ULTIMATUM TO MEXICO

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1545, 14 September 1912, Page 5

ULTIMATUM TO MEXICO

THIRTY DAYS TO COMPLYAMERICAN INTERVENTION. By ToleEraDh—Press Associatlon-CoDJriEttt Washington, September 12. President Taft has scut to President Madero, of Mexico, an ultimatum to the effect that prompt action must be taken by the Mexican Government to protect American lives and property throughout Mexico, the- alternative being Mmlero's resignation within thirty days. The Mexican Ambassador has departed hurriedly for Mexico City, bearing the ultimatum. .United States intervention is now believed to be inevitable.

A CLASS WAR. • THE MEXICO OF TO-DAY. INTERNATIONAL COMPLEXITIES. Mr. Edmund Mitchell, journalist and novelist, now in Wellington, has a very comprehensive, first-hand knowledge of tlio situation in Mexico at the present ■perplexing juncture, and yesterday afforded 11 Dominion representative an interesting interview on tho subject. "The 3]|3xiesui revolution, said MT. Mitchell, "is renliy an' attempt on the part -of tho peon (peasant) population to get back tho land—a movement which appears ,to bo world-wido at present. The country is divided into immense ranches, particularly in the north, where they are held by twenty or thirty rich families. It has'been during the long regime of Diaz that the country has been exploited for'tho benefit of tho wealthy classes, who have fattened under Government privilege for about thirty years, (luring which time the peon class has been entirely neglected. Thore are at present about 15,000,000 peons-, of whom 13,000,000 nre .without any education whatever, and are on no higher plane than the American Red Indian. Indeed, thero is a good deal of Indian blood in their veins. In tho old days, tho land belonged to • tho various tribes, and any member could take up an area which ho could manage. But, by grafting modern civilisation on to the Indian's primitive but satisfactory ideas, .tho land became alienated, and tho men who surrounded Diaz were' those who have benefited. Tho revolution was inevitable—it has been coining for twenty years. Could it bo otherwise when the pson was paid at tho rate of 17 cents (8U1.) per day for his labour, enough, for the barest subsistence? On that account he has never hern able to get possession of any land—not an aero could a peon acquire 'under the system. 'Then Madero displaced Diaz, but ho, too, was a ni'ejiiher of one of the. richest families in Mexico, and was not strong enough to withstand the exploitation of tho country by the same class of pooplo who had supported Diaz. Orzocn, a lieutenant of Madero's, saw hi.3 chief's weakness, broke away, and headed the present revolution. Ho is one of tho people, and is fighting for .a. new order of things altogether. Tho revolution, you must understand, is sporadic—it has broken out'.jn five or six.snots, north, south, east, and west of the City of Mexico, and each one has its own head. At the samo time the whole aim of both sides i; to prevent any intervention on tho .part of the United states, which they fear would 'mean the .crushing of their country and the alienation of a great deal of the land, and tho States had no desire for, war in that direction:.

What War Would Mean. , ,',' A number of foreigners have been killed mostly on the West Coast, but little" has been said about it as intervention would mean' a.-bloody, guerilla war that would probably last for iriaiiy years. Tt would, too,at Hie same tii/ie, put back the pnn-A.niericn'n.jnoyeiiicntifor, a Jongtime and would nlientito the South American Republics; with whom the United Mates has been fosterinj good feelings in. view of the early completion of the Panama Canal, and tho conwnercial development which will result in respect to those republics. Though thcro have been many provocations and wrongs have been inflicted on 'many American citizens the United States, up (o this point,. has sat tight, There havo been' two or three affairs, one at El Paso (Texas),' find, another at Junoa (California) where- the bullets were flying, and Several Americans were killed, still nothuig had been done. "Tho position has now become more serious. There has been much destruction of property, and Germany, Eneland, opam, and China are looking for America to intervene—China because of the massacre of some 300 Chinese by tfio rebels at Torreon some months It is morally certain that tho -Powers ' of, Europo must intervene themselves or call upon America to do so under tho Jlonroo Doctrine (which constitutes tho' united States tho guardian for them on tlie Continent of America, contingent upon the stipulation that no European Power lands troops there). If tho United htates fails to preserve order the Monroe Doctrine amounts to nothing more than a big bluff. How long the position will Inst without, intervention is a problem. Orzoco ■ has never been recognised as a belligerent by the States, and Mftdero lias. Supplies and ammunition havo not been allowed to pass over the border to Urzoco, whilst Madero has l«en permitted to use tho American border railroads to convey troops from point to point, wherever there is an outbreak to be dealt with. Of course, Orzoco can say that America is intervenina in a domestic quarrel, and may retaliate by destroying property and lives. Take Cannane'a, tor instance. It is practically an American mining town vhbrV America hns a liiindred million dollars invested in copper mining, yet it has been - seriously threatened by the rebels, and the assistance ffivflti by the States (o Madero mav very easily lead to rcprisnls." '

