Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-05

be tens of thousands of the Mexican peas
ants on the plaza, among the trees and il
the wide streets surrounding this. LIE
there be thousands upon thousands of the
gorgeously dressed Mexican troops and yol
have some idea of the grand review on thu
| Mexican Fourth of July.
After looking it all over, however, yor
will find your eyes coming back again anc
again to the rurales, and you do not wonder
that President Diaz isproud of them. 1t was
through them that he turned Mexico from O
land of brigands into land of peace and
order. These men were themselves in many
cases the brigands of Mexico They were
the bandits of the mountains who robbed
stages, and made themselves famous as
The Paul CHffords of Mexico.
General Diaz sent for the leaders and
asked them how much brigandage paid on
the average. The leaders said it was worth
to each brigand something less than $40 a
month, and Diaz-so the story goes-there-
upon offered them steady wages at that rate
to form part of his army. They accepted,
and the result is that they make the best
troops in the world. Diaz is both loved and
respected by them, and they gave him a
banquet the night before the last 5th of May.
These men form the working force of the
Mexican army. They have cleared the
mountains of robbers and it is now as safe to
travel in most parts of the interior of
Mexico as in the back districts of New
York or Pennsylvania. These soldiers
form the guards at the stations all over
Mexico, and when any of the trains require
an escort it is company of the rurales
who are detailed 90 go with it. In Mexico
the army means more than in the United
States. 1t is through the army that a
party or President remains in power, and
revolutions are too frequent in Mexico to al
low the army to grow discontented. The
result is that the soldiers are very well
treated. President Diaz, it is said, made
not long ago the remark that of the ex-
penses of the Government
The Army Must Be Paid First,
and after that the other expenses, such.as
the salaries of the civil officers. The for
eign loans and the subsidies might come in
afterward, but not before. Prior to this the
payment of the army has not been the first con-,
sideration, and one of the strong points in the
strength of the present Government is the
absolute faithfulness which it preserves in
the payment of its troops The army of
Mexico now numbers about 5000 men.
Twenty-Five hundred of these are rurales
and there is cavalry force of more than
5000. Every Mexican capable of bearing
arms ~ lldDlt sCINiCC hiS
Goth to his 50th year, and the country has
very fair military schools.
The army constitute to large extent the
police of Mexico and they keep order that
would be considered wonderful in an Ameri-
can city. The night of the 9TH of May,
when there were %, 600 poems in the plaza
watching the fireworks as they were shot
out from the great Cathedral, there was al
most perfect order. The pulque shops had
been open all day, and there were hundreds
of the Indians who had their skins full
saw several who were inclined to be noisy,
but tap from one of the soldier police
caused them to become quiet at once and
they walked off to Jail. An American
crowd is ten times as hard to manage as a
Mexican one, and on the whole order is bet
ter kept in the City of Mexico to-day than
it is in the city of Boston.
Police Handy With Guns.
The police force is very large. It is
known that its members will shoot on very
slight provocation, and the crime of this
great city is comparatively small The
night of the 5th there was mammoth open