The Sunday Oregonian., May 31, 1914, SECTION SIX, Page 5, Image 73

THE SUM)AY OREGOXIiy, POKIXASTD, MAY . 31, 1914. 7"
- ' . - . K .
: ' u t -
CHlHUAHtTA, Mexico, May 24. "
(Special Correspondence.) "You
Taji land. Come wifh me and
flsrht and you shall have It."
Tills was the substance of Pancho
Villa's appeal to the men that Joined
him In the field. Later he broadened
It to cover all the property of the rich,
and thus drew men from the mines
and the Industrial plants rt the towns;
but primarily his call was ho the peons
of "the country who were landless.
In Chihuahua under 'the baronial
rale of the Terrazas family no peon
could hope to he anything: else than a
peon. Friends of the family insist that
It was a benevolent patriarchal feud
alism which prevailed; but they do not
deny that somehow the hundreds of
square miles of Terrazas territory was
steadily added to, the Terrazas ranches
were broadened and the Terrazas cat
tle left no grazing ground for anybody
else's cattle.
Complete land monopoly of this kind
hardly could be acquired without in
justice, though after acquirement there
may have been less oppression of the
peons on the different haciendas than
has been charged.
Political monopoly was necessary to
maintain the land monopoly, and the
Terrazas control of Chihuahua was
as complete as that of a military
satrapy. It extended from the Gov
ernorship of the state down to the
lowest administrative office.
"When Enrique Creel, the son-in-law
ef General Luis Terrazas, was selected
as Ambassador to Washington he was
Governor of Chihuahua. He did not
resign that position, but merely dele-
gated it to one of his group. "When
he became tired of being Ambassador
he returned and resumed his Gover-
norshlp. - "
This practice, 'however, was not pe-
eullar to Chihuahua.' It obtained in
other Mexican Btates, and is the out-
ftrowth of the political ' system of
Spanish - American countries under
which the Presidents ' can abdicate
their executive functions temporarily
and resume them' at will.
General Luis Terrazas Is now living
across the border at 1 Paso. One son,
I,uis Terarzas, Jr is still a hostage
in Chihuahua, a prisoner of state,
though not in prison, who was more
valuable .alive than dead, and that is
why he lives. That he was actually
tortured to make him give up part of
or
the concealed Terrazas millions m
ay
never be admitted, but it is significant
of the barbaric conditions of the pres- l-uP"l-
ent war that this probability is ad- Hu correspondence 'with Secretary
mltted. The rebels would not let him Seward during this period is an inter
be ransomed, because the ransom esting chapter Jn our diplomatic his
would have ended the possibility of re- tory. though not all of It Is In tha r.
ceiving further sums. Other members
of the family are scattered. Former
Ambassador Creel lm in Mexico City.
The Terrazas palaces are now held
by tne triumphant rebels. The .seats
or tne Terrazas mignty are occupied ry
the peon poor. Former peons on the'
J autiz a, irTio uvr aumuiiBLCi
them. Fffty thousand head of Terrazas
THE rain had abated, but the wind
had grown to a gale. It rattled
tfie window of the surgery that
faced the sea.
- I was about to ring the bell, as a
signal for dinner, when the housemaid
announced Mrs. Marlow. I set the arm
chair by the fire, and a footstool for
her wet feet; and all the time she
looked t me with her beautiful dark
eyes.
"John!" she said at last. "John!"
- She had not calledvme by my Chris
tian name for 10 years.
"My dear!" I said softly, and put my
hand on her shoulder.
"My dsk Is broken open." she told
me: "and the letters are gone!"
She made a strange sound that was
neither a laugh nor a cry.
"You said that you had destroyed
them. Alice"
She had been "Mrs. Marlow" to me
for a long time.
"They were the food my heart lived
on." she pleaded. "You do not know!"
"Ah!" I said. "I know." We touched
hands for a moment. "It is Vlnall who
has done It, of course," I went on, pres
ently. Vlnall was her husband's cousin
. a mean-souled, money-making little
lawyer. "I will pay all that I have for
them."
'It will not be enough," she warned
me. Indeed, I had little. What could I
save in a parish of poor sailormen?
"We will speak to Rupert together
and tell him that our wrong went as
far -as the letters show, and no fur
ther: and that it endedwhen he had
the first of his attacks, and we knelt
by his bedside his doctor and his wife.
Me knows how we have stood between
him and death these 10 years. He will
believe ui"
"He will believe n," she agreed:
"and he will forgive us; make excuses
for us even: but It will kill him!"
A cold chill went over me. For,
strange as it may seem.' we both loved
the good man who came so unknowing
ly between our hearts. We loved him
more' for. the wrong that we had been
so near doing him; and more now that
we. had saved him from his constant
heart attacks for years.
