Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-23
THIS is WAR

1 ~
"A exists. II has existed for. many
months Our borders have been subject
to military aggression, in which our citi
zens have been killed and their property
destroyed. Our own armies have been
within foreign territory not for ag
gressve purposes, but because solely In
that way could we hope adequately to
protect our own domain. only our re.
luctance to wage warfare against a peo.
pie already ruined and pauperlzed by
their own fellows has prevented us from
spreading our forces from sea to sea
south of the Rio Grande, in order to com.
pei respect for American rights and also
to restore law and order in a rich terri
| tory which has been given over to chaos.
The answer to our latest note was
vicious. treacherous and dastardly attack
on American soldiers. That is the sort of
answer which cannot be misunderstood
The oily lies which have passed for
| diplomacy in the Mexican Government,
| and which for one reason or another the
| United States heretofore has fegned to
believe, cannot be accepted now. The
Rubicon has been crossed, and "the
gravest consequences" against which
Carranza was warned are now inevitable.
It makes no difference whether German
agents have fomented this trouble or not.
The outstanding fact is that long series
of outrages, tenacously persevered in by
MeXicans and maiciously continued,
leaves us now with no recourse but the
vindication of our prestige, honor and
rights by force of arms We have had the
Vnd1y on ptt,, nj long npotigb
time to temporize has passed, and naught
remains but to convince by force the
credulous bandits who have refused to
listen to logic and have believed that we
are too cowardly to assert ourselves.
1t is difficult undertaking with which
we are confronted. General Funston's
repeated demands for more troops imme
diately is proof enough Of the serious.
ness of the situation The eXpeditionary
force is small, the border territory to be
protected Is long, and in the very midst
of arguments for preparedness we find
ourselves in the situation for which pre-.
paredness was urged. Mr.. Roosevelt's
recent denunciation of the laxness where
by, months after the opening of the Euro
pean conflict, we were left without an
tAlld bullI All eAlItt sup VI c@NNl IL ulll-
form other than provided for in the usual
course Of events, was justified then and is
more justified now But there is no longer
room for denunciation of any sort There
is but one thing to do, and that is to
throw the public opinion of the nation
unanimously behind the Administration.
Every good American is an American,
not partisan, in time such as this.
We should urge on the Government
the advisability of recruiting a number
of regiments Of colored men. There are
no better fighters in the world than
American men Of color, when properly
offcered, and these men are particularly
fitted for the kind of work the army
will have to perform in Mexico. In the
South they are already accustomed to
the climate. 1t is an augury of the work
colored citizens may be expected to do
that the first armed conflict should have
been fought by the Tenth Cavalry, which
has to it's credit so many deeds of ad-
venturous daring and which has so often
proved itself in the ultimate test. We
take it that there is now no prejudice
against the employment of colored troops
and if there is, it is a prejudice to which
no attention should be paid by the con-
stituted authorities.
Nor need we have any fear of what |
other nations may think about the right |
eousness of our action. No people are
entitled to reduce their affairs to chaos
No people have the right to fall back
into righteousness and reduce a part |
of the surface of the earth to ruin. Aside |
t,na,
committed against us, there is law |
higher than constitutions or political dl- |
visions or arbitrary national delimita-
tions of territory, and 1t is the law |
which requires sober, earnest people to
rescue from destruction another people
or another proXimate land where anarchy
reigns. There is no criticism that this
continent was taken from the barbarous
Indians. We propose now to take no
territory, but we do propose to see to 1t
that peace and order reign south of the
Rio Grande, even as they reign in Cuba,
and we need have no more hesitation
In bringing this about than our ancestors
had in reducing the aborlgines to sub
lection.
Civilization, we believe, marches with
us, and 1t is for higher purpose even
than the vindication of our rights that
Pennsylvanians join with other Ameri-
cans in answering the summons Of the
bugle. We carry On our shoulders the
white mans burden, which is the bur
den, too of every man who is an Amerl-
can, no matter what his color or his
creed, and it is a burden which, however
we have assumed it, we shall
carry through enthusiastically, with
honor and with self-respeet.