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TO TRY FOB PEACE ARGENTINE, BRAZIL AMD CHILE OFFER GOOD OFFICES. II. S. ACCEPTS MEDIATION ? Three Pan-American Countries Try ^ to Bring About Settlement Through the Elimination of Huerta?Government Hopes "for Best Results Within Short Time". Pan-American diplomacy Saturday 1 night made its llrat attempt to solve V the Mexican crisis by peaceful negogflNk tiation. The United States govern meat accepted from Argentine, Brazil and Chile a formal offer to act as intermediaries in the present situation, but reservedly pointed out that an act of aggression by the military forces, or hostile demonstrations towards Americans, might upset hopes of immediate peace. . Coinoidentally with the acceptance ^ of the mediation offer, administration officials announced there would be no cessation of preparations by the army and navy for future emergencies, and no orders would be issued to the naval force3 at Vera Cruz or the ships at sea, changing original plans. No further steps, however, to 0 secure reparation for the indignities which /?ave rise to the present situation will ho attempted while the effort is being made to bring about a settlement through diplomacy. Although the offer made by the three South American countries did not reveal their plans, it was learned that they contemplate a brdad settle# ment of the Mexican problem through the elimination of Iluerta, upon which the United States has insisted from the beginning. Notification of the offer of intermediation was sent not only to the diplomatic loifiuouukanvea ui Argenuno, urazil and Cliilo in the City of Mexico, but to Gen. Carranza and the Constitutionalists in northern Mexico. The Brazilian, Argentine and Chilean envoys transmitted the United States acceptance of their proposal to the Spanish ambassador who immediately sent it by cable to the Spanish legation at the City of Mexico ^ for presentation to Gen. Huerta. The text of the offer made by the Rrazilion ambassador and the minlsIters from Argentine and Chile and the reply of the American governy nent transmitted by Secretary Bryan |^[ in person to the three diplomats is as follows: feptfe "Mr. Secretary of State: ^rW "With the purpose of subserving the interest of peace and civilization in our continent, and with the utmost desire to prevent any further bloodshed, to the prejudice of the cordiality and union which have always surrounded the relations of the governments and the people of Amer| ica, we, the plenipotentiaries of Braxll, Argentine and Chile duly authorized hereto, have the honor for ihe peaceful and friendly settlement of the conflict between the United States aal Mexico. "This dtfer puts in due form the suggestions which we have had occa) sion to offer heretofore on this subject to the secretary, to whom we renew the assurances of our highest and most distingulshd consideration. "D. Da Gama, "R. S. Naon. "Ecuador Saurez." The reply of the president, made through the secretary of state to the dinlomatJc rAnrMpntntlvo mna oa #.-*1 JC ?- ? - wr. WW** VM>WA f ?? UO U0 X VI" Iowa: The president is deeply confident of the friendliness, the good feeling and the generous concern for the peace and welfare of America manifested in the joint not just received M tendering the good offices of your governments to affect, if possible, a settlement of the present between the / government of the United States and thos who now claim to rpresent our sister republic of Mexico. Conscious j of the purpose with which the proffer is made, this government does ^ not feel at liberty to decline it. Its 1 i ^ a chief interest is in the peace of America, the cordial intercourse of her republic and our people, and the 1 happiness and prosperity which can 1 spring only out of frank, mutual un- 1 derstanding of the friendship which Is created by common purpose. The generous offer of your governments 1 is therefore accepted. < ^ "This government hopes most 1 earnestly that you may find those who speak for the soberer elements of the Mexican people willing and ready to discuss permanent settle- < inent. If'you should find them will- 1 ine this erovemmnnt. will be clad tr? 1 take up with you for discussion in 1 ^ tho frankest and most conciliatory 3 spirit any proposals that may be au thoritatively formulated, and will t hope that they may prove feasible and prophetic of a new day of mutual 1 co-operation and confidence in Amer- i ica. 1 /"This government feels bound in < candor to say that its diplomatic re- 1 latlons with Mexico being for the fi present severed, it is not possible for 1 It to make sure of an uninterrupted f opportunity to carry out the plan of t intermediation which you propose. 