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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1915)
IWJHRW' Op The Commoner NOVEMBER, 1915 11 rt' a ixtiyt of the European war. Even if any had designs upon us, or if we would declare war against any, not one could send a soldier or a ship against us. It could spare neither from the exactions of the present conflict. If, as so many of the jingoes and , war trafllkers demanded, wo had unfortunately had an actual rupture with Germany, which most wisely and fortunately was avoided, (thanks to the patient, resolute level-headedness and big com prehension of the President), she could have spared neither a soldier nor a ship to engage us. Great Britain or France, by declaring war against us, would whip herself and allies on land in less than six months, without our arming a soldier or moving a vessel. Where is the danger ll0W where are the war goblins to catch our people to come from? Even the Japan goblin, specially fixed up for so many years by Hobson and the jingoes, at the time of each annual naval appropriation bill, is now being laughed at by the kindergarten children. Where is the danger in tho future? After the conclusion of the present war, every European nation will bo so exhausted in men, money, credit and material resources and its people s6 burdened with bil lions of debt and taxation and its land so filled with millions of maimed and crippled and many more millions of widows and orphans, that not one could even think or dream of war with the United States, the biggest, richest, strongest power on earth, with its 100,000,000 people, and its billions of wealth and unlimited resources, fresh, untouched, unimpaired, unless our gov ernment, yielding to the jingoes and war traffick ers, would take it by the nape of the neck and pull it into a fight with us. 3rd. The conditions of our treasury and our revenues and the' necessities of the government are less able now to permit increased appropria tions than ever before. The treasury has felt most heavily the burdens of the present war. Our general surplus fund of over $160,000,000 has almost approached the vanishing point; our deficits are annual and monthly; our revenues have diminished; we have strained tho nerves of the government to get sufficient revenue to meet Its ordinary expenses; we have been forced to levy an emergency tax, and still the surplus fund is diminishing; our deficits still exist; our revenues still insufficient. I repeat, if there ever was a time in the history of our country when congress and the people could look with com placency upon the safety of our situation and consider a military and naval construction pol icy with deliberation, without excitement and without haste, it is now. When I sit down, away from the noise and bowlings of the jingoes and war traffickers and their yelping pack, and calmly contemplate our exact situation, a navy and army stronger, better equipped, more effi cient than ever before, with more battleships, more dreadnaughts, more submarines, more de stroyers, more auxiliaries being built than ever before, with less danger from a foreign foe, and, even if inclined, with less power to strike or harm us than ever before, in absolutely no danger from any, with decreasing revenues, van ishing surplus, growing deficits, an extra levy, and then not enough mbnoy to meet tho ordin ary expenses of. tho " government, with those charged with the responsibility searching every avenue for a way to get sufficient revenue dur ing the continuance of the present war to satisfy the absolute necessities of the government, with one section of the country with its 20,000,000 of people pressed to its knees by the burdens of tho European war, and then- think of some of our usually level-headed, patriotic people catching the fright and feveT, which the jingoes and war traffickers have spread, and chiming in with their senseless wailing over our "dangerous un preparedness" and their yelp for a Dig navy and a big army! dreadnaughts! battleships! 500,000 standing army! for millions and hundreds of millions of additional appropriations, for more burdens, .more taxation, more deficits, and no surplus and no balances, I catch myself asking, what in God's name Is the matter with our peo ple? Have we lost our senses and gone mad? Will this naval and military malady spread to congress and consume its reason and blind its eyes to our actual situation and our actual needs? I hope not. I fear so. If we must, in the future, enter a career of militarism and nayai ism, can't we wait a while? Will it not be wiser for us to await the termination of the present war? And then, having learned its full lesson, with calmness and comprehension, take our prop er bearings, determine the policy, and thon pro ceed with the program? Is it not possible, as suggested by the secretary of the navy In his speech in New York In May last, that this war may revolutionize tho naval warfare for tho fu ture? Is it not posaiblo that It will demonstrate when ended and its full lesson has been learned, that dreadnaughts and battleships, costing each millions of dollars, and requiring a thousand men and over to man, will bo obsolete as a weap on of warfare? Is it not poaslblo that tho loss of life, tho destruction of property, tho untold billions of debt and taxation, tho atrocities and cruelties of this war will bo bo frightful and so appalling that, when ended, tho humanity and wisdom of mankind and none moro willing and ready than the present belligerents will find or make a way for a world wide disarmament? Why put extra millions more in them now? It seems to me that all of us can afford to wait, except tho jingoes and war traffickers, who must take advantago of tho scare and excltcmont among our peoplo provoked by the European war and aggravated and Intensified by their or ganized effortB, to whoop it up for a big array and a big navy, for big contracts and big profits; otherwise their day and opportunity Is lost. They must hurry; they must rush. Congress need not, and, I trust, will not. With kind regards, I am, Sincerely yours, CLAUDE KITCHIN. MAKING SOLDIERS AND DESTROYING MAN HOOD Save us from our friends! Major General John F. O'Ryan of the New York national guard re marked recently in public that "The greatest value of a trained soldiery came from the pro cess that made them mero automatons, trained to do the bidding of their officers. Tho first thing that must be done is to destroy all initia tive, and that with the training, fits men to be soldiers " The general is quite right, but we have al ways thought that initiative was tho most char acteristic and best American quality, tho trait most responsible for the building up of this great country and all the things this nation Is most proud of. General O'Ryan'o remarks are not calculated to help the advocated army in crease in this country. They deserve the widest circulation, for they are likely to do Just the thing he does not want them to dothey are likely to make many Americans stop and think before they Join the national defense league and the various other organizations formed to boost "war stocks." Is there any really good and valid reason why we should enter on a course or training for our young men that must, if it bo effective, rob them of the quality that Is their proudest boast? Is there any reason at a"?