BLUNDERS OF THE
ADMINISTRATION
Wilson Has Failed In Foreign
and Domestic Policies.
ROOT SHOWS HIS ERRORS.
Address as Temporary Chairman of
New York Republican Convention
Points Out Sins of Democratic Com
mission and Omission—“We Have
Lost Influence Because We Have
Been Brave In Words and Irresolute
In Action."
In his address as temporary chair
man of the New York state Republican
convention, delivered in Carnegie Hull,
yew York, the lion. Elihu Root said:
We are entering upon a contest for
the election of a president and the con
trol of government under conditions
essentially new in the experience of
our party and of our country. The
forms and methods which we are
about to follow are old and familiar,
hut the grounds for action, the demand
of great events for decision upon na
tional conduct, the moral forces urg
ing to a solution of vaguely outlin
ed questions, the tremendous con
sequences of wisdom or folly in nation
al policy, all these are new to the great
mass of American voters now living.
Never since 1SG4 has an election been
fraught with consequences so vital to
national life. All the ordinary consid
erations which play so great a part in
our presidential campaigns are and
ought to be dwarfed Into insignificance.
Democratic Party to the Bar.
For tlie first time in twenty years we
enter the field as the party of opposi
tion. and indeed it is a much longer
time, for in 1800, in all respects save
the tariff, the real opposition to the
sturdy and patriotic course of Presi
dent Cleveland was to be found in the
party that followed Mr. Bryan. It is
our duty as the opposition to bring the
Democratic party to the bar of public
judgment, to put it upon its defense
so far as we see just and substantial
grounds to criticise its conduct and to
ask the voters of the country to decide
whether that party, organized as it is,
represented as it has been since it
came into power, has shown itself
competent to govern the country as it
should be governed and whether its
spirit, its policies, and its performance
are the best that the American people
can do in the way of popular self gov
ernment.
In the field of domestic affairs some
facts relevant to these questions had
'already been ascertained when in Au
gust, 1014. the great European war
began. During the year and a half of
Democratic control of government in
a period of profound peace there had
been a steady decrease in American
production, in exports and in revenues
and a steady increase in imports and
expenditures. Enterprise had halted.
The Democratic tariff had been framed
upon an avowed repudiation of all pro
tection. however moderate and reason
able. and because all protection was
repudiated practically all information
from competent witnesses as to the ef
fect new provisions would have upon
business was rejected. It was with
just cause that the enterprise of the
country halted, timid and irresolute,
because it felt and feared the hostility
of government.
Foreign Competition After War.
The great war lias not changed the
lesson which we had already learned
when it began. It has but obscured
further demonstration. It has caused
an enormous demand for some tilings
which tlie United States is able’to pro
duce in large quantities, and in these
lilies of production, while other indus
tries still languish, there have been ex
tensive employment of labor, great ex
ports and a great influx of money.
But this is temporary. It must soon
cease, and when tlie factories have
stopped and their laborers are no
longer employed we must deal with a
situation for which wise forethought
should make provision. More impor
tant still, the war has paralyzed the
peaceful industries of ail Europe and
has stopped that competitive foreign
production which in July, 1914, had al
ready entered American markets to
supersede American products under
the tariff law of 1913. The war has
thus given to American products an
Immunity from competition far more
effective than any possible protective
tariff. But that is temporary, and
when the war is over, when foreign
production begins again, the American
market compared with impoverished
Europe will he more than ever before
the object of desire and effort, and we
shall become the dumping ground of
the world to the destruction of our
own industries unless that is prevented
►y a wise and competent government.
How Can Be Defend Ourselves?
But it is not from domestic ques
tions that the most difficult problems
of this day arise. The events of the
last few years have taught us many
lessons. We have learned that civiliza
tion is but a veneer thinly covering the
savage nature of man. IIow can this
nation, which loves peace and intends
justice, avoid the curse of militarism
ami at the same time preserve its In
dependence. defend its territory, pro
tect the lives and liberty and proper
ty of its citizens? How can we pre
vent the same principles of action, the
same policies of conduct, the same
In, with the president's approval, was
signing treaties with half the world
agreeing that If any controversy should
arise it should he submitted to a joint
commission and no action should he
taken until after a full year had elaps
ed. This controversy, slight as it was,
arose on the 9th of April, and on the
21st of the same month Vera Cruz
was taken. With the occupation of
Vera Cruz the moral power of the
United States in Mexico ended. We
were then and we are now hated for
what we did to Mexico, and we were
then and we are now despised for our
feeble and Irresolute failure to protect
rorces or military power which are ex
hibited In Europe from laying hold
upon the vast territory and practically
undefended wealth of the new world?
