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

mics, political and personal. They never
met, except when obliged to do so officially,
and each man threw himself heart and
soul into the intrigues of his own party.
The break between them surprised every
body but the extraordinary part of it-is
that the cause of the quarrel has never been
| made public. Nobody in Mexico knows
what happened to disturb their friendship
except probably President Diaz l have
spoken with some of the prominent men in
both parties, and they admit that they have
| not been taken into the confidence of their
leaders on that subject And when they
have tried to find out they have been met
by polite rebuffs.
ut must have been a highly serious quar-
rel. for President Diaz has striven in vain
for over two years to heal the breach, and
when Diaz cannot do a thing it must be
amazingly difficult to do. 1t has been
known for long time that he favored
Limantour as his successor, to hold Office
for one presidential term and then to be
succeeded by Reyes The quarrel between
the two men frustrated this scheme and
has obliged Diaz to remain president much.
longer than he wished
Highly Respected.
Limantour has travelled widely in Europe
the United States and the east He is per-
sonally acquainted with monarchs, great
statesmen and prominent financfers In al
most all the capitals of the world IN
London, Paris, New York Washington
Berlin. st. Petersburg, Vienna and Rome"
declared one of his friends former lieu
tenant colonel in the Mexican army, "he is
as much at home in the City of mexico,
and has just many friends in high places.
l doubt if there is another man who knows
as many kings and other great people as he
does. They have an unbounded admiration
for his financial genius, and keep in close
correspondence with him when he is in
Mexico. He advises several of the worlds
greatest rulers in matters of international
finance"
People who have dealings with the gov
eminent in the City of Mexico speak in
admiration of Limantours tireless activ-
ity. He is a glutton for work. He can
never have enough of it. Long after his
clerks have left the Office he sits at his
desk wrestling with Mexico's knotty
financial problems, and when at last he
has to rise regretfully to drive home to
dinner he takes a big batch of books, let
ters and returns with him. so that he
may have the joy of porting over them
before he goes to bed.
The time which. as a minister he is
obliged to devote to attending Ievees,
ceptlons and other official functions is
sorely grudged. Now and then President
Diaz breaks into his office in the after
noon and insists on dragging him out to
garden party or for ride in the park.
1t is said to he the only point on which
they differ. He always has ready plenty
of excuses for sticking to his desk but
Diaz is not the man to accept excuses.
A Master of Detail.
Unlike most heads of departments, Lii
mantour burdens himself with mass Of
detail work. Out of pile of 800 returns
of tax revenue placed upon his desk as a
mere matter of form he will pick out half
a Dozen add up the long columns of fig
ures and demonstrate that the clerks
have made a mistake of 81. This trait
has brought his office up to a wonderful
pitch of accuracy and efficiency. Imam
if man wants thing to be well done
he must do it himself He leaves as little
to subordinates as he possibly can. His
life is hard grind all day long, and all
the year round.
Obviously, there is little in such man
to take the popular fancy. He is not
addicted TO pyrotechnics. The government
of a country is to him cold business
proposition, which must be transacted as
efficiently as possible and with as little
display as may be. Men who know his
work admire him, but he leaves the masses
cold.
Bernardo Reyes is a man of quite diff
ferent stamp. AS secretary of the army
and navy, and as govern of Nueva Leon
he has shown himself to be a sound and
clever administrator, especially anxious to
promote the investment of American capital
in Mexico; but first and foremost, he Is the
popular politician, the man of the glad
hand" and the ready smile He Is dis
tinguished soldier. no has led the Mexican