IN MEXICO TO-DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1922, 3 December 1913, Page 10

IN MEXICO TO-DAY.

A LAND OF UPS AND DOWNS. In the north of Ireland th.-.-re is a provil'.tc which has resolved to govern .itself rather than submit to bo governed by a Parliament in Dublin, In the north of Mexico there is a State which at this moment is governing itseii and refusing to recognise Ihe authority of an Administration which it denounces as illegal, despotic, and corrupt. The narallel, writes Jh\ 11. Hamilton Kyfe in the "Daily Mail," is curiously complete. Ulster says it is constitutionally joined to Great Britain and cannot b>> severed.' It is upon their adherence to the Constitution of Mexico that the "insitrtvctos" of the State of Sonora base their denial of General iiuerta's right to sit in the President's chair. Ulster says it will of necessity collect its own Customs, strike its own postage-stamps, issue its own 'bank notes. Sonera is doing these things now. Ulster threatens- tu set up n Provisional Government and raise its own army. . Sonora has done both.

into the Danga? Zone! 1 have iust paid a visit, adds Mr. Fyfe, to Herinosilo, the Stato capital, which is 170 miles from the United States frontier. I travelled there peaceably by train. I found good order kept everywhere. I talked with the leaders of tho Constitutionalist Party, and found them anything but "bandits," which is what tho other side call them. I havo tho laugh of all those who solemnly warned mo about the danger of going into the rebel country and took pitying farewells of me, evidently not expecting to sco mo again. I did not, however, neglect precautions. In Washington I obtained from a pleasant Mexican gentleman officially connected with the- rebels a safe-conduct which asked all officers of the Conatitu- > tionalist forces to pass me safely along. Tu El Paso, tho Texas towii on the United States frontier, I was given letters to General Garraiwsa and his secretary by another "agent" of his party, wise- openly has an office there m spite of the" United States neutrality laws. 1 noticed in this oflice a very old man, clearly of refinement, acting as typist. He must have been seventy, and I watched his stiff fingers hitting tho keys, wondering bow on earth lie. had como to such an employment. I was still more astonished to learn that under tho previous Government of Mexico ho hatl been a Judge in tint country! "Up to-day and' down tomorrow" is the rule there just now. Quick Changes of Fartune. I could multiply such esses indefinitely. I have met on the United States side of tho border numbers of Americans who have been forced to leave their. Mexican businesses or properties on account of the disturbed state of the northern districts. Sonora, it is true, is now quiet except for spasmodic light- | ing near the port of Guavmas (Wymas), on the Pacific, which is "still held by a Federal garrison, backed up by gunboats in the harbour. But even in Sonora tho. losses of landowners and mineowners have been heavy, and the ncighobiiring States of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Duraugo, and Sinnloa are stiil thu scene of active warfare. I came across an oldish American, who had been very well off, acting as night clerk at a small hotel in Arizona. A Mexican "lmcondndo," proprietor of a "hacienda" (estate), had an unusually lino crop this year after several poor ones. The Constitutionalists seized tho whole of it, on the. ground that lie was ! a supporter of tin* "illegal Government." Ho is living in poverty ,;t Los Angeles, a rained man, until his side is "top dog" again. Then ho will be rich once more.

