The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1914-12-10
AMERICANS ABLE TO-
DEFEND THEMSELVES,
PRESIDENT DECLARES

/ IN CotdOllSACu juicy OI fOul
government. And this, also, not be
cause the time or occasion specially
calls for such measures, but because
it should be our constant policy to
make these provisions for our ma
tional peace and safety.
More than this carries with it a
reversal of the whole history and
character of III policy. More than
this, proposed at this time, permit
me to say, would mean merely that
we had lost Jul self-possession. that
we had been. thrown off our balance
by aewar with which we have moth
ing to do, whose causes cannot touch
us, whose very existence affords us
opportunities of friendship and dis
interested service which should make
us ashamed of any thought of hos
tility or fearful preparation for
trouble. This is assuredly the OPP
Fportunity for which a people and a
government like ours were raised up,
the opportunity not only 10 speak
but actually to embody and eXem-
plify the %counsels of peace and anity
and the lasting concord which is bas-
ed on justice and fair and generous
dealing.
For Powerful Navy.
GA powerful navy we have always
regarded as our proper and natural
means of defense; and it 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
10 1D1,,1 - lo o{nO, ,,y<,,,
the seas, in the future as in the past;
and there will be no thought CT Of
Tense or of %proyocation in that. Our
ships are u natural b%ulwarks.
When will the experts tell us just
what kind we should construct--and
when will they be right for ten years
together, if the relative efficiency of
craft and different kinds and uses
continues to change as we have seen
it change under our very eyes in
these last few months? .
But turn away from the sub
ject. 1t is not new. There is no
new need to dicuss it. We shall not
alter our attitude toward it because
some amongst us are nervous and
excited. We shall easily and sensib-
ly agree upon a policy of defense.
The question has not changed it's as
poets because the times are not nor
NAL.
Against Opportunism.
"Our policy will not be for an oc-
casion. 1t will be conceived as a
permanent and settled thing, which
will pursue at all seasons, 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
be no misconception. The country
has been misinformed. We have not
been negligent of national defense.
We are not unmindful of the great
responsibility resting upon us. We
shall learn and profit by the lesson
of every experience and every new
circumstances; and what is needed
will be adequately done" =
Hopes to Aid in Ending War.
To peace in Europe the President
referred briefly. 1--WE are the cham
pions of peace and of concord" he
said, "And we should be very jeal-
Gus of this distinction which we have
sought to earn. Just now we should
be particularly jealous of it because
it is our dearest present hope that
this character and reputation may
presently, in Gods providence, bring
us an opportunity such as has sell
dom been vouchasafed any nation,
the opportunity to counsel and obtain
peace in the world and reconciliation
and a healing settlement of many
a matter that has cooled and inter
rupted the friendship of nations.
This is the time above all others
when we should wish and resolve to
keep our strength by self-possession,
our influence by preserving our an
cient principles of action, 4
In his formal address the president
said in part:
Wars Effect on Trade.
"War has Interrupted the means
of trade not only but also the pro-
cesses of production. In Europe it
is destroying men and resources
wholesale andAupon a scale unpre-
cedented and appalling. There is
reason to fear that the time is near
if it be not already at hand, when
several of the countries of Europe
will find it difficult to do for their
people what they have hitherto been
always easily able to do, may essen
tial and fundamental things. At
any rate, they will need u help and
our manifold services as they never
needed them before; and we should
be ready, more fit and ready than
we have ever been.
eve have the wish to serve and
to serve greatly, generously; but we
are not prepared as we should be.
We are not ready to mobilize our re-
at once. We are not prepar-
ed to use them Immediately and at
their best, without delay and without
waste.
ITO speak plainly, we have grossly
erred in the way in which we have
stunted and hinderedN the develop
ment of our merchant marine. And
now, when we need ships, we have
not got them. We have year after
year debated, without end or CON
ciusion, the best policy to pursue
with regard to the use of the ores
and forests and water powers Of our
national domain in the rich States
of the West when we should have