The Sentinel=record., 1914-04-22

senator hOol TeNleWeu lHt duipl'O incident as the avowed justification by the president He said the incl dent was an insult to our flag"
 But, sir, he said amends were immediately made. The officer who made the arrest was himself arrest ed The commandant at Tampico apologized and General Huerta apol- ogized. These amends were not suf- ficient to the commander of the American vessel and he demanded a salute to the flag"
 Senator Root said he agreed that the amends were not sufficient as coming from a de facto government though they would have been sutfi- cient coming from an individual.
 "A dispute arose. he said, 'as to the details of further amends, the customary and usual incidents sur rounding such a salute.
 This was the matter in dispute between this government and the de facto government of Mexico, and this is the justification upon which the resolution now before the senate is based
 This justification, 1t seems to me- is painfully inadequate If this is all that there is between the govern ment and the poor, harried people of Mexico, it is painfully inadequate. But is this all?
 We learn tonight that Vera Cruz has fallen; that four American ma rines lie dead; that 20 lie suffering | from wounds Is there nothing else ! but this dispute of the number of guns the form and ceremony of a salute to justify the sacrifice of the American lives?
 Deeply as the president desires to 1 limit the scope of his action-the | maintenance of peace, all history suggests that once lighted, the fires of war cannot be Quenched at will. It l is war in it's essence that we are to | vote to justify tonight. What the | results of these incidents no man can l tell Men will die-men dear to Us will die because of the action we | have taken tonight. American homes will be desolate, American children | will go through life fatherless be- cause of the action we will take to- night, and when they turn back the page to find why their fathers died are they to find Chat it was about the number of guns or the form of sa- nte.
 We are to justify. What is the justification Is there none but that? We, the representatives of the great 1 democracy that brides itself before the whole world that Democracy can
 be peaceful and just. Is there no
 Justification that we can lay before
 the world, before the judgment seat of history except dispute about the number of guns?"
 As Senator Root paused he raised his hands heavenward and turning to the senators about him, said:
 ''How can we justify ourself if we have not justification?
 But sirs, that is not all. If it had been all, the president would not have come to the congress yester day. If it had been all we would not have been discussing this subject here tonight. Back of this incident, back of the special circumstances of the resolution reported by the commit 1 tee, is a great array of facts"
 Senator Root asked what would have been done if a similar incident 1 had occurred in an English, French or German port. He said that any such dispute could be settled by peaceful negotiations.
 If this dispute was all he said there should be no difficulty in reaching a peaceful conclusion.
 "If this be all, how can we justify in our arrogance our present attitude toward bankrupt, weak, despairing Mexico, if this be all? But this is not all. It is not all. There is mat ter of justification. And the sena- tor from Massachusetts has sought to lav it before the senate in his sub stitute for the preamble of the reso- lution.
 Lying behind the insult to the | American flag are the lives of Amer | jeans destroyed, Americans reduced | to poverty because of the destruction 1 of their property. Lying behind it is l a condition of anarchy in Mexico, a | condition which makes it impossible | to secure protection for American | life and property. Lying back of this i incident is a condition of things i1 | Mexico which absolutely prevents the | protection of American lives and | property except through respect for | the American flag, the American uni ! form and the American government | Ii is that that makes necessary the | demand that public respect he made l the flage of the United States,
 There is our Justification It is a justification lying not in Victorano Huerta or in his conduct alone but in the universal conduct of affairs in Mexico. and the req object to be at- tained by the course which We are asked to approve is not the gratifica- tion of personal pride; it is not the | saffefapffon Inf a Qover.,npuf or an