Evening star., 1939-08-27
By MICHAEL SCULLY.

BY MICHAEL SCULLY.
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 26 N.AN.
A0.-Unless something gives way
quickly to ease the situation, Mexico
is headed into the bitterest, most
significant and, quite possibly, most
violent presidential campaign in 20
years.
For the first time since Obregon
brought a semblance OF order out
of the early revolutionary chaos, a
force Is gathering which can prove
strong enough to challenge the one
party form of government which of
recent years has led the country
into more and more radical and
expensive political and economic
experiments.
With the election of July, 1910,
still 10 months away, the field has
been cleared. Two candidates stand
out from the dozen who originally
put out tentative feelers for presi-
dental support.
From headquarters covering a
floor in a new Office building here,
the administration machine has be-
gun to grind in behalf of Gen.
Manuel Avila Camacho, recently
secretary of national defense, now
heir apparent to President Cardenas.
Although generally regarded as a
Centrist, so far as his personal in
clinations go, this 60-year-old
Puebla soldier is publicly pledged to
q continuance of Cardenas' policies
of extreme nationalism and eco
nomic socialism.
Almazan His Opponent.
In striking contrast, the rapidly
forming conservative opposition has
its center in mountain setting a
half f-mile above the industrial city
of Monterrey, 600 miles north of
the capital. There its candidate,
Gen. Juan Andreu AlmaZan, has
turned his summer home and resort
colony of Chipinque Mesa into
picturesque political mecca. Its
mountain shelf is reached by a
single, winding 6-mile road, while
down below, across the city, lies
Mexico's largest, most effective army
post, built by Almazan. Its 5000
officers and men are, for practical
purposes. his personal followers.
Almazan, nearing so, was senior
general of the army until he applied
for inactive status to enter politics
in July. He is unquestionably the
most magnetic military man of the
republic, with service record dat
ing back to the Madero revolution.
But he is also big-scale capitalist
and builder. AS secretary of COM
munications in the early 30s he
pushed through the tagging Pam
American highway project. He has
developed and owns resort prop
critics from Monterrey to Acapulco.
One Of his companies is now build
Ing government railroad and port
facilities on the West Coast.
Too shrewd a militarist, business
man and politician to take up
hopeless cause, Almazan spent six
months deciding that the time is
ripe for conservative reaction in
Mexico. He considered the strain
put on government finances by
Cardenas' widespread appropriations,
which brought heavy loss of tax
revenue on one hand and the neces-
sity of financing 100000 communal
peasants on the other. He has
watched the cost of living rise
full so cent over the country since
the oil appropriations of March,
1888, resulted in the fall of the peso
from % to 20 cents.
Better Than a Long Shot.
He detected the growing irritation
OF the army rank and file as the
government armed organized peas
ants and formed drill companies of
union laborers to protect the revo-
luton" Finally, when the Wash
ington Treasury cut the price of
silver in June and the peso took
another slump, Almazan made up
his mind that he had something
better than long shot at the presi-
dency.
His declaration, when it finally
came. challenged the administra-
tlon on almost every point of policy
and asserted that conditions brought
about during the Cardenas admin
astration "are worse than those pre-
vailing in 1909" under Dictator Diaz.
His nearest approach to a COM
mitment on the oil problem is
statement that true friendship be-
tween the United States and Mexico
must be based upon conscientious
respect of our mutual rights" But
on purely internal questions he is
fortnight. He proposes outright
distribution of farm lands to the
peasants as individual owners in
stead OF the present system of COM
munal farms controlled by the gov
ernment-a clear back-step to capi-
talism.
He declares against all religious
restrictions and for return of pri-
vate educational institutions, al
though he makes no specific mention
Of parochial schools. He denies
union labor's right to participate in
politics as body and protests the
governments active assistance to
the labor syndicates, while cham
pioning the right to organize and to
strike
Swing to Right Growing.
Almazan has the complete sup
port of big and little business, the
professional element and most
townspeople who depend on busi-
ness. He has much larger follow
Twins Convene