Have we still national ideals? Will
anybody live for them? Would any
body die for them? Or are we all for
ease and comfort and wealth at any
price? Confronted by such questions
as these and the practical situations
which give rise to them, is the coun
try satisfied to trust itself again hi the
hands of the Democratic party?
Impotent Inteference In Mexico.
The United States had rights and
duties in Mexico. More than 40,000 of
our citizens had sought their fortunes
and made their homes there. A thou
sand millions of American capital had
been invested in that productive coun
try. But revolution had come, and
factional warfare was rife. Americans
had been murdered, American proper
ty had been wantonly destroyed, the
lives and property of all Americans in
Mexico were in danger. That was the
situation when Mr. Wilson became
president in March, 1015- His duty
then was plain. It was, first, to use
his powers as president to secure pro
tection for the lives and property of
Americans in Mexico and to require
that rules of law and stipulations of
treaties should be observed by Mexico
toward the United States and Its citi
zens. His duty was, second, as the
head of a foreign power to respect the
independence of Mexico, to refrain
from all interference with her internal
affairs, from all attempt at domina
tion except as he was justified by the
law of nations for the protection of
American rights. The president of the
United States failed to observe either
of those duties. He deliberately aban
doned them both and followed an en
tirely different and inconsistent pur
pose. He intervened in Mexico to aid
one faction in civil strife aga^st an
other. He undertook to pull down
Huerta and set Carranza up in his
place. Arms and munitions of war
were freely furnished to the northern
forces and withheld from Huerta.
Finally the president sent our army
and navy to invade Mexico and cap
ture its great seaport, Vera Cruz, and
hold it and throttle Mexican commerce
until Huerta fell.
Americans Outraged in Mexico.
The government of the United States
intervened in Mexico to control the in
ternal affairs of that independent coun
try and to enforce the will of the
American president in those affairs by
threat, by economic pressure and by
force of arms. Upon what claim of
right did this intervention proceed?
Not to secure respect for American
rights, not to protect the lives or prop
erty of our citizens, not to assert the
laws of nations, not to compel observ
ance of the law of humanity. On the
contrary, Huerta's was the only power
in Mexico to which appeal could be
made for protection of life or property.
That was the only power which, in
fact, did protect either American or
European or Mexican. It was only
within the territory where Huerta
ruled that comparative peace and or
der prevailed. The territory over
which the armed power of Carranza
and Villa and their associates extended
was the theater of the most appalling
crimes. Bands of robbers roved the
country with unbridled license. Amer
icans and Mexicans alike were at their
mercy, and American men were mur
dered and American women were out
raged with impunity. Thousands were
reduced to poverty by the wanton de
struction of the industries through
which they lived. Yet the government
of the United- States ignored, con
doned, the murder of American men
and the rape of American women and
destruction of American property and
insult to American officers and defile
ment of the American flag and joined
itself to the men who were guilty of
all these things to pull down the pow
er of Huerta. Why? The president
himself has told us. It was because
he adjudged nuerta to be a usurper,
because he deemed that the common
people of Mexico ought to have great
er participation in government and
share in the laud, and he believed that
Carranza and Villa would give them
these things. We must all sympathize
with these sentiments, but there is
nothing more dangerous than mis
placed sentiment.
\\ hen our army lauded at \ era Cruz
Carranza himself, who was to be the
chief beneficiary of the act, publicly
protested against it. So strong was
the resentment that he could not have
kept his followers otherwise. When
Huerta had fallen the new government
which for the day had succeeded to
his place peremptorily demanded the
withdrawal of the American troops.
The universal sentiment of Mexicans
required the peremptory demand, and
the troops were withdrawn. Still
worse than that, the taking of Vera
Cruz destroyed confidence in the sin
cerity of the American government in
Mexico, because every intelligent man
in Mexico believed that the avowed
reason for the act was not the real
reason. The avowed purj>ose was to
compel a salute to the American ling.
