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Show MEXICO'S DARKNESS. . V Wo arc fighting darkness in Mexico. Our chief foo is a distorted public opinion. opin-ion. A bettor underataiidiug with tho people of that unhappy county- easily fouid bo produced woro it not for tho falsehoods regarding America and Americans constantly circulated whoro tbey will have tho greatest effect. Wo flatter ourselves in. this country thnt public opinion is formed according to tho facta, and this ia truo. Within a few hours of nil important happenings rogarding tho Mexican situation, all our peoplo aro familiar with tho facta. ' Long acquaintance with tho news of tho day has educated our pooplo until thoy know fairly well what valuo to place upon various reports. Thoy dis-crimiuato dis-crimiuato between actuaJity and rumor; they mako allownnco for tho human element ele-ment in tho transmission of roports; they aro ablo to estimate just how much tho report Is likoly to havo been exaggerated ex-aggerated in passing through doubtful mediums of transmission. In other words, they have tho spotlight of publicity pub-licity constantl' playing about tho world, and they aro not easily deceived. How different ia tho, situation in Mexico. Thero a rigid censorship has been established, and' tho peoplo btq supplied only with such information as will servo tho purposes of tho politicians in power. Wo read that special editions edi-tions of nowspapers havo been published pub-lished in Mexico City by tho command of Hucrta, announcinc that the Americana Ameri-cana havo been repelled at Vera Cruz, that the Mexicans havo sciied two or three American cities on tho border, and other inventions of a like character. charac-ter. Tho report concorning tho spocial editions may or may not bo truo, but wo know that this is tho system by which Huorta and his government havo been ablo to maintain themselves in powor. For many da tho fall of Tor-reon Tor-reon was concealed from tho peoplo in tho capital, and it is doubtful whothor tho majority of the population there aro yet acquainted with tho truth. For years tho Mexican people havo been fed on hatred for tho United States. Public opinion has been based upon lies fostered by Mexican leaders who knew hotter, or by foroign interests inter-ests seeking to discredit this country for commorcial or political purposes. As long a3 this situation exists wo must expect to pay tho penalty In constant friction and oven in war. Until the pooples of tho Latin-American countries havo republics in fact ns well as in namo, until their pros3 is freo and thoir sourcoB of communication communica-tion untrammoled, and until thero iB universal education, theso peoplo will be misled by demagogues and by auch monsters ns Hucrta. We may pity tho darkness in which theso peoplo live, and we may denounce tho torriblo crime of tho politicians and leaders who keep the western hemisphere in a perpetual state of war by a conspiracy of deception; decep-tion; but wo will be compelled to endure en-dure undeservi'ug hatreds and to fight successive wars until such time as Toal liberty is gained by tho peoplo of Mexico Mex-ico and other South American countries, and a chance thus given them to form a genuine public opinion based upon fucts and not upon falsehoods. If we are compelled to go on from Vera Cruz to Mexico City, wo shall be fighting with a pooplo who believe ns monsters of iniquity, because they have been kept iu darkness by political tyrants like Diaz and Huerta. Herein wo can sco some of tho elements which produco an inevitable confilct between tho United States and Mexico. It will tako years and perhaps generations to romovo theso elements of misunderstanding. misunder-standing. Meantime wo must be content con-tent with the knowlcdgo that wo havo gono to war with our escutcheon unsullied. un-sullied. Wo know that wo are right and that our foe i6 in tho wrong, but tho knowlcdgo that ho is in tho wrong need not, prevent us from pitying his abject stato of darkness. That darkness dark-ness is one of iho chief accusations against creatures like Hucrta, who mako their way to powor because of it, and maintain themselves in power by fostoring it. |