Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1915-10-21
FOR WAR.

1t is obvious that President Wilson will recommend materia
increases in the annual expenditures for preparations for war-tha
is to say, for means for preparing for possible cventuahties.
The war extremists would go far beyond the presidents prob
able suggestions, while the paci6sts" would cut off all expenses fol-
the army, relying upon diplomacy to avert physical conflicts witt
our ~ncighbors.
Congressman Royal c Johnson, in a recent speech at Webster
that the mean between the extremes seems about the proper
course for Uncle Sam to follow, and Mr.. Johnson opinion appears
to be shared by the great body of American people.
But if Uncle Sam begins preparations upon even such scale as
the president is likely to support, it means that the great bulk OF
our expenditures for the next dozen years will be devoted to prepa
for war. In other words, militarism will be in the ascend
President Wilson evidently has swung around to an acceptance
Of the views of former President Roosevelt regarding the need OF
Mr.. Roosevelt was accused OF stealing Mr.. Bryan Is
thunder IN his campaign for the presidency Is Mr.. Wilson now
going to steal Roosevelt ''thunder?'
In order to keep the record straight, as 1t were, we reproduce
for Mr.. Wilson's benefit a few extracts from various speeches made
by his illustrious predecessor:
1T is strange, indeed " . : there should exist men who
actually oppose the building of a navy by the United States,
nay, even more, actually oppose so much as the strength
enlng Of the coast defenses, on the ground that they prefer
to have the country too feeble to resent any insult, in order
that it may owe its safety to the contemptuous forbear-
ance which it is hoped this ~feebleness will inspire in foreign
powers. No Tammany alderman, no yenal legislator, no
demagogue or corrupt politician ever strove more effectively
than these men are striving to degrade the nation and to
make one ashamed OF the name of America Theodore
Roosevelt THE Bachelor of Arts, March. 1896 90 years
ago.
I'm this country there is not the slightest danger of an
overdeyelopment g he warGke spirit, and there never was
any such danger. In all our history there has never been a
time when preparedness for war was any menace to peace
From "Washngton's Forgotten Maxim, =" first delivered
as an address in June, 1897 Us years ago.
1.-The army and the navy are the sword and the shield
which the nation must carry if she is to do her duty among
the nations of the earth-if she is not to stand merely as
the China of the Western Hemisphere. From 'The Siren
uous Life first delivered as a speech in Chicago, 1899
Q6 years ago..
Remember that after the war has begun it is too
late to improvise a navy. A naval war is two-thirds settled
in advance. From a speech made in San Francisco, May
IA, 1903 az years ago..
$50 far from being in any way a provocation to war,
an adequate and highly trained navy is the best guarantee
AGAINST war he chpapoc md ropct ofactiya paaco incur
ance, The cost of building and maintaining such a navy
represents the very lightest premium for insuring peace
From Roosevelt's message to the first session of the Fifty
seventh Congress, December, 1901 ia years ago..
All we want is peace; and toward this end we wish to
be able to secure. the same respect for our rights from others
which we are eager and anxious to extend to their rights
in return, to insure fair treatment to us commercially, and
to guarantee the safety of the American people. From
the same message IA years ago..