Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1916-01-27
PASSING OF
Noted Mexican Who Has Just Passed
IN 81, Checks"

IN So CheckS,
There are " difficulties in lha
way Of determining history'S estimar,
iof Nir1oriano Huerta One was his
life and The other vas his death. The
peou Of ColaJan. the h~aif,breed tadt.
an, lived a p~lunde7er and died a
dVunkaTd II Was said Of him SRA,
he fought Ike an Indian, lived tx
an Indian and thought lie an Iodi
AN. He cared no more about ;hy
ytriu" Of women than the life OF e.
man or HE looung of a treasury,
For all shat. Huerla was entitled to
wear the red badge Of courage" He
did NOT know the meaning of fear. He
WAS a brave soldier, a capable general
and he taught two administrations a
Washington that he Was a willy din
tomat. Carranza. although recognized
has not dared to enter his capital
Huerta, in the days when his Tresi-
dency was crumbling, when he knew
that the play was over and the cur
tain was about to be rung down. when
he was besiesed on all sides and
traitors surrounded him, defed his
enc mes and stood by his guns.
When he decided TO quit The cant
tai, he knew there was small chance
that he would ever return. But he
Went with dignity and in the sight of
all men. There was no lodging
around corners or skulking down back
alleys. The farewell to his congress
and his people was his resignation of
the presidency. Then. with an escort
of troops BETTING his rank and sta .
ton, he went aboard 4 German war
ship, and from its deck saw for the
last time the country which he had
so much TO ruin. The world de-
spises a coward, but has some re-
spect. wen admiration. for him who
no man.
The immediate and remote cause
Of Huerta's death was his own exces-
He drank enough brandy each
day 10 kill an ordinary man in a
month. He drank it before breakfast
and all day. and brandy was the mar
2otic that soothed him to sleep at
night. Because of his lowly birth
and because OF his life and living,
supposed that Huerta was ig-
and illiterate.
Not so. He had great native ability
was discovered by a parish
and developed. Born in 1854.
le entered the Chapultepec Military
academy in 1872 and was graduated
With honors in the Corps OF Engineers !
4 the army. He was a natural math- !
matician and an eminent to~pograph-
r. He had a concise style in writ
ng, and no mean ability in putting ,
is w case. More than once he :
lade the American state department Z
finee by his adroit replies to Ameri- :
an notes. His argument was fascin- !
ting. his logic almost Irresistible. t
as he was in pleading a bad
n cannot but speculate on
hat he might have done in arguing 4
righteous one.
It is doubted, however, if it was in
ne makeup of Victoriano Huerta to
spouse a good and a great cause. By
irth he was too ignoble and by tastes
e was too low. He lived for gain. =
excuses and for lust. Yet he had c
\ his nature a strain of true loyalty S
lie was loyal to Diaz, he was loyal :
de la Barra and he was loyal to !
rebel Madero, the only rebel Ii
gainst whom he ever served-until @
e killed him. 2
In Diaz, Mexica had a developer X
nd a despot. In Madero, it had an 81
impractical idealist. In Huerta, it d
ad a man of courage, muchS ability u
nd a debauched libeTtine. In Car 8
MA DIT has nothing. Mexico and the
ord will remember Diaz and Huer.
!, when Madero is forgotten and
arrnnza is despised--Minmeapolis