The border vidette., 1916-07-15
MEXICO.

HreSloenC wilson mas never wanted war. In the days when his opponents attacked him and tried to goad him into the use of the armed forces of the United States, he remained SteadfaSt to his determination that the blood of young American soldiers should never be shed except as the last recourse in the effort to uphold the honor of the nation. Once, when even graver even- l tualitieS were threatened, the patience of President Wilson's sta tatesmanship was rewarded by diplomatic victory that made the shedding of blood unnecessary. It was the Presidents previous moderation that gave such force to the oIninouS ultimatum which brought full concession to the rights of America and humanity.
 No president in the history of the United States has ever placed the cause of the people of the United States upon a higher plane. No President has ever struggled more valiantly to pre- serve peace with honor. His critics have proved the case for President Wilson. Their unani- nous approval of his present course has not dulled the edge of his desire for honorable peace.
 The immortality of the Pre- sident in the face of selfish and partisan criticism, coming from those who thought more of per sonal advantage than of the vel fare of the nation, has beer the best security of the American people throughout the time the world has been darkened by war-clOudS.
 If the sword of righteousness must now be unSheathed, the American people know that it is because peaceful means have been exhausted. If the sword is raised to strike, it is because the head of the de facto govern ment of Mexico refuses to re- spect the rights of America.
 No president has ever tried so hard to interpret the real spirit of America. MT. Wilson has said that he would rather know what the men and women gathered around their freSide, are saying than to listen to the orationS of the self-appointed.
 In his handling of the Mexican problem. President Wilson has been guided by the single inn pulse to do what the American people would have him do-to exhaust all the peaceful means at his disposal to protect the lives and property of Americans, and failing in that, to uphold the honor and dignity of the nation by the use of armed forces.
 The note written by the State Department to General Carranza in response to his threat to attack the American troops presented the complete case of the Amer ican government against Mexico. As in the European situation, when the ultimatum with it's ominous note brought full con- sessions, it marked the end of President Wilson's patience.
 The lives of the American sol diers in Mexico, soldier who were sent there to protect the border from the raids of bandits, bent on murdering Americans, had been threatened.
 In the might of righteousness, the sword of America was then raised to strike and in the struggle that threatens, the na- tion enters upon it's task with a clean and fearless heart.
 Behind the president, who has so truly represented the charit- able spirit of the American people, behind the president now in his grim determination to use the full military and navel strength of the nation in support of American troops in Mexico, stand the mighty host of pat riotic Americans, united, valiant and conscious of the faithfulness of their leader to the ideals of real Americanism m.-Exchange.