The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-10-27

not equal 4 per cent OF the total, and
| exports in munitions, and not merely
In munitions. but in everything that
| goes to supply armies; in fact, that
| everything that is needed by COM
missary of an army, all did not con-
stitute one per cent of our total COM
merce,
A New Spirit.
And in the meantime we have got
a sort of world spirit that We never
had before. One of the difficulties
with America has been that she has
been too provincial. She has thought
too exclusively OF herself and OF her
own development, sometimes to her
great advantage, but nevertheless too
exclusively If she Is to realize her
place in the world.
Our whole activity has been quick
ened to the highest point We are
awake, We are ready. Ready for
what? Suppose, however. that all of
Europe had been secretly, / suppose in
the night time, manufacturing goods
that we know they have not had time
to manufacture at any rate IN the day
, time. and was ready, as these men
with silly imaginations say they are.
to dump their goods on us. We have
means OF defense. and we have means
Of aggression. Our means of defense
are that We have taken pains to have
all the instrumentalities to find out
exactly what is going on. and to be
ready to act Immediately we find that
1t Is ksS~>safy to defend ourselves.
Have Law At Hand.
And in a law passed in the last
session of the Congress, we have an
adequate and explicit law preventing
the dumping Of foreign goods on this
| ,-1- ,rI1 oAa no.
are sold at. We are not blind and we
have created Observation-Disclosures by
which we can serve the world. The
chief instrumentality is the Federal
reserve banking system.
What l want to preach from this
time on, in office or out OF Office. Is
that America show that as a men,
Der Of the family OF nations she has
the same attitude towards the other
nations that she wishes her people
to have toward each other, that Amer
lea IS going to take this position, that
she VIII lend her moral influence not
only, but her physical force, II other
nations will join with her to- see to
1t that no nation and no group OF
nations tries TO take advantage OF an
other nation or group OF nations. and
that the only thing ever fought for is
the common rights OF humanity.
~ great many are complain
ing that we are not fighting now
In order to get sOmething-not
something spiritual, not q right,
not something we could be proud
of. but something we could pos
sess and take advantage OF and
trade on and profit by. They are
complaining that the government
of the United States has not the
spirit OF other governments, which
is to put the force, the army and
navy, of that government behind
investments in foreign countries
just so certainly as you do that,
you join this chaos ( competing
and hostile ambitions
Nothing in Particular Started War.
Have you ever heard what start
cd tho present war? II you have. /
wish you would publish K, because
nobody else has. . So far ar | can
gather, nothing in particular started
1t, but everything In general. There
had been growing up in Europe g
mutual suspicion and interchange Of
conjeCtures about what this govern
m ent and that govern1-.erlt was going
to do, an intsrlaoing I alliances and
understandings a complex web of
intrigue and spying. that presently
was sure TO sntangle the whole family
Of mankind on that sic Q OF the water
in Its meshes,
Now, revive that after Tits
war is over and sooner or later
you will have Just such another
war, and this L. the last war OF
the kind, or OF any kind, that in
wolves the world that the United
States can keep ont OF.
II say that because l believe that
the business OF neutrality is over;
not because I want It to be over, but
I mean this: that war now Is wagec
on such a scale that the position OF
neutrals sooner or later becomes in
toierable. q x
1.-The worlds peace ought to he
disturbed If the fundamental
rights of humanity are invaded,
hut 1T ought not to be disturbed
for any other thing that l can
think of. and America was estab-
lished In order to vindicate. at any
rate In one government. the fun
damental rights of man. Amer
lea must hereafter he ready as a
member of tho family OF nations
To exert her whole force, moral
and physical, to the assertion of
those rights throughout the round
globe.
The problem Is spiritual
problem: IT Is a problem which
can be solved only by the heart;
can be solved only by those fine
emotions which are, after all, the