The Washington herald., 1918-05-17

Occasional reference Is made to
Mexico in both House and Senate and
| some OF the members evince a dis
position to be dissatisfied with the
way our affairs with that country are
being conducted.
AS a matter of fact, we might safely
go on the assumption that IL the ad-
ministration saw any reason to in
terfere there we would not be long
in getting men to the affected regions.
Without endeavoring to go into de-
tail in the recital OF our relations with
Mexico there is no question but that
we can safely rely on President Will
son watching the Mexican situation
with diligence and doing just those
things there that are required.
Members who profess to know many
alleged defects OF the present in
| ternaI condition OF Mexico sometimes
find twhen their weird .recitals are
given to the State Department there
Is no occasion to worry. Their In
formation has been deficient. while
the never-closed eyes of the State
Department have seen things ac-
| curately.
We believe the administration will
make no mistake whatever in the
handling of the Mexican situation.
At least, it will not defer action
there. II action ever becomes nee
cessary, until our reasons for taking
an interest are wiped out.
Gus Karger's introduction OF Presi-
dent Taft as Americas best be-
loved private citizen" brings us back
to the fact that 1t would not be the
worst thing in the world if that very
man were again slated to lead the
Republican party.
We are not ready to predict that he
will do so. of course. but we do say
that in two remarkable respects Presi-
, dent Taft measures up for leadership
In such a way that the world must
take notice of his position and his
unusual acceptability.
On the matter of treaties with
foreign nations President Taft is un-
questionably in a position to aid
| America He has a thorough under
standing of Americas requirements.
he is in sympathy with our ideals and
he has a knowledge Of how to achieve
| the ends.
In the widely different field of labor.
| which must enter into our internal
dndlTS TlOSl SudIpiy hNH Ing llc htAe
| five or six years, Mr.. Taft stands
we'll with both laboring men and with
employers He is both judge of what
/ Is fair to each and yet what must
| be fair to both IL our country is to
go ahead as 1t should with the settle
| ment of this momentuous question.
Offhand, can you think of a better
| candidate. gentle Republican reader
70 cixya Mr.
and his confreres any advice but we
would suggest to them that IL they
want to win they might give careful
consideration to what manner of a
man they must have and just how far
any of the possible candidates can
exceed Mr.. Taft in the things which
must count next time.
In Justice to the American people
no official high or low should deny a
| thorough airing of the airplane
trouble. The true tale of the Liberty
motor, for instance, is something to
make the blood boil of real Amerl-
cans. There was no need for putting
out such absurd tales, and what ex-
cuse the men can give out for SO do
| ing we are unable to surmise. We
hope there will be a thorough airing
Of the affair and that as the truth
| creeps out 1t will be given to the
American people. For no matter how
much the officials here may imagine
| the war is theirs, and theirs alone to
| conduct. there is no denying the fact
that the whole people have to furnish
men and money to conduct 1t and are
therefore entitled to know the full
facts Of its conduct. To take any other
position is to recede before the same
wave We are fighting at this time.
on the other side Of the world.
The other day B. r. Harris, an IIli-
nois banker. made an address at a
big manufacturing and business gath
ering In Boston-where they 90 over
addresses pretty carefully, and where,
IL Is safe to say, no one gets away
with anything he should not-and was
given most careful attention. At the
close he was greeted by wave of
applause and business men by the
scores rushed forward to greet him
and give approval Of his statements.
Publication of his address called for
more praise for this westerner, too.
We heard of this and went over his
address quite carefully to Gull its hest
parts for the readers Of The Herald.
We found these things in it to be
distinctly the features. He said:
The country is not aroused; is not
efficient, largely because OF the psy-
chology Of its leadership, IL It Is Lead
ershipf We have been weak, like
Kerensky, In DEALING with facts and