davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
WHY BIG BUSINESS WANTS WAR
WITH MEXICO.
by Dante Barton of the Committee on
industrial RalafinnSl


Industrial Relations).
Why is there such a tremendous
pressure of special interests and of the
political forces they control to bring
on war of American conquest or die
tatorship in Mexico?
Read the following extracts from a
recent open letter TO President Wilson
by DR.. J. W. Slaughter of Philadelphia.
a man who knows Mexico and who is
a noted economist and student of inter
national affairs.
There is hardly any foreign invest
ment in Mexico which has not secured
a privileged position with the expecta-
'tlon of extravagant returns.
Little of the great wealth of Mexico
is held by the Mexicans. Nearly all OF
her resources were sold to foreign
cOncessionaries by Diaz and his cienti-
ficos. The Mexicans have no desire TO
curtail the legitimate investment of
capital in their country, but they do
wish to end the all but universal rule
Of special privilege.
THE revolutionary leaders were
preparing with great deliberatiOn to
deal with the most central and impor-
tant of all Mexican problems, which
was, indeed, the prime motive of the
revolution. that of securing the eco
nomic independence of the republic
That is the meat of the answer to
the question given above. That ex-
plains why the American interests who
have helped to rob the land and the
other natural resources of Mexico from
the great mass of the people of Mexico
now want the mass Of Mexican people
beaten down, by American military
bower, into subsection to that robbery.
For this Mexican revolution directed
by Carranza, is, as Dr.. Slaughter
says and proves, "a real revolution,
with definite purposes designed to give
liberty to the Mexican people for the
first time in their known history. The
revolution was the outcome of forces
that had been generating for many
years and was certain of success if it
could be kept free from external in
terventiOn."
The following paragraphs from an
address of DR.. Slaughter before the
Philadelphia City club throw more
light on the splendid reforms that the
Mexican people are fighting for and
that they were about to get when the
special privilege grabbers began stir
ring up trouble across the border:
If one asks a few common soldiers,
chosen at random. what they are fight
ing for. the majority will answer that
they are lighting to gain access to the
land
Mexico is a country of great land
with the dispossessed common
people until lately tied to the land in
a form of Serfdom. In the old days
the land was held in the community
method of ownership, worked in com
mon, with common participate in |
the benefits. A long chapter of Mexi- |
can economic history is needed to de- !
scribe the process by which the In
dams were djspossessed. 1t began in !
days, but developed into a /
prOfusiOn Of corrupt and unjust praC-
tees under the Diaz dictatorship Ev- /
cry rural Mexican carries a ranking /
sense of injustice.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
The Daily Story
The Little Lacemaker-By Sadie olcott.

mother came 10 suspect that he vss
saying them she would discharge her
| employee ht once. Here forbidden
fruit came in TO make # sll tbe rnors
interesting for the young Lothario. ana
II was not long before he endeavored
to steal a kiss.
The lacemaker put him away with
a look so reproachful that IL made hin,
feel as II he had been stealing penniea
from Salvation Army children's fresh
air fund. He stammered an apologv
but she told him that IL he respected
himself and wished her TO respect him
he must not speak to her again unless
in the presence Of his mother. How.
ever on his promise not to try IN stsal
any more kisses he might occasionally
say a very few words.
1t must be admitted that Dick was
at disadvantage. Miss stetson was
a lady, quite a beauty, with a. very
soft voice and softer eyes, and 70
crown all she was dressed in one ~
the prettiest national costumes I'm the
world. Within three days she began
to interfere with Dicks day dreams
anu Ava LIE Hd uNEZKuM H@
unable to sleep. He tossed about In
bed, lamenting the fact that the lace.
maker was only & poor Swiss girl with
whom an alliance would be impossi-
Bile. Now and again he would resolva
to throw common sense to the winds.
then would bring himself up with a
round turn, wondering IL be had be-
come insane.
One morning he entered his mothers
boudOir expecting to find the lnca-
maker, but instead found the room va
cant. 1t seemed as If some one had
turned off a thousand candle power
electric light. Mrs. Mainwaring came
into the room. and Dick asked:
M m-mother, what's become of your
little lacemaker?"
"Oh, she finished the work gave her
to do and has gone homer
Dick said nothing further, but his
mother watched his woebegone ex-
preston with satisfaction.
The next evening at the Casino Mrs.
Mainwaring introduced her son to her
friend, Miss Stetson. Miss Stetson in
propria persona was chatting with a
handsome American gentleman When
Dick was introduced she bowed gra-.
ciously. Dick was dumfounded As
soon as he could speak TO his mother
without being overhead be asked what
it all meant. He was told that Miss
Stetson was a girl Of the new wo-
man order and had learned to sup
port herself by making lace When
she took job she adopted the position
and costume Of an operative and pre-
ferred not TO be recognized as a lady.
When Alices attendant left her and
Dick joined her. in her eye was mer-
ry twinkle. AS for Dick, the great re-
lief in his heart found expression in
his radiant countenance.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
CHANGE OF FRONT.

