Evening journal., 1916-04-19

of the United States, l can employ no
word too emphatic 10 express my
opinion that the demands OF many Of
the advocates Of national prepared
ness are not based on fact and do not
come from sound consideration Of
what our patriotism demands Fur
thermore, they can find no support in
the precedents of our history and re-
hect the sentiment of only a very
small element of our population.
Il believe / know and understand
the regular army of the United States.
] believe ] know and understand the
National Guard. For both of them /
entertain profound respect and sin
cere admiration, and my challenge. on
behalf of rational preparedness. is
that the National Guard is the logi-
cal, the effective and the only perma.
nent second line of defense which this
1 country could ever have without bank
rupting its treasury aud overthrowing
its traditionns ana fts ideals.
Encourage National Guard.
Those who say that it cannot act
efficiently because it consists Of the
organizations of the fcrty-eight States
might as well say that the regular
army cannot act efficiently because il
is made up Of this or that number oil
/ regiments 4 is my opinion that It's
members should enjoy even greater
| encouragement than is no. proposed
| for them. In addition TO the usual
! two weeks holiday with pay which
/ the salaried employe receives. he
| should be given. If he is a member OI
/ the National Guard. thirty days ad
/ ditiOnal leave for military work with
pay by his employer and extra com
/ pensation from the government baseC
upon his efficiency and military rec
ord. This thirty days IN training
combined vita the training he ha.
throughout the year which should bl
increased. is bound 10 make an eff
cent soldier and would be less ex
pensive to his employer than the tal
TO maintain and pay him in the reg
ular army.
Rational preparedness means ar
army for protection, not for aggres
sion or politics. II means a standin,
regular force of from, say 10000 Il
100000 men. backed up by a Nationa
Guard many times larger and prop
erly trained and equipped. because pa
triotically encouraged and supported
And il means such sane and intelli
gent military training i'm our publi
schools and colleges as will teach ou
youth the art of defense, not the ag
gressive arrogance Of defiance.
Four Battleships a Year.
80 with the navy. Discarding tn
puerilty that, masking itself as pa
triotism. seeks to tell us that foreigl
nations. exhausted from the dealt
grapple with each other will sool
seek to invade and conquer our coun
try. let us adopt the program Of sane
unbiased experts and, build no NOR
than. say four battleships a year Thu
, shall we have a navy equal to ID
I proper American duty Of guardinl
our shores and protecting our posses
siOns
What rational preparedness furthe
means is prompt and thorough recog
, milton Of the fact that the dominan
task of the United States for the mex
fifty years. is to achieve the conquest
of commerce. II means the fosterin
/ of our enterprises. our farming an
our industries at home. IL mean
, American ships which will enabl
b American producers to compete wit
) foreign producers in foreign market!
] It may mean the spending of muc
, more money by the government tha
2 is now the case. as money would b
spent by a business concern in looh
! ing after our business OppOrtunitie
5 at home and abroad.
$ Rational preparedness is th'
= spirit which says. We will appropria
more money and have abler worker
the Department Of Commerce so thu
Il may be as powerful in the fields
commercial struggle as are our II
sources for defense i'm battla'
means that the genius for busines
which has made the word America
synonymous for commercial develop
ment and success. win be establish'
bv the government.
Need Business Sense.
American scholarship in govern
ment. statesmanship and Diplomat
, have been deprived too much Of la
Of that greatest Of all American qual
ties. business sense. ask that OF
, government. in all its branches an
activities return 10 the standards
good business. recognizing that drear
land dividends are OF no more value
a nation than TO an individual or
: corporation.
: : "When 7 say this. I do Il knowiI
: you will agree with me in defniI
4 good business as the employment
all those proper agencies by Whit
| good results can be obtained.
. Anybody who believes in ration
= preparedness must realize that one
l its first essntials is an adequate ma
r inc. The cry is that we cannot ha
T. a merchant marine because, i'm ord
I 10 have Il we must subsidize IL. III
. answer of the business man is.
= this is true. then subsidize it, TIL
is the irrefutable reply If We a
O i'm need Of a merchant marine al
!, every expert on the subject will II
= YOU that we are-and IL we can get
only by substituting it-and every a
= thority will tell you that is the on
= method by which we can get 1.-THE
is only one sensible thing to do. Su
: sidize IL as have all other natio
3 having a merchant marine. Our n
ton should never balk at the price
= the investment will pay.
1T is the teaching Of eXperien
and Of political economy that the 81
. sidy is a necessity. And busine
= genius knows that what political q
nomy demands and experience h