Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-08-08
REBELSNOW RULE
! HALF OF MEXICO
Official Information Shows Car
rama Barely CIings to Con.
troll Over Rest.
HAS ONLY $4,000 TROOPS
President Is TOO Weak to Keep Order
as Bandits Harass Whole Country
Industry Snuffed Out and
Morale at Low Ebb.

New York-The Mexican problem
was never more Troublesome. tuud!'
lions in that revolution-racked lana
were never more chaotic than they are
today. Carranza now controls HNte
more than one-half Of Mexican terri
tory and his hold on that is not ~ all
secure. Opposed to him are six organ
lied rebel organizations, not including
the Sonora Yaquis, while everywhere
his authority is hampered and bis
troops harassed by organized ban
ditry.
Bearing upon actual conditions I'm
Mexico the New York Times has CONS
into possession Of certain Information
now IN the official possession of 'h"
United States government. Ner!l"a-
ton of these statements which folio"
is to be found in the archives ef The
government IN Washington.
Carranza has officially claimed That
he is supported by a regular army VI
10000 well disciplined ana Wen
equipped troops. This statement is
net borne out by the facts in the c0~e.
and the truth of the matter is thar his
armed forces number not more tlWn
10000 officers and enlisted men, who
are poorly equipped whose moral" IS
at low ebb. yet upon whose loyalty de-
ponds Carran2a's sway over people
who number more than 1l5,oe0Wo
Today the Coahuila "chieftain" j., eX-
ercising authority in those parts u
Mexico not under rebel or bandit
domination as a dictator and through
the PRONUNCIATION OF executive DEGREES.
OF the great American horder-line Car
rama is in control of not much more
than one-third, while the whole Of
southern Mexico IL severed from fed
eral control" by a stretch Of rebel-con-
trolled territory that on the Atlantic
extends from the rich oil lands If Tam
r.co almost to the City of Vera Cruz,
and on the Pacific by the entire coast
line Of the great state Of 0aXnca.
Lower California has become ia ali In
tents and purposes Independent Of the
that sits in Mexico City.
Three General Divisions.
The contending forces In Mexico
may be referred to under three gem
eral heads. They are:
forces.
Second-The rebel forces led hY
Felipe Angeles, Francisco villa, GULL
ermo Meixuerio, full-blooded Zapotcc
Indian, ana by many well-inforIned OBJ
servers considered the ablest and most
Trustworthy leader in Mexico; Felix
Daz, Manuel Pelaez, who dominates
the Tampico and adjacent oil fields;
the Zapatistas, STILL despite Carranza
affirmation, power In that part Of
Mexico of which the state Of MoreloS
is the center; General Cantu, governor
of the state of Lower California, ana
the organized Yaqu Indian forces Of
the western part Of the border state Of
Sonora.
Third-The bandits who, in small
groups, are operating everywhere in
Mexico.
AS to the first or federal forces sup
porting Carran2a, 1t Is, as already
pointed out, the official claim Of Tie
present Mexican, or Carranza, govern .
ment, that this force numbers 10000 .
men. 1t is a conscript army to .
great extent and it is small and neh-
cient for two reasons, the first being
Corranga's inahi1ity IN pnfarpn com 2