Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-17
WILL THE "REBEL" CARRANZA
BECOME THE MOSES OF MEXICO?
Is the Figure of the Constitutonast Leader, Arising
Out of the Chaos to the South, the One Around
Which All Factions Will Ultimately Rally?
The Silent, Week-Eyed Ranchman Has
Shown Himself Man of Iron.

executive in his state. He repreSeSted
government that was based upon a
constitution. The individuals who had
seized the federal government had
been given no authority by the people.
but had. on the contrary. overthrown
constitutional government He set the
voice of the people above treachery
and murder and fear Of punishment
Monclova. the point from which the
declaration was issued and which may
some time be revered on that account
is a colorful Mexican town on that
trunk line of railway which enters the
southern republic at Eagle Pass, on the
Texas border 1t is 200 miles beyond
the Rio Grande. 1t is one or the first
the realization that the light-opera Mex
lean is absolutely true to the life.
The producers of plays are unable to
use sombreros that. are bigger than those
not incase their actors in pantaloons
| that are tighter about the ankles. Inere
| are no colors brighter than the sashes
and the blankets that the Monclovlans
| wear every day about their waists or
thrown over their shoulders.
1t was in this city of atmosphere that
| the spirit of rebellion took fire. Goa
| hula was the home state of the Maderos
| and had come to look forward to better
things than the iron hand that wrung
great profits from its citizens. Practical
ly the whole people aligned themselves
with the governor. and his influence
spread as does the ripples from the
point where stone strikes the water
x !;
And Don Vesustiano CarranZa. the
| man who started it all? What of him?
In the first place there should be called
to mind the huge, rugged figure of
sturdy ranchman of the mountains Car
rama is about the size of two men like
ENron otc Tod ~, al;e<;n
president who had not enough of the
sterner stuff in him to handle SO diff
cult situation. He stands more than
six feet tall and carries as much flesh
as is likely to stick to a man who leads
his own forces in the field.
Carranza wears the paint brush whis-
kers that are still favored by the more
stable men of the republic but scorned
by the boulevardier There are glasses
upon his nose. for his eyes are very poor.
he has been ranchman because of
those poor eyes. In his early manhood
he came near losing them altogether
and was forced to give up his chosen
profession of the law because Of their
weakness.
is of mixed Mexican blood, some Of
which is old Spanish and some of which
is native Aztec and Indian. His educa-
ton was secured in Mexico. and he speaks
little of English. He has served mayor
of his native town. as judge. as senator.
as governor. His people idoliZe him and
his election to the office Of governor was
by unanimous vote. On his ranch Craze
considerable herds of cattle and horses,
and he is classed as well-to-dO He is
not wealthy. however. as were the Ma
deros, all his property probably being
worth a quarter of a million dollars.
a month after Huerta had assumed
authority over Mexico there was a con-
dition OF chaos from the Rio Grande to
Tehuantepec. The people had loved ma
derO despite his ineffectiveness. The peo-
pie had come to hope for something better
than the peonage from which they had
suffered. Their longings for land had been
aroused. They had famed into insurrec-
ton wherever leader appeared. and in
organizations varying from bands OF
twenty men to organized armies 10000
strong had defied the federal govern
ordination, and there was no national
leader to whom they might look.
The casual observer has been prone to
think that merely condition Of brigand-
age has held sway throughout Mexico.
But those who claim to know maintain
that Mexico is experiencing little more
than growing pains. 1t has passed through
a certain period of its growth Under
Diaz it had an awakening to the riches
it contained, and those riches were eX-
plotted to all the world. Men in authority
went money mad and the government
was run in the interest Of these exploiters.
The masses were not allowed to share in
the prosperity of the few.
Mexico has a population a large per
cent of which is illiterate and shockingly
poor. But it likewise has considerable
percentage of most cosmopolitan and cul-
tured people. Great numbers Of well-to-
do Mexicans send their sons to the United
States and to Europe for their educations.
These youngsters are quick and emotional
and ready to absorb the spirit of things
about them. They become imbued with
outside governmental ideas and preach
their gospels upon their return. Every
Mexican is by nature an agitator, and
journalism is his first love. So has the
spirit of better government finally gotten
to the very peon himself.
This condition offered a fertile soil for
the gospel of CarranZa Gradually the
simple declaration of the constitutional
we're leaders in different communities
who had flung the flag Of rebellion to
the breeze. but who were battling on no
broad. national basis. There was the
pulled together into concerted move
ment against the central government of
Huerta.
The rugged governor to the north
offered a. rallying point for all such. The
forces of CarranZa soon became SO strong
that the federal troops found themselves
bottled up in the fortified cities of Saltillo