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MEXICO UNDER CARRANZA
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proach that of the hibernating bear, and in the morning they crawl into a sunny place and slowly thaw into life again, when they get up and resume their pathetic quest for food. They mutely appeal with outstretched hands and wistful eyes to the passer-by, and there are legions of them."
These conditions exist at the present time. A gentleman who had been in business in Mexico for some ten years prior to the beginning of the Carranza régime, who had travelled much throughout the country, returned there late last fall, to ascertain what present conditions were. He visited Mexico City and other points. I know this gentleman well, and can, therefore, vouch for his high character, and reliability. This is the substance of what he told me:
"I spent several weeks in October and November, 1918, in and around Mexico City, a locality I have known intimately for years. One evening I took a walk for the purpose of seeing what conditions were among the poor. I am sure that on that walk I saw at least three thousand miserable persons crouching in recessed doorways and other places that offered some slight protection from the wind. They were lying as close together as they could get, often with a dog in the centre of the pile to contribute the warmth of its body. They were men, women, and children. Most of the latter were naked, though a few had a ragged, dirty remnant of a coat or pair of trousers or, perhaps,
