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Show VENUSTIANO GARRANZA PLAYED LEADING ROLE IN LONG MELODRAMA ! V Venusitano Carranza, elected ! president of Mexico, March 11. 1917, by the largest vole over cast in a presidential election in his country, stepped from political obscurity ob-scurity to national and international interna-tional prominence on the graves of tho hopeB of General Victorlano Huerta, the usurper, and his followers. fol-lowers. Simultaneously with General Hu-erla's Hu-erla's coup d'etat and the assissin-ation assissin-ation of Prosident Madero, the news went out to tho world that General Yenuslano Carranza, elected governor of tho state of Coahuila in 1911, refused to recognize recog-nize the usurper and wputl resist him .by force of arms. "Madero's revolution was political." polit-ical." Carranza is quoted as having hav-ing said. "Mlno is a social one." Born of parents of comfortable ' circumstances in Cuatro Cienagas, state of Coahuila, December 29, 1859, Venu3tiano Carranza was educated ed-ucated in the public schools of his native state and later studied law at tho Mexican capltol. When he was admitted to the bar, however, affection of tne eyes prevented him from practising and he returned re-turned to his native state to become be-come a rancher His experiences as a rancher, first, thep as judge, senator and finally governor of Coahuila, mado Carranza familiar with the agrarian problem, tho root of political unrest in Mexico. Having defied Huerta, Carranza rallied a small band of COO follow-! ers which grew into a sizable army when ho won the supportrdf Francisco Fran-cisco Villa, Carranza'sinfluence spread rapidly, the military victories victor-ies of his chief aid,e,unla. rallying JJie, various, rbf Nbrthdrh" ' lUoxJco around his banner. For a time however, real progress was slow. Huerta's machinations had embroiled Mexico with the United States and Intervention seemed Imminent. The killing of W. S. Benton, a British subject, bv a staff officer of Villa, further complicated com-plicated tho situation. Then came Villa's Victory at Torreon, the first real success ot the war. Carranza was pressing Huerta hard when the A. B. C. conference to discuss the differences differ-ences between the United States and Huerta was called in Buffalo General Carranza refused to suspend sus-pend hostilities and declined to abide by tho result of those diplomatic diplo-matic negotiations. The fighting went on with the result that General Gen-eral Huerta resigned tho provisional provis-ional presidency July -5, 1914, and a month later General Carranza Carran-za made his triumphal entry into Mexico City, Huerta in the "meantime "mean-time having fled to Spain. " Shortly afterward independent revolutionists led by Zapala, Gen eral Oroszco and others commenced. com-menced. Dissension between Villa and Carranza, which began at the Torreon conference, reached a climax cli-max September 23, 191-1, when Villa declared war on Carranza. General Alvaro Obregon became Carranza's leading general. Villa generals met at Aguas-callentes Aguas-callentes in November, 1914, and, in alliance with the Zapata faction, fac-tion, formed a Conventionist government. gov-ernment. The capital changed hands several times and was not finally taken by General Obregon until the summer of 1915. The beginning of the end of the Villa-Zapata party as a military power followed swiftly the heavy defeats of Villa by General Alvaro Obregon. Villa was forced to give up Torreon and concentrate his dwindling forces in northern Chihuahua Chi-huahua and eastern Sonora, making mak-ing occasional forays and raids which culminated in the attack on Columbus, N. M., that resulted in the invasion of Mexican territory terri-tory by General Pershing, In the diplomatic exchanges that ensued between President Wilson and Carranza, who had been officially offi-cially recognized as the head of tho de facto government by tho United States in October, 1915, he insisted on the respect of the United States of Mexico's sovereignty sover-eignty and the consession to his government of reciprocal rights of invasion. He maintained his position po-sition despite the crisis caused by the clashos between Mexican and American soldiers at Parrai and Carrizal, but when war seemed unavoidable, Carranza succeeded in stemming tho tide by his proposal pro-posal for the appointment of a joint commission to settle the difficulties dif-ficulties amicably. The proposal was accepted by President Wilson . and tho deliberations of the commission com-mission .resulted in tbq.yith,draw- ai of Tio' American army and the restoration of friendly relations between the two countries. In the meantime, Carranza had called a constitutional congress, which accepted most of the reforms re-forms he outlined. On March 11, 1917T he was elected president. More than 1,500,000 votes were cast for him. He took the oath of office May 1, 1917. In a message to the Mexican congress following his inauguration inaugura-tion as president, Carranza declared de-clared Mexico's "strict' 'neutrality. 'neutral-ity. His note to tho neutral nations, na-tions, however, urging them to declare de-clare embargoes against all tho European belligerents, as a means of ending tho war, and the warmth of his language in congratulating Emperor William on the occasion of his last birthday, aroused comment com-ment in the United States, as did also the publication of the Zimmerman Zim-merman note, inviting Mexico to take "by conquest" the States of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, in payment for a declaration of war. . on tho United States, acting in concert with Japan. General Carranza 'was married and formerly lived in Saltillo. One of his daughters, Miss Virginia Virgin-ia Carranza, became the wife of General Candido Aguilar. |