The Washington herald., 1922-08-16
Mr.. Wilson's Record.
To the Editor. The washington Herald:

To the Editor, The Washington Herah:
veritas' statistics OF the extraor-
dinary accomplishments Of Mr.. will
son are about as useful as q cork
screw Is to a poor man or an
Eskimo pie Is to an Eskimo. Read
ing. such stun gives about the same
sensation as that of getting q gnat
in ones eye. It Is certainly painful
to see the adherents of Mr.. Wilson
noundering around trying to fnd a
field of human activity which will
reveal his greatness, and resorting
to that Of warrior and to his war
record. II Mr.. Wilson has q great
war record. then T. r. was a pussy
footer and a moilycoddle.
Let's go back along the road OF
Mr.. Wilson's statesmanship and SEQ
the broken idols by the wayside.
tolls. first he favored the exemp-
tion OF American shipping; then.
overnight. in the manner of all of
his chameleon-like Transformations.
he reversed himself completely,
ostensibiy on dictation from Eng
land in regard to the Mexican prob
lem. He said that he would not be
able to deal properly with the Mex
lean question unless Congress
backed him up on this question OF
tolls. 1. e.. charging American ships
tolls. Here was traded a strong
conviction and decided policy for
what? What was ever accom-
plished at the time in dealing with
the Mexican problem?
Not so long ago. Mr.. Wilson was
opposed to woman suffrage. but
about the time of his second mar
riage he blossomed out, overnight
again. for female suffrage. In his
early address to Congress he stated
that his policy would be hands
off Mexico:" in other words. a policy
of let the Mexicans settle their own
internal affairs. History Of the
succeeding months reveals. however,
that he did nothing but meddle with
Mexican affairs during his terms of
office. First he put an embargo on
the shipment of arms into Mexico.
intended to help one of the con-
tending factions: then he Nook of
the embargo. First he would per-
NIT the soldiers OF the de facto
government to march across United
States soil to attack the enemy;
then later he interdicted 1t.
Mr.. Wilson's catchword slogan in
his second campaign was He kept
us out of war" But he had already
sent two punitive expeditions into
Mexico. and two punitive expedi-
tions should certainly make one
war! In one Of these foreign in
vasions he sent Pershing into Mex
leo with orders to get Villa dead
or alive" and then tied his hands
with orders, little by little. until
finally he was ordered to stop. and
later. to withdraw. 1t seems that
the government or de facto gov
ernment of Mexico was getting sore.
That was a natural exposition OF
primitive ethics: "It Is all right
when I steal my neighbor's cattle.
but It Is wrong for him to steal
mine" Nothing was ever accom-
plished either with this invasion or
with the occupation Of Vera Cruz.
except a little addition to the
gaiety Of nations. Was apy repara-
tion ever made for the Nttack on
the little defenseless American town
on the border and the brutal MUIR
derinR of American men and
women? And yet the murderer is
living in luxury in Mexico. pested
by and enriched by grants from
the Mexican government. Did
Huerta ever salute the American
iag? For the killing Of American
seamen in Vera Cruz. the United
states government occupied the
sanitary and a healthfuf place to
live. at an expense to US OF perhaps
$40, DOT, 900 or $50.ooo.00o, all free TO
the Mexican government!
As for Mr.. Wilson's war record
and his preparation for conflict. 10
and his first Secretary OF State were
always peace-at-any-prfce men. ana
Mr.. Wilson was also too proud 10
fight until the schoolmaster part OF
his cosmos was unable longer TO
withstand disobedience Of his or
ders. Not until several years after
that memorable August, 1914. did
Mr.. Wilson turn his mind from un-
to preparedness with
a vengeance. In the meantime able
statesmen like Theodore Roosevelt
had urged that this government
prepare for the defense of its rights
and the lives Of its citizens; and our
own participation in the war and
the loss of thousands Of American
lives might have been averted IL
the exponents. Of ''unpreparedness"
in charge of the affairs Of this gov
ernment had harkened to men of
sound judgment, clear vision and
true statesmanship. However. the
professor said no; the country
editor. az Secretary of