The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-18


 to piockade all the Mexican parts, be- cause the military weakness of the country Is not in lack of hardy men put in lack of military supplies and In lack of food provision. If We could pc content to take the seaports and oiovhaue the country while we were tnahihg taa,1 reasonable preparation for->,Ha task, then, when ready for aassr .me of life and time and -w ae least cost pubic might grow iHpatient with % this ns 1unsei sbIr ea oi pruS.es'hce r. S.shce We would prob meet sa, To act quickly and possibly of tsi5nie painful mtshaps due to lack a.<spreparation. The suppression of tGderilla bands would be drawn out. It would be a dead pull which would wear the patience of the nation and in which the few lives lost in each lit- tie engagement would total large and would grow less and less tolerable as the dreary contest went on.
 Disease in that country would thin our ranks more than bullets Then after having lost thousands of lives and expended treasure double that which , It has cost us to give to the world the Panama canal, We would have on our hands a hostile Mexican people without any gratitude for our sacrifices Our duty to them and to ourselves would | d cure as practicable against recur- renee of anarchical conditions and af- fording them an opportunity for ma terial and intellectual progress The latter task would be even more diffi- cult than that of the war and the work of tranquiization. It might take us years. Having entered upon the war from sense of duty, and retaining con- } trol to make our work effective. We would be charged with being land grab bers. Indeed after the burden of cost , many of our people would be anxious , to annex part or all of the tranquillized l, territory as compensation and in the , interest of both peoples.
 ) "The fateful consequences of war nc ] one can anticipate. He who multiplies the possible evil results is likely te tprove a prophet. In war, the cause o1 7 good and efficient civil government sui. fers, corruption and waste follow in it: h wake In the burst of patriotic enthus. s iasm, the sordid politician finds hi, y greatest opportunity. Let us pray thei y that our government at Washington f may escape this tremendous task Le h us hope that Carranza, if succeeding {, d control in Mexico with our aid and in S tiuence, will bring about condition O y affairs, responsibility for which vii o not entail upon us burdensome conse u lquences.
 r We shall take much satisfaction il h some phases of the situation, doubtful s as others may be. The first is that tn, t prospect of war does not awaken gen leral popular enthusiasm.
 People Will Do Their Duty f '"rhe people are determined to do theil e duty, should that duty involve war g and to go into 1t with faces stern anC e teeth set and to clean up the job a IF promptly as it can be done: but they hay, la ti,,tct t& M. Q we not attribute tis to their growin, d love of peace as well as to the absence Q of those sou. stirring issues whicl arouse warlike enthusiasm?
 2 '"The other good thing Is the offer o
 mediation by the three great nations Q . South America and our prompt accept
 ance. With the refusal of one of tn l warning Mexican parties to accept media
 tion, and with the probable defeat of tn
 other, 1t may be that the actual resul
 of the mediation may not be what
 hoped for it. Still the situation is S
 full of possible quick changes that on | cannot prophecy that the sincere effor
 of these mediators may not accomplis
 good. But whatever may result, the of ' fer of mediation and our acceptance ar l in themselves a great step toward fl
 ture solution of international difficul
 ties in this hemisphere. It is said tha c it ends the Monroe boctrine If we ca
 eihtc Nitn us tie HTedt pONeTS Ol SOut America so as to use our joint good of
 fees to bring about peace whenever con - troversy arises between the nations 0
 this hemisphere and to present the or ,~ l pressfye or unjust intervention of Flu u ropean powers. the Monroe Doctrine IF greatly strengthened for good. We sha
 thus remove the i'll will that a misun
 derstanding of the real limitation of tha
 doctrine has aroused among South Amer jeans.
 And so let us separate today hopin and praying that out of the complicate situation that we have before us, a cours
 may be found honorable and in every wa
 directed by high national purpose whic
 shall not thrust upon the people of til
 United States a heavy burden. the a,
 tent of which we cannot measure an
 che which will lead to peace. Let U
 uphold the hands of the President in il
 effcrt to find it."