Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-26

Written fo- The Evening Star by Juan Otalora.
Jose Ives Limantour, who is being talked
OF as the man who has been chosen by
President Diaz to carry on the latters work
of ruling Mexico, is a man of mark He
has proved himself one of Mexico's ablest
statesmen; he has been Diaz's right-hand
man for many years. He Is almost I'M
known to the general public outside his
own country, but among financiers his
| reputation is worldwide.
II can hardly imagine Limantour as a
ruler of men. the chief executive of a ma
tfon." said man who knows him well.
HE always seemed to me to be a kind Of
financial machine, who had no human in
terests, who was concerned always with
money and never with men. Taxes, rates
Of exchange. fiscal arrangements audits-
these are his daily food. He has his finger
on the pulse Of the banking community. but
he knows nothing of the life Of the people
and their views about things.
I'm short, he is an ideal secretary of tho
treasury, but 1t is doubtful whether he will
make good president. Still, there is this
to be said: Jose Ives Limantour has never
yet failed tn any big thing he has under
taken, and it is late in life for him to be-
gin to do SO now"
To those who only know him slightly, Ii
mantouI appears to be a cold hard.
sympathetic man-all intellect and no
heart. But that is not his real nature, il
his friends are to be believed. They de-
clare that he is the kndliest and most gen.
erouS of men.
HE gives away many thousands of dol
lars every year in secret charities, while
the mob denOunce him as a greedy capital
fst,' declared one of these friends. HE
brings to the task of hiding his benefac-
tons as much thought and cleverness as he
does to the great financial work which has
made him famous
Reyes, his great rival on the contrary
scatters money broadcast like a teudal
monarch distributing largesse. He is popu-
lar; the people cheer madly whenever he
appears in the streets, and the soldiers
would go through fire and water for him.
1imantOur is not popular, except with the
members of the business community, who
appreciate his work as a statesman. He
does not know how to tickle the ears of
the grounding, and he would not do so
even if he could
Political Rivalry.
The course of Mexican politics during re-
cent years has been guided almost entirely
by the personal rivalry between LimantoIr
and his chief opponent. General Bernardo
Reyes, former secretary of the army and
navy. and now governor of the state of
Nueva Leon.
"Limantour and Reyes used to be the
greatest of friends until two or three years
ago" said Mexican visitor to New York.
''rhey were like David and Jonathan.
When both were staying in the City of
Mexico they were hardly ever out of one
another's company They worked together.
lunched and dned together, and constantly
visited at each others houses.
In political matters they were always
in accord. 1t was obvious to everybody
that they were the only two men who could
succeed Diaz, and naturally two powerful
factions formed to push their respective
claims. But both Limantour and Reyes
deprecated the activity of their friends,
and did everything in their power to check
wire pulling in their own favor. They even
urged upon Diaz, individually and sepa-
rately that the other was the better man
to succeed him for the first presidential
term after his retirement.
"Limantour would point out that Reyes
was a great soldier, the hero of the army,
and therefore best qualified to rule the
country at a time when the revolutionary
spirit, so long repressed by the strong gov
eminent of DiaZ, might burst into life
again. Reyes, on the other hand, would
urge that there was no prospect of the
peace of Mexico being disturbed and that
the problems with which the next president
would have to deal were financial and COM
mercial one. Obviously Limantour, finan
cier with an international reputation, would
handle them better than he, a mere soldier,
could.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, this
self-sacrificing friendship was broken.
Reyes and Limantour became bitter enc