New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-23

On April 20 Mr.. wilson asked
Congress to authorize him to en-
ploy the armed forces of the United
States ain such ways and to such an
extent as may be necessary to obtain
from General Huerta and his adher-
ents the fullest recognition of the
rights and dignity Of the United
States"
With characteristic duplicity, the
President did not convey to Con-
gress any inkling of his real pur-
pose in wishing to make war on
Mexico. Congress debated for three
days the form which the authorize
ticn should take. But before receiv-
ing an authorization of any sort the
President ordered the United States
fleet then off Vera Cruz to seize and
hold that city. A landing was eff
fected by marines and sailors on
April 81, and the occupation of the
port was completed on April %.
Eighteen American marines and sail
ors were killed and seventy wounded
in the street fighting. The Mexican
losses were 1876 killed and 1876
wounded.
After the fighting at Vera Cruz
was over-on April 22-Congress
passed this equivocal resolution-on
its face contradiction in terms:
"That the President is justi-
fled in the employment Of the
armed forces of the United
States to enforce his demand for
unequivocal amends for certain
affronts and indignities commit
ted against the United States.
The United States disclaims any
hostility to the Mexican people
or any purpose to make war on
Mexico"
Yet the President had already
made war. He had invaded Mexi-
can territory and seized Mexico's
chief port. Under the rules of in
ternational law and under the de-
cision recently made by the Judge
Advocate General of the army i'll the
case of the Chihuahua expedition a
state of war legally existed. The
American forces in Vera Cruz never
had any other status than that of an
invading army, and they retained
that status until they withdrew from
Mexican soil, on November %, 1914.
The diplomatic representatives of
the A B C powers of South America
offered their services as mediators
or April Is, 1914, and both the Pres
ident and General Huerta accepted
the offer. At the Niagara Falls con-
ference the question of reparation
for the arrest of the Dolphin's sail
CTS at Tampico soon dropped out Of
sight. The salute which Mr.. Will
sen had demanded and which he had
asked the right to use armed force
in order to secure was never fired.
The salute ultimatum was, after all,
only a hypocritical pretext. Mr..
Wilson was making war in order to
bring about Huerta's retirement,
and he knew that Congress would
never have authorized him to use
force to secure that result. But at
Niagara Falls his representatives
exposed the real motive of the attack
on Vera Cruz. They let the salute
60 by default and made Huerta's
resignation the sine qua non Of
peaceful settlement.
The bad faith of Mr.. Wilson's
message to Congress of April 20,
1914, has been boldly confessed in a
recent statement by a member of
the Cabinet, Secretary Franklin K.
Lane. This statement was put into
The Congressional Record" on July
81 last by Representative Harrison,
Of Mississippi, a Democratic mem
Der Of the Foreign Affairs Commit
tee. 1t said:
eve did not go to Vera Cruz
-. q 1.,N. H.
flag. We did 90 there to shOlO
Merico that tOe 1Oere IN earnest
in our demand that H1tertG must
90, and he 10ent before oar
forces ,Uere tCtthdrdWn.
We had gone to Vera Cruz TO
serve mankind Our only quar-
rel was with Huerta, and Huerta
got out on July l6, 1914"
The. President had himself repu
dated his message to Congress,
though in wagner terms, when he
said, even before the Niagara con-
ference had gotten to work, that he
had gone into Mexico not with any
intention of maintaining American
rights or prestige, but merely to
"serve humanity" He is still "serv-
ing humanity" in Mexico-that is,
he is using his alleged Service Of
humanity" as a pretext for excusing
himself from the onerous, practical
duty of protecting American lives