Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-12-10

sage to congress:
Gentlemen of the Congress: Since l
,ost had the privilege of addressing
Won ON the state of the Union the war
!, nations on the other side of the sea,
which had then only begun to disclose
rs p~ortentous proportions, has extend
al It's threatening and sinister scope
until it has swept within its flame
some portion of every quarter Of the
globe. not excepting our W hemi-
sphere, has altered the whole face of
International affairs, and now presents
a prospect of reorganization and re-
construction such as statesmen and
neoples have never been called upon
TO attempt before.
We have stood apart, studiously neu-
trail It was our manifest duty to do
80. Not only did we have no part or
interest in the policies which seem to
have brought the conflict on; 1t was
necessary, if a universal catastrophe
was to be avoided, that a limit should
be set to the sweep of destructive war
and that some part of the great family
Of nations should keep the processes
Of peace alive, If only to prevent col
lectiVe economic ruin and the break
down throughout the world of the in
dustries by which it's populations are
fed and sustained. 1t was manifestly
the duty of the self-governed nations
Of this hemisphere to redress, If pos
sible, the balance of economic loss
and confusion in the other, if they
could do nothing more In the day of
readjustment and ~recuperation we
earnestly hope and believe that they
can be of infinite service.
American Nations Partners.
In this neutrality, to which they
were hidden not only by their separate
life and their habitual detachment
from the politics of Europe but also by
q clear perception of international
duty, the states. of America have be-
come conscious of a new and more
vital community interest and moral
partnership in affairs, more clearly
conscious of the many common sym
pathies and interests and duties which
bid them stand together.
There was a time in the early days
Of our own great nation and of the e.
publics fighting their way to indie
p~endence in Central and South Amer
lea when the government of the Unit
ed States looked upon itself as in some
sort the guardian of the republics to
croachments or efforts at political con-
troll from the other side of the water;
1elt it its duty to play the part even
without invitation from them; and l
think that we can claim that the task
was undertaken with a true and dis
interested enthusiasm for the freedom
or the Americas and the unmolested
self-goVernment Of her independent
peoples. But it was always difficult to
maintain such a role without offense
70 the pride of the peoples whose free
pom OF action we sought to protect,
mo without provoking serious miscon-
ceptions of our motives, and every
thoughtful man of affairs must well
rome the altered circumstances of the
pew day in whose light we now stand,
fnen there is nc claim of guardian
pnlp or thought of wards but, instead,
Iull n honorable association as Of
partners between ourselves and our
pelgnDors, in the interest of all Amer
"a north and south. Our concern for
Nle independence and prosperity of the
spates of Central and South America
: not altered. We retain undated
'ae spirit that has inspired us through
Put the whole life of our government
fuu which was so frankly put into
fords by President Monroe. We still
pean always to make a common cause
= national independence and of po-
Pucal liberty in America.
Attitude Toward Mexico.
we have been put to the test in
IL case of Mexico, and we have stood
~ test. Whether we have benefited
reAico by the course we have pursued
Idihs to be lei Her fortunes are
ner W hands. But we have at
East proved that we will not take adj
,antage of her in her distress and I'M
et'ake to impose upon her an order
~ government of our own choosing.
[.Uerty is often a fierce and intract-
We tnlng, to which no bounds can be
and to which no bounds of a few
ms choosing ought ever to be set.
10y american who has drunk at the
ue fountains of principle and tradi-
on must subscribe without reserva-
Oa TO the high doctrine of the Vir-
ruia Bill of Rights, which in the great
-ays IN which our government was set
was everywhere amongst us accept
as tne creed of free men. That doc
ne ls' That government is, or ought
oe' instituted for the m bene-
protection and security of the peo-
, nation, or community" that "of
Tue various modes and forms of