New Britain herald., 1916-09-06

l L11o COuISo Ol IllS dullll1lSIIdIlOII Il
 it's treatment of the Mexican question
 as not deserving the designation of g
 policy and declared that it had been l an impotent and inbecile drift,-'a
 mischievious meddling' and, except fo1
 that, a do nothing policy The fu-
 tile efforts of the administration since
 that time are known to all. II
 would be impossible at this time to
 detail at length the sinuosities, the i suppressions, the secrecies, the illu-
 sions, the delusions, the makeshifts the
 inconsistencies, the misconceptions,
 the blunders, the ignorance and the
 incompetence which in the treatment of the Mexican question have made l confusion worse confounded. The press of the country has recited this i dreary and dishonora ble history piece meal day by day.
 "The republican platform of 1916
 declares as follows: We promise to our citizens on and near our border and to those in Mexico wherever they may be found, adequate and absolute protection in their lives, liberty and ! property.' No nation which abdi- cates the fundamental duty of pro- ] tecting it's citizens can maintain the respect of the civilized world. The i present administration has utterly, re- peatedly and lamentably failed in this 1 respect It's attitude from the begin l ming has been one of meddling just enough to irritate all the factions of 1 Mexico in turn, but it's course has i been so hesitating, vacillating, and 1 incompetent without any fixed policy 1 as to create the impression not only in Mexico but throughout the world that it's utterances are hollow and meaningless words and that it's | threats may be evaded or defied with impunity. The various governments of the world gave no more serious consideration to our state department when MT. Bryan was at it's head than they would have done it if it had been presided over by Sancho Panza.
 '"The great foreign war broke out on August 4, 1914. The whole coun- try after a few weeks began to take account of it's own condition; intelli- gent people everywhere began to in quire into the efficiency of our equip ment for the protection of the vast interests of this country and of the lives, honor and liberty of it's citizens Men remembered that our own coun- try achieved it's independence by force
 
 the war of independence it had been compelled to wage another war with the British empire; that from 1861 to 1865 the country had been involved in still another stupendous struggle for the preservation of the union; that 1 in 1898 we had been forced into still | another conflict with Spain; that in | all these wars our country had been | taken unawares and had been caught 1 unprepared. Prudent and patriotic l people all over this broad land de- manded that steps should be taken to put our country in a position of preparedness for whatever might come. Sensible men everywhere rec ognized that there was but one guar antee of safety. This guarantee con- sisted of an adequate army and a sufficient navy.
 '"The president having in December, 1914, delivered himself of these re- marks, deprecating larger increase in the standing army, advocating the commission of our defense on land to such of our "citizenry'' as might volunteer for training and increasing the strength of the state militias and having sneered at those who favored a sufficient increase in our land and naval forces at once as being nervous and excited" for time rested upon his oars. The effect of these utter ances of the cOmmander-in-ch chief of the army and navy, upon the country, was evidently not what had been ex- pected. The demand for adequate in- crease in the strength of both the army and navy and it's proper equip ment proceeded with accelerated pace and vigor. Within year it had be- come apparent that the country had repudiated the views of the president which he had expressed upon this subject.
 '"The president, therefore, changed his mind.
 Vacillating Policy.
 AS to the plan proposed by the secretary of the navy and recomm end ed to congress by the president, it would have strung the new authori- zation of naval vessels out over period of five years, whereas the plan finally adopted by congress compress ses it to a period of three years and adds to the program of ships four super -dreadnaught battleships of the | largest dimensions and of the fastest l speed. I have rehearsed this brief 1 history in the effort of the country to l prepare itself to maintain it's honor 1 and it's very existence and to restore, ] if possible, it's prestige throughout the 1 world for the purpose of showing the hesitating and vacillating course of l the president of the United States It will be observed that he usually starts l wrong, then ensues a period of hesi- tation, then he changes his mind and sometimes, luckily not always, too 1 late, he corrects his former errors. After the administration had recognized Carranza as the repository 1 of the executive power of Mexico, the slaughter and destruction continued with unabated fury. Carranza was l either completely unable or entirely ] E1wilIing to protect our citizens.