Arizona sentinel and Yuma weekly examiner., 1914-05-14
HOW HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

When you say that some one IS fighting the war over," you are gen orally using a figure of speech, mean | ing that he is talking about it. But this movement on Mexico is almost literally fighting the war over"-the Mexican war of 1S46-4S.
 Of course, only the preliminary stages of this war-if it is a war have passed, and the later ones may diverge widely from the correspond ing stages in that earlier conflict. 1t $ hard to see how, though. Taylor's Old line of march from the Texas bor- der southward will probably be follow ed if Wood has to advance; there will undoubtedly be an expedition from Vera Cruz, following Scott's progress, and only because California is now ] part of the Union will it be unneces- sary to repeat the daring campaign of Xearny and Stockto..
 But, whether in it's later stages the war follows the track of the earlier one or not, there is certainly very striking resemblance in the first steps. There are differences, of course, but the resemblances are enough to make Uncle Sam pinch himself as he jour neys southward and says: "This must De a dream I certainly remember do .ng all this somewhere before"
 The Villa of that day was Santa Ana, whom we encouraged as today we encourage Villa. We went further than we have so far done with Villa; we did not merely supply him with arms, but actually took him to Vera Cruz, thinking he would start a revolu- 5ion. Santa Ana was a Mexican patri- ot, and he took arms against the in- yaders who had thus befriended him and proved our most dangerous foe.
 Will that parallel be carried any further?
 There was a John Lind in 1845 and fS46. He was John Slidell. Then, as now, diplomatic relations between the two countries had been broken off, and the president, unable to appoint ] minister, sent an envoy extraordi- aary. Then, as now, the Mexican president rejected the envoy's creden- tials and refused to recognize him or have any official dealings with him.
 Then John Slidell, afterward John Lind, remained in Mexico trying un- officially to enforce the administra- ions demands.
 John Slidell then, as John Lind afterward, made his headquarters in Vera Cruz and sent more and more 0essimistic reports to the president. President Polk, like President Wilson continually hoped that something sure would turn up. It was from Envoy Sli- He'll that President Polk learned, even IS President Wilson learned from Con- idential Agent Lind, that firm meas Ires must be taken.
 President Polk, like President Will son, acted immediately. He sent Gen. eral Taylor to the Rio Grande, and Commodore Conner to Vera Cruz, as President Wilson sent Admiral Bad ger there and ordered General Wood to hold himself in readiness. But in neither case was it regarded by the president as a war measure. War did not come until the Mexicans, re- senting Taylor's presence attacked a company of his men, killed some, and captured the rest.
 It is not true, as it is so often as- serted, that Polk was trying to force war, or, if it was true, there is no more proof of it than there is in Presi- dent Wilson's case. He was, on the contrary, expecting war from another quarter. He became embroiled in war with Mexico chiefly through ignorance of the Mexican character.
 Congress was not anxious for a war Senator Calhoun, like Senator Lodge, was dissatisfied with the presidents statement of his reasons for asking support from congress. Senator Ben ton, like Representative Mann, be- lieved the pretext for war was insuffi- cient.
 But when President Polk declared the flag had been attacked, the House passed the resolution he asked for by 179 to 14, whereas in 1914 the vote was 337 to 37. Both in 1846 and in