El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-06-24
n EANAGUA, Nicaragua, June "a
MI While the principal difference

n EANAGUA, Nicaragua, June "a
lNE While the principal difference
between the. two political par
ties in Nicaragua is that ever present
Latin-American issue of the ''ins''
against the outs" there are some re-
ally important governmental princi-
pies at stake. The Conservatives are
the blue bloods of Granada and their
adherents. The Liberals are the people
of Leon and their followers. From time
immemorial there has been a bitter RI
valry between these two cities, each
of them ambitious to dominate the pol
titles of Nicara qua, and each in turn
being able to do so. Managua, the cap
ital, for years has held the balance of
power, and as the state of New York
for many years held the balance of
power in presidential elections in the
United States, giving rise TO the say
ing, '.As goes New-York so goes the
union" in the same way Managua has
largely determined the outcome in the
politics and warfare Of Nicaragua.
The Conservative Party.
The Conservative party always has
been the clerical party of Nicaragua
AS a result it has advocated the union
Of church and state. and while some OF
its more progressive leaders believe
that this is against the interest Of pro-
gress, the party as a whole still ad-
heres firmly to the doctrine On the
other hand, the Liberals, following
the example of the United States, In
sist that religion and politics shall not
be mixed and they are firmly set
against anything which savors of such
union Under the Liberal regime,
covering the ascendency Of Zelaya.
there was a complete enforcement of
the two, but as soon as the Conserva-
tives came into power through the tri-
umph OF the revolution led by a Lib
eral and backed by the Conservatives,
a constitution was adopted providing
for the reunion Of the church and state.
Another issue between the two par
ties is the question of suffrage The
Liberals profess to believe thoroughly
in the principles OF manhood suffra ge
and strenuously oppose any restriction
Of the ballot OF course it must be
remembered that during the many
years of Zelaya's ascendency represent
ing the Liberal party, there was no
greater degree of Acknowledgement of
the people than there is under the Con-
servative regime The Liberals, when
this charge is made against them, ad-
NIT the truth thereof, but declare that
1t was Zelaya. ard not the party, which
was responsible for the denial to the
people Of the right of free govern
ment.
Zelaya Unpopular.
No man could be more unpopular In
his own country than Zelaya is in Nj
caragua today Even his most intimate
friends Of the past now freely concede
that the picture which the world has
of his brutality and tyranny is not
overdrawn, and the Liberal party in
sists that the sins of his administra-
ton were not those of the party, but
of a tyrant who dominated his party
as well as his country They agree
that his enforced retirement was
boon to the republic
1t is said that during the early part
Of Zelaya's regime he made a very de-
cent sort OF ruler. That he was firm
goes without saying. for no man can
rule in Central America without a lib
eral use Of the mailed fist; but he was
interested in the development of the
country, and his interests and those
of his people were so inter-related that
to benefit himself he would also bene-
fit them. After a few years, however
it is said that certain foreigners who
were upon intimate terms with Zelaya,
began to show him how he could make
some money for himself out of this
project and that proposition. In this
school he proved himself such an apt
pupil that he soon was shaming his