Arizona republican., 1916-02-02
The Presidents Mid Western Speeches

The Presidents Mid Western Speeches
 The addresses of President Wilson at Milwaukee and Chicago possessed great merit specimens good English The presidents thoughts are happily phrased, but do think his message will arouse the people they need aroused Either there is for aalm there not If there is not the presidents journey middle west is useless one. If there is real for alarm we naturally wonder why the president hesitates to give voice q it.
 If Paul Revere on that memorable night of April 1>1S li75, had stopped dismounted from his horse in front of every farm house and said to the farmers they touseled sleepily from their neds: We dread war; condemn war in America we love peace but love honor and the integrity of the nation, if he had said: They (the British do not realize that back of all our energy we are body cf ideasts, much ready to lay down our lives for thought than for dollar" the farmers would have gone. grumbng, back bed
 There would have been no gathering the next day. ODr. Holmes will pardon such changes as we find necessary to make in his immortal lines to describe suCh event would have taken place at lcxington)
 By the rude arch that spans the flood
 Their flag April's breeze unfurled
 Not there tn embattled farmers stood
 And fired the shot heard round the world
 Ahe American people idealists and the president hetrays wrong conception of them when he tells them They have patriotism but patriotism 10 he of any value must be practical The plain fact is and that has been told in ringing language by the greatest living American, Colonel Roosevelt that likely to be involved in a whose flames are laging in the western hemisphere and are lighting that would a helpless and humiliatng figure in a which may be steadily approaching the British marching to Lexington from Bos- ton. It is waste of time and couding of cond- tons to be talking of dealism and love of peace mission such that which the president has set out to the middle west, the awakening of the people to the need preparation for defense. The strongest paragraph in the presidents address was the following. The rest of it might have been elim mated without detractng from it's forcefulness:
 am told by gentlemen who very much mol e expert in knowing things that nobdy knows than am, that there are probably several million this country who have been trained to either in this country the country of their nativity and it may be that there but who has of them? Where they? What law lays upon them duty of coming into the ranks of the armed forces of the United States if it should be necessary call for volunteers?
 The president unfortunately did not take his hearers into his confidence and tell them definitely by what kind of a law the reserves be as semhled, the Continental" army which in his New Yorf> speech he had said be called "Conti- neneal only in deference sentiment He evi- dently has in the back of his head vague scheme of a defense system, half way be- tween our present no-defense system and the Ger man, French and Swiss systems
 In another paragraph the president falls into national to which have often called atten- ton national tendency exat ourselves above ether peoples. The paragraph appears in that part of his Chicago address in which he finds that the organization Of navy is efficient than it has been before He says:
 l told by the experts to whose jodgnent I must defer in these matters that the navy of the United States in respect of it's ted force only fourth among the naves of the world. I enter tain and l indulge myself with the opinion that in quality it ranks much higher than fourth place.
 It will be observed that it is the opinion of the president and not that of the experts that the quality of sholld elevate it to ordinal place be- yond the fourth. But what is the quality? It is not In the speed of our warships for there far surpassed by Great Britain, Germany and France It is not in the range of guns for there passed also by Japan well as the three nations have mentioned. It is in he experience of our gunners, for have seen lately what English and German gunners can do and we have in mind the re- suits of the target practice Atlantic fleet last fall showing a decided falling from our standard Of the last ten pears.
 The quality with which the president invests our navy is ntansible have proof of its existence; to believe that it exists. Individual bray cry and have enough of that counts for little in naval warfare nowadays. The coward behind better gun is worth of 1000 brave men in a slower