"It would kill Rupert." I agreed. "If
he knew. He shall not know. I will
kill Vlnall."
She drew her breath in a gasp.
"No." she entreated. "Nor -
"Will you plead for him?" I asked.
"Or for Rupert and yourself?"
"It Is you that Xplead for,"- she said,
"John!"
"I would risk hanging for myself,"
I observed, "but I won'f make matters
" ' x "
st " ? ? i U J;r ails . . - . w - a
cattle are counted as part of the rebel
resources. The rebel revenues are
swelled by what Is drawn from the
Terrazas goods and properties. The Gov-
ernor and other constitutionalist offi-
cers have themselves photographed on
the piazzas of the Terrazas mansion,
. Thfs situation might seem to dispose
of the Terrazas family both in - the
gratification of the hatred felt for
them by a large element of the peon
population and inthe substantial ben
efit to the revolution from the control
of their vast properties. But it does
not. And there is a reason.
The Terrazas family is a fighting
family. Spanish and Indian blood are
there, and In the collateral branch
Kentucky blood also. The father of
Enrique Creel was a Ken tuck ian who
married a Mexican ' lady. He was the
American consul at Chihuahua, who
-n. i,- t
6UOrnm0ni irora-
Place to place during . the French oc
chives of the State Department. En
rique Creel was a banker and at one
time was called the Plerpont Morgan
of Mexico. His financial abilltv is
feared as much as the masterful quel-
ities of the Terrazas themselves.
Porfirio Diaz, was-once credtied with
IDO i II L C II L 1 U 11 l)L CO&lieHEinE tne SWaV
of this formidable family and it was
Mi
worse for you and Rupert. Twill not
do It, if I should be found out."
She laid her hand on my arm.
"I still plead for you, dear," she whis
pered. "For the man that you are
set up so high in my heart. I feared
what you might do; and I came to say
that, John." .
I leaned forward in my chair, with
my face in- my hands. She bent toward
me and kissed, my hair. It was thicker
when she did that last. Ten years had
passed ten years!
I breathed hard In my struggle with
myself, and then there came a clamor
outside and a knocking at the front
door.
We heard the news as they, told "It
to the housemaid. Vlnall had taken
the shor cu acrofts the beach, from
the coastguard station to the railway.
The tide running fiercely across the
flats, with the onshore gale behind,
had cut him off. He was hemmed in
under the sheer cliffs like a" rat in a
trap. No boat could venture among the
boulders there In such a sea. They
gave him less than an hour.
I looked at Alice," and. I think I
smiled. -
v"We will leave it." I eaid grimly, "to
the judgment of God."
She clasped her hands and the tears
streamed down her face, and then the
men came in and told us the tale that
we had already overheard. Old Jenkins,
the stroke of the lifeboat, was spokes
man, y
"If there was a dog's chance that we
could keep the boat off the rocs," said
he, "we'd try It, sir, but there ain't,
as you know,"
- "I know."' I agreed. "There's noth
ing to be done."
Alice gave a sudden sob.
"Can't you let down a rope to him?"!
she asked, throwing out her hands.
"If young Jamison weren't ill In
bed," Macdonald. the Methodist, de
clared, "he might have got down at this
end of a rope and pulled him up on-the
ledge, till the tide went down. It's
where I broke my leg 21 years ago, and
sometimes I've been sinful enough to
doubt If the chap I saved .was worth
a decent man's leg, seeing how things
turned out."
Alice looked at me quickly. Moun
taineering had once been my hobby.
"Could you do it now." she asked,
"without risking your life?" .
"The doctor ain't going, ma'am," old
Jenkins said brusquely. "There' those
here that would lay nands on him to
stop it. The squire's cousin begging
io-iK Jjardon. maaiq iin'l wortii the
even said that he sent a mild monitory
tnessageto "Don Luis" that things .
must change in Chihuahua. It is cer
tain that some of the members of the
scientific circle who surrounded Diaz
counseled economic measures of reform
In the barony, and these land reforms .
would have required some political con
cessions. '
- But if Diaz ever planned action he
quailed before taking it, because when
the first Madero revolution broke, Don
Luis and his family were In Undis
puted possession of Chihuahua. -
While their dispossession and the
breaking of the land monopoly was a
part of the Madero programme which
drew many followers. It was only an
incidental part. This may have been
one reason why a year after Madero
came v into power at Mexico City Don
Lula Terrazas and his family were un-
rfisnntrt in thBir rosB!.inT. rrf Chi-
- . lv:
huahua, although
ministration control was out of their
hands. "
They accepted certain reforms lm-
posed on tnem, including tne payment
of a land tax, and other contributions
to the revenue, and adapted themselves
very comfortably to the new -conditions.