1 ^ It is, of course, possible that some c <v HOTEL STORMED BY MOB ? TWO TORPEDO BOATS DISPATCHJ 3D TO THE SCENE. Commander of Gorman Warship Checks Rioting by Threatening to Land Marines. The Tamplco situation is so serious, according to a wireless message reaching Galveston Saturday that two torpedo boats were sent up the Panuco river at Tampico to get Americans. Refugees arriving from Tampico Saturday said they were saved from rioting Mexicans early Wednesday morning by German soldiers. me Bi.ury or tue not was told by Americans on the collier Cyclops, which anchored at Galveston Saturday. The trouble started Tuesday night after the American warships at Tamplco had left their positions near short and steamed some miles out to sea. The refugees said they believed the warships withdrew because they had orders not to seize Tampico, and believed their Immediate presence might excite the Mexicans. After dark bands of Mexicans began to parade, offering insults to Americans who had withdrawn to the shelter of the principal hotels In Tampico. About midnight a mob estimated at 000 began throwing stones at the Southern hotel, where there were 2 0 or 3 0 American women and some 300 American men, according to the refugees' estimate. William Hanson, a former United States deputy marshal in south Texas, organized the American men, who had a few rifles and pistols, for resistance. Tho Americans, however, had so little ammunition that they did not dare open fire, fearing tho Mexicans would kill them after their cartridges were exhausted. The mob, embolden, began pounding on the doors with clubs and fists. One Mexican fired through a window, but no one was wounded. Capt. von Kohler of the German cruiser Dresden, the refugees said, sent officers ashore, notifying the mob that unless they dispersed within 15 minutes he would land marines. The mob withdrew. The German sailors then took the women from the Southern and from the Imperial hotels aboard the boats to ships in the harbor. There was some rioting at the Imperial hotel, but not much damage was done. ? ? ? TO CONFER WITH CAURANZA. ? Villa Deft for South Tuesday to Discuss Medition Proposals. Gen. Francisco Villa left for the South Monday, but said he would return to Juarez soon. At Chihuahua he is expected to hold an important conference with Gen. Carranza, had of the Constitutionalists concerning American relations and the mediation plan of the big South American republics. In addition he says he has important duties south in connection with organizing the campaign against the federals who, after defeats at Monterey, Torreon and San Pedro hare rallied their scattered forces at Saltillo. Gen. Villa telegraphed Gen. Pablo Gonzales, whose troops captured Monterey, to Ireat foreigners with every condition. Gen. Villa said he was heartily in favor of the mediation plan. "I feel sure of a speedy solution of the complication. and then we can go ahead with our revolution." he declared STEAMER REPORTED LOST. Crew of Two Hundred and Seventyfive Passengers in Danger The state department at Washington Friday received a dispatch which seems to indicate that the Pacific Mail steamer, with seventyfive passengers on board, sunk off the southeastern coast of Formosa sometime during that night or early that morning. The liner all night signalled the wireless "S. O. S." in an attempt to summon help, but the signals stopped abruptly to-day. Several ocean liners which were in the seas nearby are racing to her assistance ,but the nearest is reported as being full six hours away. Among the passengers on board is the wife of Gen. Harrison, the Demacratic governor-general of the Philiipine Islands. ? Would T?ftvA /? I ? v W JL' When a demand was made Saturlay at Meexlco '"iity on the Gearman Embassy to surrender its arms Adniral Von Hintze, the German minster, replied, "If you get the arms rou will have to fight for them." ict of aggression on the part of those vho control the military forces of VIexico might oblige the United States to act to the upsetting of the lopes of immediate peace, but this loes not Justify us in hesitating to iccept your generous suggestion. We ihall hope for the best results within < i brief time, enouh to relieve our inxiety lest most ill-considered hos- ] 11 demonstrations should Interpret -1 negotiation and disappoint our hopes >f peace." Mg M ; R? v Pnirlir^ wiiBK MgaZi CONGRESSMAN LEVER WORKS FOR FARMERS V/o copy the article below from a recent issue of The Country Gentleman: The moment had arrived for the first gun to be fired in defense of the Farmers' Money Bill. The House doors wore closed, the pages ran hither and thither to round up the