THE MEXICAN CRISIS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1072, 10 March 1911, Page 5

THE MEXICAN CRISIS.

JAPANESE DESIGNS FEARED. By Telegraph-Press .\e«-i"!.iMir.-f<ipy , .(:Ui. Washington, March 8. The massing of American troops ou the Mexican borders is designed to prevent Japan from acquiring a coaling station in Mexico, and also as a warning with regard to tho enforcement of the Monroe doctrine. THE COUNTRY QUIET. London, March 8. The Mexican Minister in London declares that the whole of Mexico is quiet, except for marauding bauds in the north. Any steps that might bo taken by the United States to patrol its own frontier would be welcomed by the Mexican authorities. MOBILISATION NO THREAT, PRESIDENT DIAZ IN GOOD HEALTH. (Rec. March 10, 0.30 a.m.) Washington, March 9. It is officially announced that the mobilisation of United States troops on the Mexican frontier is solely for the purpose of holding manoeuvres. Mexico understands that she is not threatened, and a protest is therefore not .forthcoming. One-third of tho United States army and several warships will be mobilised. It is now stated that the health of President Diaz, j-csterday reported to be on his death-bed, is excellent.

BELIEF IN A WAR WITH JAPAN. Mr. Maurice Low in a recent despatch from New York touches on the possibility of Japanese trado rivalry in South America leading to a war. He says:— Whilo Mr. Barrett and other persons are trying to increase American commerce with Latin-America certain other persons see in South America the scene of tho coming struggle between the United States and Japau, a struggle which the man in tho street believes to be'inevitable. I his belief in a war with Japan has become an idee fixe with Americans. They talk about it with almost fatalistic acceptance, as a thing ordained and not to bo escaped from. Not long ago a person of prominence said to me that Japanese activitv in South America could not be viewed with unconcern by tho United States. "The Japanese," he said, "are swarming into South America. They are after trade, and are trying to oust the Germans, just as the Germans have ousted the British. They hope to control tho trade that 'properly belongs to us. They will establish a foothold in South America and will say that they have as much right there as we have or anyone else except the South Americans themselves, and so long as they are there by permission of South America the United .States has no Tight to interfere. We, of course, can say or do nothing so long as the conquest is purely commercial, but once tho Japanese solidly entrench themselves commercially they will seek, to secure their position by political privileges, as they havo done wherever they have forced a lodgment.- That will be in defiance of the Monroe Doctrine, and the United States will either have to resist that or abandon tho Monroe Doctrine because it interferes v;ith the policy and aims of Japan. We shall only abandon the Monroe Doctrine after we have fought for it and have been defeated, but we will never give it up until that lias happened. I have never believed that Japan unduly coveted the Philippines or even tho Hawaiian Islands, as they are not worth over much to h,er; but the trado of South America is different, and South America offers a field for Japanese colonisation and exploitation. It is there that danger threatens us from' Japan." It is a new and distinctly brilliant idea. It will probably become an old story before the Monroe Doctrine is abrogated, or the United States and Japan go to war over tho trado of South America.