New-York tribune. [volume], September 19, 1920, Image 65

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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MAGAZINE
and
BOOK SECTION
AGAZINE
ar.d
BOOK SECTION
PART VII TWELVE PAGES
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19. 1920
PART VII TWELVE PAGES
Says General Carranza Took the Kaiser as a Model;
Italian Writer Predicts Peaceful Future for Mexico
provisional President Declared to
Have Been Personally Honest
but Too Ambitious
A'Jo Baroni, thr Italian ientrnaUst !
pA writer of His article, has an
intim?t? knmclcdge of Mexican poli?
tic? and of thr prominent inen of
?ht republic. Baroni accompanied
Carranza when he left Saltillo, rais?
ing the banner of protest against the
nine of Victoriano Huerta, and
Wcled in the Presidential convoy
until it vas disbanded at Aljibes. It
,03 Baroras pen that wrote the
?Ian of Guadeloupe, which formed
\ke bas>s *>' the great revolutionary
movement of 1913; and loith the
?ame per. the members of the Con?
tinent Assembly of Qveretaro
-,gned the Constitution of 1917,
?xhieh, now is the basic law of the
\\sxiean Republic. Signor Barond |
as in .Vc" York recently en rovte
'o Europe nn a mission firr Hie Mr.ri- ;
on government.
By Alrio Baroni
NVENUSTIANO CARRANZA'S .
bedroom?;i room as severe and ,
as cold as the character of its
occupant - there wore two strik-;
?ng details which confirmed the opin- i
ion I had formed uf him during the
early months of his campaign \
against Huerta in 1913?a portrait j
of Emperor William, the theatrical
and tragic Hohenzollern, and an un?
derlined phrase on page 58 of the
last book he read hefore leaving his
home never to return.
The work was The Life of Au
TTTistin de Iturhido, Emperor of Mex?
ico, which lay open on the tahle at
hi? bedside, with the thin light of ?
the lamp softened hy the green shade \
nhich guarded his slumbers; and;
the phrase, to judge by the much be- :
thumbed appearance of the page,.
which evidently impressed him most
was that "between the ambitious
heights of the dream of empire and i
its realization there is nothing but !
the precipice of ruin."
A Dictator'? Character
The location of the portrait of the !
"oodchoppor of Amerongen in the
"?ace of honor in his bedroom be?
tokened his unyielding obstinacy of
will, while the phrase quoted, !
doubtless road and reread in the
nely watches of the night when ?
:?ce to face with his conscience, |
clearly showed that Carranza had ?
H-l the characteristics of a dictator ?
and was resolved to achieve victory !
r to fijce death in the supreme ef?
fort of his life. This obstinacy, this
-?concealed ambition, were the
'"tes that impelled him to the wig
v?mof Tlaxeaiantor.go,where hornet
u fate, as I had foreseen in what
owmay he called prophetic articles
ionttibuted by me to various papers
?1913 and 191 5.
Venustiano Carranza undoubtedly
?'?*d exceptional qualities, a distin?
guished figure, possessed of a re?
tted personal sense of honor, ex?
treme tenacity of purpose, with a
profound knowledge of the psychol
c?y of his people and a feeling of '.
aspect for national dignity exalted
to i degree where it became almost
a menace to the material welfare of
r'is country. But all these admir?
?e traits were overshadowed by
?'e g.anng defect of consummate
'a,% which caused him to glory
"the photographic reproductions in
'n< press of the smallest incidents
?? his daily life. And it was this
V:?i,
????>n.y developed sense of persona!
CVBce?t, partly hidden by the out
Srd simplicity of a gentleman
?armer, that caused him to admit to
"l ?ntimate circle only those who as
8ented t? Ws views and pleased him
** their continual flattery.
Argument a Disgrace
To argue with Carranza was to
1IUo disgrace. For that reason,
?e by one, the better element in
^entourage separated from him
*? government, so that, toward
ad, instead of having: trusted
?Oft? at hfe ride, he was sur
- I
rounded mostly by political adven-!
turers who subordinated national to
persona] interests.
