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The Commoner
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VOL. 15, NO. 12
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(Congressman "Cyclone" Davis Writes
the New York World
To Tho World,
Now York City, N. Y.
Answering your telegram, I think Woodrow
Wilson one of the grandest men that ever served
as . president, but as a congressman I am un-
willing to commit myself now to any very large
extension of our army or navy. I would like to
double or treble our army and navy schools,
preparing an adequate number of young men for
expert service in time of need; enlarge our Rock
Island arsenal; manufacture and keep on hand
an ample supply of first-class guns, munitions
and like equipments; plant several aeronautic
stations on our shores with submarine and mine
equipments. Thus prepared and relying on a
citizen soldiery, if we give the citizen freedom
and fair play at home, we will bo impervious to
all attacks from any source.
I fear a very large pari of this clamor for pre
paredness is inspired by the money trust, steel
trust, powder trust, shipbuilding trust, etc.,
which are growing fabulously richer and more
powerful over the war contracts from Europe
and want to have this country in a frenzy over
a big army and navy so when their big contracts
with the Allies in Europe close, they can feast
a few years more on our own federal treasury
In big, fat contracts at home.
What countries do wo expect to attack us? If
our program is only defensive, I see no danger
of trouble. The clashing governments of Europe
are now bankrupting their governments, and
murdering their men by the million. . Unless
Morgan, or some of our predatory rich, furnish
them money, it would be impossible for them to
Invade and maintain a war with our country.
Stupid must be the man who thinks that Japan
or China, even both, could mobilize an army,
wade the ocean ten thousand miles and invade
our country. Germany seems to be the specter
of dread that the "Gingos" refer to. Germany
will have enemies enough in Europe to keep her
busy for a generation, even if she comes out of
this dreadful war alive.
Bryan, Wilson's great partner in this wonder
ful peace and prosperity we now have, made sol
emn treaties with most nations of the earth, to
refer all questions to The Hague one year before
a declaration of war, or an overt act of violence.
Shall we toll the world that we have no confi
dence In its treaties? Is Christianity dead and
honor extinct, and the world a prize ring in
which brute force alone is master? Kings, em
porers, aristocrats and great, greedy corpora
tions will keep the world in a maelstrom of mis
ery and war if domocracy, freedom and justice
aro not allowed to assert themselves. It is the
mission of our government to lead the way in
this great universal civilizing program.
I would have the government make its own
army supplies, munitions, guns, gunboats and
aeroplanes. One who feels a pang of sorrow
over the present cruel war grows horrified and
heartsick as he sees the great gun and powder
factories of the earth in partnership, supplying
tho guns and munitions that prepare both sides
for the slaughter. The Krupps in Germany and
the Armstrongs in England leagued In corporate
partnership, have furnished deadly machines of
murder that thunder on both sides of every bat
tle. If war is "Hell," as Sherman said, then let
us keep out of "Hell" by preparing for a glor
ious civilization at homo, enlarge our ports and
merchant marine, curb the rapacity of the ma
levolent rich, who concentrate our natural and
productive resources Into a few greedy hands.
"Establish Justice, insure domestic tranquil
ity," not make all our farmers tenants and our
laboring millions serfs to soulless corporations,
and our merchants peons to a few trusts in or
der that a few bankers like Morgan and Rocke
feller may be masters of all our gigantic enter
prises, thus promoting debt, discord, riot, strikes
and misery among the masses.
"Provide for the common defense" by making
ur people free, prosperous and happy and then
the combined world could not invade and con
quer us. A contented citizen soldiery is in
vincible. "Promote tho general welfare and se
izure the blessings of liberty" to the masses and
pt to the big corporate classes.
', The price of several warships would better be
pent in Impounding the vast snows melt along
,tke base of the Rock mountains for irrigation
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over the fertile valleys below which stand thirst
ing for that which, if interned, would bless mil
lions of people and make their homes prosper-:
ous., The price of a few moro warships and the
price of a large standing army could well bei
spent In dredging and disinfecting sluggish and
malsmatic swamps and streams; giving health
and wealth to vast sections of country now in-:
fected with disease, stagnation and death. The
price of a few dreadnaughts would be far bet
ter spent in erecting a system of continental mil
itary highways.
Some provision must bo made in our defense"
program to prevent the great corporations from
feasting on the ruin of our country in war, and
money be made to fight for its country the same
as men. All goes down in war except gold?
which stands triumphant over every battlefield,
cleans up the wreck and makes millions out of
its cruel carnage. The more ferocious the war
the larger its margins. The moanings of mil
lions of mangled soldiers and grief-stricken cit
izens, helpless in poverty, by war, are songs of
jubilation and joy to the world's gold syndicate,
which stands in splendor over ruined and rav
ished humanity. The cadaverous faces of a mil
lion dead soldiers only emphasize the triumph
ant march of gold to more sumptuous splendor,
when it can clip the coupons from government
bonds and command the tax collectors to pay
homage of millions of dollars taken from tho
honest enterprise and toil of the survivors of a
cruel slaughter, which the lords of gold them
sleves, in league with great gun, powder and
munition factories, have often instigated.
Until these unscrupulous molochs of misery
and death can bemuzzled and forbidden to feast
in ghoulish glee on the dead and dying men in
war, we may expect greed and gold to keep the
world in conflict by piling up immeasured mil
lions in time of peace in preparation of a pre
concerted struggle.
