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Show Rebels Now Rule Half of Mexico Official Information Shows Car-ranza Car-ranza Barely Clings to Control Con-trol Over Rest. HAS ONLY 60,G00 TROOPS President Is Too Weak to Keep Order as Bandits Harass Whole Country Industry Snuffed Out and Morale at Low Ebb. New York. The Mexican problem was never more toublesome. Conditions Condi-tions in that revolution-racked land were never more chaotic thnn they nre today. Carranza now controls little more' thnn one-hnlf of Mexican territory terri-tory nnd his hold on thnt is not at all secure. Opposed to him are six organized organ-ized rebel organizations, not including the Sonora Ynquis, while everywhere his authority is hampered nnd his troops harassed by organized banditry. ban-ditry. Bearing upon actual conditions in Mexico, the New York Times has come into possession of certain Information, now in the official possession of the United States government. Verification Verifica-tion of these statements which follow is to be found in the archives of the government in Washington. Carranza has officially claimed that ho is supported by a regular army of 120,000 well disciplined and well equipped troops. This statement is not borne out by the facts in the ense, and the truth of the matter is that his armed forces number not more than 60,000 officers and enlisted men, who are poorly equipped, whose morale is at low ebb, yet upon whose loyalty depends de-pends Carranza's swny over n people who number more than 115,000,000( Today the Coahuila "chieftain" is exercising ex-ercising authority In those parts of Mexico not under rebel or bandit domination as a dictator and through the promulgation of executive decrees. Of the great American border-line Carranza Car-ranza is in control of not much more than one-third, while the whole of southern Mexico is severed from "fed-era! "fed-era! control" by a stretch of rebel-controlled territory that on the Atlantic extends from the rich oil lands of Tam-pico Tam-pico almost to the City of Vera Cruz, and on the Pacific by the entire coast line of the great state of Oaxaca. Lower California hns become to all in-tPnts in-tPnts and purposes independent of the government that sits in Mexico City. Three General Divisions. The contending forces in Mexico may be referred to under three general gen-eral heads. They are: First The federal or Carranzista forces. Second The rebel forces led by Felipe Angeles. Francisco Villa, Guill-pnno Guill-pnno Meixuerio, a full-blooded Zapotec Indian, and by many well-informed ob-s( ob-s( rvers considered the ablest and most trustworthy leader In Mexico; Felix Diaz. Manuel Pelaez, who dominates the Tnmpico nnd adjacent oil fields; (hp Zapatistas, still, despite Carranza affirmation, a power in that part of Mexico of which the state of Morelos is the center; General Cantu, governor of the state of Lower California, nnd the organized Ynqiil Indian forces of the western part of the border state of Sonora. Third The bandits who, in small croups, nre operating everywhere In Mexico. As to the first or federal forces supporting sup-porting Carranza, it is, ' as already pointed out, the official claim of the present Mexican, or Carranza, government, govern-ment, that this force numbers 120,000 men. It is a conscript army to a great extent and it is small and Inefficient Ineffi-cient for two reasons, the first being Carranza's inability to enforce conscription, con-scription, and the second the fact that be is unable properly to equip, train, nr maintain necessary discipline. Owing to these two conditions, over which Carranza appears to have no control, the federal army of Mexico is today at its maximum strength. It is an army poorly organized and poorly equipped. Of this army a large proportion pro-portion is held In or near Mexico City, leaving the remainder, numbering less than a full division, according to the American organization, to guard and maintain supremacy in the states of Nuevo Leon, enstprn Coahuila, southern south-ern Durango, Hildago, San Luis Potosl, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Michoacnn, Jalisco, Teplc, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Colima, Chiapas, Campeachy, Yucatan, Tabasco, Quintnnn Roo, and the eastern east-ern or Atlantic edge of the state of Vera Cruz, which territory on pnper re-n.iains re-n.iains under federal control. The big transcontinental stretch of rebel-controlled territory, which averages aver-ages more than 100 miles in width, and which forms an unbroken barrier from ocean to ocean, completely separates the federal-controlled states of the south Chiapas, Campeachy, Yucatan, Tabasco, part of Vera Cruz and Quln-tana Quln-tana Roo from the states or pnrts of slates over which Carranza still holds sway in the north. Villa Forces Strongest. Of the organized opposition groups which are seeking to overthrow Carranza, Car-ranza, the most powerful is that which is operating in Chihuahua and neighboring neigh-boring states under Angeles and Villa. The Villlstas, as this force is popularly popu-larly known, Is not the unorganized, poorly equipped, and undisciplined force that a great many people In this country think it is. It is, on the other band, probably the best organized and equipped military organization in Mexico. Mex-ico. It numbers 10,000 men commanded command-ed by Angeles, the French trained rebel leader, with Villa second in command. com-mand. It is well equipped with rifles r.nd is said to have a fairly well organized organ-ized artillery arm, nnd the Vlllistas fire the best ammunition, which, as a rule, is American made and is smuggled smug-gled across the Rio Grande by "gun runners." The Angeles-Villa forces are today practically In control of the entire state of Chihuahua, a large part of Durango, Du-rango, the eastern part of Sonora, nnd the western part of Carrnnza's own state of Coahuila. The one part of Chihuahua that Angeles An-geles and Villa do not control is the border city of Juarez, opposite El Paso, and they would today be in possession of that much-needed border port but for the fact