El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-21

- - +Iere vas explained to him article
300 OF the law of penal proceedings
in time Of war. capt. AlaiIaho AaInez
W. med TO defend him Loyalty.
All 4-15 the president declared the
Z tribunal in session ana open Tor pub
4 lie session. Capt EDUARDO Andalon
E read articles 3O3 and 312 of the law of
! reDal nrocedure in time of war and
, explained the organization Of military
I courts and asked those present II they
( had any objection to oIier 10 the Tor
. nation of the court and the procedure.
Tbe witnesses were then called. They
I were Mai Manuel z. Banda and en-
/ giEeer Andres I. Farlas. The court
I theD commenced the examination of
: the prisoner William Benton, said to
/ be a native of Scotland, England, As
( years Of age, a rancher and resident
of EI Paso, Texas, where ne mas his
/ residence. and then, after he had been
Ladvised to tell the truth about the
I whole affair he said:
Benton Gives His Version.
4 That today at 10 o'clock or II o'clock
I in the morning he came 10 see Gen.
/ Villa to tell him that reyOluuOnlStS OF
/ at times parties Of bandits, mad done
( much damage to his ranch, Los Rene
I dos DESTROYING property and stealing
/ cattle and that he came afterwards to
I tell general Villa of those things and
/ how they We're
Meant no Harm to villa.
I He said that general Villa made
] charges that he had lent aid to the
! federals and the OrOzquistas and that
/ he desired him to quit the country, al
/ the same time paying the price, where
( upon he said to the general that this
J was not lust and several Other Things
/ that annoyed the general, but that he
I did not have any intention OF doing
any harm to the general, that he did
/ not use any arms, but on the contrary
/ he believed that the general thuOghf
5Ia.1 To 10
protested that he did not have and
! never did have any bad intentions
toward the general, or anyone else. He
{ also declared that he did not have any
thing to do with Huerta or the Reds
I being Indifferent to the politics Of the
country, which was all that he had to
say.
Witnesses Examined Separately.
The Witnesses were examined sep
alately. Mai Banda said that he was
% years of age and single He said at
II o'clock in the morning he was in
the room occupied by Gen. Francisco
Villa as his home and office IN the
house, No. SO LerdO avenue when
foreigner, the same who is sitting
here, came in and said to Gen. Villa,
that he came to make complaint that
the rebels had committed destruction
on his property, Los Remedies.
Villa Makes Charges.
At which he said Gen. Villa replied
that it was not advisable for him TO
come to this side of the border, for II
was too well known that he was an
active sympathizer of the enemy, to
whom he had given help in many ways;
giving information of the movement of
our forces; intimate friendships with
the principal Red Flag" chiefs, (Sala-
gar and OrOZco); and CHASING or con-
sidering the "COnstitutiOnalists" as
rebels and bandits
Villa continued that on account of
the fact that he was a foreigner, his
property had not been confiscated;
but that he would be forced TO forbid
him to return to Mexican territory to
cause danger to the republic, as he was
an element to destroy order and peace.
Says Benton became Angered.
At this, the said stranger ansW ered
in hard and violent words, saying that
there was no human power that could
Oblige him to live outside OF Mexico
and leave his property to suffer by dep
relation and robbery, as it had already
suffered.
says benton Drew Pistol.
Then he declared that ne was as good
man as Gen Villa, and IN that mo-
ment when he said this to Cen villa,
he pulled the pistol that was in the
back pocket of his trousers.
Villa Strikes Benton.
But the general was ready, and he
jumped for him. With one hand he
struck him and the persons who We're
present 1eaped upon him so that ne
might not make an attempt against the
BENTON Arrested.
Following this, the general ordered
him arrested, giving him into the
charge of the military commander
Following the arrest, Investigations
were started to see what part he had
taken in the struggle now going on in
the republic, and it was found that
the public knows he is a sworn enemy
Of our cause, aiding the federal army
not only morally but materially and, in
the time just preceding the OrOzcO
revolution, we learned that he did all
he could to aid this government
against MaderO.
7 was beside Gen. Villa when this
took place and am firmly convinced
that if there had not been a body Of
officials and friends near the general,
it would have been possible for the
stranger to aSSaSSInate him. I swear
that this declaration is the truth"
SweGrs Benton Drew Pistol.
Following this Sr. Engineer Farias
was questioned and answered that his
name was the same as above, is mar
ried, engineer by profession, SO years
or age and a citizen of TOrreOn, COah.
Questioned as to what he knew re-
sarding the incident he replied as fol-
lows: This morning, at an iuoD-
perfume moment, a stranger entered
the apartments occupied by Gen Villa.
I supposed it was the William Benton
who is now present He was talking
with the general about some matter of
which I took no notice until he be-
came violently excited and told the
general that he was as much a man
as he, the general, that his, Villas,
men had robbed him and then, in an
aggressive way pulled a pistol, which
he had in the rear pocket OF his panta-
looms but, fortunately, the general
Jumped upon him, giving him at the
same time, a blow on the head.
Benton Enemy of Rebels
"At that moment the persons present
interviewed and 1 am sure that, had it
not been for their action, Gen villa
would have been the victim of the said
Benton. Then Benton was arrested"
Then the witness was asked if he
knew, or asked to say what he knew
about the participation of VIM. Benton
in the present civil war. He answered
that Benton is pblicly known as an
enemy of the "COnstitutionaIist" move
ment and has always been on the side
of the federals Of Cen VictorianO
-erta, as he has lent them very gen
erOusly all sorts Of help, giving them
news of the movements of our forces.
feeding the horses of the federals and
giving them in general all sorts of IA
cilities to aid the infamous work
which they are carrying on. This was
not only known to the federals, but to
the general pbilc. To carry on this he
hid under the character of foreigner.
Demanded Death Penalty.
Following this the president of the
council conceded the floor to the agent
of the public ministry, who made an
exposition Of the dOings, reviewing the (