The gold syndicate of today holds the earth
in the hollow of its hand. At the close of the
wnr it will be the royal receiver of the famished
and bankrupt nations, with every custom liouse
its fiscal agent, and every tax collector a sub
agent, in obedience to these masters of civiliza
tion, who, from their castles and corridors will
compel even the emperors and kings to obey
their orders. With much respect,
i J. IL DAVIS.
ARMY STAFF WANTS BIG ARMY
The press dispatches have the following in re
gard to the recommendations of the board of
army experts:
"Immediate publication of the report of the
army general staff on the military needs of the
country, differing materially from the adminis
tration's continental army scheme, will be urged
upon President Wilson. Secretary Garrison, who
has described the plan to be recommended to
congress as only a step in the right direction,
said today he believed the public was entitled
to all available Information relating to the na
tional defense.
"The general staff has made an exhaustive
study of the problem of defending the country
and its insular possessions.
"Its report, it Is understood, recommends in
creasing the regular army to 250,000 men ner-
?nanDe, n7 TU1J colors' with reserves of 300,
000 fully trained men. Behind this line it is
proposed to have a force of a million men with
at least a year's training, giving the country an
army of about 1 500,000 fully equipped and eas
ily mobilized. No synopsis of the report has
"TiflTrf ."d details are not available
The administration plan was prepared bv
Secretary Garrison and a special board of officers
and officials after careful scrutiny of the staff
report. It was decided that there was no w
of getting the staff proposals through Various'
unofficial estimates have placed the cost Involved
at.more than twice that of the continental 1 armv
scheme which reaches a total of $500 00 f 000
nnn n nn p 2 iJ Is Bai(' would approach $400-
0oV$eUneaaO S "
"tho staff estimates, it is reported tw
takes at least a year to make a solute fit to join
the fighting line. The continental armv
gramme contemplates only six months J if ,
training, distributed In two month LSt$
through three years. It was adopted to dinn
lsh the expense and yet produce a force ! ,J"
izen soldiers nearly 1,000,000 to sunnort ,
regulars, increased to approximately 142 nnn
from the 103,000 now in the service " '
The President's plan is just a STARTER- ami '
the army experts may be expected to expand
their estimates from year to year. tAinu
W. J. BRYAN.
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A SMlFJiE OF NON-PARTISANSniP
In its issue of November 13th the New Yorlr
Tribune says: rK
"Across- the water men, even women and
children, are giving their lives for the thines
that are worth living and dying for. They are
making the supreme sacrifice out of which arises
national and human'greatness. Here in Amer
ica, under the inspiration of Mr. Wilson's ad
ministration, the American people are day bv
day absorbing more and more of the cult of cow
ardice and the gospel of selfishness. It is better
that some women and children should bo mur
dered than that many men should risk their
precious lives. It is better that American honor
all that America has meant in the years of our
national existence, should be discarded than that
this country should put to the touch its com
fort, its prosperity, its glorious peace, which is
the peace of cowardice. This is the New Patri
otism." If this is a sample of the non-partisanship
upon which the President relies to carry through
his preparedness program he will have hard
sledding. It would be better to rely on the dem
ocrats to help him make a party record. They
are moro trustworthy-.
THOSE "GOOD OLD DAYS"
The Newport News Press quotes the Washing
ton Herald as saying:
"The Washington Herald says that the great
est blunder which the Democratic party has made
in 1896 is its submission to the dictation of Wil
liam J. Bryan. 'Once installed as leader,' con
tinues the Herald, 'he proceeded to drive from
associated leadership the ablest men of tho
party such men as Cleveland, Carlisle, Olney,
Whitney and others of national reputation as
statesmen.' "
What good old days they were back in 1894,
before Mr. Bryan was nominated. The democrats
lost congress in 1894 by a larger majority than
they have at any time since. And Mr. Bryan,
although he had the active opposition of Presi
dent Cleveland and his cabinet, polled a million
more votes in 1896 than Mr. Cleveland polled in
1892, a million and a quarter more than Mr.
Parker polled in 1904, and has in the three cam
paigns in 1896, 1900 and 1908 polled more
votes than any other candidate has ever polled.
Not such a bad record, and yet the plutocratic
press constantly harks back to the good eld days
when Wall street controlled the democratic party.
Senator Cummins is going right ahead being
a republican presidential candidate in spite of
the. fact that the republican bosses have decreed
that an eastern reactionary -who can make a
strong appeal to "business" shall have the nomination.
A PLEA PROM ABROAD
Lord Rosebery, speaking at a Rhodes schol
arship lecture in London recently, said:
"I know nothing moro disheartening than the
announcement recently made that the United
States the one great country left in the world
free from the hideous, bloody burden of war
is about to embark upon the building of a huge
armada destined to be equal or second to our
own. It means that the burdens will continue
upon the other nations, and be Increased exactly
in proportion to the fleet of the United States.
I confess that it is a disheartening prospect that
the United States, so remote from tho European
conflict, should voluntarily in these days take
np the burden which, after this war, will be
found to have broken, or almost broken, our
backs."
Surely such a pleafrom such a source will
not fall upon deaf ears. Our nation has led ro
the peace movement to turn to a big army and
navy will not only forfeit our position of lead
ership but it will compel other nations to in
crease their burdens, each new battleship bunt
by one nation being made the excuse for new
battleships by all the other nations. What un
speakable 'ftlly! W. J. BRYAN.
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