The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1915-03-04

me. With the courage instilled in him
by such an array of force, Villa shame
fully insulted me and hurled baseless,
notifying and criminal charges at
me.
With shame and Indignation had
to be a spectator of all these outrages
because did not have sufficient force
to halt the reign Of murder and rob.
berry that Villa conducted"
The flight of Gutierrez from Mexico
City, accompanied by many prominent
men in the so-called Convention
party, strikingly illustrated to the
world the impossibility Of this or any
other kindred government ruling in
Mexico that was not subservient to the
wishes of Villa
The abandonment Of Gutierrez and
the other prominent men of the Con-
vention party has left Villa isolated
and alone and made the issue in Mexi-
CO now definite and certain. Il is:
Shall Villa be allowed to become the
dictator of the country, or shall the
people themselves rule?
The outlook In Mexico at present
Is really encouraging, though the con-
fusion attendant upon military opera.
tions has served to make this country
consider the situation more dark than
ever before. All the patriotic ele-
ments in Mexico are rallying to Car
ranZa's standard Villa with his own
division of the army is fighting the
rest of the nation and an indication
of what his movement really signifies
is the fact that he has invited all the
old Federal army officers against
whom the Madero revolution and its
successor that drove Huerta from pow
or was waged, to join him.
World conditions are such that no
government in Mexico can exist with
out the friendship of this country and
without its moral and financial help.
In a sense then, Americans are in duty
bound to look upon the situation in
Mexico from an intelligent and SYM
pathetic angle.
Carranza Misunderstood.
Carranza has been grossly misun-
derstood in this country. He is
man of probity, clean living and In
tense patriotism. He is not wealthy
man. He has reared his family in
comfort, having made his living from
the raising of cattle. He himself has
visited the United States many times.
He has had his family educated in
this country. Every man whom he
has selected to become member of
his Cabinet he has first sent to this
country to become acquainted with the
idea, system and plan of
conducting the Office he is about to as
sumo.
Carranza is unmilitary, educated,
having taken law degree, intensely
Mexican, and whole-heartedly desir-
GUS of helping the downtrodden peon
to obtain "his chance in life" Villa
contrastingly is uneducated, ignorant,
brutal, unrestrained in his passions, !
totally unappreciative Of the needs of 1
his country and is simply riding his /,
vanity to what he hopes will be the !
of Mexico. I
Illustrative of the character of the |
two men is the fact that Carranza, not /
even to gain valuable political ends, I
would stultify himself to the extent of /
currying favor with the Washington I
administration as long as our troops |
were at Vera Cruz. His feelings of
he kept locked in his heart
until the time he deemed proper to
express them. Villa, on the other
hand, has been one thing to this
and another to Mexico. He
ngly express his regard and friend
ship for this country and the admin
stration, while In Mexico he has at
empted to gain recruits for his army
oy demagogically declaring that the
United States intends to annex Mexico
md that he in the role of his country's
savior calls upon the ex-Federals to
DIN him in resisting the invasion that
le announces soon is to come. Villa
S forced to make this explanation to
lis own troops because otherwise they
would keenly resent the presence of
hese Huertistas in their ranks.
Carranza and the Constitutionalist
ause has been assailed in this coun-
ry as being not only Anti-Catholic,
nut Anti-Religious. The true facts
how both these accusations to be
alse. The Constitutionalist cause is
pposed to any church taking part in
he politics of the country and is We
emently opposed to its aligning itself
nth the reactionaries and privileged
asses, as unfortunately the Catholic
lurch has done since the colonization
Mexico by the Spaniard.
Rafael Zuberan Capmany, former
gent of the Constitutionalists In
and now minister of the
terror In Carranza's Cabinet, stated
the following manner the Constitu-
onalists' position in this respect:
Church Question.
Let the. Catholics of America un-