12
and disposition. After It became evident,
by continued negotiation which ended no
where, that Huerta was standing, no to
speak. In the City of Mexico heaping In
solence on the United States, President Wil
son gave notice that Huerta must B".
"Tlien followed the Tampico Incident.
Our sailors landed at Tampico and were
arrested, marched through the street In
ignominy and eventually returned lo their
boat The admiral in charge waa bo in
censed at their treatment that he imme
diately made upon Huerta a demand thai
a rational salute Hhould bo 11 red in atone
ment f.r the insult to the flajj. Again
the Mexican Oovernmenl attempted to con
tinue Its policy of diplomatic quibbling.
"Meanwhile the revolution had gained
such headway in the North that it was
oimcult from day to day to say which force
h;td or occupied the greatest portion of
Mexican territory. Huerta was keeping up
his resistance because he was being sup
pllej with ammunition from abroad. A
eh I p was reported ready to land at Vera
Crux with a cargo of anus, and as a warn
ing lo Huerta and in proof of the serious
next of our purpose to bring Huerta to a
recognition of our attitude, the order was
given to seize the Custom House and oc
cupy the port of Vera Crux.
"We did not go to Vera Cm to force
HuiTta lo salute he flag. We did go there
lo Hhow Mexico tliat we were In earnest In
our demand thai Huerta must go, and he
went before our force were wltlwlrnwn.
llio ixnnipatkm of Vera Crux was carried
out without dhttculty, wltti tlie loss of nine
teen of our brave sailors and marine, and
If aggression and Intervention had been
our aim we coo Id have easily seized the
railroad to Mexico City and occupied the;
capita L
"The menacing cttltnde of the Mexican :
troops surrounding our force of occupation j
a) Vera Crux made hostilities appear tin-
minenl. and again the strongest kind of '
pressure waa brought to bear upon the
President to Intervene, that we should go 1
Into Mexico and take matters Into our
own hands. Tills Is the one thing that the
'resides has art his faoo against from
(lie nraf. It la the thing lo which the Ad
ministration Is opposed so long as any
other hope holds out.
"But, Ur. Secretary, I asked, "could not
the United Slates have done in Mexico what
it did in Cuba?"
suspicious of our motives.
"No. said Mr. lane, "ws could not. That
la s very common delusion, but the Mexican
situation Is not at all that which we met in
Cuba. We went in there at the request of
the revolutionists and after the Maine had
been sunk In Havana Harbor and such
authority as there was in Cuba had thus
evidenced its hostility. We could go in and
did go In there with some heart, fighting
alongside of the revolutionists against a
monarchy, but wo could not go In with any
heart to light against the llexx-an who are
struggling to And a way to popular govern
ment. Hat to return lo the facts:
"We bad sought to bring to our sympathe
tic support all of the tfouth American
countries. They also were anxious for a
settlement of this trouble upon some busts
that would safeguard the Interests of Mexico
anj conserve that unity which Is the soul of
the crrat Pan-American movement, fcimie
or litem thought (hat they saw a greedy
tin ml fmm the north reaching down with no
benevolent purpose, and if it laid hold of
Mexico none of them knew but Ihut It might
be their turn neit.
"This fear of the big brother Is n very
real otic In 1.nlln America. They do not
know us intimately; they are suspicious
of our motive. They think of th .iei
(in War of 11 an an unjustifiable iigKic
siou nn our part; they think of the I'aiiiinui
Incident as a robltcry: they injM-oiistrue ur
purpose In Satilo Domlngd, mul in Nicar
agua, and Uiey do not trutt us. 1 lie
fenr thitt the spirit of Imperialism Is upon
the Ameriean peofde and that the Monroe
Doi'trlne may be const rurd1 some dny as n
doctrine cluit will give the wlwle Wmlern
Hemisphere to the I nlted StaieMj that It
Is a doctrine of srinshnrTia and not a dm'
trinn of uhruu-m.
MKD1ATION ACCKPTED.
