The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1914. AMERICAN ULTIMATUM TO MEXICO.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2127, 20 April 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1914. AMERICAN ULTIMATUM TO MEXICO.

No ono can accuse PnEsincsn Witson of rushing recklessly into a'vat with Mexico, but matters have now reached a vetfy critical stage and the United States maj; be compelled to come, into the fightiiig arena in spite of the disificUiiaticm of the Washington authorities to take nn active pn/rb in the conflict. Some piKsplo think that intervention is inevitable, and that the United States is piling up trouble for itself by putting off the evil day. Recent developments have certainly given strong support to this point of view. Matters have now been brought to a cliffiitx by the arrest of American Siarinea iifc Tampico, and aft ultimatum bag been issued from Washington stating tliat ■ unless HuEBfA saluted the American. flag before six o'clock last night ■ sipknt Wilsox \vo«ld cormsne a joiiifc ■ Bession of Congress on Monday frith the object of taking steps to enforce , tho demand. It is unrlcrslood th-Ttb. the first.act of war trill bo the seu-;

uv,-> of IVrapitp. the mur tlet of .M«/lkxTO.v ihc feeling has linen growing in Anuria that activo Ti»tiM-lc!-<;ji(w in .sortio form must take liliii"<\ s!r. lifN-io.v's iJm'.li plarofl Iho I'rf.idcnt, in 1111 awhwnrd popitirm Icciti'.e had Imping thai tho di'fcnf, of HirF.iru l>,v and t'.MJUANKA would tend to rcstuTO orHim nmt sialilo govcrnn^nt; hut th- , p:u-l, wliieli Vh.lv is siifipos'-d to \\nsc HiijoiJ in Uir tragedy nruJ hii b.irli'iroin mriliodsof warfare haw madn if. ovidnnl that t!io f-ill of Hceuta may only make confusion vorto t-on-fimndciJ. If thn United Slates Oovftiinniiil should soon find iUclf ni!linjitaJ in llio Mexican confliVl,i)vcr.v----0116 wiU recognise that armed inlc'riciiiiiiu wan uol dofid?d upon in nny rctfciw spirit of jingoism, but out i-f sinvi' necessity, nail tho Government will have the moral support of tlip fjivi!i§ed world,

What, a war with Mexico would Ijretmwy moan is i&Blained in S-boofc which has just made its entitled M-qdttn Mexico, written b,y Mh. MaoflyaH, who was commissioned by tho 'London daily Tele-ifi-aph to inrest-igntio iho causes of t-ne disturbances. After describing how a, Ftenoh army, n.umhcrinff 200,000 m«n, wns harassed h- tho gucfriUa -ft-arfarft in which the Mcjfioans_ excel, and was unable-, though hojdtog t-ho principal towne. to control Iho country, M». MAofli?OH proeeScJa:

[ A similar experience,, theraghj perhaps, I apt wi quite so extfiosifo to, esato, istfaUe the United Stntos Afmt in the orent ol raterveation. But this tjAiiod States, uiilike- Napoleon HI, it) 1867, cannot nffohl to withdraw from th« task before Tter, ottd srili bo bound to carry the Work fhrougll ;to the mi. It is tffffienlt to estimate jtttaat this would, entail, but it is probably no cswgera.tion. to say that it wouM teqiuro At least a, quarter x>i a million men to be niamtaineu in Jtaieo on 9 war footing-. The conflict might laefe for a decade or «T-6ft longer,, and. the cost entailed would, bs incalculably T!jk is all pefrfeotly familiar to President Wilson, and it is certain that lie will only intervene when all olfe areaM b«*e feilect to finog about a settlement of the internal Gbticlvtions is Mexico. • At tie earns time, tfta obligation 6n the United; States to act in the lust resort will be im.psfiitive, not *ml,y because of her insistence upon ■Oi* prinatpjes of the- UontOe Doctrine, bus also because, rightly qr wrongly, tlio protenßation of tho troubles is directly ultra* buwd %y lnafty Mexicans the ndil-rc-cojtnition of tbe Hufirta Government. And this view, as already tedieatod, is shared met only by Mexicans, but b j the TepreSentativfts of many co-rttorato rinij private Afterjcan interests in the Bep»bJi.<?. These hare "not hesitated to inform both dent Wjlsjtn and Mr. Bryan thafc, IsM the United Staffs Goyerntbesfc tecßfr.uswi the Administration af General Jfuertn j> t the time ho became Piwisionij Pissidimt '■ the country frouM to-day be at peiwe.

: On* can well understand fte aft- ; williiigiiess of Pp.EgjDE-fir WiiSftM' to oomtnonce a conflict such ae that foreshadowed by Mft. MacHuSh. ■ Britain, France., and Gfirtoahy have large, interests in Mexico, and hare . been exerting friendly pressure on th& American Government to induce it to take effective steps ■to protect tho lives and property-of their subjects, and to restore good govern-. Disnfc as sson as possible. AjWotieaA interests in the eounfcry. are also very great, it hoisg estitnated that no fewer tlian 50,000 IJaited States cjti- ■ zens aro cmieerjiect jn inv'est'men.ts to- ] tailing 1,057,000,000 dollars. These; people ayo naturally petting tired of the waiting policy hitherto adopted by the American ftcive-rnnsent. Even if Hc-BBfA agrees to salute the American flag and tho Tampico ifieident docs not result in war, it is becoming more ovideat evey daj that, unless the unforeseen happens in the new futitro. the United States will be com.rjellcd to undortako the task of putting an end to the state of chaos and bloodshed which hw existed in Mexico since the close of ttc togime of P0BI?IBi.O BtA-Z,