The Columbus weekly courier., 1920-11-26

uIfft ffIufnnu 70 tnlumNufs nIIff
their evacuation Of Mexican terri
tory.
The defendants above named
were ~ common soldiers. what V
generally known az privales. IN the
ranAs Of the villa invading column,
and were al. subsequently. cap
tured IN Mexico hs our troops, and
having been brought into Luna
county. New Mexico, were there in
dicied, charged with lhe crime Of
murSicring the people that were
killed a Columbus al The Time OF
the assault on ihe morning Of
March .. A. d. 1919. An Of the
above named defendants pleaded
guiliy1of murder Ia the second de-
gree. except the defendant Jose
Rodriguez. who had heretofore
been tried by a jury and. as above
stated. was found guilty Of murder
in the first dcgree. and was sen
fenced 10 hang. his sentence being
thereafter eommuted by the gov
ernor Of The stnte.
The above named defendants,
acting by and through their attor-
ney. A. y. Renehan. Esq. and also
through the Mexican consul. the
Honorable Carlos palaci0s Roi.
have appealed 10 me az executive
Of the state 10 grant them a par
don, the petition being based on the
proposition that these defendants
are not guilty Of the crime for
which they we're convicted. be-
cause. AZ the time Of the commits
sion Of the crime whereof they
stand convicted. they were not re-
sponsihle agents. in the commits
sion thereof. This brings us 10
consideration Of the conditions and
circumstances under which these
men acted.
Were We at Peace with Mexieog
In the first place. the first
question that arises In my mind.
and which creates very serious
doubt as 10 the actual condition Of
things Is this: Were we at peace
with The republic Of Mexico on the
9th day OF March, A ID. 1910. when
The assault on Columbus took place.
or did a state Of war exist between
the United States and Mexicop n
Is fact OF coniemporaneous his
tory known 10 all OF us that on or
about the 2ist day OF April. A. ID.
1914 our troops. under the pro-
lection Of our navy, occupied the
Mexican port Of Vera Cruz, and In
the taking Of military possession
thereof battle took place be-
tween our troops and navy on the
one side. and the Mexican soldiers
defending the port, in which slrug-
gle several lives were lost ON both
sides. When the struggle ended our
troops had the port and City Of
Vera Cruz, and we retained such
possession until about the 23rd day
Of November. A. d. 1914 being a
period OF about seven months; this
act on our part certainly created a
state Of war between us and the
republic Of Mexico, even though no
actual declaration OF war was
made; under the authorities a
state Of war may, and oflentimes
does exist between nations. with
out any declaration OF war being
made by either.
lse Arce ct al. vs.. the State Of
Texas, zoe S. w. page e5i)
am not In possession Of data
and Information that viii enable
me 10 tell whether the relations
between our country and Mexico.
which were certainly broken and
interrupted by our taSisS The port
OF Vera Cruz, and which action on
our part certainly did create a state
OF war between the two c0lhtries,
had been composed at the time the
assault upon Columbus was made
by the Mexican troops so as 10
have changed that condition Of a
state OF war between the two ma
tons into one OF amiiy and cordial
relations. II such change had TAX
en- place, this phase Of the case
now under consideration is not ap-
plicable, and becomes absolutely
inconsequential and unimporianl
In deciding H. IT, on the other
hand. our relations with Mexico
had not been reinslated. but The
state Of war still continued 20 exist
then this point becomes very ma
terlal and essential because in lhal
case Il rs plain TO see that these de.
fendants would have heen prison.