--except tho desiro to see Bethlehem steel reach tho proud pinnacle of $1,000 a share? Grace Isabel Colbron, in the Public. THE PREPARATIONTRT FAIRY TALE IN DUSTRY The latest fairy tale issued by tho prcpara tionist Is that Germany will demand compensa tion from the United States at the end of the wa? for the sale of munitions to the Allies. Tho concoctors of this story have forgotten that, S a protest against nch sales was made bv Austria, Germany did not Join In it. They further forget that Germany is even now en deavoring tf float a loan in this country through poplar subscriptions and offering ! dented premium of twelve and a half per cent on five ner cent bonds. American citizens who buy fhese bonds will be giving to Germany practic al the same help that munition factories are c iving to tho Allies. And they forget that Ger 5IIS -il offered to submit to arbitration mat ten fin dtonntt that have come up. This continu ? nnfacture of one ridiculous scare after another oy the preparatioiilsts Is itself enough to show the unworthy nature of their demands. The Public. Among the important bits of news which the Kiif. Toners did not play up so that on 'Shm tt m Tth Tstatenient of Chairman Mnrdoek o ' 1 P?o gmtve national committee S5 "are nf : ljt : 0M0 bu 1 mooscrs man If compelled to choose between Wilson Inf a sJdpXrfhe say. SO per cent will vote for Wilson. ,....-, A casual scrutiny of the election returns indi- rrTmnlete disappearance of the progree CfteSnrfvinay sections. And at that it was $& foUowS H example of the colonel. 00 Q ; - v a 0 THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION 0 0 0 0 Prcoldont Wilson Issued tho following 0 proclamation, October 20: 0 0 "It has long boon tho honored custom 0 0 of our peoplo to turn In tho fruitful au- 0 tumn of tho year In pralso and thanks- 0 0 giving to Almighty God for His many 0 0 blessings and mercies to us as a nation. 0 0 Tho year that Is now drawing to a close 0 sinco wo last observed our day of national 0 0 thanksgiving has been, while a year of 0 0 discipline bcoauKO of the mighty forces of 0 0 war and of chango which has disturbed 0 0 tho world, also a year of special blessing (9 for us. 0 "Another year of peace has beem 0 0 vouchsafed us; another year in which 0 0 not only to take thought of our duty to 0 0 ourselves and to mankind, but also to 0 adjust ourselves to the many responsible 0. itlcs thrust upon us by a war which has 0" involved almost the whole of Europe. 0 Wo have been ablo to assert our rights 0 and the rights of mankind without breach 0 of friendship with the great nations with 0 whom we have had to doal, nnd while we 0 havo assorted our rights we have been 0 ablo also to perform duties and oxcrclse 0 privileges of succor and helpfulness which 0 should serve to domonstrato our desire 0 0 to make tho ofilccs of friendship the 0 0 means of truly disinterested and unsel- 0 0 fish service. Our ability to serve all 0 0 who could avail thomsolves of our ser- 0 0 vices in the midst' of crises has been In- 0 creased, by a gracious Providence, by 0 0 more and moro abundant crops; our 0 ample financial resources havo enabled 0 0 us to steady tho markets of the world 0 nnd facilitate necessary movements of 0 commerco which tho war might other- 0 0 wise have rendered Impossible; and our 0 people havo come more and moro to a 0 sober realization of the part they have 0 been called upon to play in a time when 0 all the world is shaken by unparalleled 0 distresses and disasters. The extraor- 0 dlnary circumstances of such a time 0 0 havo done much to quicken our national 0 0 consciousness and deepen and confirm 0 our confidence In the principles of peace 0 and freedom by which wo have always 0 sought to bo guided. Out of darkness 0 and perplexity have come firmer counsels 0 of policy and clearer rerceptlons of the 0 essential welfare of tho nation. We hare 0 prospered while other peopled were at 0 war, but our prosperity ha3 been vouch- 0 safed us, we believo, only that wo might 0 the better perform tho functions which 0 war rendered it Impossible for them to 0 perform. 0 "NOW, THEREFORE, I, WOODROW 0 WILSON. President of the United States 0 of America, do hereby designate Thurs- 0 day, the 25th of November next, as a day 0 of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite 0 the people throughout the land to cease 0 from their wonted occupations and la 0 their several homes and places of wor- 0 ship render thanks to Almighty God. 0 "IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have here- 9 unto set my hand and caused the seal of 0 the United States to bo affixed. 0 "Done at the City of Washington this 0 twentieth day of October, in the year of 0 our Lord ono thousand nine hundred and 0 fifteen, and of the independence of the United States of America the one hnn- 0 dred and fortieth. "WOODROW WILSON." 0 "By the President: 0 0 "ROBERT LANSING, 0 "Secretary of State." 0 A 00 Somebody counted up sixteen favorite son who would attempt to erft a lightning rod la the next republican national' convention for the lightning to hit. The abundant supply of favor ite sons in republican conventions Is one branch of production that the democrats are never charged with curtailing. i It is predicted that the vote of Illinois -will he cast in the republican national 'convention for Senator Sherman. This may be taken as a fift&l concession on the part of Uncle Joe Cannom that he really is too old to run. .A.ij " n