The Snowflake herald., 1916-10-27

missing, but Mexican prioners informed
our officers that Johnson had been
tortured and beheaded, his body thrown
into the Rio Grande, and his head and
ears cut off and displayed to the popu-
lace of the Mexican town of Concep-
! cion as evidence that American troops
had been routed. This was not an
exceptional instance; it was typical Of
1 what has gone on unchecked in Mexico
/ What Roosevelt Would Have Done
/ Mr.. Wilson and his followers are
fond of asking, when we criticise his
action, What would you have done?"
Either one of two courses could prop
/ erly have been followed. It would
| have been defensible to have recog-
nized Huerta, in view of the fact that
other great powers had recognized
| him: and, of course, it was quite in
defensible to refuse to recognize him,
and yet recognize Benavides in Peru,
event we would have held Huerta to
and Carranza in Mexico. In such
'strict responsibility" by acts, for re-
storing order in Mexico and for pro-
tecting American life and property
This course would have been de-
that it would have been even better
to have done exactly what Mr.. Will
son said he would do, but did not do.
He said to congress on August q,
! 1913: I'VE should let everyone who
assumes to exercise authority in any
part of Mexico know in the most
unequivocal way that we shall vigil
antly watch the fortunes of those
Americans who cannot get away, and
shall hold those responsible for their
sufferings and losses to a definite
reckoning. This can be and will be
put beyond the possibility of a mis-
understanding" On the same day he
sent to the American consul-general
| and consular agents in Mexico two
kilograms instructing them ''to notify
all officials, military or civil exercis-
ing authority that they would be held
, strictly responsible for any harm done
to Americans or for injury to their
property" These were fine words.
Excellent words! They were as good
as the words in the democratic plat
form four years ago and now, to the
effect that all American citizens, at
home and abroad, must be protected
in their rights, and no wrongs permit
mted against their persons or prop
erty. The trouble is that neither the
promises and menaces of President, nor
the pledges in the democratic platform,
were worth the paper on which they
were written, nor the breath expended
in uttering them.
Words of No Meaning
Mr. Wilson's notice was explicit and
emphatic. If he had meant what he
said, and if he had possessed the small
est fraction of the resolution and
courage of such democratic president
as Andrew Jackson, he would have
lived up to this notice. He would
have acted at once against every
leader, whether Huerta Villa, or Car
rama, or anyone else who permitted
injury to American life and property.
or who failed to prevent it; and If
necessary, he would have sent some
such man as General Leonard Wood
into the country to behave precisely
as we behaved in Cuba. to rehabiliate
Mexico and to restore her to her peo-
pie just as we did in the case of Cuba,
when order and civilization again OBJ
tanned in the country. Instead of do
ing this, President Wilson stood idly
murdered. He has not protected
American lives and American proper
ty. All that he has done has been
from time to time to help one bandit
leader against some other bandit lead
er. The Tampico incident furnishes
the best proof of this fact. There
were 5000 American refugees in
Tampico whose lives were threated by
gunboats were in the harbor to protect
them But President Wilson was not
concerned with their protection. He
was concerned solely with helping his
then friend, Villa and antagonizing
Villas foe, Huerta. He was furnish
ing Villa with the arms when Villa
used for the slaughter of Americans.
We have it on the authority of Mr..
Wilson'S friend and champion, Senator
Lewis, of Illinois, that Mr.. Wilson ac-
tually intended to recognize Villa, the
murderer, raider and robber. as presi
dent, but was afraid to do so because
of the republican opposition. The
American ships at Tampico were with
drawn from this duty of protecting the
lives Of American men, women and
children from would be murderers, and
sent to operate against Huerta at Vera
Cruz in the interest of Villa. The
Americans owed their lives to the pro-
lection of the German and British
warships. Whether this dreadful be-
trayal of duty was due Immediately
to the direct action of Secretary Dan
iels, or to the action of the officers
whom he had put in charge at Tam
pico and Vera Cruz( is Of no conse-
/ quence. The ultimate responsibility
for this, and for all the other shame
full episodes in Mexico, rests directly
on President Wilson himself.
A Contributor to Bankruptcy
/ President Wilson has seen the Mex
leans during these three and a half