The Washington times., 1920-06-03
y. BLASCO |BANEz
i TELLS OF MEXICO
Gunmen In Saddle and Boy
!, Generals Rule, Says
- Noted Writer.
tcontinued from First Psse)


and will never say. Latin-America
within which the Mexican nation
chances to be situated) is one thing.
But the crowd OF gun-men which ID
exploiting and dishonoring the poor
people OF Mexico Is quite another.
shall always defend tie independence
and dignity of the nations that par.
take OF my native blood; but the
mere fact that gang OF guerrillas,
with a grip on the throat OF Mexico,
happens TO use my language to ex-
press its collective egotism and am
bition. is not sufficient TO win my
support. In my works. fought Ger
man militarism. tooth and nail, be-
cause 1 considered IL a curse on the
world Must compromise, then,
with Mexican militarism. just be-
cause, as compared with the German
that militarism is something gro
tesque and absurd?
.Pop-Gun TerrsristA.
For the very reason that I am a
Spanisrd. and love Latin-America, ]
feel in honor bo.nd to combat that
pop-gun terrorism which is discredit-
ing everybody OF Spanish race. II
the Mexico OF Obregon. OF villa, OF
other end of the American continent.
in TERRA del Fuego, let us say. we
could let 1t fume in peace. The fact
10, however, that Mexico borders on
the United States, the most powerfui
nation in the world at the present
moment. Mexico. In it's revolutionary
greed. had involved England, France,
and all the countries which make up
world opinion. And the disgrace fails
back upon every one OF us who, by
ties of Spanish blood, feel associated
with that unhappy people.
In a subsequent article on Mex
leo and Latin America" i shall
say something about the damage
which the abnormal state OF affairs In
Mexico, by reason of the Spanish
language of that country, does to the
prestige OF Spaniards in general and
particularly OF the Spanish speaking
states OF the Americas. Humanity, as
q whole, does not know geography.
1t generalizes dangerously in its
judgments of nations and races. Most
people, when they think of poor Mex
leo, with one stupid revolution sue
ceeded by a more stupid one, take no
trouble to distinguish that country
from Argentina, Brazil. Chile, or
Uruguay. "The usual Latin n-American
stuff! What can you expect?
"NothlnG But the Truth"
There is only one way to remove
such false Impressions, and that is, to
tell tho truth. Yes, the truth! But
Truth is the last lady on earth that
some people. care to be introduced to.
A few days ago. / met a Mexican, who
furnished me with some OF the data
/ used in my articles. ] was not writ
ing a novel All those stories, all that
gossip. all that talk about graft and
robbery, I got either in Mexico or
from Mexicans. TITS a shame"' he
said to me. "Those articles OF yours
are a disaster for Mexico." "Wait a
minute" I said, "for Mexico. or for
the people who are bossing and rob-
bing Mexico? If the latter, 1 tell you
frankly, I'm tickled to death. 1 want
ed to get those fellows! However.
that's not the point. Was i, or was
/ not, telling the TRUTH"
l could see by the expression on his
face that he was going to say it was
not all true. But he remembered
then that a number of the items had
come from no one but himself. ut Is
the truth" he answered with convic-
ton. 'But there are truths and
truths. The truth We can tell to our
friends. But do you have to go
shouting it from the housetops" And
he added, after a moments reflection,
as though something brilliant had oc-
CURED to him: "You might have kept
those articles for Spain. We don't
mind what people think over there.
But publish them in the United
States! or all places!
The reader will get the point. The
tru tn about actual conditions in Mex
leo is not considered down there as
proper goods for export to the United
states. AS for the opposite OF the
all you want, and no
questions asked. But anyone who
describes things as they are is an
enemy of Mexico!
Differences In Militnrism.
Perhaps / should not stress the
between German mill
tarism and the militarism of Mexican
brand. German militarism seems to
have gone forever, but that of Mex
ico is in the flush of youth, and 1t
has a long and busy life ahead of it,
German militarism was based on
tradition, on hierarchy, on order, and
besides, 1t originated in the victories
of 1871 and in the conquests of terri
tory those victories resulted, in
Mexican militarism is based on dis
order, on the sudden attack boldly
conceived, on the insurrection con-
sidered as a means of advancement.
In it's whole history, Mexican mill
tarism shows only a series of civil
wars, resulting in execution for pri-
vate citizens, plundering for towns,
destruction for the national railways.
We have yet to see what ii could
show, in the way of intelligence and
professional skill, il 1t had to deal
with an attack from abroad.
The German generals set up an
emperor who was emperor once for
all and passed the office on to his