The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-04-20
OUR MEXICAN "PoLICY"
From the Chicago Tribune.

ment and of our army officers. It Is
not realized they are forced by the
Wilson-Bryan diplomacy, which we
hope presently will be repudiated by
the American people. r
The pursuit of Villa has been, in
truth, shameful exhibition of In
competence and irresolution has not
been OF the army. They are a part
of the conduct Of our Mexican rela-
tions for three years. r-tc l'so
We demanded salute from Huer-
ta. We never got 1t. B., +, b.
We went into Vera Cruz to stop a
shipment Of arms to Huerta. He got
1t. ne. a.ir
We sacrificed the lives of our men,
concentrated our feet and took Vera
Cruz, cleaned 1t, and left 1t after mel
dramatic threats by the man we
have since set up In power. n
All Mexico sees our policy in terms
of these outstanding simple facts,
and takes us for ,bunglers, weak,
would-be despots and poltroons.
a. The Villa chapter seems destined to
intrench that opinion. ad 1't
Diplomacy made Villas raid posi-
BILE. Throughout three years of dis
order our / 200 miles of border has
been left insufflcientlyr protected, be-
cause our Official theory was and Is
that IL we exercise out right OF self
defense, we may offend Mexican sus-
capabilities and preclpitate interview
| ton. So there were not men enough
on the border to provide adequate
patrols and adequate troops at strait
egic concentration points to meet
raids swiftly. e1s.1 'r .r
When villa struck Columbus. this
lack cost several days delay in pur-
suit. Diplomatic etiquette with Car
rama added two or three days more.
By that time Villa was far in the in
There was but one way to catch
him dead or alive" after that. 1t
was to turn the whole problem over
to Funston and tell him to do the
work. .a @
But the Wilson-Bryan policy had
bred dangerous contempt and .suspic-,
ion in Mexico and now 1t could not
face the consequences with energy
and decision.
l. The way to catch Villa was to seize
the railroads, IL necessary. putttroops
at once,at the strategicgpoints, towns,
masses and water holes. Then dis
band and disappear, II possible, or
fight for food and water. d
Instead, diplomacy. refused the
railroads, bowed to the decree OF
keeping out of towns and compelled
our men to begin along chase over
desert and mountains, after mount
ed force with one weeks start in q
friendly country. 1T compelled the
ridiculous train Of wagons and motor
supply, and frightening line of CON-
munications, which, as the Carran-
cista critic points out, resolute at
tack could endanger or break almost
at any point. ~r" uirtvniet,,. 80.
The military and diplomatic situa-
ton thus developed Is incredible. VII
In has not been taken dead or alive
II his bands have been dispersed, dis
persion is their natural state, and
they can reunite again. The pursuit
seems to have gone as far as 1t can,
and it Is reported at this writing that
our troops are being withdrawn be-
fore the threat Of attack. No won
der the Carrancista organ holds US
up to ridicule. We are ridiculous.
|. When the state department order
ed Americans to leave their proper
ty and livelihood in Mexico and let
it be gnown that their government
had no respect for-their legitimate in
terests; when 1t ordered an American
cruiser out of the harbor of Tampico,
~ In ,ttIch oItnc fnI
rescue imperiled refugees when 1t
demanded a salute from Huerta ana
did not back the demand; when 1t
permitted insult andinjury along the
border and let the Santa Ysabel mas
sacre go virtually unpublished; when
1t played politics alternately and fu-
tilely with Villa and Carranza and
handled diplomatic, concession with q
government existing chiefly by our
moral and material support, 1t made
the present fiasco almost inevitable.
[" The result has been the prolonged
misery Of the Mexican people, suffer-
ing and with heavy loss to our own
countrymen, and the establishment
of sentiment toward us in Mexico,
which promises continued friction
and peril to good relations between
Mexico and the United States.
1t was fallacious humanitarianism
to allow such evilslto persist II Is In
competent sstatecraftt to allow such
results. to be brought about after
years Of meddling. The Wilson pol
icy has been monument OF how not
to deal with foreign relations. It is
another illustration of how doctrin-
aire pacifism makes for war.