The Washington times., 1911-01-15
ASKS INQUIRY INTO
ARREST OF EXLES

Rio Grande as any traveller might; that
he was not disguised. Those agents OF
the Diaz government who were cha
grined at his escape say that he started
in the opposite direction and then back
tracked, thus effecting his escape and
eluding the warrant which had been
put in the mails for his arrest.
Two months ago, in company with
Gustavo Madero, the young brother OF
the revolutionary leader, Juan Sanchez
AZcona came to the Capital of the
United States. His object in visiting
Washington was to establish a bureau
for the dissemination of "the truth
about Mexico" No sooner had Azcona
reached Washington than the secret
trail. He was under constant espion-
age.
Request for Arrest.
Eventually there came-forty days
ago, a request through the regular dip
lomatfc channels for the arrest and de-
tention of Azcona. Acting on order from
his foreign office the Mexican ambas-
sador communicated with the State De-
partment; the State Department re-
ferred the matter to the Department Of
Justice, and that department instructed
the District Attorney for the District ID
Columbia to act. Azcona was thrown
into Jail.
Under our treaty, when an arrest Of
this kind is asked by the Mexican gov
ernment, the suspect may be held for
complaining power. Had the formal
complaint in this case not been forth
coming, Azcona would have been re-
leased at midnight. The papers reached
the State Department late yesterday
afternoon-an eleventh hour action that
is typical, it is alleged, of the Mexican
government.
The hearings before the Rules Com
mittee of the House showed that 1t has
been the practice OF the Diaz regime
to withhold actual charges as long as
possible. When sent. they were often
ing frequent revisions, the unhappy cul-
prit remaining in custody the while.
In many instances no charges whatever
were ever preferred, and after arrest
and rearrest, the refugee might be
liberated within two or three months
time, only to remove to some other
section of the country where he was
again harasSed.
Nature of Complaint.
While the contents Of the formal COM
plant received at the State Depart
rnent are not made public. 1t is under
stood that they concern an alleged
crime committed by the paper with
which Azcona was connected four years
ago in not satisfactorily accounting for
the disposition of $50 of a Christmas
relief fund solicited by that paper.
In other words, it appears that the
paper, with which Azcona was con-
neCted only in the capacity of editorial
writer at the time, was not successful
in raising as large fund as it hoped
and that it diverted the collections to
other channels of charity, requiring a
lesser expenditure. In looking over
the conf1scated books CT the paper
Diaz's agents came to the conclusion
that the disposition of the above
amount of the total of $500 collected
had not been carefully explained.
1t afforded the loophoe sought by
the Mexican government, which knew
that it could not hope to eXtradite
Azcona on a political charge, but which
recalled that AZcona formerly had
been connected with the alleged Offend
ing publication.
So Azcona was ordered Jailed, for the
new-found charge is one under which
he might be eXtradited If the Mexican
government can prove It's case before an
American court of competent jurisdic-
ton.
May Revive Scandals.
The case Of Azcona will tend to re-
vive the Mexican scandals aired before
the House committee last session. The
committee at that time, however. was
conducting but an incidental investiga-
tion of the charge that American off,
Cials, such as customs officials on the
border-llne between the two countries,
were in reality in the employ of the
Mexican government and were nothing
more nor less than Mexican spies, or
secret service men.
Some startling testimony, it will be
recalled, was brought out as a result
of this important, but Intellectual, House
investigation. Mexican refugees ap-
peared before the committee and told
distressing tales of how they had been
bounded day and night since leaving
the other side of the Rio Grande. None
of them felt secure then, and none Of
them do now, for Diaz's agents are said
to be scattered all the way from Ban
gor. Me-, to Eagle Pass, Texas
The AZCona case, however, may re-
suit in some tangible explanation of the
diplomatic agreements between the two
countries, and, Representative Wilson
says, to an understanding by the Amer
lean public of just how far our own
diplomatic service has permitted itself
to play into the hands of Diaz.
American Embassy Takes