The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-07-16
Petitions Sent Here From
Baltimore Requesting Presi-
dent to Stop Ammunitions.
2,00O.900 SIGNATURES
WANTED THIS MONTH
Names Will be Used to Prove
Country Wants Conflict
to End.

ment the aim of which is to bring til
war to a close. In a lette
from Miss N. L. Miller of Baltimor,
Nd, which was received yesterday
Mrs. Max j. KOeck, the women of TIL
city are asked to establish a branc
committee in Cape Girardeau to Gil
culate petitions.
The petitions, which are addresse
to President Wilson and Congress, as
that an embargo be placed upon tn
shipment of arms from the Unite
States to any of the belligerent ne
tons. 1t is the intention of the "Gl
ganization Of American Women fo
Strict Neutrality" which is the nam
of the Baltimore society, to obtai
2 100000 signatures within the preser
month.
The petition, which may be signe
by men as we'll as ladies, is as 70
lows:
We, the undersigned citizens Of
the United States, men and wom-
en-, unite in earnest protest-fOr
humanitarian reasons-against the
expectation from this country of
"the things which kill" for the
use of nations engaged in the
present conflict. While this sale
of arms may be legal, it is moral
ly wrong, and an embargo on
arms is certainly legal and moral
ly right. We base our protest on
international Law and precedent,
as follows: Woolsey international
Law: "If the neutral instead of
wheat, should send pcwGer or
balls, cannon or rifles, th.a would
be a direct encouragemc&. of the
war, and so departurc from the
-eutral position"
president; Taft IN 1872 issued
a proclamation forbiddinG he ex-
port of arms and mur,!ions to
Mexico"
an 1913 President Wilson con-
tinuing the policy of President
Taft, said that an embargo on
arms follows the best practice of
nations in the matter of neutral
ity"
"On April %, 1898, after the
Spanish-American War had be-
gun, the British Government
placed an embargo on munitions
of war. The British Government
also has a law on its statute
books, comforting discretionary
power on the King of England to
forbid the export of arms and
ammunition.
Germany did not permit her
citizens to sell arms or munitions
of war to Spain during our war
with that nation"
Beside all this, we have Presi-
dent Wilson's own declaration of
Neutrality: 1--WE must be neutral
in fact as well as in name, and
we must put a curb on every
transaction, which might give a
preference to one party in the,
struggle over another"
In her letter to Mrs. Koeck, Miss
1illar makes a plea to the ladies OF
his city to secure signatures. Sever,
| petitions accompanied the letter
nd Mrs. Koeck was informed that as
many petitions as would h needed
Tould be sent to this city a., re-
uest. Her letter says:
In the interest of humanity
suffering such an extent as the
world has never known, we as
honest American citizens appeal
to you to help us stop the exporta-
ton of "the things which kill"
Our country is the only neutral
country today, which allows the
expectation of munitions of war!
Only comparatively few of our
people are benefited by the sale
of these things-while the major
ity, in many lines of legitimate
business are suffering from nom
employment. Much of this trou-
bic will be overcome if the war is
stopped.
The Lusitania catastrophe
gravely emphasized the necessity
of an immediate embargo on
arms.
The response to our petitions
has been so enthusiastic, and so
many new avenues have been
opened to US, that we have been
asked to extend the time, hoping
within few weeks TO have 2,000,-
600 signatures.
Will you sign our petition your