Three hundred Mexicans were report
ed killed; seventeen United States ma
rines were killed and many were
woundctU- At that-ven; tune Mr. Bry
thc lives and rights of our citizens No
flag is so dishonored and no citizenship
so little worth the claiming in Mexico
as ours. And that is why we have
failed in Mexico.
Policy of “Watchful Waiting.’’
Incredible as it seems, Huerta tiad
been turned out by the assistance of
the American government without any
guaranties from the men who were to
be set up rn his place, and so the mur
dering and burning and ravishing have
gone on to this day. After Huerta
had fallen and the Vera Cruz expedi
tion had been withdrawn President
Wilson announced that no one was
entitled to interfere in the affairs of
Mexico; that she was entitled to settle
them herself. He disclaims all re
sjionsibility for what happens in Mex
ico and contents himself with a pol
icy of watchful waiting. And for the
death and outrage, the suffering and
ruin of our own brethren, the hatred
and contempt for our country and the
dishonor of our name in that land the
administration at Washington shares
responsibility with the inhuman brutes
with whom it made common cause.
When we turn to the administra
Jtion’s conduct of foreign affairs inci
dent to the great war in Europe we
I
| cannot ran to perceive that'mere Is
| much dissatisfaction among Ameri
cans. Dissatisfaction is not in itself
ground for condemnation. The situ
ation created by the war has been ditli
! cult and trying. Much of the corre
| spondence of the state department,
especially since Mr. Lansing took
charge, has been characterized by ac
! curate learning and skillful statement
of specific American rights.
, Three Errors In European Policy.
A study of the administration's pol
icy toward Europe since July, 1014.
reveals three fundamental errors: First,
i the lack of foresight to make timely
provision for backing up American di
plomacy by actual or assured military
and naval force; second, the forfei
ture of the world’s respect for our as
i sertiou of rights by pursuing the policy
, of making threats and failing to make
them good; third, a loss of the moral
, forces of the civilized world through
failure to truly interpret to the world
I the spirit of the American democracy
1 in its attitude toward the terrible
| events which accompanied the early
stages of the war.
First, as to power:
i When the war in Europe began, free,
! peaceable little Switzerland instantly
mobilized upon her frontier a great
I army of trained citizen soldiers. Stur
| dy little Holland did the same, and
l both have kept their territory and their
independence inviolate.
Great, peaceable America was farther
removed from the conflict, but her
i trade and her citizens traveled on ev
| cry sea. Ordinary knowledge of Eu
' ropean affairs made it plain that the
: war was begun not by accident, but
i with purpose which would not soon be
| relinquished. Ordinary knowledge of
i military events made it plain from the
! moment when the tide of German inva
sion turned from the battle of the
| Marne that the conflict was certain to
| be long and desperate. Ordinary knowl
| edge of history—of our own history
| during the Napoleonic wars—made it
plain that in that conflict neutral rights
would be worthless unless powerfully
maintained.
j ne i >einocratio government at Wash
ington did not see it. Others saw it,
anil their opinions found voice Mr.
Gardner urged it, Mr. Lodge urged it,
Mr. Stimson urged it, Mr. Roosevelt
urged it, but their argument and ur
gency were ascribed to political mo
tives. and the president described them
with a sneer as nervous and excited.
Wilson Has Shifted Ground.
But the warning voices would not be
stilled. The opinion that we ought no
longer to remain defenseless became
public opinion. Its expression grew
more general and insistent, and finally
the president, not leading, but follow
ing. has shifted his ground, has revers
ed his position and asks the country to
prepare against war. God grant that
he be not too late. But the Democrat
ic party lias not shifted its ground. A
large part of its members in congress
are endeavoring now to sidetrack the
movement for national preparedness,
to muddle it by amendment and turn
it into channels which will produce the
least possible result in the increase of
national power of defense. What
sense of effectiveness in this effort can
we gather from the presence of Jose
phus Daniels at the most critical post
of all—the head of the navy depart
ment—when we see that where
preparation has been possible it has
not been made, when we see that con
struction of warships already author
ized has not been pressed and in some
cases after long delay has not even
been begun?
If an increase of our country’s power
to defend itself against aggression is
authorized by the present congress it
must be largely through Republican
votes, because all the traditions and
convictions of that party are for na
tional power and duty and honor.