The Hated Americans. "It is a curious fact that the foreigners most haled by Mexicans are tho Americans. They have never got over tne loss of lexas-it is a suppurating sore in the side of tho Mexicans, who always iear the alienation of further territory. -IJicn, again, there linvo brai bad Americans in Mexico. Desperadoes and broken men have been tho natural driftwood from America into that country. I do not say that tins is anything against Americait would bo the same were any other country Mexico's next door neighbour Similarly it so happens (hat the British, French, German, and Spanish ijpoplo there are picked men, sent thcro lo occupy positions of trust and importance, who comparo mighty favourably against Americans who left their country for their country's good, so to speak. It so happens that tho. foreign element in Mexico is the most important element. The mining industry is in tho hands of the Americans and British; ijj Mexico City tho street cars are owned hy Canadians; the hardware trade is in the hands of the Germans; the French control tho clothing dressmaking and jewellery business; groceries and mines aro controlled by Spaniards', and even the sewerage system was made by Swedes. The gas (from oil) industry is in (he hands of Americans and British. I have a son who is chemist to a gas company there, so I know what T am talking about. You will fee by this that all the Mexicans have left for thom-wlve.-i is tho government of the country, which hns !;ccn exploited for the benefit, cf the richer classes. There nre in Mexico City about 30,000 foreigners—Americans, British, Germans, French, and Spaniards —in somewhat equal proportions, and they control all (ho industries which are financially centred in Mexico City.

Ready for AnyMing. "During the last two years, during which the civil war has been on, 50 per cent, of the foreigners have left tho city. The other foreigners are nrined and brigaded. There are 1000 cf them armed each with a rillo imd revolver, which they keep erer by Hieii , sides. Each one has several days' provisions and a lantern in lus room, and on the call to arms each ono has his post assigned to him at one of four phiccs they hnve arranged to make i>. stuiid at Hie wist of their lives. At. the sumo time, my sun writes that h« ■iocs not think I here is nny real dnncer for foreigders in tho city. They worn rtvilly too strong to lie iiian-banrllod by the populace, but thero might bo a cer. tain loss of life In a sporadic wny, When my eon 'net wrote they (tho foi'elg'nors)

had tho active support of Madero, and the lust thing anticipated ivns trouble in (ho city. "Outsido (he city, no life is safe. It only necdi-d n hall'-drunkeu .Peon regiment;, loaded with pulque (llio native .liquor), and 'seeing , red/ to cut nIF and imijsiicre isolated groups of foreigners in thn country. If anything like that happened ihu powers could not stand it any longer. Already it is said that Uritjiin,- l'riuice, and Germany have (old oil' war vessels to report nt Vera Cruz, thi) nearest port to .Mexico City.

Complications. "It is a pity that Lower California does not helong to America—geographically, sociologically, and economically it should, for at present what is a potentially great, rich country is practically uninhabited, and under the United States it would be niado to go ahead 'to beat the band.' Tho value is greatly enhanced by Mngdalena Bay, tho finest harboiir in tho world. Thurc is a chauco of this country being traded off to Japan by Madero. Whether that is true, or not. largo numbers of Japaueso havo settled clown there, ostensibly as the employees of a fishing company, which lends colour to the idea that there might be a secret treaty between Japan and Madero or Orzoco, which-; of course, has been diplomatically denied by Japan. Anyhow, the matter has been before Congress, and it has been given out that any nation taking possession of Mngdalena Kay will havo to tight America for it. America, leased tho bay from Mexico for six years for battleship practice. I havo been there myself, and watched the night-firing from the heights —a most wonderful fight. I havo seen five shells in the air at the one time from tho same quick-firer, and they nil followed one another through' Iho same hole in the target. That wns in perfectly still water, with the searchlights making it ns light as day. Two years ago the Government abandoned the bay as a field for battlo practice, as the shooting was all done in still water, and an open ocean policy wns adopted."