Bridgeton pioneer., 1915-09-16
,TuE - Tragedy OF MEXICO"

iceDt1On OF loyalty anu pdIIlOliSH Ihoh
that which would silence every criti-
Icism of national policy, especially
when it has proved so disastrous to
the national honor and the national
Interests as in the case of President
Wilson's method of dealing with the
Mexican muddle. 1t does not help a
bad situation to conceal the facts, and
plain speaking in the one case may
and should lead to more circumspec-
ton in dealings with another 1t is
not an arraignment of the honor and
good intentions of an executive to
point out fatal errors in his policy, or
the disastrous results of those mis-
takes. The facts about Mexico are
plain to all the world, and an ostrich
| like procedure in dealing with a ques-
ton still far from adjustment is Meth
er helpful or wise.
There can be little doubt, as Col
onel Harvey points out, that this gov
ernment is directly responsible for
much of the misery that has overtaken
the Mexican people, and the force of
his arraignment is intensified by the
the knowledge that he speaks as Pres
ident Wilson's political godfather 1t
was Harvey's insistent advocacy which
6ret ,,,odo Drofaccor M;Ieo, a sno
litical possibility" and he speaks of
his protege with first hand knowledge
and condemns his course more in sor-
row than in anger. His marshalling
of the facts is pitiless in its complete
ness and its logic, and his conclusions
that the President has been vacillating
and inconsistent in all his dealings
with Mexico, that his warfare directed
at Huerta was unjustified, and his
ruthless abandonment of Americans
south of the Rio Grande was in viola
tion of every principal of national
honor and justice are completely JUS
titled by the facts.
Colonel Harvey contends that the
President of the United States had no
moral or legal right to say who shall
or shall not be President of Mexico,
and that his whole procedure subse-
|quent to his determination to drive
Huerta from his place has been lack
ing in consistency or Conference. And
all present indications point to the
correctness of his supposition that the
Administration is planning to deal
with Carranza Just as it dealt with
Huerta, course utterly contradictory
of the Presidents own declaration at
indianapolis when he specifically
washed his hands of responsibility for
Mexico and its internal affairs. 1t
had been far better, heartless though
it was, had he adhered to that deter
rnination, but his action in putting
arms into the hands of the Mexican
bandits was far more heartless, for its
immediate result was food of blood
shed and utter destruction of the
hopes that centred about Carranza.
Nobody desires ominimize the diff
culties of the position, and it is not
easy to outline policy for the Ad-
ministration that would have produced
better results, for the very good rea-
son that the President and his advis-
ers alone possessed the full informa-
ton upon which any national policy
could be based. But the mistakes are
too evident to be concealed, and no
useful purpose will be served by seek
ing to conceal them. A full exposure
made in the right spirit, ought to be
service to the nation and to the Ad-
ministration. Little can be hoped for
from a President and Cabinet, as Col
olnel Harvey aptly puts it, who
Promise, pause. prepare. postpone,
And end by leaving things alone"
But it is the profound hope of ev-
cry patriotic American that the Pres
ident and his Cabinet will profit by
past failures, and that policy can be
framed and applied which, with or
without the assistance of the Central
and South American States, will ulti-
mately bring order and peace to the
distracted people of Mexico.-Philadel-