The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-11-13
10y Wills J. Abbott

current In Washington that when
the fleet Of battleships leaves Hamp.
ton Roads on its tour around Cape
Horn to San Frarcisco-and there
after to nobody knows where, Pres
ident Roosevelt will personally re-
view 1t at the start. 1t Is asserted
that he will 10 to the Roads and
dispatch the fleet upon q mission
which may be one OF enormous i'm.
portance. That he should do so Is
not matter Of very great import.
ance to the nation. That he should
do so is not matter OF very great
Significance. except as 1t shows his
strenuous inclination to make out OF
the United States a fighting power
We can look bacvk over the whole
list of our presidents from George
Washington to the present incumbent
of that office and we can find not
one who did not stand emphatically
for peace rather than for war There
have been men who had to face In
that Office very grave conditions
As rule they did all that could
be done to avoid armed conflict
with foreign powers. Thomas Jeffer.
son encountered the hostility OF Eng
land and averted as far as he could
actual war. But when the war was
forced upon the nation gave a good
account of itself Andrew Jackson
with whom the friends of the pres.
ident today are fond OF drawing a
parallel, averted another war. Every
one who has studied the life and
the public papers Of Lincoln knows
how that great statesman and pa
triot struggled to prevent the war
which rent the north and the south
in twain. And as We come TO later
days We find that William Mckinley
stood steadfastly against the Span.
ish war and only entered upon It
because OF political forces which lac
could not control. The record of his.
tory declares that the great states
men OF this country have stood
always for peace. The news of the
day shows only too clearly that the
president now in the white house is
ready to invite war He may be chacl:-
ed Only two days ago two of the
most prominent flnanciers OF New
York came to Washington and told
him bluntly that in the present CON
dition OF the American banks and
trust companies war would be dis
astroIs. Indeed Mr.. ]. T. Morgan
declared that a war could not be
financed and that should one occur
1t would result In the gravest dis
aster to the financial institutions If
the United Safes. Mr. Morgan wen:
on TO say that the attacks of the
administration upon commercial in
terests had done enough without the
menace to international peace which
would result from the transfer of
the United States fleet from the
Atlantic to the Pacific coast.
That menace is not yet thoroughly
determined Nor is the meaning of
the transfer thoroughly understood
Diplomats are necessarily courteous
concerning 1t. Navy officers are com
PEELED to be silent. But 1t is worth
while calling attention to the fact
that the ad.airi' in command of
the fleet Robley d. Evans at a
banquet given him by New York
club a few lights ago had so little
sense OF the responsibility of his
'osition that he declared that wheth-
er the fleet went into the Pacific
ocean for "a fight or frolic" IL
would give good account Of itself
There Is only one Pacific power with
which a fight might occur. Admiral
Evans speech would put him In the
same category with former Admiral
Coghlan who at the same club recited
some doggorel concerning the Ger.
man emperor with the refrain at the
end of each line Ma mt Cntf