Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-03-04
HANDS OFF MEXICO
IS ADVICE Of TAFT
subject were heard with the deepest
attention.
Cost Of Intervention,

attention.
Cost Of intervention.
He said: =
Those Of us who have had exper'
fence in the tranquihizing Of a tropi
cal country, with a people not yer,
different from the Mexicans, who taxi
naturally to guerilla, warfare, ano
who would rather fight than work.
chat is, would rather fight and run
than work-knOw the diticnltieg1tha,
an army would have to meet i'd, &C
coplish the only purpose that I'VE
wUtIIa have IN going IN, TO wit, the
bringing about Of Jaw and order. Il
would involve the garrisoning with
q. sufficient force OF every town.
1T would involve the organization
Of columns to chase the gnerillas in.
to their mountain Businesses and
across trackless desert plains and the
segregation of $4,000, 900 OF people. !
don't know twhen' we wonld get
through; l don't know how many
lives it would involve, don't know
how much it would cost, but | do
know it would be a drag upon as
and then when We had gotten tbs
thing done the future would still; lbe
doubtful and still be a charge and J
burden upon ~ government and up.
on II treasury. l 10 not speak thus
positively without some knowledge OF
the SUBJECT. No effort ought to ,ibe
omitted to prevent a catastrophe
like this"
In other parts Of his lecture tho
former president told his audience
that the nervous strain through which
he passed during the settlement OF
the Cuban rebellion that beganlDi in
1906 was as great as any through
which he had ever passed. i.j#S
Discusses the Panama Canal.
Much CT his lecture was devoted to;
the Panama canal. lie told howsCol.i
G0ethals was found" to supertltend
the digging of the canal; he com.
.ended Capt. Harbord Of the United
States Army, a former colonel jnrthe,
constabuiary, to. the atten-
lion OF Mayor Mitchell of New York
the position of commissioners: of
which post was offered osCol..
Cocktails, aad he declared that the
great power that brought us victory
n the 's%ea.leyel or lock-type contro-:
'ersy was the direct influence n OF,
Roosevelt. ~,
Mr.. Taft said in part: i
when / first went. over the canal
did not look much like q canal;
the prospect of its construction
vas by no means a clear one. We
hen thought that We ought to have q
'ea'level canal. We invited distin!.|
foreign engineers to form al
'oard with our leading American. en-
and they advised by q ma
GRITTY that we have a sea.level canal.
The minority all Of them American
Engineers, advised that we have. a
ock canal. It was a most fortunate !
|ecisiOn on the part Of the admins !
II we had attempted az sea.
evel canal. l don't say that we
onld not have built 1t, but LIDO say
hat it would have been so eXpen-
i've aad SO long in construction: that
t would have become q bore to- the
Whole American people. and that the
Inference in the two canals as in.
OF commerce is SO small
hat the additional expense and ad-
litional time would far outweigh the
dvantage of the sea level canal, it
had any. =,
Alec on Lock Canal.
"Thc situation in respect to !: the
Of the plan was critical.
President Roosevelt and ! had reach.
d a decided conviction that we
'ught to have the loch canal. 1t
vas within the executive power, to
tho type of canal, but it
7as so important a matter, and; ,af.
ected SO much the amount of money