Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-09-16
ONLY PARTY DEFENSE

y erto been recognized as one of the
two strong men in the cabinet.
The secretary is in danger of losing
his reputation.
Whether the call of the Wild Demo-
Gratis in New Jersey who want Gar
rison to run for Governor has turned
the secretary's head or whether the
Gire necessities OF his chief are the
moving cause, may not be stated with
positiveness. But the fact remains
that for some reason or other, Mr..
Garrison has laid aside the atmosphere
Of efficient silence in which he has
heretofore been doing his work and
now bursts into print with absurd and
petulant criticism of all who venture
to express an opinion contrary TO that
held by the Administration.
His rebuke of General Leonard
Wood for Roosevelt's speech at Platts-
burg is a case in point. And more
pecently has come another in a pub
nshe& rejoinder TO letter from the
American Defense League, in which
the League accused the Wilson Ad-
ministration of opposing practical ef-
forts TO put the nation in state OF
military preparedness. This letter
Secretary Garrison says, quite
obviously was prepared and published
TO cause me embarrassment" If that
is the result of the letter it is only
because the secretary had put him
self in a position to be embarrassed
by It,
The fact is that the Administration
has set back the program of prepared
ness for more than a year. The
President himself discouraged any
discussion of the topic at the last ses-
sion OF Congress, and, at a time when
there was pending before the Senate
a proposal for the construction of an
adequate updersea flotilla. he insisted
upon wasting six weeks of the Sem
ates time in a vain attempt to pass
the iniquitous ship purchase bill.
II is no wonder that the Administra-
ton is sensitive on this point, and the
secretary's letters and interviews con-
tribute largely TO the general belief
that the accusations of neglect are
we'll founded. The President himself
has also Joined the lists and has made
public the letters which he wrote to
the War and Navy Departments last
July. In these letters he tells of the
quantity of thought which he has de-
voted to the subject of preparedness
But in December last he told Congress
that national defense had not been
neglected and that the country had
been misinformed.
The fact is that he has not departed
from the position he took last Decem-
her and the Democratic leaders in
Congress have not departed from it.
Senator Kern, of Indiana, majority
leader in the Upper House. and Mr.
Kitchin, of North Carolina, who holds
an analogous post in the Lower
Branch. have lately come out in op-
position to any adequate increase in
either the army or the navy The
Democratic flock will largely follow
these bellwethers-and the President
will be we'll content. A brief respite
from the tension which has existed
with Germany serves to turn the
Democratic mind to ship-purchase
legislation and to pork barrels. If
anything is to be accomplished for
national defense next winter it will be
by the sturdy advocacy of Republican
Senator'S and Representatives with the
aid of a few Democrats who do not
echo the thoughts of "Olympian super
iority" which emanate from the
White House At present it is plain
iy evident that the kind of defense
which interests the Administration Is
largely the defense of the Democratic
party.