The Washington herald., 1916-07-01
SEEN AND HEARD
BY GEORGE MINER


| New York, June ao.-There is one section of
Mexico that ! know would be quite willing to
have an American protectorate. That is Yucca
tan. Geographically and commercially Yucatan
is separated from the rest of the republic They
have hardly anything in common.
Even the people and the language are diff
ferent The native Yucatacean is the Maya In
dian and he more resembles the "greasers"
and Spaniards and Aztecs and Yaquis of the
mainland than an Englishman resembles China
man. The Mayas are a peaceful, agricultural,
clean and hard working lot. They not fight
ers nor do they start revolutions.
AT the present moment they are happy and
contented and we'll fed, while the populace in
other parts of the country is starving and ravag-
ed with loathsome epidemics.
In Yueatan Spanish is not the universal lang
uage OF the country as it is in the rest of Mex
ico Except in the larger places you rarely hear
1t spoken. They still talk the Maya language
which was spoken there when Columbus sailed
across the western ocean on his voyage of dis
covery, when the Saviour was born in Bethlehem
when Solomon built his temple and when the
blocks were being piled up to form the Egyptian
turies OF slavery and oppression have not obliter
ated that language SO it is safe to presume that
1t Will last through few Mexican revolutions.
As about 90 per cent of the population speak
nothing but Maya it is necessary for any one do
ing business with the poems there to learn il.
The majority OF the educated people in Yucatan
English fully as much they do in Mexico for
many OF the wealthy people have had their sons
and daughters educated in the United States.
Their trade is almost entirely with the United
States, as they export hardly anything but hene-
quen, which all comes to this country, and i'm
port nearly all their staples and manufactured
| articles from here
New Orleans is only three days away and
| there is steamship connection by freight boats
| two or three times week. while between Yucca
tan and Mexico proper, at Vera Cruz, steamer con-
nection is only once in two weeks. You can get
from Merida, the capital of Yucatan, to New
York in hve days
Now all these conditions have built up a
very close connection between Yucatan and the
United States. More than that it seemed to me
| that the Yucataceans rather liked Americans.
Certainly they don't have that venomous hate for
US that they have in Mexico. All the time |
was there did not hear the word "Gringo"
used once. American capital has not been ex-
plotted in Yucatan at the expense OF the people.
| Their lands have not been taken away from them
to give to rich foreign syndicates. They have
| no mines and oil lands to be monopolized by out
side capitalists and hard feelings have been
| brewed in consequence. The country is entirely
| agricultural and timber, and what land stealing
has been done in the past has been by Mexicsns.
Instead OF being sore at Americans they are
sore at the Mexicans. Therefore it is not strange
that at this juncture there should be a growing
sentiment in Iucatan in favor OF an American
protectorate, if not actually American annexation.
have talked with several prominent Y ;ataceans
within the last few days and they were u strong
ly in favor of it At least they seemed to think
it was the best way out of their present en-
barrassing position
Their suggestion is that Yucatan declare her
self free from Mexico and ask for American pro-
lection. At first glance it would seem that such
condition could be brought about easily enough
and that the hemp question would then be solved
and that's a very important question in case of
war; too. There is nothing else in all Mexico
that we need and that we cannot get along well
| enough without. But we must have their hemp.
Without it we would have way of making
| binder twine to harvest our wheat crop with
| Yucatan henequen is even more necessary to the
Ssss hefs tan !: cen saadoP 1 to
governor Of 4ucatan, to reckon with Gen. Al
varado captured the state little more than. a
and since then hf has given It gse
Mexico Me t' Where it is to be found and the people
love him for it That IS the M poor 20 people the
all the other leaders Of the revolution. =,
But Gen. Alvarado is not a Yucatacean: He
comes from Sonora, Up in the north of Mexico,
where most of the revolutionists come from and
he is loyal Mexican and devoted follower OF
Carranza doubt very much II he would CON
sent to any scheme which would separate Yucca
tan from the rest of the country. | imagine he
would consider himself traitor if ne took any
such step. II he was native OF fqGatan @ NJ. y.
Would oe quite oiHefeht' put nc - mo- nc Noti
there conqueror and sent by Carranza at
| that.
Also his entire army in Yucatan are not Yuca-
tacean troops. They are Sonora Indians that he
| brought down with him when he invaded the
country and their sympathies not with Yucca
tan but with Mexico So declaring Yucatan a
free state is not quite such a simple thing as it
might be- 1t would meet with no little opposition,
an opposition so pronounced that it might make
the scheme impracticable
Not All Music and Cheers.
! The martial spirit has 'gripped the nation.
Nothing short of a miracle can stop the inlpend-
ing calamity of war. The official announcement
| is not likely to be delayed many days-perhaps
not many hours. Then not only Europe, Asia
and Africa viii be engulfed in war, but practi-
cally the entire northern half of the Western
Hemisphere as we'll.
Once more it is time. And it is a ser-
Gus matter In the great rush of business build
ing the public is too prone to ignore the sober