Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-12-27

Mexico.
Mr. William Henry Hurbut writes long
and interesting letter from Mexico to the New
York World. He gives a somewhat different
impression of the events trauspring there from
that conveyed by the usual press dispatches.
The parizans Of Diaz have greatly overrated
his strength. Trusting that his forces would
be largely increased by assertions from the
armies of the government, he has been gricv-
ously disappointed, and has no prospect of sue
cessfully making head against the administra-
ton of Juarez Except Diaz with small force
at Oaxaca and Treyino in the north, near Sal
tllo, there is no organized opposition to Juarez,
and no popular hostility to him, The CORE
spondent proceeds:
Meanwhile OF course, there will be endless
Grows and rumors of rows" in different parts of
the country These must not however, be taken
for "pronuuciamentOs' in any political sense OF
the word. With its limited resources, both in men
and in money, the central government OF Mexico
is necessarily unable TO secure order and the
public peace over all parts of so immense a ter
ritory, while it is compelled TO concentrate its
forces at two or three points for the suppression
of a really formidable instruction. The people
in general have no notion Of such a thing as
local organization for the preservation of local
order, and the natural result is that wherever
two or three armed beggars or bullies on horse
back meet together there is the devil in the
midst of them, instigating them TO proclaim
themselves supporters of Diaz or Trevino, or of
any other man, and under that preteXt go forth
robbing and to rob. 1t is hdeous to hear of the
| outrages that are thus made possible, and still
worse to know that in many cases scoundrelS OF
| this sort do really obtain recognition from the
/
| but few days ago the diligence was stopped
| and plundered some twenty miles from this
| city, on the Tulancngo road, by band OF 20
| or 80 men. Two young giIls, passengers III the
coach were so Savagcly abused by these dastardly
ruffians that one of them is now at the point OF
death, and the other hopelcssy mad in an asy-
um of the capital. The leaders of this band
were two men who have received commissions
from Porfrio Diaz as "colOnes" in his revolt
tionary army They have never dreamt of
marching against the government, however, and
their exploits on the highway have finally COM
PEELED the diligence company to suspend travel
for the present on thai road. At the great min
ng station of Pachuca the miners have been
Obliged by similar "reyoutiOnists" to leave the
works and seek refuge in Pueba and Mexico.
The palace Of Chapulepec itself, hardly an
hours drive from my hotel was attacked the
other night by a band whom, however, the IN
valids" on guard there finally succeeded in beat
ing off A gentleman who resides on the Paseo,
| the fashionable promenade of Mexico, was less
| fortunate. His house was entered not very late
in the evening by a squad OF rutians, who seized
| and bound him. his wife and his servants, ran
| sacked the premises thoroughly, packed their
booty in a cart outside, laid out for themselves
| a good supper ate it, compelling the lady OF the
! house to entertain them meanwhile with lew
| airs on the pianolorte, and finally decamped,
| leaving the household so thoroughly and liter
| ally stripped that the master OF the house was
| oltirad carly the p1Orniup To ont WraD-
| ped in a Serdpe, or Mexican blanket, for the
| purpose of ordering Gig leaves" for himself
| and his family The worst, in many respects,
| of these marauders are the "plagiarios," as they
are called. These are robbers, who have reduced
| to a system the modern Greek practice OF kid
mapping" The Klephts themselves of that dis
graceful little region which dishonors the noble
| name of Hellas are not so audacious or so
| brutal as their Mexican imitat0rs. They are
| worse even than their namesakes in literature.
| One of them, at the head of a large band, last
| week suddenly marched into town on the
| plains of Apau, between the capital and Puebla,
and not very far off the line of the railway, and
| after pillaging the whole place in the name Of
''the plan of La Norris" tied some hall-dOzen OF
| the principal inhabitants upon horses and car
ried them off to the mountains, there TO be held
| for ransom at eXorbi' rant rates, or IN default
| thereof 10 be murdered in cold blood. 1t is a
| hopeful fsght, in the midst of so much that is
| discOuragng in the aspect Of this unhappy
country, that in al least two recent instances the
| inhabitants Of towns thus assaulted have plucked
mp spirit and shown faculty of organization
| enough tG resist their assailants with success.
