Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-31

not fully established. The answer is in
the totally different conditions.
There is no such thing pioneer
population in Mexico, made up of self
reliant individuals, all having property
of their own, or the prospect of property,
and all equally interested in MAINTAINING
law and order. The big hacienda owners
under their feudal system can organize
and sometimes do organize-their poems
into defensive force when they have
sufficient notice of threatened attack
TIL. ranch owners always have their
own yauueros though sometimes these
COWBOYS themselves become the bandits.
But in Mexico, as in every Spanish-Amer-
lean country. authority as represented
either by a central power or by local
police power takes the place of IN
dividual initiative. particularly in emer-
gencies, and the difficulties in the way of
the complete control of brigandage by the
authorities are many.
Porfirio Diaz, in the early years of his
autocratic sway, by Stablishing the
rurales or mounted rural police. and
making bandits officers of the law. to
hunt down and extermlnate other oandlts,
did much for the pacification of the coun-
try 1t was protecting life and property
and keeping order without an overnce
regard for the forms of civil authority
Those of us who were wont to praise this
system are perhaps estopped from critf-
cising what his successors may do.
Fault is found with Diaz because at the
end of thirty years of absolutism
brigandage still existed and this is cited
as evidence of the failure of his policy.
But the existence of the anti-horse thief
society in Oklahoma today might as well
be cited as evidence of the failure of state
authority there.
Here is an example. Cen Villa is to-
day in complete military control of the
state of Chihuahua Many former
brigands who roamed through the dls-
ttict are held at Fort Wingate by the
American military authorities. They are
part of Huerta's federal army, who
crossed the Rio Grande as refugees after
the battle of Oginaga. Other brigands
are part Of Villas own troops and under
strict discipline. Consequently it would
seem that there now should be no bandles
in Chihuahua. Yet two separate bands.
that of the Quevedo brothers and or
Gutierrez-are robbing ranches, driving
off cattle, footing and burning property.
This shows how difficult the extermina-
ton of brigandage is. Moreover, these
that authority on one side of the border
seems no weaker than on the other side.
In the best days of the D1aZ rule, not
withstanding the natural encouragement
to brigandage. the rurales made most OF
the country safe for travel. Some years
ago, before the railroad was completed
from the Pacific coast at Manzanilla to
the junction with the extension from
Guadalajara. I made the trip over the
gap from Colima on horseback 1t was
the main travelled route. There had been
reports of some trouble along the way.
but of a rather vague sort.
A small party was going across and
was invited to wait and accompany them.
but this would have meant delay OF
two or three days. On my explaining to
the landlord of the hotel my desire to
push forward he remarked: You can go
alone The rurales will be on the look
out I'll send a muleteer with you to
look after your baggage.
We left Colima early in the. morning,
but the baggage mule went lame in the
great barranca or canyon of Beltran. and
the muleteer, giving me the direction to
follow after getting out Of the canyon,
dropped behind Crossing the mesa be-