There was one exception, Luis Ca?
brera, whose apparent geniality was
merely a cloak to his bitterness of
character and perversity.
. Indeed, it seems incredible that
with his immediate associates com?
posed, in great part, of persons of
scant intelligence and even scantier,
honesty, the fall of Carranza, whose
personal honor was always beyond
question, could havo been avoided
until so recent a date as that tragic
May 21 of the present year.
The phenomenal Barragan might
be conceivable, as the henchman of
a Rosas or a Melgarejo, both bar?
barians, but his masquerading as
the counterpart of a decadent:
Roman emperor beside the noble fig- '
ure and the superior intelligence of
Carranza is unthinkable. Barragan
is the handsomest man in the world,
according to Blasco Ib??ez, who ris- ;
uaiized Mexico through the tales ;
and jokes of the canteen3 and by '
piecing together fragments of stories
of alleged atrocities; but that meth?
od of describing a country "is mere-!
ly defamatory and equivalent to fur- !
nishing a description of the United!
States obtained from a study of the
caricatures of the press, and that
is what the author of The Four j
Horsemen of the Apocalypse gave in
his elementary articles on Mexico.
Author's Imagination
His comparison of Barragan's ap
pcarance with the classic type of I
gar?on coiffeur and of the conven-1
tional vendor of "ladies' accessories" j
is but a flight of the author's exag- I
gerated Southern imagination. Bar- ]
ragan is good looking and intelligent
to a mediocre extent, for every qual?
ity in that bombastic individual,
whom they call "the little Presi
dent," is lamentably mediocre. How]
could such a youth, without moral
ity, talent or personal worth, become
the arbiter of the internal policy
of Mexico, or govern Carranza so '?
completely as to secure unlimited !
power and become the Mazarin of
his government?
I was able, on a former occasion,
to account for the exaggerated au-j
thority of Barragan during the last
days of Carranza's stay at the cap
i tal. Little by little every one final?
ly deserted the President. A most j
horrible loneliness surrounded the j
man who bad reached the height of I
power ami liad controlled the most
powerful army ever possessed by!
Mexico. Only a few followers re?
mained at !? is siile in those days and
slept with him in the palace; and
it was when 1 saw these last sup?
posed loyal adherents pass by in re?
view that 1 realized how imminent
was the catastrophe. They reclined
on the soft, velvety rugs of the din?
ing room and on the divans of the
Turkish s7i!on.
Slept in the Palace
After 11 o'clock at night the ele?
gant salons became transformed into
dormitories and there 1 used to see,
clad in pajamas, arranging their beds
with blankets and coverings, those
men who had urged Carranca to the
disastrous decision of fomenting an
artificial candidacy. And among
these later paladins of the Carranza
r?gime, many of whose faces bore
evident traces of terror and
almost all of whom had become dis?
tinguished chiefly through robbery,
Barragan played on with an assump?
tion of childlike innocence, perform?
ing the tricks of a naughty school?
boy and declaring with wonderful
cynicism that it would suit him if
the revolution triumphed, because
then he could go and spend his mil?
lions in Paris.
He kept a daily account of the
sales lie effected and of sums drawn
on foreign banks. In the mean time
telegrams were coming in rapid suc?
cession, all exposing the terrifying
I ?ENORA ADOLFO DE II
I ^LA HUERTA, wife of I
! Mexico's Provisional Presi?
dent, and their two children
growth of an armed rebellion; but
far from being disconcerted by the
increasing difficulties of the situa?
tion, Barragan continued to main-.
tain his unseemly attitude, and on '
tho very eve of the disastrous escape ,
from the capital he and his cohort
of elegant youths danced and drank
champagne in the cabarets.
