Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-03-22
Nebraska
MEXICANS WANT THEIR RIGHTS
Insurrection Is Protest Against Rule
by the Minority.
ADAM BREEDE VIEWS CONDITIONS
HASTINGS Editor says Ninety Per Cent
of People Are with InsurrectOs-
Freedom of Press and Elections
Unknown.

Breede, editor Of the Hastings Tribune, de
clares that fully 50 per cent OF the people |
Of that troubled republic are apparently
in sympathy with the revolution. The
uprising, he says. is a revolt against
minority rule and a demand for the
rights and privileges guaranteed by the
constitution. but which have been denied
them by the Diaz administration.
The revolutionists. he asserts. have made
greater progress than the dispatches from
Mexico indicate-more men are enlisted
in the revolutionary army and heavier
losses have been sustained by the federal
forces than appear by the censored re
ports from the capital AS an instance. he
cites the fate Of the federal soldiers who
have been ordered from Matamoros since
the fighting began. OF 500 soldiers who
were then doing duty in the town only
fifty remain. The others we're dispatched
in bands Of from fifty to 100 and most
Of them failed to reach their destination,
as they we're killed from ambush enroute.
/ The last group of regulars to leave Mata-
moros was composed Of fifty first-class
/ fighters. They were waylaid by the in
surrectos and only one lived TO tell Of the
fight
/ The Mexican newspapers until lately have
been in the habit Of referring to the in
surrection az a tempest in a teapot" but
the drastic measures that are being ap-
piled by Disz to prevent the spread OF
brfgandage' has changed the tone OF the
press from frivolity to intense seriousness.
Land of Poverty and Plenty.
Mexico is surely a land where none
ought to be poor and misery should be
unknown, a land whose products and
riches Of every kind are abundant" writes
UT A.
land profusely endowed with every gift
man can desire-all the metals from gold
to lead every sort Of climate from snow
to tropical heat and great fertility. And
yet there is poverty and misery through
out the land, all because Of the fact that
the people have been laboring under a
minority rule. And that tells the story
in sentence why there is so much doing
now in Mexico.
"A talk with anyone in sympathy with
the insurrectos brings forth the informa-
ton that they are not fighting the govern
ment; they are fighting the system. They
say that under the present system il is
taxation without representation and ex-
plain it in this manner In the first place.
presidential elections which come every
J six years, are farce. as was seen by the
election last year. The governors Of the
various states are appointed by the presi-
dent and the mayors OF the various cities
are also appointed by the president That
is, these state and municipal officers are
Ysupposed to be elected BY the people, but
there is no such thing as an election in
this country. 1t is simply the powers that
be that say who shall hold Office.
Candidate for PresIdent Locked Up.
when Francisco Madero declared him
self candidate for the presidency against
Diaz last year it was understood by some
in the United States that this was coun-
} try whose government was fashioned after
our own and that Msdero would have a
chancs. But when Madero began to make
public speeches in which he denounced the
. system OF government as being a system
Of corruption and political pull he was
, lodged in the Jail Of this city. He was re-
leased next day on bond and then he went
over the border and began preparations for
an instruction and he and his following
, are still in the field fighting for what they
term the common peoples rights-hence
the war in Mexico.
NO Elections Ever Held.
Il asked a man who had been in the
newspaper business in Mexico during the
last twenty-five years what he knew about
elections in this country. He replied
I.Nothing.'
" But surely you have electionsg said /
q" Tt 10 said they do he replied, but
have lived here twenty-five years and hav,
never seen a ballot. neither have seer
/: an election notice or voting place
:, But how do you account for a maj
> holding officer
"'wen, there is supposed to be an cleo
e ton every two years. and they say Their,
: is-et least somebody is declared electeS
. and that settles It. But it makes no diff
ference who is elected, II he does not sui
y the administration, word soon comes from
:. Mexico City TO that effect and he is ousted.
, But don't the people protestT
d % No. they. like the free press" hav
j. learned 20 take their medicine
" Then there is no such thing as q FIRE,
press in MexiooT
I, III there IL I have failed TO find it Il
h my twenty-five years Of service
!. How about the sentiment among tn
business men and the educated class rela
- tive to the rsvolutionT
: People with InsurrectOa-
: 1t Is safe 20 say that fully nineteenth
y OF them are IN sympathy with the move
= ment. No matter which side wins II 4
l. sure to result for the good OF the commo
!, people Should the insurgents be defeate
the government will have learned that tn
d people must have AL that the constitution
: calls for and Il It does not come forthwith
n Il win only be q matter OF a few months
until another insurEent leader VIII sprinI
J. up and demand the full rights Of the con
n stitution.
81 know Madsro personally. He is
!, young man about IS years Of are ona a
ls the common people, unassuming-a gentle
q man and a scholar He has large rancho
and is worth several million dollars. Hi
whole heart and soul are in the fight purel!
e for the good OF the cause.
r There is absolutely no way Of fndinl
h out what the fighting strength OF the In.