The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1924-12-04
Mexico s President
Peaceful transmits

Mexico City. - PEACEFUL transmits
sion of the presidency by General Al
varo Obregon to General Plutarco Elias
Gales at. noon tomorrow in the Ma
tional Stadium will mark an epoch,
unique in many respects, in the hec-
tic history of Mexico.
Not only will President Obregon have
completed his term of four years, a
feat equalled by only five of his nearly
two score predecessors in the last 100
years, but he will have enabled mis-
successor peacefully to grasp the reins
of government. That has been accom-
plished but once before in Mexican
history.
It was on Oct. 10, 1924, that the first
president of the United States of Mex
leo, General Guadalupe Victoria, was
inaugurated and held office four years.
But his successor, General Manuel
Pedrasa, was forced to <resign before
he even was inaugurated. From that
time until Benito Juarez, conqueror of
Emperor Macmillan, died in 1872, the
story of the. Mexican presidency is
spangled as thickly with the names of
generals who became chief executive
for time as it is with coupe d'etat.
After Juarez, Sebastian Lerdo de
Tejada served out his term, but was
overthrow when he tried for re-elec-
ton. Then General Porfro Diaz APP
peared. He, with General Manuel Con
zalez, set Obregon's only precedent.
Diaz abandoned the national palace
for Gonzalez and the latter, in 1885,
returned the favor.
There is a strange similarity be-
tween the first Diaz administration
and that of Obregon. Both reached the
presidency by the battlefield route
after the country had been rent by in
ternal strife. Diaz, by seating Con-
zalez, virtually remained in power be-
But Obregon leaves Gales, man who
by no stretch Of the imagination can
be compared to Diaz' puppet. Mexico
is wondering if history will repeat
itself. After four-year vacation Diaz
virtually reigned from 1885 to 1911.
Aside from it's historical significance,
Obregon's administration has been
fraught with events of far-reaching
Importance to the nation. Elected
after a revolutionary movement in
which he was the guiding spirit had
resulted in the overthrow and assassi-
nation of President Venustiano Car
rama, Obregon followed Adolfo de la
Huerta, who had been selected by con-
gress as ad interim president. With
Obregon and Gales, de la Huerta had
formed the Sonora Triumvirate," and
it was generally expected that Gales
would succeed Obregon. De. la Huerta
failed to change that program, if ever
such an arrangement had existed, by
his unsuccessful revolution of Dec
6, 1923.
During the last four years Obregon
has displayed great energy in resolv-
ing military and international prob
lens. Personally leading the federal
armies he crushed the De la Huerta
revolt in four months campaign and
since has virtually pacifed the coun-
try. Not only has he reorganized and
reequipped the army, but he has made
progress in disarming the undiscip-
lined agrarian and labor regiments he
called to his aid during the revolt, in
addition to reducing the regular army
from approximately $4,000 to $4,000
officers and men.
His record in handling international
questions has been marked by force
and decision. Diplomatic relations
have been resumed with the United
States and Soviet Russia, but suspend
ed with Venezuela and Great Britain
The break with England caused even
less of sensation in Mexico than did
the expulsion of Monsignor Ernesto
Filippi, papal nuncio, for alleged par
ticipation in illegal open air religious
ceremonies.
Under Obregon's leadership Mexico
has negotiated revolutionary claims
with the United States
and France and a similar treaty with
Spain is pending appreciation in the
senate. Invitations to join the League
of Nations and to send delegates to the
Fifth Pan-American Congress have
been declined, but closer relations with
foreign countries have been sought
through official support given trade
excursions from the United States and
Europe. An effort also has been made
to solve the perennial controversy with