The people were no nearer possess
ing the land under Madero than they
had been under Diaz.
Then came
...
the carnival of pillage
known AS thfl OrOZRft TATfl llMnn. nF mil.
tiny.
Orozco had been with Madero in
idei
risk of the doctor's life, and risk ain't
the word."
There was a growl of assent. "
"If Dr. Westthinks he can do- it."
,she said, "he will try, and his friends
will not stop him. though" she held
her heart wlth both hands "thy will
suffer." she said with a gasp. '
"I will try," I promised, and she rose
-and took fax ban da la. hers, ..
. C' , xwx V- 1 III 111 Ulnrbi m.
the overthrowing of the Diaz , rule.
When he took: the warpath on his own
account, the Maderists called it trea-
en. The Orozcolsts said It was exer-
cislng the same right of revolution thkt
HT,dr h.d ...i i,fD,i ,
undisguised, but organlzedbrlgandage.
mercenary and venal In every attribute.
The Terrazas family was charged,
"ucul nsuuj . or wronsij,
or wrongly, with
rinanclng It. They: were said to be
weary of paying even the moderate
land taxes and other contributions ex-
acted under the Madero government,
Then Orozco pillaged his way out of
Northern Mexico. Huerta came int
iiuwcr me seai. di goverameM, na
the counter revolution was started
in.
the north by the Maderists, with Villa
Toremoa, -nd-some of thorn who hd
- not been Maderists.
V.
Its agrarian aspects were prouounced.
"I will not praise you." she said very
clearly and steadily. JTou are only
what I have always thought of you.''
I bowed my head . silently. I had
never been what Alice, thought of me,
and I knew that I never should be; but
I had been nearer to her idea than I
was then, for I was not going to save
Vinall. but to save this idea of hers
and to spare her the anguish ofythink
4a lba& I tad Jot hjn die,
It is probably true that if In 'the be-
gluing and up to a recent period there
n&d not been eeml-brlsandaere, with
t&mple license for rapine and plunder,
it would have made slow headway. A
mcAiuiiu revolution realms ooieiy on ine
justness of the cause may some day
occur but hardly In this generation..
tinr,.rv - . trill-'-
t.. k ,t. :... 7Z
'he prospect of a division of the land.
This Is true in other states as well as
Chihuahua, though not In so great a
degree. " Hero It was concentrated
against the Terrazas family and thefr
affiliated family groups, who also had
large land holdings.
The frequency and Intensity of tho
declaration by Villa and
the other
chiefs of the revolution that this time
there shall be no compromise means
nol "nPiy p"uhu compromise,
sucn as iiaaero was compelled to make,
Dut no compromise in staying tne con
- "
"V nBla Y X15r"
,'ezas family.
In other states there" is not the same
hostility to the great hacienda owners
as -Individuals, many of whom were
passive in the struggle, but that their
iand is wanted is sufficient to charge
fnm with hnlne onuml p. nf th umiiiU
. - .. ,
ana- therefore, taking possess!
" - " a.ww..w
on.
Wherever they got control- the revo
lutionlsts first seized the land as a mill
- The best part of my life was to come
with Alice. Rupert was an old man,
and even our care could not save him
from many more attacks. I ha"3 no
compunction in letting Vlnall die to
saveRupert' life and Alice's deputa
tion. The letters would .ruin that
and mine, too. For no one would be
lieve that the letters told the worst
as they did ; or credit us with the
reparation of the last tens years.
, II. '
There was barely time to reach
Vinall, I knew, and I did not hasten
the preparations for the descent jintil
a-sudden thought came into my mind.
Tiie letters were probably on him. " If
"they were found on his body they would
be read. For water penetrates a wad
of paper slowly, and they were prob
ably in a pocketbook. I must reach
him and secure the letters at all costs.
"Quick!" I cried.- "Why are you
dallying about? Quick, or It will be
too late!" ,
I put my climbing ax in my belt and
grasped my long spiked staff, which
was also secured to me by a cord.
"X am jeady," I announced.
The cliff breaks up just below this
Into chasms and little sharp-pointed
peaks, some of which would impale a
man. The villagers call them Satan's
Needles. To an active man and I was"
still that at 87 it was not very hard
to climb and jump from one to the
other in the daylight, but It was very
dark and the rocks werasilpnery from
the rain.
