Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-02-28
IN MEXICO.

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1t will be virtually impossible to
convince the American people that
Francisco Madero and Pine Suarez,
the late president and vice president
of Mexico, were not, in truth, assas-
sinated by orders of the new heads
Of the Mexican government, while
they were being transferred from the
palace to the p~enitentiary for sup
posedly safe keeping, says the Wash
ington Star. The official explanation
that they were slain in the course Of
an attempt to rescue them is received
with frank incredibly. There is, in
deed, no particular reason for beliey-
ing 1t, and very strong reason for dis
believing it. All the circumstances
OF the tragedy point to the deliberate
commission of a crime which appals
civilization. Madero and Suarez had
been placed in an automobile with a
guard Of three officers, an orderly and
seven rurales, eleven armed men,
some of whom occupied a preceding
motor car. The transfer was made at
midnight, when the streets were emp
ty and the skies were clear. The
distance between the palace and the
penitentiary was short, and should
have been covered in a few moments.
If the official explanation is correct,
someone in the palace apparently
proved traitor to the governments
plan, and within the hour elapsing be-
tween the issuance of orders for the
transfer and the departure from the
palace passed word to the Maderistas
in season to permit the stationing Of
an armed force on the precise route
to be taken by the prisoners and their
escort. This in itself is suggestive.
But again, if the government honestly
wished to place Madero and Suarez
in safe keeping, it should have been
no difficult matter, when the attack
was made, to speed the motor cars at
such a rate as to outrun the attackers
and reach the pepitentiary in safety.
II 1t was actually the purpose of HUI
erta and Diaz to place Madero and
Suarez securely in the %penitentiary
they planned badly or Were wretched-
ly served by their subordinates. !
Inathis case, as in all others where
the commission of crime is suspected,
the burden of proof is, of course, upon
the accusation But explanations and
defenses must be reasonable, must
square with conditions; and it will
call for an unusual degree Of credul,
ity to accept as even plausible the
protestations of innocence coming
from the present leaders in Mexico,
who had unquestionable motive in de.
string these two men killed. What
ever may be the official reports on
the affair, the belief will doubtless
continue to prevail that Madero and
Suarez We're put to. death by their cap
Stors as deliberately as though they
had been stood up against a wall and
shot by a firing squad.
In any case, the killing of Madero
and Suarez in itself does not alter
the attitude of the United States gov
eminent toward the question of inter-
venion. 1t is to be regarded at this
stage as a token of the failure of civ
ilized government in Mexico. But it
is in itself not a sufficient cause for
the invasion of Mexico by American
troops. If, it should result in a re-
newal Of fighting, placing American
lives and property in jeopardy; if it
should stimulate the already avowed
hostility of the northern states tosthe
Huerta regime, leading to a chaotic
state in the republic, then it will have
been a factor for American action.
Certainly. on the. other hand, it is
quite far from simplifying the atua-
ton. and the United States is ever
more definitely than before obliged to
prepare itself for the assumptions Of
4 task which It still hopes it will not
be compelled to undertake.