The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-10-26
MEXICAN BANDiTTI.
Hordes of Ruffans Who Once Terror
lied Across the Border.

leu fA(IOSS l!IG OOt CcT.
The banditti were. in many cases,
men of position, and their operation
was known, if not openly recognized,
writes a correspondent of the Terre
Haute Star, in discussing old Mexico.
1t is difficult to realize how lately
Mexico swarmed with these maraud-
| ers. he continues. Travellers writing
of Mexico as late as 1882 speak OF
the prevalence of the evil, which
spread to the very gates of the Capt.
tai. One of the most frequented roads
near the city was that which Cortes
built from Mexico over to Cuernavaca.
in the mountains between, the dill
| gences were constantly being robbed.
In some parts of the country the
bandits were not quite as gallant as
| these gentlemen are in poetry and
romance, and they took everything
that passengers had, SO that an in.
| coming diligence sometimes looked as
! if it were bringing tourists home from
! the Garden of Eden.
1t was one of the most character
| istic and practical services that Presi'
dent Diaz did for his country, the
Kidding it of these pests. The stroke
was characteristic in its shrewd diplo
macy. for President DiaZ is master
diplomat He declared an amnesty
for all gentlemen of the road ON con-
dition they would enter the army, and
he promised to organize them into a
cavalry corps, practically independent
of the rest of the army organization,
and much better paid.
For those who did not come in and
be good, he promised determination.
They came in. were organized as
rangers, or, technically, rurales, the
most respected and feared division of
Mexico's armed forces, and one OF
the best organizations of mounted ir
regulars in the world.
Thus the political wisdom and prac-
teal sense of General Diaz has been
justified amply by its fruits.
An American of many years resi-
dence in Mexico, who has known the
President personally and seen condi- !
tons change steadily and progressive
ly during his long rule, told me that
while this was one of the most pic
turesque examples of Diaz's genius,
it was only one of many less observed |
Coming to the presidency after the
pseudo-republic's three-quarters of
century misrule, he managed by
knowledge of men, by a remarkable |
insight into individual character, by
IN Of CIV
and complaisance, by a mastery play
ing of one factor against another, to |
bring order out of political chaos, to
dispose of faction, to crush the foes |
that would not come in" from the !
mountains of ambition and the thickets
of revolt, to help him make order and
establish modern progress
When one gets these frequent vivid |
glimpses of what Mexico was before
Diaz came to the presidency, one is
likely to modify ones pronounced .
prejudices against rule which has
been dictatorial and not republican.
When one reads of the ambition OF .
Iturbide or the treachery of Santa
Ana, when one looks down the cen
tury's perspective, with its perpetual
reyolts, its rapid succession of govern
ments and almost complete stagnation
of progress, one begins to realize how
truly beneficent has been the rule OF
one of the worlds great dictators.
Liberty is not narrow formula. and
what Mexico and the MeXicans needed
most was liberty to learn and practise
the arts of peace. Porfrio Diaz Sc
cured to them that liberty. If there
are defects in the edifce he has build.
ed it is because he is human, not di'
vine. The work accomplished surely
iustifies him as a patriot and states
man.