The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-11
GERARD WARNS
 OF BITTER AND
 LENGTHY STRIFE

Ambassador Gerard is no alarmist. Ambassador Gerard Is no jingo. Neil ther is he tool of the Wall street interests nor predatory munition manufacture. So when Ambassador Gerard tells these United States of ourss that the German menace is real, actual and immediate it behooves all good Americans to stop, look and lis ten a lot.
 When I asked Ambassador Gerard a.s to what seemed to him the most important phase of our nation prob lem his answer was characterisical- ly:
 ''Germany.
 Germany he went on. '.has mo- bilized and put into the field, in ac- tual war service, l3,000,00O men. Of these 13,000,O00 men 1,350,000 have been killed, 35o,000 permanently dis abled. All the rest that have been wounded or disabled have returned to and are now with the colors. And that leaves 1 1, $50, ,0O0 troops that the Germans now have in the field. These figures are not guesswork: they are approximately exact.
 And furthermore" he continued. for the bad news was not yet over, QQ4IIS IAS past IA4A4 A4ty-LWO tAOA4I&A1 Germany has been enlarging and in in size and formidability than ever before. And that, too, these United States of ours have challenged to life and death combat.
 Wherefore doesn't 1t seem to you since the United States has aligned itself against a nation SO pre-enin- ently powerful, so terribly efficient and so absolutely ruthless as the Ger man nation is and has shown itself to be, that the United States should make every effort to equip itself in every way to face 50 tremendous Q menace ?"
 I nodded, and profoundly. It did! It certainly did!
 "But," I queried. Isn't there any chance of its being only a short war The shortage of food''-
 ''Is something that can't be relied upon" he interrupted. "One good harvest will put Germany back upon her feet. A good harvest every year will keep her on her feet. And acci- dents are always liable to happen: Furthermore, while civilians all through Germany are feeling the pinch of food shortage the troops l dx0 AoRI 40u
 "One thing I want particularly to warn my couuntrymen against is the so called short war idea It was this faIlacy that so seriously crippled France that so seriously crippled England, in their preparations for their struggle with Germany. They thought it was going to be only a short war, so they made their pre- 1 parations only from day to day, from month to month. It is not for us to fall into this same, this obvious, er- TOT. There Is no indication that this will be short war. On the other hand, it looks as though 1t would be a very long war-a long war and a bitter war.
 For this, first money and supplies ] Credit to the allied governments and
 everything that, from our vast re-
 sources. we can supply them.
 "And then universal military train ing. The volunteer system is no good
 In times of national need it has al.
 ways broken down. as it will always
 break down, because 1t is economic
 ally and psychplogically unsound Conscr1ption is good as far as it goes but it does not go far enough. The one thing. and the only one thing
 that will give us the number of train. ed soldiers that we must have is uni. lversal military training. And that i, what all of us here in America mus strive to gain.
 fi "Furthemore, I want to impress
 and impress as hard as I know how
 because it is most important, thu present tone of the German spirit I is cruelI It is brutal. It Is bitter With the Germans this Is wa, of Hate, with a capital H. They ar, to win if they can. To win they ar, : going to use all their resources, ever,
 means in their power, fair or foul O even worse. They are going to figh with every man, with every gun, witt every ship, with every means and ev
 cry agent that lie in their power t use.
 That is what we face, not a shor ? war, but a long war, and a bitter one . not broken nation. but a strong
 cruel country capable of taking an,
 giving many a grievous blow; not
 disorganized nation, short of men an,
 supplies. but possessing still tn , greatest and still virtually as wei
 equipped an army as is possessed b any nation in the world. , Let these, then, be the slogans O 1 America: Complete and perfect pre- paredness, vast armies raised on tn basis of universal military service an @ whole hearted and whole soule cooperation with the allies. . we are no longer neutral It 1 now our war, Aperica's war. Let Am
 erica prepare to giht 1t as Americ