Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-29

crisis is criminal. Congress should stop
talking and begin efficient preparation for
national defense.
TWENTY months have passed since the
i great war began. and two months have
passed since the President left Washington to
impress upon the country the necessity of
preparedness.
Yet Congress is still debating plans for
strengthening the army and enlarging the
navy.
The President said in Cleveland on Jan.
uary 29
There is no man in the United states
who knows what single day, yea or hour.
will bring on us know these are solemn
things to say to YOU, but would be remiss
in my duty If I did not lay before you the
facts as they are.
But Congress has not needed the warning
Its leaders are divided in their purposes. Some
of them believe that the President is an
alarmist Others insist that he did not say
half enough. The House has one plan for
national defense; the Senate has another.
Words. words empty words, are about all
that is coming out of Washington in these
critical days.
Words do not win victories Efficiency
is what counts. German efficiency is what
has been holding the great Powers of Europe
at bay for twenty months. Germany was
prepared LOT Jne Wdis IL mas Deen pOsSlDle lOl
the Entente Allies to resist her only so far
as they have adopted her methods. Germany
left nothing to chance England. asleep i'm
a FOOLS paradise left everything to the dice.
1t was merely by chance that the British
fleet was assembled in the channel in July of
1914 If it had not been for this accident the
German fleet would have been radng the
British coast before the Admiralty could have
assembled ships enough to defend it.
1t took year to arouse the British ma
tion to the necessity of initiating German
methods a year in which billions of treasure
have been wasted and hundreds Of thousands
of lives have been lost.
Unless the Entente Powers eventually sue
ceed in developing a military and industrial
efficiency great that of Germany, they
are doomed to defeat. The issue involved in
the war is the domination of Europe by the
German military spirit.
The stake of the war is whether all the
interests of society shall be made subordinate
to brute force with the citizen living for the
sake of the State or whether the spirit of a
broad democratic civilization shall control.
Democracy cannot triumph unless it is as
efficient as the Teutonic military autocracy.
The United States cannot be indifferent to
the contest. st. John in vision new
heaven and a new earth when there was
more sea"
Modern invention has squeezed the
out of the map long before the time of which
the great Revelator dreamed. America is
nearer Europe today than France was to Italy
in the time of Napoleon. 1t is easier
for a great Power to land a million men in
America than it for England to send
the few troops which fought here in the Revo-
luton.
We are no longer isolated, but are neiGhbors
to all the world. Whether will or not,
we shall be drawn into the great conflicts
of the future.
We may be drawn into the present con.
fict at any moment, for the Presidents warn
ing of last January was not idle talk.
1t is time that Congress walked up.
1t is time that we began to apply German
efficiency to the management of the Army
and the Navy
| II is time that dreamers and pacifsts and
narrow.visoned men were forced to abandon
| their obstructive tactics and that those leaders
who have some realization of the gravity of
| the national crisis girded up their loins and
| by sheer force of will compelled inactive
| and Indifferent Congress to action.
Adding 10000 men to the regular army is
| not enough, when that extra number is likely
to be needed for the petty task of catching
ii
Increasing the number of cadets in An
napolis and in West Point is not enough,
| for years must pass before the new men can
be trained for service.
Discussion among amateurs about the way
the Navy should be enlarged is criminal at
a time when our sea force has sunk to the
third or fourth rank and is only half as strong
as that of Germany.
The present Congress has been in session
about four months, but it has not authorized
the construction of a single battleship.
Congress reflects the general Incompetence
of the executives who should guide it,
The time for action is here and now. Every
week of delay increases the national peril.
Wake up, Congress-! Give us more ships and
a bigger army.
Wake up, America! Demand action in
Washington.
Demand agreement on a broad and COM
prehensive program for national defense.
And demand it at once!
THE PITILESS LIGHT"