Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-12-08

L II I-uRe
principles and ideals we never shall
have, large standing army. If ask
ed. Are you ready to defend your
selves we reply, Most assuredly,' to
the utmost; and yet we shall not turn
America into military camp. We will
not ask our young men to spend the
best years of their lives making sol
diers of themselves. There is another
sort of enemy in us. 1t will know how
to declare itself and make itself effec-
tive should occasion arise. And espe-
cially when half the world is on fire
we shall be careful to make our moral
insurance against the spread of the
conflagration very definite and GER
tain and adequate indeed
Let us remind ourselves, therefore,
OF the only thing we can do or will
do. We must depend in every time of
national peril, in the future as in the
past, not upon q standing army, nor
yet upon a. reserve army, but upon a
citizenry trained and accustomed to
arms. It will be right enough. right
American policy, based upon our ac-
customed principles and practices, to
provide system by which every citl-
zen who will volunteer for the training
may be made familiar with the use of
modern arms. the rudiments of drill
and maneuver, and the maintenance
and sanitation of camps. We should
encourage such training and make IL
IA means of discipline which our young
men will learn to value.
1T is right that we should provide
it not only. but that we should make
1t as attractive as possible, and so in
duce our young men to undergo it at
such times as they can command a
little freedom and can seek the ply
sical development they need, for mere
health g lya If fnr. biner al
means by which such things can be
stimulated is legitimate, and such a
method smasheS true American
ideas
Urges Guard Development
ut is right. too, that the National
Guard of the States should be devel-
oped and strengthened by every means
which is not inconsistent with our OBJ
legations to our own people or with
the established policy of our govern
ment. And this, also. not because the
time or occasion specially calls for
such measures, but because it should
be our constant policy to make these
provisions for our national peace and
safety.
Would Reverse Policy
More than this carries with it d
character of our policy. More than
this, proposed at this time, permit me
TO say, would mean merely that we
had lost our self-possession, that we
had been thrown off our balance by a
war with which we have nothing to do,
whose causes cannot touch us, whose
very existence affords us opportuni-
ties of friendship and disinterested
service which should make us asham-
ed of any thought of hostility or fear
ful preparations for trouble. This is
assuredly the opportunity for which
q people and government like ours
were raised up, the opportunity not
only to speak but actually to embody
and eXemplify the counsels of peace
and amity and the lasting concord
which is based on Justice and fair
and generous dealing.
Believes in Defense Only
a powerful navy we have always
regarded as. our proper and natural
means of defense; and 1t has always
been of defense that we have thought,
never of aggression or of conquest.
But who shall tell us now what sort
of navy TO build? We shall take leave
to be strong upon the seas, i'm the flu
ture as in the past: and there will be
no thought of offense or of prOvoca-
ton in that. Our ships are our natural
buIwarks. When will the experts tell
us just what kind we should con-
strickland when will they be right
for ten years together, if the relative
efficiency of craft of different kinds
and uses continues to change as we
have seen It change under our very
eyes i'm these last few months?
But l turn away from the subject.
It is not new. There is no new need
to discuss it. We shall not alter our
attitude toward it because some
amongst us are nervous and excited.
We shall easily and sensibly agree up
on a policy of defense The question
has not changed it's aspects because
the times are not normal. Our policy
will not be for an occasion. 1t will be
conceived as permanent and settled
thing, which we will pursue at all sea-
sons, without haste and after a fashion
perfectly consistent with the peace of
the world, the abiding friendship of
States, and the unhampered freedom
of all with whom we deal.
Let there we no misconception. The
country has been misinformed. We
have not been negligent of national