members, and the clerk called the roll. There was a quorum present. "The House is in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the purpose of further consideration of the bill H. R. 13 679," announced the chairman. The clerk read the bill. A wiry little man jumped up and was recognized. The fighting representative from South Carolina, the man b^Mnd the Farmers' Money Bill, had*lie floor. "Mr. Chairman," Representative T mr/M. .. It_t 1 i-? i ' ' 1 uctui uvfciiu, UL UIUilK-IUHl II11S 11101*11ing I happened to overhear a remark made by one of those two-by-four know-it-alls that set nio thinking. It was this: 'No class of people in this country except the farmer and the criminal can get any money from the Federal government for any purpose. Do you know that there is appropriated $50,000,000 a year for the farmers of this country? "He had a good face, was well dressed, and seemed to be a man of intelligence, but his asinine display of ignorance, uttered with the arrogance of apparent information, made me propound to myself the query: 'It is possible that such gross ignorance is prevalent generally among the people with reference to what the Federal governmnt is doing tor agricul ture?' "Mr. Chairman, instead of expending $5 0,000,000 a year for the agriculture of this nation, the fact that the expenditures of the Department of Agriculture that go in direct aid to the farmer, and to him alone, amount to only $9,090,000 annually! "The bill that we are about to consider appropriates in round numbers $25,000,000, including permanent appropriation for the department is used in its regulatory, police and quarantine work, while only thirty-eight per cent, is used in aid of the greatest occupation of the people of this county. "In the face of such facts, and with an understanding of what the research and demonstration work of this department mean to the people of the country, is there one bold enough to repeat the charge that this committee has been unduly liberal in its attitude toward this work? For myself I have no apologies to make; I am prepared to defend every item in 4UU UI11 ?* - * liwb urn as a wise investment of public funds. [ "The appropriation provided in this bill is a mere bagatelle, inconsequential in comparison with our appropriations for other purposes. What will a comparison show? You will appropriate for the support of the army this year $94,000,000 in round numbers. This means that every time you appropriate one dollar to aid in the development and encouragement of the oldest occupation of mankind you are appropriating ten dollars for the maintenance and support of the army." Looking Into the Future/ "You are spending more this year to maintain this little square of ten miles in the District of Columbia than you are appropriatng for the agriculture of the entire country. You are spending more for the maintenance of the wards of this nation, the Indians, than you are appropriating this year for the encouragement of the agriculture of the country. You will very likely appropriate $14 0,AAA AAA l uuu.uuu, in round numbers, for the support of the navy this year. This means that every time a dollar is expended to help the farmers to keep their corncribs and smokehouses and to feed the people of this nation you are spending fifteen dollars for your navy. "You will spend $180,000,000 for pensions this year. I shall not continue; but let me call your attention to the fact that the total appropriations for all purposes for the present fiscal year amount to $1,105,000,000, of which amount the paltry sum of $9,690,000, or nine-tenths of one per cent of the total, goes to the development of the basic business of the country. "Is the criticism of this committee ?that it is over-liberal to the Department of Agriculture of this country?to be continued in the face of such facts? I should life to commend to such critics the facts that the total agricultural capitalization of thi3 country is more than $42,000,000,000. The farmers are producing annually more than $9,000,000,000. "But I do not ask that the anoro priation recorajnended in this bill shall stand upon invidious comparicons. I am content to have each item rest solely upon its own merit and the character and importance of the work contemplated under it. "Unless I am prepared to show that every dollar recommended for tho work of the Department of Agriculture will bring returns to the people in the way of (improved and more profitable methods of agriculture, better living conditions, and a larger food and clothing supply, I am not Justified in the recommendations that are contained in this bill. < "My study of the economic situa- t tlon in this country, and of the un- t mistakable tendencies clearly appar- < ent to students of these conditions, furnishes the justification for this ] call your attention to certain ten- 4 dencles, certain danger signals that i Mil. 1 ask your indulgence while I i bid us 8top, look and listen. 