Imperial Valley press., 1913-01-24
SEES YEARS OF RUIN
AHEAD IN MEXICO

Los Angeles Times: That Mexico
is hopelessly astew in its own juice,
and that The end Of its chaotic state
may not be reached for many heavy
and ruinouS years is the opinion Of
Capt Karl Meister Won VolkenburS,
who is with the third Bavarian army
, corps of Germany at Nuremberg and
who was sent by his government to
make study of the military Situa
tion in Mexico as a result Of the
unsettled condition in that country
where German investments are second
in Importance only to those of the
United States.
al have Just finished a three month
tour of Mexico" said Capt. Won Vol
Eenburg yesterday at the athletic
club where friends have put him up
during his brief visit here, "and The
Mexican methods of carrying on q
| revolution are certainly astounding to
the military attaches of other nations.
The government holds in an indefinite
way and with few poorly equipped
troops some of the most important
towns throughout the republic, but
the country between the towns is Oc
tuDitu Ivy itbtlS lCIiC5otiNN WIN
do exactly as they please and whose
only rule is ruin. 4 state of bitter
discomfort exists everywhere in this
enormous country and the poor are
suffering more and more from the fact
that the inflow of foreign capital has
ceased and the demand for labor no
lorger exists. | am tempted To say
that this sad condition is really. nor
NAL in Mexico. and that the peace and
prosperity which the manful reign Of
Diaz brought was an abnormal cond
ton to that people.
.'NeVer was there such an Oppor-
tunity for a man of destiny as now
exists in Mexico. The country has two
genuine revolutionary movements.
Orozcu heads one in the state Of Chi
huahUa and /apata leads the other in
MOrpluS and the state of Mexico.
Neither man is educated and neither
. is real commander. They cannot
organize their own forces nor is therC
any hope of their coming together.
If either could overthrow Madero and
ascend to The presidency he would b."
hut a harharUuS military dictator Of
no comprehensive plan and the nlhcr
would continue the war. Madcr0 sue
ccrlrd a. we'll as he did because OF
superior education, hut out Of twenty
generals who placed him in the pres
ident's chair. not one Supported him
aftcrWard. and they would not support
or trust any one of their own number
who might succeed in the future in
Wrestling the presidency from Madero.
They almost never trust one another
sp Il fhaN- h1pIly hnnn for Tho
Establishment Of a permanent popular
government while not more than 10 Or
/ ) per cent Of the population can read
ana write
''Il would hp Very difficult for the
rebels to lake Mexico City. because il
is occupied hy 5000 federal troops. !
suppose that Santa Monica or Waits
could take los ANGELES if il was held
by only 5000 men. hut such an army
represents tremendous organization in
Mexico and no rebel general would
think Of attempting its overthrow.
doubt. too, if Zapata has The arms
or ammunition for such an undertake
in". although he j. strong ana pOpu-
lar throughout the states Of Murel0S
and McNico. ana virtually controls
them.
"MOrcl0S consists for the %rcalar
part Of large estates, and a majority
of the people are scarcely better than
slaves. They join Zapata willingly be
cause they have nothing to lose and
| the owners Of the estates pay /apala
| literally for their protection. so That
he makes a good thing of it. and is
in no hurry to have the issue closed.
| The Mexican is incapable of being def