Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-07-20
ROOSEVELT TALKS
ON PREPAREDNESS
Has No Sympathy for Peace Prep
uganda Advanced by w. J.
/. Bryan.
PREPAREDNESS IS
.. SAFETY AGAINST WAR
Says Americans Are Subjected to
Nameless Infamies While
Abroad.

. upon Peace Insurance by Prepared
ness Against War" has written i
part as follows:
There are persons who are agains
preparedness for war and who belieV
in the avoidance OF national duty
, who nevertheless are honest in theI
belief and who may not be coTardl
or weak, but only foolish and mis-
guided; and there are hundreds o
Thousands Of good and REASONABLE.
brave men and ONE who simpl,
have not thought Of the matter a
all and who are misguided by thei
leaders. But Of most OF these leader
it Is not possible to take so charitable
a view. The fundamental character
istic OF the peace-at-any-prfce men i
sheer, downright physical or mora
timidity. Very many OF the leade"!
among the men who protest agalns
preparedness and who are hostile Il
manly action on part-hostile y
the insistence in good faith upon :hs
observance OF The Hague convention
and upon respect for the lives am
property OF our citizens in Mexico
and or the high seas-are easily Gov
ed by any exhibition OF ruthless am
brutal force, and lever venture Il
condemn wrongdOers VINO make
themselves feared. This fact nigh
just as well be faced. TO it is duo
the further fact that the professional
pacifist usually turns cp as the ally
Of the most cynical type OF inte!na
tional wrongdoer.
Peace Without Honor.
This has been made evident b. tbs
attitude OF the great bulk OF the aoE
and women who have shricled loud
est for peace during the last eleven
months. II has been made evident
by the men who have Joined in the
peace conferences, peace dinners and
peace congresses during that tim and
by the women OF the same type Whc
on this side OF the water, or after
travelling to the ether side Of the va
ter, have advocated 4 peace W!tnOu;
honor or justice. These men and
women have demanded peace in tens
that would not merely disregard
righteousness, but that would crown
unrighteOusness with uccesg They
have not ventured TO make one pro
test against any concrete act OF
WrOngdoing.
Some Of the ome in Gue3"on
were abroad, actively engaged in cE:
citing contempt and derision FOR
contempt and derision for themseIvca
and their country By crying for peace
without justice and without redres2
OF wrongs, at the very tine tina; the
Lusitania was sunk. American Hnm.
en- and children were at the Zinc be
ing slain or the high seas; Ecl2isn
women and children, French women
and children, in Belgium and north
ern France were at the same time
suffering the last extr1mttics of in.
fanny and outrage; and our own WON.
Ell in Mexico had been subjected to
nameleSs infamics. But these ami.
able peace prattlers had not one
word OF effective sympathy for any
of the women and children who mad
suffered these dreadful fates. al! they
did was to utter silly platitude3. which
were Of comfort to the w"orglocrs,
and which, in so far as they had any
effect, COMPOUNDED right aud wrong
and put a premium upon wrongdoing
because the condemnation was 50 ut
tered as. il anything, to bear moro
heavily on those who resisted wrorg
than upon those who inflicted wrong,
There is no meaner moral attitude
than that Of !. timid and selfish neu-
trality between right and wrong.
Arbitration Treaties.
We no nan propose a treaty unless
he has reduced it to concrete terms;
has proposed it in thcsc concrete
terms to his fellows, and has deter
mined whether when thus made con,
crete, it ought to be and Will be Oh
served. Take a few illustrative cas-.
es. The ultra-pacifist movement, the
peace-at-any-price movement. las
seemingly been as strong on The Pa.
cifc slope as on the Atlantic sea-
board and in the interior. Congress-
men and editors have made speeches
and written articles in which they
have advocated disarmament, and
have demanded treaties by which the
D"''Cu 'laLtS NUHiu dtItc W dIDI-
trate everything. Worthy people. sil-
ly people, have encouraged schoolboys
solcmnly to debate Zach .;ucslions.
Now let these congras3men and edi.
tors face facts ind b. frank ard
truthful When they applaud the pas
sage OF the 30 a%ll.inclusiye arbitra.
tlon-commission treaties that the ad-
ministration has passed during the
last year or so, do they mean that
they wish, II the Japanese fake Mag.
dalena bay or the Germans st. Thorn.
as, to discuss the matter through a
commission for Q year without taking
any action. DO they mean that when
American women are raped In Mexico
or American men murdered in our
own territory by Mexicans firing
across the line. or when the American
Nag is insnltcd and %dishonored. we
shall appoint a commission TO discuss
the matter for a year before taking
action? DO they mean that II a
French or English submarine sinks q
ship crowded with non.combatants, as
the Germans sank the Lusitania, and
II American women and children are
again drowned Wholesale on the high
seas, we shall appoint a commission
to talk about 1t for a year and bind