some- filled with angry crowds that were | body's stead, but few of us hear of bent on destroying everything and i anyone who saved a town by laughter. everyone. Suddenly an unknown man | | appeared at the city hall “Give me a band of usicians.” he said, “and before nightfall 1 sh con trol all Madrid.” He must have been a man of rarve personality to have been ab'e to per- suade the authorities i hat dark hour to give him anything. But he got the musicians, and went out with them to wander through the ! city. While they plaved he sang—| popular street songs, or some old na- tional air. When these bored the lis-| teners, he mounted old boxes and told funny tales. By nightfall peace reigned in tbe that the country cried for were thought to follow as a necessary con- sequence. The movement against Huerta was a magnificent effort on the part of the Mexicans to regain the ideals Madero had given them, and not to sink back again into the despotic days of Dias. The present struggle in Mexico has not justifiable grounds for its exist- ence. Villa has made this issue: “I am to dominate Mexico,” and has en- deavored to cloak it in a mantle of verbal patriotism and empty sounding platitudes. The element behind Car- ranza is not supporting the personal- ity of Carranza. At all times it has been willing to sacrifice him for the greater good of the country. It has simply rallied to him in this present conflict, because of his honesty, integ- rity and deep seated patriotism, and because he stands for a government of principle and not of men. The revolution against Huerta swept through Mexico with the irresistible force that has ever animated every real struggle for liberty and the dash- ing victories of Villa, Gonzales, Obre- gon, Herera and others against the Federal troops brought the victorious revolutionists into Mexico City after 17 months of struggle. Huerta fled an exile to Spain. Only one small cloud specked the horizon of the revolution during its early days. This was when Villa, be- ing ordered by Carranza to send re- inforcements to a brother general, re- fused to accept the commands of his superior officer and carried his in- subordination to such a length that when his resignation as division com- mander was accepted by Carranza, he paid no attention to this action and continued to remain in charge of his army. Carranza's position in this matter was similar to that of President Lln-i coln during our Civil War, when Mec- | Clellan, Fremont, Hooker, Burnside and Meade scoffed at the President's knowledge of military strategy and re- fused to give any heed to his direc- tions as Commander in Chief of the Union forces. In each case, Lincoln was compelled to remove the insubor- dinate general from his command. Carranza Retires. Carranza, setting aside all personal considerations and desirous, above anything else, of bringing the revo- lution to a triumphant conclusion, agreed to allow General Gonzales to hold a conference with General Villa, in order that the personal differences between the two men might be ad- Jjusted and the welfare of the constitu- tionalist cause not be Jjeopardized. This was effected, but it was clear to the minds of gll Mexicans that unless Villa changed his mental attitude and ceased to allow a certain clique of re- actionaries, who had come close to! his confidences, to inflate his vanity beyond control, that they would use him as a tool to undermine the now | all but attained success of the revolu- tion. Events afterwards proved these apprehensions to be well grounded. From the moment that Villa first be- gan to dream dreams of an empire and the traitorous kitchen cabinet that surrounded him began to see the prob- ability of their nefarious work ripen- ing into success, there began a well organized and systematic campaign of publicity in this country with the purpose of painting Carranza as “Anti- American,” “ambitious,” “hostile,” “dictatorial,” “stubborn,” etc. He was dubbed an “old man in his tottering senility,” and other such libelous de- scriptions of him were sent broadcast as to create in this country an impres- sion that Carranza was totally unfit to act as the Chief Executive of Mex- ico. Carranza is not a diplomat, in fact, his blunt honesty is at times discon- certing in its sincerity; straight cuts rather than winding paths, are the fa- vorite ways of his mental trains. He is essentially Anglo-Saxon in his men- tal workings and utterly lacks the usu- al 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 ocupa- tion of Vera Cruz by our troops was a violation of the sovereignty of Mex- ico. Northerns in the Civil War would have entertained the same feeling of resentment against England had she on account of some differences with the Confederacy occupled Mobile. All America would have been united in hostile array against the British. A somewhat similar sentiment animated Mexico when the United States army by force took possession of Vera Crug, | Fortunately, after a storm of aggra- | vation had swept this country oy"‘ what was termed “Carranza’s insolent | stand,” the administration came to appreciate Carranza’'s position and | nothing that marred the friendly feel- ing between the White House ard the Constitutionalist came of this unfor city, and the mob broke up and went home to bed. The man's name was Felipe Ducazel, and he was only twen- tvtwo vears old when he cleverly achieved this result We are told a deal about herolc —Youth’s Companion. Napoleon Anecdote. hile 1 was at the wilitary school T tried, 1 don’t know how many times. to overcome the vertigo caused by wal'zing w 't boing able to suc- ceed. Our "ing master had advised us when practicing to take a chair in our arms instead of a lady. I never failed to fall down with the chair, which 1 hugged so affectionately as to break it. The chairs in my room and those of two or three of my com- rades disappeared one after another.” —Unidentified clipping from a scrap- book. In du:‘ time d:c greater part of the American people aiso nrfi?ed at