that they brought about American intervention in their plans by firing over the border into the Texas city. The Americans did not go to Juarez to help Carranza, as some people peo-ple think, but solely for the purpose of safeguarding the lives of Americans on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. The next more important rebel force in Mexico is that under command com-mand of Manuel Pelaez, who dominates the oil-producing regions of the Tnmpico Tnm-pico country. Pelnez has under his command 3,000 well organized and fairly fair-ly well equipped, men. The vnlue of the. foreign oil interests in the territory ter-ritory in which Pelaez is operating is estimated at more thnn $300,000,000. Pelaez is said to he pro-ally in sentiment, senti-ment, and to this is due in large part the failure of the Germans and their Carranzista sympathizers to gain control con-trol of the oil fields while the European Euro-pean war was actively under way. ' Allies Like Meixuerio. Under Guillermo Meixuerio, in the state of Oaxaca, is another rebel force of several thousand well organized men. Carranza has made desperate but ineffectual efforts to dislodge Meixuerio, Meix-uerio, who is easily one of his most , feared opponents, and whose record is such as to win the sympathetic approv- al of the allies. Meixuerio is a full- blooded Zapotec, a lawyer, and a man of fine education. Next in importance among the rebel groups is that commanded by Felix i Diaz. Under Diaz, according to official offi-cial information, there nre approximately approxi-mately 5,000 men. The Diaz forces, however, unlike those under Pelnez, Angeles nnd Meixuerio, are loosely organized or-ganized and nre said to be in great need of ammunition and other war ma-terinls. ma-terinls. Despite this handicap, however, how-ever, the Fellcistas, as the Dinz rebels reb-els are known, continue to be a force, and all the efforts of Carranza to break up the organization have failed. The Felicistas are operating in the state of Tamaulipas in the north and In part of Hidalgo, Puebla, and Vera Cruz in the south. The southern Fe licista nren forms the center link in the rebel ocean barrier. The state of Morelos and small parts of the states of Mexico and Guerrero form the area in which the famous Znpntistns nre and have been operating operat-ing for the last seven yenrs. As for Cantu, in Lower California, the situation there can be dismissed with a word. Cantu is in absolute control of that part of Mexico, and Carranza is making no effort to interfere with the Independent state that Cantu has ?ct up. Smuggle Arms In. The seventh of Carrnnza's troubles are the Yaquis of western Sonorn. They nre operating in bandit groups and number probably several thousand. Like the Villistas, they are armed and equipped by smuggling from the United States. The Yaquis are among the hardest and best fighters in Mexico, and little if any effort is being made by the federal government to restore order in that part of Sonora under their domination. Lastly, the bandits. Official reports prove that everywhere in Mexico the outlaw bands are to be found. Their number is unknown, but they are powerful enough to hold the attention of a considerable part of Carranza's hard-pressed little regular army of 60,-000 60,-000 men. Briefly, what precedes gives the lineup line-up of the factions that are fighting for control of Mexico. Here are some of the facts, officially established, thnt have resulted from the country-wide internecine strife in Mexico. Economicnlly Mexico is in the midst of a crisis which Is characterized by the Intense poverty and the actual want of the great mass of the people. The morale of the population everywhere was never lower than nt the present time. The general health of the people peo-ple is everywhere bad. Cattle raising, the principal Industry of the nation, Is today only about ten per cent of what it was in 1914. Of all Mexican industries, in-dustries, the growing of henoquin alone shows progress. All textile factories and sugar mills, with a few exceptions, are out of business, and those that are operating are run down nnd in need of repair. Practically all of the country's coun-try's 16,000 miles of railroads are demoralized de-moralized or destroyed as a result of rebel and bandit activity. Not a cent of Interest hns been paid on the national na-tional foreign debt In more than five years. More than 75 per cent of the population popu-lation is now absolutely illiterate. The national credit Is gone, and the foreign for-eign oil interests are, despite the apparent ap-parent friendly attitude of Pelaez, menaced. As an indication of the health of the people, latest reports estimate es-timate the yearly death rate in Mexico City is 21.000, while the reported birlh rate is only 7,500. It is believed, however, how-ever, that a correct census would show a larger birth rate, although the 7,500 estimate Is official. At the present time all reliable reports re-ports coming out of Mexico Indicate the precarious condition of the Carranza Carran-za government. Carranza has been j during the past three years probably j the most pro-German head of a state in the western hemisphere. j Openly Pro-German. ! Until recently his attitude hns been ' unfriendly to the United Stntes, and 1 hen he thought Germany was winning win-ning he made no efforts to conceal his sympathy for the Teutons. Legislation Legisla-tion that was passed during the wnr and which was directed against the ailled fiil holdings in the Tanipico country coun-try is generally believed, in private as well as official circles, to have been inspired by German Interests and representatives rep-resentatives in Mexico. Protests against ibis legislalion have been filed by the American. Pritlsh and French govern-! govern-! menls. j Since he developed his anti-American attitude Carranza has fanned his supporters with the slogan of "Latin-' "Latin-' American Solidarity" n gainst the great : northern republic, and today the most i L'.'iierally developed trait in the mn-I mn-I jority of Mexicans In federal controlled territory Is that of nnti-Americnnism. |