4 "In 1880, 70.5 per cent of the pop- i ulation of the United States wasl^ classed as agricultural. In 1910 only i 53.7 per cent of that population was i so classified. Even these figures are 1 misleading, for the fact is that only l 28 per cent of our people actually | live upon the farm. The drift of population from farm to city is unmistakable, and if the tendency continues unchecked the number of people ( living on the farm fifty years hence will be negligible in compwuison with the total population. "I venture into the field of prophecy to the extent of saying that fifty years lienee less than twenty per cent of our people, unless present tendencies are arrested, will be called upon to feed and to clothe the remaining eighty per cent. It is a stupendous task; can they do it? i "Why this drift of population from farm to city? Why are our boys and girls leaving the farm, turning their backs upon the old homestead, with its tender memories and hallowed associations, to cast their lot among strangers in our great unsympathetic cities, where competition is keen and pressing. "They are leaving because the opportunities for intellectual, social and financial well-being furnished by 1 the cities are better than can bo had in the country; because the educational facilities of the city are better than those of tho country; because communication in cities is easier, quicker and batter than it is in the country; because they believe that ' city life affords greater remuneration ' for labor; and because country life is thought to be monotonous, irksome and ill-rewarded. "Shall we exert ourselves to check ' this tendency or shall wo stand by 1 and permit it to go on until our cities iiuvw uecoine crowaea and our rural communities deserted? To mo the deserted homestead presents the evidence of a tragedy, and is sufTicient ' incentive to arouse my utmost en1 thusiasm and effort in behalf of the betterment of rural conditions. "I would commend to you the beautiful lines of Goldsmith in The ' Deserted Village: "111 fares the land, to hastening ills a , prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay; Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade? A Jbreath can make them, as a breath has made; But a bold peasantry, their country's pride, When once destroyed, can never be supplied. "Let us take a look fifty yearB hence?a short period in the life of a nation, less than the span of a human life?and see what is before us. The population of the United States during the last census period increased twenty-one per cent. If that increase continues?and there is no reason why it will not continue?-the population of the United States in 1960 will be 238,000,000, an increase of 159 per cent. "Now let us seo. In 1910 each man, woman and child in this country had available ninety-one pounds of beef. If the ratio of decrease continues for fifty years as it has during the past ten years, then each man, woman and child in the country will have available only sixty-one pounds of beef,or a decrease of thirty-three per cent. "In 1910 the per capita supply of pork available was eighty-nine < A ~ to n- * * - liuuuuH. xi uie aecrease for the next fifty years in pork production con- 1 tinues as great as it has been during ? the last ten years, the available per capita amount of pork at the end of fifty years will be thirty-four pounds. < In like manner at the end of fifty s years we shall have only three pounds 1 of mutton per capita. 1 "Yet gentlemen complain that we s carry in this appropriation bill a few hundred thousand dollars to encour ' ago the people of the country to eradicate disease from/ meat-producing 1 animals and to encourage sections of 1 this country that are not producing 1 beef and pork and mutton to go into the production of these commodities. ^ Is it a wise complaint? Is it a just f criticism? ( "We appropriate something like $600,000 for the eradication of disease from animals. Listen! The loss from animals diseases in this coun- i try, as estimated by the Agricultural ( Department, annually amounts to ( $212,850,000. < "Two hundred and twelve million I dollars a year lost from diseases In * tho meat-producing animals of this 1 country, and yet gentlemen complain rj that the Committee on Agriculture is ramming its hands into the Treasury up to the elbow, drawing out money for the support of the Department of t Agriculture. It makos mo weary! a "You could afford, if you could c save that $212,000,000 of annual t loss, to spend $3 5,000,000 a year t building railroads in Alaska or your ' $140,000,000 a year for your big navy or your $94,000,000 a year for your big army. Again I say it makes d me weary, because I feel that the I critics of this bill here never studies the facts, or can not distinguish between an investment and an expenIiture.f' A member of the House Jumped to tils feet and rececived recognition. 