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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1916)
-, i-7'?pBslTir; r The Commoner VOL. 16, NO. 1 20 h ik W h. &.x fcr Voice of the People Against "Preparedness"; A. J. Cone, Raleigh, Pla.: I have read The Commonor'H first copy unci nil others up to now with only one break with It, and that was when Mr. Bryan resigned tho secretaryship of state, and so wroto him at tho time, hut now wo are in harmony perfectly on tho subject of Mr. Wilson's mili tarism, as It is called by tho Jingo element, "preparedness." Prepare for what? It Is a truism that a man or nation can be what ho wants or it wants to bo. If peace In either case, so it will be, If discord and harmony or war, It will bo that; for like pro duces like. Only a fool would buckle a pistol bolt around him and start out to propagate peace. What kind of peace would such a policy bring or sot up? It would be the peace of the buly(, tho braggart, the assassin; and how-' would such a peace com pare tfllh, tho glorious traditions of tho democratic party? If prepared ness makes nations good, why not by law force every man in the United StatoB'to carry a loadod pistol in his hip pocket, instead of making it pcnhl to curry one. Who shall wo prepare, to-fight? Will it be the wid ows and orphans of tho dead? Or will" It be that the millions of depart ed spirits will line our shores from Now Orleans to. Now York? Or will they drop down unseen from above in tho centor of 6ur country and scaro us all to deatb? for material weapons would be of no use to fight spirits. Perchance tho one-armed, one-loggod, tho maimed and crippled soldiers would tackle us. What In tho name of common sense has fright ened tho people and tho President? Edward D. Tittmann, Illllsboro, N. M;: I wish to congratulate you on your stand with rogard to the pre 'priredness cry of tho muntlons mak ers. I lived long in Gormany, though my family has boon resident in St. Louis sln'cio 1832, and I know that militarism or navallsm is not con ducive to tho development of what wo Americans believe to bo civil lib erty. WO aro not like European na tltihs, no, hot ovon like China, for we have to Japan sitting on our front door step. 0 m v 'OXGKESS SHOULD NOT ACT ON "PREPAREDNESS" QUESTION WITHOUT AN EXPRESSION FROM THE PEOPLE Following Is n letter addressed to Mr. Bryan by Mr. R. J. Stipo, or rinusuurg, mo.; 0 a "T mnt. ipnrM v iiuloi'Ho tho stand von nave taiten lor neace ..B....V-VW-T . F . juid against preparedness. I think when our President made that recommendation to congress ho hud been misled. Preparedness and High Protection aro closely allied. CONGRESS SHOULD NOT ACT ncimirtv i.i ur finrp.Am TATiniMiA vris wiTiiniT'ii aiv rsi ? fKT AK'l.' ATM EXPRESSION FROM THE PEOPLE, and they had no opportunity g) to voice their wishes. I hope congress will not put this great burden upon our people. I believe that u majority of our nation is against it. I have written to our senators and congressman m,v opposition to It." money we can scratch together spent for shrapnel and dreadnaughts. We propose to stay on this side of the Atlantic and attend to our business until the dog fight is over. I want to make this confession on my bended knees: I never voted for Mr. Bryan, and I want to make this promise while I'm down, that if I ever get a chanco I will vote for him. I believe he is tho greatest American now liv ing, and represents the three greatest Issues before the American people Pcaco, Prohibition, and Woman's Suffrage. Winter Hussoll, Editor The Demo crat, Now York, N. Y.: I havo read with tho doepest Interest and approv al your wonderful oration against "Preparedness," reported in the No vember issue. I havo ofton wondered if you realize how many thousands if not millions in this country feel a sense of grateful praise and admira tion for tho noble struggle that you are making in the face of such unjust criticism and abuso. I can not help thinking that tho Prince of Peace would weep indeed if he could see tho land of freedom girding itsolf for years of bloodshed and carnage. I devoutly hope that no sad-faced mar tyr of tho future will have to ask this country if it does not fear in its heart that it is paying in blood for the money it made from tho implements of death sent to its war-mad brothers in Europe? HoJ.mer M. Feroe, Minneapolis, Minn.: I am intensely interested in tho great work Mr. Bryan is doing, and Tho Commoner is such a splen did co-operator with him in that work that I will do all I can In my humble way to put this paper into as many hands as possible. Mr. Bry an Is absolutely right in his fight against so-called "preparedness." President Wilson will learn to IiIb re gret that the rank and file of the American people will not follow his lead for any such policy as he at tempted to lay down in his recent message to the congress. Mr. Wilson has made an admirable president up to the present time, but he will be among strangers in this new and strange undertaking for boosting war stocks. that any matter can arise between na tions which, diplomacy failing, can not be settled by arbitration than by any other means. The submission to arbitration of questions of national honor, etc., seems to give some of our statesmen much unnecessary diffi culty, for if national honor means anything at all, it must mean a will ingness to perform our duties and obligations, and of course a willing ness to discuss and arbitrate them. This is written from a sense of duty and in the belief that a word of ap proval and of acknowledgement of obligation from an humble fellow cit izen to one who has rendered cour ageous and valuable services to man kind, is not entirely useless. an has been so universally riehf. nn all questions that it makes, us a- little,', dubious about the President's pre-?., paredness proposition. , Joseph Fry, Warsaw, Illinois; X '. am a republican, but like , hundreds of thousands of other republicans in this country I am with William J,i( Bryan in this army and navy pro-" gram. When Mr. Bijyan resigned from the cabinet I thought, that he -had made a mistake, but it was not ' long till I discovered that he had taken the right step. Mr. Bryan is doing now what he never could have done in the cabinet against this so called preparedness subterfuge. If Mr. Bryan succeeds