Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-04-20

| lire with war enthusiasm. l have no
enthusiasm for war; have an enthu-
siasm for justice and for the dignity Of
the United States, but not for war.
And this need not eventuate into war
if we handle it with firmuess and
| promptness."
Wants to Assist
! The President said the intention Of
the United States was to help the
people of Mexico and that he had got
ten feeling of uneasiness when he
found the newspapers fired with en-
thusasm for war. Mr.. Wilson de-
! clared he did not want war, but JUS
tice, and that he did not consider such
acts of reprisal as are planned, acts
of war, but measures short of war, sus-
tanned by the Greytown precedent, for
one.
| The President said that in reality he
was going to Congress on an occasion
for which, strictly speaking, 1t was
not necessary to obtain authority, but
that it was his desire to have the full
cooperation and thought and purpose
of Congress. Mr.. Wilson said that the
executive could take steps which
would fall short of q declaration of
war.
Has Not Lost Patience
The President emphasized that he
| had not lost his patience with Mexico,
for to lose patience seemed to him an
act OF weakness on the part of a per-
son strong enough to do as he ought,
but that he felt such incidents as re-
cent ones might go from bad to worse
and eventually bring about a state OF
| conflict.
The President added that he
thought it was wise in the interests of
peace to cut off these repeated Of
fenses at an early stage.
Events of the day, the President in
dicated, such as final acceptance from
Huerta, might alter his plans, and he
added that even the course of action
by the navy was dependent upon cir
cumstanceS from hour to hour.
When the President was asked the
direct question If the purpose of his
action was to secure the elimination of
IIuerta, he replied that the Tampico
incident did not involve that question.
He replied that the United States
merely wanted full recognition of it's
dignity and such a recognition as
would constitute a guarantee that
such incidents as the one at Tampico
would not occur again.
Message in Readiness
The President announced that he
had his message ready, that it was
about thousand words long and
would take about ten minutes to read.
vance, as has been the custom, say
ing he wanted to keep it under advise
ment to the last minutes. He ar
ranged, however to have copies given
out at the Capitol simultaneously with
his delivery.
The use of the word Simultaneous
cause Il ripple of laughter among the
Presidents callers. Some one asked
If the word had not become objection
able, but Mr.. Wilson laughingly re-
piled that when it all came from one
side there was no objection.
The reference was to Huerta's pro-
posal for a simultaneous salute and
the President Indicated by his answer
that twenty-one guns fired simulta-
neously in salute to the flag by Huerta
would be the only kind of simulta-
neous salute that would be accepted.
The President revealed that foreign
diplomats at Mexico City had been
using their good Offices with Huerta in
an effort to induce him to accede, but
that no representations had been made
to this government in any way by
other nations.