Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-11
EXIT CARRANZA

A NY ONE who imagincs that Mexico
"A is hnd populated exclusively by
barbarians and brigands, without in
tclligcnrc and II guiding purpose, can
not understand what is happening below
the border or formulate safe opinions
relative to the future policy of the
United States Government in the new
emergency.
Illitcrate the vast majority of the
Mexican people are. and irresponsible.
But their ignorance has been forced
upon them and they have had troubles
of the sort that can be understood and
felt without the ability to read and
write. The masses in Mexico. scattered
aS they are, have one common cause.
They arc and have been for generations
unit against the land bnrons. who
maintain in the country n state of op-
prcssivc feudalism unknown elsewhere
since the liberation of the scrfs in
Russia. Until very recently. it was not
difficult to find in Mexico ranches" Of
100, 900 acres owned by men who lived
abroad and left the care of their estates
to overscers. Such land was parceled
out by early invaders or distributed
among the favorites of succeeding die
tators.
Under the system devised by Diaz
the great landholders came to depend
largely on forced labor. To insure the
continuance of small standing armies of
workers. the contract system of labor
was developed with the assistance and
operation of tyrannical state gov.
crnors. Poems worked for about twenty
cents day. They were employed under
contract. Naturally they ran into debt ,
and a man who quit work before his
debts were paid became criminal to
be hunted down by the police. Since
most Of the tillablc land in habitable
areas was controlled by q small minor
ity no way of escape was open to the
nCOn.
Freedom of tho land has been the
hope and aim of every good sized rev
Olution in Mexico. Revolutionists have
been betrayed or they have hoped too
greatly or they blundercd in the wake
of men who deliberately mislcd them.
But they return inevitably to a struggle
which is inspired by a desire to relieve
the poor and propcrtylcss multitudes
from truly brutal system of cxploita-
tion that continued almost unchanged
from the days of CortcZ to the days Of
Madero.
Reforms that began when DiaH was
ovCrthrown hav" progressed rapidly
under succeeding presidents. 1t is folly
to suppose that the revolutionary spirit
in Mexico resides only in adventures.
1,I I,,, Al
policy. in the methods of civil admin
iStratiOn everywhere have been forced
by the younger generations of educated
MCxiCans who returned to their own
country after observation and study in
the United States and Europe. where
they received the inspiration that made
them powerful factors in the affairs of
their own people The public cducation-
al system has been widely extended in
recent years. Religious interference in
the scheme of government has almost
ceased Land laws arc being slowly re-
lScd and tho rigOrs of the contract
labor system have been considerably les
srncd. Diaz made his country prosper
Gus by n method of tyranny. The aim of
the public spirited Mexican Jf today is
to bring peace and prosperity TO Mexico
by education aud the application of
democratic rule.
carran2a. vain and narrow as he
was. co operated extensively with the
intelligent rCformcrs in the various
states. But every soldier who ever be-
came ruler in Mexico reverted to type
nt the approach of national election.
- III, Ia 10.
nt the election that is TO Lc held in
July. General ObrCgon offended the first
chief when he announced himself a
candidate for the office. Such pressure
H. Carranza could apply through his
army and its satellites was at once
brought to bear on Obrcgou and his
friends. The revolution began auto
matically with General Obrcgon's re-
siStanCC.
What promises Obrcgon made to his
friends and followers, what powerful
forces were suddenly niupd behind the
anti -CarranZa movement that swept the
country. no one outside the revolution
may know. Thc State Department at
Washington is rcticcnt or puzzled. Tn
loss ObrcgOu iS,wisor than revolution
ary leaders who have preceded him, he
has promised moro than he can deliver.
since even in Mexico constructive re
forms proceed slowly.
The report that Nilla-the original
Bolshcvist sympathi2ed with the rev
olution and laid down his arms when it
ended successfully would indicate that
the poems expect miracles from their
now leader. Obrcgon may attain the
presidency or he may he overthrown by
u restless people anGered by disilusion
mcnt. There will he revival Of the
talk about American Intervention. In
tcrvcntion may some day be necessary.
But ii ought always to be remembered,
If. only in the interest of an intelligent
aud effective policy, that centuries Of
i'll usage by conQuPrors has united the
Mcxicans in n hatred of invaders, and
that to free the land or to repel attacks
from the outsidC-thcsp seemingly easy
going people will always forget their
family quarrclr and fight as a unit,
When the Rev Russell II. Con
we'll broke ground for the new Temple
University yesterday, he used the same