Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-09-01

GUS peace VI MeSSES. NllSOu anu
, Carranza, in less than three months
more American blood was shed than
in the destruction Of the Spanish fleet
at Manila, and than in the destruction
of the Spanish fleet off Santiago; and
than in the taking of Manila; and
than in the fight at Guasimas; in
short, in; all the operations combined
during the Spanish War, save only
the actual battle of Santiago itself
And yet there are persons who SEEM
ingly take comfort in speaking of one
set of operations as being war, and
who praise the other set as being part
of our "policy of peace"-the blood.
stained peace of Messrs. Wilson and
Carra4za.
| Has INTERVIEWED.
LAS it Is with war so it is with in
tervention.' President Wilson has
again and again said he would not in
tervene' in Mexico. AS matter of
fact he has interviewed continuously.
On January 9Th, 1915, he announced
that the Mexicans had the right to
spill blood to spill as much blood as
they pleased, without interference.
, The fact that the blood they we're
splitting included the blood of Ameri-
can citizens, both soldiers and civil
ians -and among them women and
children-evidently did not weigh
with him. On December 10th, 1915,
he said that it was None of our bust
ness what the Mexicans did with their
government, and so long as I haze
, the power to prevent it nobody SHAY
butt-in to alter it for Them Yet a
that very time he had been putting.
in for two years, and he has been
'butting-in' ever since; and he has
avowed that he wished to alter it for
them in all kinds of ways, from land
tenures up and down. But as he never
followed any policy of either inter-
| venti0n or nOn-intervention with any
observation-disclosures yielding at the
critical moment to some bandit chief
of whom he became fearful-both his
spasms of intervention and his spasms
of ,non-intervention have alike been
entirely futile. In August, 1918, he
sent special envoy to Mexico to tell
Huerta he would not recognize him.
He announced this himself in note
in October, and on December End he
announced he would not deal with
the Huerta government. This was
intervention, and nothing else; it was
such intervention as if in 1877 some
European government had declined to
recognize Hayes as president and in
sisted upon the seating of Tilden. Mr..
| Wilson interviewed when he backed
Villa against Huerta. He interviewed
when he turned against Villa, and re-
cognized Carranza.
Ready for Appeal.
Nevertheless l believe that the
American people We're ready for the
same kind of appeal which was made
to them by Abraham Lincoln in 1860,
by the advocates of an honest curren-
cy in 1896, by the advocates of the
Spanish War in 1898, by the advo-
Gates of Nationalism in 1900. But
the appeal was not made On the con-
trary, Mr.. Wilson invoked the spirit
of timidity and selfshness. He made
no effort to invoke the sense of duty.
He put safety first the immediate
safety of the moment, to be obtained
by shrinking from duty. He did not
even put American rights first, still
less did he put American duty first.
His task was not an especially diff
cult or dangerous. task; but it needed
a brave heart and steady hand. I'm
der his lead America could and should
have put itself at the head of all the
neutral nations, by it's example. if not
by direct diplomatic agreements, in
demanding that the war should be
conducted in accordance with the
usage of civilized nations, that inter-
national law should be observed, that
the rights of neutrals and non-c0mbat'
ants should be. respected. If this
spirit, had animated our administra'
ton there would probably have been
no invasion of. Belgium, no fears of a
like fate to terrorize other smaller
nations, no, torpedoing of merchant
vessels, no bombarding of churches
and hospitals, no massacreing of wo-
men and children. no; murder of Miss
Cavell, no attempted determination of
the Aremnians and Syrian Christians.
We cannot undo what has been done.
But we can repudiate what has been
done. We can regain our own self
respect of other nations for this coun.
try. We can put in power an admin
istration which will throughout it's
term of power protect our own citi-