The Cecil Whig., 1916-07-01

is the right and the duty of Americans
to inquire chow we arrived" in this de-
| plorable situation; and they will find
that it was through the ill-considered,
| unintelligent and headstrong policies
| of the man whose chief claim to re-
election is that "he has kept the coun-
try out of war"
1t will be urged, of course, that in a
time of national stress politics should
be excluded from discussion of govern
mental affairs. But it is President
Wilson's partisans, not his critics, who
are determined that the Mexican prob
lem shall be made a political issue.
The Democratic party insists upon
making political issue of the Mexi-
| can policy and the threatened conflict;
! and the only proper answer to the
| challenge is statement of the facts.
| We have said that this is President
| Visions war. What is the testimony
of the record?
With manifest high purposes he Sc
lected the Mexican problem as the first
and most important matter to be dealt
| with by his Administration. Within a
| week of assuming office he took per-
| sonal charge of it, devised and applied
his own solution. and committed the
Government and the people of the
United States to the course which has
produced the present situation.
Typical intrigue anG revolution had
IL -.
Huerta; his government was dicta-
torship based upon usurpation and
ruthless force, but it was far more
real than any that succeeded it. and it
had the vital virtue of possessing the
forms of authority. Without warning
and without consulting any known
person, President Wilson made public
proclamation that the regime of
Huerta was obnoxious to the United
States, and that it would never be
recognized.
This was, of course, the Inaugural
tion of an entirely novel policy in in
ternational affairs. The act appalled,
the diplomats of Europe and of Latin
America. first because it involved di-
rect interference with the domestic
affairs of Mexico; and, second, because
it tended to undermine the only exist
ing authority in that restless country,
which is condition fatal to order in
regions inhabited by people like the
MeXicans.
1t was useless to plead that Presi-
dent Wilson acted from motives Of
genuine friendship toward the dis
tracted republic. He had taken it
upon himself to overthrow its de facto
Government and to demand that one
be set up which would satisfy his own
views, and this course sowed in Mex
leo the seeds of distrust which have
produced the present harvest of hat
red and hostility.
But the fundamental miscalculation
was that the President regarded his
extraordinary action as negative in
nature-a mere withholding of Ameri-
can recognition from an unworthy
executive. 1t was. on the contrary. an
affirmative procedure. 1t implied that
the Government of Mexico must be
not only effective but in harmony with
the purposes of Washington.
"Watchful waiting and "the steady
pressure of moral force" failed to dis
lodge the adroit dictator, so President
Wilson involved the United States in
secret partnership with Huerta's en-
emies, CarranZa and Villa. To these
INSCRIPTIONS bandit leaders ENJOYS
from the White House were sent. and
| their sanguinary military operations
| were deliberately encouraged, not only
by official approval, but by the issu-
| ance of orders which enabled them to
obtain arms and ammunition from
| this country.
| But in placing responsibility, the
| chief point to be remembered is that
| all these proceedings were dictated
and supervised by President Wilson
| personally. The regularly accredited
ENJOYS of the Government We're ignor-
| ed, all negotiations were conducted by
privately named agents of the Presi-
| dent. whose reports were kept secret;
| there was no consultation even with
the Foreign Relations Committees of
| Congress. Mr.. Wilson. whose favor
ite theme is the need for taking coun-
sci" from the very beginning eXclud-
| ed all public counsel save his own.
| 1t was President Wilson. who. when
the country was patiently awaiting a
definite policy for the protection of
| American rights in Mexico, declared
that it was "none of our business
| how long the warning factions took to
settle their quarrels nor how much
| blood they split in doing it; and it was
he who, six months later. committed
the country to intervention by an
nouncing that he would recognize that
group which proved the strongest in
the field
BY that time the United States had
lost all the prestige that had been be-
hind its first move and retained only
the sponsibilities. As a consequence.
the first wise action in the whole rec
ord was taken-co-operat with the
Latln-American countries; but even
this advantage has been annulled by
the present need for independent in
| tervention.
When it is said. therefore. that the
threatened war is of President Will
sons making, the assertion is histori-