"Those who are familiar with the feeling
of the South and Central American coun
tries toward the United Rtates know that
Ju.it at a time, when our forces occupied
Vera Cruz, a very Intense fenr had seized
upon I a tin America. They believed in
their hearts that we were on our mart h
biiuthward nd that the President s Mobile
speech and other generous utterance of
the name sort were to be taken In a Pick
wickian serine.
"When they presented ft plan of media
tion, the United Htates had no choice but
lo aceept It. Indeed, if we had refused to
accept It. Ijitln America would have been
Justified In doubting our good filth. No
one that I am aware of, either Republican
or Democrat, ban ever criticised the Presi
dent fur accepting the mediation of Argen
tina. Itrs7.il and Chili, and abiding strictly
by the sgreenient reached at Niagara Falls.
"My the protocol there signed on June
2S. 114. the United States agreed that ihe
selection of a J'rovMniml and a Cntltu
Itoiiiil l'rfKl.leitt he left wholly to the Mexi
cans, it nd we guaranteed our tecognitlon of
them hen elwsen. This made clear -u.r
(tfilre nn to Interfere In any way in the
settlement of Mexico's domestic trouhies,
nnil ns h further proof of our disinterested
friendship for the Mexican people the
United States as reed not to claim any war
Indemnity 'T other International satisf.ietio.i
from Mexico. We had gone to Vera Unix
to nerve mankind. Our only quarrel was
with Iluerti. and H tiertt not out on July
1 ti. Hilt. Our forces were withdrawn from
Vera, Ortiz on November -3d following.
"Three days after 1 Inert a left Mexico,
Villa began levying taxes on his own au
thority, nnd It was plain that the sue.-ess-ful
revolutionists would soon be fighting
aetwom themselves, lloth Carranza and
Villa agreed to a conference at Agiasa
llentes. and it was stipulated that no sol
diers were to be there; but Villa turned
up with an armed force that terrorized
the convention and prevented it from rec
ognizing Curramsa. and in a short while
open warfare began between the two fac
tions. "Villa and Carranr-a had broken, and
there was a double sovereignty claimed even
on our border in Northern Mexico. Things
were going from bad to worse, and it was
suggested In the Cabinet that there should
he some determination by the United
States as to which of the rival claimants to
power in Mexico as leader of a successful
revolution should be recognized as a do
facto government.
WHY WK AUK IN MRXICO.
"Secretary of State Lansing thereupon
called a conference of the representatives
of Argentina, Brazil. Chili, Bolivia, Uruguay
and Guatemala and asked them, from their
knowledge of the situation for a consid
erable portion of the information in the
hands of the United 8tates came through
the representatives of these countries in
Mexico to co-operate with him in the de
termination of the claimant to be recog
nized. ThoHO six IjUiii-Amerloaii Catholic
countries unanimously recommended the
recognition, of Oarranza, and In furtherance
of our Pan-American policy this recogni
tion was at once given by tho United States
and I Attn-America.
"Since Carrauza's recognition we have
seen Americans who have gone Into Mexico
on Deaoeful errands murdered: we hnvo
seen our own towns upon the border raided
and Americans slain on American soil.
These outrages prompted President Wilson
to send our own troops into Mexico, ana
thin course cannot h otherwise con
strued than as a recognition of the fact that
the pe facto Government in V.xico recoj
nlxetl by onrscives and by other nations is
not fulltlllitg the duty which one Govern
ment owes to another.
"We are In Mexico today, and how long
we shall stay and how fur we shall go
depends upon the policy and the power lo
keep the peace of the Carranza Govern
ment, bnt we shall go no further than
we have gone until every effort to secure
effective Mexican co-operation falls."
Mr. Liflne then proceeded to an exam
ination of the principles governing the
policy of the United States toward Mexico
and of the needs of the Mexican people.
He said-
"We have been on the edge of war with
Mexico several times in the last three
years, but each time, before the determina
tion was made that we should discard our
hopes, there has opened unme way by
which reasonable men might expect that
Mexico could prove herself able to take care
of her own problems. The one man who can
Justifiably criticise President Wilson for his
Mexican policy Is the man who honestly be
lieves that Mexico cannot be brought to
stability of government and responsibility
except through the exorcise of outside force.
