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Show THE CITIZEN 7 CARRANZA S LAST CAMPAIGN POLITICAL campaign which be-0- gan with comic opera, ended That was Obregons studied, attitude from the start! He would laugh his tragically with the death of President Carranza. At first the opponents of Carranza tried to laugh him to defeat; then they resorted to revolution in the accepted fashion of many years. In Mexico City the bewhiskered "hayseed president became a target for the jests and repartees of smart adversaries who set upon him and his candidate, Bonillas, with all the arts of raillery. The two became laughing-stocks in the witty capital, but they persisted in their campaign and Otheir opponents saw that Bonillas was to be declared elected after the votes had been "counted in his favor according to the political vogue introduced by Diaz. It was then that General Obregon and his partisans decided for open revolution. Militarism and banditry are again in the saddle and temporarily, at least, are riding together. One of the revelations of the political campaign was a series of letters unearthed by Don Venustiano Carranza. They proved that General Obregon had entered into an alliance with several bandit organizations. Naturally Obregon could not continue to laugh after that. It was necessary to create something of a diversion and the favorite diversion in Mexico, next to bull fighting, is revolution. It is not a favorite with the people generally, for they are sick of militarism and revolt, but it is a favorite with their leaders. opponent down. Just now Bonillas is a captive and in prison, but he and Obregon are old friends, hailing from the same state Sonora and the exigencies of the situation may not prompt the victor ious general to kill his old comrade. That is a mere detail, however, in Mexico, although it excites .a ruction outside the country whenever a president or a candidate for the presidency is murdered. A- - self-constitute- d The bewhiskered old rancher who was president of Mexico, had declared that the trouble with Mexico was militarism and that he intended to elect a civilian candidate. Probably his plan was to place Bonillas in office, succeed him and then establish a dictatorship such as. Diaz operated so But successfully for thirty years. whatever the motives of the president he blundered egregiously in his efforts to make Bonillas president and stirred up an opposition which might have been less aggressive had he been more temperate in his methods. Bonillas, it will be remembered, Hvas Carranzas Ambassador at Washington. Throughout the administration of Don Venustiano he had handled Mexican affairs at our national capital and had given satisfaction to his master. He was not one of those young, hair-braine- d generals who had been catapulted into prominence by revolution. He was, in fact, a plain man without a spark of military genius or ambition. He was so plain that his opponents called him dull. A nice fellow, my friend Bonillas, rfciid Obregon to Ibanez, the Spanish novelist, who was in Mexico during the political battle. "He is reliable, conscientious and hard working. The world has lost a first class bookkeep. If ever I become presier. dent of the republic I shall make him cashier in some bank. .. Bonillas had lived most of his life in the United States. As a lad he drifted from job to pob in several of the southern states and got nowhere. But he was (foggedly persistent and progressed slowly but resolutely. By some means he worked his way through ai) engineering course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He reappears in Mexico as an obscure, hard working engineer with the Carranza forces. Never at the front, but always repairing bridges or replacing blown-utracks, he served the army faithfully and attracted the p attention of the First Chief. It was by the title of "First Chief that Carranza preferred to be known. He would not let his followers call him general. He was opposed to militarism and was sincere in his efforts to give Mexico a civilian administration whenever possible. "My successor ought to be a civilian, a man of modern views and progressive ideas, capable of preserving domestic peace and directing the economic development of the country, he said. It is time, that my nation should begin to live the healthy, normal life that other nations enjoy. And when the time came to select a successor he thought of his loyal envoy at Washington. With his wife and family Bonillas was leading an 'idyllic life at the capital of the United States. He had that sense of security which a soldier feels wiien billeted hundreds of miles from the firing line. Let who would be a general, Bonillas was quite content to pass his days in the sleepy haze of diplomacy. But Carranza summoned him to Mexico City to enter the campaign for the presidency. And such a campaign! In some of its aspects it was staged like one of our owTn presidential campaigns, but in others it was typically Mexican, especially in its revolutionary climax. , ing the target, found a gigantic sign blazing with enthusiastic encomiums of the friend of the common people, that inveterate foe of militarism, that renowned patriot and noble citizen Bonillas. The opposition quickly discovered the ways best calculated to undo Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. . Their cleverness would seem to indicate that if a real election ever were held in Mexico, with a fair field and no favor, there would be an exhibition of political cunning such as we have not surpassed in our hundred and forty years of experience. First of all and principally they represented Bonillas as a foreigner. They said that his real name was not Bonillas, but Stanford, that his father was an American and his mother a Mexican, that he knew little about Mexico and could speak Spanish but haltingly. They prevaricated to the top of their bent, but there was some truth in what they said. Bonillas had been away from his country most of his life. . One of the popular comic opera songs of the day was employed with telling effect to make Bonillas absurd. It relates the story of a shepherd girl who wanders over the earth not knowing where she was born or who her parents were. She goes by the piquant nickname of "Tea Blossom. The maligners of Bonillas immediately called the candidate who came nobody knew whence and who was going nobody knew whither, "Tea Blossom. Bonillas! "Viva they shouted. Viva Flor de Te! "Hurrah for Bonillas. Hurrah for Tea Blossom! We can imagine the bewhiskered, Bolshevik Tage of Don Venustiano when his stolid candidate was thus made fun of. But the campaign of derision grew funnier and funnier. On the night that Bonillas was for- mally proclaimed a candidate a great demonstration was held in his honor. Out of the fund which Carranza was spending so lavishly for publicity and ' other artificial excitants of enthusiasm money was provided to welcome the candidate. Automobiles, banners, bands and claquers from among the public functionaries and clerks contributed to the furor. The followers of Bbregon scattered long tacks in the path of the parade and soon tires began to explode. There was much excitement and amusement, but the worst was to come. Bonillas appeared on a balcony to address his 'worshipping followers. At his side stood General Aguilar, of Carranza, and many other brightly adorned officials. When Bonillas began to speak the partisans of Obregon, who had prepared for the occasion, threw asafoe-dit- a upon the balcony and the candiHe date showed signs of distress. hemmed and coughed and hiccuped and tears came to his eyes as he struggled to say a few words. Aguilar followed and he, too brave soldier that he was was unable to conquer the subtle enemy. As he gesticulated violently and essayed pompous language about the glories of a civilian candidate he too wept and coughed. Others tried to speak, but were assailed with asafoedita and bad names Finally the Obregonistas were dispersed by Carranzas mounted son-in-la- w police. It was all great fun, of course, but Obregon and General Pablo Gonzales, the rival candidates, saw that they were not getting anywhere. They understood that the government in power intended to cast the vote of the Something country for Bonillas. more drastic was necessary if Carranzas plans were to be defeated. Obregon went on a speech-makin- g tour. "If I am not elected president, he said, "it will be because Don Venustiano has decided to block me at all costs. But before I let that viejo bar-botrick me out of the presidency I shall take the field against him. It was about this time that Carranza got hold of the letters revealing an alliance between Obregon and certain bandit chiefs. With these as evi--( Continued on page 18.) n sjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiimniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis Carranza resolved to conduct the campaign with the most accompaniments. It is even said that he imported a trained publicity agent from the United States. At all events never was there such a riot of publicity, not even in our own land. Mexico became one big billboard to up-to-da- By F. P. Gallagher te exploit the imagined merits of Bonillas. 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