As to the policy of threatening words
without deeds:
w nen Germany gave notice or her
purpose to sink merchant vessels on
the high seas without safeguarding the
lives of innocent passengers our gov
ernment on the 10th of February one
year ago informed Germany in unmis
takable terms that In attacking and
sinking vessels of the United States
and in destroying the lives of American
I citizens lawfully traveling upon mer
chant vessels of other countries she
would act at her peril. They pledged
the power and courage of America,
with her hundred million people and
her vast wealth, to the protection of
her citizens, as during all her history
through the days of her youth and
weakness she had protected them.
On the 28th of March the passenger
steamer Falaba was torpedoed by >
German submarine and an American
citizen was killed, but nothing was
dme. On the 28th of April the Amer
ican vessel Cushing was attacked and
crippled by a German aeroplane. On
the 1st of May the American vessel
Gulflight was torpedoed and sunk by n
German submarine and two or more
Americans were killed, yet nothing was
done. On the 7th of May the Lusita
nia was torpedoed and sunk by a Ger
man submarine and more than 100
Americans and 1,100 other uoncoru
batants were drowned. The very thing
■ which our government had warned
' Germany she must not do, Germany
did of set purpose and in the most con
temptuous and shocking way. Then,
when all Ambrica was stirred to the
depths, our government addressed an
other note to Germany. It repeated
its assertion of American rights and
renewed its bold declaration of pur
; pose. It declared again that the Amer
ican government “must hold the im
! perial German government to a strict
I accountability for any infringement of
! those rights, intentional or incidental,”
and It declared that it would not “omit
i any word or any act necessary to the
performance of Its sacred duty of main
taining the rights of the United States
and its citizens and of safeguarding
their free exercise and enjoyment.”
Still nothing was done and a long
and technical correspondence ensued,
haggling over petty questions of de
tail, every American note growing less
and less strong and peremptory until
the Arabic was torpedoed and sunk
and more American lives were destroy
ed. and still nothing was done, and
the correspondence continued until the
allied defense against German subma
rine warfare made it unprofitable and
led JoJts afeandoijmeni, and the cor
reSpondence'Ts'Tippareufly approaching
its end without securing even that par
tial protection for the future which
might be found in an admission that
I the destruction of the Lusitania was
j forbidden by law. The later corre
i spondeuce has been conducted by our
. state department with dignity, but it
has been futile. Ail admission of lia
bility for damages has been secured,
but the time for real protection to
American rights lias long since passed.
The brave words with which we be
gan the controversy had produced no
effect, because they were read in the
I light of two extraordinary events.
| One was the report of the Austrian
j ambassador. Mr. Dumba, to his gov
ernment that when the American note
J of Feb. 10 was received he asked the
I secretary of state. Mr. Bryan, whether
j it meant business and received an au
! swer which satisfied him that it did
’ not, but was intended for effect at
home in America.
“Too Proud to Fight.”
Tlie other event was the strange and
unfortunate declaration of the presi
dent in a public speech in Philadelphia
the fourth day after the sinking of
j tlie Lusitania that “a man may be too
I proud to light.” Whatever the Aus
trian ambassador was in fact told by
the secretary of state, the impression
which he reported was supported by
the events which followed. Whatever
the president did mean, his declaration,
made in public at that solemn time,
amid the horror and mourning of all
our people over tlie murder of their
children, was accepted tlie world over
as presenting the attitude of tlie Amer
ican government toward tlie protection
of the life and liberty of American
! citizens in the exercise of their just
rights, and throughout the world tlie
phrase “too proud to fight" became a
byword of derision and contempt for
the government of the United States.
Later, in another theater of war—the
Mediterranean—Austria, and perhaps
Turkey also, resumed the practice.
The Ancona and then the Persia were
destroyed, and more Americans were
killed. Why should they not resume ■
tlie practice? They had learned to he- i
liove that, no matter how shocked the |
American government might be, its
resolution would expend itself in [
words. They had learned to believe
that it was safe to kill Americans, and j
the world believed with them.
Shaking Fist and Finger.