Tlio bad feeling in Ireland between Protestants anil Roman Catholics is mild compared with the bitterness of {lie hatred which the "Constitutionalisms" cherish against the Federals, end vice versa. This is the third revolution by which .Mexico, so rich in every kind of natural wealth, so prosperous under ths stern but not unkindly rule of President. Diaz, has been torn during the past three years. First, Dins was driven out- after his thirty-four years of atom, but statesmanlike Diar.-potism. In old age his grin slackened. His Ministers abused his conii(leitco, and the helplessness of tho poor. He was kept in ignorance both of their scheming-"" and of the indignation which they aroused. The shock of 'earning that the country wanted a change unset him completely. Ho resigned, and fled. tho Murder of Madcro. Thou came the accident of Francisco Madera. For some reason, probably because he was a very eloquent sneaker and made the poor extravagant promises, the sentiment of the discontented crystallised round this clever but ineffective and cranky little man. As soo;i as they discovered their mistake- nis popularity melted. Open rebellion broke out in many places. After a catastrophic week of fighting in Mexico City ho was forced to resign, and then assassinated. To him succeeded Provisional President Uucrta, and at once there arose tho "Constitutionalistas," vowing that he must bo overthrown as one who had betrayed his thief, and, in defiance of the low of the Republic, taken his place. At first tliey had dozens of lenders, some sincere in their professions, others mere brigands fighting for loot, Gradually out of tho hurlyburly one man emerged—an elderly landowner named Carrauxa, grey-beard-ed, spectacled, a reader and a thinker, yet, a man of action too. Ho has become tho Sir Edward Carson of the Mexico Ulster, with a certain "General" Obregtm for his Mr. F. F. Smith. Scnor Obrcgon was a "hacendado" too, but he is of a type very different, from liisjecder. I looked'at him, puzzled by his 'merry grey eyc-3, his tiptilted nose, his healthy, red, round face, with its jutting, dented chin. He was ttnlike any Mexican. What could he be? Suddenly I had it. His face was beyond doubt the i'ueo of an Irishman. His name must once have been O'Brien, turned into Spanish as ''Obrcgon." just as the Spanish O'Do-iogiutes became "Odonojvi,"

[ Ufa in a Mexican Town. Round about tho chief's quarters a ml the. Government building there are a good many soldiers with loaded rife, uniformed in blue, well-patched jean suits, like workmen, and conical straw hats. Otherwise there are no signs that revolution has (for the moment, | ai any rate) triumphed. The life of the iittlc town .goes on as usual; buying and selling; chaffering in the 'market, splashed with the vivid scarlet and green of "chiles" (peppers) dear to the Mexican palule, over poaches and pomegranates, quinces and green oranges, grown all round the town, of delicious juiciness; sitting about in pleasant "patios" (garden courtyards), strolling around the Plaza to bear the band; driving up and down in open cabs on Sunday alternoons (a regular Mexican habit). A drapery store, hiding behind .shutters from the heat,* hangs out a sale-sign: "Prccios extraordiiiariameiil'! bajos," it says. (Prices umtsuulIv Sow.) What a- word to use as a test nf sobriety! Happily there is little drunkenness here; no pulque-drink-ing, which does so much harm further south. 'the Indians of Sonora are big and strong and healthy. They are keen lighters, too, and always "agin the Government." A body of them came in the oilier day to oiler their services to General Carraiiza; they wort- armed with bown and arrows! f have a pic-l.i!i-.",tn!;en before they ".whanged Ihoso for Winchester rifles. They would will-

uigly have gone into u.utlc (lepciiuing on their archery alone. The sun-baked streets are lliick in dust, against which the low grey houses, nearly all built bungalow fashion, shutti'f tlicinsc-lvo.s nil day, to open uy when the cool of evening conifH and the palm trees stand out black bikl sharp aguiiifcta crimson sky of unimaginable ecstasy. The deey-tonc:l bells ni the cathedral toll out the hours which pass in such dosiciously deliberate fashion, slowfooted like the pace at which everyone move::, yei never wearisome, for is there not always in a hot country the spectacle of life to entertain one? See those delightful young .Mexican misses, all in white, frocks and dainty ribbons, having their party almost in (he street, so wide are the windows open and so jutting the balconies to the rooms. See the small boys and the weary peons buying red and green drinks from the stall yonder. See this linn old fellow coining along, erect and soldierly. Ho is a captain of sixty-nine years. On the active list? Yes, indeed, and eager for battle, lie was a carpenter and painter before the revolution. Now he and his iivo sons are all in. the rebel sviii.v and his sis daughters in the "Med Cross."

Lounging on the wide verandah of the Arcadia Hotel, a low building round an open-air courtyard, with big, lofty ■ ooins find a cool out-of-doors atmosphere, i feci the charm of a hot. climate stealing over me onca more.' It is so nice not to want to do anything—to he quite happy watching and chatting and loafing. And tho.charm is heightened by a telegram from New York asking if the Federals arc' really attacking llermosillo, and are its dusty roadways running with blood? "So like' Now York," we' murmur. "Who wants to fight or make any exertion? If only New York could see llermosillo now I"