The Washington herald., 1911-03-08
INTERVENTION IN MEXICO
BY UNITED STATES SEEN

Company B. Tenth Infantry, from Fort
Thomas, KY.
| Twenty-eighth Infantry from Fort
Smelling, MINI.
Seventeenth Infantry from Fort Nc
Pherson, Ga.
Fourth Field Artillery from Fort D. A.
Russell, Wyo.
Second Battalion, Third Field Artillery,
from Fort Myer, Va
Ninth Cavalry from Fort d. A. Rus
Eleventh Cavalry from Fort ogle-
thorpe, Ga.
Company D, Signal Corps, from Fort
Leavenworth, Kans.
| Third Battalion of Engineers from Fort
Leavenworth, Kans., and Fort d. A
Russell, Wyo.
The troops at San Antonio will be fully
equipped for any possible service. There
! will be detachments of engineer troops
to build pontoon bridges, earthworks, &C ::
and Signal Corps detachments for Inain-
taining lines of communication. The di-
| vision will be completely equipped for
| active service as well as for tactical ex-
/ erciSeS.
To Protect Big Dam.
In carrying out the programme Of ma
| neuvers, Gen. Carter will probably find
| it necessary to send large bodies OF
troops toward the Mexican border Here
| they may come in contact with theoreti-
cal enemies and there may be much i'm
| aginary bloodshed.
Similar maneuvers on a smaller scale
may be attempted on the Pacific Coast
at San Diego, where several armored
| cruisers of the Pacific feet have assem-
| bled. The officers of the War Depart
ment, however, are not paying much at
fao 70 hn ha Do a,;E
| They are more interested in the pos
! sible movement on the Gulf coast, where
war ships and a greater number of men
will be involved.
| The question of guarding the dam Of
| the lower Colorado River has been dis
| cUssed within the last few days by the
State Department and the Mexican for
| eign office. The greater part of this
| Gam is in Mexican territory. 1t is being
constructed by an American company.
and its maintenance is necessary to pro-
| tect the settlers of the Imperial Valley
| OF California from inunds ton. Several
| weeks ago the contractor who is build
| ing the dam appealed to the State De-
partment for protection against the dep
relations of the insurgents
At the request Of the State Depart
ment the Mexican government sent a
| force of 800 soldiers under Col. Vega,
| the Mexicans had a skirmish with a
! force of insurgents and Were defeated
Last Saturday the contractor again ap-
pealed to the State Department for pro-
lection and asserted that he was losing
S1,00O a day from the insurgents who
were stealing horses and provisions. The
question of affording adequate protection
was again taken up with the Mexican
| foreign office, which promised to send
a larger force to protect the dam.
| So far the insurgents had not attempt
ed to damage or interfere with the work
of constructing the dam. but had con-
fined their operations to stealing proper
ty of the contractor. While the officers
| Of the State Department do not believe
the insurrectos have any intention of
| interfering with the construction OF the
| dam. they felt that it would be better
to have a strong military force there
to insure protection for the works.
The location Of the maneuver camp at
San Antonio indicates that the officers Of
the War Department are not worrying
about the operations of the insurgents
who are now in the vicinity of FL Paso,
which is several hundred miles away. If
| the camp had been established for the
primary purpose of having a moral effect
upon the operations of the Mexican in
SurSen the camp WOOlQ unQuSSuOndDly
have been placed somewhere in the vicin-
ity of El Paso, where the main body of
the insurrectionists is located.
The establishment Of a maneuver camp,
containing 10000 troops. near the border
OF foreign country, where a revolution
is in progress, would, in any European
country, be regarded as a hostile act,
and would unquestionabIy be met by a
similar demonstration. In the present in
stance, however, it is believed that the
mobilization of troops has the tacit ap-
proval of the Mexican government.
There were many conferences Monday
and yesterday on the Mexican situation.
First of all, there was the usual Tuesday
CabinetS meeting. Maj. Gen. Leonard
Wood. Chief of STAFF, and Brig. Gen. w.
W. w. Wotherspoon, president of the
Army War College. were at the White
House to discuss the proposed mobiliza-
ton with President Taft
EIude Newspaper Men.
After they had finished their conference
they climbed out of a back window of
Secretary Norton's Office and left the
White House through a rear gate in or
der to elude the newspaper men who were
waiting at the front door of the execu-
tive Offices to question them in regard to