CHAPTER XI

PRESIDENT WILSON'S RELATIONS WITH GENERAL CARRANZA

There was a sigh of relief in America when Huerta abdicated. But many people in this country believed that he was the only man with sufficient nerve and shrewdness to keep the Mexican bandits down. This was also the view of many foreigners then living in Mexico.

His abdication left the country really in the hands of the Constitutionalists. General Venustiano Carranza had been First Chief of the Constitutionalists since the death of Francisco Madero, and he at once became the central figure of Mexico. But there were two other Constitutionalists in Mexico whom General Carranza had to reckon with, General Francisco Villa and General Zapata. The Constitutionalists were by no means united and the character of both Villa and of Zapata was such that little hope was entertained of a peaceful settlement without further bloodshed.

There was a cessation of hostilities, however, and on August 20 General Carranza made his triumphal entry into Mexico City. It was a peaceful entry. The city

was prepared for his coming. Crowds came out to welcome him and flowers were strewn in his path. And as he marched into the city he was hailed as the liberator of the people. And for the second time constitutional government seemed to be ready to enter upon its rights and find an abiding place in the ancient capital of the Montezumas.

It was for this that the American government had been waiting rather impatiently. Then the American flag was lowered at Vera Cruz (September 15), and the American army was transported back to American soil. Thus ended our "little war" in Mexico, and it was believed for the time that President Wilson's "watchful waiting" policy would triumph in the end. However, the distracted country had not yet suffered enough. The pentecost of calamity was still incomplete.

On September 15 General Carranza expressed his intention to turn over the control of the Mexican government to a provisional President, to be selected by the Constitutionalists and to become a candidate for the presidency. The other leaders had no love for Carranza, nor he for them. He was characterized as a narrow, selfish man, somewhat of a patriot and an idealist, but possessing an individual greed for power and an intense hatred of all foreigners, including Americans. The other two leaders had a history of lawlessness and bandit warfare to their credit that made them objectionable to any civilized country.

When General Carranza's program was announced, Villa and Zapata made common cause, and on September 23 declared war against him. Thus the bitter struggle was resumed. Meanwhile, President Wilson fell back on his "watchful waiting" policy and showed a determination to let the warring factions fight out their differences without interference from this country.

Again there was a loud demand for intervention. Some wanted the President to recognize Carranza and throw the weight of this country on his side. Others insisted that Villa, whose daring exploits in the North were well known, was the real patriot and that he should be recognized and encouraged. But the President announced his purpose of keeping this country neutral in the new

war.

Mr. Samuel G. Blythe published in the Saturday Evening Post an authorized interview with President Wilson, in which he explained why he was determined not to interfere in the settlement of old abuses in Mexico.

"It is a curious thing," he said, "that every demand for the establishment of order in Mexico takes into consideration, not order for the benefit of the people of Mexico, the great mass of the population, but order for the benefit of the oldtime regimé, for the aristocrats, for the vested interests, for the men who are responsible for this

very condition of disorder. No one asks for order because order will help the masses of the people to get a portion of their rights and their land; but all demand it so that the great owners of property, the overlords, the hidalgos, the men who have exploited that rich country for their own selfish purposes, shall be able to continue their processes undisturbed by the protests of the people from whom their wealth and power have been obtained."

Neutrality was more difficult to maintain now because of the European war, which seemed to arouse the fighting instinct throughout the civilized world. Therefore, every new story of indignities to Americans or to the American flag that found its way across the border from Mexico was seized upon by those who had favored intervention from the beginning and trailed through the newspapers to arouse the Americans. As this factional warfare continued, the American border was harrassed by roving bandits and the stories of outrages inflicted on Americans were multiplied. However, President Wilson adhered to his "watchful waiting" policy. He had by peaceful means rid Mexico of its Dictator, and he was firm in his conviction that non-interference would cause the United States to triumph in the end as Mexico's friend, and that constitutional government after the

pentecost would be more enduring than any temporary peace that might be forced on Mexico through a bloody intervention.

The press in many sections of the country was relentless in its condemnation of the President. American property was being destroyed. American citizens were outraged. Moreover, the balance of the civilized world was at war, and the United States was the only great nation whose armies were not active. So severe was the abuse that President Wilson, in an address before the Jackson Club of Indianapolis, January, 1915, gave a curt reply to his critics:

"I want to say a word about Mexico," he said, "not so much about Mexico as about our attitude towards Mexico. I hold it as a fundamental principle, and so do you, that every people has the right to determine its own form of government, and until this recent revolution in Mexico, until the end of the Diaz regimé, eighty per cent of the people of Mexico never had a 'look in' in determining who should be their governors, or what their government should be. Now, I am for the eighty per cent. It is none of my business, and it is none of your business how long they take in determining it. It is none of my business and it is none of your business how they go about the