That man Is consistent, and the only criti
cism I have to make of him Is a criticism of
his Judgment.
KICKING MKXICAN CO-OPERATION.
"There Is no question that we could !
easily overrun Mexico. 1 believe we could
do It with a comparatively few ;nen, al
though we would have a united Mexico
against us. There would be no glory in
such a war, and there is not one man In
ten thousand In this country who really
wants such a war. It would be repugnant
to every American tradition and would dis
courage the friendship of every other Ameri
can nation. "f course we could conuuer Mex
ico, nnd after n tcood deal of guerilla warfare
we could brine Mexico to a state of quiet.
"Then we could hold her while we admin
istered to her the medicine that we believe
she needs. We could have what we call a
general cleaning up. the rebuilding of her
railroads, uf her wagon roads, the construc
tion of sewers for her cities, the enforcement
of health regulations and all the otner
tilings that go to make up the outward and
Visible signs of order and good government.
"But don't you see that the peace we
would bring would be a peace Imposed by
force, the government we would give to
Mexico would be the kind of government
that we have and which makes life tolerable
to us in our communities. Its standards
would not be Mexican standards. Its ideals
would not be Mext-an Ideals. Its genius
would not be Mexican genius. The moment
we withdrew from Mexico there would be
a return after a very short time to Mexican
standard.
"What Mexico really needs and must be
allowed to do Is to raise her own .standard:
it Is to give herself a cleaning up by her
self. That is Imunri lo take time, bnl In no
other way can Mexico get a government
that will lie expressive of her own Ideals,
that will Im expressive of some aspiration
nf her own ns to what her civilization
should he, nml In this we want In he of
help lo Mexico If she will allow ns lo do so.
"The Mexican pmblrm as n problem de
pends upon your attitude toward Oiher
peoples. Mexico Is a land to conquer, and
the Mexican people are a people to be con
quered and subordinated and the country
and its Tr-mirees made our, if you look
upon a smaller and le-s highly civilized
oiintry is a proper object of exploitation.
On the ether hind. Mexico Is a country out
of which something greater can be mad,
and the Mexican people are a penpl who
h ive possibilities and can be helped to be
come a self-governing nation, and if you
take that attitude toward Mexico you re
bound to sympathize with her struggle up
ward. "In other words, where we And that con
ditions justify revolution, if we think It our
business to go In nnd work the revolution to
nur profit, we must condemn the President's
policy; but If. where we find conditions
justify revolution, wo want to give tliat
revolution a chance (o work out from tho
liHldo we must hold up hM hands."
"What are the things that Mexico needs,
Mr. .Secretary?" I asked. "What is neces
sary for a return to peace and order?"
Mr. lane said:
"Tho things that Mexico needs are few,
but they are fundamental. A Innd-tax sys
tem which will make It impossible lo bold
great bodies of idle land for selllsh reasons
and which will make it unnecessary for the
government to sell concessions in ordr to
support itself. A school sybtem by which
popular education may he given to all the
people as it is given in (he United Stales. If
Diaz had done this, as he promised, he
would have created an active public opinion
in Mexico which wouid have made present
conditions Impossible.
"Along with the primary schools should
go agricultural schools In which modern
methods of agriculture should be taught.
The army might well be used as a sanita
tion corps so ns to insure against !he re
currence of those plagues which so effect
trade relations with Mexico and the hearth
of her people. With these things Mexico
would be well started on her way toward
that better era which her moro .'n'elligent
revolutionists thought she had reached in
the early days of the Diaz administration,
some 40 years ago.
UNJUST LAND SYSTEM.
"Every one In Mexico Is united upon the
proposition that the present land system is
based upon privilege and is unjust. I have
talked with twenty of the wealthiest and
most intelligent men who belonged to the
Diaz regime. All have admitted the fact.
