The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-09-03

war. 1 doubt II any troops south OF Mex
leo could begin to cope with them. 1t is
hardly apparent at first what use Mexico
could have for SO large 4 standing army
until one begins to see the much more
numerous uses to which Mexicans put
soldiers than we do.
All of the prisons are heavily guarded
| by soldiers, and they are in evidence every
where where there is crowd collected.
| Bull-fghts. fiestas, and all considerable
! gatherings are attended by an adequate
force of soldiers to quell any disturbance
| and enforce obedience to the authorities.
The men are armed with Mauser rifles,
which they keep in fair condition. A
new and quite tasteful uniform has been
devised for the whole army by board
of officers, and Lieut.-Col. Uria was anx-
ious that l should understand that the
ragged condition of the men was due to
their wearing out their old uniforms pre-
paratOry to the issuance of an entirely
new outfit to the whole army.
A BENEFICENT DEsPoT.
All this army and this training is the
work Of President DiaZ, of whom you
hear constantly from every man who has
| been in Mexico. His power and his meth
DDS permeate everywhere into the re-
hottest corners of the Republic Every
| body has the utmost confidence in him,
and. the utmost respect, bordering onto
fear. He seems to be fine type of the
"benefcent despot," who rules with an
iron hand, not always concealed in n vel
vet glove. He is eminently just. but
bold, dominating and utterly relentless in
carrying out his rule Of his once turbu-
| lent. rebelliOn-cursed country.
He proposes to take no chances any
where, or at any time. from sporadic
mobs or ambitious politicians. Every man
you meet has some story to tell of DiaZ's
ways. One man says:
Il know the Governor of such n State.
! who is a very strong. ambitious man. and
| naturally has some ideas as to the success
sion when DiaZ shall pass in his checks.
In order that nobody should ring in cold
deck on him, some years ago he ordered
| 1000 of the best rifles from a firm in New
York, which l know, with several tons of
ammunition. He thought he was bring
| ing the stuff into Mexico quietly, so that
he would not attract attention. but the
ammunition was in some way shunted off
to Mexico City. and remained there. He
received polite note from the Adjutant-
/ General of Mexico that the rifles he had
should be sent to the Capital for inspec-
ton. He would therefore send them to
Mexico City for inspection and approval
| There was nothing else for him to do
but to obey. and the arms remained there
with the ammunition. unless they have
been issued out to the regular Mexican
| troops"
Another said:
81 happened to he in the office of
friend of mine, who is Presidente of
State, when in came messengers from
Diaz. 1t seems there had been some COM
plant rs to his administration, and he
was not allowed to even finish the letter
he was writing, or sign his name to
document His books and papers were
seized at once, and taken to Mexico City,
where he was ordered to attend. An ex-
animation of his papers fortunately proved
that he was all right, and he and they
were sent back with a complimentary let
ter upon the good work he was doing"
! A third contributed:
| over here in Che mentioned name of
town. some years ago, the officials tried
to work the old game Mt one of these big
festas. The Feast of Our Lady of Quad
aloupe.' or something of the kind. was
| in order, when the people fOcked in from
the surrounding country by thousands, and
everybody expected to reap n big harvest
The Presidente and some of the military
officers were short of funds, and thought
1t was an opportunity to make a raise,
and going from one place of business to
another, they simply ordered them to
close, and would not allow them to reopen
until they had paid their $50 to $500
apiece. The Mexicans were used to that
sort of thing, and submitted without
complaint; but one stOrekeeper who was
an American would not stand it, and made
representations to our Minister, who car
ried them to Diaz. The result was that
the Presidente was removed from office
and the military officers stood up against
4 wall and shot. This was very discour-
aging for that sort Of thing in the future"
Diaz has labOred to build up an eff
cient, well-drilled, well paid and obedent
army, which he can handle absolutely
as he pleases. and this is the safeguard
Of Mexico. Any attempt at disorder or
insurrectiOn is crushed with relentless Sc
verify. Every official is held up to hon.
esty and efficiency, according to the Mex
lean standard of honesty and efficiency
with terrible consequences if he is found
dereict.
AS Diaz has purity Of character and
honesty of purpose above suspicion, every
thing goes on very well indeed.
But the question which every man asks
is, What will happen when Diaz dies, as
die he must, within a few years, since he
now is in his eighth decade? He has now |
ruled the country % years, having been |
first elected in 1876, and has accomplished |
marveis in that time. Previous to his ac-
cessiOn tie country was in a deplorable |
state, having had as many as 60 revolu-
tons in so years
Is there any man in Mexico who is fit to |
succeed him and continue his work? Opin-
ions differ as to this. Some of the Amer
leans think that another man will arise
who will be as capable as he, while 9TH
ers doubt it, and see nothing in the future
but American occupation TO protect the
vast interests our countrymen have built |
up in the Republic.
1t is in the nature Of things that Diaz
could not very well provide for his sue
cessor,. since that would put power near
him which would be the rallying point for
all the dissatisfied elements, and so far he
has apparently assumed that he was going
to live forever, and has indicated nobody
who should take the reins, if he should be
Frustrated by illness, fall by the hand of
an assassin, or be killed in q railroad
accident.
AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN CONTRAST.
One can not find sharper contrast of
the two civilizations than by going almost
directly north two or three miles from
the barracks at Juarez to where the Unit
ed States has two or three companies sta
toned at Fort Bliss. The contrast is
even greater than between the well-built
brick houses with verdant grass plots at
Ell Paso and the sQualid adobes, with their