The temper of the Carranza note to
the Washington government is so far
at variance with the spirit of prior out
givings from that quarter as to cause
wonder that it could come from the
same person. 1t is not only pacific;
it is almost beseechingIy pacific
There is for the first time open rec
ognition of the reasonableness of the
American attitude in relation to the in
security of life and property along the
border. There is for the first time an
expression of willingness, without
quibbling and without evasion. to con-
slider quick and practical" ways for
remedying this situation There is,
finally, a suggestion of Pan-American
mediation, but a stronger suggestion
that the crisis can be composed by di-
rect negotiations.
If General CarranZa had taken such
an attitude at the outset, all this
trouble would have been avoided. That
embattled position which his own
caviIIing forced upon the Pershing ex-
petition would never have existed to
excite his asserted suspicious and his
pretended government might by now
have been actual over north Mexico
His present right-about-face is to be
cause of a failure in so many words
to answer the Washington demand for
a definition of his attitude. The whole
tone of this note and the release of the
Carrizal prisoners make that unnec-
essary-
But we cannot forget that this great
change in the first chief has come in
the presence of a rather bristIing ar
ray of American force in assertion of
what he comedies to be reasonable
American rights along the border We
shall, therefore, before this situation is
modified, want from him acts in guar
ante that there will be no further
lapses into hostility against his own
interests and those of his distracted |
country.
With these acts forthcoming, the end I
Of American forces on Mexican soil !
Will be in sight
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
OUR SHIPS AND SOME 9TH
ERS.

Again we boast The battleship
Pennsylvania has been put into com
mission. 1t is the most powerful fight
ing machine in our navy. We are as
sured, with ingenious and persistent
iteration. that it is the most powerful
OF far greater horsepower; but the
Pennsylvania is the most powerful.
There are others Of far greater speed
but the Pennsylvania is the most pow
erfuL There are others which carry
heavier guns; but the Pennsylvania is
the most powerful. There are several
which surpass the Pennsylvania in all
three of these respects; but the Penn
sylvania is the most powerful. We
hope that it is true
The Pennsylvania is undoubtedly q
magnificent ship. We wish there were
two dozen like il in the navy But to
the mere landlubber there does seem
reason 70 ask for further proof than a
mere say SO" Of its superiority over
the several vessels OF the Queen Eliza
beth class. Il is admitted that the
Pennsylvania Is guns are OF only "A
calibre, against the Queen Elizabeth's
Is. but il IS insisted that the former
are Of as great range and as effective
as the latter That may be. but if so
the laymau III q IA inch gun is as
effective as q Is. then is a IS as good
as IA and a y as good as a 10. and
10 on down the scale? If So we shall
presently find ourselves declaring, ac-
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
ANOTHER GERMAN TRIUMPH

The success Of the German govern
ment sending a super-submarine
across the Atlantic, traversing in
two weeks time Also miles
Of ocean, eluding all destroyers,
and arriving safely in an American
port, is another triumph for the kais-
er's people. That is, it is one more of
the marvellous succession of achieve
ments in science which the German
empire has developed in the present
war. and it demonstrates the match
people OF the empire.
The latest accomplishment promises
not only 10 again reyolutionize mill
tary warfare, but high sea commerce
as we'll
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
Selected by Tavenner

| THE program of Mr. Carranza con-
! tains agrarian reform as one of its
cardinal elements. The situation is in
a measure simplified by the voluntary
! exile of the more reactiOnary haclen-
dados. Their poems settled quietly on
the land, and have received the bene-
fits of their labor for the first time in
their generation. Mr.. Carranza has
already promulgated decree by which
there is to be a testing of the great
land owners titles, and, if there is
evidence of injustice in the acquisition
of lands, the ownership of these lands
is to be vested again in the communi-
ties that originally owned them. Ger
tain great estates will probably be con-
fiscated and divided, but Mr.. Carranza
has no great sympathy with confisca-
tion as a policy.
In addition, land tax is proposed
which would be graduated so as to
bear lightly on the small holder, but
30 make ownership of great estates an
impoSsibility. The leaders of the rev.
olution have not yet seen the great
desirability of a uniform rate which
will collect from the land holders &C
cOrding to the value of the land.
The final group of reforms, which
remain to be carried out and through
which Mexico will encounter her most
serious difficulties, express the very
essence of the revolutionary move
ment. They represent the intention to
secure the economic independence Of
the country. The whole civil struggle
has been a war upon the concession
system with its political, economic and
social ramificatiOns.
Il was given copies of the contract
by which Lord Cowdray's company OBJ
tanned their oil rights. Their provi-
siOns were of such a character that
little while before the beginning of the
European war, Lord Charles Beres-
ford, d representative of extreme con-
servatism, declared in the house of
commons that it was a disgrace for
the citizens of any civilized country to
be party to that contract. In addition
to almost unrestricted rights of ex
pIoitation of OIL the Cowdray inter
ests hold two and a half million hec-
tares of land, port works, the Tehuan-
tepec railway, and most of the cleo
trio lighting and tramway systems of
the republic.
American interests. all more or less
privileged, aggregate, it is said a bill
lion dollars.
THE whole intent of the revolution
is to end a system by which the nat
ural resources of the country are
drained by foreign capitalists grown
accustomed to expect extravagant re-
turns"
DR.. Slaughter said in his Philadel- !
phia City club speech that President
Wilson's Mobile speech in which he
announced that his policy with refer
enCe to the Latin-American states /
would be to Fid them in freeing them |
the first unequivOcal declaration that /
the natural resources and populations
of weaker nations are to be removed |
from the category of capitaIistic ex-
In his open letter to the !
president Dr. Slaughter urges the ,
president not to permit any "clamor of |
commercial agents and franchise hold /
ers' to turn him to "a policy of i'm /
perialistic aggression"
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10

