Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-11-13

assumed that merchantmen would de-
fend themselves against privateers or
cruisers, visible craft giving chaEe up
ON the open sea. Tt is common IIfu-
| dence in sn"h circumstances. grim nee
| essity indeed, to endeavor to oestroy
| them before they have shown Their own
| intention. They must be dealt with up
| on sight, If dealt with at all.
The German government denies the
| right of neutralS to use arms at all
| within the areas of the sea which 1T
has prescribed even in the defense of
| rights which no modern publicist has
| ever before questioned their right to
defend The intimation is conveyed that
! the armed guards which we have
| placed on our merchant ships will be
| treated as beyond the pale of law and
| subject to be dealt with as pirates
| would be- Armed neutrality is inenfec-
| tual enough at best, I'm such cfrcum-
stances and In the face of such preten-
| sions 1t Is worse than iaeffectual; 1t is
likely only to produce what 1t was
meant to prevents 1t is practically GER
tain to draw us into war without either
| the rights or the effectiveness of the bel
| Hgerehts. There is one choice we cam
| not make, we are incapable of making:
| We will not choose the path of submits
| sion and suffer the most sacred rights
| of our nation and our people to be fg-
| nored or violated. The wrongs against
| which now array ourselves are NO
| common wrongs; they cut to the very
| roots of human life.
With a profound sense of the solemn
| and even tragIcaI character of the step
| L am taking and of the grave RESPONSE
| btIities which 1t involves, but in I'M
| heSitat ting obedience to what | deem
| my constitutional duty, l advise that
| the congress declare the recent course
| of the Imperial German government to
| against the government and people of
| the United States; that it formally ac
| cept the status of belligerent which has
| thus been thrust upon it; and that it
| take immediate steps not only to put
! the country in a more thorough state
| of defense but also to exert all it's
| power and employ all it's resources to
| bring the government of the German
| empire to terms and end the war.
| What this will involve is clear. 1t
will involve the utmost practicable CO.
| operation in counsel and action with
| the governments now at war with Ger
! many. and as incident to that, the ex-
| tension to those governments of the
! most liberal financial credits, in order
| that our resources may so far as pos
| sible be added to theirs.
| 1t will involve the organization and
, mobilization of all the material re-
| sources of the country to supply the
materials of war and serve the Incl
| dental needs of the nation in the most
| abundant and yet the most economical
| and efficient way possible.
| 1t will involve the immediate full
| equipment of the navy in all respects,
! but particularly in supplying it with
! the best means of dealing with the enc
mys submarines.
! 1t will involve the immediate addi-
ton to the armed forces of the United
| States, already provided for by law in
! case of war, of at least 5O0,0 900 men.
who should. in my opinion, be chosen
| upon the principle of universal liabil-
| ity to service. and also the authorize
| ton of subsequent additional incre-
ments of equal force so soon as they
! may be needed and can be handled in
| training.
1t will involve also, of course, the
granting of adequate credits to the
| government, sustained, / hope, Ear
as they can equitably be sustained by
the present generation, by well-cOn-
ceiVed taxation.
say sustained so far as may be
equitable by taxation, because 1t seems
to me that 1t would be most unwise to
base the credits, which will now be
necessary, entirely on money borrowed.
1t IL our duty, 1 most respectfully urge,
to protect our people, far as we
may, against the very serious hard
ships and evils which would he likely
to arise out of the imitation which would
be produced by vast loans.
In carrying out the measures by
which these things are to be accom-
pIished should keep constantly In
mind the wisdom of interfering as lit
tie possible in our own preparation
and In the equipment of our own mill
tary forces with the duty-fOr it will
be n very practical duty-Of supplying
the nations already at war with Ger
| many with the materials which they
| can obtain only from or by our
| sIstance. They are in the field, and we
| should help them in every way to be
| effective there.
| l shall take the IibeIty of suggest
| ing, through the several executive de-
! partments of the government, for the
| consideration of your committees,
measures for the accomplishment of
| the several objects I have mentioned.
| I hope that 1T Will be your pleasure to
deal with them as having been framed
after very careful thought by the
branch of the government upon whom
| the responsibility of conducting the
| war and safeguarding the nation Will
most directly fall.
While we do these things, these deep
| Iy mOmentOus things, let us be very
clear, and make very clear to all the
| world, what our motives and our OBJ
| jects are. My thought has not
been driven from its habituaI and nor
| NAL course by the unhappy events of
the last two months, and 1 do not be-
lieve that the thought of the nation
has been altered clOuded by them. I
I have exactly the same things in mind
now that 1 had In mind when ad-
| dressed the senate on the 22d of Janu-
| ary last; the same that 1 had in mind
| when 1 addressed congress on the Sd of
| February and the 28th of February.
| Our object now, as then, is to vindicate
| the principles of peace and Justice In
| the life of the world as against selfish
| and autocratic power, and to set up
| among the really free and self-gOv-
| erned peoples of the world such a con-
cert of purpose and of action as will
hencefOrth insure the observance of
those principles.
Neutrality is no longer feasible or
| desirable where the peace of the world
| IL involved and the freedom of it's peO-
! uIes, and the menace to that peace and
freedom lies In the existence of auto
cratic governments, backed by organ
lied force which is controlled wholly
| by their will, not by the will of their
people. We have seen the last of neu-
| traIity In such circumstances. We are
at the beginning Of an age In which 1t
will be insisted that the same stand
ards of conduct and of responsibility
for wrong done shall be observed
among nations and their governments
that are observed among the individual
citizens of civilized states.
We have no quarrel with the German
people. We have no feeling toward
them but one of sympathy and friend
ship. 1t was not upon their impulse
that their government acted in enter
ing the war. 1t was not with their
| previous knowledge or approval. 1t
was war determined upon as wars
used TO be determined upon in the old
unhappy days. when peoples were no.
where consulted by their rulers and
wars were provoked and waged in the
interest of dynasties or of little groups
| of ambitious men who were accustomed
| to use their fellow men as pawns and
| tools
SeIf-governed nations do not NIL their
neighbor states with spies or set the
course of intrigue to bring about some
| critical posture of affairs which will
give them an opportunity to strike and
| make conquest. Such designs can be