The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-03-03
Mr.. TAFT N FORSEES CRISIS / s
GRAVE DANGER TO THE UNITED
STATES IN NEW ISSUES OF Z
EUROPEAN SITUATION.
Fully sustaIns Preuldent WiIsonin tho
Course He tiae Taken Ia lnterna-
tional Situations. 4 4 n.

M0r1istown, N. J. - The United
States is threatened by serious In
vasion OF Its rights as neutral by the
warning factions oil Europe and in pro-
tecttng itG commerce with those Ma:
tions isa face to face with a crisis, In
the opinion of former President VIII
liam Howard Taft. gS
In the solution uf that crisis should
1t arise, NIP tingc spirit must be allow
ed to, prevail, Mr.. Taft advised; neith-
er pride nor momentary passion
should influence Judgment,
"And when the President shall aef,S
Mr.. Taft declared, 1--WE must stand by
him to the, end. In thia lseterminaa
ton we may be, sure, that all will join,
no matter what theiraEuropean origin.
All will forget their differences ii self
sacrificing loyalty to our common flag
and our common country" ~ ? i:
Faft's reference to. the situa,
tion confronting the United States was
made at the conclusion Of an address
before the Washington Association OF
New Jersey. Quoting a reservation In
the treaty OF Algeciras, proclaimed In
1907, and entered into by the United
States and II European Nations, Mr..
Taft said: 3. ,s.l.S.rSss
: ."Our interest In the present war,
under the conditions that exist, should
be limited as set forth in this reserva-
ition, to wit. 4 s. /; l.s..ia. &, x :.ia
ITO preserving and increasing the
commerce Of the United States with
the belligerents; to the protection as
to life, liberty and property of our
citizens residing or travelling In their
countries, and to the aiding by our
friendly offices and efforts In bringing
those countries to peace h
r "Our efforts for peace" he continu-
ed, ''have been made as complete as
possible.
"In preserving the commerce Of the
United States with the belligerents,
however, we are face to face with g
crisis. The planting of mines in the
open sea and the use Of submarines
to send neutral vessels to the bottom
without inquiry as to their neutrality
when found In q so-called war zone
Of the open sea, are all of them a
variation from the rules of interna-
tiunal law governing the action Of bel
ligerents towards neutral trade. n:
When their violation results In the
destruction of the lives Of American
citizens or of American property, a
grave issue will arise as to what the
duty of this Government is. The re-
sponsibiNty of the President and Con-
gress in meeting the critical issue thus
presented in maintaining our Nation
al rights and our National honor en-
the one hand, with due regard to the
awful consequences to our 10000, 900
Of people of engaging in thi$ horrible
world war, on the other, will be very
great. It involves on their part
judgment in It's consequences that we
should earnestly pray that the. neces-
sity for It may be averted.>
IF, however, the occasion arises
we can be confident that those in
authority will be actuated by the high
est patriotic motives and by the deep
est concern for our National welfare.
We must not allow our pride or mo-
mentary passion to influence our judg-
ment. We must exercise the delibera-
ton that the fateful consequences In
the loss of our best blood and enor-
nous waste of treasure would neces-
sarily impose upon us. We must al
low no lingo spirit to prevail. We
must abide the judgment OF those in
whom we have entrusted the author
ity and when the President shall act,
we must stand by him to the end"