Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-04
TO STRIKE FIRST BLOW IN WAR WITH G.

never has Congress been called to a
more solemn exercise of this great
fll ction than at this moment. We
! have submitted to wrongs and out
RACES from the central powers of Eu-
rope with long patience. We have
of endurance. Now the inevitable end
is here and we are about to declare
war against Germany.
Party Lines Disappear
Speaking for myself and hope for
my associates generally on this side of
the chamber, L desire to say that in
| this crisis and when the country is
at war. party lines will disappear and
this disappearance of the party line
will, l am confident, not be confined to
the minority. Both Democrats and
Republicans must forget party in the
presence of the common danger. This
! is not and cannot be a party war. 1t
be united and no one must ask n loyal
citizen, high or low, who seeks to
serve his country in the field or in civil
life to what party he belongs, any
more than it would be possible to ask
his religion or his race. AS Americans
we shall all, l am sure, be prepared
to give to the Executive money, men,
and all the necessary powers for wag-
ing war with energy and driving 1t
forward to a successful conclusion.
Very Small Army
I'VE have only very small army
and we must proceed at once as rapid
| ly as possible to build up large one
| fit to defend the country in any
emergency. We must provide for the
future and for the supply of men for
the army by a system of universal
| military training. l agree with the
President that this new army should
| be chosen upon the principle of uni
lVorGll
is strong in certain branches and very
weak in others. 1t must be our buSi-
ness to supply the deficiencies as
rapidly as possible. Fortunately those
deficiencies are of the kind which can
most quickly be supplied. 1t is our
duty to see to it that all the money
and all the legislation necessary for
both the army and navy are given at
ionce.
, The President has said that war
will involve the utmost practicable
cooperation in council and action with
the governments now at war with Ger
many, and, as incident to that the
extension to those governments of the
most liberal financial credits, in order
that our resources may so far as pos
sible be added to theirs. 1 am not only
in full agreement with this policy ad-
vised by the President but it seems to
me that nothing is more important
I
Wants No Alliances
Il am a thorough believer in the
general policy laid down by Washing
ton when he advised the people of
the United States not to enter into
permanent alliances; but the man who
won the American Revolution through
the alliance with France would have
been the last to lay down a hard and
fast rule that under no circumstances
and for no purposes were we ever to
ally ourselves with other nations. Far
seeing and wise, he knew very well
that dangers might come which would
make temporary alliance or agree
| ment with foreign nations imperative.
! That time has arrived. 1t would be
madness for us to attempt to make
war alone upon Germany and find
ourselves, perhaps, at the end left iso-
| lated, at war with that power, when
all the nations had made peace, be-
cause we had not associated ourselves
with them. The allies of the entente,
as they are called, are fighting a COM
mon foe and their foe is now ours
Would Send Soldiers
we cannot send a great army
across the ocean, for we have no army
to send. Yet l should be glad for
one if We could send ten thousand
men of our regular troops, so that the
| flag of the United States might at
! least be unfurled on the fields of
France. I believe that the mere sight
of that flag in that region made so
desolate by war would stimulate the
courage and help the success of those
/ who have the same aim that we have
and who seek the same victory. We
can also help the allies, as the Presi-
dent recommends, with large credits
and with those supplies which we can
furnish and which they lack. We
cannot do more in any direction to
bring this war to speedy end than
to give those credits and furnish those
supplies"
With Firm Hand
Senator Lodge, referring to the
| Presidents statement concerning Ger
man spies in this country, said he be-
lieved the overwhelming mass of our
citizens of German descent are just as
loyal to the United States as any citi-
zens could be- but that German agents
must be dealt with. to quote the Presi-
/ dents address, with firm hand"
Senator Lodge said one of the first
acts of the United States should be to
seize the German ships now in United
states ports and put that tonnage in
the worlds service.
Not Military Nation
We have never been military ma
tion," Mr.. Lodge continued. I'VE are
! not prepared for war in the modern
sense; but we have vast resources and
unbounded energies and the day when
war is declared we should devote our
| selves to calling out those resources
and organizing those energies so that
they can be used with the utmost ef-
feet in Fastening the complete victory.
! The worst of all wars is a feeble war.
War is too awful to be entered
/ upon half heartedly. If we fight at all
we must fight for all we are worth.
| 1t must be no weak, hesitating war.
The most merciful war is that which
! is most vigorously waged and which
| comes most quickly to an end.
| Things Worse. Than War
but there are, in my opinion, some
] things worse for a nation than war.
National degeneracy is worse nation
NJ i..