They tried to flash lanterns upon
me from the toe of the cliff, but their
feeble light was useless from so far,
and I had- to rely upon the glimmer of
the bullseye at my belt. I slipped sev
eral times, and once I fell and damaged
myself badly.. My hands were cat and
my forehead was bleeding.-
After the fall Alice's voice came to
roe, making its way against the gale.
"God bless you!" she cried.
I called back to her that I was all
right. v " -
X turned and waved my hand before
X want out of sight. Someone turned
a lantern full -on Alice she ordered it.
I learned afterward eo that I saw her
clearly for a moment. X need not aak
God to bless her, X thought. ,1 went on.
I soon- came to the ledge a space
about 30 feet by four or five. One end
of it was above the f urtherest point
that Vinall coMd reach. The distance
was barely IS feet, but it -was quite un
climable, Iho rock overhsnftr. and X
tary measure, the most influential rebel opinion, while in due time legal pro
General sometimes having an hacienda ceedings shall be undertaken before
assigned to him to work on shares with those who must bring to light all the
the revolutionary government.
In 1857 the Juarez government, alter
4ts fierce struggle with the church, con
fiscated the church properties. This was
done as a national measure and the con
fiscation was sometimes described as
the nationalization of the church's
goods, t
In the present case the confiscation
has been by such state governments as
tho revolutionists have been able to set
up without always waiting till they
were in full possession of the state.
Decrees of confiscation has been pro
mulgated In Coahulla. Durango and
Sonora as well as in Chihuahua. The
farms differed. The spirit was the
same. v ' "
Preliminary official confiscation and
the motives inspiring it In Chihuahua
wereembodeid In the Villa decree is
sued In December, 1913. The language
is not exactly the language of Pancho
Villa himself, but In the original Span-
Ish it very faithfully reflects his sen- slons of those made widows and or
tlmenta. It contains substantially the phans tnrousrh the defense of the Mex-
whole peon programme.
A free translation might lose some of
the Intensity of the , resentment which
pervades this human-document and a
TirAttv HtAral rtnm In thfliwfAPA ,1vii T
hould D anfl ,nterpreted ,n- lta
entirety. '
- . j- L
(From tha offlclal p.iper of tho state.)
. T r.-i ir..nni wn: t v.j
?. ? 1 la Chl.ef
stata of chihuahua, and. In agreement
" - - " " "
Governor of the same state, do now. in
accord with the extraordinary powers
with which I find myself Invested, deem
It advisable to decree the following r
"Having sufficient proofs relative to
the intervention of various capitalists
of the state In the latest difficulties
that the fatherland has had to contend
with, thereby causing as a result of
the defense naturally undertaken
against spoliation, military uprisings
and betrayals numerous victims, or
phanB and wld0ws. who now lament the
irreparable loss of those who were the
sole support of the innocent, and whose
one fault was their patriotism, a pa-
triotism In Itself to e envied as It
maintained the honor of.the fatherland;
and as there are also to be found
among these questionably rlchmea
those who have by 4. thousand means
defrauded the public revenues for more
than half a century of domination
s .1 t 1
tuivugu uwi ojiu lumugu tui lc, x uo-
lieve. in Justice, that the hour has at
length arrived for them to render an
accounting before -the bar of public
had to lie down to look over. Into the
recess beneath. V
He gave' a terrible cry when the light
flashed upon him. His face was white
and he gasped for breath. I think I
should have saved him, even if he had
not had the letters. I hope so, but I
am not sure.
I threw down a line with a loop at
the end. He put It over his body, and
I dragged him up inch by Inch. At first
he swung out Into the deeper water,
and here waves covered him entirely
for many seconds. For many seconds
more they dashed over him when at the
full. I was terribly exhausted and had
no proper support, and had to wind the
rope around my body and wait a little
before I could raise him further. ,
After minutes that seemed hours I
had him on the ledge. He sank In
one heap and I in another. I was
first to recover, and I passed him a
brandy-flask. He was too exhausted
to unscrew it. I did so, and poured a
little into his mouth; and then he
caught sight of my face.
"Dr. West!" he cried in terror.
"Yes." I said quietly. "Dr. West! -Give
me the letters." He did not an
swer. "Give me the letters!" I put
my hands upon his throat. "Give me
tho letters I"
"They are In my bag," he declared:
""la my little brown bag at the hotel.
X will give them to you as soon as
we get back. I swear it by everything
sacred. Any oath that you like I will
swear."
I put my hands on his throat again.
-"You were not going away without
using those letters." I said, speaking
loudly on account of the wind. "You
have sworn a lie. What have you
done with fhemT"
. T wms going, to post them to Ru--pert!"
he screamed, trembling wltlr
f ear. "I was afraid of you. I wanted
to get away from here first. J dont
kill me!"
