The Bozeman courier., 1924-05-21
BY BLAIR COAN
IN The National Republican
Alias Olson, Alias Redfern

IL
days when | was stricken with a few
er and confined to the hotel. The food
in that insanitary hole, Tampico, had .
evidently knocked me Out-as it had
many another foreigner who has tar
ried there. l ran into Smith in the
Regis hotel while | was convalescing. |
He now told me his name was Olson. |
To some of his Comrades" he intro |
duced me, and | made mental note of !
the fact that sometimes he was refer !
red to by them as neither Smith nor
Olson, but Redfern. Of course, as L
have found out since, this was not a
mere isolated case of bOlshevik use
! Of several names for one individual,
/ Among the comrades it is an accept
ed part of the system of operation,
and great convenience-fOr use of
one name indicates one thing, use of
another something else, and use of
another something else again. At the
time, made no attempt to get from
my acquaintance an explanation of
his abundance in nomenclature. | got
the impression such curiosity might
not be considered good form. So, in
Mexico City we shall know him as
Olson the name he gave me on bet
ter acquaintance, and probably the
name he was born with.
Having now become quite chummy
with Olson, arguing with his to draw
him out, conceding to him by way of
=. encouragement TO his confidence, he
began to discuss things with me in
, even greater frankness than he had
down in TampicO. He told me the
, new railway station at Tampico had
+, been destroyed, that the railroad
.. workers organization had been re
, sponsible for it, that he had been ir
Tampico in the interests of that or
, ganiaztiOn and that the organization
? was controlled by the communists anC
. that they and he were well supplied
with funds which came to them from
Russia.
ObregOn, Huerta, Gales
= Now, it is a good place, right here
=, to make note that the situation il
. Mexico two years ago and the situa
o ton today are by no means identical
ObregOn was president then, AM
Obregon is president now, but fac
tional alignments are somewhat diff
ferent. 1t is not my purpose to dis
)" cuss here these re-alignments. Wha
N they are, and what they grew out OF
n another writer, with whom l have dis
n cussed the case of Mexico, will cove
ID in a later issue of The National Re
III publican. All need say about it
Id this: Until within only the last fey
st months, the world has believed tina
ie the "Eir three" of Mexico-ObregoI
ID de la HI rita al3 Calles-were a uni
le This, ostcnsibly, was true; in realit!
a it was not. What Ruerta has don
as within these last few months is bu
~ the uncomoufaged manifestation
as what he was doing cOvertly befor
ct When | was in Mexico he was as muc
h, Obregon's foe, in his heart and in
methods. as now. Olson told me
Il Obregon is not red enough for Huert
as He is a pretty deep pink, but not re
no enough. Every government documel
II of the Obregon government, al
re every piece of paper currency bear
n as in the case likewise in Russia, tn
n motto: "Workers of the Worl
he Unite!" But de la Huerta is the re
s bolshevik of Mexico, and the dltte
,e- ences between him and Gales al
Obregon are differences both OF d
sot gree and of expediency resorted to
qualification of lust for power. The
ith are evidences, however, that Huer
e has overshot his mark, in fact Q
trayed his communist following, a
. that Gales, with the support OF I
communists, laborites and agrarlal
will be Obregon's successor In CO
traI of the tumultuous destlnles
our near-Russian neighbor to
south.
So. as l view it, the events OF
last few months-Huerta's revo
- tionary coup, his flight from the COZ
,mn uuF try (assuming he really has left Me
air COZ and other associated events
and significant verifcation of Olso
ul- condolences impaired to me in Mex
mo-. City two years ago.
The communists were belaborlng
nall Obregon government on every
a casion. Olson told me the raiir'
ngb strikes were financed with mo-
'the from Moscow.
'ous 'It is only a question OF
' '~!h months when de la Huerta VIII a
, = oo.+,oI 80 +I,;z eyovernnent" :" are