'Does not the gentleman believe that in modern civilization we are working at cross purposes?" he asked. 'For illustration, does not the gentleman know that in many large cities we have booster clubs, whose business it is to invite people to come Trom the country Into town, and then ive have philosophers standing round Inviting them to go from the town to the country?" The Farmer to Defend the Nation. "I think thesn nonnlo?tv?? fr?ib-o who are trying to got the people from the country to the county?ought to he put into an insane asylum," snapped back the South Carolinian. "I never heard of a boosters' club in any city," volunteered another member, "except, perhaps, to boost the idle of unemployed population that wo have in the city into the country, and make them earn their living on the farm, where they are needed." "What is the gentleman's town?" an Ohio member asked. "It is a little town on the Hudson River called New York," answered the other. "Perhaps the gentleman from Cincinnati lias heard of it.'* "Let mo proceed," begged Mr. Lever. "I want to ask those who may complain about this bill and about what tho Federal governmen is doing for the farmer, if they have ever stopped to consider the other side of the question, what the farmer is doing for this governr ent. "Has that proposition ever occurred to these gentlemen? I want to say that tho perpetuation of representative government, the continuance of our present system, depends more upon the prosperity, happiness, nfnnUI. ? -J A ? >Ycuitu, uuut'tiiiun, conservatism and patriotism of the American farmer tlian upon any other factor. "In the past ho has been the nation's defense. In the future lie must be the bulwark to protect it against the unrest and the anarchy of your great city centers. I stood in the gentleman's home city one morning, and looking across Madison Square I saw hundreds and hundreds of people who had spent the night in the open, some of them lying on the rustic benches, some underneath with nothing but an evening newspaper for a plilow. "And I said to myself that if the red flag of anarchy ever goes up in this country it will go up from the idle classes of our great cities; that if this nation is to be preserved, if our flag is still to float in majesty, it will have to be preserved and kept floating by the boys and girls and the men and the women back down in the hills and in the valelys of South Carolina and on the farms throughout the length and breadth of this great land of ours." In congress they are still talking about the speech made by the South Carolina representative who defended th Farmers' Money Bill. Senators came across to the House to hear him make it. It was a great speech, backed by the most formidable array of facts and figures imaginable. The committee has pledged itself to fight to the last ditch for every cent contained in the bill. I^et us leave it. then, in the hands of its defenders in the House and in the Senate, and later see how well it stood the fray and in what condition it was when it went to the president. ? ? SHOT IN THE BACK Hampton Man is Assassinated as He Turned to Walk Away. Sam Overstreet was shot and killed about Ave miles from Hampton Saturday night by Alfred Langford. The shooting occurred at the home r?f Langford's father-in-law, John Rassett. Bassett, it seems, was away from home in the early part of the evening and his friend, Sam Overstreet, took him home, according to the testimony, when he met Langford, who it seems because abusive and threatened to kill Overstreet, who paid but little attention to him, thinking he was joking, but as he <ned his back was shot by Langford, and as he fell was shot twice moro in the head and neck. Langford bears a bad reputation, having 3een frequently In trouble before this, [t was only a few months ago that ho ?hot and almost fatally wounded the !hief of police at Brunson. I Ordered to Washington. i A Vera Cruz dispatch says Amcrenn charge d'affaires Nelson i TShauglmossy Friday received or- j lers to come to Washington immo i Hatcly and roport to tlie state de- ( )artinent. Ho expects to leave with- i n twenty-four hours. Three torpedo 1 >oats were ordered to proceed to < Pampico i Governor Aids