The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-04

I clined to seal the Dutch harbors tightly
enough to please Napoleon he lost his
| throne. =
Finally the sharp bowsprit Of the New
wedge that pried apart the Emperor of
the East and the Emperor Of the West.
who had divided the earth between them
at Tilsit. The Gar refusing to seize the
American ships that haunted the fogs of
the Baltic and carried to Russia's shores
the forbidden products of England.
| Napoleon marshaled the men of twenty
! nations for the fatal march to Moscow.
On the Eve OF 1912.
When the war in Europe thus was en-
tering upon its last desperate stage,
American forbearance-the tolerance and
endurance which Jefferson had preached
and practiced-gave way under the long
strain of insults and wrongs inflicted
upon the nag of the republic Madison
had succeeded to the Presidency and 1t
was under his less adroit and masterful
leadership that the country was caught
at last in the maelstrom.
France and England were each affecting
willingness to lift the ban on American
poleon insisted that the United States
must compel England to respect neutral
rights. and England would not repeal her
orders-in-councI until the Emperor
Thus the diplomatic jugglers kept the
ball in the air until the long-repressed
Congress burst out in heat storm. Most
unluckily. 1t CHANGED that the country
ton Of 1872 and Madison. DESTROYS of a
second term. had his ear to the ground.
If the object Of the clamorous war
party; under the fiery lead Of the youth
American shipping. 1t would have been
difficult to choose a foeman between
France and England; The British had
but the French had done their worst by
seizing more than 500.
Since. however. Napoleon was locked
up in the Continent Of Europe and be-
yond the range Of American guns. Eng
land. with her Canadian provinces lying
beside the United States and with her
ships on the sea, was the only enemy
ish had persisted in an offense far more
exasperating to the national spirit than
all the seizures of ships by both bellig-
erents together.
The IncitinG Cause OF War.
A neutral flag. so far from covering
the cargo in those days. did not cover
even the men sailing under 1t. While
British press gangs IN England were
bursting into theater pits and tspr9SSm s
ging them aboard naval vessels. they
ranged the ocean as we'll and gathered
in recruits wherever they could be found.
With q shot across their bows, Ameri-
and boarded by naval squads in search
Of British subjects. All on board were
lined up. and the burden Of proof as to
their neutrality was thrust upon the
fancied they detected a British accent.
that was evidence enough that the sailor
was a Briton. Long residence in the 4
United States and the possession Of nat |
uraIization papers counted for naught.
Men thus were snatched from under |
the American flag by the hundreds and
carried of to serve in the British navy. |
Many IL not most Of the impressed sea-
men probably were natives of the Brit |
ish Isles who had changed their hags to |
better their pay and general condition.
The American merchant marine had
grown so rapidly that 1t had to draw on |
other countries for sailors as we'll as |
ships. When the British navy was
uraIly II must have suffered a good deal
from desertions. and 1t saw fit to protect
Itself BY recapturing the deserters from |
neutral ships rather than by paying |
more and dogging less.
In the impressments. the boarding |
squad not only ignored honest naturali- |
ration papers, but also took many nal