The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-07-30
ROOSEVELT
| ON BRYAN
Glasses Bryan As Milk and
!. Water Statesman.
Discusses National Crisis and
Urges Preparedness and Uni
versal Military System.

position in the American Cabinet and
Immediately addresses a large meet
ing of Germans, where he was very
properly received with uproarious
applause as faithful servant of the
present German Government, as q
man, who however amaiable his in
tentions, had in actual fact stood
against the honor, and interest of
America. Now, If Mr.. Bryan were
a German, the German Government
would not for one moment permit
him to make the kind of address
against Germany that Germans ap-
plauded him for making against his
own country, and ours. The success
of the German policy of blood-and
iron largely depends upon their pos
sible rivals and opponents adopting
a policy of milk-and-water. The
lood-and-iron statesman of one ma
ton finds in the milk-and water
statesman of another nation the man
predestined through the ages to be
his ally and his tool.
"In 1914, q little over a century
ago, in the course of the War of
1912. small British army landed in
Chesapeake Bay. 1t defeated twice
its number of free-born American
citizens without training and disci-
pline, who had leaped to arms as
Mr.. Bryan says, or become an arm
ed citizenry.' as Mr.. Wilson puts it.
II then burned the public buildings
at Washington. The armed citizen
ry'-upon whose potentiality Presi-
dent Wilson relies as an excuse for
signal failure to make any prepare
ton to do our duty by adequate pre-
paration in view of the terrible world
war now going on and of the sftua-
ton in Mexsco-fied with such unani-
nifty and rapidity that only a score
or so lost their lives.
"Thereupon the remainder, togeth-
er with all the American editors and
public men who for years had been
screaming for peace and announcing
that there was no need for preparing
against war, instead of expressing
their hearty shame and repentance
for the national failure to prepare,
became hysterical i'm attacking-with
words only-the hostile army for
having burned Washington. The
British army a century ago was as
profoundly Indifferent to this attack
las the war lords of Germany today
are to our prattle about the Lusi-
tania or the resolutions of our po-
litical orators on the Fourth of July.
Such indifference was, and is, en-
tirely justifiable. 1t was not nice
thing to burn the public buildings
of Washington; but it was an in
finitely worse thing for this country,
after two years OF war, to be utterly
unable to protect its capital. 1t was
net nice thing to kill our women
and children on the Lusitania; but
it was an even meaner and more
contemplate thing for us to fail to
act with instant decision thereon
and had we so acted in the case of
the Gulflight, few days previously,
the Lusitania would never have been
sunk.
1--WE should have a system of uni
versal military service in this coun-
try, as the Swiss have. as the Argen-
tines have, asvthe Australians and
New Zealanders in large part have.
Switzerland would, perhaps, be the
best model for us. Under system
like that of the Swiss there would
be in this country military training
i'm the upper grades of our schools;
then on graduation from the high
school the young man, say at some
time between the ages of Is and 2l,
would serve for a period not to ex-
coed six months in the field in the ar
my; after that first service he would |
serve a week or ten days every year |
for six or eight years. and then would |
go definitely into the reserve. He
would be trained in rife shooting.
Switzerland has tried this plan and |
II has succeeded well. Doubtless
the shrieking sisterhood of pacificist.
male and female. would say that 1t
would tend to militarism. It would
tend to nothing OF the sort. Swift
zerland is the least militaristic of
countries. Are those pacificists
aware that Switzerland. with pniver-
sal military service. has In proper
tion to its population only one-elen-
enth of the homicides that our peo-
~. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, show!
such service would be good from the