New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-20
IGNORING LETTERS OF FLAME
How Defeat Humiliation at the Hands OF Germany way f'o' ~ ~
Our Own Salvation

+ have in the past advocated unprepareaness
| they are many and they are not all OF oh'
party-the politicians high and low are Try
/ inc 10 save their faces, trying to escape con
demnation and dismissal They have en-
couraged the people to drift along the pres
ent perilous course, they are largely reSpoh'
sible for it, and the people VIII hoio then
wholly responsible. The politicians 'Hho"
that a reversal of the policy OF unprepared
ness will throw a very searching ana disi,'
tecrating light upon their former conduct
Again the remorseless question VIII ARISE !,
IL no right 70 prepare now, was it not righl
to prepare then, year ago, two years sgo
This high degree Of accountability to whlch
the politicians will be held is hardly Just
for after all il is ourselves, the people, VINO
are really and ultimately to blame Inc
blame for our feeble policy of the last three
wears rests Of course, in the last Analysis
upon ourselves The men whom we elected
TO act for us in legislative and executive po'
sitions were only too eager to do our Dlaai"t'
Yet having done our bidding, II we no"
change our policy, change our Dlddlhg, we
shall surely visit upon them the eonse
ouences of our former folly, in which indeed
thew did undoubtedly aid and abet us. II the
people be once fairly aroused to the peru oi
their present position, 1T Will be gooo trlIi-
mer among those now in power who VIII DC
able to weather the storm, to justify himself
and continue to receive the peoples faVor'
The politicians know this, and with the IN
stinct of self-preservation they daily and de-
Law, and, to put the truth in frank and
brutal fashion, for the sake OF their rather
unimportant political futures they are play
ing with the lives and fortunes OF millions
and with the destiny and honor OF the
United States
Perhaps they are no better and no worse
than the rest of US. Perhaps many of us
who criticise them might find ourselves do
ing the same thing under similar circum-
stances. Bodies of men united by common
interest usually feel and think alike. But
none the less they and their wish for politi-
cal consistency and political existence must
be swept aside if we are to see our condltloh
as il is and meet it as it must be met. ND
combination, we'll or i'll defined, of politicians
should stop it. None such will stop 1t II we
are really and sincerely convinced that we
have made a mistake and that we ought &c
remedy it without a moments delay. but IL
we do not feel this-and we do not at pres
ont-if we continue to drift supinely on with
an occasional half measure here and there; II
we continue to rely on the present pollcy OF
bluff and opportunism -and 1t may get US
by as the phrase ls-then u Is quesIIonao'e
whether an escape so ignobly accomplished
will not eventually do us more harm thaf'
good Will it not be like the case OF the
patient who in the early stages of cancer
sbrinks from the knife? Something worse
than the knife will surely follow his pro-
crastination and cowardce. Perhaps some
defeat and humiliation at the hands of Ger
many. if we now show ourselves incapable OF
comprehending what is before US, some bit
ter teaching of reality will be the means oil
saving us from some defeat and humiliation
far worse and more fatal, which is surely
impending over US in the near future. Sucn
bitter teaching would not be too dearly
bought if it taught us what has to be taught
over and over again to soft, comfortable, com
placent nations-that though civilization
means something more and better than force,
il rests upon force as the most indispensable
part of its foundation.
CHESTER A. REED.
New York, Feb. II, 1917.