The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-10-03

the President, while making the
foreigner back down, had done it
without going to war. That was
what the nation wanted.
A moment of gloom among the
Democrats began to lift. Col.
House (who had a far surer touch
in domestic politics than in inter-
national relatiOnS) was content;
the Republicans could have the
German vote, for Mr.. Wilson now
had William Jennings Bryan back
again.
That sincere apostle of peace
was, in fact, to do yeOman work
for the Democratic cause.
AS luck would have it, more
over, the Wilsonian policy of be-
ligerent pacifism was almost i'm
mediately to receive a curious but
in the end very useful test. Three
days after Woodrow Wilson had
been renominated for the preSi-
dency by the st. Louis convention
(the vote was 1892 to one lone re-
calcitrant from Chicago, reason
suddenly primed the rifle and
honor came extremely close to
drawing the sword-not, however,
against the submarine.
Once more it was the Mexicans.
Gen. Pershing had not yet sue
ceeded in catching Villa either
dead or alive, and the Carranzist
forces had been more and more
clearly manifesting their dislike
of our altruistic, but apparently
permanent, essay in international
police duty"
Having so rashly got in, the Ad-
miniStratiOn saw no very good
way of getting out again; and
matters were settling down to a
rather embarrassing impaSse when
President Carranza abruptly pre-
cipitated the storm.
On June 18 he formally de-
manded that the punitive eXpedi-
ton be brought to a halt. On
June 10 the Mexican state of
SinalOa was reported independ-
emily to have declared war upon
the United States, while Mexican
troops were massing all along Per-
shings tenuous line of commu-
nicationS.
On June 81, at the town of Car
rial in northern Mexico, a Car
ranzist force suddenly fall upon a
foraging party from Pershing's
column. The American detach-
ment. consisting of Troop G of the
Tenth Cavalry, the celebrated Ne
gro regiment, was overwhelmed;
two officers and seven men were
killed and % others were taken
prisoner. On June % Secretary
Baker Geographically ordered
Gen. Pershing to stand his ground
and directed the border force to
seize the international bridges
preparatory to a first-class inva-
sion of Mexico. At the same time,
the entire National Guard was
summoned into the Federal serv-
ice and directed to proceed to the
border Immediately upon being
mustered in.
Considering the submarine dan
ger, these fiery orders may seem
a trifle surprising. But there was
no war. Mr.. Wilson did not want
one, and the sudden show of force
once more worked. The Carran-
lists were humbled and began to
cooperate in the pursuit Of ban
dts" the troopers captured at
Carrizal were ultimately released,
and by the early days Of July the
worst of the crisis was over.
In Congress Senator Lodge was
doing his best to awake the spirit
of high desire-and militarist i'm
perialism-with the preparedness
bills. The Armys National De-
Tense Act. as emasculated by the
National Guard, had been signed
on June 8, and almost Immediate
" the border mobilization had re-
vealed the lamentably unmilitary
state of the National Guard.
Weeks, even months. after the or
ders we're issued guard units we're
still struggling painfully toward
the border, devoid of training and
equipment.
Clearly, adequate" prepared
ness, providing a great standing
Army and CONSUMPTION to utilize
those without "a high economic
value" would avoid such contre-
temps.
Tomorrow: Another installment
of the Road to War"
tCopyrlght. Mcclure Newspaper syndie