Taft Sends Army Close To Mexico.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 23, 1913:
Brigade Rushed to Galveston and Another Will Follow — Four Transports at Hand.
DOES NOT PLAN INTERVENTION
President Explains That the Step Is Only One of Precaution.
WILSON TOLD OF SITUATION
President-Elect Will Confer with Some Members of Taft's Cabinet Next Week.
MADERO UNDER CLOSE GUARD
Sent to Penitentiary Incommunicado — Government More Hopeful, but Revolts Are Under Way.
OUT OF POLITICS, DIAZ WIRES.
By Cable to the Editor of The New York Times.
    LUXOR, Egypt, Feb. 22.— I regret not being able to answer. Absolute separation from politics prevents me from doing it.
    PORFIRIO DIAZ.

    The above message was in reply to one asking Gen. Diaz for his views on the significance of the overthrow of Madero and the prospect of his return to Mexico.

TAFT EXPLAINS ARMY MOVES.
    The movement of troops is merely to send a brigade to Galveston, to which place four transports had already been ordered as a mere precautionary measure because of the unsettled conditions in Mexico. It is not prompted by any recent news from Mexico, and is only part of the reasonable precautions directed to be taken some time ago, in which the sending of battleships to the various ports in Mexico was the first step. The sending of four transports and two brigades to Galveston is the next and final step. — Statement by President Taft in New York last evening.

Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON, Feb. 22.— President Taft, after consultation with Secretary of War Stimson and Major Gen. Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff, to-day ordered the first actual movement of troops in connection with the disturbances in Mexico. The Fifth Brigade, Second Division, comprising about 4,000 men, was commanded to proceed at once to Galveston, Texas, to await further orders. The Fourth Brigade of this division was also told to prepare to join in the movement.
    No new crisis in the Mexican situation is responsible for these orders. The movement is merely precautionary, and is intended to put the Wilson Administration in a position to handle matters in the southern republic should invasion of Mexican territory be deemed necessary. It is planned to have the entire situation under the best possible military control at a critical time when the Taft Administration is passing out of power. President Taft is anxious that President Wilson shall not find himself embarrassed by any sudden outbreak of disorder in Mexico in which the lives of Americans might be seriously imperiled.

Wilson Takes an Active Interest.
    It will be for Mr. Wilson to determine whether such an expedition shall be dispatched, although of course it is assumed that he first will seek the guidance of Congress. Through trusted agents, though not directly, the President-elect is understood to have expressed his interest in the situation and to have placed himself in a position to acquire specific knowledge.
    He is to familiarize himself further with the status of the Mexican situation as well as the Panama Canal negotiations with Great Britain at a conference with some of President Taft's Cabinet at a meeting arranged for next week. In view of the crisis he will be called upon to face, he has determined to dispense with third persons and inform himself directly by consultation with the Cabinet members.
    Considerable expense is involved in to-day's orders, mainly under the head of transportation charges, but the officials believe that this is justified by existing conditions. It is believed, too, that the moral effect probably to be produced upon the extreme elements in Mexico by a demonstration of a disposition of the United States to deal firmly with any relapse into semi-barbarism in the treatment of President Madero and his adherents will prove economical in the end, as obviating the necessity for an actual invasion of the country.

Fighting Brigade on the Way.
    To-day's orders provide that the Fifth Brigade, consisting of the Fourth, Seventh, Nineteenth, and Twenty-eighth Regiments of Infantry, and commanded by Brig. Gen. Frederick A. Smith, shall entrain and proceed to Galveston at once. It will go into camp at Fort Crockett, the new Coast Artillery post, and await further orders.
    The transports McClellan and Kilpatrick will tie up at Galveston and will probably be joined by the Sumner, which was loaned last week to the Navy Department, but not used, and was returned yesterday to the Quartermaster Corps of the army. These transports will be available for instant service in case there should be any forbidding turn to events in Mexico.
    The brigade was organized a month ago under the new army plan. Of the four regiments the Fourth Infantry had headquarters and two battalions at Fort Crook, Nebraska, and one battalion at Port Logan H. Roots, Arkansas; all of the Seventh was stationed at Fort Leaven worth, Kansas; the Nineteenth had headquarters and one battalion at Fort Meade, South Dakota; one battalion at Fort Leaven worth, Kansas, and one at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and the Twenty-eighth Regiment was stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. The Fourth is commanded by Col. William Paulding, the Seventh by Col. Daniel Cornman, the Nineteenth by Col. Millard F. Waltz, and the Twenty-eighth by Col. Edward H. Plummer.
    These officers are all old and tried Indian fighters and served through the war in Cuba and the Filipino insurrection. Practically the entire roster of officers, except the juniors, have seen hard service in the Philippines. Gen. Smith, long the Colonel of the Eighth Infantry and remembered as the commanding officer last Summer of the manoeuvres in Connecticut, is one of the ablest officers in the army. His conduct of the manoeuvre campaign in Connecticut resulted in victory for his army. He commanded the old Department of Texas several years and is entirely familiar with border fighting and Mexican ways.

