The Washington times., 1920-06-03

these armed men are a source Of dan
49, at SNfs q tksz1zalFes M - tnf
A public. At best. one general Kills an
her al high noon, In some esnoy
ore on the principal street OF ths
/. ", aud nobody arrests him' Ihen,
axsin. two generals will open nre In
the middle OF a public park. and the
esnnonade does not stop until All their
Ammunition has been exhausted.
matter Of thirty or forty minutes. per-
ham. and no easualties-unless per-
haps some psssor-by. not knowing
that two generals are seowhng At
each other In that particular place.
runs into q bullet before he can get
away.
.Bs.S Of the Gray Car"
| To lie fair 10 the generals. ! must
add that they are not the only people
In Mexico who carry guns. Revolvers
are as indi spensAble as ,neckties to .
gentleman's wardrobe. Mexico city.
since the revolution began. has lived
the nfe OF a dime novel. The "movie"
men do not have to rack their brains
for subjects. They read the papers:
Murders. .ssssssinAtions. highway rob-
berries, kidnapings, bands OF masked
1 IN.
home OF the famous Band OF the Gray
Car" The Mexican public has always
supposed that gang to have been In
the employ of generals. People are
even more specific. They allege that
it's leader was one of the present can
didstes for the presidency OF the re-
public.
The only difference between general
and civilian, in the matter OF revolv-
ers, Is that the generals wear their
guns in full view. while ordinary peo-
pie keep them half-concealed. The
revolver Ia used for all sorts of pur-
poses. Whenever / was At picnic In
the country and a bottle had to be
opened. some friend was sure sudden
| ly to produce \ pistol IT'S so much
simpler, you see" And civilian or
soldier as he might chance to be. he
would hammer away at the metal top
of the bottle until II came OF. And
the weapon was loaded all the time!
Mexico is a blessed country! There
is something affable. vehement even,
about it's courtesy. When friend
shakes hands with you, he throws
| one arm over your shoulder. And ]
adopted the manner myself. But
when | got my arE' over the shoulder
| OF an acquaintance, l used, out OF
curiosity, to let my hand fall grad
,ually toward his belt. 1t never got
quite that far. In the neighborhood
! OF the mans waist, ] would always
encounter a sort of metallic frame
work. 1t was the revolver and it's
| sheath, along with a whole magazine
OF cartridges. The Mexican revolver
Is intended for the long drawn out
battle. 1t requires a lavish supply
OF munitions.
University Dean Was wary.
| For the life OF me. / could never
| find out whether the dean of the uni
versity also carried a gun. The sly
fox always avoided my embrace. and
his studious precautions against any
such contingency left me convinced
that my suspicious OF him were well
founded "Oh. my dear So-and-So. so
glad to see you, And i went around
embracing them all one after the
other, and they all had the inevitable
revolver. When ! sayail, I mean all
ministers. under secretaries, jour
nalists, deputies, and senators. and
these latter with good reason. be-
cause debates in Congress often end
with an exchange of a bullet or two
outside the chambers.
Even Carranza, as President OF the
republic. used to carry, under his Sc
we're ceremonial frock coat, horse
pistol with an extra large supply OF
munitions. Poor don Nenustiano.
He knew his times and his people
| only too well. He felt himself sur
rounded by experts in .'dar la vuelta," 4"
by people only too ready to bite the
hand that was feeding them. He
was sure that, sooner or later he
would have to defend his own life.
What, probably. he never foresaw,
was that the men trusted to guard
him would rouse him one night with
cries OF "Viva Oregon" empty their
guns into him point blank, and then
| assert that he had died a suicide!
Carranza a suicide! Carranza. the
most Stubborn man in the world. the
"mule in the presidents parlor." as
his enemies used to say! For anyone
who knew Carranza- that suicide
story is the most brazen. the most
impudent calumny that could ever
have been cooked up.
ObreEon IL Typical.
This gang OF country-louts and
| roisterers, who call themselves gem
| erals and are running the country
for what there is in 1t. are for the
moment worshippers of Obregon.
Obr0gon is one OF them. 1 might call
him. >ven, the Mexican general par
excellence; and his followers adore
|
own image triumphant. They all
pretend to be insulted IL you accuse
them Of militarism. Militarists. Not
they! They are "revolutionaries."
They are. and they are going to re-
man, simple "citizcns!"
Nevertheless, they form a caste
apart from the rest OF the nation.
They support and protect one anoth-
er; and now again to get one Of their
number in power, they have gone
back to the barracks, or TO the noun
tains. to incite existing troops to
mutiny, or to raise new forces, and
produce a revolution that is Revolu-
tion No. "a in the course of a single
| century,!
| Despite all his defects, Carranzs,
during the last months of his life,
had sound conception OF what his
country needed. He wanted to create
a government OF civilians; he wanted
to hand the presidency over to a man
4 l. H.. II