The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-30
NO PlGTAIL ON
OUR UNCLE SAM,
~ INSISTS T.. R.


was merely an cNlutI''e I" nInu an"
tlmid weakness.
.'rhcn after six months Germany
announced that she would conduct "a
submarine blockade of England under
circumstances which rendered Inevitable
the loss Of American lives. We sent
her an ultiinatum announcing that In
B. such case we would hold her 10 u strict
accountability. ! use the word 'uhi-
NAHUM, Tor Il Is the only word to de-
scribe the document containing the
words strict accountability IL these
words mean any thing, When we took
that action We placed ourselves IN n
N~ositior whore q, became a crime
agains, ourselves not Immediately to
prepare.
Fourteen months have passed since.
Germany has again and again done
, what We said she should not do. We
have proiesed. sometimes strongly.
sometimes weakly. against what has
been lone, but we never took a single
step in the way Of preparation. TO en-
force our words If unhappily 1t should
become necessary to do so. At pres
ent We have sent another ultimatum
to Germany, no tronger than the one
sent fourteen months ago, but the cir
cumstances of its delivery are such rs
TO seem TO indicate that more weight
must be attached to It. Yet we are still
not preparing In any way.
Need First Glass Navy.
" need beyond everything else a
FIRST class navy. We cannot possibly
get II unless the naval programme Is
handled with steady wisdom from he
standpoint Of a nation that accepts the
upbuilding and upkeep of such a navy AZ
cardinal points OF continuous policy. The
nav should be trained IN deep water.
in salt water; and It should be trained
always with one end in view, to in
orease its fighting efficiency. 1t. Is not
an educational institution. 1t is Uncle
Sans right arm Of defence, and that
arm Is meant to hold tho sword and not
thep pen. The minute the effort Is made
TO turn n battleship into An ambula-
tory schoolhouse we spoil the battle
chip without getting the schoolhouse.
''The navy stands foremost. But TO
rely only on the navy would be as fool
ish as In a battle To rely only upon in
fantry or only upon artillery or only
upon trench digging. Back Of the navy
must stand the regular army and back
OF the regular army must stand the
trained strength OF the nation.
The regular army is indispensable.
Here again, gentlemen. let mo ask you
to do your part In seeing that our pso-
pie understand the utter folly of en-
barking on a policy unless we have the
means to enforce hat policy. A treaty
has recently been proposed by the gov
ernmental authorities in Washington UNI
Der which we would guarantee the ter
ritoriai Integrity of all the South Amer
lean republics, with, as "a quid pro quo,
the assurance of these republics Hon
.duras. Nicaragua aud Ecuador for in
stance) that they vii guarantee our ter
ri;orial integrity.
Translate this into terms of fact. II
The treaty does not meal, what IL pur-
por.s to mean IL * iusincese, and worse.
II ii does mean what !; purports TO mean
then we ARE to- guarantee that W. will
g. 20 war 10 defend. say, Terra de
Fuegn on behalf If somebody else. We.
the u%pholders of this proposal in the
same hftDt H'uuuuCt ;hdt We are no.
TO go .u wIr fur our own rights or our
Ovn C.t.Zeus.
"Bcto,e going INTO any more srand.ose
promises let us keep the moderate prom
ses We made IN the Hague conventions
aud before we promise action on b. half
of others wn!ch might necess.tate an
ARMY OF wo or three million men being
set abroad 10 tigh, IN a quarrel in which
iu;eres, Was pu. ely dltruist!c .ei us pom
der the f'ct that In order to send an
army after II MeAcu bandit, although
ths army was operating IN compan.
with the forces If the de facto Govern.
ment Of Mexico. We had to strip our
country of regular soldiers until We did
not have enough let 10 patrol the Dor.
der.
Need of Action.
"rhe Mexican affair. by the way. o..
fersHhe best possible example of The
neeV this country should deal viii
things and not merely with words. Fol
some years Mexico has stood to Us mucl
as the Balkan peninsula with It's veal
and turbulent States once stood to l;u
rope. Success or failure in our Mex
can policy is no mere local matter. i
in this place our foreign policy fails /
means general failure.
THE problem is not primarily a mill
tary one. although now unfortunatel,
our failure to grapple with i, in,elli
gently and In terms of fact may wei
mean that there may have to be a mill
tary prelude to the real settlement. Tn
settlement Itself will come only whei
We make up our minds to render con
structive and dIsin,eIested service on
common sense basis, AS We so success
fully did In Cuba.
I'VE arc continually told that We hay
kent out Of war with Mexico. that "
nave hoen al peace with Mexico. Ye
% the total number of Americans killed I!
Mexico whose names have been pub
llshed, leaving out of consideration tn
iblte IullDel whose names nave no
been published, exceeds the number o
Americans killed in the wal with SPAR
do not care by what name they gu
this. Perhaps we have not been al wa
with Mexico but twice We have bee
Mt war In Mexico, and the Mexican
have been indusiriously at war with II
to the extent of repeatedly killing on
men, women and children and repeat
eddy insulting our flag.
The advocates of half preparedness
are 10 more loyal to the interests o
this country than are the advocates o
unprepar edness. A. for the statenen
that preparedness inGite- war, it rank
on "A par with that hoary falsehoo
which says that il takes two to make
quarrel. Win the fate of Belgium be
fore our eyes no man not wilfully blin
10 the truth can question that abso
lutely good conduct. absolute peaceful
ness, absolute devotion to industry an
the possession of "A good government an
the doug OF Justice At home and abrOa,
all put together. do not by one momeu
delay or in the smallest degree work t
prevent an aitaCk from 4 puHcrful mill
.taflsllc nation Outside, n there has bee
failure OF military preparedness on tn
part ,Of the attacked nation and if fin
militaristic nation thilks it adyanta
geous to make the attack.
Urges swiss system.
"Tho preparedness of a big. highl
efficient navy and a small, highly ELI