the understanding of the patriotism that had prompted Car- ranza. After Carranza had established a government in the national capital he issued a call to all the military lead- ers and governors of States who had 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- tions. Villa, ever since his first break with Carranza, had been throwing obstacles in the way of a successful pacification of the country. In order to show him that he harbored no ill feelings Car- ranza named Villa to go with General Obregon on a peace mission to settle a local strife in the State of Sonora. Villa in the course of these negotia- tions became so incensed at Obregon, ereby such action would be con- n‘l:elve’ 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- vention. In a last effort to settle the difficulty between the Division of the North and the remainder of the Con- stitutionalist army, certain leaders among the Constitutionalists proposed that a commission be sent to treat with Villa and that the convention | t adjourn from Mexico City to mncl.llentu. Carranza, foreseeing, as afterwards came to pass, the futil- ity of this action, opposed it, but final- 1y 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 Aguas- calientes meeting was simply to en- e A VENUSTIANO CARRANZA First Chief of the Constitutionalists. who held an equal rank with him in the Constitutionalist army, because the latter refused to accept his unau- thorized dictation and withdrew Gen- eral Hill from Sonora in order that Governor . Maytorena, Villa's ally, might control the situation and array that State against Carranza’s author- ity, that in a frenzy of anger he at- tempted to kill Obregon. Fortunately being restrained from this by subor- dinate officers, he highhandedly placed Obregon 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 Obre- gon was held by Villa, discontinued temporarily from Mexico City, until he could determine whether or not Villa intended his treatment of Obregon 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 re- ceived I desire an explanation of your conduct towards General Obregon in Chihuahua.” Instead of Villa giving the requested explanation to his su- perior officer he replied insolently that he would no longer recognize Carran- za the First Chief of the Republic. In explanation of this traitorous con- duct Villa gave the ridiculous and pet- ty reason that he had broken with Car- ranza and was willing to plunge the country into a civil war, because Car- ranza did not have sufficient intelli- gence or ablility to govern Mexico. How farcical this statement really was can be best understood when it is ex- plained that Villa can scarcely read or write and has never read a single book in his life, whilst on the other hand Carranza is a man of education, culture and business experience. ‘The convention that Carranza had called to meet in Mexico City opened its sessions on the appointed day. Car- ranza tendered his resignation as First Chief to the convention and asked the delegates to accept it if they thought Real Warfare. “Oh, dear, I wish this dreadful war in Europe would stop,” saild Mrs. Was- serby. “l feel the same way,” answered Mrs. Twobble. “My heart bleeds for the sufferers.” “Of course I'm sorry for everybody who is a victim of the war,” said Mrs. Wasserby, “but what I was thinking about at the moment was the effect it's having on our children. My son, Tommy, is leader of the Belgian army in our block, and the last time they had a battle with a German army | dewn the street he came home braised from head te foot.” Various Views of the Snow. The farmer calls the snow the poor men's fertilizer. It keeps the ground deavor to persuade Villa to send rep- resentatives to the convention. After- wards it usurped sovereign powers that it did not possess and which Carranza never sanctioned. But Car ranza, putting aside the considerations and rising nobly to the demands of the situation, expressed to the conven- tion in writing his willingness not only to resign as First Chiet in charge of the executive power of the nation, but to become an exile from his coun- try 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 de- creed, must also leave Mexico. Story of Convention. The convention on November 6th passed a resolution calling for the re- tirement of both Carranza and Villa. Antonio 1. Villareal, Chairmian of the convention, thus describes subsequent events: “After the absurd selection of Gen- eral Gutierrez as Provisional Presi- dent for 20 days, which had been done in deference to the wishes of Zapata, myself and three others were commis- sioned to serve notice on the First Chief that he was to resign. Villa had already agreed, so his representa- tives stated, to tender his resignation. We would have shortly secured Car- ranza's retirement had not General Gutierrez, bullied into action by pres- sure brought upon him by Villa, sum- moned the latter to Aguascalientes and placed him in command of all the military forces in the country. “This act violated the previous reso- lution of the convention and was con- trary to its own mandates, or in other words, contrary to the desires of what was left of it, as it must be remem- bered 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 convens tion necessitated 79 delegates. “A brief resume of the situation at 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.' We said to General Gutierrez and to the convention: ‘That Villa retire or we will fight him and uphold the reso- lution of the convention, Villa's re- tirement being with the understanding that Carranza will be forced to retire.’ “The reply we received from Gen- 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 fundamental resolution of the convention, which was the basis of the whole agreement and the essential condition of our obli- gation. “This violent and illegal decision re- leved 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 fer peace, but whose blind and unconditicnal figureheads we cou not and would not be. “Thereupon we decided with mn' ‘consciousness of our act, certain that We were following the course of pa- x . warm and puts dollars—prospectively ! g:xoll..sm and duty, to fight Francisco —in his vacant pockets. It is much | pem, with all our force until we had oved from the horizon of the na- esteemed by artists, who use almost | tion this menace of reaction and bar- every color except white when they | barity.” set out to paint it. Their favorite tints for this purpose are pink, purple and a Carranza a Civilian. Carranza is essentially a civillan slaty blue. It seems to be the chief | Father than a military man. From the business of artists to inform us cour- | \nCeption of the revolution he sought teously but firmly, that our eyes are lars.—Exchange, to direct its destinies as did Presi- évents fi-ourCIVI War. “AGcordMgly | when Villa commen: 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 i and the only means he used to or- | ganize an army was to unfurl the ban- ner of patriotism and to allow such generals and their armies to gather | around it as desired to combat for right and justice. The entire Consti- tutionalist army, exclusive of the Divi- sion of the North, commanded by Vil- 1a, flocked to the support of Carranza. Carranza withdrew from Mexico City and established the national cap- ital at Vera Crus. Pathetic in its note of helplessn-is 1s the story that President Gutierrez told of conditions existing in Mexico City while he occupled the presiden- | tial chair. He narrated this after he had fled from the city and endeav- ored to attach himself to Carranza. The following parts of his narrative | are taken up after he recites in detail the executions of Alberto Garcia Ara- gon, Vice-President of the Aguascali- entes convention and Professor David i Berlango, another distinguished mem- | ced his military ber of the convention, both of whom had been brutally murdered by the orders ot Villa. He says: “The members of the Aguascalientes convention which was now meeting in Mexico City, justly alarmed by these daily murders, in- formed me that they desired to change their residence from Mexico City to the town of San Luis Potosi, where they expected to convene in safety. “A large number of the members of the convention proceeded to the above city and General Villa having been in- formed by his agents of what had hap- pened had the audacity to issue or ders of arrest and execution against these persons whose immunity was absolute and who were the source from which Villa derived the authority with which he is invested. Delegates Flee. “In view of these terrible orders the delegates, carrying the flag of the con- vention, called for protection on the | Carranza Governor of the State of Nuevo Laredo, in which State they are at present.” Indicative of 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, Gen- eral Villa came to my home, revolver in hand, accompanied by ten or twelve armed men, besides two thou- sand cavalry, who surrounded my house and removed the meager guard of twenty men who were defending me. With the courage instilled in him by such an array of force, Villa shane- fully 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 sufficlent force | * to halt the reign of murder and rob- bery that Villa conducted.” The flight of Gutierrez from Mexico City, accompanied by many prominent men in the so-called Convention party, strikingly {llustrated 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 Con- vention party has left Villa isolated and alone and made the issue in Mexi- co now definite 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 the con- fusion attendant upon military opera tions has served to make this country consider the situation more dark than ever before. All the patriotic ele- ments in Mexico are rallying to Car ranza'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 pow- er was waged, to join him. World conditions are such that no government in Mexico can exist with- out 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' sym- pathetic angle. Carranza Misunderstood. Carranza has been grossly misun- derstood in this country. He is a man of probity, clean living and in- tense 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 has had his family educated 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 as- sume. Carranza fs unmilitary, educated, ' having taken a law degree, intensely Mexican, and whole-heartedly desir- ous of helping the downtrodden peon to obtain “his chance in life.” Villa contrastingly is uneducated, ignorant, brutal, unrestrained in his passions, totally unappreciative of the needs of his country and is simply riding his vanity to what he hopes will be the dictatorship of Mexico. 2 Tlustrative 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 friend- ship for this country and the admin- istration, while in Mexico he has at- tempted to gain recruits for his army by demagogically declaring that the United 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 facts show both these accusations to be false. The Constitutionalist cause is opposed to any church taking part in the politics of the country and is ve- ‘hemently opposed to its aligning itself with the reactionarfes and agent of the Constitutionalists in | Washington. 2nd now minister of the See Display. - Lake SPECIA Rexall Goods THIS WEEK All Rexall Goods Guarantee Pharmacy PHONE 42 Get Your Coupons in the Great Voting Contest at the Hub. This is the onl Gents’ Furnishing Store in Town giv ing Yotes with Purchases of Goods Our Spring Line Is Coming in Daily See Our Windows They reflect the Superb Stock wit which our Store is filled. The Hu THE HOME OF Hart Schaffner and Marx Good Clothes: JOS. | LeVAJ Buy your rubber goods at our store and yd will get the kind that last. not the same quality. All rubber goods a! Don't you need a gooi hot water bag or fou tain syringe right now. goods made of rubber at the fairest prices. Woods’ Drug Store PHONE 408 We have a big line WE TAKE CA