The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-09-01
|ROOSEVE[T'S FIRST Campaign
SPEECH Arrangement Of WILSON

shipment Of arms. But several hun
dred men were killed or wounded;
and then he brought the army home
without achieving either object. Presi.
dent Wilson sent an army into Mexi-
CO in 1916, as We were informed at
the time. to get villa dead or alive"
Again several hundred men were kill
ed and wounded. Again President VII.
son is bringing the army home with
out achieving his object. OF course
It ts q mere play upon words to say
that these were not wars" They
were wars, and nothing else; ignoble,
pointless. unsuccessful little wars;
but wars. They cost millions OF dol
lars and hundreds Of lives squandered
to no purpose; they accomplished
nothing; but they were wars. And
yet Mr.. Wilson's defenders say that
he has kept US out Of war" As a
matter OF fact his policy in Mexico
has combined all the evils OF feeble
peace with all the feeble war. He has
secured none Of the benefits Of war;
but he has not avoided war. He has
sacrificed the honor and the interest
| OF the country; but he has not receiv.
ed the 30 pieces Of silver. In fact,
when Mr.. Wilson forgets himself he
admits that we have been at war;
for example, on May II. 1914, in an
address over the dead marines at the
Navy yard in Brooklyn Tin which,
by the way. he in effect claimed sym
pathy on the ground that his feelings
had been as much lacerated by sneers
as the bodies Of the dead men by bull
1 n aaf hot y =, 4. Il q
! engaged in q war OF service" A
, war to whom or what? Certainly not
to the United States; nor to Mexico;
nor to humanity at large. Was II to
Mr.. Wilson?
As II is with war" SO Il is with ain.
terention." President Wilson has
again and again said he would
not intervene" in Mexico. As a mat.
ter OF fact he has interviewed continu-
ously. On December 10, 1915, he said
that II was None of our business what
the Mexicans did with their govern
ment, and so long as I have the DOW
er to prevent It nobody shall butt
In to alter II for them" Yet at that
time he had been Quitting in" for two
years, and he has been Quitting In"
ever since; and he has ayowed that
he wished to alter It for them in all
kinds OF ways, from land tenures I'D
and down. But as he never followed
any policy of either Intervention or
non-intervention with any resolution
always yielding at the critical mo-
ment tosome bandit chief OF whom he
became fearful-both his spasms of
Intervention and his spasms or non.
intervention have alike been entirely
futile.
Since 1912 we have had four years
OF policy which has been an opiate
to the spirit Of idealism. Il has meant
the relaxation Of our moral fiber. Hor.
ror OF war. combined with a sorbid an.
peal to self-interest and to fear, has
paralyzed the national conscious. We
have been told that Americans. IL
they do not wish to be killed, should
leave Mexico and should keep off the
ocean: that to save a few American
lives 1t is not worth while to hazard
the lives Of American soldiers; that
Mexicans should be allowed to spill
blood to their hearts content; that
the European war Is no concern of
ours; that even as between Belgium
and Germany should be neutral not
only In act but in sympathy. Not once
has President Wilson squartly placed
before the American people the ques-
ton which Abraham Lincoln put be-
fore the American people in 1850;
what Is our duty? Not once has he
appealed to moral idealism, to the
stern enthusiasm Of strong men for
the right. On the contrary, he has
employed every elocutionary deyice
to lull to sleep our sense OF duty, to
make US content with words instead
OF deeds. to make our moral idealism
and enthusiasm evaporate in empty
phrases instead Of being reduced to
concrete action. America as a Ma.
ton has been officially kept In a posi-
ton OF timid Indifference and cold
selflshness. America, which sprang
to the succor Of Cuba in 1898, has
stood an idle spectator OF the inva-
sion Of Belgium. Of the sinking Of the
Lusitania. OF the continued slaughter
OF our own citizens. and Of the reign
OF anarchy, rapine and murder in
Mexico.
Nevertheless. believe that che
American people were ready for the
same kind OF appeal which was made
to them by Abraham Lincoln in 1860,
by the advocates Of an honest cur.
rency in 1896, by the advocates Of the
Spanish war in 1898. by the advocates
Of nationalism in 1900 But the appeal
was not made. On the contrary, Mr..
Wilson invoked the spirit Of timidity
and selfshness. He made no effort to
| invoke the sense OF duty, He mt