conditions 



The Days of a Man [;i9i6 



Reaching El Paso on the morning of Monday, 

 June 26, I found Rolland at the fine new Hotel 

 "Paso del Norte." Later in the day Bernard Gal- 

 lant, a young journalist, arrived to act as my secre- 

 tary, having been sent on from New York for that 

 purpose. By this time, however, Washington had 

 been fixed upon as the more suitable place for the 

 meeting of the commission. The other members were 

 Alarming therefore requested to go directly to that city. 



There was great excitement in the border town over 

 the immediate prospect of war. Hundreds of men 

 from various regions had gathered there to urge it on, 

 and the two rival newspapers, the Morning Times and 

 Evening Herald^ were aflame with the prospect. The 

 raid on Columbus, the consequent invasion of 

 Mexico by United States troops under General John 

 J. Pershing, and the armed clash at Carrizal, all fol- 

 lowing in rapid succession, had produced a sudden 

 crisis between the two countries. 



As a result, alarming telegrams from Washington 

 appeared in the local press: 



Complete submission by Carranza within twenty-four hours 

 or war was the last word of the Administration tonight. Peace 

 or war by Wednesday hangs on Carranza's reply. There was 

 apparent reluctance on the part of the Administration advisers 

 to declare war on Mexico. 



The practical miHtary men of Congress, however, were con- 

 vinced that only a flat declaration of war would meet the sit- 

 uation. 



Additional reports received by the War Department today 

 are accepted as giving full confirmation from official sources of 

 reports that the American troops were treacherously ambus- 

 caded at Carrizal. 



The question of responsibility for that attack is now con- 

 sidered as fully placed on Carranza, since the treachery is 



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