Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-06-01


us we We're utterly unprepared: :,
But again say our friends that NIL
itary preparedness will sound the death
knell of our republican form of govern
ment and the establishment OF a heauro
cratic or monarchial form of govern
. ment. Sane and prudent military pre-
paredness does not mean a tendency
toward monarchy switzerland mas one
of the most democratic forms or gov
eminent in the world and her military
system is as old as the republic. While
| the Swiss believes In peace, and desires
| 1t above all else, his good sense tells
| him this is best assured by prepared
, ness at all times. At the close or the
civil war we had the best trained citl-
izen soldiery In the world; and yet now
. many Of you old soldiers have lost your
love for republican institutions or were
tinged in the least with monarcniai
| ideas?
TT Is not my purpose today, ana TINS
+, ia hardly the occasion for 1t, to outline
| to you q system Of national defense.
Suffice to say we require a strong
navy, adequate coast defenses, ana
large reserve Of trained citizen soldfery
to aid our small standing army IN case
of national need.
Gen Wood recently said: 1--WE SOL
diers and sailors are merely your train
terminals them. Nine out Of ten wars
are based on trade. It Is murder FOR
you to, send your boys to war unframed
when 1t Is possible to train them.
1--WE have had the feeling In this coun-
| try that we could lick anybody. We
have counted on our patriotism to save
us in case Of national need, and no
country can boast of q more loyal ana
devoted citizenship than we can. But
Krupp gun will not discriminate be-
tween a patriot and a coward. A ma
chine gun will NOW down the saints
with the sinners. To say that an un-
trained soldier can compete with
trained soldier is simply an exhibition
of egotistical ignorance. Our lack OF
preparedness has cost us dearly IN the
past. In our war Of 1872 1t Is said that
500. 600 men-untrained men OF course
were called out in defense OF the Tag,
while Great Britain never had more
than $1,000 soldiers here. And the only
genuine land victory we won during
that war was by Jackson at New Or
leans. A reasonable preparedness would
have cost less in life and treasure In
the past, and such a preparedness Will
be less expensive in both lives and
property for the future, besides being
the only sensible and prudent policy for
this country to pursue.
Let others belittle the life and work
Of our soldiers anad sailors let them
call the army and navy relics OF bar
berism and institutions of murder, II
they will. I, for one, propose a toast
to the American army and the Amer
lean navy. Three cheers for the Red,
White and Blue!
Glory in Achievements Of Peace.
II want you to understand that am
not an advocate Of war. Our army and
navy should only be used in defense Of
American TERRITORY and American
rights or as in 1898 to relieve the weak
and oppressed. I am for peace. A
peace with honor. I glory much more in
the achievements and triumphs OF
peace than those Of war. am for the
supreme court Of the world and want
to see this country lead In the estab-
lishment Of that tribunal. ! know that
such a court will not wholly do away
with wars Ono more than was the civil
war averted by the existence of the SUI
preme court of the United States), but
IL 1t will tend to reduce tho number Of
wars and to mitigate the horrors Of
! wars, 1t will be greatly worth. while.
know there are questions we would
never consent to submit to such q
court as for instance questions involv
ing our national honor or those involv-
ing the Monroe doctrine. Take for In
stance the case If Mexico should sell
some Of it's territory to Japan, this
world court would recognize that prin-
cipal Of international law giving SOW
ereign state the right to cede territory
and to another sovereign state the
right to acquire territory by this means,
but this country would never consent
to having the Monroe doctrine set aside
and permit so powerful rival as
Japan to acquire foothold 50 near our
doors Consequently II such an issue
should arise and could not be settled by
diplomacy resort to arms would be-
come necessary
Stand by tho President.
although we are at peace with all
the world the problems confronting the
national administration have been SER
ious and delicate to handle. The most
delicate because most Of the inhabi-
tants Of this country are either emil
grants from the countries at war or one
or more generations removed. Natural
ly the sympathies Of the American peo-
pie are divided on the conflict across
the waters. These problems have been
handled by the constitutional head of
our government with tact and mas
terful craftsmanship. When it comes to
a question of national honor and the
defense Of American rights every
American citizen should stand Loyalty
by President Wilson. He is the presi
dent of the American people, irrespec-
tive Of party, race or former national
ity.
There has never been such an exhi-
bition Of passion as there is at the
present time. All Europe apparently
has gone mad. / am not criticizing Eu-
rope or any one country, am simply
stating fact. We do not want war. In
fact our business is to stay out Of it.
Our rights must be insisted ,upon-they
must be enforced. Our rights as neu-
trail have been flagrantly violated by
more than one belligerent Those differ
ences are capable Of adjustment. We
must remain neutral and composed.
We must keep our heads while all
about us are losing theirs.
'In times Of national crises, we have
no place in this country for hyphenated
Americans. There should be no British
American, no German American. no
Irish American, or French American
we should all be only Americans. This
country has been the asylum for the
oppressed of every land and cline, for
those seeking political, religious and
economic freedom. But the gate that
swings inward to admit the foreigner