The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1916-03-17
WILLIAMS DEFENDS THE PRESIDENT

In these stressful times when so many small
caloer politicians are nagglng President Wilson and
carrying out the policies which he deems best to
uphold the honor of America and defend the rights
OF American citizens it is indeed refreshing to learn
that there is at least one man who possesses srf-
flcient loyalty to the Democratic party and its chief
to uphold him in his course and t boldly declare
that the policies advocated by Mr.. Wilson should be
because they represent the fundamental principles
OF international law and typify what is just from a
humane standpoint, says the esteemed Columbus
Commercial OF recent date.
The man to whom we refer is not only a
southerner but a Mississippian, being none other
than our sapient senator, John Sharp Williams,
whose knowledge of international law is exceed
ingly profound, and who, when he addresses the
Senate on questions concerning diplomatic rela-.
tons with foreign countries confines himself to the
statement of facts rather than to an indulgence in
grandlloouence In defending the Presidents pol
icy regarding the proposition t. warn Americans not
to travel on beligerent ships, Senator Williams said:
Some of you have nagged and you have
dared until the patience of a very patient
man has been exhausted; and now he says:
Very we'll. You have furnished comfort
to the foreign negotiatOrs. You have made
them think that the American people are
disunited, and they were not behind their
government. You have given them a con-
tempt OF their government as the other
negotiator. You have weakened my hand;
you have partially paralyzed me, and now
want a showdown, and l believe with
tuc American people II Will be a show up
when l am through with it,"
Senator Williams did not ask his colleagues to
support the plan not to warn Americans to keep off
OF bellgerent vessels simply because it was proposed
by the Chief Executive OF the nation, but because
the Presidents attitude is correct, and his plan is
the only one that the nation can pursue and still
maintain its dignity. The Senator's remarks regard
Ing this phase OF the situation follow:
The proposition that merchant ships de-
fensive!y armed are still! to be considered
as merchant ships because they are not
armed for offense, and because they are
not commissioned armed vessels, was a
principle recognized even in the war be-
tween the states, recognized by the fed
eral government, recognized by the Con-
federacy, and that was an internecine strug-
gle, where the ordinary laws were not al
ways recognized.
The principle is as old as modern civil
lzatlon, and what Germany wants us to do
is to change the international law pendentc
bello; or, rather, what she wants to do is to
change it herself, and she is trying to make
us a particeps criminis in it.
Another principle is as old as internation-
allaw itself, and that is when a neutral pur-
posely changes the heretofore recognized
relations of nations under international law
during a war, when the change must nee
essarily accrue to the benefit of one of the
beligerents and to the damage of the other,
that neutral nation has committed an un-
neutral act"