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DECEMBER, 1914
The Commoner
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Wo can not uso our great Alaskan domain, ship's
will not jrijr thither if those coasts and their manv
liidden dangers are not thoroughly surveyed and
charted. The work is incompleto at almost
every point. Ships and lives have been lost in
threading what were supposed to be well-known
main channels. We have not provided adequate
vesEelo or adequate machinery for the survey
and charting. We have used old vessels tha't
were not big" enough or strong enough and
which wero nearly so uirteaworthy that our in
spectors would not havo allowed privato owners
to send them to sea. This is a matter which,
an I havo said, seems small, but is in reality
very great. Its importance has only to be look
ed into to bo appreciated.
Before I close may I say a few words upon
t two topics, much discussed out of doors; upon
. which it is highly important that our judgments
should bo clear, delinito and steadfast?
One of these is economy in government expend
itures. The duty of economy is not debatable.
- It is manifest and imperative. In the approprla-
tlons we pass we are spending the money of the
great people, whose servants we are not our
own. We are trustees and responsible stewards
in the spending. The only thing debatable and
upon which we should be careful to make our
thought and purpose clear is the kind of econ
omy demanded of us. I assert with the great
est confidence that the people of the United
States are not jealous of the amount their gov
ernment costs if they are sure that they get
what they need and desire for the outlay, that
the money is being spent for objects of which
they approve, and that it is" being applied with
good business sense and management.
ORGANIZED FINANCES
Governments grow, piecemeal, both in their
tasks and in the means by which those tasks are
to be performed, and very few governments are
organized, I venture to say, as wise and experi
enced business men would organize them if they
. had a clean sheet of paper to write upon. Cer
tainly the government of the -United States is
not. I think"- it is generally agreed that there
should I)eJ a systematic re-organization and re
assembling of its parts so as to secure greater
efficiency and effect considerable savings in ex--pense.-
But the amount of money saved in that
' way would, I beleve, though no doubt consider
able in itself, running it may be into the millions,
be relatively small small, I mean, in propor
tion to the total necessary outlays of the gov
ernment. It would be thoroughly worth effect
ing, as every saving would, great or small. Our
duty is not altered by the scale of the saving.
But my point is that the people of the United
States do not wish to curtail the activities of
this government; they wish, rather to enlarge
them; and with every enlargement, with the
mere growth, indeed, of the country itself, there
must come,' of course, the inevitable increase of
expense. The' sort of economy we ought to prac
tice may be effected, and ought to be effected,
by a careful study and assessment of the tasks
to be perfocmed; and the money spent ought to
bo made to yield the best possible returns in
efficiency and achievement. And, like good
stewards, we should so account for every dollar
of our appropriations as to make it perfectly
evident what it wan spent for and in what way
it was spent.
It is not expenditure but extravagance that we
should fear being criticized for; not paying for
the legtimate enterprises and undertakings of
a great government whose people command what
it should do, but adding what will benefit only
a few or pouring money out for what need not
have been undertaken at all or niight have been
postponed or better and more economically con
ceived and carried out. The nation is not nig
gardly; it is very generous. It will chide us
only if we forget for whom we pay money out
and whose money it is we pay. These are large
and generous standards, but they are not very
difficult of application to particular cases.
The other topic I shall take leave to mention
goes deeper into the principles of our national
life and policy. It is the subject of national
defense.
WAR PREPARATIONS
It can not be discussed without first answer
ing some very searching questions. It is said
in some quarters that we are not prepared for
war. What is meant by being prepared? Is it
meant that we are not ready upon brief notice
to put a nation in the field, a nation of men
trained tq arms? Of course, we aTe not ready
. to do that; and we shall never be in time of
peace so long as we retain our present political
principles and institutions. And what is it that
it is suggested we should be prepared to do?
To defend ourselves against attack? We have
always found means to do that,- and shall find
them whenever it is necessary without calling
our people away from their necessary tasks to
render compulsory military service in tlmeu of
peace.
Allow mo to speak with great plainness and
directness upon this groat matter and to avow
my convictions with deep earnestness. 1 havo
tried to know what America is, what ho people
think, what they are, what they most cherish
and hold dear. I hope that some of their finer
passions are in my own heart some of the great
conceptions and desires which gave birth to thlu
government and which havo mado the voice of
this people a voice of peace and hope and liberty
among the peoples of the world, and that, speak
ing my own thoughts, I shall, at least in part,
speak theirs also,- however faintly and inade
quately, upon this vital matter.
We are at peace with all tho world. No one
who speaks counsel based on fact or drawn from
a just and candid interpretation of realities can .
say that there is reason to fear that from" any
quarter our independence or the integrity of our
territory is threatened. Dread of tho power or
any other nation we are incapable of. We arc
not jealous of rivalry in the fields of commerce or
of any other peaceful achievement. Wo mean
to live our own lives as we will; but we
mean also to let live. Wo are, indeed, a true
friend to all the nations of the world, because
we threaten none, covet the possessions of none,
desire the overthrow of none. Our friendship
can bo accepted and is accepted without reserva
tion, because it is offered in a spirit and for a
purpose which no one need ever question or sus
pect. Therein lies our greatness. We are tho
champions of, peace and of concord. And wo
should be very jealous of this distinction which
we have sought to earn. Just now we should
bo particularly jealous of it, bocause it Is our
dearest present hope that this character and
reputation may presently, in God's providence,
bring us an opportunity such as has seldom been
vouchsafed any nation, the opportunity to coun
sel and obtain peace in the world and reconcili
ation and a healing settlement of many a matter
that has cooled and interrupted the friendship
of nations. This is the time above all others
when we should wish and resolve to keep our
strength by self-possession, our influence by
preserving our ancient principles of action.
