The Washington times., 1920-05-23

court to be composed OF one Amer
lean, one Mexican and one French
man | viii state my case and let
President wilson state his. and IL the
court decides that l am a bandit and
should pay with my life, | will let a
rope put an end to my career
General" l insisted, will you at
least tell me definitely whether or
not you are responsible for the Co.
lumbus raid?"
II will only say this" he replied.
"Why should | pluck off of my brow
one OF the most glorious Isurels, IL l
mad earned III"
Denies NsabeI Raid.
And with this ambig i ous and typi-
cal S@pIy | must needs be content.
passing on to still more gruesome
murder commonly attributed to villa
the massacre of Santa Ysabel. where
eighteen American mining men were
taken off a train and shot down in
cold blood
IL give you my words that ] am
not responsible for that" protested
villa. ~ had disbanded my COM
mhnd and. my men were headed home
wa'rd in groups OF fifty to one hun
dred under the comman nd of their local
chieftains. | had not control of them
at the time. and as a matter of fact
was two hundred and Atty miles away
when it happened
How about your recent kidnap-
ings and ransoming of Americans"
J queried How about your con-
tinual mulcting of American mining
concerns for huge sums OF money!"
He laughed heartily. ASK any of
the men to whom you refer IL ever
,igtr fnI hnr tSE he ,,,,,,
companies If ever took from them
as much money as I saved them from
losing at Carranzas hands. They
will tell you that ! have given them
better protection than Carranza or
the American Government ever afford
ed them. The proof is that they are
all prosperous today.
"NntursI Foreigners Pay,
81 had to get money somewhere to
feed, clothe and munition my men. I
get it wherever possible. and II was
natural that foreign concerns who
arc making money out of Mexico
should pay. their proportion. Practi-
cally every mine in the States,of Chi
huahua. Durango and Coahuila,
where | have been operating. is work.
ing today. Will you tell me IL the
mines in Hacatccas, HidalGo, Michea-
san. CaXaca and other Southern
States are doing as much?"
villa surprised me by his knowl-
edge of conditions throughout Mex
leo. He told me, and proved his
statements by. producing letters. that
he is kept informed by agents in
every Mexican city. He also has rep
resontativcs in Washington. New
York, st. Louis and Los Angeles. az
well as in all the American border
cities.
Seeks Chance Mt Diax.
"FcliN Diaz." he said "is one of
those supposed TO be responsible for
the murder of MADEIRA. As such I can
have no dealings with him. II could
lay my hands on him would try him
for that helnous crime.
Manuel Pelaez, with his army I'm
the oil fields, has been fighting the
same enemy as I, Carranza. We could
cooperate, but that is all. He IL
fighting for money for interests. I
am fighting for principle, for eff
fective suffrage for the people.
There was one other man in Mex
leo who was my natural ally. He is
dead now, murdered by Gen. Pablo
Gonzales. Emillano Zapata. like my
self. was of the people and had only
their interests at heart.
Like myself he was suspicious by
nature, but not enough 80. He be-
licvcd when Guarjarde offered to ioin
his standard and lost his life as a
consequence. = will profit by his
death and not allow myself to be
caught in trap. Not that I care
for my life, but that today I am the
only hope OF the down-trodden peon.'