El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-23

fore the shooting was done. This
punishment was followed by others
which related to the families Of the
cadets. Many Of the fathers were I'M
prisoned, and, IN one way or anothers
several hundred lives are said to have
been sacrificed The cadet captain
was promised immunity If he would
reveal the names of others in the plot
He refused and was thereupOn shot
How Cabrera Made an Archbishop.
The president does not hesitate TO
punish his enemies among the natives
nor does ne make any bones Of ask
mig Objectionable foreigners to leave.
1 was told the other night how ne
treated a lawyer, who has since LETT
the bar and is now an archbishop OF
the Catholic church. This man was
practicing in the courts of the re-
public. and he had case concerning
the use of certain water which passed
through a deserted convent. lie ad-
vised his clients that the convent du-
thOrities if they again took posses
sion of the property, would have the
right to hold back the water. ms
was interpreted as being in favor OF
the church authorities, to whom the
president is opposed. 1t IS said that
Cabrera was angry, and sent Ior the
lawyer and said to him.
I see you have become a prlesuy
attorney and are giving your opinions
in favor of the monks. Well 1 VIII
make you q priest
He thereupOn ordered him to be put
in the garb of a priest and to sweep
out the plaza in front of the church.
The attorney was made to obey, but
as he welded the broom he decided
that inasmuch as he was thus forced
into the priesthood, he would be one
in earnest. He took up religious dork
and finally became a devout men ber
of the church He afterWard studied
for the priesthood and was made an
He now acts as such in
this country, although it must neceS-
sariIy be in a quiet way.
A Land of Graft.
An administration based on such
conditions could not but be honey
cOmbed with graft This is so Of
most OF the Central American cOun-
tries. Nearly every official is a graft
er, and every one knows it The sal
aries are exceedingly low The [presl-
dent here nOminally receives a salary
OF $500 year. sum that would
not probably pay his expenses for a
single Month Subordinate officials
are propOrtiOnately poorly paid The
situation IS very like that Of China,
where the squeeze is a fixed affair
and where every one expects to pay
for any official service rendered. (
President Cabrera knows just about
how much each official is getting, and
the officials have to be on their guard
as to how much they take.
The Killing OF Hunchback.
It must be remembered, however, (
that Guatemala is backward as TO its
and that any one in
power can Cypress those beneath him
without danger Of being discovered.
have heard of many instances and
here give you one which was told
me by a German merchant 1t hap
pened at Antigua a year or so ago. 1t
was shortly after one of the attempts
to assassinate Cabrera which I have /
referred to. The mayor of Antigua, |
who is closely allied with the presi- /
dent, wanted to buy a certain coffee /
plantation which belonged to a hunch-
back. The hUnchback refused to sell !
or otherwise dispose of it. He had, (
however, already loaned the mayor
$4,000 in gold, but could not get his
interest nor any satisfaction Of the /
debt. and he feared that his property 1
would go the same way. He trans |
ferred it to his children, who were 4
still minors, and then said the prop
erty did not belong TO him. A little 4
later he asked the mayor to pay his |
loan, which request the latter con- /
5ldered an insult and threatened him.
After the attempted assassination Of 4