Mountain advocate. (Barbourville, Ky.) 1904-1935, 1916-03-24


citizen was l~'i. but luthlng was
dnae On the th Of Apt'l the Amer
icbn vessel Gushing was attacked aud
crippled by a German l,ropLIhc On
the LIST vt May the American vessel
Cunight was tu"pcl.cd aud sunk by a
German submarine aul two or more
Avorcans were killcd. yet ncihing was
dove. ON the 1lh ur May the Lusita
nia was torpeducd and sunk 10y Ger
man submarine and more than 100
Americans and LOO other noncom
hatants were drowned The very thing
which our government had warned
Germany she must not do. Germany
did Of set purpose and In the most con
tcmptuous and shocking way Then,
when all America was stirred to the
depths, our government addressed an.
other note to Germany. II repeated
its assertion of American rights and
renewed its bold declaration Of pur
pose 1t declared again that the Amer
lean government "must hold the i'm
perinl German government 10 a strict
accountability FOR any infringement Of
those rights, intentional or incidental
and 1t declared that it would not "omit
any word or any act necessary to the
performance of its sacred duty of main
tanning the rights Of the United States
and its citizens and of safeguarding
! their free exercise and enjoyment"
Sull nothing was done and long
and technical correspondence cnsued.
haggling over petty questions of de
tail. every American note growing less
and loss strong and pcrcmptory until
the Arabic was torpcdoed and sunk
and more American lives were destroy
ed. and still nothing was done. and
the correspondence continued until the
allied defense against German subma-
rinc warfare made it Improbable and
led to its abandonment, and the cor
respondence is apparently approaching
its end without securing even that par
tial protection for the future which
might he found in an admission that
the destruction of the Lusitania was
forbidden 10y law The later CORE
spondencc has been conducted by our
state department with dignity, but it
has been futile An admission of lila
bility for damages has been secured
but the time for real protection to
American rights has long since passed
The brave words with which we be
gan the controversy had produced no
effect because they We're read in the
light of two extraordinary events
One was the report of the Austrian
ambassador. Mr.. Dumba. to his gov
ernment that when the American note
of Feb. 10 was received he asked the
secretary Of state, Mr. Bryan. whether
it meant business and received an an.
swer which satisfied him that it did
not, but was intended for effect at
home in America.
"Too Proud to Fight"
The other event was the strange and
unfortunate declaration of the presi
dent in public speech in Philadelphia
the fourth day after the sinking Of
the Lusitania that n man may he too
proud to fight" Whatever the Aus
trlan ambassador was in fact told by
the secretary of state, the impression
which he reported was supported by
the events which followed. Whatever
the president did mean. his declaration,
made in puhlis N that 7sJTnIn time
amid the horror and mourning of al
our people over the murder of theil
children. was accepted the world over
as presenting the attitude OF the Amer
lean government toward the protection
Of the life and liberty of American
citizens in the exercise of their just
rights, and throughout the world the
phrase too proud to fight" became a
byword of drrisi0u and contempt fol
the government of the United States
Later. in another thcatcr Of war-thc
Mcdtcrranean-Aust and perhaps
Turkey also. resumed the practice
The Ancona and then the Persia wert
destroyed, and more Americans were
killed. Why should they not resume
the practice? They had learned TO be
lievc that, no matter how shocked the
American government might be. ltS
resolution would eXpcnd itself in
words They had learned to believe
that 1t was safe 10 kill America ms, and
the world believed with them
Shaking Fist and Finger.
No man should draw a pistol who
dares not shoot The government that
shakes It's fist first and its finger after
ward f. $ into contempt, Our diplo.
macy has lost its authority and infu'
cnce because we have been brave in
words and irresolute in action Men
may say that the words Of our dlplo
matte notes were justified; men may
say that our inactiOn was JUSTIFIED, bu'
no man can say that both were wisc
and crcdtable.
have said that this government lost
the moral forces Of the world by not
truly interpreting the spirit or the
American democracy
The American democracy stands for
something more than beef and cotton
and grain and manufactures; stands
for something that cannot be measured