The Oregon daily journal., July 07, 1907, Page 42, Image 42

FamjUrJ. "fader AePaJ? '
Jf&scestja-y from, csic. '
'F, AFTER some hundreds of years of
loitering in ethereal realms, souls of de
tiarttA mortals return to inhabit other
i r-
bodies, then may one easily fancy in the per-
, 'ton of President Don Manuel Estrada Ca
j trera, of Guatemala, a Nero or Caligula re
j .turned to earth.
' .;.;; There, according to assertions of his fel-Jow-countrymen,
you have the cold, cruel spirit
; 1that could draw raucous noises from a fiddle
I fvhile Rome's thousands fled from burning
j homes; that could order tt general cutting-off
j j pf heads just to enjoy the sight of blood.
This is the man who, for years, was in
j i momentary peril of assassination, because the
country over which he has ruled so despot
. ,cally has been surcharged with indignation
i -r at his tyrannical acts.
Surrounded by a bodyguard, every mem
ber of which has been compelled to prove his
loyalty by some unusual act of sacrifice; eating
.Mo food other than that cooked by his mother,
'and sent to him under a padlock, to which only
! e and she carry keys, he has been experienc
ing some measure of the terror which he has
delighted to see in others.
One attempt to blow Cabrera to pieces in
a street has failed; for years he has lived in
abject terror, striking blindly but fatally at
. friend and foe alike; exiling the best families
- pf the land; shedding blood when he so
pleased, like a barbarian. And for ten years
: this almost unparalleled reign of terror has
'gone on in Guatemala.
,,- ; Could poetic justice apply in his case, the
- Mvorld might expect to hear of his being in
a Vtted to an elaborate banquet, and there, after
the wine and cigars, to be precipitated through
V trapdoor into a horrible dungeon, reeking
tvith poisonous filth or alive with dcath-deal-.
tng reptiles.
' ; . For this would be but a repetition of the
i': rdeath which he is charged with having in-
flicted on many of his countrymen in the
Y11 House of the President's Friends."
EARCH the inquisitorial records of Spain, the chron
icles or the Congo, tales of Turkish atrocities, his
tories of horrors In Russia-yes, and even the flctl-
, nous writings of Poe and Haggard-and you will
- not find surpassed the cruelties charged to this man, who
t made himself virtual dictator of a Central American
, republic
i'r Merchants from Guatemala on visits to the United
States have recently told enough of the "House of the
President's Friends'' to stamp It as the prize torture and
death house of all time. They said there were persistent
-rumors afloat at home that the death house had resumed
Us evil career.
,t . House of the president' friends! The phrase sug-
testa something pleasant, doesn t it .' A place where the
president might be expected to entertain in lordly style
ttosa who had the honor of being accounted his friends.
. But, no; the expression is ironical. The Irony is very
Wttf.' on the lips of a Guatemalan. 'Tls bitter with the
Ball Of such atrocities as were never heard of elsewhere
' The president's friends! In the first place, there Is
one who could be Called, his friend, excepting, perhaps
that poor old woman who Bve hUn birth, and now tries
iiT (:7 ,7Llo,Mlf111 nlm rrom assassination
Anl,t.U.udoublful ,fLn friendly even to her. "muon-
But there are
iiioHB wno rrom the r hleh iti.
must, through official
la Jealous of them all
yuricy, De cauea tii8 friends. He
daveloo such no. r .i iJ:A.Z'Y..::"PL a"vl , lue
, w auy tune any or mem mm
.l MSn.i-i ..r,T "AT!" w"tl " '""y use, a gen
in... ..a m. ...
,,--." "u'wui tyrant rrom power.
m. ""'j"".? u a wnjie one of them reaches a state In
tt president's mind where he can r.o longer be trusted
. DIRE INVITATIONS
Then he Is Invited to a dinner at "(h- ir
That would be rank discourtesy.
knowledament of consDiracv J,;; w"u,a oe an ac-
T i . .
nothing, for a
. . . . . " "loiurs. ir w r i I i-1
lor a suieuo stab In tha h,i,
avail
work
aUmost as well.
Luxuriously furnished, the nalac-
one ' From
(h M.llln.ra K ...... L. . , . '
celllnas h
tempt any
v""B v. 1 1 ii 11 Lit' 1 1 arm ... ,
linn fulrv boamn. maklnir mu,a. , .' .V" m a mll-
Costly paintings hang on the walls; musle?
from fountains and hidden places; of beautiful t3.it."..!
mahogany la all the furniture: into tha upholstering
the chairs and couches one sinks with a feeling of h5
ecly esse; tha velvet ruga are resilient to the feet
But ur.der the rugs are trap doors. It is said.
