The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-08-01
p1TIruI PLIGHT. OF REFUGEES

The stories OF the condition OF
the American refugees from Mexico a
i the Texas border arc pitiful indeed. II
is dreadful to see that in this day anc
age peaccable people, without offcnse
are driven from their homes and theil
property taken and their lives threat
ened. internationally, it is the gross
est outrage Of the time, in our part
! OF the world: and the United state:
does well to make earnest and EN-
phatic representations TO the Mexican
Government against the situation thus
created.
But how can the Mexican Govern
can Government that is doing this evil
work. but rebels against that gov.
ernment. During our Civil War there
was period of some four years when
within the limits Of the rebeluous an.
thority, there were things done for
which the United States could not
be held accountable because il had no
efiectual jurisdiction therein, and no
power to prevent the commission of
the acts that might have been COM
planned of. Just so now in Mexico,
The region where these outrages are
reported is not within the jurisdiction
of the Mexican Government TO anv ef-
fectual purpose. The rebels hold
that region in terror and wreak their
will upon il lawlessly, inhumanly and
without regard to the laws of civiIiza-
ton
What, then, is the remedy? Must We
continue to endure? We hold that it
is better to endure even such Affections
as this than to intervene arbitrarily
against the Mexican authority. But we
presented yesterday q plan which has
recent precedent. which ought TO be
sufficient to settle the whole matter AS
We called to mind, during the Apache
troubles on the Mexican border some
twenty years ago. there was an agree
ment between the Mexican Government
and the United States Government that
a force of either country following a
murderous band OF Apaches. would be
at liberty to cross the border and con"
tinue the pursuit until that band was
defeated and captured. 1t had been
the practice of those Indians for many
years to commit depredations in Mexi-
co and flee across the border 10 the
United States, or, on the contrary, TO
commit their depredations in the
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border to Mexico. The Mexican troops
could not under ordinary international
relations pursue those murderous
bands into the domain of the United
States, and neither could the United
States troops pursue those bands into
the domain of Mexico. But the griev-
ance got to be so sore, and the remedy
so evident, that the government Of this
country agreed with that Of Mexico
that when any military force of either
was in pursuit of a murderous
band of Apaches, the boundary should
be no barrier, and that the pursuit
should be continued at the will Of the
pursuing party This agreement very
soon put an end to the Apache raids;
for General Crook and General Miles
followed those bands to their destruc-
tion into the mountains of Mexico.
Applying the same principle, why
cannot the governments of the United
States and Mexico agree now to ex-
tend that concession TO the present Cir
so that the United States
troops will be allowed to 60 into
Mexico and destroy those brigand
bands, for the protection of American
citizens lives and property7 Those
brieands are not a whit better than
Apaches, especially if they should
actually begin to execute their
extreme threats. 1t seems to us
that there ought not to be any
great difficulty in arriving at this
agreement; and we accordingly present
it again as at once feasible and meet
ing the conditions that require to be
corrected: and also as being strictly
according to precedent hitherto estab~
lished and acted upon in the most bene~
fetal manner possible. There is moth
ing new in it, since il has been acted
upon before. There is nothing de-
rogatory to Mexico in it. because the
concession would be mutual; and there
are large benefits to it in the putting
down of bands Of lawless brigands and
restoring peace and order to an af,
hicted region.