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Show EXECUTION I Si General Feeling of Ap- 1 prehension That the 1 Lives of Foreigners Are Unsafe in Mexico and That Something U Must Be Done by the m United States Govern- 1 ment. BRYAN ORDERS A I RIGID INQUIRY I Villa Claims Justifica- tion for His Act and m Cites Alleged Prece- dents; Senators Reach Boiling Point and the II Situation May Be Dis- cussed Soon. 81 WASHINGTON. Feb.. 21. Secretary Sj Bryan has ordered a far-reaching iu- )M vestigutioa of the killing of William j S. Benton, the British subject, at Jua j si; roz. He auuouncedtoday thnt until jjl all tho facts iu thu case had been gutli- jr ercd from all available sources no opin- lj ion would bo expressed by the state iji department, All information received fir will be transmitted to the British gov. W', eminent, Explanations made by General Villa rah to Thomas D, Edwards and Georgo C. hL: Cnrothors, tho American consular rep- j resentatives at Juarez, together with fh tho court-martial record, are to bo sup- M' plemented by further Information. In- LI; structious went forth to American Con- 3jJ sul Letcher to loam details from Villa fj and it is understood that inquiry through independent sources will ho ujj carried on at Juarez. Mr. Carothcrs is raj i consular agent at Torroon, temporarily s assisting Mr, Edwards. jjj Villa's Version. j Advices received by the slate depart- t" jfl ! ment up to late tofla-, giving Villa's ;' version of the affair, wero that Benton !ij was armed, had personally quarreled i with Villa, hud beon disarmed, tried by court-martial and executed on tho ; f chargo of attempting the life of Villa. : Villa's explanation, as telegraphed by Eft him today to tho constitutionalist agency M here, was unofficially exhibited to stale H j department officials and, though read with Interest, brought no comment. sj f Army officers took particular Interest In i the reference to Benton as an "armed L f prowler" and as such not entitled to tho fi protection of tho rules of wax. "An ; f armed prowler," described In "Order 100" jj of tho American army. Is esHentlaJIy a J guerrilla, they explained, and one who lj jj Is caught within military lines with arms 0 cither engaged In tho wanton dostruo- tion of property or as part of an Invad- li Ing force. It was admitted generally that J j lf Benton made a murderous assault jjjj ( upon Villa with a weapon he might have j j been subject to the death penalty; but 1 1 on that point evldenco is wanting, and 11 i army offlcors are reserving Judgment fiy 'j British Position. Unless there aro othor instructions Mj from the foreign office, the British em- 'ivl i bassy here will mako no further move tfffl j In this matter, pending the outcomo of JM A tho investigation which tho stato depart- 1 ment has undertaken. . If It Is understood that Embassador JJ II Spring-Wee has emphasized the un- Slil 1 official character of the representations IS ho has made to the state department 1 thus far on the ground that tho British Bl 3 government claimed no legal obligation ijJ on the part of the United States to look JNIf after the welfaro of British subjects in ml S Mexico. The action of tho stato depart- I I I ment directing consuls to extend to SIR British subjects bi Mexico the samo de- if 13 greo of protection as Is given to Amcrl- I JIB'S cans has beon regarded as an act of uj i courtesy for which the British g6vern- Ufa ment was duly grateful. I i S I'or this reason, It Is said there Is no B 4 basis for the expectation that any de- ill s mand or any request will ho made upon Bjg I the United States government to secure fi reparation for tho killing of Benton, and I f determination of the proper course to bo II pursued toward Villa Is conaequontly to ft I bo left entirely to state department of- 9 I flclalu. I jj. Some Apprehension. ill One result of the Benton Incident haa I a f beon to create a feeling of apprehension I In the diplomatic circle In Washington a fj I (Continued on Pago Two.X " I 31 EXECUTION IY -j . RESULT I CRISIS (Continued from Page Ono.) as to the safety of tho largo foreign elo-ment elo-ment in Mexico. So fur tho resident diplomats have rested content in tho belief be-lief that the undertaking by the American state dopartmont to look after tho welfare wel-fare of their people in Mexico would bo sufficient to insuro for them the degree of protection guaranteed by the rules of civilized warfare. Closely following the news of the kill- , ing of Benton under conditions which European diplomata aro inclined to regard re-gard aa violativo of such rules' has come a report of the killing of two Spanish subjects in Mexico. The Spanish government, govern-ment, through its embassy here, requested re-quested Information from the stato department de-partment and so far this has not been j