The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-12-08
PURE GASTILIAN
BLOOD HAS ZELAYA
Aristocrat of Nicaragua Shown
to Be a Man of Consider
able Power.
PRESIDENT FOR IS YEARS
RAISED COUNTRY FROM DEBTS
TO PROSPERITY.

If there is ont thing on earth that
president Zelaya Of Nicaragua despises
It is an American. He makes no secret
of it, either. He uegIects no opportunity
of impressing upon them that they are
not wanted. lis motto is: Latin
America for Latin-Americans," and
when anybody suggests the benefits to
be derived from closer intercourse with
the United States, he points sarcastic
ally 10 Panama, Porto Rico and Cuba.
Zelaya belongs TO the real aTistOCracy
of Central America. He is man Of
about so, OF pure Castilian blood, a
Spaniard through and through. A good
friend. but a relentless foe, with a
warm heart and a quick temper, which,
once aroused, makes him devil incar-
nate.
He was given the finest education
Nicaragua could afford, and then, at a.
was sent TO Europe. He studied at La
SorbOnne, i'm Paris, and visited other
European universities. At . he returned
to his native land, a man of great at
tainments, knowledge and energy. He
knew no restraint and gave his pas
sions full play. In colder climes he
would have been considered a debauehe
but Latin-American morals cannot be
measured by the same standards as
those Of Anglo-SaXOn races, so he was
merely recognized as a leader on she
pleasure-loving sports" and high
rollers" Of Managua.
Secret Of His Power.
In his own way Helaya is a patriot.
He loves his country and It's customs
ana traditions, and he really considers
that the Introduction Of American
methods of government would be some
thing in the nature of a deflement. He
knows that his fellow cOUntrymen are
not capable Of self-gOvernment and
that probably never viii be unless God
makes them all over again. In this he
has the support Of all the best and
most conservative men in his country.
1t is the same an through Central
America; the peopl5 cannot govern
themselves. they must be ruled; but
they want to be ruled by men OF their
own race and religion, and not by UNI
sympathetic strangers.
This is the secret of Zelaya's power,
just as it was of CastrO's. and is still
of the wonderful influence of the per
petUal president OF Mexico, POTiria
DiaZ, When Zelaya raises the cry of
Yankee absorption thousands of
Latin-Americans from Peru to Mexico
will flock to his standard. He is a man
OF endless resources, and win fight to d
finish.
Zelaya raised himself to the presi-
dency of Nicaragua by something like
a trick. Tt was q three-cCrDered fight,
one of the candidates being Jose San
tOs, another being Zelaya. Their COM
bined votes overwhelmed the third COM
IpetitOr, and Zelaya became president.
He has been president for some six
teen years. If a white man opposes
him, he takes that white man, chains
him by the ankle 10 negro. and
throws him into q dungeon.
Revolutions the National Sport.
Revolutions against his authority
there have been, but then revolutions
are the national sport of Latin-Amer-
lean peoples. They could no more do
without them than Americans could
without baseball.
Honduras, Salvador and Guatemala
have their own revolutionary parties,
and the rebels of one country think
nothing of going over the border and
using the territory of the neighboring
nation as a base from which TO attack
their own government. This leads 10
all sorts of international complications,
and made necessary the establishment
of a special arbitration court between
the various Central American repub-
lies 10 which all such disputes could
be referred.
Now, Zelaya has got pretty big re-
volution on his hands. tt win bear