The Washington times., 1916-04-13
CARRANZA'S LATEST OUT
BREAK

Mexico has dispatched note to
Washington, Of which a purported
translation was published this
morning, demanding the withdrawal
Of the American troops from Mexico,
and in effect charging htat they cross
ed the border in circumstances that
amounted to a violation Of the un-
derstanding between Mexico and the
United States.
While there is yet room for
amelioration of the offensiveness Of
this performance, when less crude
translation of the Carranza note
shall be available, it is apparent that
the first chief has done the very thing
that was feared when the American
forces crossed the border.
Villa has not been captured. It is
very dubious whether his bands have
been effectually scattered. 1t is not
certain that his capacity for mischief
is broken down. Certainly the task
that Washington cut out for itself,
or that the country supposed it had
cut out, has not been accomplished.
With an inadequate force strung
along an extended line reaching far
into the Mexican interior, this Gov
ernment now faces a demand that It
get out. That is the substance Of it.
Carranza, instead of cooperating in
the hunt for Villa, first refused the
use of the Mexican railroads to pro-
vision the American force, and now
demands that the American ex-
pedition be withdrawn on the ground,
first, that it entered the country
without formal and concluded con-
sent of Mexico, and, second, that
Villas force is dispersed.
This is a most shocking state of
affairs. On the face of the ex-
changes between Carranza and our
State Department there seemed no
doubt that the necessary prelimi-
naries to crossing the border had
been arranged. II requires, at least,
most ingenious construction to JUS
tify the view now advanced by Car
rama. It is very apparent that the
present construction by the first
chief is an afterthought. He has
learned something that convinces
him he made mistake in giving con-
sent originally.
How the Washington Government
can yield to this remarkable ulti-
matum without utter sacrifice of its
self-respect is not plain. 1t all
sounds as if Carranza's diplomacy
were being engineered for him by
some of the shifty experts who write
notes and give pledges on behalf of
Berlin; notes that are later found to
mean anything except what they
seem to mean, pledges that are dis
covered to be worthless when the
time comes for their execution.
1t is an alarming situation that
confronts our forces in Mexico, and
a most embarrassing one that faces
the State Department. To withdraw
the punitive force now is to admit
that Carranza's construction of the
exchanges is correct; which would
be a mighty pitiful joke on the
American authorities. They would
admit that they had launched a
military expedition into another
country, before knowing what they
were about, or what its status was
to be.
On the other hand, to reject the
construction Carranza places on the
early correspondence, and to refuse
compliance with his demand for
withdrawal, would be to defy him at
a time when the American force is
in no position to bid for open
breach with the de facto govern
ment. Whether the United States
has been led into trap, or whether
it is merely the victim of Carranza's
devious, uncertain, and unstable
mental processes, is not very i'm
portant now. The question is, What
will Washington do about it?
To remain in Mexico, in face Of a
fiat demand that we withdraw, is to
require a great increase of the force
there at a time when such an in
crease cannot possibly be provided
without considerable delay. The Ad-
ministration would not listen to
urgings that the national guard be
modified as a guard against such
an emergency as this; now the
emergency seems to be here, and no
means at hand to meet it.
May not have to buy another ton
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