Some have even volunteered the statement
that Mexico is in a feudal state, and that the
land belongs to great proprietors, who work
the peons and keep them in x semi-slave con.
ditlon. Tf the facts were better realized, the
people of the United States would not stand
for the labor conditions that exist In Mexico,
and for tiie peonage, which is only a form of
slavery.- I have some personal knowZ-'dge
of these conditions.
"One morning, ten years ago. I was on a
coffee finca a great estate high up in the
Sierra Madre and I asked a peasant who
labored from sunrise to sunset what he was
getting for his day's work. His answer was
(iO cents In Guatemalan money, which was
equal to 10 cents gold. Here was a strong,
able-bodied agricultural laborer earning 13
a month. I asked him why he did not go
down on the railroad, where the American
contractors would pay him 50 cents or more
a day. His answer was: 'I would not be
from here one mile before Don Porfirlo
would have reached out his hand and drawn
me back to Jail.' I said, 'Why could he
arrest you?' and the answer given me falter
Ingly and in fear was, 'Because I owe the
store."
"lie had lived and worked on that flnca
for 12 years, and. nlive or dend. he is there
today unless be has run away to Join an
army in the revolution. I asked that Mexi
can peon where he had come from, and be
pointed across the mountains to a valley
where his people had lived for a thousand
years. 'Why did you leave thre?' I In
quired. His answer was that Don Porrtrlo
had given the land where he was born to a
Chinaman.
"From an Investigation T made myself T
found out that this was literally true; tnat
the land, which was the hereditary posses
sion of these Indians, had heen taken from
them by the government and given to n
greater 'company' on terms which orve can
only guess: that the 'company' had sold the
land to a syndicate, in which there were no
Americans, upon condition that It should be
populated under a law somewhat similar to
our Homestead Law, with tho reservation
that it was neither to go to Mexican natives
nor to citizens of the United States, and the
Immigrants with which the syndicate was
populating that part of Mexico were China
men. "I crossed a bridge on the Camlno TteaV
'The last time I crossed that bridge. satd
the peon who was with me, 'the Governor
of the State wan lying there dead. He had
become ambitious and presented to the
police a program of reform. Doubtless he
hopd to be another Juarez, and Don Por
firio had ended his ambitions. Ths peon of
Mexico and out of possibly 15.000.000 in
habitants at least 12.000.000 are peons Is
a kindly and gentle creature under normal
conditions, disregardfut nf his own life, nut
not anxious to make war on any one. The
peon has It forced upon his mind that he
belong to a definite sphere of life, and so he
is without ambition and without foresight,
but he Is not without Intelligence, and he
makes an excellent workman when taught.
All he reeds is a chance to live and a chance
to learn, land to cultivate and schools to go
to. Ts It conceivable that to add to the
miseries nf these struggling people any Am
erican citizen would want to make war on
them ?
AMP.KICAN IV MKTICO.
"We of the United States have the Impulse
that all virile people have. We feel con
scious of our ability to do a job In nation
making much better than anyone else.
Itend over Kipling's poem. 'The White Man s
Burden. It was not so much the white
man's duty to clean up unsanitary conditions
on the outskirts of civilization and to de
velop the backward peoples of the earth
that he was expressing as It was our perfect
self-complacent appreciation of our supreme
ability to do the cleaning up better than any
other people on the face of the globe.
"There is a good deal of the special police
man, of the sanitary engineer, of the social
worker and of the welfare dictator anout
the American people. We are quite con
soious that In the development of this great
country of ours. In our march across the
continent, we have done a perfectly good
Job, and the pioneering spirit Is very much
alive. It Is one of the most fundamental
instincts that have made white men give to
the world its history for the last thousand
years.
