The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-19

1 II at the outset we had clearly made
\ it evident that our words would be
translated into deeds, that our first
| ultimatum sixteen months ago was
really an ultimatum, Germany would
have yielded, the Lusitaria and the
other ships would not have been sunk,
and all the lamentable loss of life
would have been avoided. 1t is our
own attitude of culpable weakness and
! timidity-an attitude assumed under
the pressure of the -pacifists-
which is primarily responsible for this
dreadful loss of life, and for our ma
tiouai humiliation.
Lost Foreign Respect.
We have suffered loss of friendly
feeling with each of the countries at
war, and we have been within grave
danger of trouble that would eventual
ly lead to- our being dragged into war
with one more of them. 1 would
rather go to war than permit our
women and children to be killed. But
| it is crime against this nation that
/ our own supine folly, our weakness
and vacillation, our utter failure to
prepare, should expose us to the pos
sibility of war without having made
| US ready for war. If, as soon as the
| great war broke out, our navy had
been mo biliZed. and competent man
put at the head of the navy depart
ment (appointed for national and
| service reasons, instead of purely po-
| lit1cal reasonS), and if we had begun
vigorously to prepare, and had shown
| that we meant what we said, the Lusi-
tania would never have been sunk;
no power would have infringed on
our rights; and we should today be
| absolutely free from all danger of war.
| The pacifists have had their way
as regards Mexico, and as regards our
behavior in the great war. Their pol
icy has been practically applied. 1t
has resulted in the loss of thousands
of lives and in immeasurable national
humiliation. 1t has rendered war
more likely instead of less likely.
| Let my pacifist friends understand
that I am advocating preparedness so
as to avoid war, and I am advocating
preparedness in the work of peace as
il military matters. I believe in
thoroughly efficient navy. the second
in size in the world I believe in a
small but thoroughly efficient regu-
lar army, an army of 100000 men,
with a proper reserve. This would
give US a mobile army of 125, 900 men,
But back of the regular army and
navy must stand the strength of the
people themselves, and this strength
must be prepared in advance OF it will
be utterly useless in time Of trial
For Universal Training.
1 believe in universal service based
on universal training. l believe in
| this because l think it would be not
only of incaIculable benefit to the ma
ton in the event of war, but of in
calculable benefit to the individuals
undergoing it, and therefore to the
nation, as regards the work OF peace;
1 believe that the dog-tent would
prove a most effective agent f r
democratizing and Matchmaking our
life; quite as much as the pubic
school, and far more SO than the
American factory and the American
city as they are today. Preparedness
Through universal service would turn
out to be the best possible school OF
| practical civicS. In such school all
men who are Americans in spirit
would get together and learn to work
together, so as to insure cooperation
among our people in social and indus
| trial life. Such cooperation Will Sc
cure not merely liberty ana oppor-
| t11nitv but also the sense of obligation
which is just as important as the
| other two.
The civilian training camp move
| rfient started at P1attsburg, and now
in session at Fort Oglethorpe, is the
| great civic movement of American1sm-
| When crystallized along the lines of
| universal training for universal serv-
| ice it will become the most powerful
agent for national democratic prog
reSS in our land
There can be nothing better for them
than such training. It would set them
up physically It would give them
knowledge of sanitation, of cleanli-
ness. They would learn regularity of
| habits, abstinence, obedience, self-re-
spect and respect for others They
would learn to handle and command
men, and to get along with them.
They would become infinitely more
competent for the daily tasks Of
| American life. In many respects Ger
many furnishes us an example we
| shall do well to heed, for she secures
| her people good government, orderly
government, and substantial economic
justice combined with high industrial
| efficiency.
| Germany'S Government Efficient.
We of the democracy hold that
| while good government is essential,
what the world needs is to learn to
| govern itself. The worst men in any
civilization are those who neither con-
troll themselves nor are controlled by
others. In the long run lack of self
| control means that there must be con-
| troll from outside. But the best men
are the men who exercise self control.
The highest civilization can only ex-
| list in the nation that controls itself
! Our purpose must be to secure the eff
ficient government of the people that
is found in Germany, but to make it
spring from the people themselves, by
training them in individual and col
lective self-control, in self-reliance, in
power of cooperation for a common
end, and ability to develop national
| unity for the good of the whole ma
| ton. Above all, we must insist upon
absolute Americanism. If within our
| own ranks we are split into a dozen
jangling nationalities, severed by old
world antipathies, our chance for ma
tional greatness will vanish.
| We believe in cooperation between
| the natl and industry; wish to
help and not to hamper industry. We
recognize that in the modern world
there can be no great national bust
ness success save by the fullest use of
the great organizations demanded by
modern industry; but we believe in in
sisting that these great organizations
are used to work for the largest pos
| sible means of social and industrial
| justice for the workers and for the
general public. We do not believe that
for national IfaS