Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-30

the time of President Monroe that she
was the champion of freedom and the
separate sovereignty OF peoples
She is trustee for those ideals and
she is pledged. deeply and permanent
~ pledged. to keep those momentous
promises.
She not only. therefore. must play
her part in keeping this confagration
from spreading to the people of the
United States: she must also keep this
conf1agration from spreading on this
which our very life and our whole
pride are embedded and rooted, and we
can never draw back from them. And
l. my fellow citizens. because of the
extraordinary office with which you
have fntrusted me, must, whether l
will or not. be your responsible spokes-
man in these great matters. 1t is my
duty. therefore. when impressions are
deeply borne in upon me with regard
to the national warfare. to speak to you
with the utmost frankness about them.
and that is the errand upon which
have come away from Washington.
No Place for Politics.
For my own part l am sorry that
these things fall within the year of
national political campaign. They
ought to have nothing whatever to do
with politics. The man who brings
partisan feeling into these matters and
seeks partisan advantage by means of
them is unworthy of your confidence.
am sorry that upon the eve of
campaign we should be obliged to dis
cuss these things for fear they might
run over into the campaign and seem
to constitute a part of it. Let us for
get mat this is year of national
elections: That is neither here nor
there. The thing to do now is for all
men of all parties to think along the
same lines and to do the same things
and forget every difference that may
have divided them
And what ought they to do? Well.
in the first place, they ought to tell
the truth. There have been some ex-
traordinary exaggerations both of the
military weakness and the military
strength of this country. Some men
tell you that we have no means of de-
Tense. and others tell you that we have
sufficient means of defense. and neither
statement is true.
Condition of Coast Defenses.
Take. for example. the matter of our
coast defenses. 1t is obvious to every
man that they are Of the most vital inn
portance to the country. Such coast de-
lenses as We have are strong and adm-
in enough places Their quality is adj
mirable. but their quantity is insufficient
The military authorities of this country
nave not been negligent: they have
sought adequate appropriations from
Congress. and in most instances have OBJ
tanned them, so far as We saw the work
in hand that it was necessary to do
And the work that they have done in the
use of these appropriations has been adj
nd 81 trr1
anybody deceive you into supposing that
the army of the Cnited States so TAR as
II has had the opportunity, is in any de-
gree unworthy OF your confidence.
and the navy of the United States,
GU have been told that it is the second
IN strength in the world. | am sorry
10 say that experts do not agree with
those who tell you that. Reckoning
py Its actual strength / believe it to
De one of the most efficient navies in
the world: but it's strength ranks
fourth. not second. And you must
reckon with the fact that it is neces-
saiy that that should be our first arm
of defense. and you ought to insist
that everything should be done that
IT is possible for us to do to bring
the navy up to an adequate standard
OF strength and efficiency.
Need More Prepared Men"
Where we are lacking more per-
haps is on land and in the number of
men who are ready to fight. Not the
number of fighting men, but the num-
Der of men who are ready to fight
Some men are born troublesome, some
men have trouble thrust upon them.
and other men acquire trouble. l think
l belong to the second class But the
characteristic desire of America is not
that she should have great body of
mo w oh of hliS
but great body of men who know
now to fight and are ready to fight
when anything that is dear to the ma
ton is threatened You might have
never handled arms of war, who are
mere material for shot and powder if
you put them in the field. and America
would be ashamed of the inefficiency
ton.
What we want is to associate in
training with the army of the United
States men who will volunteer for
sufficient length of time every year to
get the rudimentary acquaintance with
arms, the rudimentary skill in handling
them, the rudimentary acquaintance
with camp life, the rudimentary ac-
quaintance with military drill and dis
cipline. and we ought to see to IT that
we have men of that sort in sufficient
number to constitute an initial army
when we need an army for the defense
of the country.
Should Know Who Is Prepared.
II have heard it stated that there are
probably several million men in this
country who have received a sufficient
amount of military drill either here or
in the countries in which they were
born and from which they have come
to US. Perhaps there are; nobody
knows, because there is no means of
counting them. but if there are so
many they are not Obliged to come at
our call We do not know who they
are. That is not military preparation
Military preparation consists in the ex-
istence of such body of men known
to the federal authorities. organized
professionally by the federal authori-
ties and subject by their own choice
and will to the Immediate "a II of tho