POLICY IS SETTLED
From the first we. have had a clear and settled
policy with regard to military establishments. Wo
never have had, and while we retain our present
principles and ideals, we never shall have, a
large standing army. If asked "Are you ready to
defend yourselves?" wo reply, "Most assuredly,
to the utmost," and yet we shall not turn Amer
ica into a military camp. We will not ask our
young men to spend the best years of their lives
making soldiers of themselves. There is an
other sort of energy in us. It will know how
to declare itself and make Itself effective should
occasion arise. An'd especially when half the
world is on fire we shall be careful to make our
normal insurance against the spread of the con
flagration very definite and certain and adequate
indeed. " ,
Let us remind ourselves, therefore, of tho only
thing we can do or will do. Wo must depend in
every time of national peril, in the future as in
the past, not upon a standing army, nor yet upon
a reserve army, but upon a citizenry trained and
accustomed to arms. It will be right enough,
right American policy based upon our accustom
ed principles and practices, to provide a system
by which every citizen who will volunteer for tho
training may be made familiar with the use of
modern arms, tho rudiments of drill and man
euver, and tho maintenance and sanitation of
camps. We should encourage such training and
make it a means of discipline which our young
men will learn to value. It is right that we
should provide it not only, but that we sffould
make it as attractive as possible, and so induce
our young men to undergo it at such times as
thev can command a little freedom and can seek
the physical development they need, for mere
health's sake, if for nothing more. Every means
bv which such things can be stimulated is legiti
mate, and such a method smacks of true Amer
ican ideas. It is right, too, that the nationa
euard of the states should be developed and
strengthened by every means which is not in
consistent with our obligations to our own peo
ple or with the established policy of our govern
ment And this, also, not because the time or
occasion specially calls for such measures, but
because it should be our constant policy to make
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safety. " , '$
More than this carries with It a reversal of
tho wholo history and character of our polity.
More than this, proposed at this time, permit me
to say, would mean that wc had loot our solf
possoHslon, that wo had been thrown off our bnl
anco by a war with which wo havo nothing to
do, whoso causes can not touch uo, whose very
existence affords uo opportunities of friendship
and dlsintorcstcd sorvlco which should in nice us
nshamod ot any thought of hostility or fearful
preparation for trouble. This is assuredly the
opportunity for which a people and a govern
ment like ours wore raised up, the opportunity
not only to speak but actually to embody and
exemplify tho counsela of. peaco and amity and
.H'o lasting concern which is based on justice
und fair and genorous dealing.
A POWERFUL NAVY
. A powerful navy wb havo always rcgardod as
our proper and natural moans of cifcnsc; nnd
't has always been of dofonse that we have
thought, never of aggression or of conquest.
But who shall tell us now what sort of navy to
build. We shall take leave to bo strong upon
the seas, in tho future as in the pi'st; and there
will bo no thought of offensp or of provocation
in that. Our ships are natural bulwarks. When
will tho exports toll us just what kind wo should
construct and when will they bo right for ten
years together, if the relative efficiency of craft
of different kinds and uses continues to chango
as wo havo seen it chango under ur vory eyes
in these last few months? u B
But I turn away from tho subject. It is not
now. There Is no now need to discuss it. We
shall not alter our attitudo toward It because
some amongst us arc nervous and excited. Wo
shall easily and sensibly agree upon a policy of
defense. The question has not changed its as
pects because the times are not normal. Our
policy will not be for an occasion. It will ba
conceived as a permanent and settled thing,
which we will pursue at all seasons, without
haste and after a fashion perfectly consistent
with tho peace of the world, the iiblding friend
ship of states, and tho unhampered freedom of
all with whom wc deal. Let thero bo no mid
conception. The country has been misinformed.
Wo have not been negligent of national defense.
Wo are not unmindful of the great responsibility
-resting upon us. We shall learn nnd profit by
the lesson of every experience arid every now
circumstance; and what Is needed will be ade
quately done.
I close, as I began, by reminding you of the
great tasks and ditties of peace which challenge
our best powers and invite us to build what will '
last, the tasks to which we can address ourselves
now and at all times with freo-hoarted zest and
'with all the finest gifts of constructive wisdom
we possess. To develop our life and our re
sources; to supply our own people, and the peo
ple of the world as their need arises from tho
abundant plenty of our fields and our marts of
trade; to enrich the commerce of our own state
and of the world with the products of our mines,
our farms and our factories, with the creations
of our thought and the fruits of our character
this is what will hold our attention and our en
thusiasm steadily, now and in the years to come,
as we strive to 'show in our life as a nation what
liberty and the inspirations of an emancipated
spirit may do for men and for societies, for in
dividuals, for states and for mankind.
The annual reports of tho various departments
of the government, just submitted to congress,
detail a record of achievement for the democratic
party that every member of it has a reason to
be proud of. It is unfortunate that all of the
people who are interested in the progress of
government will not be able to read in full tho
reports made by each of the cabinet officers, but
must be content with the brief extracts for which
tho newspapers find space. They disclose that
the democratic administrators have acquitted
themselves of new and responsible trusts in a
manner beyond fair criticism. They are ample
proof of the fact that an able and an honest
man, even though he is not a republican, can
perform a public service faithfully and fully.
Sir George Palsh, the British financial expert
who came to America to amftige for the pay
ment of debts owing Great Britain people, de
clared just before his departure for homo that
the next year will be one of great prosperity for
the United States. Thereby proving that Sir
George Is not what you would call a natural re
publican during a democratic administration.
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