Iditarod pioneer., 1916-04-22
THE DEATH OF VILLA

If t prove to be true that the bandit Villa has met his dl ath. the mission of the United States expedi- ton into Mexico will in a measure have been accom- plished, and with the capture and punishment of the other members of the gang engaged in the raid on Columbus, which entaed the death of American cit izens. it may reasonably be expected that the men of Funston's command will be withdrawn. This will no doubt depend to some extent on whether or not other and more serious complications arise, such as the recent firing on the troops by civilians. 1t IS probable that the desire of President Wilson and hIs advisers is to evacuate the country at the earliest possible moment
 E,lt with the death of Villa the Mexican troubles are by no means at an end. It now seems probable that another revolution IS blossomIng into flower, headed by Felix Diaz, and that he IS rapidly acqur- ing following. Thus will the anarchIshc condl- tiors be prolonged until the United States, in sheer dissertation, may feel called upon to undertake the task of rehabilitatng the republlc-a task which mutt be d;stasteful to everyone except the toregn car taIists, American and European, who lay claim to such large proportion of the rich resources ot a rich but misgoverned land To these it will seem the dufy of the United States government to place them ip possession of their holdings even at the cost of war.
 Il is coming to be understood that the trouble in Mexico never will be settled until the land question itself IS settled attempt made at settling It. Under the long rule of Diaz the counrys resources were disspated Tn the interest of foreigners, mdl- 4ciual and corporation. until the MeXcans were m a condition no better than serfdom It was Villa announced intention to give the land back to the people that gave him such popularity with the masses of the Mexicans in the northern portion of the republic Had he been possessed of the neces- salv education, ability and statesmanship to carry out his plans as he had the ability to carry on the speces of guerrilla warfare which has devastated M xco, there is little doubt that the solution of the ''fIexcan problem" would have been found. The peons whose abject condition led them to prefer th irregular life of followers of the several revo- lutionsts' to that of labor upon the plantations for the barest necessities of fe will not now be sats- fled until the great estates are broken up and the rich and productive lands be used for the benefit of th2 many instead of for the enrichment of the few. An understanding of the conditions prevailing in Mexico can be gained from a recent magazine arti- cie, which says n part:
 In the United States the farmer an humble person. in Mexico king of miionaires You look level plain and magnificent house of and tim
 r covering sometimes as much as half an acre Srroundnc
 other houses hundreds of them, but all small constructed oi udo,p, cornstaks You looking but ranch settlement In the great house which costs many than all the little houses put together Hives the hacndado and his family In the little houses live the peo
 The typical farm Mexico of l60 but of million In the of Morelos twenty eight hacendado all the cultural land; twelve enths of it. The territory of Qnana Roo, double the of Massachusetts divided eight companies The portion of Iucatan held by thirty kings of sisal hemp major fraction of the agricultural and grazing lands of Chihuahua owned by family Lower California equal in size Alabama is nearly all held by five porations