available. Consequently, there has been 1 some discussion among diplomats of recommending a general withdrawal of Europeans from tho disturbed country. Senators Restless. Tho seriousness of tho Mexican situation situa-tion generally, and particularly tho execution ex-ecution of Benton, furnished a subject of grave discussion in tho senate while in executivo session after tho arbitration treaties wero disposed of. Members of the foreign relations commlttoo gave assurances as-surances that they were in close touch with affairs, es directed by tho president and stato department. Official attention was called to tho Benton case before the executive session began In a telegram to Senator Fall of New Mexico from R. M. Dudloy, who asserted that Genoral Villa had murdered Benton "like a dog," and that the Amorican 1 policy of "watchful waiting is a failure. Senator Fall read this telegram again in tho executive session, ses-sion, and also read to tho Benato resolutions resolu-tions of protest adopted last night at a mass meeting In El Paso, Tex. Ho urged a moro aggressive policy by the American Ameri-can government, and other senators who are Inclined to bo Impatient over the pres- ! ent situation in Mexico sided with him. The senate took no action. Membors i of tho foreign relations committee urged that tho executivo and state departments bo not embarrassed in their efforts to protect foreigners in the revolution-torn republic. Despite efforts of administration leaders lead-ers to keop the lid on Mexican affairs, so far as the senate Is concerned, thero Is a growing feeling of uneasiness, and j fears were expressed tonight that some I senators would be restrained no longer from discussing the situation on tho floor of tho open senate. To avert this is one of the tasks confronting tho foreign relations re-lations committee. Roberto V. Posqulera, constitutionalist agent here, mado public the following telegram from constitutionalist headquarters headquar-ters at Juarez: 'Benton entered Villa's apartment very unexpootodly, demanding protection protec-tion for his Interests and bitterly Insulting In-sulting Villa and the rebel army. Goneral Villa told him that ho considered con-sidered him an enemy to the constitutionalist consti-tutionalist cause and that in order that he might not continue to work against It, ho. Villa, was going to pay hfm the valuo of his (Benton's) property In tho state of Chihuahua. Bonton becamo very exasperated at thlB and drew hla revolver. Intending to. kill the genoral. but tho latter Immediately Im-mediately knocked him down, disarmed dis-armed him and sent him to jail. Benton Ben-ton was afterward tried by a special military court and sentenced to death and duly exocuted, all In accordance ac-cordance with the laws and usages of war. Cites Precedents. Later today Villa telegraphed PeHqulera as follows: The attention of the commanding feneral of the division of tho north aving been drawn to the published reports in respect of the execution of "William S. Benton, ho desires it known that the action of the authorities authori-ties In the case was entirely Justified by the laws and usages of war. Under article 81 of general order 100, for tho government of the United States army In the field, it is provided pro-vided that "armed prowlers" who come within tho line of the army of occupation with hostile intent aro not entitled to the privileges of priaonors of war. Article 85 provides that persons within occupied territory who employ violence toward tho established authorities au-thorities are subject to tho penalty of death, whether they arlso singly or in numbor. Alleged Act of Violence. There is absolutely no doubt that Benton, a Ilucrtlsta sympathizer and murderer of Mexican citizens, deliberately delib-erately attempted an act of violence against the person and Ufa of the commanding general, and for that reason, In accordance with the laws and usages of war, ho was tried by a military tribunal, constituted for that purpose, and executed pursuant to Its sentence, a proceeding sustained by American and European precedents. General Jackson. In 1818. hanged two British subjects, Arbuthnot and Ambrlster, for having given alien sympathy to hostile Indians in Florida. Flor-ida. Genoral Butler hanged Mumford at New Orleans, in 1862, for merclv hauling down an American Hag from over tho customs house, and two years later Kennedy was hanged by the Unitod States military authorities at New York becauso of his complicity com-plicity in a plot to set fire to that city. What was Justifiable under martial law in tho United States then. Is certainly cer-tainly justifiable under martial law In Mexico now. The fact that Benton was a British subject Cias no bearing on the legal aspects of the case, as under international law the alien Is as amennblo to martial law as is a citizen. |