The Washington herald., 1909-05-23
MINISTER HERRARTE RAPS
MAGAZINE MUCK RAKER
Defends Guatemala and Its Public Men from Charge:
of Tyranny, ExtOrtiOn, Cruelty. and Persecution.

I could be unhesitatingly applied 20 Mr.
Emerson. who. in the article in question
has disregarded truth in TIE way herein
indicated
I repeat that the groundless assertions
OF 9dr- Emerson are mere base rhapsodies
OF what he himself and his conferer.
/ have already said. and which have al
ready been refutsd by impartial and sen.
( sible writers II I permit myself again
[ TO den0lish them one by one, Il Is only
/ because the Office with which I am IN
vested and my love for truth and the
country IN which ] was born restrain ne
from keeping silence IN the presence OF
such false fnpUtations.
I have already proved in an open let
ter, which not long ago I addressed TO a
writer u the same :lk as Emerson, quot
ing official reports 10 support my state
ule1Js, that at present the public schools
Of Guatemala are attended By over 0.00l
children. from which fact It may De in
terred that the emptiness found by the
American journalist in our educational in
stituIiOns exists only in his mind and
imagination
The appropriations for public InstrUc-
tiOn have been doubled. and. further
more, the principal educational institu-
tiOns are conducted by professors con-
tracted abroad which fact IS IN itself
enough to destroy the ridiculous assertion
thar the teachers in my country are not
paid their salaries
Following the order that obtains Il the
article IN question-if there be order IN
such an array Of misconceptions viii
IN refutatiOo say that Gen. Reyna Barrios
was neither tyrant nor was he killed
by one Of his countrymen. as Emerson
Anaccurately afhTns. The murderer OF
Gen. BarTiOs was German BIZ the name
OF Oscar ZOuingeT, who was suffering
fron hallucinaSiOns Of persecution. To
think that one who knows so little about
the fundamental facts Of our history
should have the audacity 10 write and 10
dogInattze IN respect theretoi Decidedly
Ar- Emerson IS an ardent believer Of the
classic Latin axiom: Audsces fortuna
iuvat.
That same Gen. Reyna Barrios. whose
memory Is so nercilessly slandered. was
the President who. by memorable de-
cree, abolished the legal system estab-
Ished by the Spaniards by which the
Indians had been treated as slaves TO the
sol, substituting therefor modern labor
laws. q reform which was successfully
completed BY provisions enacted during
the administration Of Senor Estrada Ca
orera- The Improvement in the condition
CT the Indian was also Initiated By Gen
Barrios and furthered by President Is
tTada Cabrera with the establishment Of
special schools for the education OF thar
people which Mr.. Emerson. IL his igno-
rant altrUisn, terms a slave race By a
contradiction, for which only obfuscatIon
and ignorance can sccOunt, the two PresI-
dents who have worked most for the bet
terment OF the Indian are accused OF
being his spOliators and torturers.
The soldiers Of the GuatenaIan army
are enlisted n accordance with The laws
on the subject. and. happily, not one
single citizen OF that country refuses to
render his services TO the rnotherls1d.
nor are The recruits forced into the bar
racks By soldiers armed 70 the teeth.
They Join the army patrioticaIly and
cheeTfuiiy whenever II Is their duty TO
90 SO.
Those men that Emerson saw with
matters round their necks and with their
hands tied 10 their backs, who on a 18th
OF September were dragged to their work,
are brothers OF the martyrs that he de-
scrloes further on. whom he saw. in
horrible nightmare, hanged by the thumbs
conceptions that place Mr. Emerson on
the same level with Hoffman. Edgar
Allan Poe, and Ponson du Terrau have
no other imperfection. except that OF
being ss false and improbable as the
amusing novels of those widely read
authors. Mr. Emerson knows perfectly
how 70 make his fables appeal to the
popular mind, and that is why he seasons
them with tales capable Of drawing tears
from the eye OF a potato or moving the
stole heart OF an eXecutioner
To my knowledge there is nc Magma
Charta IN Guatemala, since our flnda-
mental law is called the constitution of
the republic, a fact with which anv
schooloOy over I've years Is acquainted.
and OF which our benighted eulogfst is
ignorant
The penal code Of Guatemala provides
for capital punishment, just as in many
other civilized countries Of the Slobe. and
IN most Of the States forming the Ameri-
can Union Mr.. Emerson again disre-
CARDS the truth when he afTirrns that in
he Guatemalan law there IS no sucb a
hing as capital punishment.
me persons who, after due process OF
law and having all guarantees granted
0y law N such cases, were executed for
ne aoenpt against the life Of the Presi-
cent OF the republic on April %. 1905
we're not thirty-six IN number. nor was
heir property conhscated, as Mr.. Ener-
son boldly asserts. I have already stated
and now repeat, that in the United
states, France. Spain, England. &c. those
VINO attempted the life Of or murdered
ne chief executive or sovereign of those
7assons net with capital punishment. and
aooody has ever thought Of slandering
lzld d1sfauing On that account tie courts
ND Judges that imposed the penalty
II the manner above Indicated Don
'een Niter1 and Don Francisco vailadares !
we're executed, It being false. utterly
aise, that the former was found hanging (!
4 one prison and the latter was murdered
n another.
Nobody vas shot By mistake. as tire l
ecords OF the trials clearly show, as do /
1so the sentences rendered az the ttrne. J