The Washington herald., 1916-09-01

! our citizenship no dual allegiance. There
must be no divided loyalty between this
country and the country from which any
/ of our citizens, or the ancestors of any of
cur citizens, have come.
! ANY attempt to organize Ameri-
1 can citizens along politico-racial lines
! is a foul and evil thing. Any or
ganization of American citizens which
acts In the interest OF n foreign power
Is guilty of moral treason to the re-
public. 1t is because of such action
| that 1 condemn those professional
IGerman-Americans who in our politics
act as servants and allies of Ger
many not as Americans interested
solely in the honor and welfare of
America; and l would condemn just
as quickly English-Americans or
! French-Americans or Irish-Americans
who acted in such manner.
Lack of Courage.
| During the last two years we have
seen an evil revival in this country of
non-American and anti-American dI-
vision along politico-racial lines; and
we owe this primarily to the fact that
| President Wilson has lacked the
courage and the vision to lead this
! nation in the path of high duty, and
by this lack of affirmative Leadership
has lOosened the moral fibre of our
B
spirit, and has encouraged the up
| growth within our own borders of
sepnrntIsm along the lines of racial
origin.
when our government so acted
las to bring shame on all our
people, it shook the spirit of loyalty
/ among those to whom it was vital
[ that loyalty should be taught Full
hearted allegiance is shattered by the
90 no 70
honor and interest OF the nation by
immediate and effective action when
the lives of its citizens are menaced
or taken by foreign powers
Thanks to the fact that President
! Wilson has sometimes led us wrong,
and sometimes not led us at all, and
that at the best he has merely fol-
| lowed afar off when convinced that 1t
was politically safe to do so. we are
Mt this moment more prepared to
defend ourselves than we were two
years ago when the world war broke
out.
president Wilson in his Decoration
! Day speech said: We hold dear the prin-
! Clple that small and weak states have
as much right to their sovereignty and
/ independence as large and strong ma
tions.' These were the fine words. They
were spoken about the abstract When
! it became his duty to reduce them to
deeds in the concrete, Mr.. Wilson i'm
mediately flinChed. The case of Belgium
exactly met his definition. 1t was a small
and weak state (and a highly civilized
and well-behavCd state). Its right to
| sovereignty and independence was tram
/ pied under foot by a neighboring large
and strong nation. But as soon as the
need for deeds arose. Mr.. Wilson forgot
all about the principle he held dear. He
/ -
! neutral in fact as well as in name in
! thought as well as in action between
| the small. weak. unoffending nation and
! the large. strong nation which was rob-
hing it of its sovereignty and independ-
| ence.
Worse Than PIIate.
! "such neutrality has been COM
pared to the neutrality of Pontius
| PLATE. This is unjust to Pontius
Plate, who at least gently urged
moderation on the wrongdoerS- The
l PreAident's fine ~o-a-~~~~re used
merely to cloak ignobIe action and
ignobIe innction. All Americans proud
| of their country should keenly resent
the wrong he thereby did their
country.
AT this moment Mr.. Wilson. and
Mr.. Wilson's fuglemen. advance as his
greatest claim that he has kept US
out of war. This claim can be
| seriously made only by individuals
who endorse President Wilson's belief
\ that deeds are nothing. and words
everything. War means a clash be-
tween the armed forces of two Coun-
| tries. Nowadays thanks quite as
much to the professional paCifsts as
| to the militarists) it means, further
more, the destruction of the lives OF
civilians and the property of civilians,
as well as the property of the govern
ment.
! Under President Mckinley we had
/ a war with Spain. Under President
/ Wilson we are assured that we have
! had peace with Mexico. These are
the words Now for the deeds. Dur
ing the war with Spain fewer Ameri-
! cans were killed by the Spnniards
than have been killed by Menicans
during the present peace with Mexico,
! Let me repeat this. A greater num-
| ber OF Americans have been killed by
Mexicans during these years. when we
are officially informed that we have
| been at peace with them. than were
! killed by the Spaniards during our
entire war with Spain. Moreover,
when the war with Spain was through,
it was through. But peace still con-
tinues to rage as furiously as ever in
| Mexico.
Nor is this all. The instant effect
of the outcome of the war with Spain
was to put a stop to the dreadful
butChery and starvation in Cuba and
the Philippines, and the entry of both
cuba and the Philippines on a career
of eighteen years of peace and pros
perity such Is they have never known
before in all their eheCkered history
"But during these three years of Mr
, Wilson's peace, the MexIcans them
selves have been butchered by their
own bandits steadily and without in
termiSSiOn; and Mexican women and
children have died by thousands
probably by scores of thousands-of
! starvation. and of the diseases in
Cident to starvation. In other words
Mr. MCKinley's war cost less blood
shed than Mr. Wilson'S peace; and it
reflected high honor on the Ameri-
can people; whereas Mr. Wilson's peac,
has been one of shame and dishonor
for the American people, and one OF
ruin and bIoodshed for the Mexicnns
themselves.
Kissed Bloody Hand.
president Wilson recognized a gov
ernment which, his own Secretary OF
State declares, bad been less than =
month previously engaged in repeated
assaults upon Americans. and in the