Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-06-20
HAT THE u S. HAS APPROACHED END OF ITS PATIENCE BUT

villa openly carried on MS operations,
constantly approaching closer and
closer to the border He was not in
tercepted nor were his movements i'm
peded by troops of the de facto gov
ernment and no effectual attempt was
made to Illustrate lis hostile designs
against Americans. In fact, as / am in
| formed while Villa and his band were
slowly moving toward the American
frontier in the neishborhood OF Co
| lumbus, n. NJ, not a single Mexican
soldier was seen in his vicinity. Yet
the Mexican authorities were fully
cognizant of his movements, for on
| March 6, as General GaVira publicly
announced, he advised the American
military authorities of the outlaws
approach to the border so that they
might be prepared to prevent him
from crossing the boundary.
No Effort to Get Villa
VILLAS unhindered activities cul-
minated in the unprovoked and cold
blooded attack upon American soldiers
and citizens in the town of Columbus
on the night of March 3, the details
of which do not need repetition here
in order to refresh your memory with
the Nervousness of the crime. After
numbering, burning and plundering.
Villa and his bandits. fleeing south,
passed within sight of the Carranza
military post at CasaS Grandes and no
effort was made to stop him by the
officers and garrison or the de 1acto
government stationed there.
Had No Other Recourse
"In the face of these depredations
not only on American lives and prop
erty on Mexican soil but on American
soldiers, citizens and homes on Amer
ican territory, the perpetrators of
which General Carranza was unable
or possibly considered it inadvisable
to apprehend and punish, the United
States had no recourse other than to
employ force to disperse the bands
of Mexican outlaws who were with IN
creasing boldness Systematically raid
ing across the international boundary.
The marauders engaged In the attack
on Columbus were driven back across
the border by American cavalry, and
subsequently, &C soon as a sufficient
force to cor" .'t1 the band could be
collected, " irsued into Mexico in
an effort I, re or destroy them.
Without CO Ion or assistance in
the field o" mart of the de facto
government. - 1ite repeated requests
by the United states. and without ap-
parent recognition on its part OF the
desirability of putting an end to these
systematic raids, or of punishing the
chief perpetrators of the crimes COM
mitted, because they menaced the
good relations of the two countries,
American forces pursued the lawless
bands as far as Parral, where the
pursuit was halted by the hostility of
MeXicans, presumed to be loyal to the
de facto government, who arrayed
themselves on the side of outlawry
and became in effect the protectors of
Villa and his band.
CarranZa Placed Limitations
In this manner and for these rea-
sons have the American forces en-
tered Mexican territory. Knowing
fully the circumstances set forth, the
de facto government cannot be blind
to the necessity which compelled this
government to act and yet it has seen
fit to recite groundless sentiments of
hostility toward the expedition and to
impute to this government Interior
motives for the continued presence of
American troops on Mexican soil 1t
| is charged that these troops crossed
the frontier without first obtaining
the consent or permission of the de
facto government. Obviously, an i'm
mediate action alone could avail,
there was no opportunity to reach an
agreement (other than that of March
1913 now repudiated by General
CarranZa) prior to the entrance of
such an expedition into Mexico if the
expedition was to be effective. Sub
sequent events and correspondence
have demonstrated to the satisfaction
of this government that General Car
rama would not have entered into
any agreement providing for an ef-
fective plan for the capture and de-
struction of the Villa bands. While
the American troops were moving
rapidly southwark in pursuit of the
raiders, II was the form and nature
of the agreement that occupied the
attention of General Carranza rather
| than the practical object which il was
to attain-the number of limitations
i'm
American forces to impede their prog
ress rather than the obstacles that
could be raised to prevent the escape
of the outlaws"
Had Not Agreed to Quit
TT was General Carranza who sus-
pended through your note of April 10
all discussions and negotiations for
an agreement along the lines of the
protocols between the United States
! and Mexico concluded during the
! period 1SS2-1S96, under which the
! two countries had so successfully re-
stored peaceful conditions on their
common boundary. 1t may be men
toned here that, Notwithstanding the
statement in your note that "the
American government gave no answer
to the note of the 18th of April" this
note was replied to on April 14th.
when the department instructed Mr..
Rodgers by telegraph to deliver this
! government y answer General Car
rama. Shortly after this reply the
conferences between Generals Scott.
Funston and Obregon began at Ell
Paso, during which they signed on
May 2 a project of a memorandum ad
referendum regarding the withdrawal
of American troops as an indication
of the alleged bad faith of the Amer
| lean government, you state that
though General Scott declared in this
memorandum that the destruction and
dispersion of the Villa band had
been accomplished. vet American
forces are not withdrawn from Mex
leo. 1t is only necessary to read the
memorandum, which is in the English
language. to ascertain that this is
clearly a misstatement. for the memo
randum states that the American
punitive eXpeditionary forces have de-
stroyed or dispersed many of the law
less elements and bandits, =
or have driven them far into the in
terror of the republic of Mexico" and
further that the United States forces
were then carrying on a vigorous
pursuit of such small numbers OF
bandits or lawless elements as NAV
have escaped" The context of your
note gives the impression that the OBJ
ject Of the expedition being admittedly
accomplished, the United States had
agreed in the memorandum to begin
the withdrawal of it's troops.
Gradually Withdrawn
THE memorandum shows, however
that it was not alone on account oi