During these fatal hours Carran- ,
za and Barragan had concentrated '
all power between them, but as the !
end approached such authority as
remained fell into the gloved and be
jeweled hands of "the little Presi?
dent," and whenever it was necessary
for him to give a quick decision on
some urgent matter he had to be
sought either in the houses of his
lady loves or in the places of amuse?
ment where the underworld fore?
gathered, i
No Money for His Flight
The revolution was already at the
gates of the capital and arrange- |
ments for the journey to Vera Cruz
completed, but "Juanito" Barragan
had not yet delivered to the despair- '
ing intendente of the palace either
the funds to provide food for the
Presidential train or the cash or
credit necessary for the intendente\
to purchase a loaf of bread or a can
of gasoline.
The trip from Mexico to Aljibes,
organized by Barragan, recalls one
of those described by the eloquent
pen of Suetonius, the historian of
the Roman emperors of the deca?
dence. An endless caravan, in which
freely mingled, amid drunken feast?
ing with champagne, depraved wom?
en dressed in silk and batiste and the
shabbily dressed soldiery, the pro?
fessional "Alphonse" and the dis?
couraged hero. To give more color
to the scene there were even two
wild lions, which Colonel Cantu, pro?
consul of Lower California, had sent
to the favorite, who was as powerful
as a freedman under Caligula or
Nero.
Carranza'? Favorites
Much lias been written and will
yet be written about the causes
which brought Carranza to ruin. For
me there Is only one cause: Lack of
?
faith in mankind and his choice of
the worst of them, because they were
the most flexible, and finally his al?
lowing them to dominate him.
Under Carranza's rule the most
scandalous fortunes were made, his
favorites having grown rich through ?
robbery of the coarsest kind and
most injurious to the nation. This
Carranza must have allowed, be- ?
cause it is impossible that he should
have been ignorant of his favorites'
intrigues, in the hope that he could
thus held them in his power and.
dominate them, while the result W3S
that they became possessors of his
will and blinded him by rabi7:g !
around him barriers which prevented
him from =ec:ng the real truth.
There in the wigwam at Tlaxcal
antongo, at the approach of death,
; the scales must have fallen from his
| eyes and he must have cursed the
\ names of those who brought him to j
, his ruin; those who, in order to re?
main in power, invented "civilismo";
(which might have been a good idea;
if it had not been presented in a!
' form so stupidly violent that a revo- '
. lution became inevitable); and fore
i most among the cursed ones at that
1 tragic moment must have been Can
dido Aguilar, former milkman at
Cordova; "Juanito" Barragan and;
the favorites, freedmen and "mi?
gnons." It will be well if the sad ex?
perience of Carranza, which well
nigh threatens the republic itself,'
should remain in the memory of :
future rulers of Mexico so that the
ulcer may be eradicated, represent?
ing those absolute, all-powerful ad?
visers whose attainment of power is
gained only through poverty of in?
tellect and weakness of backbone of
the nominal head of the state.
How Did He Die?
These are the causes which con?
tributed to the ruin and death of
Carranza. There is a veil drawn
over this mystery. How did he <iie?
The theory of suicide is not in?
credible. I maintain, and I wrote
to that effect before Carranza's
death, that the aged First Chief
would have committed suicide
sooner than be taken prisoner. I
saw him attempt it on various oc?
casions on the firing line before
abandoning his escort.
But the number of wounds and
the testimony of his attendants ap?
pear to contradict this theory. Car
ALDO BARONI, Italian journalist,
knowledge of Mexican politics a
Mexico
who has an intimate
nd prominent men of
Only Advisers Who Would Flatter
His Vanity for Their Own
Profit Were Retained
ADOLFO DE LA HUER
*x TA, Provisional Presi?
dent of Mexico
?,-i
ranza perished in a warlike embus?
cade, the object of which was his
arrest, not his death. Furthermore,
it must be admitted that General
Obregon had absolutely no part
either In the conception or the ex?
ecution of the scheme. The secre?
taries who accompanied the Presi?
dent, Pedro Gil Farias and Gerzain
Ugarte, assured me on their arrival
in Mexico City that the words
shouted by the assailants were "Viva
PeluvizI" and "Surrender, Carranza 1
We promise you guaranties."
