The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-06-24
HISTORY REPEATS
ITSELF ON BORDER
(New York Times. J

Punitive expeditions by American
{Aroeps into Mexico have occurred al
various times since the Civil war, the
! cause always being the same agrees
( sion by MeNtcans Gin some eases by
nnnladtc lndiunS1 upon american citi-
@cns, generally attended with seizure
/ OF destrut ton of their property in
/ The course Of which Americans were
savaEeiy killed The Columbus raid
which provoked the invasion of Mexi-
90 by a force Of all arms under Cen
eral PorShins, was AN act of war, and
intended ~ such, hY Francisco villa.
who, his star having eon@.into eclipse.
planned Ia involve the Emitted States
IN conflict with the constitutionalists
that could end only in The downfall
. Of CarranYa.
The recent demonstration bv Cen
eral James r. Erwin commander at
tl Paso, with a mixed force $500
strong. of infantry. cavalry and artil-
lerN, to drive the Niiistas out of
.luare2 aud into the desert beyond.
was a step forward in the policy Of
asserting American sovereignty on the
bocdor ana protecting American citi-
gems shots hal been fired by the
Nilliftas into Ell paso in the course of
n battle With troops of the recognized
Carranza government.
An army officer Of high rank In
Texas spoke of Cantain l<loeppers ride
INTO Me~ic" In March with some men
Of the Eighth cavalry to pursue cat
tie thieves who had run off stock from
an American ranch five of the MeNi-
cans were killed~-as "a matter OF
, border routine" About a week later
Captain Matlock. crossed over into
Mexico after the Chico Cano bandits
L IN 81 i,, T.,
General Erwin's Invasion" of Iuarez
was also a matter OF border routine. :"
on "a larger scale There is precious
III tie difference between n, Nillista and
, bandit who foraGcs with Chico Cano
The most dramatic of all raids into
Mexico by American soldiers on police
duty was that led by Colonel Ranald s.
Mackenzie with six troops Of the
Fourth cavalry in 1873 The story
should be retold to show that il al
WAYS has been our policy to maintain
peace on the border and protect ei'i-
aens and their property. even If ii he
comes necessary to pursue malefactors
10 Mexican soil and nunish them there.
The recor of the Mackenzie raid he
Gins with the mysterious conference Of
General Belknap. the secretary Of war.
md General Sheridan fthe time was
Grants second "resdency) with Colo
mel Rana'a $ Mackenzie at his quar-
'ers ~ Fort Chart, Kinney county.
Texas, i'm Nprl. 1873. For some time
Mexican bandits and Indians had been
crossing the border 30 steal cattle and
horses. and manv settlers and ranch
men had been killed hv the ,niscreants
sheridan onened the proceedings with
characteristic plainness Of speech.
MACK nn2ie. vou have been ordered
down here IN relieve Colonel Merritt
and the Ninth cavalry because want
sometime done 10 stop these condi-
tions Of handitrv he these people
across the river I want Xou TO con-
troll and hold down tho situation and
To do il in YOUR own way. I want
YOU 10 ne bold. enterprsine and at
All times tull of energy When YOU
begin. lei Il he a campaign Of annih-
lation. ohliteration. and complete de-
struction-~as YOU have always done in
your dealings with the Indians. RI
think that you understand what I
want don" and the way you should
employ YOU" force"
General Grant regarded Mack emile,
who had tccn division commander
under Sheridan in the Shenandoah
valley during the Civil war. an this