News of the American column under General Pershing which has
pmetrated so far and so rapidly into Mexico in order to punish Villa is still awaited with much concern. The American War Department fears that President Carranza's principal officer in the North has gone over to Villa's side with about two thousand men. The Washington correspondent of the Times says that the population of the oil district round Tampico are showing a very ugly temper towards Americans, and that Villista risings are expected. General Pershing's force is only five thousand strong. It is believed that another ten thousand regulars are all that can be spared for Mexico. We sincerely hope that the American Govern- ment will recognize that such a policy as that enacted at Vera Cruz —an act of war which was expressly said not to be war—cannot now be repeated. We trust that out of the immense population of the United States enough strong and high-spirited men—there are plenty of them—will be raised quickly to settle the Mexican business. The rapid raising of an Army, and too much preparation rather than too little, are the line of safety and economy.
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