Warning Given a Week Ago.
    It was stated by Major Gen. Wood today that ail four regiments to-night would be well on the way southward. All arrangements for this beginning of mobilisation were made early in the week. The Fifth Brigade, with several others, had orders a week ago to be in readiness to move. A warning order was sent day before yesterday.
    The brigade is equipped with all necessary tentage and supplies and ammunition wagons. Each regiment has a machine gun platoon. There will accompany the brigade a company of engineers, to be chosen by Major Gen. Carter, commanding the Central Division. Field Hospital 3 and Ambulance Company 3, both at Fort Leavenworth, entrained at that post with the Seventh Infantry. Company D of the Signal Corps, stationed at Fort Leavenworth, also went with the troops.
    A subsequent order attached to this brigade three army pack trains, each of sixty mules, one from Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., one from Fort Robinson, Neb., and one from the Presidio of San Francisco. Also to supply a sufficient force of cavalry, an order was dispatched to Major Gen. Carter at Chicago to send to Galveston the fourth or mountain battery of field artillery, commanded by Col. Alexander B. Dyer, stationed at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming.
    Orders were also issued to Gen. Carter to prepare the Fourth Brigade, Second Division, for transportation to Galveston, but not to dispatch them. This comprises the Twenty-third, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seventh Regiments of infantry, commanded by Brig. Gen. Ramsay D. Potts. Meanwhile the First Brigade, First Division, comprising the Third, Fifth, and Twenty-ninth Regiments of infantry, commanded by Brig. Gen. Marion P. Maus, with headquarters at Albany, N. Y., is also held under preparatory orders.

Consuls Send Good Reports.
    The State Department had no information to make public to-day from Ambassador Wilson. This Government, however, is keeping in close touch with the progress of events in the City of Mexico. While there have been what may be termed unofficial and indirect assurances from President Huerta that ex-President Francisco I. Madero will not be killed and that he will not be incarcerated in an asylum, it is regarded as the part of discretion to maintain the attitude of complete military readiness and trust to its good moral effect.
    Advices from United States Consuls, in Mexico to-day indicated that the people in most States were responding to the promise of peace and order by the new Government Consul General Arnold Shanklin at Mexico City reported that railway connections between the United States and Mexico City were still broken, but that goods shipped via Vera Cruz could be taken in safety by rail to Mexico City and be distributed there to interior points.
    Reports from Nogales, Ariz., were that, while no disorders had occurred, the attitude of the troops at Agua Prieta and of the people at Cananea was uncertain.
    Consul Bownly at San Luis Potosi reported suspension of train service west of that place; that rebels had demanded the surrender of the city and that the situation was confusing.
    Consul Garrett at Nuevo Laredo reported trains running as far south as Saltillo on the Mexican National line and the probability of train service to Mexico City in a few days.
    The Consul at Mazatlan reported the recognition of the Provisional Government and Gen. Huerta by the State of Sinaloa, and that the Mazatlan district continued quiet.
    Consul Hanna at Monterey reported that good order continued and the people of the State of Nuevo Leon were quietly accepting the new order of things. He said also that train service from Monterey to Durango, Torreon, Eagle Pass, Matamoros, Saltillo and Tampico was open.
    The Consul at Saltillo telegraphed that he had been officially informed by Gov. Carranza that he would act in accord with the new administration at Mexico City; that local opposition to the new administration had been abandoned, that quiet prevailed and that railway service would be resumed at once.
    The Consul at Acapulco sent word that Government troops from Acosta Grande region had been concentrated at Acapulco, that disorder continued in the outlying districts and that the attitude of the rebels toward the new administration was unknown.
    Reports from Vera Cruz indicated that the military authorities had acquiesced and would carry out orders of the new administration.

TAFT EXPLAINS ARMY ORDERS,
Making Things Ready So Wilson Can Act, if Necessary.
    Before President Taft leaves office on March 4 he will have concentrated at Galveston, Texas, close to 10,000 United States troops ready to board transports there and depart for Mexico on a few hours' notice.
    The President was in New York last night to attend a banquet of the American Peace and Arbitration League, He let it be known that he will "lay the cards on the table" that he was just as much opposed to intervention as he had been for two years. He is determined, however, so that Mr. Wilson, when he becomes President, can play them if a crisis arises. Through Secretary Hilles the President announced that the dispatch of a brigade of troops to Galveston yesterday was part of the original precautionary plan, and that it would be followed by another order which would send between 3,000 and 4,000 more regulars to the boundary. Galveston is within three days of Vera Cruz, the seaport of Mexico City. Four transports will be ready there to take the troops south if the contingency should arise and with battleships on the Atlantic and Pacific near Mexican ports the President feels that Mr. Wilson will have no cause to complain of unpreparedness if the unexpected happens.
    The President was plainly concerned about conditions in Mexico. He told friends he saw no particular reason for further apprehension, but seemed to think that the continued trouble was indicative of what was to be feared later. His statement through Secretary Hilles was written in the home of his brother, Henry W. Taft, after he had seen the dispatches from Washington about the concentration in Galveston of one brigade of regulars. It follows:

    The movement of troops is merely to bring a brigade to Galveston, to which place four transports had already been ordered as a mere precautionary measure because of unsettled conditions in Mexico. It is not prompted by any recent news from Mexico, and is only part of the reasonable precautions directed to be taken some time ago, in which the sending of battleships to the various ports in Mexico was the first step.
    The sending of four transports and two brigades to Galveston is the next and final step.

    The President explained that the next brigade to go to Galveston might be taken from the East or from the Far West. There are about 2,500 troops now in Texas, and the brigade ordered there yesterday will bring the number above 6,000, so that the President's final order would swell the total to close to 10,000. Beyond that figure he has no present intention of going. His friends think that it is for Congress to decide if additional precautions should be taken.
    The President is not ready yet to send a formal message to Congress conveying all the mass of information on Mexico that has accumulated in the State Department for the last two years. He believes that Congress is sufficiency advised to decide upon its own course of procedure.