WAR WITH NICARAGUA STILL IN PROGRESS
War With Nicaragua Still in Progress THE WAR created by President Coolidge in Nicaragua has flamed up again to plague the administration and to alarm the' people of the nation. Right on the eve...
...Right on the eve of the President's trip to the PanAmerican Conference at Havana, the recent battles in Nicaragua and the agitation against the illegal war in Congress are exceedingly embarrassing...
...Stimson made his report, he estimated that Sandino had about 150 followers...
...Stimson, President Coolidge's representative in the pacification of Nicaragua...
...One year after President Coolidge, without the consent of Congress, ordered the Marines to land in Nicaragua, the war is still in progress...
...The pretext for our armed invasion of Nicaragua was that our troops were there to protect American lives and property...
...And this has happened since Mr...
...Because of the urgent necessity for the establishment of a definite constructive antiimperialistic policy in our relations with all countries, especially with Central and South American neighbors, this group of progressives used their balance of power to obtain the promise of a vote upon a resolution for an investigation of the policy being pursued by our Government in relation to these countries...
...The vote upon its adoption will force every Senator to go on record with regard to this vital question...
...It was in recognition of the grave situation and of its serious consequences for the future as well as for today that a group of progressive Senators took a determined stand at the beginning of this Congress for the consideration of a resolution for investigation of our policy in Central and South America...
...The truth is that Sandino was the only Liberal general who refusd to submit to the terms of Mr...
...The immediate consequence of the administration's unjustifiable and unwarranted course in Nicaragua is extremely serious...
...When ordered to lay down their arms against them, Sandino would not accept the conditions...
...His speech will need have something besides high sounding phrases and empty promises to make his protestations of high moral purpose back of his policy carry conviction at Havana...
...For some months, in the neighborhood of 1,400 Marines aided by about 1,000 native Guardsmen, have been endeavoring to carry out the Stimson terms with apparent lack of success...
...ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE, JR...
...One thousand more marines have been ordered to the little country of Nicaragua, which indicates the gravity of the job, as viewed by the administration, of "disarming the bandits...
...Stimson estimated that Sandino had only 150 followers...
...If the precedent is established that the President of the United States may make war for the protection of American property invested in foreign countries, then we must live under the constant menace of war and the tremendous burden of an army and navy of a size to take care of the rapidly accumulating billions of dollars invested over the world...
...The fight for the passage of the resolution will result in an airing of the facts...
...At the time Mr...
...One may question the judgment and discretion of Sandino and his followers in attempting to resist the might of the United States, but it is laying it on a bit thick to try and arouse prejudice against him by crying "bandit" and so justify our intervention and war in Nicaragua...
...Dtiring these months of "disarming the bandits," more than 600 Nicaraguans have been reported killed by our troops, indicating that Sandino casualties, including killed and wounded, approximate 2,000 in number...
...In that engagement five U. S. Marines lost their lives and 23 were wounded...
...In spite of the large number of casualties, Sandino had with him at the battle of Quilali on Friday, December 30th last, 500 troops, according to official dispatches...
...On numerous occasions I have denounced what is taking place in Nicaragua as war, illegal war, because waged by the President without the consent of Congress, which, under the constitution, alone has the power to declare war...
...It will be difficult for President Coolidge to make the representatives of Latin - American countries believe he is upholding the ideals of the United States Government in our dealings with them, while 2,000 U. S. Marines under General Lejeune, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, are preparing for a final battle in the Nicaraguan war...
...In the press there has been a determined effort to mislead the people of the United States into believing that our Marines in Nicaragua are being ambushed by "bandits...
...Of more far reaching and menacing' effect on the welfare and happiness of the people of the United States, however, is the precedent which President Coolidge's policy tends to establish,—that the Chief Executive can create and sponsor and carry on a war with any country without the consent of Congress, by merely issuing orders to the armed forces of the United States...
...Our foreign investments now amount to more than 13 billion dollars...
...Already you hear it declared that it is unpatriotic to question the right of the war in Nicaragua and "stand behind the President" is relied on to smother the opposition...
...They are being made in all parts of the world...
...Loss of the friendship and trade of the Central and South American countries is the inevitable outcome of this wantonly imperialistic course...
...The purpose of the President's voyage to Cuba and his address to the Conference is to win back the lost prestige and good will of Latin America...
Vol. 20 • January 1928 • No. 1
