Nicaragua's Plight.

New York Times 100 years ago today, August 27, 1912:
Ex-Minister Says Our Interference In Her Affairs Is Obligatory.
To the Editor of The New York Times:
    The observation made in your newspaper on various occasions concerning the affairs of my country, Nicaragua, appear to be quite correct. Not only did certain United States citizens lend their aid to the late revolution in Honduras, but they were also active in that of 1906 and 1907 against the Government of Manuel Bonilla. In the present revolution in Nicaragua, an agent of a powerful American fruit company was fomenting rebellion in Managua for the purpose of obtaining in the Atlantic Coast region a fruit monopoly which President Diaz refused to grant. This same company maintains an agent in New Orleans who has been in active correspondence with Gen. Mena and with several Nicaraguan emigrants residing in New Orleans, San Jose de Costa Rica, and in Panama.
    So that there are many citizens of the United States who are more or less responsible for these revolutions, and instead of thinking, like Senator Bacon, that the Government at Washington is doing wrong in interfering in our internal affairs, I think, on the contrary, that it is under obligation to do so to repair the evil which North Americans are perpetrating in my country.
    The American forces can go there as peacemakers and not as would-be conquerors. If their action should result in directing us into the true path of civil liberty, as was done in Cuba and in Panama, there are numerous patriotic Nicaraguans who are entirely capable of appreciating such service.
    I believe that the lives and property of many Americana in Nicaragua, which are now imperiled, are of great value, and, furthermore, I am of the opinion that the lives of Nicaraguan women and children are also worth something.
        J. M. MONCADA,
        Formerly Minister of the Interior, Nicaragua.
        Brooklyn. Aug. 24, 1912.