The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-10-30

With Japan and Her Allies.
 l Washington, Oct. 3o-Peace advo- l cates without regard to party affi1ia-
 tions are extremely desirous thai
 there shall be no division of respon-
 sfbi1tty for the maintenance of our
 neutrality, as a result of the elections
 next month. They admit their will
 tngness to see issues which in ordin-
 ary times divide. the two great politi.
 cal parties, such as the tariff and other questions, re1egated to the rear in the approaching election, in order 1 that there may be chosen a. majority | in both houses of Congress which will 1 be in hearty accord and sympathy with the president
 This view is held by men who are
 not democrats. They, believe that in l the present crisis patriotism should be placed ahead of politics They point out that the election of a repu bIicau
 House or a republican Senate at this
 time could accomplish no good, while
 from a national standpoint it might be 1 productive of much harm As long as President Wilson remains in the
 White House there is no possible 1 chance of making any change in the tariff or in any economic policy. Moreover there is almost no prospect I of the democrats losing the Senate at this time, even if the. republicans
 were to carry every northern state. Therefore, with the presidency and the Senate controlled by the Demo
 crats, the peace advocates can see no advantage to be gained by the eIec- ton Of a republican House. They 1 want the democratic party to have the whole responsibility.
 1s 4s pointed out in this connection that however patriotic republican
 House might be, and however anxious its mem bers might be to maintain peace there would naturally be fric-
 tion. and for political purposes a re-
 publican House would harass the President and his Administration. Such harassing might very easily in
 the delicate situation which now pre- vaiIs and which will prevail as long as the war lasts, lead to serious conse- quences. No one who is not in close touch with affairs in Washington can i possibly realize how carefully every action Of this country must be eonsi- dered in order that there may be no violation of neutra1ity. and how guarded every step must be to keep
 his natien from becoming involved in the grgat international struggle which | Is now going on across Che sea To
 many persons this is not clear but it is a. grave matter to those who are in q position to know the situation
 and the intTicacies of diplomatic ex- changes.
 Tor instance, the failure of Re publican House or Senate to take l might very readily precipitate Q. con- sdition Of affairs which would bring this nation to the verge of interna- tfona1 trouble. The passage Nof a
 simple resolution by Republican
 House or Senate calculated only to q - political effect, might prove to be a 1 serious b1under and cause a, friction which would lead to serious conse- quences.
 Several illustratfonss Of what might
 happen if there were divided respon- sibility have already been shown. Sem ator 4allinger for example, some time Senate which questions the good faith and intent of Japan in her declaration of war against Germany. The reso- 1ution had no other purpose than to cause the administration embarrass- ment and a4ord political capital. Had it been adopted by the Senate 1t would have been a direct insult to Japan, a highly sensitive nation, and in the present tense situation no man can tell what effect it might have pro- duced. Those in authority in ash fngton fully understand Japan's pur-
 
 of war and readily accept her assur- ances. Of course. the Gallinger reso- Iutlon was promptly canned as it should have been, but if there had been g. Repub blican majority in the
 Senate it doubtless would have bessn passed, and there would have resulted a. Japanese question more serious than any which has heretofore arisen, for Japan would have warranted in talk ing offense at so deIiberate an insult as to question her good faith
 There have been several other reso- iutions of similar character as the ol1tgrosEth of the war, although they do not relate to Japan, but they are Of such a character as to cause trou- ble if they were to be adopted. An adverse majority would have passed them for the purpose of embarrassing the administration for political effect. Therefore, those who are anxious to
 see the United States maintain neu- traIity and to take advantage of the sstrggg1e in Europe insist that there
 should be no division of responsi bility. So long as the Democrats are certain
 to have a part of the resp onsibiltty they want to see them have all of it. It is for this reason that they are ad- vising the election of Democrats to
 the Senate and House. They declare
 that it will be time enough two years from now to talk about domestic mat ters such as the tariff and economic
 questions. Now every effort must be put forth to keep this nation at peace, and the certain way to do that is to elect a majority to he Senate and
 House which will be in entire accord and sympathy with the plans and pur- poses of President Wilson.
 E. P. RIPLEY, SANTA FEE HEAD
 BEGINS HIS roth YEAR TO-DAY |
 l Edward Payson Ripley, president of tta AteIisol,. Ton.aka e Ganda. Ee cail-