New-York tribune., 1913-11-06
"SCUTTLE AND DRIFT"
That Policy Toward Mexico Must
End, a Reader Urges.
To the Editor of The Tribune.

| To the Editor of The Tribune.
| Sir: To any one acquainted with Mexico
and it's people The present attitude of the
| Washington administration cannot be
viewed with anything short of the utmost
amazement The facts are as follows.
| The population of Mexico is about four
teen millions, accurate computation
/ being, of course. impossible. OF this num-
ber something over two millions are OF
| the white race mostly OF Spanish descent
many of them as highly educated and
( cultivated as can anywhere be found, to-
gether with a sprinkling of white foreign
ers numbering, perhaps, until President
Wilson's recent warning, fifty THOUSAND
The remaining eleven or twelve millions
are nearly equally divided between the
pure blooded Indians, the descendants OK
the aborlgines whom Cortez found there
and the mestiZos, or people of mixed
blood the latter somewhat outnumberins
the former. AS the great mass or thr
people are therefore simply ignorant ana
illiterate poems, living from hand 10
mouth on starvation wages, without own
ership in the land, it would seem hardy
necessary to state that anything IN the
nature OF an intelligent public opinion ia
any way sufficient TO create. or even sus-
gest, a self-governing people is practicaIly
! unknown. In other words. political con-
ditions in Mexico can be likened TO Wh5t
they would be in our own country II
about four-fifths of our population con-
sisted of a combination of North Ameri-
can Indians and halfbreeds ruthlessly
ruled from New York City, so far as
great distances would permit, by mill
! tary Tammany Hall, with the "cnlel
not only In command of our federal army,
but also In a position, as shown lately
through sheer decree, TO increase thst
army to any extent that his necessitiei
might require and his enforced eXchequef
pay for.
When, therefore, We now hear any oi
our fellow citizens enunciating in rounded
periods certain abstract principles OF llo'
erty, including the commonplace oil
consent Of the governed and free ana
fair elections and other similar phrases
a feeling of combined sadness and appre-
hension is engendered by the thought that
people in positions OF overwhelming re
sponsibilty and power. however high
minded and pure their motives. should be
so deceived as to actual conditions as 10
permit their governmental acts TO be COLI
trolled by such unstatesmanlike senu-
mentality.
AS the result has shown, the poley
assumed by the Washington Cabinet has
been to place us in false position from
the very beginning. and, humliatinS as
the confession of failure must necessarily
be, 1t is respectfully submitted that the
only manly thing for our government no"
to do, though even at the eleventh noun
is to recognize that facts are stern am
awkward things that must be boldly met
and that the proper solution OF the pres
ent difficulty is TO recognize Huerta' or
his nominee sas the de facto President OF
dictator Din crises names are unimportahp
Of Mexico, upon whom will rest the inter
national responsibility for bringing orde'
out of chaos, and therefore entitled 10
the moral support of every nation haVhls
citizens, subjects or material interests at
stake in his distracted country.
Should conditions in Mexico not then
improve and an ultimate necessity for our
intervention arise think IL may DC
safely stated that a vast majority OF the
limited number OF people in the Uniteu
States at all familiar with Mexican con-
ditions would be of the very decided opih-
ion that the best had been done and that
no different course of action could have
prevented intervention.
But whatever our future relations with
Mexico are TO be, the American people
should sternly recognize that the scuttie
and drift policy has run its course and
that something definite must now be DOM
SAMUEL l.. PARRISH.
New York, Nov. 2, 1918.