cording TO one of Euclid's axioms. that
two-inch gun is as effective as one
OF is inches
A similar line of argument applies
to the matter of speed. The 81 500
horsepower of the Pennsylvania drives
its l,400 tons at the rate of 81 knots,
while the $4,000 horsepower of the
Queen Elizabeth drives its 800 tons
at the rate of % knots. We are told.
it is true. that speed is not the prime
consideration. Perhaps not. But il is
an important consideration, and. other
things being equal. it is a decisive con
sideration. Superiority of even a sin
gle knot would mark one vessel as su-
perior to another if they were equal
in all other respects. Superiority of
four knots is far too wide a margin to
be overlooked
1t is boasted that the Pennsylvania
has Oil-burning engines, which in
crease her radius of action 40 per cent
for the same weight of fuel over coal
burning vessels. That may be quite
true But we must remember that the
Queen Elizabeth and all the six yes
sells of its type also have oiI-burning
engines, so that we can claim nothing
better than equality with them in that
respect. 1t is said, too. that the Penn
~ ~ anna 10 luS UOSJ HtdNIiy projected
ship in the world, with an armor belt
1872 inches thick. But the Queen Eliz-
abeth and more than dozen other
British ships also have 1872 inch ar
NOR, so that in that particular, also,
our best claim IS nothing more than
equality. The Pennsylvania is not "the
most heavily protected" but merely
one of the most heavily
So in the last analysis this is the
statement of the case: The two ships
are equal in defensive armor, and in
steaming radius. But the British ship
steams 25 knots to the Americans 21,
and throws a main broadside of IT,
500 pounds in 15-inch projectiles to
our 1890 pounds in 14-inch projec-
tiles. How the Pennsylvania can be
the more formidable, with 4.76 per cent
inferiority in weight of broadside and
10 per cent inferiority in speed, is zone
of those things no fellow can find out, "
at least without more lucid and con-
vincing demonstration than has yet
been given.-The North American Re
view.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10

81 wish my son would marry and
settle down"
These words were spoken by Mrs.
Mainwaring OF Baltimore TO Mrs Stet-
son OF Providence while the two ladies'
were listening to the orchestra at the
Casino at Luzerne, Switzerland
MY Alice" replied Mrs. Stetson,
will be out of school within few
days. and / shall have the matrimoni-
al problem for her on my hands"
How l wish" rejoined Mrs. Main
waring. that l could get her for
Dick"
Il should be very happy at the ALL
ance, assure you; but, from what you
say. your son will not marry"
HE will fall in love with some limo
cent country girl, unsophistlcated and
uncultivated."
The result Of this dialogue when CON
cluded was a scheme to throw together
Alice Stetson as a Swiss Iacemaker
and Dick Main waring When Miss
Alice returned from school the plan
was proposed to her not as one to make
match for her, but as a lark. She
was by no means averse to it. Dick
was on the way from Italy to join his
mother, and when he arrived he found
domestfcated with her very pretty
girl dressed in the attractive costume
of the country, filling an order for lace
Alice, who took the name of Gretchen
and was supposed to speak only Ger
mantle language of eastern Switzer-
land-sat in a chair before a board on
which she worked the threads 4
real lacemaker had taught her to do
the simplest kind of work, which was
all that was needed.
Upon his arrival, seeing the little
lacemaker at work in his mothers
boudoir, he went up behind her and
watched her work. Believing her 10
be unconscious of his presence, he said:
"Fraulein, your delicate fingers are
well adapted to such fine work"
Gretchen turned and seeing a young
man bending over her. appeared to be
very much disconnected and made no
reply, proceeding with her work.
Mainwarng, thinking that the girl did
not understand English. repeated what
he had said in German.
Zach, herr" she replied, you flatter
me-"
Dick heard his mother approaching
and, not caring to be caught chatting
with her employee, walked away. But
Gretchen was always there-that is,
when Dick was there-and it was as
impossible for him to keep away from
her as for a bee to ignore a flower
Alice may have just left school, but ]
she had woman's natural spiderly !
instinct in catching a fly. She waited |
till Dick began to say tender things to |
her. then mildly reproved him for talk
ing thus to one so far beneath him |!
The next stage was that she listened /
to him. but reminded him that If his /
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
(ChicagO Herald