in his efforts to; prevent this country from having a monarchlal and un-American system fastened upon it, he will go into his tory as the wisest American of his day, and I sincerely hope that he' will. W. L. Cory, Dunrieth, Ind.; If I, were to express my feelings, it wo dirt i be to repeat one-half the sentences of the November issue so I will not at-;; tempt it. Enclosed you will please, find $3.00 for club of. five yearly siib-V scriptions. " Mr. N. N. Whittington, Red Lodge, Mont.: Enclosed find $1.80 to pay tor club of three yearly subscriptions. J wish to help all I can in this great fight against "preparedness." Robt. B. Plnkerton, Bordan, 111.: I am a republican, living down hero in the woods. A farmer (some good soul) has ordered The Commoner sent to me. I like its ring. Us farmers want peace, tho kind of peace that the Prince of Peace offered to the world, in the way He offered it. Wo aro not afraid of any English man or Dutchman on earth, but we wish them well if they or any other nation attack us. We will take a "slippery elm club" if we can't get anything better, and fight them till wo die, but we don't want all tho W. H. Meadow, Shaw, Miss.: I am sending you herewith a copy of "my mind" in regard to preparedness for war and "rural credits." I havo mailed copies of it to members of tho United States senate and concress. and hope it may bo a "drop in the ocean" for good, in the encourage ment of the work being heralded by tho Hon. William Jennings Bryan and others who are making the fight for world peace a-d wealth building among our most needy citizenship. T. R. Wells, Sauk Centre, Minn.: I am convinced that the opposition to tho preparedness plan is growing in Minnesota. Most neonle .1 talk win, call it a scheme of the ammunition trust. I believe if a vote in Minnesota was to be taken the proposition would be turned down two to one. You hear it in the hotel lobbies, on street corners, on railroad trains and any where that people meet, a common expression, "Bryan is right he is a man we can depend on." Personally, I have been with Mr. Bryan since '96 because I believed he was the friend of the common people. Now I am stronger in that belief than ever. George F. Smith, Waterbury, Neb.: I am glad indeed to know that Tho Commoner and its distinguished editor are making such a creditable and energetic fight against the so called national preparedness. Every patriotic man in this country ought to combat this erroneous and un called for idea. It's a far-reaching scheme to squander 'the millions of the people's money that a few per sons financially interested may be come enormously rich. T tiiorofnro most heartily commend tho vigorous fight you are making against it, and hope to see you continue to give 'em tho hot shots to the end. Sidney M. Cuthbertson, MayfieUl. Calif.: I agree with Mr. Bryan an-1 The Commoner on the question np "preparedness." Mr. Ford has the same idea and we are all in one ac cord. The democrats have hopes o" success in California in the coming election. Enclosed find check for sub scription. During the past -year I ob tained eighteen subscriptions for The Commoner. Fred A. Allen, Altai, Neb.: Wiien Mr. Bryan resigned from the cabinet,! I said "Bryan was secretary of state,! but the secretary of state was :not Bryan." There are many men who could fill the office of secretary of state, but only one the place of Bry an. It is infinitely more important that America have her great Corn-f moner than that, she .have' any pa?-i ticular man for secretary of state;; Grateful as I feel to Mr. Bryan for past services in behalf of justice and , in defence of true American ideas, I ieei that in laymj down the porta folio of state, he did it to perform an greater service to his countrymen than anyone since Lincoln has been called upon to do. May his strength endure and be sufficient to win this great battle. If the President has good reason for urging the adoption of the preparedness program, it seems1 to me that he has failed to take the people into his confidence. He had given good reasons against it, it is up to the makers of president and congressmen to see that their crea tures act in accordance with those reasons, rather than the President's statement that tho people want it. Please find enclosed check to pay for club of eight yearly subscriptions, one two-year subscription, and also for a package of twenty-five copies of the December issue of The Com moner for distribution. R. D. Twinam, Chattanooga, Tenn.: I voted against you once but I have learned a great deal since then. Amid all this wild talk of preparedness for war, I wish to voice my approval of your stand as an advocate of peace and arbitration. It is Inconceivable L. L. Moore, Canton, Ohio.: I am in full sympathy with Mr. Bryan in his efforts for peace and for opposi tion to militarism. If our country would only talk and act peace and sot its foot dofoa on militarism, it might be able toget a world's peace out of the settlemont of Europe's war But we fear that if the present mili tary scheme is carried through we will lose our influence for peace. Eu rope's "preparedness" was "to keep the peace," and we know how it has done it. Best wishes for Mr. Bryan and The Commoner. W. D Vincent, Clay Center, Kans.': Enclosed find 50c in postage stamps for which please send copies of the December issue of The Commoner to' the list of names herewith; this K your special rate of two and one-half cents per copy for The Commoner where it is wanted for free distribution. J, L. Franklin, McKinney, Tex.: As to preparedness, we are all inflexible Bryan and Wilson men. and are go ing to strenuously urge the present administration for second term Br'- O. F. Carpenter, Supt., Weston, O.: Christmas affords me leisure to write-'' you my appreciation of what you have done since last May to save -this nation from the mad insanity of fear, of hate, of selfishness that threatens to reverse the peaceful attitude of this country toward the other nations uuu peoples or the earth. I am grateful for the sacrifices you have made, the unfaltering courage you have shown, for tho calumny you" have cheerfully endured to preserve , those higher ideals in whose applica-" tion to the affairs or men and nation's rests the hope for permanent' peace? m SKI' -' .'.m iJ-x. ...ij-iu j&ffjgjjy