'. And tha popular story? -to Guatemala is that tha
marked man, after-being permitted to enjoy for a whii
Jls after-dinner smoke In ona of these apartments, would
be precipitated Into an underground cavern, never to be
aren attain. "'4.j
What menT - .nero are cunerem stories
what happened under that floor. One is that there wera
horrible skeletons ana pones ana putrerying stuff, which
would make on ill and kill him frotn fever, even before
h should have time to die of starvation.
Another Is that tha luckless ona would be precipitated
lato tank 9t water.-- -fy-yi
.Again, a den of snake vas said to be kept there: and
we prominent person at least believes that a tiger was
.cptthre. .. .'. .. : ..
t ernapa tna na,reai correct oenoi is inai a commna-
tfen of tboaa methods was used to get rid of a doomed
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL IWTlAm
Astoopding Record
.
of Bloodsbed.
opd Crime
Cbdrged to
Gadtewdhj President.
j
113
vt
If f
4 , "
man, or it may be that he waa simply hacked to pieces
by a sturdy swordsman.
A', any rate, there was no chance of escape.
The House pf the President's Friends gives up no
secrets.
No man who goes there i.nder the ban returns.
Time and again has this frightful tragedy been enact
ed, according to assertions made by refugees from Guate
mala. Now It was a mayor of a city who waa suspected of
having Instilled Into his compeers a spirit of disloyalty,
net to the government, but to the single autocrat who
had usurped the leins of government.
No warning was given -lm. He had no reason to
believe that he was suspected. Upon going to the ban
quet he donned his evening dress, placed a rose in his
buttonhole. He was at his gayest.
But he was never seen again. A plebeian, passing the
palace, heard a fearful yell somewhat before midnight
"It will Kound In my ears till death," he declared, in
telling of tlie Incident. j ,
Again. It waa one of the president's official familya ""
cabinet member who had not shown proper willingness
to "go along" with the administration's policies.
Not even a wall reached the outer world to tell of hla
adieu to the scene of troubled Guatemalan politics.
O'hcr cabinet members, it is asserted and believed,
went in the same way. It became - common expression
In Guatemala whenever a man In any official capacity
became outspoken on any subject: "He ll be Invited to
the House of the President's Friends soon."
For the last several years the house has not been
used to any great extent. It hasn t been needed The
grip of the president on all affairs of the country has
been remarkably firm until quite Tecently. But now It
Is feared that the old style of invitation will come Into
vogue again. "
Don Manuel Estrada Cabrera was, up to a dozen years
HowJoweFd
OLITICAL ora
tors in Amer
ica arc fond
as, p e r h a p s,
those in other lands
are of making use of
"catchy" phrases in
appealing to voters.
Not one in a score,
doubtless, has the
slightest idea of the
source from which
such expressions came,
. No stickler fQr the
newness of a phrase is
the average spell
binder. When a word
or sentence gets into
history or common use
it is good enough for
hiu. .
For many of the
striking flyings that
are freauentjbr re-
rwaai
ml
Mi
ffi '
Cab
LAMM
1
m
AanJpoJ del (
Ik j
'tar 7.
a -jo, a lawyer, practicing in a rather humble way In hla
native country. '
In time, by what seemed to his townspeople to be
nothing more than decent service, he became a judge of
the court In Uuezaltenango.
The president of Guatemala then was Reina Barrios.
He appointed Cabrera to a position in his cabinet So
efficient was he that he was soon appointed first desig
nado, which la the next highest position to that of pres
ident Shortly afterward the president was assassinated in a
Cttatemala street by a man believed to be crazy. At the
time no suspicion was attached to any one "higher up."
The assassin disappeared.
USURPED THE PRESIDENCY
The people prepared to elect a president. But they
reckoned without the designado. Cabrera stepped Into
the limelight and claimed the office. Such a thing had
never been heard of before, although other prealdenta
' liad-fcce'fi kllieitl'Wr'had died in office.
But the legal mind of Cabrera convinced every on
that since in the United States the vice president suc
ceeds the president. If the chief dies in office, the same
should be done In Guatemala. So he became president.
"It will be only for a while; the elections are' not far
off," said those who did not think h'.m the right man for
the office. '
But he did not propose to let the elections Interfere.
By the time election came he had the police and mili
tary so thoroughly under his thumb that they went to
the polls In squads with slips of paper bearing bis name.
Few others were allowed to vote, and he was elected.
And In the same manner he was afterward elected to
another four-year term.
His soldiers are not educated men. They fear him,
and obey. They regard him as an Imperial ruler, not a
peated upon thq stump, Americans are indebted to
the people whom they fought for independence;
British orators from time immemorial have been
striking phrase coiners.
( ( TpHE greatest happiness to the greatest number,"
I first appeared In, a 'pamphlet written by Ir.
