The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-02
'A MEXICAN WAR WOULD REFLECT SHAME ON U. s. Lane Maintains Latin Re public Should Be Let Set tie Own Difficulties. CONQUEST OF
 MEXICO UNJUST AND
 UNDEMOCRATIC America s Principle to Fight Only When Attacked By
 Another.
By Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary
 of Interior)


 iBy Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary
 of Interior)
 There are things that a democracy must always be willing to fight for. But what thing is there that any American say say we ought to be will ing to fight for in Mexico? Is it be- cause railroads built with American capital have been damaged, that mines have been shut down. or even that Anne ican citizens have been killed by outlaws and bandits?
 All those things we can and do very much regret, but who will say that they are great principles for which a democracy should be willing to sac rifice the blood of it's sons? Who can formulate out of the whole history of the past six years any other determin- ation than this: That We should resist the temptation to fight where pride and interest move us in that direction, and that we should and will fight when we are attacked and when we find no other means by which our in- terests can be safeguhrded and Mexico be given any hope for itself.
 We have been on the edge of war with Mexico several times, in the last three years, but each time, before the determination was made by which | reasonable men might expect that Mexico could prove herself able to take care of her own problems. The one man who can justifiably criticize President Wilson for his Mexican pol icy is the man who honestly be- lieves that Mexico cannot be xoL 0f ment and / responsibility except through tthe exercise of outside force. That man is consistent, and the only criticism I have to make of him is a criticism of his judgment.
 There is no question that we could easily overrun Mexico. I believe we could do 1t with a comparatively few men, although we would have a uni ted Mexico against us. There would be no glory in such a war, and there is not one man in ten thousand in this country who really wants such a war It would be repugnant to every Amerfcantradition and would discour- agA the friendship of every other American nation. Of course we eiwou1d conquer Mexico, and after good deal of guerilla warfare we could bring Mexico to state or quiet.
 Then we could hold her while we administered to her the medicine that we believe she needs. We could have what we call a general cleaning up, the rebuilding of her railroads, of her wagon roads, the construction of sew CTS in her cities, the enforcement of health regulations and all the other things that go to make up the outward and visible signs of order and good government.
 But don't you see that the peace that we would bring would be peace imposed by force, the government that we would give to Mexico would be the kind of government that we. have and which makes life tolerable to us in our communities. Its standards wouldS not be Mexican standards, it's ideals would not be Mexican ideals its genius would not be Mexican gen. jus. The moment we withdrew from Mexico there would be a return after a very short time to Mexican stan dards.
 What Mexico really needs and must be allowed to do is to raise her own standards; it is to give herself clean ing up by herself. That is bound to take time, but in no other way can Mexico get a government that will be expressive of her own ideals, that will be expressive of some aspiration of her own as to what her civilization should be, and in this we want to be of help to Mexico if she will only cl- lew us to do so.
 The Mexican problem depends upon your attitude toward other peoples. Mexico is land to conquer, and the Mexican people are a people to be conquered and subordinated and the country and its resources made ours, if you look up smaller and less highly civilized country as a proper object of exploitation. On the other hand. Mexico is a country out of which something greater can be made, and the Mexican people are a people who have possibilities and can be helped to become a self-governing na- ton, and if you take that attitude to- ward Mexico you are bound to sym pathize with their struggle upward
 In other words, where we find that conditions Justify revolution, if we think 1t is our business to go in and work the revolution to our profit, we must condemn the Presidents policy; but if, where we find conditions jus tify revolution, we want to give that revolution a chance to work out from the inside, we must hold up his hands