The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-04-20

PreSlQent wilson IN MS message 10
congress said:
"Gentlemen Of the Congress-1t is
my duty to call your attention to a
situation which has arisen in our deal
ings with General Victoriana Huerta
at Mexico City. which calls for action,
and to ask your advice and co-opera-
tion in acting upon it. On the ninth Of
April paymaster of the United States
steamship Dolphin landed at the Itur-
bide bridge landing at Tampico, with
a whale boat and boat crew to take
off certain supplies needed by this
ship, and while engaged in loading the
boat was arrested by an officer and
squad of the army of General 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 be taken
into custody, Notwithstanding the fact
that the boat carried, both at her bow
and at her stern, the flag of the Uni
ted States.
Order Release.
The officer who made the arrest
was proceeding up 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 half from the time of
the arrest, orders were received from
the commander of the Huertista forces
at Tampico for the release of the pay
master and his men.
The release was followed by apollo
gies from the commander and later
by an expression of regret from Gen
eral Huerta himself. General Huerta
urged that martial law obtained at
the time in Tampico, that orders had
been issued that no one should be al
lowed to land at the Iturbide bridge
and that our sailors had no right to
land there. Our naval commanders at
the port had not been notified of any
such prohibition and even if they had
been the only justifiable course open
to local authorities would have been
to request the paymaster and his crew
to withdraw and to lodge protest
with a commanding officer of the
fleet.
Admiral Mayo regarded the ar
rest as SO serious an affront that he
was not satisfied with the apologies
offered and demanded that the flag of
the United States be saluted with spe-
cial ceremony by the military COM
mander of the port.
Incident Not Trivial.
"The incident cannot be regarded as
trivial one especially as two of the
men arrested were taken from the
boat itself; that is to say from the
territory of the United States; but
had it stood by itself it might have
been attributed to the ignorance or
arrogance of single officer.
unfortunately it is not an isolated
case A series of incidents have re-
Gently occurred which cannot but Gre
ate the impression that the represen-
tatives Of General Huerta were willing
to so out of their way to show disre-
, gard for the dignity and rights of this
government and felt perfectly safe in
doing what they pleased. making free
to show as many ways their irritation
and contempt.
"A few days after the incident at
Tampico an orderly fro mthe United
States ship Minnesota was arrested at
Vera Cruz while ashore in uniform to
obtain the ships mail, and was for a
time thrown into Jail. An official dis
patch from this government to It's en-
bassy at Mexico City was withheld by
the telegraphic service until pre-emp-
torially demanded by our charge d'af-
faires in person. So far as can learn
such wrongs and annoyances have
| been suffered to occur only against
representatives of the United States.
/ have heard of no complaints from
other government of similar treat
| meLt.
Apologies Futile.
Subsequent explanations and for
NAL apologies did not and could not
alter the popular impression, which 1t
+, is possible it had been the object OF