The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-11-26

They have shed lustre on the American
name
''Four-with even greater satisfaction
We contemplate the heroic labors of our
medical experts. bravely rendered. often
at the cost of life itself. fighting the bat
tie against disease in stricken Serbia
For all these things, we are proud and
thankful
Allowed Belgium to suffer.
But our duty to ourselves and to man
kind demanded much more than this.
The responsibilities thrust upon US were
too serious, were of too great proper
lions. to be met by gifts of money. or by
brave diplomatic services. or even by the
heroic Iabors of philanthropy. The
Thanksgiving proclamation bids US be
thankful that we have been able to assert
our rights and the rights of mankind.
and it must be acknowledged that in
more than one state paper they have
been asserted with great dignity and
force and in very trenchant English.
But our duty called for something more
than the assertion OF the rights OF man
kind, and our own. Have We performed
that duty? Consider.
we allowed the neutrality of Belgium
to be violated without a word of protest.
We saw the country OF the Belgians
ruined and devastated: its ancient hos
pitable soil sown with thousands Of
tombs; its cities burned: its peaceful citi-
Zens shot to death by hundreds and thou
sands. and still We raised no protest. We
were powerless indeed to stay the hand
of violence and cruelty when 1t seized
the throat Of poor little Belgium. But
it was in our power to lift up our voice
hafnra he nsf
brutal and unspeakable crime. This, at
least We could have done. but this we
failed to do and so failed OF our high
duty before God and humanity. And
when the Belgian commissioners pre-
sented the wrongs of their crucified ma
ton in our Capital we turned them
away with icy phrases. and bid them
present their case to The Hague tri-
bunal
Passing over many minor matters. i
ask. did We do our duty to ourselves and
to mankind when the Lusitsnia was bar
barously attacked on the high seas and
a thousand human beings, men. women
and little children. went to their deaths?
We did, indeed. protest against this deed
OF horror and inhumanity in a state pa
per which has seldom been equaled in
diplomatic history. II was a brave and
splendid assertion, not only of the rights
of American citizens. but of the rights
of humanity. When We read it our
hearts leaped up in thankfulness.
Outrages Did Not Cease.
yet is was not long before other ves-
sells bearing American citizens were tor
pedoed. and again American lives were
lost. Once more, in ringing tones, our
chief magistrate asserted the purpose to
hold to strict accountability. the nation
that had thus outraged the dignity of
the United States, and destroyed the
lives of our citizens. But the outrases
did not cease. Again. under circum-
stances of peculiar atrocity. a peaceful
merchant ship was destroyed and Ameri-
can lives destroyed with II. Then there
came 4 brave. stern demand that these
Infamous acts should cease. and the
purpose was affirmed In words of
adamantine force, to hold the guilty ma
ton to account for its crimes.
Again We reJoiced that our chief
magistrate had so nobly expressed the
mind and purpose Of the nation. Again
we believed that those brave words
would be followed by deeds as brave. But
more than seven long months have
passed since the LUsitania horror burst
upon the world. and still nothing has
been done to avenge the deaths of those
American citizens-men, women and
CHlluTGn-TuInlGSSly
high seas. Nothing has been done to
vindicate the insulted majesty OF our re-
public. Our words have been adamant-I
our deeds of putty.
But what could We have done? II may
be asked. Should we have declared war
on Germany? No. But we should have
broken of diplomatic relations with ma
tons that had thus wantonly outraged
every principle of humanity, and insulted
the majesty OF the republic. This action
would have been supported by vast ma
jority of cur people. Our citizenship had
been outraged: our national dignity de-
family trampled upon, and our whole peo-
pie were aroused to such a pitch OF in
dignaticn that the government would
have been sustained by an Overwhelming
In vigorous and incorporating
action.
Would Danish Hostile Men.
But what. It may be asked. would have
been accomplished by breaking of diplo-
matte relations in response to the loud
demand of citizens? I answer, several
things of great moment might have been
expected to result. In the FIRST place, we
should have consolidated public opinion.
We are a composite people; many races
mingle their tides on our shores. II
should, therefore, have been one of the
supreme tasks of craftsmanship to weld
these people into one. to fuse together
these diverse elements.
Again.. in doing so we should have
banished from our midst those numerous
representatives OF foreign powers who
are hostile to our country and should