Imperial Valley press., 1913-12-15
Haskin Letters
Mexico--Article No. l
(By Frederic J. Haskin)


There can be no certain prospect
of peace in America until General
Huerta has surrendered his usurped
authority in Mexico; until it is un-
derstood on all hands, indeed, that
such pretended governments will not
be countenanced or dealt with by the
government of the United States.-
From President Wilson's annual ad-
dress to congress.
This expression of the official at
titude of the American government
justifieS a review of the events in
Mexico that have led up to the pres
ent chaotic and apparently almost
hopeless condition. In this article
and the five that are to follow the
salient features of the troubled story
will be told in chronological order.
Sixteen thousand officers and men,
constituting about one-half of the mo-
bile army in the United States, are
now stationed in the border states of
Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Cal
ifornia. Fifteen battleshipS and less
er war craft are standing by for pos
sible trouble in Mexican waters.
Probably 10000 of the 10000 Amer
leans who peacefully resided in Mex
leo three years ago have left that
country.
President Huerta is dictator who
can dictate to but portion of his
people, for the revolutionists control
the most important northern states.
All the diplomatic energies of the
United States government have been
devoted to the difficult task of forcing
him from office. The situation there
by created is the foremost problem
of American foreign policy. 1t is a
continuing crisis, marked at least
once by serious friction between the
United States and Great Britain.
The Causes
What circumstances created this
situation? Why is the United States
left with a problem quite as perpleX-
ing as that which Turkey for decades
presented to Europe.
President Wilson has said: "The
pease, prosperity and contentment of
Mexico mean much more, much more,
to us than merely an enlarged field
for our commerce and enterprise.
They mean an enlargement of the
field of self government and the re-
alization of the hopes and rights of a
nation with whose best aspirations, so
long suppressed and disappointed, we
deeply sympathize."
More than a century has passed
since Spanish dominions began to
break away from his most Catholic
majesty's rule and set up their own
republics in Central and South Amer
lea. Their struggles to achieve true
democratic government have largely
influenced the foreign policy of the
/ United States. The Monroe doctrine
! early established the primacy of the
+ United States in the western hemis-
phere and is vitality involved in the
i present Mexican problem.
In its neighbors, Canada on the
north and Mexico on the south, the
United States was more fortunate
than any great power. The Mexican
war was soon forgotten and until
/ three years ago no serious difficulty
! threatened on the southwestern bor-
! der save when Napoleon III sought
+ to establish MaXimillian as emperor
/ of Mexico. His throne toppled wher
the cessation of the Civil war per-
mitted the Washington government to
assert the Monroe doctrine, and when
General Sheridan permitted Juarez
to obtain the arms necessary for the
empires overthrow
POrfiriO Diaz
One of the most vigorous of the
revolutionary leaders at that time
was Porfrio Diaz, typical product
of the country, in whose veins flowed
Indian blood. AS a soldier he had
ample opportunity to study the prob
lens of government and was well
equipped for the difficult task of gov
ernment when first he was elected
to the presidency in 1876.
Early realizing that Mexico's vast
mineral and agricultural resources re
quired for development capital which
the people did not possess, President
Diaz always encouraged the invest
ment of foreign capital, gave it every
protection, and to keep smiling face
on the investment prospect subdued
with an iron hand all agitations
which might have frightened away
capital. His six successive terms
from 1884 were really military au
tocracies. Elections were held, but
Don Porfrio was always the victor
and so completely was this accepted
that but a negligible vote was cast
and the names of his futile opponents
are scarcely remembered.
American investors poured S1000,-
100000 into the republic. British cap
;+alic+s n1aced $500 O00 00O in Mexi-