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Show ROOSEVELT IN AN' ATTACK ONWILSON Declares the Flag Has Not Yet jBeen Saluted in Mexico. Oyster Bay, N. Y March 2D. Colonel Colo-nel Roosevelt tonight made a smashing smash-ing attack on President Wilson's Mexican Mex-ican policy. It is an answer to President Presi-dent Wilson's statement of last Sun. day and a caustic summing up of the situation below the border. Tonight's attack Is direct and personal and mav be fairly regarded' as the opening gun of a vigorous campaign which will be waged without cessation from now until tho assembling of the Chicago convention. Tho statement follows: "I havo received many requests from good American citizens In Mox-Ico Mox-Ico asking if thero Is not some way by which the American people may be made to understand the uttorly baseless character of President Wilson's Wil-son's recent charge that American property ownerB in Mexico were responsible re-sponsible for stirring up tho trouble therein. All that is necesary Is to ask President Wilson to answer theso perfectly simple questions: "What American or otner property owners In Mexico secured the killing of tho 276 Americans who havo been killed by Mexicans? "Does Mr. Wilson mean that it was American property owners who inspired in-spired him to permit the shipping to the Vllllstas of the thousands of rifles and munitions of war which they havo now used to kill our people7 "Does Mr. Wilson mean that American Ameri-can property owners inspired hiB then friends, the Vllllstas and Carranzlstas shooting across our border on different differ-ent occasions to kill on our own soil nine American soldiers and wound many others? Recalls the Casualties. "Does Mr. Wilson mean that it was tho owners of property In Mexico, native or foreign, who Inspired the Vllllstas and Carranzlstas In repeat ed affrays at Naco by shooting over the line into American territory, to will and wound, all told, some fifty-seven fifty-seven Americans, including American women, American soldiers In the American uniform and the American collector of customs? "Does Mr. Wilson mean that It was the owners of property In Mexico who secured tho attack on American and other foreign men, women and children chil-dren at Tampico and secured also the direction by President Wilson and Secretary Daniels to tho American war vessels at Tampico to steam away and leave German and English vessels to protect the American civilians civ-ilians to whom Mr. Wilson had denied de-nied the protection of the Stars and Stripes? How Bandits Got Arms. "Does Mr. Wilson mean that property prop-erty owners in Mexico were responsible responsi-ble for his alternately placing and lifting the embargo on the export of arms and munitions to Mexico until every bandit who wished arms with which to shoot Americans had them? "Does Mr. Wilson mean that these property owners got him to go to war by taking Vera Cruz after fighting fight-ing in which several hundred Americans Amer-icans and Mexicans lost their llvos, this war being entered into for the purpose of getting the flag saluted, and then abandoned by Mr. Wilson without getting it saluted? "For three years there has been murderous anarchy in Mexico, frightful fright-ful destruction of property, frightful destruction of life, nameless infamies committed on women, and every element ele-ment makln gfor law and order systematically sys-tematically hunted down and destroyed destroy-ed or driven out of the country. Assisted Anarchy. "Mr. Wilson, throughout these years, has aotlvely interfered in Mexico Mex-ico and throughout the time he has consistently Interfered on behalf of some representatives of banditry or the forces of anarchy. He has done everything he could against, or In disregard dis-regard of, the men who represent the only chance to get peace and orderly liberty for the Mexican people. "He is now engaged in a second war In Mexico. He Is waging a war against Villa, with whom but a little moro than a year ago ho concluded what was in effect a treaty of peace and friendship, formally entered Into through one of the highest officers or the United States army, General Scott, by President Wilson's decision. "Photographs of General Villa and General Scott and tho other participants partici-pants in this extraordinary bit of treaty making were published broadcast broad-cast throughout the United States. "I most earnestly wish peaco in Mexico and with Mexico, and every stop Mr. Wilson has taken with regard re-gard to Mexico for tho last three years has tended to make peace Impossible. Im-possible. "The great war In Europe has now been waged for twenty months, Mexican Mexi-can armed forces have been killing and wounding Americans at Intervals for five years, yet under tho president's presi-dent's lead our government has failed to make the smallest measure ot preparedness. pre-paredness. As regards Mexico, our government has apparently believed It could Insure peace by helping first one and then another among the warring war-ring chiefs of banditry, and now it is endeavoring to prop up Carranza against its former favorite, Villa. Foe of Preparedness. "In his message to congress of December, De-cember, 1914, President Wilson asserted as-serted we wero thoroughly prepared to defend our rights and that it was hysterical and panicky to talk of the need of further preparedness. He has since forced out of tho cabinet a secretary sec-retary of war because the president would not back even the small and insufficient measures of preparedness prepared-ness which tho secretary of war advocated. advo-cated. "In consequence, as Mr. Wilson himself him-self said In one of his speeches last February, he has been exposed to the humiliation of being unable to patrol our own borders to protect them against bandits. We broke down completely com-pletely oven In the preparedness necessary nec-essary for the minute expedition that has gone Into Mexico. An aeroplane service went to pieces Just, as previously, pre-viously, our submarine service has gone to pieces. The army and navy offlcors are not In the least to blame, but the president and his subordinates whose actions for the last three years have caused these calamities, are woefully woe-fully to blame. "Our troopB are now 300 miles in Mexico and It is announced that the i government is trying to buy automobile automo-bile trucks -for them in Michigan. "The president Is right to use the word humiliation. It is that and moro than that for the American people peo-ple and it represents ghastly misconduct miscon-duct on the part of our governmental officials in the past three years. "If there Is this complete breakdown break-down on tho part of the government of this great and wealthy nation of 100,000,000 Inhabitants In dealing with a bandit raid, think of the hideous disaster that would befall us under such a government If we ever were menaced by a serious foe. "Immediately after the sinking of the Lusltanla, President Wilson made his famous speech about our being too proud to fight. "A few days later, on May 27, as reported in the New York papers, he explained tnat ho was not willing to apeak about .patriotism at Independence Indepen-dence hall in Philadelphia on July 5, saying "This Is perhaps tho very first time when I would not caro to arouse the sentiment of patriotism." "The other day, In his speech at the Gridiron club, ho was reported as saying that he would bo as much ashamed of being rash as of being cowardly which stands on an exact par with a statement by a woman that she would bo as ashamed of being quick tempered as ot being unchaste. "These three sentences are equivalent equiva-lent to the statement that patriotism is sometimes a dangerous virtue and cowardice a venial rice. A yation whoso official conduct Its forelgii affairs af-fairs and handle Its army and navy in accordance with these principles will encounter such experiences as this nation has encountered during tho last three yeai& and will earn for Itself It-self the possibility of the most terrible ter-rible disgrace and disaster in the future." fu-ture." oo- |