Mexico weekly ledger., 1915-03-04

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Speaking of "some of these parti-
sans" who proposed to organize .
political party found on their "fac-
tional international views" he con-
tinued in part:
II was asked in Canada whether
the war would affect our politics so
as to divide parties on European
lines l answered unhesitatingly in
the negative. l said that to inject
European issues into American poll
tics had uniformly meant the defeat
of those who attempted it.
Legislation is pressed to forbid
the sale of arms and ammunition by
our merchants in trade to belliger-
ents. 1t happens that the party which
is prepared with ammunition and
arms is excluded from the seas by the
navies of their opponents. 1t hap
pens, therefore, that the only sale of
ammunition and arms that can take
place is to one side.
Therefore, it is said that as the
side to which we are selling arms
and ammunition is dependent on our
sales we should place an embargo on
that trade, forcing that side to peace,
and bring the war to an end. 1t has
always been a rule of international
law that neutral countries may sell
arms and ammunition to either bel
ligerent but that they are absolute
contraband and liable to confiscation
on board neutral vessel. We have
proceeded on this assumption, and
our manufacturers have sold arms
and ammunition to those belligerents
who would buy.
No Discrimination.
"We do not discriminate between
the beliigerents in the matter of fur
nishing war material. II is only that
the fortune of war and the circum-
stances over which we have no con-
troll, prevent one side from purchasing
in our markets which are open to the
world.
"Nor is it possible to see why the
doing of that which neutrals in all
wars have been permitted to do should
be made unneutral by such circum-
stances. The change of the we'll es-
tablished rule, however, where such
change would inure only to the ben
eft of one of the parties might well
be regarded as unneutral, as has been
pointed out by the President.
Neutrality leagues, therefore, that
are organized to press legislation in
the nature of an embargo on the sale
of arms and ammunition do not seem
to be rightly named.
"But my chief objection to giving
up the lawful and usual course of
neutral to sell arms and ammunition
to belligerents is based on the highest
national interest. We are a country
which is never likely to be fully pre-
pared for war. We must have the
means of preparing as rapidly as pos
sible after war is imminent and in
evitable.
I'VE would be most foolish to adopt
policy of refusing to sell arms and
ammunition to belligerents powers
which, if it was pursued against us
when we were driven into war, would
leave us helpless.
''In our Spanish War we were
obliged to purchase ships and other
equipment for war from foreign
countries, and in any future war we
would be in the same position.
"More than this, if we were to
place an embargo on the sale of arms
and ammunition to belligerents we
would discourage the industry in this
country and reduce substantially our
possible domestic means of prepar-
ing for future wars. 1t has long been
the policy, and the wise policy, of the
War Department not to be dependent
for its supplies on Government fac
tories alone, but to encourage private
enterprise in this line Of manufac-
ture, in order that should national
exigency arise we could depend on
aid from private sources.
ITO deny to the owners of such in
vestments the opportunities of trade
with belligerents would be to dis
courage them and make our pre-
paredness TO resist unjust aggression
even less than it now is.
FINALLY, the general adoption of a
course by neutrals not to sell arms
to the belligerents in war would