No man should draw a pistol who
dares not shoot. The government that
shakes its list first and its finger after
ward falls into contempt. Our diplo
macy has lost its authority and influ
ence because we have been brave in
words and irresolute in action. Men
may say that the words of our diplo
matic notes were justified; men may
say that our inaction was justified, but
no man can say that both were wise
and creditable.
I have said that this government lost
the moral forces of the world by not
truly interpreting the spirit of the
American democracy.
The American democracy stands for
something more than beef and cotton
and grain and manufactures; stauds
for something that cannot be measured
by rates of exchange and does not rise
or fall with the balance of trade. The
American people, informed by their
own experience that is confirmed by
llieir observation of international life,
ftave come to see that the independence
of nations, the liberty of their peoples,
justice and humanity cannot be main
tained tipon the complaisance, the good
nature, the kindly feeling of the strong
toward the weak; that real independ
ence, real liberty, cannot rest upon suf
ferance; that peace and liberty can be
preserved only by the authority and
observance of rules of national con
duct founded upon the principles of
justice and humanity; only by the es
tablishment of law among nations, re
sponsive to the enlightened public opin
ion of mankind. To them liberty
means not liberty for themselves alone,
but for all who are oppressed. Justice
means not justice for themselves
alone, but a shield for all who are
weak against the aggression of the
strong.
io tins people the invasion or liet
giuui brought a shock of amazement
and lion01. If the public opinion of tile
world was to remain silent upon that,
neutral upon that, then all talk about
peace and justice and international law
and the rights of man, the progress of
humanity and the spread of liberty is
idle patter, mere weak sentimentality;
then opinion is powerless and brute
force rules and will rule the world. If
no difference is recognized between
right and wrong then there are no
moral standards. There come times in
the lives of nations as of men when to
treat wrong as if it were right is trea
son to the right.
The Wrong Done to Belgium.
The American people were entitled
not merely to feel, but to speak con
cerning tbe wrong done to Belgium.
It was not like interference in the in
ternal affairs of Mexico or any other
nation, for this was an international
wrong. Tlie law protecting Belgium
which was violated was our law and
the law of every other civilized coun
try. That law was the protection of
our peace and security. It was our
safeguard against the necessity of
maintaining great armaments and
wasting our substance in continual
readiness for war. Moreover, that law
was written into a solemn and formal
convention, signed and ratified by Ger
many and Belgium and France and the
United States in which those other
countries agreed with us that the law
should be observed.
There was no question here of inter
fering in the quarrels of Europe. We
had a right to he neutral, and we were
neutral as to the quarrel between Ger
many and France, but when as an in
cident to the prosecution of that
quarrel Germany broke the law which
we were entitled to have preserved
and which she had agreed with us to
preserve we were entitled to be heard
i in the assertion of our own national
right.
Neutral Between Right and Wrong!
Yet the American government ac
quiesced in the treatment of Belgium
and the destruction of the law of na
tions. Without one word of objection
or dissent to the repudiation of law
or the breach of our treaty or the vio
lation of justice and humanity in the
treatment of Belgium .ourjsovernment
enjoimTa'upon TB6 People oT the~"CiTItell
States an undiscriminating and all em
bracing neutrality, and the president
admonished the people that they must
be neutral In all respects In act and
word and thought end sentiment. We
were to be not merely neutral as to the
quarrels of Europe, but neutral as to
the treatment of Belgium, neutral be
tween right and wrong, neutral be
tween justice and injustice, neutral be
tween humanity and cruelty, neutral
betweeu liberty and oppression. Our
government did more than acquiesce,
for in the first Lusitaifia note, with the
unspeakable horrors of the conquest
of Belgium still fresh in our minds, on
the very day after the report of the
Bryce commission on Belgian atroci
ties, it wrote these words to the gov
ernment of Germany:
Recalling the humane and enlightened
attitude hitherto assumed by the imperial
German government in matters of inter
national right and particularly with re
gard to the freedom of the seas, having
learned to recognize the German views
and the German influence in the field of
international obligation as always engaged
upon the side of justice and humanity, etc.
And so the government of the United
States appeared as approving the treat
ment of Belgium. It misrepresented
tlie people of the United States In that
acquiescence and apparent approval.