My grasp had tightened. I remem
bered a receipt for a registered let
ter which I had found In his waist
coat pocket when I searched him. 1
took It out and read It. It was wet,
and the writing had run, but I could
make out 'the address:
Rupert Marlow, Esq.. J. p
, The Hall, Hemsea.
Yotr have posted them to Rupert,
and now," I said, still very quietly,
"I shall kill you." . y
III.
I took him by the shoulders: and
then I seemed to feel a touch, on my
arm. It was the touch, of AUoe'a hand.
www y. A.-;.
responsibilities that these men have
contracted before and with tho Mexi
can people: and, as It has been, clearly
proved on previous occasions that the
possession of their Interests has served
only to buy traitors and assassinate
public oIBcials, whose excess of gener
osity has been an incentive to evil-
doing. It la now necessary, in order to
save our nationality, to cut the evil at
Its root, carrying to a conclusion in
addition to other proceedings in behalf
of the public health, as may be re
quired from time to time the confisca
tion ofthe property of the evil Mexi
cans, who have bartered away human
life, and who are the -direct cause of
the., shedding of our blood: therefore,
for these reasons, all of which Justify
our attitude before the honor of the
whole world, do I decree the following:
"First On behalf of the publlo wel
fare and In order to guarantee the pen-
lcaa people against the exploiters of
the administration, and in order also
to pay the damages that may result
through the verdicts of the special
courts that will "be established In the
territory of this conflict, with the title
of 'Restitution of Properties illegally Ac
quired,' whereby the sum total of these
damages will be ascertained and assigned
to the purposes already mentioned the
property movable and immovable and
all documents of every kind belonging
to the lndlvldualaTLuis Terrazas and
his sons. Creel Bros., Falomir Bros.,
Jose Maria Sanchez, Dujan Bros., Cuilty
Bros.. J. Francisco Mollnar. and all
those intimately associated with them,
and any other accomplices who may be
entangled with them In their business '
and In the fraudulent combinations that
in former times were called politics,
are declared subject to confiscation and -are
hereby confiscated.
"Second A law of regulation that
sha11 be initiated upon the triumph of
our cause shall determine all matters
relating to the equitable distribution of
these properties, pensions' being given
In tha first place to the widows and
orphans whose relatives have fought
for the cause of justice since 1910; and, 1
in the second place, the defenders of'.
our cause shall be taken, Into consider-
ation for the moderate division of the
confiscated lands; furthermore, the
..j- n . t . . .1 . , 1 .
wvuiiuumu uy 1110 inuiviauaia
mentioned through not navlnir taxes
for many years shall be made good to
(Concluded on Pass 6.)
Alice, who stood for all that was
best in my life. The harm was done,
I thought. I could not save Rupert
by killing this man, though I would
have done it for that, and would have
thought It no wrong. v
"Listen," I said, still calmly, though.
I raised my voice on account of the.
sea. "To go tip tonight Is almost cer
tain death. The rope Is probably
-frayed, and it will cut on the rocks
when it bears my weight. I had In
tended to stay hero till the tide went
down'.' I leave you in safety. I go up
to die, or to face with her the trou
ble that you have brought upon us.
My blood' is on your head!"
When I reached, the big crevice I
managed to signal to those above to
draw me up. I heard the rope grate
on the rocks, and I could even see that
a place near me was frayed. One
-strand hung loose. I was too ex
hausted to fend myself properly from
the rocks when I swung In the air, and
I was cut and bleeding and bruised
when at last they. pulled me to the top
the cliff. '
I gasped that Vlnall was safe on tha
ledge, and fell. Alice took my head,,
on her lap and washed my face.
"X am all right." I stated. T will
see Mrs. Marlow home."
"Alice," I said, "my darling! .Vlnall
posted the letters to him. He would
get them at half-past nine. We must
go to him."
We said no more, but went. I looked
at her, hoping that she would cry, but
her face was like marble.
She found her voice when the house
maid opened the door.
"Any letters, Mary?" she asked.
"One, ma'am,"- the girl said. "A big
one, and registered I took It up to
master."
"How Is her'i
"He's been terrible worried, ma'ara,
about you and the doctor.
"We will go up to him." Alice said,
We paused for a terrible moment at
his door. Then we went In.
Rupert lay on his bed asleep. The
letter was unopened on the table Nby
his side. Alice handed it to me. I
opened It and took out my letters.
X put themonthe fire and watched
them burn. '
"I have been very near hell tonight,"
I said hoarsely.
"And you were true to yourself, and
to me," she said. "You left it to the
mercy of -'God, and this ia His judg
ment." CppyrUlhV-the. Frank A. Munsey Cat
Olver,
i
o