Evening star., 1923-12-19
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS

by Pancha always to remain loyal
Govs1DmsO1 to 06resOn and the constitutional
The de la Huertas have been ac-
| cused Of forging the name of the
minister Of foreign affairs in sending
a cablegram to the minister OF Mex
leo at Stockholm, recalling him. The
canny minister. however, cabled back
Ito the government for confirmation of
, the recall, thereby exposing the
forgery. All consuls in the Unite d
, States were notified by the rebels
to report only to de la Huerta. but
all except two have remained loyal
TO Obregon. and the two have been
Under the Diaz regime It was
against the policy to teach the poems.
The education budget then was 7,000,-
600 pesos and most of that was de-
voted to higher institutions for the
benefit Of special classes. Now the
education budget amounts to 69.000,-
600 pesos and in addition to paid
teachers there Is a great movement
for voluntary instructors to teach
the former poems how to read and
hiltc. ledCncTS sent OUT "
places wherever most needed, regard
less of local demands, and they are
paid by the federal government. In
his three years of presidency Obregon
has worked for the industrial in
poor. and also for their education.
y + + +
Conditions have completely changed
throughout Mexico since the consti-
tutional government came. Formerly
| there was the debt law, which held
the poems in perpetual slavery. If
| man owed a hacendado he was
| forbidden to leave the estate with
out settling his Indebtedness. The
I haccndado credited the peon only
fifteen to thirty centavos a day U5
cents), and from the hacienda store
supplied him with provisions on open
sse the TeSs peSs 1t sass 10
, account. and gained his freedom. Now
the same men earn from $l.60 to 81
a day. and are free to buy land from
the g, government on easy terms: @ -,
the constitution to confiscate the
haciendos tplantations). paying fair
valuation to their owners, and then
| cut the land into small parcels and
| sell 1t on long time to the poems.
Tho hacendados have refused to take
! government bonds for their land.
hence the government has sold the
bonds abroad and paid cash for the
land. The old landowners denounce
both Obregon and Gales as reds
because they have fought the landed
| interests on behalf of the masses.
The de la Huerta rebels have the
support of the reactionaries. the
/ hacendados. and the Obregonistas of
! the masses.
An American business man who
has owned property in Mexico for
! more than twenty years and is a
| frequent visitor there declares that
, American investments are safe. and
! that he has travelled hundreds OF
miles alone over the country, even
| since the revolution broke, without
| being molested-
Certainly the same assurance could
not have been given even under the
Diaz administration. when local ONCE
holders, as well as wandering brig
, ands, used to annoy travellers and
| hold them up for petty or major
graft. Brigandage was held only
| travelling on all trains and stationed
! in all villages. Hacendados main
| tanned organized defense behind high
adobe walls surrounding their domi-
| Giles. President Diaz used to explain
| to visiting delegations of Americans
| United States, but that grandfather's
clothes did not quite fit the youngster.
! Under the new constitution President
| Obregon has been recutting the gar
| ment to a better At.
! Copyright. 1923, by Paul v. Collins,