It seema strange that cries of
"Surrender, Carranza!" should have
been followed so swiftly by repeated
shots, but these were in reality few,
and were exaggerated by the terri?
fied imagination of Carranza's at?
tendants; and for those of us who
understand the psychology of those
mounted Indians, who are extreme?
ly primitive, there is no difference
between words and action. At that
moment, their action of shooting was
automatic, something beyond their
will.
Admits His Mistake
The Carranza r?gime having col?
lapsed with the death of its chief,
Mexico found herself face to face
with terrible problems, the solution
of which appeared impossible to
many. The Cassandras of the po?
litical world, to whom I also be-,
longed, believed that Gonzalism and
Obregonism would immediately
break out into hostilities; that Villa,
thanks to this break, would recover
his forces, and that the army, be?
cause there were no funds to get
pay from, would disband, and thus
a period of terrific chaos would com?
mence. Such apprehensions were
very reasonably founded, the result
of a certain logic. But Mexico is
not a logical country, and all coun?
tries formed after her pattern may
and should expect the greatest sur?
prises.
Villa Surrenders
General Gonzalez, who, according
to historical precede:7t, should have
assumed power on gaining the capi?
tal with all the forces attached tc
him, did nothing of the kind. Wher
; ho wanted to do so weeks later il
I was too late; his party had faller
i into decay for lack of a flag, anc
| his greatest support, General Jacint?
' B. Trevino, had resolutely placee
. himself on the side of the constitu
' tior.al government. Pancho Villa
j the inaccessible, the terror of al
governments, arrived one day at
village, besieged it, took possession
Ms object being to communicate b;
telegraph to the President of the re?
public his desire to retire into pri?
vate life.
The exhausted treasury was re?
gaining strength and bade fair to
defray all the expenses of the bud- !
get of state. The disbanding of the
army was being quietly accom?
plished, thousands of soldiers will?
ingly exchanged their arms for the
plow and renewed hope was stir?
ring in Mexico. A new and unex?
pected position had intervened?the
policy of President de la Huerta.
There is a great belief in Mexico
in strong men, though strong men
have been the ruin of the country.
This is an unquestionable fact, and
yet everybody talks of the strong
man who is indispensable to the sat?
isfactory governing of the country.
The present Provisional President
dispelled the legend that has existed
from timo immemorial and which
has yielded such disastrous results.
President de la Huerta did not wish
to be a strong man; he had no desire
to concentrate power in his own
hands, nor to rule with an iron hand.
1 He wanted to be a man with respect
for law, but without harshness, and
the result proved that he was right
Huerta's Policy
There was another idea in Mexico
that in order to govern one hac
to be?well, to think of one thinj
and say another, to have a masl
always over one's face and a glov<
over the hand of iron ; in short, t
be a Machiavelli and a Frederic!
William at once. Se?or de la Huerti
wished nothing of the sort. He wa:
quite the contrary, and ha won. H
was sincere, cordial and generous
and to-day in Mexico, where it i
so difficult to be popular in govern
ment and worse still at critical mo
ments, public opinion is unanimou
in his support.
If the government which is to sue
ceed him will continue on the line
drawn by him, in spite of the black
est apprehensions, which are logics
enough, Carranza'? inheritance wi'
not, as we feared, be such a Nessu
shirt for Mexico after all. Ther
are reasons, too, for thinking thi:
Indications point to the view the
General Obregon will take advar
tage of the teaching of the la:
r?gime, and, carrying the memor
of the painful experience of a ten
pestuous yesterday, he will direi
his policy wisely toward the work <
national reconstruction, which is ?
necessary for the restoration of tl
exhausted forces of the Mexica
organism, whose blood has be<
weakened by ten years of war.
Obregon's Policy
The program of Mexico's futu:
President may be condensed in
three basic points, which are di
metrically opposite to those whii
formed trrr basis of Carrar.za's pc
icy: Conciliation with the inter:
elements, good relations with :
foreign nations, particularly wi
the United States, and the dece
tralization of power.
