The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-03-09
HAVE WE AN AMERICAN
PEOPLE?

nlied to the conduct of warships at
sea. Visit and search on their part
is insisted upon as regards merchant
men because in no other way can q
te!,igerent be sure of the character
of the vessel that he has oVerhauled.
His rights in regard to it all depend
upon it's nationality, cargo and des-
tination. Even when it is clearly
the property of the enemy and its
cargo contraband, he must not de-
stroy it if he is able to take it to port,
and if he does destroy it he must
first remove passengers and crew IN
safety.
The reasonaDleness OF visit AND
search is thus plainly revealed, for
without such inquiry before action
commander proceeds bllndly
against friend and foe alike, and, OF
course, imperils the lives OF all on
board the ship thus wantonly as
sailed 1t is the refusal of Germany
to recognize the rule of visit and
search that is at the root of the
trouble between that country and
our own. Germany has announced
a purpose to sink armed merchant
men at sight; yet it cannot know
that merchantmen are armed unless
it makes an examination, and this 1t
cannot do, it truly says, because II
the merchantmen should be armed
it could easily sink a submarine with
single shot.
Because the underSea boats are
vulnerable they shrink from obeying
the law, and because they can oper-
ate to better advantage in defiance
of law, Germany authorizes them to
run amuck ON the plea that it is max
ing reprisal upon an enemy.
Our present submarine cOntrOver-
sy with Germany does not differ in
principle from the original contro-
versy. The president is adhering to
established principles of internation-
al law which are the sole guarantee
of neutral rights, and these princi-
pies can be modified only by gener-
al agreement that leaves nothing TO
chance
The William J. Bryan who now
asks congress to refuse passports to
Americans travelling on belligerent
ships or to refuse clearance to bel
Sligerent ships carrying passengers is
the same William j. Bryan who as
serted in the first Lusitania note:
american citizens act within
their indisputable rights in taking
their ships and in travelling wher-
ever their legitimate business calls
them upon the high seas, and exer
else those rights in what should be
the well justified confidence that
their lives will not be endangered by
acts done in clear violation Of uni
versally acknowledged international
oh,rof;opc opI carta in1E in tho con-
fidence that their own government
will sustain them in the exercise Of
their rights "
Either Mr.. Bryan did not believe
what he said May 13, 1915, or he
does not believe what he says now.
The president has not changed. The
ter to Senator Stone are the princi-
pies that he affirmed at the begin
ming of the controversy.
Mr.. Bryan and his followers in
congress, many of them democrats
and some of them republicans, insist
that the United States Government
must repudiate itself-that it must
give the lie to every word it has ut
tered in maintaining neutral rights
and international law against Ger
HAN SuDllldIllC ldWl6SSllSoo. uCy al z
prepared not merely to acquiesce in
the murder of American citizens, but
they are prepared to destroy COM
pletely the moral influence of the
United States in foreign affairs, and
to assure Germany that whatever
the crimes of it's submarine COM
manders, the Imperial Government
need fear nothing from the United
States.
The Times in it's leading editorial
yesterday asked, ''Have We an
American Congress?" The question
is broader than that. Have we an
American people-an American peo-
pie that respects the honor, the
ideals, the traditions, the good faith
and the self-respect of the nation
If we have the voice of public opin-
ion in support of the president it
will speak in tones that no member
of congress can misunderstood. II
we have not, then God help the Re-
public in it's impending crisis!-New
York World.