The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-01-31
md IN avoid entangling alliances.

and to avoid entangling alliances.
"As for entangling alliances" he
said, at must be remembered that the
League for World Peace would mean
that we would enter into an alliance
on the largest possible scale. Do not
let us even talk about doing such a
thing unless we face what 1t means.
"This again comes down to a ques-
ton of promise and performance. Per-
sonally, / believe that q great nation
like ours should be willing to admit
that It has International duties. ! be-
lieye in entering into such treaties as
The Hague conventions. / believe
that ultimately, II we achieve the
proper pitch Of moral and material
preparedness, we may enter an inter-
national peace league. But when we
do so we must face the fact that we
have abolished by just so much our
right to be neutral and that we have
entered into alliances which entangle
us to the extent Of making 1t neces-
sary for us to keep u word where
we have given It"
Colonel Roosevelt considered pre-
rarcdness, declaring we should have a
mobile army Of 10000 and a total
regular army OF about a quarter OF q
million men.
Prepare in Good Earnest.
III we mean to prepare" he said,
I"we should prepare in good earnest.
Thirty years ago / served for q time
az deputy sheriff in a COW country OF
the West. which was at that time
rather lively country. We grew to
accept several rules Of conduct as
binding. One was never to draw un-
less we meant to shoot. Conversation
not followed by action was not looked
on favorably as has been well said.
the policy Of speaking softly and car
lying q big stick Is in the long run
Infinitely safer than the policy OF In
dulging in irrelevant noise and brand
fishing an olive branch. Again We
found II was wise not to carry q gun
at all unless we carried o good gun.
Either be armed or not armed. To be
tt.lf armed combined the disadvaa.
tages Of both attitudes. That was be-
fore the days OF automatics. When l
was in business Is a deputy sheriff,
II carried a ~self-cocking fortyIiv0
calibre revolver. was instructed not
to use It unless 1t was absolutely nee.
essary. l oboyed the instructions.
But II / had been given a twenty-five
calibre muzsle loader I would have
promptly thrown up my job.
"The proposal for the so-called Con-
tinental army is a proposal to meet
Uncle Sans need for an automatic
or. a s~elf-cocking forty-hve by giving
him a muzzle-loading twenty-five.
~ stand for ample preparedness
lin order to avert war and in order to
avert disgrace and disaster II war
should come. / ask Moreover that this
nation in the great crisis Of this world
war refuse to be tricked or bullied
by foes without or by politicians with.
IN. / ask that our people remember
that while their first duty is to the
United States, they have a second
duty to humanity at large.
II ask that we stand for property.
rights but that we put human rights
ahead Of property rights and finally
that we show that we have It In Us.
TO dare to risk something and to suifer
some discomfort and some. loss, and II
necessary, some danger on behalf Of q
lofty ideal. II Is by no means neces-
sary that q great nation should always
stand on the heroic level. But no ma
ton can be called really great unless
It San sometimes rise to q heroic
mood"