Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-12-22
Woodrow Wilson
force alone cam bring that grizzly
old warrior Huerta to his senses?'
Object of "WatchfuI Waiting"
AS | KNOW HIM
BY JOSEPH P. TUMULTY.

What was the president seeking to
do in proclaiming his policy of
watchful waiting?" He was merely
seeking to establish in Pan-American
affairs the principle that no presi-
dent Of a South American republic
who came to power by unsurpation
and assassination should receive,
while he was president, the recogni-
ton of the United States. This doc
| trine was not only good statesman
ship, but it was likewise sound IN
morals.
1t was not only disheartening to
| find bitter criticism Of this policy
from the outside, but it was depress-
ing to find the enemies of watchful
waiting boring from within"
through his own cabinet wofficers.
Lindley Garrison, his own secretary
| of war, had no sympathy for this
idealistic policy. His only antidote
for what was happening in Mexico
was force and Intervention and he
honorably urged this view upon the
president, but without succeeding in
bringing about the contamination SO
dear to his heart.
"And one denies. and one forsakes,
and still unquestioning he goes, who
has his lonely thoughts"
But the president stood like ada
mant in his resolve that the people
Of Mexico should not be punished for
the malefactions Of their usurping
president, and steadily, against great
odds, he moved forward to Vindicate
+ is policy, unmindful of the jeers
H. 1Nn
heart Of that policy he eloquently
exposed when he said: L am more
interested in the fortunes of Cypress
ed men, pitiful women and children,
than iii any property rights what
ever. The people of Mexico are striV-
ing for the rights that are funda-
mental to life and happiness-15,0 00,-
900 oppressed men, overburdened
women, and pitiful children i'll vir-
tual bondage in their own home of
fertile lands and ineXhaustible treas
ure. Some of the leaders of the revo-
luton may often have been mistaken
and violent and selfish, but the rev.
olution itself was inevitable and is
right. The unspeakable Huerta be-
trayed the very comrades he serV
ed, traitorously overthrow the gov
eminent of which he was a trusted
part, impudently spoke for the very
force that had driven his people to
rebellion with which he had pretend
ed to sympathize. The men who
overcame him and drove him out
represent at least the fierce passion
of reconstruction which lies at the
very heart of liberty; and so long
as they represent, however, imper-
fectly, such q struggle for deliver
ance, I am ready to serve their ends
when I can. So long as the power of
recognition rests with me the gov
eminent of the United States will re-
fuse to extend the hand of welcome
tc anyone who obtains powers in a
sister republic by treachery and vic.
lence."
Weakness of Huerta
But the presidents policy of watch
full waiting did win. The days Of the
Huerta regime slowly wended their
uneasy way along. Huerta suspend
ed the Mexican constitution, and,
having imprisoned half of the Next
can congress, proceeded to administer
the government as an arbitrary ruler.
Slowly but surely he began to feel
the mighty pressure of the un-
friendly government Of the United
States upon him. Still defiant he
sought to units behind him the Mexi.
can people, hoping to provoke them
: to military action against the Unit.
ed States. To hold his power he was
willing to run the risk of making his
own country "a bloody shamble, but
President Wilson had the measure
of the tyrant Huerta from the be-
ginning, and soon his efforts to iso-
late him began to bear fruit. Even
now his bitter critics have a listening
ear to the oft-repeated statement of
the American president as it is
contained the germ Of a prophecy:
The steady pressure of moral
force will before many days
break the barriers of pride and
prejudice down, and we shall
triumph as MeXico's friends
sooner than we could triumph as
her enemy-and how much more
handsomely and with how much
higher and finer satisfactions Of
conscience and of honor!
Little by little the usurper was he.
ing isolated. By moral pressue every
day his power and prestige were per
ceptlbly crumbling. His collapse was
not far away when the president
declared, eve shall not, I believe
/ be obliged to alter our policy of
Watchful waiting" The campaign of
Woodrow Wilson to force Huerta
finally triumphed. On July Is Huer-
ia resigned and departed from Mex
leo. Wilson's humanity and broad
craftsmanship had triumphed over
the system of cruel oppression for
which the "unspeakable Huerta" had
stood.
The TampicO Incident
During the Huerta controversy a
thing happened which aggravated
the Mexican affair and which culmi-
mated in the now famous Tampico in
cident
On April 9, 1914, paymaster of
the United States, steamship dolphin
landed at the Iturbide bridge at Tam
pico with a whaleboat and boats
crew to obtain supplies needed
aboard the Dolphin While loading
these supplies the paymaster and
his men were arrested by an officer
and squad of the army of General
Huerta. Neither the paymaster nor
any of the boats were armed. The
boat flew the United States flag at
the bow and stern. Two of the men
were in the boat when arrested and
hence were taken from United States
! soil" Admiral Mayo, commanding
the American squadron then off
Tampico, Immediately demanded the
release of the sailors. Release was
ordered after the paymaster and the
sailors had been detained about an
hour. Not only did Admiral Mayo
demand release of the sailors, but
insisted on formal apology by the
Huerta government, consisting of
tWenty-one gun salute to the flag.
During the critical days following
the refusal of Huerta to accede to