THE MEXICO OF TO-DAY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 103, 17 September 1912, Page 6

THE MEXICO OF TO-DAY

A CLASS WAR. | INTERNATIONAL COMPLEXITIES, j Mr -Edmund Mitchell, journalist anil novelist, now in Wellington, has a very comprehensive lirst-hand knowledge (A the situation in Mexico at the present perplexing juncture, and recently afforded a Dominion representative an int-er--esting interview on the subject. 'The Mexican revolution," said Mr Mitchell, "is really an attempt on the part of the peon (peasant) population to get back the land—a movement which appears to be world-wide at present. The country is divided into immense ranches, particularly in the north, where they [ are held by twenty or thirty rich famiiI ies. It has been during the long regime of Diaz that the country has been exploited for the benefit of the wealthy classes, who have fattened under Government privilege for about thirty years, during which time the peon class has been entirely neglected. There are at present about 1a,000,000 peons, of whom 13,000.000 are without any education whatever, and are on no higher plane than the American Red Indian. Indeed, there is a good deal of Indian blood in their veins. In the old days, the land belonged to the various tribes, and any member could take up any area which he could manage. But by grafting modern civilisation on. to the Indian's primitive but satisfactory ideas, the land became alienated, and the men who surrounded Diaz were those who have benefitted. The revolution was inevitable—it has been coming for twenty years. Could it be otherwise, when the peon was .paid i at the rate of 17 cents (B%d) per day J for his labor, enough for the barest sub- J sistence? On that account he has never | been able to get possession of any land , —not an acre could a peon acquire under the system. Then Madero displaced Diaz, but ilie, too, was a member of one of the richest \ families in Mexico, and was not strong enough to withstand the exploitation, of the country by-the same class of people who had supported Diaz. Orzoco, a lieutenant of Madero's saw his chief's weakj ness, broke away, and iheaded the present ' revolution. He is one of the people, and | is fighting for a new order of things al- | together. The revolution, you must understand. is sporadic—it has broken out 1' in (five or six spots, north, south, east and west of the City of Mexico, and each I one has it own head. At the same time r the whole aim of -both sides is to prevent ) any intervention on the part of the ' United States, which they fear would j mdair the crushing of their country and | the alienation of a great deal of the land, j and the States had no desire for war in I that direction. } WHAT WAR WOULD MEAN. 1 -il A Iluml)er 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 many years. It would, too, at the same time, put back the pan-American movement for a long time and would alienate the South AmericaJn Republics, with whom the United j States has been fostering good feelings (in view of the early completion of the j Panama Canal, and the commercial development which will result in respect to these ropublics. Though there have been many provocations and wrongs inflicted on many American citizens, the Uiiited States, up to this point, has sat | tight. There have been two or three affairs, one at El Paso (Texas), and another at Junea (California) where the bullets were flying, and 1 several Americans were killed, still nothing had been done. f'he position has now become more serious. There- has been much destruction of property, and Germany, England, Spain, and China are looking for Ameri- . ca to intervene—China because of the massacre of some 300 Chinese by the rebate at Torreon some months ago. It j is".'morally certain that the Powers of Europe must intervene themselves or call upon America to do so under the Monroe Doctrine (which constitutes the United States the guardian for them on .the Continent of America, contingent upon the stipulation that- no European Power lands troops there.) If the United States fails to presrve order the Monroe, Doctrine amounts to nothing more than bluff. How long the position will last without intervention is a problem. Orzoco has never been Recognised as a belligerent by the States, and Madero has. Supplies and ammunition have not been allowed 'to pass over the border to Orzoco, whilst Madero has been permitted to use the 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 intervening in a domestic quarrel, and. may retaliate by destroying property anil liy.es. Ta.kef Cannanea, for instance.' It is practically an American mining' town"wh'ere America has a hundred million dollars invested in copper mining •seriously threatened by the" rebels""and the assistance given by the Stages to Madero may very easily lead to reprisals."

THK 11ATRD A'MKRtGAX.S. .'"lt is a curious fact that the foreigners most' hated Vy/TiltixVans are the Americans. They have never got over the loss of Texas—it ik ft suppurating sore in the side 1 of 'tH!'Mexicahs, wild J always fear' the aLienatioTi' of further territory. Then, agaiii, there have been' had Americans' iri : Desperadoes and brokenirfefv HttVfer fclie "natural driftwood from AmSrick 'ftitio tliat country.' Ido not'say thati'tliis is anything against American-it-'WoiJW the same way were any other country Mexico's next door neighbor. Similarly it so happens that the British, French, German, and Spanish people' theft> are picked men; sent there to occupy-positwns of trust and importance,' -who' fioiirjxire mighty favorably against Americans who left ■their country for.their country's good, so to speak. It so happens, that the foreign element in Mexico is the tnost important clement. The mining .industry is in the hands of the Americans/and British; in Mexico City the street-cars are owned by Canadians; the hardware trade is in the hands of the Germans; the French control the clothing, dressmaking and jewellery business; groceries and mines are controlled by Spaniards, and even the sewerage system was Made by Swedes. The gas (from oil) industry i<s in the hands of Americans and British. I 'have a son who is chemist to a gas company there, so I know what I am talking about. You will see by this that all the Mexicans have left for themselves is the government of the country, which has been exploited :for the benefit of the richer classes. There are 1 in Mexico City about 30,000 foreigners—Americans. British, Germans, French, and Spaniards—in somewhat equal proportions, and they control all the industries which are financially centred in Mexico..City. READY FOR ANYTHING'.

"During the last two years, during which the civil war has been on, 50 per cent, of the foreigners have left the city. The other foreigners are armed and brigaded. There are 4000 of them armed each with a rifle and a revolver, which they keep ever by their sides. Each one lias several day's provisions and a lantern in 'his room, and on the call to arms each one has his post assigned to him at one of four places they have arranged to make a stand at the cost of their lives. At the same time, mv son writes that he

does not think there is any real danger for foreigners in the city. They were really too strong to be man-handled by the populace, but there might be a certain Joss of life in a sporadic way. When my son last wrote they (fclie\foreigners) had

the active support of Madero, and the last tiling anticipated was trouble in the city. "Outside the city, no life is safe. It only needs a half-drunken Peon regiment loaded with pulque (the native liquor), and 'seeing l red' to cut off and massacre isolated groups of foreigners in the country. If anything like that happened the Powers could not stand it any longer. Already it is said that Britain, France, and Germany have told off war vessels to report at Vera Cruz, the nearest port to Mexico City. COMPLICATIONS. "It is a pity that Lower California does not belong to America—geographically, sociologically, and economically it I should, for at present what is a potentially great, rich country is practically | uniuhabitated, and under the United 1 States it would be made to go ahead to | 'beat the band.' The value is greatly enhanced l>y Magdalena Bay, the finest harbor in the world. There is a chance of this country being traded off to Japan by Madero. Whether that is true or not, iarge numbers of Japanese have settled down there, ostensibly as the employees of a fishing company', which lends color 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 Magdalena Bay will have to fight .America for it. I have been there myself, and watched the night-firing ! from the heights—a most wonderful sight. I have seen five shells in the air at the one time froip the same quick-firer, and they all followed ■one another through the same hole in the target. That was in perfectly still water, with the searchlights making it as light as day. Two years ago the Government abandoned the bay as a field for battle practice, as the shooting wa3 all done in still water, and an open ocean ] policy was adopted."