Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1915-12-07
PAN -AMER|CAN|sM IS
KEYNOTE IN WILSON'S
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
Continued From Page H.
government.

| Inc president presented the war de-
partment plans for strengthening the
army as ''the first essential STEP" and
"for the present sufficient" The plans
Include the increasing of the standing
army to a force of 141,84 men of all
services, and the establishment of a
supplementary force of 10000 discip-
lined citizens, who would undergo
training for short periods throughout
three years of six years enlistment.
1T would depend upon the patriotic
feeling of the younger men of the
country whether they responded to
such call to service or not" said
the president. 1T would depend upon
tie patriotic spirit of the employers OF
the country whether they made it pos
sible for the younger men in their en-
ploy to respond under favorable con-
Gitions or not. for one, do not doubt
! the patriotic devotion either of ur
young men or of thse who give them
mployment-those for whose benefit
and protection they would in fact en-
list. l would look forward to the sue
cess of such an experiment with en-
tire satisfaction.
Outlining the details of the navy
! Plan presented by Secretary aDniels,
the president said that sit involves
only a shortening of the time within
which plans long matured shall be
carried out; but it does make definite
and explicit a program which has
heretofore been only implicit, held in
the minds of the committees on naval
affairs and disclosed in the debates of
tie two houses, but nowhere formu-
lated or formally adopted. 1t seems
t, me very clear that it will be to the
advantage of the country for congress
to adopt a comprehensive plan for
putting the navy upon final footing
of strength and efficiency and to
press that plan to completion within
the next five years.
The president said that In order to
secure national self-efficiency and
self-security the country must have Il
merchant marine.
For it is question of independ-
ence," he asserted. IF other nations
50 to war or seek to hamper each
others commerce, our merchants, it
seems are at their mercy to do with
as they please. We must use their
ships, and use them as they deter
mine. Our independence is provincial
and it is only on Land and within our
own borders. We are not likely to be
permitted to use even the ships Of
other nations in rivalry of their own
trade, and are without means to ex-
tend our commerce even where the
doors are wide open, and our goods
desired. Such a situation is not to be
endured. 1t is Of capital Importance
not only that the United States should
he its own carrier on the seas and en-
joy the economic independence which
only an adequate merchant marine
would give it, but also that the Amer
lean hemisphere as a whole should
enjoy like independence and self
sufficiency, il it is not to be drawn in
to the tangle Of European affairs"
The task of building up, an adequate
merchant marine, Mr.. Wilson said,
must be undertaken ultimately by
American private capital, but in the
meantime he declared every legal OBJ
stacle standing in the way of the
building, purchase and American reg
istration of ships should be removed
and the government should undertake
to open routes, especially between the
two American continents. When the
risk has passed and private capital be-
gins to find its way into these new
channels, he added, the government
may withdraw The president also
told congress that proposals would be
made during the session for the pur-
chase or construction Of ships to be
owned and directed by the govern
ment.