Evening star., 1914-11-22
TURMOIL IN MEXICO
DUE TO JEALOUS|ES
Inability to Get Local Chiefs to
Recognize Supreme Heads
Main Difficulty.
EACH SEEKS CONTROL
IN HIS OWN DISTRICT
Charles N. Pepper Writes of Prob
lens Confirming Those Who Pro-
pose Permanent Government.
BY CHARLES M. PEPPER.


inaIly the first chief. the real trouble Is
to get the local chiefs to recognize any
supreme head. They are Jealous of the
control in their own districts.
The self-selected convention of the
military leaders at Aguascalientes for
time seemed likely to solve the difficulty.
| They wrote their names on the flag. and
swore allegiance to it. but many of them,
apparently, with mental reservation as
to the standard which should be raised
in their particular bailiwicks.
| Americans who have had means of
knowing Gen Carranza's characteristics
and the difficulty of anybody getting
along with him, have been surprised that
| so many influential generals have seemed
| to continue their allegiance. Events are
likely to show that this allegiance was
| not to Carranza, but to their own inter-
ests. Few of them are willing to
| subordinate themselves to Villa-that is,
few of those who held commands inde-
pendent Of Villa and his army Of the
| north.
| Problems for Villa.
| Should Villa succeed in taking Mexico
City, as those who know his military
tactics and the thoroughness with which
he makes his preparations believe he will.
the question will be how many revolts
he will have to put down in different
sectious of the country. The personal
| LOYALTY Of the commanders who were with
| Villa from the start and their devotion
| to his fortunes cannot be questioned. but
| it must be borne in mind that while the
victory OF Torreon foreshadowed the sue
cess of the revolution against Huerta.
| hNy
the troops under Gems. Gonzales and
| Cabalerro at Tampico, and by Gen
| Obregon on the Pacific coast.
| Few of the successful, military leaders
| in these regions are ready to yield their
authority to Villa or to any one else
Their support Of Carranza was based on
the know ledge that in spite of his tenn
permanent. or possibly because of 1t, he
could exercise little real control in their
districts
The trouble ahead has its roots in one
of the main causes of the revolution
which at the same time was one of the
| sources of success. This is the poems
allegiance to his local chieftain. 1t is
the old tribal idea of the caciQue, or
| head of the tribe.
influence Of Local Leaders.
| In widely separated sections Of Mexi-
CO 1t was possible to combine the poems
and make headway against Huerta
through the local leaders starting re-
volts The land monopoly was a uni
versal grievance, but the peon did not
view it beyond his own horizon. He
| followed the local chief, whether
bandit or an educated enemy Of Huerta,
with the motive of righting his wrongs.
| but without much thought of the
wrongs of the peon hundreds OF miles
away.
| hi ihra hpa northern
outside of this section he has never
| had strong support. Gen. Obregon has
kept the Pacific coast revolutionists
intact as a body of his own followers,
| tent done the same thing In the north
east Gen. Carranza himself. in his
! own state of Coahuila. has had less
| success, but this has been because Tor
has dominated there.
| Villa, in order to establish himself
throughout the whole country. must
split the supporters of Obregon and
This he can accomplish possibly by
appealing to the sentiment of jealousy
and encouraging ambitious chiefs to
upset the authority of their supreme
chief.
The Pacific coast is the most serious
problem for any government at the
capital. 1t is practically independent
of all central authority and the diff
/
Sierra Madres increases its independ-
ence Lower California not long ago
was reported to have denied allegiance
to all the factions. and to be running
| a local government of its own
| The state of Sinaloa is generally un-
derstood to be opposed to Villa gain
ling any foothold. and to be fairly unan-
imous in supporting Gen. Obregon
Sierra Madres and took part In the
campaign were the best type of revolu-
tionary troops that were encountered.
They showed little fellowship with
Villas troops.
No Real Peace in Sonora.
Sonora is more in the public view
than any of the other sections Of
Mexico, because there never has been
real peace there. The daily re-
ports of the activities of Maytorena
and Hill, at Naco, on the border OF
| Arizona, and of their battles. have
some of the elements Of comedy, yet
does not nevertheless, escape observa-
ton that both the military leaders
keep near the American border, which
some day may afford refuge or
safe exile for one or the other of them.
villa has an advantage in Sonora
in that his man is in actual authority
so long as any authority may be SAID
to exist. Gov. Maytorena has Villas
never has been q Viliaista.
| liaytorena is affiliated by marriage
and by business connections with the
old cientitico group. His position has
been a peculiar one. In q mild way
he was in favor of reform under the
Diaz regime. but not to the extent Of
endangering himself Madero once
visited him. and was Hospitality en-
tertained.
| Gen. Carranza, in his wandering
career, crossed the Sierra Madres with
a small band Of troops. and the
Sonora campaign was one OF the first
| to succeed. Factional differences then
asserted themselves, but SO long as
lCarranza and his cabinet were In
Sonora their supreme authority was
recognized.
Main Antagonist of Villas Plans.
Isnacio Bonillas. the civil engineer.
who became minister of public works
in Carranza's provisional cabinet and
who is by far the ablest civilian in
Carranza's encourage. has been the
chief antagonist Of Villas land policies
Senior Bonillas has opposed wholesale
confiscation and has suggested COM
pensation. in some cases, to the big
land owners. His plans have also pro-
vided for cultivation Of the land, ac-
cording to q scientific system.
When Gov. Maytorena refused to
place himself in the power of the Car
ranzaistas by giving up his troops,
Gen. Carranza sought to dfspossess him