El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-06-05
Revolutions In Mexico Have
Brought Nothing But Harm To
People, Says Ibanez Of Spain
BY Y. BLAsCO uBANEz.
-remen NJ the anoeolvnrr


plight OF the former railways.
scarcely more than the tracks re-
main The government Of Carranza
took over the lines without compen-
sating the owners. It operated them
for several years, kept all the reve-
nues, and failed to renew any part
OF the rolling stock.
The railway properties consist to-
day Of few hundred old cars in
very poor condition and some patched
up and asthmatic locomotives which
serve sometimes to carry passengers
who are not in a hurry and other
times to crafty the amazing genius
the insurgents have for dynamiting
trains.
The sleeping cars are full Of YER
min and their lighting apparatus IS
in such a state that It frequently
fails to work and the trains have
TO be lighted with candles.
Many OF the stations are mere
shacks standing near a heap Of black
ruins, the ruins being all that IS left
of former station burnt a few years
before b. the revoluuonists- Far
Their on, one can see dozens OF
wrecked cars. mere skeletons. their
iron frames blackened and twisted
as II they were stiH suffering the
torture OF the explosion that de-
stroyed them
The ports are losing their traffic
which were prosperous once. IKE
Veracruz, you can see the steve
dores standing about in the sun.
their arms folded across the breast,
with nothing to do.
Cattle Men Quit Business.
That fertile country. one OF the
richest in the world, can produce m
nunl crops, and yet II Is barely rails
ing enough food to feed its pOpula-
ton Instead Of advancing, agrieul-
ture has declined Cattle men, tired
OF raising cattle to feed the reTOiu-
tiOnists, have gone out OF business.
The farmers frequently find them
selves left in the lurch by their
poems, who believe that to shoulder
a musltet and follow villa, Carranza
or Obregon, as the case may be, is
better than TO hoe the ground
The only export Industries OF the
country are the mines which are lit
tie worked: the sisal, produced in
Yucatan, and the Tampico oil wells.
OIL Taxes Keep Mexico Alive.
As these are the only sources OF
wealth which yield an income the
government taxes them heavily. The
oil companies, especially the majority
which are owned BY American citi-
zens, had been paying Carranza, in
one form Of taxation or another,
about 40 percent OF the value OF their
daily output.
A general who is one OF Obregon's
ueutenants admits In one OF his writ
ings that the taxes paid BY the oil
companies are formidable. However,
II the oil companies failed TO pay
their taxes for three months, the gov
eminent OF Mexico could not survive
because the oil taxes are
the only reliable source OF income l
that It has.
A really painful contrast between |
what Mexico is and what II could be- l
come II the country had a half decent /
strikes the most casual /
observer.
Inertia 1Iexiee's Middle Name.
a common sight in Mexico is the |
peasant. with his large. umbrellalike /
straw hat and red pOnchO, squatting i
on the ground in an attitude OF pro- /
found thought. although perhaps in
he is not thinking at all
Hours later you go by the same
spot again. and find the man sitting I
IN the same position and still think
ng- He has not moved He has not
lone anything Perhaps he has eat
IN a corn tortilla, which constitutes
he principal article OF his diet
And this poor wretch, who f. SUI
IerinE material hunger and moral
lnemia, sits upon one Of the richest
thrones OF the earth The soil be-
meath him treasures gold, silver and
and II can produce 90 per-
products known to man.
Resigned to His Destiny.
That peasant Is disillusioned- He 4
Is a fatalist resigned 10 his destiny.
he has been shedding his blood for /
10 years in battle after battle, al /
ways in the name OF liberty. And |
he does not see liberty anywhere I
The men who govern his native VII
lage and province have the same i
vices as those who ruled them IN the /
days OF Gen Diaz.
The made this nliterate believe I
that everything Mexico contained I
was going to be distributed among
the people. He saw how the prop &
erty Of the rich was eonfiseafedi but /
he Is still waiting to see II distrib- I
uted among the poor. Those who I
were rich by heritage or tradition 4
were succeeded by newly made men l
OF wealth. by men whom he had 1
known before as comrades in pow
erty.
All hist And the Mexican. thinking .
about these things, either remains
passive the livelOng day, watching
the trend OF events, or else he joins .
those who have risen in the social
scale. and hopes that civil war may 1
last forever, that a revolution may /
break out every year that no party .
nay last too long in power, and that I
governments may succeed one an
)ther frequently in order that all may
eventually get a taste Of the pleas
lres and profits Of being in
Copyright. 1920, by Ibasco Ibanez and
he Chicago Tribune.
On his next article ST. Ibauez pays
lis respects to Cabrera and tells what
has wrecked Mexico.)