THE NASTY NICARAGUANS

"The Sandino rebels are said to have been better armed, uniformed, and disciplined than hitherto."

Thus reads the final sentence of the dispatches of the latest unpleasantness between the United States Marines and the Nicaraguan forces, and the dead and wounded in the American column seem to bear witness of the statement's accuracy.

But the line, besides, raises a suspicion that the Sandino men are not playing the game. They are, of course, rebels. And rebels, according to all the rules of war, are not supposed to be well armed, well uniformed, or well disciplined. Rebels are supposed to afford fleeting targets for leathernecks when the contest is waged among gentlemen.

But this is not the whole extent of the Nicaraguans' unsportsmanlike conduct in the latest shooting match. They have transgressed all bounds, for it is hinted they have "received foreign aid". The grossness of this violation becomes immediately apparent when it is considered that only the United States is permitted by the accepted code to do any aiding in South America. Imagine, for instance, how outrageous it would have been if the American colonists, in revolt against England back in the eighteenth century, had appealed for foreign aid.

It is needless to go any further. The case is clear against the Nicaraguans and relations should immediately be broken off. But if any further indictment of Sandino's tactics is necessary, it need only be stated that he actually had the temerity to "carry his dead off the field". Among decent, bona fide rebels, it has always been the custom to leave the dead on the field, to be counted by the victorious Marines. Not doing so can only be construed as an act of the grossest ill-breeding. It also, like non-scouting, makes for suspicion--suspicion that perhaps there were no dead, though of course the gallant American commander reports that the mortality among the rebels, despite their unfair tactics, was "heavy".

Decidedly, something ought to be done about this Nicaraguan, Sandino. The world will hardly be a safe place for democracy if United States Marines are not to be save even in Nicaragua.