The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1911-08-30

OTHER BORDER TROUBLES LIKE
THOSE ON THE MEXICAN LINE
When Belgium and Switzer.
land Massed Troops on
Their Borders
s COUNTRY with such extern
sive frontiers as ours has nat
"a urally experienced before this

COUNTRY with such extern
sive frontiers as ours has nat
~ urally experienced before this
- very much the same sort Of
trouble which lately vexed u Mexi-
can border. Violation Of territory Is
no new occurrence In American rec
ords. nor has it been rare In the re-
cent history of other powers Of the
civilized world.
The dispatching Of troops to the Dor.
der by order of the president, for ex.
ample. is paralleled by the action taken
BY Belgium and Switzerland In 1870
and 1871, when France and Germany
were at war. The bullets in that war
did not fly off into neutral territory
In any great number. None the less
some Of the most murderous battles of
the Franco Prussian war were fought
within sight and hearing of neutral
ground. At Sedan. after a sever con.
fict, the Germans captured the French
emperor and $4,000 of his troops with.
in ten miles Of the Belgian line. On
this occasion the number of French
soldiers to escape into the protection
of neutrality was exceedingly small.
There were recriminations, however.
on both sides. The Germans COM
planned that the French fugitives
should have been more vigorously
treated in Belgium to prevent their
coming back to France to rejoin the
combatants. The French insisted that
German brigades had marched rough
shod yer neutral ground to encircle
the French position. Belgium. fearing
to anger either of her important neigh
bors and anxious to maintain the In.
tegrity of her boundaries. was placed
in q very trying position.
The result was the calling out Of
Belgian troops similar to that which
has just been witnessed. In January.
1871. when Germans and French clash
ed at Amiens and at Bapaume. in dan
gerous proximity to the edge Of the
French doninions on the northeast.
Belgium concentrated an army of IL
600 men opposite h exposed bit {
boundary. There were no violations
of territory. Great numbers of French
men escaped into Belgium. All who
came were disarmed and interned to
await the termination of hostillties be-
fore they could go back.
Switzerland's Predicament.
A similar predicament to that OF
Belgium faced Switzerland in Janu
airy, 1871. The French troops in the
east of the invaded state were driven
back against the Swiss frontier. The
Swiss confederation feared that the
French might be tempted to make
just such use of a Swiss refuge MS re
treating insurrectos from Mexico have
made Of their retreats on our side of
the boundary. All the available force
OF the Swiss army was concentrated
to police the Swiss border. Sure
enough, on Feb. l. 1871. there came
Keeling over the line foot, horse and
artillery, in disorder. half dead with
cold and hardship. a French force of
$1,000 men. The Swiss commander
insisted on their immediate disarma
ment- A convention was drawn up
between the French and Swiss gen
erals, and according to its provisions
the big confused army was disarmed
as rapidly as could be managed. The
10000 soldiers remained In Switzer.
land until the war was over and near
" caused trouble between Switzerland
and France by interfering with the
great peace festival held after the
wars conclusion by Germans in the
city where they happened to be quar-
tered.
In many cases border troubles have
led to war between the states on whose
boundaries they started the blaze. The
border troubles with Texas led first to
our recognition Of Texan independence
and then, in 1S45, after an interval Of
eight years, to our annexation of the
territory followed by the war with
Mexico. In the case Of the Boer war,
the Jameson raid, which preceded it,
had many of the features of a border
raid Matched on supposedly friendly ter.
ritory.
Our Trouble With Canada.
In the case Of the border troubles
between this country and Canada dur.
ing the war Of the rebellion the feel
ing Of animosity engendered between
the states and the Dominion was so
bitter as to cause the raising of the
present tariff wall. which for more
than forty years has stood as a monu-
ment to fortunately forgotten Ill feel
Ing. In the events Of 1864 along our
northern border Canada's part was
much the same as that played by US
during the past few months Mexican
trouble, as the innocent host of refu
gees and plotters, while we with the
civil war on u hands were in some
what the same relative situation as
Mexico with her instruction Is today
The year 1884 saw two flibuster.
ing expeditions set out from Canadian
territory to descend on our undefended
northern border. As military forces
the expeditions Of Young, the st. Al.
bans raider, and Burley. the Lake Erie