Negro. < Gov. Blease Saturday commuted he death sentence of Henry Jones, i negro, who would have been exeuted May 1 to life imprisonment on i he public words of Dorchester coun- ] y. jt ? ? ? Wold's Best Warship Sails. The New Yorkk, the finest superIreadnought afloat, steamed from the < Brooklyn navy yard Sunday. ,< MM A CITY DESTR0YEB1 MEXICAN FEDEItAIS DEVA8TAT* TOWN OF $URYO IAKEDO CAME BACK TO BURN If After Evacuating City Mexican Federals Return on Following Day and Destroy It?United States Infantry Guarding International ISridgf* Kills TWo. Neuvo Laredo, the thriving Mexican border town opposite Laredo, Texas, was in ruins Friday night, devastated by dynamite and fired by Mexican federals who late Friday began an orgy of destruction which ended only when they were forced t# tlee before the guns of the American border patrol. Two Mexicans are known to have been killed ""try* The United States troops. Several brisk skirmishes between the Americans and Mexicans occurred as tho Mexicans, their troop trains ready to leave tho burning city, began an indiscriminate fire across the international boundary. Property damage in Nuevo Laredo will reach $500,000. Among the buildings destroyed were the United States consulate, municipal buildings, post office, theatre, tlour mill, one of tho largest in that section; the railroad shops of the Mexican National railway and other structure^ There was no property loss in Laredo. Both international bridges are safe, though efforts to dynamite them resulted in the death of two men engaged In the undert.ikinc Oni.-. Mo-v lean was shot, by a sharpshooter from the top of the water tower. Tho Mexican was trying to reach the end of tho international foot and wagon bridge. Another was killed whon he tried to blow up tho Mexican end of tho international railway bridge. American soldiers are constantly stationed at the American end to prevent such an attempt. When Mexican soldiers finally left order was quickly restored at Laredo, but strong guards remain throughout the city. A serious problem was furnished immigration and city authorities by the presence there of hundreds of refugees from the burning oity. Tho federal garrison evacuated Nuevo Laredo Thursday, supposedly going to Saltillo or Monterey. With their departure the city, ordlnarlli of about 7,000 population, was ufcnr tually deserted. Early Friday the federals returned and it was nnnounned that they came back for addition*! engines to put to their troops tralrtb. There was little excitement caused by the presence of the federals until Thursday afternoon. Smoke was seen Issuing from some of the buildings around the plaza. The municipal building and the American eonsulate, on opposite sides of the square, broke into flames. Next door to the consulate, the post office, temporarily closed, also was seen to he burning and around the plaza smoke began to issue from the windows and roofs of other buildings. A few minutes later a loud explosion wrecked several houses and the fire spread rapidly in all directions^. Americans began to gather on the river bank, ,but hastily retreated when warned that other explosions uoumi m niiiKi migni occur. Troops at Fort Mcintosh were quickly ordered out and soon a rigid guard was established in the danger zone. At the two bridges the guards were reinforced, and it was here that the only known loss of life occurred. A battery of field artillery was sent to the power house of the Iatedo Electric ana Lighting company, staring an attack there, but there was nothk g for them to do. Several Mexicans were seen to fail before the fire of the machine gun, but they were carried away by their comrades. After silencing the Meaioane, part of the Ninth infantry was withdrawn from the river front. ? . AUTOMOBIIiK RUNS AWAY. ? No Accident Follows Wild Dash of a Greenville Car. A runaway automobile eAused consternation in Greenville opera house square Saturday afternoon. Before the car wa3 stopped a water plmg had been wrecked, a bill board demolished and considerable damage done to the machine. The car belongs to J. R. West, who attempted to crank up with his engine in gear; with the result that he came dangerously near being run ovsr when the car leaped forward. HaA the car net vonrnd <in#i >?t* ?? wvi uu uuu II11 IIIU UfH" board after wrecking the water hydrant there might have been a number of fatalities, as it was facing % crowded thoroughfare when it leaped forward. ? ? Robbers Got $4,500. Robbers used nitroglycerine on .ho vault of the State bank at Apopta, Fla., Wednesday and got ivith $4,500. ? ? ? Burglars Get $1,500. Burglars early Saturday dynamited the bank as Cass, Ark., and eecapid with $1,500. " i'