The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1915-10-21


& morist. He halted the train loni
n enough TO fire two cannot shots ovel
S the sleeping camp. Then he ordere,
n the train ahead and went his way.
s This is the nearest approach 70 be
q ing under fire that Venustiano Car
t rama has been to this day. TIE effect
: on the camp that February afternoon
e was electrical; ii stampeded it. In the
!, haste Of the men to saddle their horses
S the satehel Of gold and currency was
j upset and its contents spilled on the
t ground. Several horses were ridden
over the money as they were spurred
e away
!. The party raced for three miles.
Y Finding they were not pursued, few
; of them ventured back and gathered
! up the money from the leaves and dirt,
/, the others waiting for them in the
. edge of the hills. All but Carranza.
Carranza kept on--on to Monclova, a
i small city in the State Coahuila, and
then through the mountains to his
} home town of Cuatro Cienegas, where
he halted for breath. He had travelled
J 140 miles since he left Saltillo-by
horse, by train, by hand-car, and by
mule. His party camped that night at
Gaudaloupe, small hacienda sixteen
miles from the scene of the stampede.
1t was here that the declaration of
high ideals was dated. 1t became the
Plan Of Guadalupe. 1t was framed by
the men Carranza left behind as he
J fled to the seclusion of his home at
Cuatro Cienegas. A messenger
brought it to him two days later for
his approval and signature. The
haunting sense of fear had lessened.
He knew that his bridges were burn
ed, that now he was among the men
Huerta had marked for certain death.
He pondered the plan and wavered.
Should he join this rattle-brain enter
prise in opposition to man-killer like
Huerta or make good his escape?
Then the politician in Carranza awoke.
The dead Madero was the most potent
influence in Mexico; he, Carranza,
would ride this influence into power.
By careful management he could
keep out of harms way himself.
Fighting men in plenty would come
forth to lead the battles if they saw
plunder waiting on victory. But this
provision for immediate confiscation
of all land which the plan contained
this must be modified. He held too
many acres Of his own.
He struck confscation from the
plan, signed it, and sent it to the
camp. The trainers refused to accept
it in such form. A revolution in Mex
leo which could not confscate, they
said, was a lost cause from the start.
Carranza then went to the camp him
self and argued the case. His associ-
ates were firm. Finally they compro-
missed, and the document, with its pro-
vision to take away property from
traitors" who had it and give it to
patriots" who had not, went forth
from print shop in Torreon as Car
ranza's manifesto to the nation-his
declaration of high ideals.
Bryan seized upon it as a solution
to the puzzle which he had found
waiting him as he crossed the sill of
the State Department on the 4th Of
March.
1t was after this manner that Venu-
stiano Carranza emerged from obscur-
ity in Mexico and set out to achieve a
place in the sun. 1t was this support
and nothing else which brought about
Carranza the semblance of leadership.
The method of the Carranzistas is a
clean sweep; what they cannot carry
away or store up for sale they de-
stroy; grain in storage and growing
corn in the fields, farm implements,
imported farm machinery, immense
power plants and railway systems of
haciendas, sugar mills, -four mills, cot
ton mills, house furnishings, costly ir-
rigation systems and great storage
reservoirs for water by which alone
the arid lands can be made productive,
hacienda residences and peon houses
whatever the evil spirit of destruction
could vent itself upon-millions Of
dollars worth of equipment essential
to the agricultural and industrial life
of the nation, built up slowly and
painfully during more than a half
century. This is the Carranza way.
The course Of the villistas, while quite
! as brutal, has not been one of utter
annihiliation; they have not made a
practice Of burning factories, coal
mines, warehouses, and the huts and
novels of the poor.
Not much has been printed Of this
wanton wiping out by the Carranzistas
. Al