z. G. Luby of Kalamazoo, Mich. has
asked some interesting questions.
which are answered here. The ques-
tiOns are:
l. Will the secretary of state hold
the Office Of president of the United
States from noon on the 4th of March
until noon March when the 4th falls
on Sunday?
,, Did not General Arthur take the
oath of office on Sunday when Gar
field died?
3. On what day did Roosevelt take
the oath of Office on McKinIeys
death?
AS the 4th of next March will fall
on Sunday and the elections this fall
will determine new president for
the United States from noon of that
day for the coming four years the
questions are pertinent.
There is nothing in the constitution
prohibiting the president from taking
the oath of office on Sunday. and
should there exist at that time an
emergency in government the elected
president would take the oath in al
probability on that day; in fact, Ruth
erford B. Hayes took his oath of Office
on Sunday, March 4, 1877. the oatl
being administered privately. He too,
the oath again publicly on March .
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
(St. Louis Times) ,

The appropriations which congress
is about TO make for national prepar-
edness will aggregate 1856, 900 900,
which is some money. It's more than
three times the amount the British and
French governments borrowed of us
the last time they put their hands out.
An official statement from the capital
says:
Last week Representative FitZger-
aid submitted a statement to the house
showing that the grand total for the
present congress based on bills passed
and pending would reach nearly ST.
500,0O0,000 Since then the senate
naval committee has added nearly $50
100000 to the naval bill and the mill
iary committee has increased the SIS2.-
100000 appropriation measures by an
proximately 100000, 600"
The Worldwide War Trust" is at
tackled by Congressman Clyde H. Tav-
enner of Illinois with the accusation
that four firms in this country consti-
tulng the trust" already have re-
'celyed army and navy contracts aggre-
eating $175,000,0 900 and that army and
navy officials have generously paid the
war trust from 20 to so per cent more
Than the same supplies could have
been manufactured for in government
arsenals."
Mr.. Tavenner pointed his poignant
phrases with this
Congress can investigate the war
trust until it is black in the face. and
it will get nowhere. The secretary of
the navy can try as he will to get some
one TO underbid the armor ring, either
in this country or abroad. and he will
not be able 10 escape the net; he has
tried and has not been able to escape
1t.
"Armor. armament and ammunition
contractors are not big enough fools
to cut each others throatg. Thar
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
H0RDS SD
Id S G. O II ID S
Facts Not Worth knowing.

The jawbone of a teretrabelodon
has been discovered in Oregon. Loser
can have same by describing con-
tents.
The trouble with the Panama wa
terway is that the banks overflow the
canal.
Battle Creek furniture manufac-
turer has invented porch chair for
engaged couples that seats one com
portably.
By weighing a calendar rapidly in
front of his hens a Jersey City man
so confuses them that they will even
lay eggs on Sundays and holidays.
peninsula is neck of land. Most
small boys object to mother washing
the land off their peninsula.
Fashion says skirts must be worn
nine inches from the ground. Mrs.
General Tom Thumb is only 20 inches
tall.
ARTHUR BAER.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-10
LANSING MAY BE PRESIDENT FOR A DAY

1877, at the formal ceremonies in the
senate chamber But Hayes went into
office after a heated contest with Sam
uel J. Tilden, and he was afraid that
Tilden might contest should he not
take the oath as REQUIRED by the con-
stitutiOn.
Where no emergencies appear to the
incoming president to make it neces-
sary or desirable for him to take the
oath of Office on Sunday, that day fall
ing on March 4, he can elect to delay
it until noon March following, at the
usual formal ceremonies at the pitol
During the interregnum from noon
March until noon March 5, the secre-
tary Of state would be acting presi-
cent under statute passed by con-
greos.
Should Mr. Wilson or Mr. Hughes,
whichever is elected this fall, decide
lot to take the oath of office until
neon March 8 next, Secretary of State
Lansing Will be acting president from
1son March until noon March
next.
Neither Arthur nor Roosevelt. who
became presidents through the deaths
While in office of Garfield and McKin-
ey, took the oath of office on Sunday
Arthur was sworn in as president
Thursday, Sept. 20, 1881, and Roose-
cit on Saturday, Sept. IA, 1901.