The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1911-06-15

OTHER BORDER TROUBLES LIKE |
THOSE ON THE MEXICAN LINE |
When Belgium and SWitzer.
land Massed Troops on
Their Borders
Il COUNTRY with such extern
"a sive frontiers as ours has nat
urally experienced before this
very mnch tho Sama cOrt If

"a sive frontiers as ours has nat
"a urally experienced before this
very much the same sort of
trouble which lately vexed our Next
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 bor-
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 severe con-
flct, 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
%o
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 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 dominions on the northeast,
Belgium concentrated an army of 49,
OOO men opposite the exposed bit Of
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 hostilities 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 as 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. I. 1871, there came
reeling over the line foot, horse and
artillery, in disorder, half dead with
cold and hardship, a French force of
10000 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 it's provisions
the big confused army was disarmed
as rapidly as could be managed. The
$4,000 soldiers remained in Switzer-
land until the war was over and near
ly 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 1915, 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 border
raid hatched 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 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 our hands were in some
what the same relative situation as
Mexico with her insurrection is today.
The year 1864 saw two filibuster-
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
in