Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1916-02-17

the page which records the conduct
of this administration toward Mexico
without blushing for shame and
burning with indignation. 1t is hard
for me to speak of the subject in
terms of respect. do not, of course,
charge the president and his advis-
ers with conscious wrongdoing, but
weakness and vacillation are some
times more than the equivalent of in
territorial wrong, and from this ac-
cusation the president cannot es-
cape"
Mexican Situation.
After a scathing review of the
country's relations with Mexico, Mr..
Cummins declared the present situa-
ton to be hopeless" and said:
There was a time when, in my
judgment, Intervention might have
been avoided, but now the horrors of
indiscriminate murder and the saw
age lust for blood and other crimes
against humanity have broken the
civilized spirit of the people. They
have not the strength needed to con-
struct a government. They are starv-
ing, not by the thousand, but by the
tens of thousands; and l predict that
unless we are willing to stand by and
see that country lapse into barbarism,
and to see it ravaged day after day
by the cutthroats and plunderers
who are now in possession, we will
be compelled to intervene simply to
furnish a nucleus around which the
remnant of liberty and decency can
gather. There may be some other
way in which we can be helpful, but
1 am unable to perceive it,
Regarding the policy toward the
belligerent countries of Europe, Mr..
Cummins said the president was
wise and patriotic" in his proclama-
ton of neutrality. whether we
have been in fact neutral is quite an
other thing" he declared. "Individ-
ually, industrially and financially we
have not been neutral" He criti-
cised the presidents notes to the bel
ligerent powers as arguments "too
elaborate, too often lost in perfect
fog Of words.'
Opposes Preparedness Plan.
Mr.. Cummins viewed with alarm"
the progress of the presidents views
on preparedness on his recent tour,
coming to tae climax III St. Louis
with his declaration for "the worlds
greatest navy" 1T is fortunate that
his journey ended there" said Mr..
Cummins. Another day would have
found him insisting upon a navy
stronger than the combined navies of
the world"
Senator Cummins declared that
there has been persistent and sinis-
ter effort to create false issue, when
the people as fact are we'll agreed
on the subject of preparedness. All
want the country equipped to repel
invasion.
Wants Just Government.
ut must not be forgotten" he said,
that there are many phases of pre-
paredness. Battleships, guns, pow
der, all the paraphernalia of war, are
not the only requisites. We must
have men and women so confident in
the justice of their government that
they are not only willing to live for
it, but to die for it. The construc-
tion of navy and the orgs nization
of an army will be of no avail unless
the fame of patriotism burns stead
lily and everlastingly in the hearts of
the people. We must have social
structure so adjusted that it will
guard and protect the high and low,
rich and poor alike in their right and
privileges. We must have sound
and prosperous industrial and finan-
cial system, so the potential strength
of the republic will be always avail
able"
Calls War Unthinkable.
That the controversies springing
up under present conditions ever will
lead us into war, Mr.. Cummins de-
clared to be "unthinkable." The
United States," he said, must lead
the movement toward the peaceful
settlement of controversies between
nations. 1t cannot be our civilization
has failed, and that war must be ac-
cepted as an arbiter of the differences
which must constantly arise. 1t is
our paramount duty to hold ourselves
free and clear for this, the greatest
service which we can render to hu-
manity.
1--WE must not impair our influence
by saying to the world that we have
surrendered our hope, that we expect
to make war upon every international
and that to make it
o,,oooeofn1Iy 1uo oro turning all 0nr