| The latest of these cases was shat of San
| Agusun Pamar, a station on the highway be-
| tween Puebla and OriZaba, and | think quite
| the ugliest, grayeSt, busiest, dismalest town
| have ever had the fortune TO behold, unless |
| ought to except Cairo in Illinois and Schlau
| ia Bohemia. For all that San Agustin Palmar
| found her teeth, and used them to such
| purpose that her enemies decamped as abruptly
| as they had arrived. So far these casual BAN
dts have refrained from meddling or attempting
to NEEDLE seriously with the railway. Some of
| them, it is true, the other day dashed into the
station of ApzacO, about an hours distance
| from Puebla, and made ga forced loan" of all
| they found there in the way of cash and eata-
| bes, but as the trains all carry guards no at
| tack has yet been made upon any Of them.
rail was found taken up, Just before the passage
| of regular train for Mexico, near 6urfdRcd
or gully on the road, with the amiable inten-
ton apparently of first throwing the passengers
into heap and then plundering them; bur it
seems TO be alike uncertain whether this was
done by prOnunciddOS, by robbers, Or ny tue
planters in the plain OF Pueba-these latter per-
sons having been for some time past in a state
of Unsurpassed hostility to the road the man
ayers of which have certainly done little TO con-
ciliate their good will, either by their scale OF
fTeight-rates or by their general administration.
In short the whole country is disturbed and con-
fused and is likely to be so for some time to
come; not at all IN consequence of any general
sympathy with Porfro Diaz or his 'plan,'
nor yet by any general dissatisfaction
with the existing government, but simply
because the government is materially
unable at once to maintain itself in
the field against the revolatonists and
to preserve public order. This is so clearly
and unquesonably true that it is amentable 10
see the want Of intelligent sympathy with the
objects Of all government which is just now
shown by part of the opposition to President
JuareZ and his administration, from which better
things seem to have been expected. | mean the
supporters of Mr.. LerdO de Teiada the actual
chief justice of the supreme court, the third can
ddate at the recent presidential election, and in
case of-the sudden deposition or demise of PreSi-
| dent JualeZ, bis successor, under the consttu-
ton, in the presidential chair Mr.. Lerdo's
ability is admitted on all hands; and it is very
likely that he and his friends may have sound
reasons for their determined dislike and distruSt
Of the present government. But without enter
ing into questions which | have neither
familiarity enough with Mexican politics to dis
cuss prohtably nor any present disposition to
handle, 1t IS surely plain enough that slnce
Porfro Diaz has openly declared histhostility to
all that is vital in the constitution of1S5I, under
which both Juarez reigns and Lerdo DEGREES
justice, and his determination to sub
stitute in its place an appeal TO arms, the potl-
than the maintenance of anything approaching
to public order in Mexico, demand that the con
stiutiona opposition in congress should for the
time strike hands with the constitutional ma
jority in resisting the attempt of popular
military leader to use his personal popularity as
meansOf 'corraling" the Mexican people once
more and leading them back into the vicious circle
of personal revolutions. This the constitutional
opposition has not done. On the contrary, up
to the EVENING" Of Thursday last, it was generally
understood that they had resolved TO secede in
body from the floor Of congress on the occasion
Of the Inauguration of President Juarez the
| next day, and TO protest" in the galleries
| against the executive while the latter was "pro'
testing" on the floor. This prospect lent an ad.
dtional interest to the proceedings OF the LIST of
December. Fortunately, as the French say, ie
mutt porte consea, and no such performance took
place.
OF the general situation be says:
"Iu military way, the position so far con-
tinues to be decidedly favorable to the final tri-
umph of the government. There is a vast deal
Of Indebtedness caused all over the country by
the depredations of small bands OF scoundrels
WHIP pronounce" in some helpless little village
"ior the plan of La Nora" and forthwith scour
| the neigh Misunderstanding, numbering and per-
| petrating outrages Of every sort But this erup-
ton Of vlainy gives no support to Porfirio Diaz
At n - S,If Ct,,pn tI,n