Norwich bulletin., 1914-04-21
Laid the Mexican Situation Before Congress in
 Joint Session Yesterday.
NO MONEY APPROPRIATION IS SUGGESTED
Wants Use of Armed Forces of the United States Such Way as May be NecessaryADoes Seek Authority to Call Out National Guard-Says that if Conflict Should Come We Would Fight Only Huerta and His Adherents Not Mexico a Nation

Washington, April 20. | President Wilson today answered Huerta's defi- ance by asking congress. assembled in joint session, for approval to use the armed forces of the United States in such ways and to such extent as may be necessary to obtain from General Huerta and his adherents the fullest recognition of the rights and dignity of the United States.
 The president did not ask for any appropriation of money at this time, nor for authority to call out the na- tional guard
 There can be no thought of aggres- sion or of selfish aggrandizement," de- clared the president to the sober faced throng of senators and representatives which packed the hall of the house.
 This government can ] earnestly hope, in no circumstances be forced into war with the people of Mexico. If armed conflict should unhappily come as the result of his (Huerta's) attitude of personal resentment towards this government, we should be fighting only General Huerta and those who adhere to him and give him support, and our object would be only to restore to the people of the distracted republic the opportunity to set up again their own laws and their own government There can, in what we do, be no thought of aggression or of selfish az grandizement. We seek to maintain the dignity and authority of the United States only because we wish always to keep our great influence unimpaired for the uses of liberty. both in the United States and wherever else it may be employed for the benefit of mankind
 President Wilson laid the Mexican situation before congress today in these words:
 "GentIemen of the Congress: It is my duty to call your attention to sit nation which has arisen in our deal ings with Gen. Victoriano Huerta at Mexico City which calls for action, and l to ask your advice and cooperation in acting upon it.
 On the 9th of April payInaster of the- United States snip Dolphin landed at Iturbide Bridge landing at Tam uico with a whaleboat and boats crew l to take off certain supplies needed by | his ship, and while engaged in loading the boat was arrested by an officer i and squad of men of the army of Gen. eral Huerta- Neither the paymaster nor any one of the boats crew was armed. Two of the men were in the boat when the arrest took place, and were obliged to leave it and submit to | De taken into custody, notwithstand- | ing the fact that the boat carried, both | at her bow and at her stern, the nag of the United States.
 l "The officer who made the arrest was | proceeding upon one of the streets of ! the town with his prisoners when met | by an officer of higher authority. who ordered him to return to the landing | and await orders. and within an hour ! and a half from the time of the arrest ' orders were received from the com | mander of the HuertiStaS forces al | Tampico for the release of the pay | master and his men, The release was | followed by apologies from the com mander. and later by an expression ol 1 regret by General Huerta himself. ! General Huerta urged that martial 1 law obtained at the time at Tamplco; l that orders had been issued that nc one should be allowed to land at the 1 Iturbide bridge; and that our sailors | had no right to land there. Our maya commanders at the port had not beer | notified of any such prohibition, ana | even if they had been, the only Justl- l fable course open to the local authcrl- ] ties would have been to request the paymaster and his crew to withdraw and to lodge a protest with the com manding officer of the feet Admira l Mayo regarded the arrest as so serious an affront that he was not satisfied 1 with the apologies offered, but de manded that the flag of the United States be saluted with special cere' mony by the military commander o | the port.
 Not Trivial Incident.
 "The sineIdent cannot besregarded al l a trivial one, especially.Sas two Of th' | men arrested were taken from the boa itself-that is to say from the territory
 of the United States; but had 1t stoo( l by itself it might have been attributed
 to the ignorance or arrogance of | single officer. Unfortunately, it wa.
 not an isolated case. A series of Tn, | cidents have recently occurred whicf
 cannot but create the impression tha the representatives of General HuertS
 were willing to go out of their way tt | show disregard for the dignity ant | rights of this government, and felt per fectly safe in doing what they pleased making free to show in many way 1 their irritation and contempt.
 "A few days after the incident a | Tampico an orderly from the U. S. Minnesota was arrested at Vera Cru, 1 while. ashore in uniform to obtain tn | ships mail snd was for a time thrOwl into jail An official despatch iron this government to its embassy a l Mexico City was withheld by the au thordties of the telegraphic service an
 til peremptorily demanded by our charge d'affaires in person.
 80 far as 1 can learn, such wrong and annoyance have been suffered t | occur only against representatives O
 the United States. I have heard of III 1 complaints from ocher government of similar treatment. Subsequent eX
 plantations and formal apologies di
 not and could not alter the popula impression. which it is possible it wa
 was the object of the Huerta authori ties to create, that the Government O the United States was being single out, and might be singled out witt impunity, for sights and affronts fl retaliation for its refusal to recogniZ
 the pretensions of Gen. Huerta to b regarded as the constitutional pro | visional President of the Reublic O Mexico.
 Situation Might Grow Worse. 'arhe manifest danger of such
 situation was that such offences migh grow from bad to worse until some
 thing happened of so gross and in to1erable sort as to lead directi, and inevitably to armed conflict. l
 was necessary that the apologies o General Huerta and his representa-
 tives should go much further, tha | they should be such as to attract tn attention of the whole population t their significance, and such as to in
 press upon General Huerta himself u