New Britain herald., 1916-05-08
POST CARD BALLOTS.


 Wisconsin has created a furo
 throughout the country by his intro ductionein Congress of a. bill providing
 that the United States shall not e1ate1
 into any war until the issue has beer
 presented to the people and they have
 voiced their approval or disapprova by popular vote. By this act the
 Senator casts his lot with the Bryan ties and the Fords and ali those who
 come under the general heading of
 pacifists. Although the genial states
 man from the Badger state is now a | peace-at-any-pr price man, his past per
 formances, when fighting for any po- litical office, have been such as to
 earn for him the appellation, Bat l ting Bob' Perhaps he is now bat
 ting for better .recognition since his
 star of presidential hope seems to be l on the Wane.
 Under the Constitution of the l United States, which has as yet not been totally cast aside, the power to | declare war is vested solely in Con- gress. True, the gentleman from Wisconsin himself has made no move to thrust aside the ,Constitution and it is to be presumed he will stand by that& staid old document, one that has lived through the ages and which is his new bill he does not intend to make any inroads on the powers of the Constitution, for that interesting draft provides that the people by a postal ballot'' shall advise Congress what ito do in the event a war is hang ing over the horizon. Its powers would therefore not be confined to the realm of things mandatory. But why and others who are afraid the Con- gress will thrust us into war know 1 that from past performances the peo- 1 pie have always approved of the wars | in swhich this country engaged? With thef fpossible exception of the Mexican | war, which was to some extent an un- l popular war, the men and women of ] the United States brought pressure to | bear on Congress in declaring war | Anyone who remembers back to the l late Spanish war will not readily for l get the blowing up of the Maine and the feeling created throughout the United States. They will not forget the slogan of that time, ITO hell with Io1, Io are the things that decide whether war shall be entered into, and in such times postal ballots' possess less value than so much waste paper.
 Once the American people get thor oughly aroused, once public opinion is formulated and the eyes of the nation seem fixed on war, all the DOS tai ballots'' in the world would not stop the Onrushing sentiment. Con- gress would find itself pushed into war, unable to stem the tide, unable to cope with the pressure brought to bear. MT. La Toilette from his career in the public service, both as Senator and Representative, should know that the men Tn congress must give ear CO public opinion, and they are not long in hearing from their constituents, | from their supporters back home. There is no need of a bill that will | authorize any initiative or referendum | on this or any other like score. And, | in the meantime, has 1t ever occurred | to the Senator from Wisconsin and his | friends-in- waiting, the Bryanites and l the Ford folk, ct al, that while the | people of this country were busily en- 1 gagged in taking their pens in hand and ] scribbling a few lines to Congress pro- 1 testing against being thrust into war, some mighty nation might be pound- ing at our gates and seeking admis- sion? What then? Would the pen- pushing stop and the sword-swinging begin, or would the Bryanites and the La Follettes and the others demand | that the pen assert it's might over the sword, the sword of some foreign foe? | While the Senator is about it he might i draft bill which would prohibit some other nation from waging war on us without first Sesorting to a post card ballot among it's subjects. T