SO PEACE IN MEXICO.

Northern Advocate, 11 April 1911, Page 3

SO PEACE IN MEXICO.

DIAZ IN HIS DOTAGE.

"DID NOT KNOW WHEN TO QUIT."

An American journal, in reviewing the situation in Mexico some little time ago, said: —

"In our opinion, the aged President did not know when to quit. He has made Mexico. He was the neighbor- <-: ingv\republic when the revolutionist Pornrio Diaz took up arms against President Benito Juarez and his two immediate successors, Lerdo de Tejada and Iglesias? At home, Juarez ruled the country as he might have ruled the few bucks and squaws of his native village; abroad, the Government was discredited. What Juarez might have done to restore the pestige of his country we do not know, for he was taken away almost suddenly by fatal f malady at the time his former pupil at Oajaca and his most efficient military leader was in open war against him. Thus did Porifirio Diaz gallop up to the presidential chair. Utterly sick of warfare, wasted fields, highwaymen. and kidnappers, the people welcomed him and changed the Constitution a few times to please and retain him in office. He responded to their hopes and expectations.. Mexico began to thrive. Foreign capital came in, bej cause under Diaz it was safe; valuable concessions were granted to the foreigners who came to develop Mexico's immense buried wealth, to make the country more prosperous, and incidentally to enrich themselves. The people murmured, for they thought that the best of everything was rapidly passing into the hands of Englishmen, Germans, and especially Yankees; but the sti-ong arm of Diaz was at lhe ' helm and the threatened storm subsided. "THE FAIR-HAIRED BOY." "Diaz was growing old. A man borr. in 1830 is no longer a youth in J 904. He wanted a vice-president, and the people obligingly made room for cne in the Constitution. Long tenure of office made the old man eager to name the vice-president and obstinate in sticking to his choice. Again the people fretted, but he had his way, and Corral of Sonora was duly elected for a term of six years. Corral was not ■well liked nor favorably known, still he was the old man's fair-haired boy and that had to suffice. "When the Presidential election of 1910 approached, General Bernardo Beyes, then Governor of Nuevo Leon, was loudly acclaimed as the next vicepresident; but, as is commonly the case, advancing years has made the aged President even less supple in his limbs and in his will, and he clamoured for Corral as children cry for some favourite plaything.. Reyes, dashing, gallant soldier that he was, seeing that valour's best part was discretion, resigned and slipped off to Europe. He f\ went with a Government appointment to spend plenty of time in studying the , cinches used in the French army, or words to that effect. j ELECTION DAY IN GAOL. "Francisco I, Madero offered him-. self to a small but admiring group as a candidate for the presidency, a.nd began to deliver campaign speeches. He was charged with inciting the peo\Y pie to'sedition and was lodged in gaol, where he spent election day. After seven weeks as a guest of the Government, he was released on bail, and was finally told to go in peace, if he would leave the country. He went to San Antonio, Texas, it is said, and there found some malcontents who had preceded him. The present activities are, inspired by him, if common report he trusted, and their object is ' not so much to depose poor old Geneial Diaz, who is travelling so speedily towards the setting sun, as it is to oust the unpopular heir apparent, the hated ][':. Corral. What lasting glory Avould have been that of Diaz if he had recognised the signs of the times and gracefully bowed himself off the ifctage while the audience were still |ood-natured, or at least tolerant! For a time he was necessary; the people waited for him to outgrow the childish hallucination, but they waited to little purpose. And now, in bitterness • of heart, lie hears the hurrah of yesterday changed into the curse of today. His dream of greatness has outlasted the real greatness that once was his."