Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-12-09

turbed government of our own lives
upon our own principles of right anC
liberty he said, 1--WE resent, from
: whatever quarter it may come, the
| aggression we ourselves will not prac
tice. We insist upon security in pros
ecuting our self-chosen lines of ma
, tional development. We do more
than that. We demand it also fol
Others"
!. War, the president declared, was re
J garded by the United States merely as
a means of asserting the rights of a
people against aggression, and that
we are as fiercely jealous of coercive
or d1ctatorial power within our own
nation as from aggression from with
out" He said the nation would not
maintain standing army except fo1
uses which are as necessary in times
OF peace as in times Of war, but that
the country did believe, in body of
free citizens ready and sufficient to
take care of themselves and of the
government.
War Matter Of Might.
But war has never been mere
matter of men and arms" he continue
ed. ut is thing of isciplined might
II our citizens are never to fight eff
fectively upon sudden summons,
they must know how modern fighting
is done, and what to do when the
summons comes to render themselves
Immediately available and Immediate
ly effective. And the government
| must be their servant in this matter,
must supply them with the training
| they need to take care of themselves
] a r6 Nf H. ;%-,, - 4.
| government, which they will not al.
low 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 force of 141,S43
men Of all services, and the establish
ment Of a supplementary force of AGO.
600 disciplined citizens, who would
undergo training for short periods
throughout three years Of six years
enlistment
Up to Younger Men.
1T would depend upon the patriotic
feeling of the younger men of the
country whether they responded to
such a call to service or not" said the
president. 1T would depend upon the
patriotic spirit of the employers of the
country whether they made 1t possible
for the younger men in their employ
to respond under favorable conditions
or not. I for one, do not doubt the
patriotic devotion either of our young
men or of those who give employment
those for whose benefit and protec-
ton they would in fact enlist would
look forward to the success of such an
experiment with entire confidence"
Outlining the details of the navy
plan presented by Secretary Daniels,
the president said that "it involves
only shortening of the time within
which plans long matured shall be car.
ried out; but it does make definite and
explicit program which has hereto
fore been only implicit, held in the
minds of the committees on naval at
fairs and disclosed in the debates of
the two houses but nowhere formu-
lated or formally adopted. $50 It
seems to me very clear that it will be
to the advantage Of the country for
the congress to adopt a comprehen-
sive plan for putting the navy upon a
final footing Of strength and efficiency
and to press that plan to completion
within the next five years.
Merchant Marine Needed.
The president said that in order to
secure national self-efficiency and
self-security the country must have a
merchant marine.
For it is question of independ-
ence," he asserted eff other nations
60 to war or seek to hamper each
others commerce, our merchants, 1t
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-
mitted to use even the ships of other
nations in rivalry of their own trade, |
and are without means to extend our
commerce even where the doors are
wide open and our goods desired. |
Such 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
1T, but also that the American hemis- |
phere as whole should enjoy 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
obstacle standing in the way Of the
building, purchase and American reg
isgration 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 be-
gins to find it's way into these new
channels, he added, the government
may withdraw.