The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-12-07
PRESIDENT URGES
STERN ACTION IN
PLOT CASES
No Law Now to Punish Offenders
Against Neutrality
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE is READ
Wants Army and Navy Enlarged and
Would Pay Cost by Increasing
Internal Revenue.

Washington, Dec 7.--president
Wilson today read his message before
the two houses OF congress The
| message was short and was largely
devoted to the question of prepared
| ness.
| He urges the increase OF the stand
| ing army to 1,S43 men and by the
addition of SO companies of coast ar
tillery, Is companies of engineers,
ten regiments of infantry, four regi-
| ments of field artillery, and four aero
squadron These he urges as the first
step and said he will later advise in
crease of the militia,
The naval plan he outlines is an
addition during the next five years Of
ten battleships, six battle cruisers,
ten scout cruisers, so destroyers,' M
teen fleet submarines, S5 coast sub
marines. four gunboats, two ammuni-
ton ships and one hospital ship.
He says that more money will be
needed to pay the bills and would
raise this by increased taxes rather
than by selling bonds. He suggests
way of getting more money TO
make the increase tax apply to small
der incomes, tax on gasolene, tax
of so cents per horsepower on auto
mobiles. a stamp tax on bank
checks and tax On pig iron and on
fabricated iron and steel.
He says: There are citizens of
the United States, ! blush to admit,
born under other flags, but welcomed
under eur generous naturalization
laws to the full freedom and oppor-
tunity 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 government in
to contempt, to destroy our industries
wherever they have thought it effec-
tive to strike at them, and to debase
our politics to the uses of foreign
intrigue.
Their number is not great. but it
is great enough to have brought dis
grace upon us and to have made it
necessary that we should promptly
make use of processes of law by
which we may be purged of their
corrupt distempers
"a little while ago such thing
would have seemed incredible. Be
cause it was incredible we made no
preparation for it. But the ugly and
incredible thing has actually come
about and we are without adequate
federal laws TO deal with it. | urge
you to enact such laws at the earliest
possible Moment and feel that in do
ing so | am urging you to do nothing
less than save the honor and self
respect of the nation. Such creatures
OF passion disloyalty and anarchy
must be crushed out. They are not
many. but they are infinitely malig-
nant, and the hand of our power
should close over them at once. They
have formed plots to destroy proper
ty, they have entered into conspirac-
les against the neutrality of the Gov
renment, they have sought to pry into
every confidential transaction of the
Government in order to serve inter
ests alien to our own. Ii is possible
to deal with these things very effectu-
ally. | need not suggest the terms in
which they may be dealt with.
Il wish that it could be said that
only few men, misled by mistaken
sentiments of allegiance to the gov
ernments under which they were
born, had been guilty of disturbing
the self-possession and misrepresent-
ing the temper and principles of the
country during these day OF terrible
war, when it would seem that every
man who was truly American would
instinctively make it his duty and
his pride to keep the scales of judg-
ment even and prove himself par
tisan OF no nation but his own But
it cannot There are some men
among us, and many resident abroad
who. though born and hred in the
United States and calling themselves
Americans. have so forgotten them
selves and their honor as citizens as
to put their passionate sympathy with
one or the other side in the great
European conflict above their regard
for the peace and dignity of the
United States. They also preach and
practice disloyalty. No laws, | sup
pose, can reach corruptions of the
mind and heart; but ! should not
speak of others without also speaking
of these and expressing the even