"As a great nation, dedicated to democ
racy, wo cannot undertake a war of con
ipiest against a people because their moral
development has been neglected by their
former rulers. We can, however, insist, and
we must Intritft. that these people shill
make safe our borders and give protection
to the lives and property of our nationals
who have settled in Mexieo at her invita
tion." "But is there no way, Mr. Secretary, in
which the United States can help Mexico on
the road to progress?" I asked. Mr. I.ane said:
"To directly offer help to Mexico would be
looked upon by them as an Insult. like
slapping them in the face. This is a kind
of pride that is purely Iatin. It is an In
heritance that comes to Mexico by way of
Spain along with the ideals that Cervantes
ridicules in 'Don Quixote; but It Is so real
a thing that no progress can be made with
out recognbtlng it. So I say that to tell
Mexico what she shall do In our straight-out
American fashion, to say to Mexico we ore
going to help you without being Invited to
do so, is equivalent under present conditions
to a declaration of war.
DOUBT OUR ATTRUISM.
"The Mexicans do not believe In our pro
fessions of altruism. We must say to Mexico
one of two things. Either you must keep
our border safe and protect the rights of our
nationals in Mexico, which you have not
dona, or we will invade your country and re
store order ourselves; or we must say to
Mexico we understand the effort you ar
making to give the people a chance for life,
liberty and pursuit of happiness and we will
gladly help you if you ask our help to ac
complish this end.
"The Inst Is the policy that the United
States has been seeking to put Into effect.
The difficulty In doing this arises almost
solely out of the difficulty we Americana
have In persuading the peoples of latin
America that our intentions arc really
honest.
"Nor is this altogether to be wondered at,
Latin America has shown the American
chiefly as a seeker after concessions, a land
grabber and an exploiter. Kven where the
American has bought property, as many
have who today hold perfectly legal title to
the land, they are absentee landlords, and
every just criticism that the Irishman has
had to make against the absentee English
landlord can be made against the absentee
American landlord in Mexico.
"He does not become a part of Mexico;
he does not throw in his lot with the Mexi
cans. He Is willing to spend his money
there and employ labor, but he has nothing
in common with the people of the country.
The Mexican feels that the American goes
there only to get rich out of the land and
labor of Mexico; that he comes to exploit,
not to develop."
"Looking at Mexico solely from the stand
point of allowing our miners, our engineers
and our capitalists to develop that country
for their own benefit, and only Incidentally
for the benefit of Mexico, a policy of force is
all that Mexico needs. It is the only policy
that has ever been tried upon the Mexican
people, and it has proved a success for ths
exploitation of the country by outsiders. If,
however, we look at the Mexican question
from the standpoint of the Mexican, ts tho
policy of force adequate to the problem?
No one who has studied it will say so. Ths
truth is this:
THK VFRDTCT OF MAXKIND.
"Mexico will never be a nation In any
real sense, nor will the Mexicans ever bo
a people nf agricultural, commercial, Indus
trial or political consequence until Ihe In
dividual Moxlenn has had an economic and
an educational chance. He mnst be tied
to Mexico, and not to a landlord, by tho
ownership of a piece of land; he must he
able to rend and write so that he may
know what the needs of civilisation are.
Tills policy Is that which I characterized a
a policy of hoe and hopefulness. It is not
founded on doubt and despair. It refuses
to recogniie the Mexican who can only bo
shot Into keeping order.
"If wo despair of these people, who Is
to he their friend? Are we Americans to
see Mexico forever remain a land of a few
rich and cultivated gentlemen, and twelve
million half-starved, HI -clothed and Illiterate
peasants, men. women and children, kept
in slavery and subjection and Ignorance, a
people Into whose lives come nothing that
raises them above the beaats of the fleld?
The people of the United States cannot
conceive of such conditions. Is It not time
to try another policy than thnt nf force
alone, which has failed so miserably nnd
wrought such woe? Is President Wilson lo
he criticised because he believes that it Is
not idealistic, not outside the range of rea
sonable hope, to think of America as the
helpful friend of Mexico? Why may not
Mexico he led to see thnt w nr honest In
our willingness to help nnd that wc can
do It?
"President Wilson has clearly seen Ihe
oml that ho desired from the first nnd ho
has worked toward It against an opposition
that was cunning and intensive, persistent
and powerful. If he micrceds In giving a
new birth of freedom lo Mexico, he most
surely will receivo tho verdict of mankind.''
We are readv to ormno anr ana an or our startrmenra.