The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1916-04-07
FORMER VILLA GENERAL SAYS
L. =. TROOPS SHOULD NOT
HAVE CROSSED BORDER.
THINKS WAR PROBABLE
Iptimates That Poems vii Not Stand
For Army Being on Soil over
Thirty Days.
CBy Walter Noble Burns)

leo will result IL American troops
remain thirty days longer on the
soil of the Mexican republic"
This opinion was given vigorous
expression today by Gen. Felipe An
geles, once the ablest lieutenant OF
Francisco villa, a graduate Of Cha
pultepec academy, instructor in
that West Point of Mexico, author
of authoritative works on artillery,
and ranked by military men as one
of the worlds cannon masters.
Calls Invasion Unwise.
ct was unwise to send American
troops into Mexico" said Gen. An
geles. at has resulted in an inter-
national crisis that is extremely
delicate. Mexico is powder maya
zine. A spark will explode it. The
longer the American troops remain
in Mexico the more dangerous the
friction between the two people will
become. War cannot be averted IL
the American army stays much
longer where it is. / should say the
resentment of the Mexican people
would explode in war in thirty days
IL the situation is not relieved"
Gen. Angeles discussed the Mexi-
can problem at his country home
five miles from Ell Paso. He lives
in a brick bungalow set in a grove
of cottonwood trees. From the
front porch one can see the sun
shining on silvery reaches of the
Rio Grande. Beyond rise the noun
tains of Mexico.
A General i'm Overalls.
The warrior of many revolutions
"a soldier of international reputa-
tion-was currying horse in the
shade of a tree. 1t was his old war
horse that had borne him through
the carnage at Torreon, Zacatecas,
Celayo, Leon, and Hermosillo. The
general was in blue overalls and
flannel shirt. The hero of hundred
fights is a dairy farmer.
81 regard President Wilson as an
honest man." said this Mexican Gin
cinnatus, seating himself in wick
er chair on his porch and making
no apologies for his home spun APP
pearance. 81 do not believe he is
playing politics. A man of his high
principles would not use Mexico as
a cat's-paw to pull his political am
billions out of the fire. / regard him
as a sincere friend of Mexico. / do
not believe he wished to send an
American army into Mexico. !
think he was forced into doing so
by the overwhelming sentiment of
the American people"
villa Raid Not for Vengeance.
"Why did Villa raid Columbus"
Gen. Angeles was asked.
81 have heard number of ex-
plantations advanced" was the an
swer. II have heard Villa believed
the twenty-six Mexican prisoners
who lost their lives when the Ell
Paso jail was destroyed by fire
were murdered as the result Of an
American plot and that the Column
bus raid was his revenge"
"Do you believe that?" he was
asked.
mo"
"Did Villa hope to draw interven-
ton by the United States in Mexican
affairs?"
"Villa is too fanatical to plan in
cold blood to bring new troubles on
his bleeding country. He has no
desire TO bring about Intervention"
Not Political Move.
Ibid he not possibly hope to |
unite all Mexican factions under his |
leadership against the hated grim
gos?"
THAT was not his motive"
WAS it sheer greed for plumber
that led him to sack Columbus?"
"Villa is never actuated by the /
instincts of a bandit. That may
sound strange to Americans who re-
gard him as nothing but a brig
and"
"What then was the motive that |
sent him on his murderous raid |
across the American line?
II think perhaps it was new
born hatred for Americans. He be-
lieves that in recognizing Carranza
and in ignoring his claims to supre-
macy in Mexican affairs, the United |
States did him an irreparable injus-
tice."
"Will the United States troops in
Mexico catch villa" Gen. Angeles
was asked.
"Nunca jamas." he replied en-
phatically, never"
''Why not?"
~ have fought through the re-