The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1915-12-10

| Wash?n yeeti, = 1-PreSident Wilson
today delivered IN annual message at
Joint session of the two houses of con
gress He said in part:
Since 1 last had the privilege of ad
dressing you on the state of the Union
the war of nations on the other side OF
the sea, which had then only begun to
disclose it's portentous proportions, has
extended it's threatening and sinister scope
until it has swept within its flame some
portion of every quarter of the globe, not
| excepting our hemisphere, has altered the
| whole face of international affairs, and
| now presents a prospect of reorganiza-
ton and reconstruction such as states
| men and peoples have never been called
| upon to attempt before.
We have stood apart, studiously neutral
| 1t was our manifest duty to do so. In
| the day of readjustment and recupera-
| ton we earnestly hope and believe that
| we can be of infinite service.
In this neutrality, to which they were
| hidden not only by their separate life and
| their habitual detachment from the poll
| tics of Europe but also by a clear per-
| ception of international duty, the states
| of America have become conscious of
! new and more vital community of inter-
| est and moral partnership in affairs, more
clearly conscious of the many comm0l
sympathies and interests and duties which
bid them stand together.
We have been put to the test in the case
of Mexico, and we have stood the test.
Whether we have benefited Mexico by
the course we have pursued remains to
be seen. Her fortunes are in her own
hands. But we have at least proved that
we will not take advantage of her in her
distress and undertake to impose upon
her order and government of our own
choosing.
We will aid and befriend Mexico but
we will not coerce her; and our course
xxrffh ord 70 Ia,- 70 he inia
proof to all America that we seek no po-
htical suzerainty or selfish control.
Not Hostile Rivals.
The moral is, that the states of Amer
ica are not hostile rivals, but cooper
ating friends, and that their growing
sense of community of interest, alike in
matters political and in matters econom-
ic, is likely to give them new signif-
canoe as factors in international affairs ,
and in the political history of the world.
1t presents them as in a very deep and J
true sense a unit in world affairs, spir- |
itual partners, standing together because |
thinking together quick with common |
sympathies and common ideals. Separat- |
ed, they are subject to all the cross cur |
rents of the confused politics of a world |
of hostile rivalres; united in spirit and |
purpose they cannot be disappointed of |
their peaceful destiny.
This is Pan-Americanism. 1t has none |
OF the spirit of empire in it. 1t is the en-
bodiment, the effectual embodiment. of |
the spirit of law and independence and
liberty and mutual service.
There is, venture to point out, espe-
cial significance just now attaching to
this whole matter of drawing the Amer
lcas together in bonds of honorable part |
nership and mutual advantage because of
the economic establishments which the
world must inevitably witness within the
VT Whan have |
at last resumed its healthful tasks. In
the performance of these tasks 1 believe
the Americas to be destined to play their
parts together. 1 am interested to fix
your attention on this prospect now be-
cause unless you take it within your
view and permit the full significance OF
t to command your thought 1 cannot
ind the right light in which to set forth
he particular matter that lies at the
yery front of my whole thought as I ad-
iress you today. I mean national de- J
ense.
Might to Maintain Right.
Out of such thoughts grow all our poll
lies. We regard war merely as a means
# asserting the rights of a people against
aggression And we are fiercely jeal- |
JUS of coercive or dictatorial power with
n our own nation of aggression from
Without We will not maintain stand
ng army except for uses which are as
Necessary in times of peace as in tAnes
# war; and we shall always see to it
hat our military peace establishment is I
10 longer than is actually and continuous
Y needed for the uses of days in which :
10 enemies move against us. But we
10 believe in body of free citizens ready
nd sufficient to take care of themselves
nd of the governments which they have
ct up to serve them. In our constitutions
themselves we have commanded that ''the {
light of the people to keep and bear
rms shall not be infringed," and our I
onfidence has been that our safety In
ines of danger would lie in the rising of I
he nation to take care of Itself, as the /
armers rose at Lexington.
But war has never been mere matter 7
( men and guns 1t is thing of disci-
lined might. If our citizens are ever to e
ght effectively upon a sudden summons, l
hey must know how modern fighting Is
one, and what to do when the summons o
ONES to render themselves Immediately L
valuable and Immediately effective And a
ne government must be their servant in b
mis- matter, must supply them with the a
aiming they need to take care of them | s
elves and of 1t. The military arm of their 2
overnment, which they will not allow to n
Irect them, they may properly use to Il
.rve them and make their independence C
scure-and not their own independence t
erely but the rights also of those with n
HON they have made common cause, s.
iould they also be put in jeopardy. p
hey must be fitted to play the great e.
lie in the world, and particularly in this a
for which they are quail fl
ed by principle and by chastened ambi- II
on to play.
It Is with these ideals In mind that the
ans of the department of war for more OF
lequate national defense were conceived | n
hich will be laid before you, and which n,
urge you to sanction and put into ef- In
ct as soon as they can be properly scru m
nized and discussed. They seem to me te
e essential first steps. and they seem is
me for the present sufficient OF
They contemplate an increase of the 81
anding force of the regular army from is