Middletown transcript., 1915-06-12
THE NATIONS PERIL

the time of great national crisis. Is
President Wilson going to prove another
weak, if well-meaning, Buchanan?
He has in his protest against Ger
many assassinations on the sea, spoken
though late, some plain. strong words
of warning. and, probably, after that
wide outbprst of earnest approval from
his countrymen, feels like backing up
his manly words with manly deeds.
Will he suffer his judgment to be cloud
ed and his will to be weakened by that |
hair-brained spouter, Bryant" that |
incubus, as the conservative Philadel-
phia Ledger styled him in half-column
rOastl
Bryan says with Carnegie, Lets
never fight back under any circum-
stances. If Germany must murder
Amerieans-why, let her do so. We
must never fight; that is the substance
of many silly juice speeches made
by Bryan, and of the idiotic "Peace-at-
any-price" being sowed
broadcast over the country by him and
other visionaries to weaken, and destroy
all sense of patriotism among Americans
10, ranIr NF v,oTlL
and finally to leave us with our dis
banded army and our dismantled navy,
like Korea, a prey to insolent England
to brutal Germany or to greedy Japan
Mr.. Wilson's reply to the German
rquibbles was written last week, and has
already been twice read to his Cabinet,
and now more delay, and yet another
presentation to the Cabinet
All this delay and shilly-shally waver-
ing will only weaken the force of the
document, and encourage Germany to
further impudence. Indeed, it is the
well known fact that Bryan is for
''peace at any price,, together with
Mr.. Wilson's weak, vacillating Mexican
policy, that has probably made possible
these atroeious assaults by Germany
upon our citizens.
But whether or not this be so, it is a
fact that for over two ten months Ger
many by word and by deed has shown a
shocking disregard of every obligation a
like to individuals and to nations MAX
ing scraps of paper" of them all-till
any fool could see we were also likely to
be attacked and yet Mr.. Wilson and his
''peace-at-any-price" Secretary Bryan,
and the Democratic Congress, have moi
lifted finger in any way to strengthen
the nations defences on land or on sea
Our corporal's guard of an army-les'
than 5000 men in the United State.
proper-has not even been brought W
to its full quota of 88, 900, and our navy
neglected enough God knows under Mr.
Taft, has been allowed to grow ye
weaker till it has sunk to the fifth plac,
in the list of the worlds navies
An ignorant layman, Mr.. Daniels
verify, "a Daniel come to judgment
aye! Daniel'-has had the audacity t,
put his Grass notions up against tn,
views of naval experts like Admira
Flske, Fletcher and others, and even t,
attempt to discipline these courageou
officers for doing their duty in unde
ceiving the country where Daniels has
been falsely crying "all is well"!
The late sham battle is an illustration
of the wretched condition of ou
navy. One half of the 35 submarine.
were so put out of commission by
little test of real action, as to be com
pletely disabled
Our navy is blind-has none of tn
swift scouting ships without which to
day navy is helpless; is almost dumb
for its guns cannot carry so far by fou
or six miles, as those of the Elizabetl
type; lis slow, for many foreign warship
have much greater speed than ours
then, even the ships we have are no
fully manned and officered; aeroplane o
hydroplane scouting, though perfecte,
in America, is virtually unknown to ou
army or navy And yet this Demo
cratic Congress not only has refused t
remedy these known evils, but a numbe
of Senators actually favor decrease il
our navy The money that this economi
cal, super-billionaire Democratic Con
greBs appropriated, was more needle
for fattening the Democratic ''por
barrel''l
For an administration to be thu
guilty Of great neglect under condition
like Liese, and in the face of what
occurring in Europe, is criminal. Blu
be very sure the people will hold MI
Wilson and his party 70 a stern respor
aiblity therefore, and it may we'll b