The Washington herald., 1913-10-26

SEEN
the country by resolute, adventurous, and
imaginative men of money from the
United States. The railroad broke down
the barred doors of backward and
brawling nation. Diaz knew Il would.
He Also Shot the .Dennasogues.
When Diaz signed his name TO the sub
sidy his treasury was empty. The rev.
enues OF the republic were scarcely
enough to pay its army. DiaZ paid the
soldiers and the subsidy. Commercial
ism. using a word now in disfavor in
certain quarters, rescued Mexico from
the bandit, the assassin, and the fire.
bug.
Meanwhile Diaz began shooting Mexi-
can demagogues. The nation was told
to mind its own businsss and keep its
mouth shut 1T is diffcult to change
a people who, for centuries. have been IN
disorder, but il is being done day by day.,
President Diaz remarked 10 the inter-
viewer. 1t was being done with spies,
rifles, and prisons.
Two men in the State of Neuva Leon
were candidates for Governor. Their parti-
sans met in the streets and began firing
at one another. Soldiers were hurried to
the scene. They shot a number Of bel
iigerent indiana An American mining
GhbiiCCf olhcllpAcu " NCh LlC doOuL the
event at the breakfast table in a hotel
at Monterey and was stopped by a
Frenchman.
'''My friend the Frenchman said, I'VE
do not talk politics in Mexico"
II am simply relating an event in re-
cent history" the American replied,
which is known here to everybody"
mo NATTER the Frenchman answered.
Il give you warning that you are on
dangerous ground"
Robbery by violence was also ended by
Diaz- Soldiers were sent to hunt the
bandits who then, as at present, carried
terror into all parts of the republic.
Tracked like wolves, they were butch
cred like wolves wheyer found. Soon
it was safe to travel from village to vii
lage and city to city.
He Meant to Re q Priest.
tains south of Mexico City, in the region
where Indians sometimes arose to emil
nence, Diaz turned to the priesthood.
His mother. an ambitious and pious
woman. part Indian. in her pride and
fervor had dedicated him to the church.
Abruptly he fed the cloister. took up
law, and then arms and rebellion.
Once in the Presidency. he believed the
church to be antagonistic to his govern
ment. He drove the ecclesiastics from
the palace and from public office He
confiscated churches. schools, converts
and monasteries. Priests were ordered
to wear no distinctive habit of their own,
and SO they dressed in black broadcloth,
long capes. and silk hats.
Bandits and demagogues having been
exterminated, Diaz stationed soldiers in
every city permanently to remain as a
menace to agitators and evildoers. He
organized a rural police force of heavily
armed horsemen. These men patrolled
the mountains and valleys. the arid north
and the tropic south. They were to be
found far from the habitatiop of man
and in the environs of cities and viii
lagos They were both policemen and
spies.
Thus every Indian and every planter
could be scrutinized. Diaz, at his palace |
in Mexico City, was also in every high |
way and mountain trail. His eye was
on all men. Yet when Mexico was
worthy and ready he said 1t should have |
a government of law instead OF govern
ment Of forcel SO, with American gold |
and his own guns, he worked. as he be-
lieved, toward a civilization similar to |
that existing in the United States.
But Diaz, after thirty-four years as /
President, had become old. The men in |
whom he had long trusted also had |
grown old. Diaz had said to the country /
through Francisco Bulnes, his spokes-
man. that "the successor of Gen. Diaz /
shall be the law" And Pablo Macedo,
another distinguished upholder of the
Diaz regime, had declared that "a ma
tion Ill fed and iii clad will never be a
nation of free citizens"
Such was the policy Of Diaz-plenty Of
iood and clothing for the Indians, or
common people: education for them and
liberty. And. necessarily. a successor OF
himself chosen by himself Diaz
ooked for youth. for strength, for
he gold. which foreigners had in
vested in Mexican industries. He found
III as he thought. in Ramon Corral an
sditor. writer, a soldier, lawyer, and
| millionaire-a materialist. rather than a
defender of commercial
SIN. at once both adroit and brave.
At seventy-four Diaz was again elected
o the Presidency. A new amendment
o the constitution made his term six
ears instead of four. Another amend
nent gave Mexico a Vice President
Both amendments were ordered by Diaz.
)ne by one the States adopted them a.
lis direction. Done. he notified Mexico
hat Corral should be Vice President
lie would teach Corral he would watch
Corral and he would be followed by Cor
al II Corral proved to be reliable
Here began the downfall Of Diaz and
dexico. Corral was from Sonora In the
North. There Is sectional animosity In
farfrta fhara nsad IN hr In, tt.. TTnts...