Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-05-20

metal money in such an exchange:
there is not by any means enough con-
fdence in the stability OF the Carranza
regime.
Graft Going On.
The problem Is not to provide the
gold, but to make sure that after it was
gathered into the federal strong box as
"a reserve against the new notes. It
would stay there. II is generally be-
lieved that yCarranza himself is-entitled
to: all confidence in the honesty of his
intentions. but to very little in his ad-
ninistrative capacity. or in the honesty
Of his subordlnates. Despite all efforts
to the contrary. the impression Is that
a good deal Of graft is going on, and
that many Of the influential subordi-
mates of Carranaa are doingSeverythinS
possible sto. feather their own nests,
against the time when his regime will
break down, and they will want to get
out Of the country with their accumu-
lations. as Diaz did, and as Huerta
more recently did. ~"
Nobody believes, apparently, that
Carranza himself has any notion OF this
sort. Whatever else may be said. OF
him as q ruler he is believed to be hon
est and to want to serve his country.
He merely doesn't know how. But the
idea that he is piling up a private
horde in Havana. Madrid, London or
New York. and Intends to go where bis
treasure is whenever Mexico gets too
hot to hold him. is entertained In no
serious quarter. Carranza viii go down
with the ship: he Is far more likely to
lose than to make a fortune, according
to general estimate. ,
But not so good an opinion is enter
tanned for many Of his influential un-
derlings. Concerning some Of them
most impressive stories are in circula-
ton. regarding the funds they have
sent out Of the country and the prep
arations they, have made for the get
away whenever it shah become de-
sirable as an insurance OF their prect-
Gus skins.
Banks Fear Treasury Looting.
For these reasons banking Interests
in Mexico are not anxious to give up
their gold to create a national currency
reserve that they fear may be looted.
AS the banking interests are to a large
extent controlled outside Mexico, 1t is
natural that in such a crisis they rely
on protection from their own home gov
ernments. This Is the condition that
force Intervention than any other
i There is a mighty serious difficulty,
however, about foreign interposition In
such matter. Carranza Is employing
very much the same measures to mob
ilize Mexican gold, that Germany, Aus
|tria, Russia, and even France, employed
when the European war broke out. Two
years ago there might have been good
ground Tor foreign iT.ts:. :>;s..tsofi Pie
vent what would have been. described
as an effort to confiscate the gold OF
the banks thruout the country. But the
enlightened nations OF Europe have
done very much the same thing. True,
they were able to do It thru suasion
and appeals to patriotism; but IL those
motives had not succeeded there is
little doubt that they would have used
sterner measures. BY these processes
Germany Is able today to show big
ger balance Of gold in the banks than
when the war started; the other war
ring countries do the same.
Sauce for the goose. the Mexican
4 flnanciers of Carranza's encourage are
insisting, is sauce for the gander: II
measures of very insistent persuasion
may properly be employed by Euro
pean countries to get their gold stocks
firmly in hand and to make them most
available, why not in Mexico? How
4 can England or Germany protest
against the recognized government Of
1 Mexico aeing t,Ist what the recognized
Igovernments OF England and Germany
did within the last two years?
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