Right To Hold Mena.

New York Times 100 years ago today, November 12, 1912:
Zone Judge Says the Law Allows Us to Detain Him Without a Charge.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    PANAMA, Nov. 11.— The Zone Supreme Court denied this afternoon the application of Gen. Mena, the Nicaraguan rebel leader, and his son, Daniel, for a writ of habeas corpus requiring their release from American custody.
    Judge Brown, in his decision, held that the President of the United States, under the law, had the right, in the administration of the affairs of the Zone, to detain both as political prisoners without any other charge or warrant.
    Friends of Gen. Mena contend that his detention and the armed interference in Nicaragua of the United States was due to the positive fact that he had sold a concession, as President of Nicaragua, to a German syndicate to build a canal through that country. Gen. Mena refuses to discuss the matter.