Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-08-04
The Los Angeles lnsurrectos.

The few Americans, most of them
residents of Los Angeles, who ac-
quired temporary notoriety as leaders
of the instruction in Lower Cali
fornia are facing double trouble. The
government of the United States is
prosecuting them for violation of the
neutrality laws, and because they
continued to head a rebellion after
the triumph of the Madero insurrec-
ton the Mexican government is seek
ing their extradition with the purpose
of Furnishing them in that country.
No good citizen of the United
States will feel like protesting against
the prosecution of these men by our
own government They deliberately
incurred all the risks connected with
a violation of our laws
But the American people would not
approve the surrender of these pris-
oners to Mexico. The Mexican gov
eminent, of course, does not propose
to punish anybody that aided Ma
dero in his successful insurrection-
its prescription runs only to the hand
full of socialist leaders who contin-
ued to rebel, after the Madero tri-
umph, in a vain effort to set up a
socialistic government in Lower Cali
fornia.
1t is not alone because these Los
Angeles men only are sought for pun
ishment by the Mexican government
while hundreds of other citizens of
this country who helped the Madero
rebellion are rather honOred by the
present Mexican government, that the
people of this country would object
to their rendition to the Mexican au-
thorities There is still a weightier
reason why our government should
refuse to give them up.
This reason is the uniform failure
Of the Mexican government to sur
render to this country for punish
ment here any citizen of Mexico who
returns to that country after COM
hitting a crime in the United States.
The existing treaty of extradition
between the two republics provides
that either country may surrender
its own citizens to the other country.
The right is reserved by both parties
to the treaty to protect their citizens
against rendition. 1t is understood,
however, that each government will.
as a matter of comfy, surrender its
own citizens to the other government
upon due proof that such citizens
have committed an extraditable crime
in the foreign country and have fled
back to their own land. But Mexico
always manages to evade compliance
refuses to surrender one of her citi-
zens on the ground that the fugitive
sought by us is a Mexican citizen.
but upon some other excuse. But the
result is the same. If a citizen of
Mexico commits a crime in Arizona
or elsewhere in the United States
and fees into Mexico, he is sure of
protection against extradition if he
can satisfy the Mexican authorities
that he has never renowned his
Mexican citizenship. In such cases
the government of Arizona has in
variably found that. no matter how
carefully the case was prepared, no
matter how scrupulously the docu-
ments complied with all the require
ments of the extradition treaty, the
Mexican authorities found the papers
defective" in some particular-solely
of course. because the fugitive was
Mexican citizen.
Uncle Sam will do well, therefore,
in dealing with the Los Angeles So
cialists, to confine his attentions 20
prosecuting them for any violation Of
our own laws.