1 Joseph Priestly in reply to Edmund Burke'a
"Reflections on the French . Revolution."
Lord Derby originated the phrase "A leap In tha dark"
in 1867 In reference to tha bill which established house
hold .suffrage; and he waa also the author of that ex
pressive term, "Meddle and muddle."
From Dr. Joseph Holt, bishop of Exeter, Tar back In
the seventeenth century, came "Ona halt the world
knows not how the other half Uvea.",
Clever, comprehensive end vigorous,, Disraeli's polit
ical sayings easily reached beyond the needs of bis time.
"Reaction is the consequence of a nation waking from lta
illusions," met conditions in I84S. J
Eleven years later he was ready to declare, "Finality
Is not the language of politics." And as a nation of
political diversity of expression we catch the significance
of hla, "Party la organised opinion."
But Disraeli's most popular phrase waa "Peace with
honor," wbicb ha poioad to nnhaalsa tha upppaaalnna to
1
ft
r
1
m
mm
tufa
I
woasPomrriPhrdjWereCoPed
MORNING, JULY I tW7
dtageVelM
Ill MM at m mm m ' Tr f lilf.4JI m mm I i "D n
sw
JZstradez.
Cabrera!
president. His word Is law.
Modern inventions are used in strengthening his reign.
He has had telegraph and telephone lines constructed
everywhere. These are not for public utility. They ara
to keep him In touch with his military force the force
that keeps him In power.
Every night every officer must snd to him over the
wires a report that all Is well, and it must conform to
certain rules which prove that no treachery Is afoot.
Like cities of medieval times are aome of the walled
habitations of Guatemala. No one may go from one
town to another after nightfall, under orders of the
president.
No or.e may leave the country s without a apeclal
pc.mit, signed by the president himself. What If ona
should decide to ignore this rule and get away as best
he could T
This has been tried. Peinaps the fugitive haa been
caught In actual flight, or in process of packing bis trunk.
It is all the same.
Usually he Is taken by the soldiery out behind the
wall' of the city, and there, without any show of a trial,
is stood up and shot till dead, and then burled where he
fait
Naturally a coward and knowing that he had usurped
the presidential office, Cabrera has felt all along that ha
would not be able to maintain his tenure, or his life, if
things were allowed to take tnelr ordinary course. So he
has intrenched himself behind those bulwarks which his
scheming mind and knowledge of the law made possible.
Hia apy system is notorious. It is the last straw that
haa impelled the people to revolt. In an effort to throw
off their load.
It seems strange to think of the people of a republic
planning a revolution, doesn't it? But, It la a republic in
name only, i ,
.The last revolution waa led by Lisandro Barillas, a
former president of Guatemala, an exile from hla country
England by the Berlin Congress of 1878, where he and
Lord Salisbury covered themselvea with glory.
An 'amusing story is told In ' connection with the
national Joy created by the incident. In the course of a
political lecture, illustrated with stereopticon views. In a
country, village, portraits of Lord Beaconsfleld and Lord
Salisbury, with the words "Peace with honor," were
thrown upon the screen. An old. lady among the audi
ence innocently inquired. "Which Is Peace V
A misquoting of a saying which haa persisted fdr
almost two centuries is the one ascribed to Sir Robert
Walpole: Every man has his price." What be really
said. In stormy denunciation of the Opposition in the
House of Commons, waa, "All these men have their
price." "" The wider application has been the heritage of
all political animosity since.
"Propertythaa its duties as well as Its rights," sounds
like a present-day slogan. It first appeared in a publio
letter addressed by Thomas Drumtaond, under secretary
for Ireland," to the Tlpperary landlords in 1838, when they
demanded aoldiers to collect their rents.
Much in line with the arguments of the recent peace
congress la the famous expression, "The schoolmaster.
Is abroad," which we owe to Lord Brougham, who sought
to deny first place to the soldier by declaring, in a speech
on, education delivered in 1820, -"The schoolmaster Is
abroad, and X trust to him, armed with his primer,
because of th Jcalouay of Cabrera. Hit uprlalnr last
summer, which almoat Implicated Honduras and Salva
dor, waa unauoccsaful, and hla property, which could not
be conflacated. waa, nevertheleaa, pillaced and ruined by
Cabrera'a troopa.
Nor waa this enough. Barillas waa assassinated, and
the act has been openly laid at the door of the president.
The crijie took place In the streets of the City of Mexico.
It waa found that Moralea, who stabbed Barillas, waa
formerly employed In the office of the chief of police of
Guatemala City, while his accomplice. Mora, waa a menv
t:r of the police force In the aame city.
