New-York tribune., 1920-01-16
Witness at Senate In.
quiry Charges Reign of
Lawlessness Is Due to
Upholding of Carranza
Bolshevism Spreads
Through Country
Fall, Invited by Cabrera
to Shift Investigation
to Mexico, Declines
By Wilbur Forrest

tnlngS IN Mexico and he ought to
stralghten it out. The Mexican people
are to-day victims OF group OF
thieves which our government put in
power and officially recognized. When
| say the people Of Mexico l speak as
l would of the people of the United
States. leaving out the Bolshevik and
l. W. W. elements"
Thus P. W. Warner, a witness be-
fore the Fall Senate committee inves-
tigating conditions in Mexico here,
testified to-day. Warner was agent
for the Atascadora Colony, a large
American colonization community.
sixty miles south of Tampico, until
Carranza troops and bandits forced
scores Of American families-mostly
poor persons who had gone to Mexico
to establish homes-to leave the coun-
try. devastating their farms and
threatening their lives.
"Only one family remains ON the
wreck of our once populous colony"
the witness testified, land that family
is German. They raided us with Win
chester rifles, which this government
allowed them to take into Mexico.
Omitted States Has Meddled Too Much
"I'm against intervention now"
Warner continued, "because the United
States has meddled too much already
IN Mexico. What should be done is
to withdraw recognition OF the ban
dts who are running the country. If
Carranza had not been recognized,
Huerta would still be in power and
Huerta was favorable toward Amer:-
canism." The witness harked back to
the days of Diaz when he had ridden
a horse clear across Mexico with
$4,000 in his saddle bags with perfect
safety
Warner denounced the Wilson ad-
mlnistration for what he termed the
"meddling" part it has taken in Mex
lean .xffAifssand placed the entire blame
for chaotic conditions upon the Wash
ington leaders.
why do not your colonists 20 back
to Mexico now?" Senator Smith asked
~ wouldn't go back for the whole
ranch," the witness answered, adding,
1--WE are afraid Of the Carranzistas. !"
Warner named General Lariaga, Of the
Mexican fedora! army, as one of these
responsible for outrages in the Atas~
cadoro colony.
Another Colony Forced to Flee
r: F. Poorbaugh, of San Antonio, the
next witness, detailed like fate which
befell a colony in which he was in
terested in the Isthmus of Tehuan-
tepec. All were forced to flee in 1918
with only hand baggage, he testified,
and from that time to the present the
region has been infested with bandits
and rs under no protection at present.
Poorbaugh testified Of returning in
1914 to what remained of the colony.
He was accompanied by another Ameri-
can: I'VE were forced by the Mexican
authorities to give up our guns when we
arrived at Puerto Mexico" he said, "but
the German Consul there told us we had
better go disguised as Englishmen or
Mormons and carry guns at the same
time"
He testified in detail Of bandit raids
and declared the only American remain
ing. to protect his holdings was tortured
Ranch, near Salina Cruz. He was E. E.
Morgan. "Mexico is to-day like China"
the witness said.
j. w. Compton, of Glenn Springs,
Tex, testified regarding experiences
during a raid by Mexican bandits on
Glenn Springs, May s, 1918. Three
American soldiers and the witnesses
fve-year-old son were killed, he testi-
fed. Compton said one Of the raid
ers captured by American troops and
brought back had papers on him which
indicated he was colonel in the Car
rama army.
Women Tell of Depredations
Mr. Mary Wright. Mrs. Laura G..
Bailey and Mrs. James c. Willis, all
of San Antonio, told of being driven
from their Mexican homes by depre-
dations of bandits and Carranza
soldiers.
All had been interested in agricul-
ture in the state of San Luis Potosi.
Mrs. Wright testified dramatically Of
the escape of her three daughters and
herself from Mexico, after terrible
were forced to abandon in his illness,
died soon after reaching Dallas, Tex,
their former home, Mrs. Wright said.
Mrs. Wright and her daughters were
brought to Galveston by German
cruiser from Tampico when British
and American warships on orders from
their governments withdrew from
Tampico harbor in 1913 and left for
eign women and children at the mercy
OF IrcHZleQ IlOp. lie NcTLdu COu-
mander went ashore with detachment
and rescued them. OF the 500-acre
plantation, beautiful with orange and
banana groves, nothing is left now
but bare ground, the witness testified.
She has filed a claim with the Ameri-
can State Department against the
Mexican government for $48,000
Impoverished by Bandits
A similar story was told by Mrs
Bailey with regard to her plantation
near Valles, Mexico. Mrs. Willis, a
sister-in-law Of Mrs. Bailey, cor
roborated the latter's testimony and
declared at one time she, her husband
and three small children were so i'm
poverished by bandit raids that her
husband was obliged to 60 to Tampico
to seek work. She was forced to join
him there in poverty. One of their
children died in Tampico from lack Of
medical attention because they had no
money, she said.
"No one there would aid u.s." de-
clared Mrs. Willis, who is herself of
Mexican blood. Fleeing toward the
United States later, Mrs. Willis re-