The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-07-23
THE PRESIDENTS TRIUMPH.

At the present moment the critics
of the Mexican policy of President
Wilson stand on the defensive. 1t is
just as we'll that they should realize
that this is the case and prepare to
answer some searching questions.
They have not kept silent as to their
doubts and fears. These gentlemen
have been as audible as the town
crier. They have filled the earth with
their clamors, and in their campaign
of depreciation, have comprised sea
and land to make one proselyte.
They should not be spared in this
day of the harvest of the policy they
have been ridiculing.
Look at the situation! Huerta, the
butcher, is out He went out in good
order. Not a trifle cracked. Not a
barricade was thrown up. Not a
drop of blood, native or foreign, was
shed He did not even imprison a
congressman. The dictator resigned
in form; his successor was regularly
appointed. The capital felt no excite
ment
Nor is this all. The promise of the
future is very different from what it
was when Diaz fed Then there was
no leadership to fall back on. To-
day the City of Mexico calmly ex-
poets the arrival of the leader of an
army which has won brilliant victor
les, developed generals of genuine
strategic sense and pacified northern
Mexico. The Constituencies have
q policy and an organization.
Still the tale is not told. There
is no fear of outrages on citizens of
the United States, for our citizens
are not there. They have withdrawn
from the area of disturbance.
How much has the Wilson policy
had to do with all this?
With respect to the last point there
can be no question. The president
caused American citizens to with
draw from Mexico while yet there
was time.
With respect to Huerta's abdica
ton, we may perhaps trust Huerta
to himself. He expressly attributes
his downfall to the attitude of our
Never was a demise
more gently accomplished. We have
not declared war; with the exception
of the Vera Cruz custom house, we
have not occupied Mexican territory.
The Tampico incident has been peace
fully adjusted. We have shown that
A usurper and a tyrant could be fore
ed to lay down that which he had
seized by the passive re-
;istance of powerful neighbOr. |
and nonintercourse
ire the mild but effective means the !
president has employed.
With respect to the Constitutional
SITS, the fruits of the Wilson policy
ire no less marked. BY refraining
rom forcible Intervention we have
eft the Constituencies to pursue,
invoked by us, their conquest of
Mexico. 1t has taken time to CONSOLE
late their government, to find lead
RS of force, to discipline their army,
o substitute an organization for a
mob. The Wilson policy in Mexico
the necessary time. 1t gave
he forces of growth in the north a ,
nance.
In the face of this peaceful abdica- !
ion, this instructive turning of the !
Mexican capital to the strong men of
he north, what further vindication !
~ the event could the Wilson policy
lemand? Everything that it's author
from it has, thus far, re-
ulted. What would his critics have
lad? Do they wish we had an army
# occupation in Mexico today, and
aced, on the evening of the opening
f the Panama canal, a Latin Ameri-
an blaze of resentment and wrath
rom Juarez to Cape Horn? |
Is it not time to confess that the
resident pursued the only policy
hat rational view of the whole
warranted, and that his
rites and condemners were simply
ndulging the luxury of unlimited
ak, without either clear ideas as to
n alternative policy or exact and
areful appraisement of the passing
vent as tidings of it transpired?-
t. Louis Republic. l.