Knowing how completely the police force of Guate
mala la In the handa of the president, the Mexican au
thorities had their own ldeaa concerning- the Instlcatlon
of the crime, but, of courae, nothing- definite could be
done about It.
It waa not long after this that the Mexican minister
to Guatemala, Joae Gamboa, withdrew, believing hla Ufa
to be In danger. He had taken a prominent part In try
ing to place the blame for the assassination where It
belona-el.
Daily Cabrera haa been levying tribute on wealthy
cltliens. and they must pay. under fear of assassination
on the streets or being asked to a banquet In the House
of the President's Friends.
In one Instance, where a wealthy man refused to be
bled by the president, he waa openly murdered.
Agalnat nineteen others .who opposed the president's
policy of raising money there waa brought a charge of
conspiring against Cabrera'a life, and they were sen
tenced to be killed.
" Bo notoriously farcical waa the trial accorded these
men that the secretary of the United States legation,
Philip Brown, cabled the State Department at Washing
ton, asking permission to use his personal Influence with
the Guatemalan government for the lives of the men.
Not long slice a dispatch' from the City of Mexico
stated: "A complete Hat of the persona who have been
condemned to death or sentenced to terms of Imprison
ment In Guatemala for alleged complicity In the recent
attempt upon the life of President Cabrera ' has been
received here.
"Nearly all the persons are wealthy, their fortunes. In
the aggregate, amounting to more than 150,000,000. It Is
said that President Cabrera is now attempting to have
this wealth confiscated by the government"
The opinion prevails in Central America that unless
the United States or Mexico shall soon take Guatemala
under protection. President Cabrera may be asked to a
banquet in a sort of palace of the people's friends, and
that It will be his last meal.
Personal Paragraphs of Wcll
Known People
THK king of Greece la a keen cyclist, and up to a
few years ago he waa a very speedy runner. On
several occasions he.took part in athletic sports In
Athena unknown to hla subjects, and he generally won.
His repeated auccessea led to considerable unpleasant
ness one day. Having reached the winning post a long
way ahead of all his competitors, an angry crowd col
lected round him, shouting that he was a professional
sprinter masquerading as an amateur. Though not In
great danger, he was much Jostled, and it was only
wlth the assistance of-taa police that he was able to
beat a retreat.
Madame Pattl recently remarked to a friend: "If
there la the tiniest speck of blue In the sky. and there
nearly always is, I look for tt, and that makes the whole
heaven blue for me. I spend three hours dally In the
open air, walking or driving in an open carriage; and I
accustom myself to bear the extremes of summer and
winter.V
In his younger years Mr. James Bryce, English em
bassador at Washington, was an enthusiastic mouti5rf
climber. One of the climbs that Interested him most
waa to the summit of Mount Ararat
When the Grand Duchess Olga, eldest daughter of
the czar, was a week old 5,000,000 was Invested for her.
When she. is grown she will be one of the wealthiest
women of the world. ,
The sultan of Turkey has seventy-one titles, among
them being "Abdul Hamid, the Eternally Victorious,"
"The Eternally Smiling," "The Eternally Invincible,"
"The Distributer of Crowns to the Heroes Seated on the
Thrones," and "The Shadow of God on Earth."
'Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, premier of Great
Britain, has a special pet of his own in a parrot which
he bought when a young bird in the streets of London,
shortly after he entered Parliament Polly, who Is close
upon 40 years Of age, is 'a small gray bird with a red
tall. She talks a little, but Sir Henry has a great opinion
of her discretion.
Tha king of Denmark evinces such an Interest in
politics that he makes a point of attending every sitting
of the Danish Parliament that he possibly can.
. against the aoldler In full military array!"
Gladstone enriched political colloquialisms with such
useful phrases as, "Greater freedom and less respon
sibility" and "It advances by leaps and bounds."
At Liverpool In 1896 he delivered himself of the
famous watchword, "The masses against the classes."
"Home rule" waa invented by George Brodrlck. Out
of the Irish controversy also came Daniel O'Connell's
famous boast that he would "Drive a coach and six
through any act of Parliament"
-.- His also la ."Nothing is politically right which is mor
ally wrong," and the famous phrase, "No political re
form Is worth a drop of human blood.'
por the evolution of the word "Jingoism" we aifi
indebted to a couplet sung in English music halls in 1877Mw
-men uu'tuio Bceuieu imminent wua ftussia over her
We dnn't want to fight, but.' by Jingo, if we do.
We have the men. we have the ships, w have tha money, tool
On this side the sea we have quite equaled Sir James
Mackintosh's "masterly Inactivity." "platform," again,
as a description of a party or of a candidate, la often,
thought-ube American; In reality it Is of very ancient
arid highly respectable origin, being a revival of the old,
verb "platXormed," meaning: "to lay down principles."
ii
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