Iditarod pioneer., 1916-06-24
TIE MEXICAN SITUATi0N


 The critical state of affairs on the Mexican border a9an emphasizes the delicate position in which the government of thc United States IS placed with ref erence 10 that unhappy country With one hun credth part of the provocation which the United Stales has endured from the Nlexicans any European nation would have landed an army of occupation on the shores of the offending nation. But the pol icy and traditions of the United States are such that this step must not be undertaken until everything else has failed Taking into consideration the fact that some of the factions in Mexico are desrous ol shifting the burden of Mexicos problems onto the broad shoulders of Uncle Sam and the further cer- tainty that foreign diplomats in Mexico have plotted to bring about American intervention, the patience of the United States government in dealing with the Moxicans can better be understood If the end of the tether has been reached, and the time actually has come for intervention the country will stand unitecNy by the President while rcgretting the ns- cessity which compejs the tremendous sacrifices required
 The defeat of any organized military forces which Mexico might bring against an invading army would not be serious matter The occupation of the seat of government and the main centers of population and business would not be a task beyond the re- sources of the present military establishment of the United States. But the pacihcation of the country Is an entirely different matter. With population ha; has fed on revolutions for years, with first one alleged leader n the saddle and then another; with an ignorant peon population which has found the life of the military camps preferable to the con- ditions imposed upon industrial pursuits, the task of bringing order out of chaos in Mexico would be an interminable one.
 The United States, should it undertake the task of cleaning up" Mexico would be handicapped by the same conditions which confronted 1t in Cuba end in the Philippines With an announced policy binding 1t to refrain from the acquisition of new te; ritory by conquest it might easily secure the paci Gcaton" of the cou1ry only to find when its forces had been withdrawn that the same anarchstic order would again prevail.
 Were it possible to assimilate the people of Mex leo with he ctizenry of the United States, and were they capable of adoption of American ideals and government, the simplest way of dealing with the Mexican problem would be to annex the republic and make it part of the United States Such an eventually IS impossible and undesirable. There fore we no doubt will eventually have a repetition of the Philippine muss where for eighteen years the lnjted States has been administering the affairs of an alien people, with no hope of reward save the satisfaction of having furthered the interests of civ lJization and progress.
 The reluctance of the President and his advisers to enter upon thi5 task is readily understood by fair-rnindcd men, The subjugation of the MeMcans for the purpose of rehabilitating ther government will arouse animosities which never will be eradi- cated But the safety and peace of our own borders may compel the taking up of the stupendous task.