El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-23

possessing d military machine OF rare
efficiency. Estrada Cabrera yet boasts
that he is a lawyer and not a mllltary
man. He lays emphasis at all times
upon the fact that he is man OF
peace and not a man OF war eI II IS
probable that no ruler In all central
American history ever was more narsh
or exaCting than Estrada CABRERA II
fact his sway is so absolute JnaI no
voice here dares cry out against It, Ior
the very good reason that death or IN
prisOnment without a chance to com
municate with the outside world would
be the portion of him who had the ter
merity TO criticize his admlnlstfaIleh-
No Hostile Criticisms.
In all this country Of 100000 PEG
pie, with an area equal to that OF the
state of Pennsylvania II would DC
hard to find one book or one neWspa-
per with a single word Of hostile crit
cism OF Estrada Cabrera and his rule.
No one who values his business would
take the risk Of handling any volume
containing a criticism of the president
In fact. no one who lives mere ever
dares to speak a single hostile word
about Cabrera, except 1t be behind
closed doors and in the utmost conf
denCe-tOr men are shot IN GuaJeInala
for much smaller offences than TINS
ana there are spies everywhere Let a
stranger begin to talk about COndl-
tons and Immediately he is aqmOn-
ished of the possible proximity OF spies
for even to be found listening to a con-
TersatiOn unfriendly to Estrada Cabre-
ia is dangerous
No Chance For Revolutions.
These few simple facts show what
kind OF a rule there is in Guatemala
and yet, harsh and oppressive as has
been the sway of this dictator it IS
still a debatable question whether II IS
not a lesser evil than the unbroken
chain of revolutions which nave beset
many Of the other republics of Cen
q
planted and harvested, and the ener-
gies OF the bulk of the people may be
devoted TO the pursuit of peace rather
than that of war. However bad may be
the economic condition OF the Guate-
maltecans, they are still better OIL
perhaps, than the people OF honduras
and Nicaragua There are those who
declare that after all, Cabrera is Just
about as benevolent a ruler as the
people viii let him be- If he were less
determined summarily 10 put to death
the instigatOrs OF revolutionary move
ments. IL seems inevitable that there
would be an outbreak which ne cOu11
not control in g very snort time II
he were TO permit free speech or free
press, assert others, conditions haIt as
bad as those which obtain inevitably
would lead TO revolution
This crafty ruler has a knack Of
forestalHng all signs Of revolution he
distrusts almost everybody he comes
IN contact with. But sometimes he
will have the word passed around that
a little freedom Of the press viii De
tolerated This results in those who
have grudges against the government
expressing them, and thus he learns
where TO look for trouble and take pre-
cautions to forestall it,
Wears Bullet Proof Jacket
Cabrera never appears in public, eX-
cept on the most Extraordinary occaS
ions. some assert that he wears q
steel jacket and drives in q bullet
times a whole year passes without MS
leaving the portals Of his palace he
has several galing guns mounted on
automobiles. and is always ready Tor
the outbreak which he constantly
breads. When secretary Knox visited
Guatemala no one thought Tor min
ute that president Cabrera would APP
pear in public. But much TO the sur
prise OF everybody he attended the
school celebration at the Temple OF
Minerva and seemed to have no fear
whatever Of the danger Of the sharp
shooters who many people thought
might be in hiding ready 10 put an emu
to his existence.
Cabrera has built nearly all the great
show places in Guatemala City, but II
IS seldom indeed that he gets TO look
at any of them Once in a while lne
government grants subsidy or S4V.-
900 TO a Spanish opera company 10
visit Guatemala City, but the entertai IN
ment IS for the benefit Of others Inan
the dictator.
Two Attempts to XIII Ruler.
There have been two public attempts
to assassinate Cabrera one was IN
1907. when a mine exploded ana kllled
his horse and his cOachman. he MIN
self escaped. He was driving along
the street, and when the carriage got
to a certain spot, it stopped momenIa-
rily, and the explosion took place
Hundreds Of people were Immediately
thrown into prison, many were sum-
marily shot. and others were llos5eu
into insenSi bility to force them 10 re-
veal the identity of the plOtters- A
party of cOnspiratOrs had leased
house and had dug tunnel un0er llle
street, placing a mine IN H. me
coachman had accepted br1oe 10 drive
the carriage over this spot and stop
II was his intention TO have the rear
part Of the carriage blown up IN
stead, he stopped Just short or Ihe
mark, and g was the front part Of the
vehicle that was over the mine When
the explosion took place He was
killed instantly. No one suspected him
Of being a party TO the plot until MS
wife, who submitted a claim for a PEN
sion, innocenty gave up the papers
which proved his connection with it.
The other attempt upon Cabrera's
life was made when the American min
lister Mai. William Heimke, presented
his credentials. The cadets were
drawn up at attention as a guard OK
honor and when they were to present
arms, the order was given for them to
fire instead Cabrera was wounded in
the hand. Immediately a large num-
Der of men were put to death, some
of them literally shot down in their
tracks. A young officer of the cadet
corps was offered his liberty II he
would reveal the source of the plot
He replied. Il viii see You in hell
first" and was Immediately shot down.
Tt is charged by many that Cabrera
himself owes his position TO an assas-
sination to which he was a party. Rte
ma Barrios. nephew of the liberatOr was
president in 1893. when he was shot
in the street by oscar Zollinger. a Ger
man Cabrera had just returned from
Costa Rica when this happened He
appeared at once before the cabinet
and had himself recognized as first
designate. carrying with il a succession
to the presidency. The friends OF Rsr-
rios have always declared that collin
ger was in Costa Rica for eight davs st
the same time that Cabrera was. ana
that his expenses were paid by Cobra-
IA Although the constitution OF Cna-
temala expressly prohibits the reelec-
ton OF president Cabrera has bee7
reelected repeatedly. and his present
term Of office viii not expire until
1917
Has Way To Enforce Loans
asserted that the rre+1--