The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-12-07

4 rents OF the confused pollt1cs OF a
world of hostile rivalries; united in
spirit and purpose they cannot be dis
appointed of their peaceful destiny
II am interested to fix your atten-
ton on this prospect now, because
unless you take it within your view
and permit the full significance of it
to command your thought, l cannot
find the right light in which to set
at the very front of my whole
| thought as I address you today. I
mean national defense"
The passion of the American peo-
pie, the president declared, was for
! peace; that conquest and dominion
was not in their reckoning nor agree
able to theiI principles.
But just because we demand I'M
molested development and the und1s-
! turbed government of our own lives
upon our own principles of right and
liberty" he said, I'VE resent, from
whatever quarter it may come, the ag-
gression we ourselves will not practice
! We insist upon security in prosecuting
our se1f-chosen lines of national de-
velopment We do more than that.
! We demand it also for others"
/ War, the resident declared, was re
garded by the United States merely as
] a means of asserting the rights OF a
! people against aggression, and that
I'VE are as fiercely jealous of coercive
or dictatorial power within our own
nation as from aggression from with
out" He said the nation would not
maintain a standing army except for
uses which are as necessary in times
J of peace as in times of war, but that
the country did believe. in a body or
free citizens ready and sufficient to
take care of themselves and of the
government.
But war has never been a mere
matter of men and arms" he con-
tinued. 1T is a thing of disciplined
might If our citizens are ever to
fight effectively upon sudden sum-
mons. they must know how modern
fighting is done, and what to do when
the summons comes to render them
selves Immediately available and i'm
mediately effective. And the govern
ment must be their servant in this
matter, must supply them with the
training they need to take care of
themselves and of it. The military arm
of their government, which they will
not allow to direct them, they may
properly use to serve them and make
their independence secure-and not
their own independence merely, but
the rights also of those with whom
they have made common cause, should /
they also be put in jeopardy
The president presented the war de-
partment plans for strengthening the
army as the essential first step and
for the present sufficient" The plans
include the increasing of the standing
army to a force of 141.S43 men of all
services and the establishment of
supplem entary force of 100000 dlsc1p-
lined citizens who would undergo
training for short periods throughout
three years of a six years enlistment. |
1T would depend upon the patri-
otto feeling of the younger men of the
country whether they responded to
such a call to service or not said
the president. TT would depend upon
the employers of the country whether
they made it possible for the younger
men in their employ to respond under
favorable conditions or not l for one
do not doubt the patriotic devotion
either of our young men Or of those |
who give them employment-those for
whose benefit and protection they
would in fact enlist. 1 would look
forward to the success of such an ex-
pertinent with entire confidence
Outlining the details of the navy
plan presented by Secretary Daniels, |
the president said that lit involves
only a shortening of the time within |
which plans long matured shall be |
carried out; but it does make definite |
and explicit q program which has |
heretofore been only implicit, held in |
the minds Of the committees on naval |
affairs and disclosed in the debates of |
the two houses, but nowhere fornu- |
lated or formally adopted. 1t |
seems to me very clear that it will be |
to the advantage of the country for |
the congress to adopt a comprehensive |
plan for putting the navy upon a final |
footing OF strength and efficiency and |
70 press lnat plan TO completion
within the next five years.
Merchant Marine REQUIRED.
The president said that in order to
secure national Self-efficiency and self /.
security the country must have mer-
chant marine
For it is a question of independ-
ence," he asserted. IF other nations |
go to war or seek to hamper each
others commerce, our merchants it |
seems are at their mercy, to do with
as they please We must use their
ships, and use them as they determine |
Our independence is provincial, and
it is only on land and within our own
borders. We are not likely to be per-
mitte0 to use even the ships of other
nations in rivalry of their own trade.
commerce even where the doors are
wide open and our goods desired.
Such q situation is not to@be endured
1t is of capital Importance not only
that the United States should be its
own carrier on the seas and enjoy the
economic independence which only an
adequate merchant marine would give
it, but also that the American hemis-
phere as whole should enjoy a like
independence and self-sufficiency, if
it is not to be drawn into the tangle
of European affairs
The task of building up an adequate
merchant marine. Mr.. Wilson said |
must be undertaken ultimately by
American private capital, but in the
meantime, he declared. every legal OBJ
stacle standing in the way of the
building, purchase and American reg
istration of ships should be removed
and the government should undertake
TO open routes. especially between the
two American continents. When the
risk has passed and private capital
begins to find its way into these new
channels, he added, the government
may withdraw.
The President told Congress that
proposals would be made during the
coming session. for the purchase or
construction of ships to be owned and
directed by the government. The
measure. he said, would be similar to