Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-06-09

IneDt snail own the railroads. but
iaiso, it is to be feared, that those
who run the railroads shall own
the government. General govern
lmeM ownership under our political
system would inevitably bring
about the mastery Of the govern
ment by those who operate the
machinery of transportation, or of
any other industries which come
Into government possession. The
rights of the general public, for
whom all industries exist, would
disappear under this scheme and
nothing would be left to the peo-
pie e1 cept the duty of paving taxes
to support the roads. That is a
very perilous position for a rep
reseutative of democracy. Our
government must not be dom
| mated by any one man or any
class or any selected body of men
who represent "a part of the peo-
iDle aud not the whole people.
/ govern ment ownership wherever
1 applied to an industry, whether it
I Involves Transportation of tele-
graphic and telephone communi.
cation on shipbuilding or manu-
| ldCluI lhk1z a NVAy anu
/ wasteful system, badly managed
land certain to be intolerably bur
densome to the taxpayers. This
point it is not necessary to argue
because the country through the
demands of war turned the rail-
roads over to the government and
we have had the painful privilege
Iof observing the performance
which followed, The government
management which ensued was
inefficient, the railroads were
wret chedly conducted and money
was, spent and visited with a
pvodigality which nothing can de-
fend. During the time in which
1.-THE government undertook to
manage the railroads they sus-
tail (ed despite a generous increase
in freight rates a loss of over a
million dollars a day and the to-
tai payments out of the treasury
to Support the railroads have
reached the enormous sum of
one a md three-q quarters billions of
dollar 5. There was universal dis
satisfa ction with the government
manag ement and it was q lust
dissatisfaction. The experiment
| failed And should not be renewed.
FROM domestic affairs, which /
have only touched upon briefly, let
us turn Ito foreign questions, to our
relations with the world of other
nations. Look first at one Of the
| most pressing importance Just be-
| yond our own borders. Look at
Mexico. For seven years the Unit
ed States has been pursuing under
the DIRECTION of the president a
policy Of -'watchful waiting" The
| president. saw fit to intervene in
| Mexico. As a matter of fact he
| made war upon Mexico, for in the
| taking of Vera Cruz we lost some
100 men in killed and wounded
| and several hundred unregarded,
incidental Mexicans were also eth
er wounded or killed in the con-
| flict. We went there to exact an
apology for the treatment of some
of our sailors at Tampico The
apology has never been given and
General Huerta was driven from
| power, which was the presidents
real purpose, and Mexico then fell
/ into a state of anarchy which,
growing constantly worse, has con-
| tfnued to this day. The president
saw fit to recognize Carranza, who
| was chosen by a military junta, as
| political chief. He thus furnished
an essential support to the Carran-
"a government and what has been
| our reward? Over 500 Americans
have been murdered in Mexico,
some under circumstances of great
| brutality. For these murders no
reparat ton has been made. Decor
! ated by endless and useless notes
they have gone on unchecked. To
have been an American citizen in
| Mexico added to mans danger,
| The words, II am an American ctt-
izen," instead of being protection,
\ as they ought to be, in every corn
err of the world, were an absolute
peril to anyone who was entitled
\ to that high distinction. Mexico
| teemed with German plots. The
| Mexican government largely the
| offspring of Mr.. Wilson'S recogni-
| ton did not support us in the war
| but gave aid so far as 1t was pos
| sible to the cause of our enemies
| Yet we still continued to support
| Carranza. His government sent
agents into this country to foment
industrial trouble and to bring on
lstrikes. They allied themselves
with the bolshevist and anarchistic
elements. Nothing was done by
| the United States. Carranza insult
ed the American government inl
every possible way and still moth
| ing was done. We fell so low that
when an American was seized by
one of the many bands of brigands
| and held for ransom, all that the
| ITpit nc
would do was to offer to be the
| channel of conveying the ransom
| of their citizens to the highwaymen
who had seized them. The mere
|, statement seems incredible but II
| ia in exact accordance with the
| facts in some cases. Still nothing
was done and we watched and
waited. Naturally we lost our In
fluence in Mexico and what was far
more important we lost the respect
| of the Mexican people by the man.
ner in which we submitted to ev-
cry sort of insult and outrage.
Need OF Firm Hand.
We have watched and waited
Hong enough. It Is time that this
| condition, disgraceful to us and
ruinous to Mexico, should cease.
We need, firm hand at the helm.
We need man who will think not
only OF the United States but of
the welfare of Mexico. The Next
can people would not resent the
Influence or intervention of the
United States IL It would only help
to bring them peace under pres
ident Of their own choosing. The
great mass OF the Mexican people
wish to work and earn money.
They long to be able to sleep ini
peace and not be subject to pill
lage and outrage. Thousands of
them look to us for help. Let the
Mexicans choose as their president
|some strong and upright man
lwhn is friendly to the limited