Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 185, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1916 — FORCE HAND OF WILSON ON BORDER PATROL [ARTICLE]

FORCE HAND OF WILSON ON BORDER PATROL

Republicans Demand Withdrawal of Troops From Border Or a Statement of Emergency.

Washington, D. C., Aug. 2.—Minority Leader Mann announced yesterday that the republicans in congress from this time on will leave no atone unturned in their effort to compel President Wilson to withdraw the na--tional guard from the Texas border, unless the president comes out flatly with' a statement to the effect that the relations between the United States and Mexico justify the continued presence of the guard there. “The guard was called out,” said Mr. Mann, “ostensibly to meet an emergency. The troops from the north were rushed south. The mobilization at first was crude, but entirely what everyone familiar with the system and the administration expected. Then after the troops reached the border the administration leaders proclaimed to the world that the emergency was over and there no longer was any danger. “At first I thought the experience would be a good thing, that both the administration and the guardsmen would profit. Investigation of conditions convinces me that the administration has not profited in the slightest from the mobilization and that the guardsmen, instead of benefiting by it, have been made so sick of service that when their enlistments are up they will be glad to get out and stay out of the service for all time to come.

“If an emergency is imminent, the guard should be kept on the border and gotten ready to meet it. If it is not imminent, the guard should be withdrawn. The administration has done nothing since the troops arrived there to prepare them for an emergency. They are not equipped with the proper articles of war or peace. “Why, I have a letter from one young man who expresses the hope that some day he will get a clean shirt. He says there is not sufficient \Vater near his camp for him to wash in. He didn't write in a complaining way, but his letter was filled with interesting insights as to the administration’s idea of an emergency and how to handle it.”

Mr. Mann has called upon Secretary of War Baker in an effort to ascertain when the guard is likely to be brought back. He received no enlightenment.