Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1920-10-15
Position OF Lower California's
Governor Was Strong.
HAD RULED WITH SUCCESS
Appointed by Porfirio Dlaz, During
Nine Years Of Stormy History He
Kept His State From Being Involved
In Any OF the Revolutions That Dis
rupted Mexico and Then Puzzled
Everyone by Quitting.

of Lower California, was scarcely no
ticed by Mr.. Average American Citi-
zen. Cuntu's peaceful passing into
| private life is not being ignored, how
ever, by shrewd students of interna-
tional events, writes Paul ]. BrIndel
In the Chicago Daily News.
Any man who cap peacefully resign
his office I'm Mexico on his own terms
is worthy of American interest. Add
/ the fact that Cantu ruled successfully
most of Lower California through the
nine stormiest years OF Mexico's his
tory, and you have another interesting
item. But most interesting of all is
the seemingly unanswerable question
Of "why did Cantu resign?" True. De
In Huerta and Obregon had threatened
dire things against him. including in
vasion of Lower California. II he did
not But they were hundreds Of miles
away, and other attempts had taught
Mexican expeditionary forces, from
| Diaz to Carranza. that only q military
expedition of n great power could cross
the hundreds of miles of burning sands
between Mexicali and Mazatlan. Yet
Cantu resigned, and with very little
dickering. except for certain rights and
amnesty for his followers.
Appointee Of Porfirio Diaz.
/ Like most things in Mexico, good and
/ bad Gov. Cantu and his adminstra-
/ ton dated back to Porfiro Diaz. From
| 1911, when Diaz appointed him, to the
/ time of his resignation, Cantu defied
/ successfully all efforts TO involve Low
or California In the mess the rest OF
Mexico Is in. While the Maderos,
Huerta. Carranza, villa, Angeles and
Zapata each strove To succeed TO the
crown of Diaz, Cantu stuck to his
| knitting as governor i'm his border
capital of MeXcall, opposite CaleXco,
Cal, metropolis of the Imperial Val
ley.
The best token of his success In re-
fuslng to be one of the many "saviors"
Of Mexico is evidenced by the fact that
while good American citizens were he.
Ing used as rifle targets during the
hectic days following Dinz's fight, rs
far as-is known no reputable citizen OF
the United States ever lost his life or
even was molested In Lower CallfOr-
mia during Cantu's administration.
Cantu's success as an administrator
also is shown In that. unlike any other
place In Mexico. passengers on the re-
Gently completed San Diego and Ari-
IONA railroad find II extremely difficult
TO determine when they are I'm the
United States and when In Lower Gail
! 10 10 ~ 10
Southern Pacific Zig-zags It's way from
Yuma. Ariz., through Mexicali, Calexi-
co and El Centre In the Imperial val
ley then back 10 Mexico again. finally
winding up In San Diego, through Tia
Juanna.
Tia Juanna's Rise to Fame.
In their anxiety to reach that west
coast Mecca Of the thirsty--Tia Juan
na-many Chlcagoans en- route to the
Democratic national convention In
San Francisco passed through Mexicali
without realizing their proximity to
one Of the few Latin-American poll
ticians worth meeting Tia Juanna,
planned by Cantu to be the Monte Car
10 OF North America, has had mush-
room growth In the last few months,
especially since July l. 1910.
Two years ago before the completion
OF the San Diego and Arizona "cut-
or" II wasn't even on railroad map
and was practically unknown except
to some of the sporting fraternity Of
San Diego and Los Angeles. Today II
and It's American sister, Tia Juana,
Cal, are supposed TO have close TO
5000 permanent Inhabitants, not TO
speak OF daily influx OF the thirsty,
averaging several thousand per day.
Moreover, Tia Juanna, Mexico, has
more saloons than can he counted on
hot August afternoon, a fair race.
track, half thousand adventuresses
and every variety OF gambling game
from "black jack" TO faro and rOu-
lette. No wonder two through Pull
mans are operated daily from Chicago
TO San Diego en- route to Tia Juanna.
Or that the two daily trains from San
Diego frequently run In two sections
as far as the Mexican border.
Mexico the Last "oasis."
This description of Tia Juanna Is not
given to further advertise the town,
but because II is further evidence Of
the astuteness of this canny Castlian
governor. Safe frcn Mexican invasion
by the desert. Cantu realized that un'
der new administration In the United
States there probably would be re-
iteration of the demand that the
United States purchase Lower Cali
fornla. Every few months for the last
decade or more, this agitation has been
resumed, usually following story OF
japanese naval base having been
"dlscovered" along Magdalena or Tur
tie bay. Americans long have cast an
envious eye on this strip of territory
jutting out into the Pacific. In 1913
seven men were indicted by federal
grand jury In Los Angeles for an al.