Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-03-24
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS.
ONE MANS GUESS.

Americans are prone to resent, to
a greater or less degree, any action
the federal government may take,
without first calling in the newspaper
reporters and telling them all about
it. Generally the government 0ff1c.
ials, from the president down, realize
the fact the the people deem them.
selves fully capable of taking hand
in the game, whatever it may be, and
are accommodating in the matter OF
publicity. Once in a while, however,
crisis arises where it is undesira-
bic, as a matter of stragedy, to make
the intentions of thu government pub.
lie. Then there is a deal of COM
planning and grumbllng and fault find.
ing, and many wild guesses concern.
ing just what the government may
be up to-" and whether it's course
may be justified or not.
That has been the case in the pres.
ent crisis with Mexico or Japan, or
whatever 1t may prove to be- Some
people have guessed that the United
States intends to annex Mexico, then
the Central American states and then
Canada, making a fairish sized coun-
try extending from the pole to Pan
ANA" Others have guessed that the
movement is merely to scare off the
Japanese, who have designs on har-
Dor and naval base in lower Cali.
fornia. Others have insisted that the
troops were sent to the Mexican Dor.
der to protect J. Pierpont Morgan's
interests in Mexico--and others that
the movement was taken in a william
GUS effort, on the part of President
Taft, to obscure the stalwart figure of
Colonel Roosevelt rs he made his
swing around the circle, preparatory
to being on hand at certain interest
ing event scheduled to take place at
San Francisco in the near future.
But here comes correspondent to
the Duluth Herald with an entirely
new explanation, which at least pos.
sesses the merit of novelty. He
thinks the Japs AMI the Yankees, in.
stead of being at swords points, as
the confiding world had been led to
believe, are in reality in partners in a
dark and nefarious undertaking,
namely, the partition of Mexico.
This ingenious theory is worked
out as follows:
From the moment the United States
took possession of the Philippines,
Japan began to look upon this coun.
try as a possible rival in the Far
East. 1t was on account of this fear
that the Toxic government fastened
to make an alliance with England, be.
lieving that by such relation to one
of the two great Anglo-Saxon nations
it would be possible, to some extent,
at least, to control the actions of the
other. Later, when the fear of ag.
gressive action in the Orient by the
United States had died out, Japan be-
gan to study the possibilities of her.
self getting foothold in the western
hemisphere. There was no land that
she could seize and occupy without
violating all international codes, so
she began to look for an opening that
could be taken advantage of by ap-
proved methods.
Casting about for the most avail
able bit of territory, she investigated
the situation in Mexico, and decided
that would be the best place for her
to get the foothold. But Mexico was
an inoffensive and Independent ma
ton, and the problem of how to go
about such a seizure had to be solved.
BY means of secret negotiations
with Washington, the Japanese con-
veyed a certain proposal to this gov
eminent. The United States must
surrender to the japanese control all
but some of the minor islands in the