Evening star., 1914-05-17

An invading army would ind in It's en-
couragement the most effective way OF
prop.tiatiag the people \ century and a
half from now when some headway may
have been made in political Institutions
based on popular government the most
successful politician will be the one VIII"
begins and ends his campaign at the
hoile.
While the boile is SO much q part of the
social fabric Of the Mexican population
and shows the peon at his best. another
national habit exhibits him at his worst.
This is the p-ildue habit. The species OF
the cactus known as the maguey distlis
various forms of sottishness and misery,
but the most popular beverage. and th'
one which has done most to debase IN.
mass Of the population is the pulaue,
though this In its proper sta tie is as harm
less as fresh cider.
For the foreigner pulaue even in its
harmless state is an acquired taste, ahG
the requirement is not easy But for tn"
Indian peon it appears to be an inherited
II not an inherent appetite for raw alco-
hol.
II is one Of the economic. social and
poIitical problems of the future to curb
this appetite, for it does more damage to
the ueon population than feudal land
ownership Diaz knew this and succeeded
in spots Villa knows it and intends ne
roic remedial measures.
There is the peon woman to be consid-
cred about the same in war as III peace
She occupies the position of the Indian
woman almost everywhere. Shaving Tor
her man. doing much of his work as We'll
as her own, patient but never dreaming
OF equality except III sharing hardshlps
That she should form part of the army
fb..1t / a. Ii
!ista or Huertista. was the outcome not3
Of the conditions under which these ar
mics were organized and of the cohdi-
tlons Of life among the poems feo!.
women have been much more than camp
followers and now and then some of them
have taken part in the fighting. rms
does not mean that they are AmazonS,
but that when their men left them to ell
gage In the campaign they mad 10 go
along because there was no such thihs
as a place to stay in and get a living OUT
side the camp. even if they had not been
needed with the troops 10 provide tor
their men III the absence "i mihtaf!
commissarl.
The atrocities and excesses which
marked the fighting on both SIDES are
susceptible of explanation when me ma
ture of the population which engaged
In It is understood. Cruelty TO ami
mails is a trait that nobody VINO
mingles with these people can oNerlooh.
indians do not possess a monopoly of it.
Stoc!sm under suffering of ones self and
Indifference to the sufferings OF others
.s another characteristic.
Three years Of lighting in northern
Mexico have given siclening evidences OF
rne Indifference to human life-primeNal
Indifference brought to the surface by
the bloodshed
Few Of the officers and none of the
troops on either side ever heard OF Greek
culture or knew that when such civili-
zation was at its height the practice OF
killing prisoners OF war obtained. In
Mexico il was simply obeying the abo-
r.sinal instinct to kill ones enemy: and
il the enemy happened to he disarmed
and helpless that was no reason why he
should not be butchered.
Whether the coustitutionalsts the
federals did the more killing OF this kind
may be "A question but the fact of inn
portance is that the population accepted
il as a matter of course.
Much of the destruction of property