General Obregon and his par
have belied the reports which we
spread by adherents of the previo
regime. They were accused of bei
intransigent, but their deeds ha
shown how well they know how
conciliate all the good elemen
whatever their political affiliatl
They were accused of anti-Ame
canism, and all the manife:;tatic
given by General Obregon and
party allow the statement that
Mexico that policy has come to
end of "pin" pricking," which alw?
I kept Carranza's government on
edge of an international conflict w
the United States.
Must Be Friendly
Mexico cannot exist without g
relations with her powerful nei
. bor in the North, and Genera! 01
| gon is disposed to follow that po
of friendship frankly, preserving, e?
course, at the same time a national
dignity. Porfirio Diaz, Maden?,
Huerta and Carranza directed thei?
foreign policy toward the nations of
Europe or toward Japan, sometimes
secretly, sometimes in a manner
which showed open hostility to the
United States.
Obregon, without breaking the
bonds which for so long have bound
Mexico with some of the natlona of
Europe which have large interests
in that country, will foster good
relations between Mexico and the
Northern Republic, one o?? his plans
being to present before the houses
of Congress a treaty of friendship
and commerce with the United
States which will open to American
industrial products a larger field for
expansion in Mexico and will favor
the introduction of raw materials
from Mexico into North America.
The day that the two neighboring
republics shall stop seeing each
other as possible enemies and give
up all motives for fear arising from
disagreeable incidents, by means of
an outspoken policy of friendship,
Mexico will gain extraordinary im?
portance as a productive nation ; all
her immense riches will be developed
and the United States will havo
its most important market there.
A Democratic Policy
As for his internal policy, Gen?
eral Obregon is resolved to govern
democratically, extending the in flu
; ence of the houses of Congress.
Furthermore, those ministers, al?
ways excepting Cabrera, who un?
der Carranza were humblo stenog?
raphers charged with writing down
orders, will have a larger sphere of
action and greater responsibility.
Instead of being phonographic disk.;
some will be counsellors, faithful re?
producers of the voice of the su?
premo and only chief. That chief
will also undertake the tremendous
and indispensable task of taking all
political power from the army, thus
making it solely a national instru?
ment for the maintenance of ordei
and national institutions.
Ever since the month of Ma3
Mexico has shown that she can hav<
a democratic form of government
though with limited resources, hav
ing just emerged from a swift bu
formidable upheaval. The Mexicai
people wish for no more revolutions
their exhausted agriculture does no
allow of the formation of rebelliou
nuclei. All Mexico desires peace
The government of Se?or de I
Huerta is the first that has wil
nessed the running of train
throughout the republic withor.
armed escorts. Help must be e?
tended and advantage taken of t.b
kindly disposition of the Mexica
people to retrace the road of no
mality and progress. They mu
not be oppressed with exactions n<
thrown into despair through i;
difference.
Relapse Might Be Fatal
Mexico's organism is strong, i
wonderful elasticity, but she h;
just emerged from a long and da
g?rons illness, and a relapse wou
be terrible, perhaps fatal; wh
with a little good will outside of h
boundaries even the traces of t
malady that wrecked her might d
appear. Her capacity for reacti
is immense. Se?or de la Huei
found the treasury exhausted .a
everybody predicted that his adm
istration could not last, b"cai
! there would not 1? enou;7h money
i pay the soldiers. As a matter
i fact, not only has the army b?
paid, but even civil employees i
receiving their i':il! salaries to-d
[ :, thing which has not happened d
? ing years past!
The moment is ripe for the Uni
State- and the world to witness
r. birth in a few months of t
ancient Mexican prosperity wh
generously enriched so many i
eigners. Never before has Me:
so fully deserved from her nei
hors that sympathetic interest wi
good intentions justify. A conti
; ar.ee of this^sympathy would lx
I the advantage <.f both Mexico
| trie United States, because it n
| be remembered that nothing is n
? dangerous than having a pe:
with a serious contagious illnes
{the house next dooi?
\ .-?* 4 ^a%