The Holly chieftain., 1915-12-10

aration OF the nation to care for its
| own security and to make sure of entire
freedom to play the impartial role in this
hemisphere and in the world which We
| all believe to have been providenttally
| assigned to 1t. / have had In mind no
| thought of any immediate or particular
| danger arising out of our relations with
other nations. We are at peace with all
the nations of the world and there Is
| reason to hope that no question in con-
| troversy between this and other govern
ments will lead to any serious breach OF
| amicable relations, grave as some diner
| ences of attitude and policy have been
and may yet turn out to be. l am sorry
| to say that the gravest threats against
| our national peace and safety have been
| uttered within our own borders. There are
| citizens of the United States blush to
| admit. born under other flags but welcomed
under our generous naturalization laws
to the full freedom and opportunity OF
| America. who have poured the poison of
| disloyalty into the very arteries OF our
national life; who have sought to bring
| the authority and good name of our gov
ernment into contempt. to destroy our in
dustries wherever they thought 1t effec-
| tive for their vindctive purposes to strike
at them and to debase our politics to the
uses of foreign intrigue. Their number
| Is not great as compared with the whole
number of those sturdy hosts by which
| ouT udtlCN mas Deen enTlCHtu III ISIShl
generations out of virile foreign stocks
| but 1t is great enough to have brought
| deep disgrace upon US and to have made
| II necessary that we should promptly
| make use of processes Of law by which
we may be purged of their corrupt dis
| tempers. America never witnessed any
| thing like this before. 1t never dreamed
| 1t possible that men sworn into its own
| citizenship, men drawn out of great free
stocks such supplied some of the best
| and strongest elements of that little. but
| how heroic. nation that in high day of old
| staked its very life to free itself from
every entang ement that had darkened
| the fortunes of the older nations and set
| up a new standard here-that men Of such
| origins and such free choices of allegt-
| ance would ever turn In malign reaction
| against the government and people who
| had welcomed and nurtured them and
seek to make this proud country once
more a hotbed of European passion. A
little while ago such a thing would have
seemed incredible. Because 1t was in
| credible We made no preparation for 1t.
We would have been almost ashamed to
prepare for it, as If we were suspicious
of ourselves, our own comrades and
| neighbors! But the ugly and incredible
has actually come about and we are with
| out adequate federal laws to deal with
1t. I urge you to enact such laws at
the earliest possible moment and feel that
In so doing 1 am urging you to do moth
ing less than save the honor and self
respect of the nation.
Must Be Crushed Out.
Such creatures of passion. disloyalty
and anarchy must be crushed out. They
are not many, but they are infinitely ma
lignant, and the hand Of our power should
close over them at once. They have
formed plots to destroy property. they
have entered into conspiracies against the
neutrality of the government they have
sought to pry Into every confidential
transaction of the government in order
to serve interests alien to our own. 1t IL
possible to deal with these things very
effectually. / need not suggest the terms
in which they may be dealt with.
I wish that 1t could be said that only q
few men, misled by mistaken sentiments
Of allegiance to the governments under
which they were born. had been guilty Of
disturbing the self-possession and misrep-
resenting the temper and principles of
the country during these days of terrible
war. when it would seem that every man
who was truly an American would in
stinctively make 1t his duty and his pride
to keep the scales Of judgment even and
prove himself partisan Of no nation but
his own. But 1t cannot. There are some
men among us. and many resident abroad
who, though born and bred in the Unit
ed States and calling themselves Amer
their honor as citizens as to put their
passionate sympathy with one or the 9TH
er side In the great European conflict
above their regard for the peace and dig
nifty Of the United States They also
preach and practice disloyalty. No laws,
l suppose, can reach corruptions of the
mind and heart; but I should not speak
Of others without also speaking of these
and expressing the even deeper humilia-
ton and scorn which every self-possessed
and thoughtfully patriotic American must
feel when he thinks Of them and of the
discredt they are daily bringing upon U.S.
Many conditions about which we have
repeatedly legislated are being altered
from decade to decade. 1t Is evident, un-
der our very eyes, and are likely to change
even more rapidly and more radically in
the days Immediately ahead of US, when
| peace has returned to the world and ma
tions of Europe once more take up their
tasks of commerce and Industry with the
energy Of those who must bestir them
selves to build anew Just what these
changes will be no one can certainly fore
see or confidently predict There are no
! calculable, because no stable, elements in
the problem. The most we can do ia to
make certain that we have the necessary
instrumentalities of information constant
ly at our service SO that we may be sure
that we know exactly what we are deal
Ing with when we come to act, If II
should be necessary to act at all. We
| must first certainly know what 1t Is that
we are seeking to adapt ourselves to. /
may ask the privilege of addressing YOU
more at length, on this important matter
a little later in your session.
Transportation Problem.
The transportation problem Is an ex
| ceedingly serious and pressing one in this
| country. There has from time to time
| of late been reason to fear that our rail-
no1S ,ot ,oI,