The sun., 1918-01-29

seem to preclude the possibility Of II
Until the United Estates shall have dis
prevailing conviction Of its weakness.
AND Mexicans are. starving as mover
before. for the corn crop Of the great
central plateau. which II the chief source
OF food for the masses in tho most
tnickly populated region Of the republic
has been 4 failure. Starvation IL the
chief recruiting agent alike for Car
ransas army and for every revolution
airy or bandit band, for the armed man
has better chance to eat than he who
has no rife.
Treasury IL Empty.
With An empty treasury and no credit
CarranSA cannot meet the expenses OF
the civil and military branches Of the
Government of which he Is the nominal
head. and lootinx as means Of main
terance II scarcely less necessary to his
Generals than to Villa or Zapata, and
most OF the Carranx!sta Generals are no
less rapacious than arc the avowed ban
dit leaders.
Cafransa seems to be honest and there
is no evidence Of his having taken ad-
vantage of his position to accumulate
fortune, but he has not the force to
establish order, an almost impossible
| task In the absence Of means to feed the
people and restore the country'a indus
tries 20 that the starving might return
to work. as they would only too gladly
do " afforded the opportunity for they
are sick of the endless bloodshed and
destruction that has been their daily
portion for so many years.
Plenty Of food and plenty OF work
would solve the Mexican problem over
I night. but there seems TO practicable
way Of supplying these desiderata until
they shall be offered by a victorious
United States that stands strong before
the world AZ the conQueror Of Germany
and the sincere friend Of all peoples.
/ Failure 81 carra.ss.
Carranxa in his efforts to evolve gov
ernment out ot the existing chaos 10 a.
earnest and as futile as a dog chasing
his tall and gets nowhere. While NOM
inal head Of the Government he Is not
the strongest or most popular man In the
public eye. That place is occupied by
Gen. Pablo Gonzales. newly appointed
Secretary of Government and COM
mander Of the Federal army. numbering
somewhere between 10000 and $4,000
men. Gonzales is reputed to be honest
and in the general opinion it is his
loyalty that keeps Carrsnza at tho head
Of the Government. II Carranza's help
less organization may be called n gov
ernment.
In controlling that unpaid army as
he has. Pablo Gonzales has shown no
mean ability. Each OF its myriad Gen.
erals has his own particular ambition
. agreeing only III one general demand
for money. OF which tho Government hai
. little and the deficit must be made w
30 far a. may be by looting. Down
through the rank and file OF the army
looting prevails, but when too excessively
carried on It provokes the complaints
of the citizens and hurts the Frs
Chiefs popularity, at the same time
stirring the victims to retaliation. witt
the result that the country Is full o
brigandaec, under revolutionary chief
tains owins no aliesiance to Carransa
under avowed bandit leaders. and under
. CaTranEe's own officers. who are otter
the most rapacious of all.
; A Darren Expedieat.
} To mitigate the scarcity OF money tn,
, army and the Government employees
{ some time since voluntarily agreed T.
donate to the Government half Of thei
, pay, but, strange as II may seem. de
/, | spite this heroic exped!ent their pay Il
r now two months in arrears.
t The money OF the country is at pres
!, ent gold and silver. all the paper none,
Of the past having been retired by tn
: simple process Of gathering II In an,
burning II. The bills Of tho banks o
:. issue chartered In ths time Of Porfiri'
{ Dias, which were secured by bullion II
the banks vaults. were declared illegal
. Carranxa's officials took possession o
the Bank Of London and Mexico and tn
. Bank Of Mexico. seized the bullion ant
. burned such bills Al they found Of
nrf, Ao tho AR,
J. Of money and demanded that all SAT
Q deposit boxes be opened for inspection
q Owners Of boxes falling TO appear as or
: dered the boxes were opened by me
}. chanics and any gold and silver foun
Z In them oonNscated. The bills Of thos
. banks stun In circulation retain a Ger
. tain value for payment Of contract
: specified In that particular money. al
. though. their bullion guarantee has dis
= appeared.
The silver dollar (peso) has disar
!. peared and the next coin to the gol
peso piece 10 the silver half dollar. Q
'toston." The dollars went into III
melting pot when their bullion valu
rose above their currency value, Govern
y msnt DEGREES to the contrary notwitt
. standing.
b New Bank Being FsrneS.
!. They are now making an effort to or,
IA ate q central bank Of issue with eli
J. cuia tion medium Of 100000 900 In bill
II and the American Bank Note Conpan
= is printing tho bills. which are to
= secured by bullion II they can get
!. ana to that end inspired meetings ,
n Government employees are being hel
throughout the republic to collect volul
A. tary contributions for the bank.
!. Al the employees are already. ~ hi
II been mentioned above, contributing
. per cent. Of their pay 70 the Cover
0. mont, and - the people have had
70 vide experience In various paper issu
= OF succeeding Governments these NEE
q. ings are not pregnant with large prou
" ise.
M There II no general banking busine
,u being done In Mexico to-day. The 70