It was not necessary that the United
States should go to war in defense
of the violated law. A single official
expression by the government of the ,
United States, a single sentence deny- )
ing assent and recording disapproval
of what Germany did in Belgium,
would have given to the ]ieople of :
America that leadership to which they ;
were entitled in their earnest groping
for tlie light. It would have ranged i
behind American leadership the con- !
science and morality of the neutral 1
world.
It was not to he. The American
government failed to rise to the de
mands of the great occasion. Gone
were the old love of justice, the old
passion for liberty, the old sympathy
with the oppressed, the old ideals of
an America helping the world toward
a better future, and there remained in |
the eyes of mankind only solicitude for 1
trade and profit and prosperity.
Shrank From the Truth.
The American government could not
really have approved the treatment of
Belgium, but under a mistaken policy
it shrank from speaking the truth.
Such policies as I have described are
doubly dangerous in their effect upon
foreign nations and in their effect at
home. It is a matter of universal ex
perience that a weak and apprehensive
treatment of foreign affairs invites en
croachments upon rights and leads to
situations in which it is difficult to
prevent war, while a firm and frank
policy at the outset prevents difficult
situations from arising and tends most
strongly to preserve peace. On the
other hand, if a government is to he
strong in its diplomacy its own peo
ple must lie ranged in its support by
leadership of opinion in a national
cause worthy to awaken their patri
otism and devotion.
We have not been following the path
of peace. We have been blindly stum
bling along the road that continued
will lead to inevitable war.
When our government failed to tell
the truth about Belgium it lost the
opportunity for leadership of the moral
sense of the American people and it
lest the power which a knowledge of
that leadership and a sympathetic re
sponse from the moral sense of the
world would have given to our diploma
cy. When our government failed to
make any provision whatever for de
fending its rights in ease they should
be trampled upon it lost the power
which a belief in its readiness and will
to maintain its rights would have giv
en to its diplomatic representations.
When our government gave notice to
Germany that it would destroy Amer
ican lives and American ships at its
peril our words, which would have
been potent if sustained by adequate
preparation to make them good and by
the prestige and authority of the moral
leadership of a great people in a great
cause, were treated with a contempt
which should have been foreseen, and
when our government failed to make
those words good its diplomacy was
bankrupt.
upon tne record or performance
which I have tried to describe will the
American people say that the Demo
cratic party is entitled to he continued
in power^
The defects of the present adminis
tration arise from two distinct causes.
The lirst is the temperament and train
ing of the president. The second is the
incapacity of the Democratic party as
it is represented in Washington both
in the legislative and in the executive
departments either to originate wise
policies or to follow them when pro
posed by others or to administer them
effectively if they are established. The
Democrats in congress are never con
trolled except with a club, and gov
ernment with a club is always spas
modic and defective.
We must not deceive ourselves by
assuming that the critical period aris
ing from the great war has passed.
The real dangers and the real tests of
the strength of our institutions lie be
fore us. The most exacting demands
upon the wisdom, the spirit and the
i or-rage of our country are still to be
made. In this great conflict all forms
of government are on trial, democracy
with the rest. The principles of na
tional morality are on trial. We must
1 lay our part in the universal trial
whether we will or no, for upon the re
sult depends directly the question
whether our republic can endure.
What Are People to Expect?
But what are the people to expect if
the Republican party is restored ta
power?
This much we can say now:
They may expect, with confidence,
that their government will meet the
economic situation with which we
must deal immediately upon the close
of the war, witli a policy of moderate
hut adequate protection to American
industry.
They may expect that the govern
ment will be administered with the
honesty and efficiency which have
marked Republican administrations In j
the past.
They may expect that the best possi
ble course for the preservation of
peace will be followed by a foreign pol
icy which, with courtesy and friendli
ness to all nations, is frank and fear
less and honest In its assertion of
American rights
AT THE OPERA HOUSE'
Revival Meetings
Every Evening
W. A. Erwin, Evangelist.
FRIDAY:
“Self Destruction, or Moral Spiritual Suicide.”
SATURDAY:
“Tin* Moral Man.”
SUNDAY:
11 A. M.—“The Resurrection of Jesus.”
7:30 P. M.—“The Divinity of Jesus ”
TUESDAY:
“The Second Coning of Jesus, and the Relation of
that Event to the Present Crisis in the World’s History,
Especially the Great European Wars.’’
WEDNESDAY:
“The Relation of the Lodges to the Church and the
Betterment of the World.”
