The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-04
THE FUTILITY OF
"FRIGHTFULNESS'

Just half a. century ago to-day the
Emperor Napoleon III. entered into
an agreement to withdraw all his SOL
diers from Mexico within a year
from the following November. This
was the beginning Of the end of the
Inflated Mexican empire of Maximi-
liam. the Austrian Hapsburg prince
who had sought to set up an imperial
throne on the soil of North America.
His wife, the Empress Charlotte,
soon sailed for Europe to plead the
cause of her husband, but everywhere
she met with failure, and disappoint-
ment drove her mad Macmillan
fought on against tremendous odds,
but the final act of the tragedy was
soon staged, with the ambitious mon
arch facing a firing squad of Mexican
patriots.
The failure of this dream of eng
pire affords one of a, multitude of in
stances of the futility of a, policy or
t'fri ghtfulness'' in warfare. Marshal
Bazaine, who commanded the French
troops in Mexico, was called ''the
bloody butcher and not without rea-
son. From the first he adopted a
policy of terrorism and ruthlessn ess
in his treatment of the Mexfcans.
Maximilian himself was a kindly
hearted man, and might, in the course
of time, have won the affection of
those he sought to make t'his peo-
jle,'' Bazaine knew not the mean
ing of the word mercy. His soldiers
hated him to a man, and on several
occasions plotted against his life. In
his plan for striking terror in the
hearts of the Mexicans, Bazaine Or
dered the omnission of the most
terrible atrocities. At one time a
score of boys, some of them mere
children, were lined UP and shot be-
cause they had jeered at the Marshal
He treated his own troops in much the
same ruthless manner, Furnishing the
slightest infractions of discipline or
symptoms of revolt with the most
horrid penalties.
The '.frightfuIness'' of Butcher
Bazaine had quite the opposite effect
from what was intended. whether or
not a more humane and conciliatory
policy would have been crowned with
success is questionable; but the policy
of terrorism made failure certain.
Every instance of 'tfrightfulness'
added thousands of recruits to the
patriot army.
History, from earliest times to the
present, abounds with similar inustra-
tons of the utter futility of a, policy
Lord George Germaine-'+he UNI
speakab1e Germaine'' is the phrase
applied to him by an English hisgtor-
ian-complained constantly of the
humanity OF Sir Guy Carleton, the
Canadian chief. and
employed agents to- incite the saw
ages of the wilderness to massacre
the Americans. His cruelty made his
name a by-word in his own country
and his policy Of striking terror
served only to intensity the determi-
nation Of the colonists. By his aid
the American Revolution was sue
cessfu1.
In the present war the Germans on
land and sea have performed many
feats of vaIor which have aroused
the admiration of neutrals and have
won applause from the enemy. The
commanders of the Emden and the
Moewe have reflected lustre on the
German navy, and added brilliant
pages. to the history of naval war
fare. The sinking of the Lusitania
and other merchant ships, in line with
the ruthless policy of the deposed Won
Tirpitz, served only to cast odium
upon the Germany navy and to alien
/ ate the sympathy of neutrAls
Villa has now tried the policy of
ightfuIness'' with the usual result.
A bandit in the early stages of his
career, he won fame and a measure
of respect by his ability as leader OF
men, only to revert to the position of
an outlaw, with the hand of every
honest man against him.