^ _
They "mfl wMTpeet that their govern
ment will stand for full and adequate
preparation by the American people
for their own defense. The Republican
party loves peace and hates war; it
abhors and will never submit to mili
tary domination; but it is composed of
men who love our country and who
deem that the independence, the liber
ty, the honor and the opportunity of
the American democracy are not mere
ly to be talked about with weak and
flabby sentiment, but are to lie main
tained and safeguarded by the prac
tical power of a virile and patriotic .
people. It is clearsighted enough to
see that preparation for defense must
have due relation to the possibilities
of attack; that under the conditions of
modern warfare much preparation
must be made before a possible attack
or all preparation will be impossible
after the attack. Tlie Republican par
ty stands for a citizenship made com
petent by training lo perform the free
man’s duty of defense for his country.
It stands for a regular army no larger
than is necessary, but as large ns is
necessary to serve as a first line, a
nucleus, a source of instruction and of
administration for the army of Ameri
can citizens who may lie called upon
to defend their country. And the Re
publican party stands for the gospel
of patriotic service to our country by
every citizen, according to bis ability
in peace and in war. It stands for a
reawakening cf American patriotism.
It is not content that while the people
of other lands are rendering the last
full measure of devotion in sacrifice
and suffering and dying for their coun
tries America shall remain alone dull
to the call of country and satisfied in
the comforts and pleasures of pros
perity.
Our Power For Peace.
They may expect that assured readi
ness for defense will give power to
our diplomacy in the maintenance of
peace.
They may expect that the power and ,
will of a united people to defend their I
country will prevent the application to j
our peaceful and prosperous land of j
the hateful doctrine that among na- I
tions might makes right regardless of '
tlie rules of justice and humanity.
They may expect that the manifest, j
potential strength and competency of ]
the nation will maintain the effective- j
ness and reality of that great policy of
national safety which in the declara
tion of President Monroe forbade tlie
destruction of our security by the es
tablishment of hostile military powers
in our neighborhood.
They may expect that their govern
ment will not forget, but will ever
maintain, the principles of American
freedom, the duties of America to the
peace and progress of the world and
those ideals of liberty and justice for
all mankind which above all else make
the true greatness of the American
democracy.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
Mr. and Mrs. Cl. W. Anderson visited
at R. P. McClarey’s place Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. diaries Jewell visited
at C. C. Darrow's place Friday even
ing.
Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Fowler visited
at Milton Kee’s place one day last
week.
Mrs. W. H. Jewell and daughter.
Pearl, visited at William Minne’s one
day last week.
Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Jewell and Miss
Amanda Carlson, visited at Hans
Pederson’s place Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Welty and Mr.
and Mrs. J. W. Darrow visited at C.
C. Darrow’s place Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Leininger and
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jewell visited
at Pearl Slawson’s in Lee Park on
Sunday.
James Martin of Polk county, and
Oscar Thelander, of Lee Park, took
dinner at G. W. Anderson’s place on
Saturday.
Alfred Malm and Misses Edith,
Bettie, and Marie Malm .and Miss
Katie Fagan, visited frineds in Valley
county Sunday.
James Turvey returned last Sat
urday evening from Corning, Iowa,
where he had been called on account
of the death of his mother.
The "scribe” of these items hates
very much to confess that he ever
makes mistakes, but a great mistake
was made last week, as an article
appered stating tahat a number of the
neighboring women had helped Mrs.
John Anderson clean house, but it
should have been "Mr.” as John is
still a bachelor and has not yet an
nounced any intentions of entering
into any matrimonial contracts, but
this is leap year, so it is hard to tell
what may happen before Christmas.
Straight.
War has so greatly increased the
cost of quinine and whiskey, the popu
lar remedy for a cold, that many of
the sufferers have been obliged to
do without the quinine.
“Elasticity can often be restored to
rubber by soaking it in a mixture of
one part of household amonia to two
of water,” chirps an exchange. This,
however, does not include the mas
culine neck when a pretty ankle is in
sight. The m. n. is perpetually elas
tic.
The National Housewives’ League
has hopped into the preparedness
arena by inaugurating a campaign for
elevating the food question and build
ing up the health of the men in order
that they may become physically fit
for service. We’re a patriot! Pass the
honey!