New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-21
To-day

nolicv which Mr. Wilson was pursuing
would end by involving us in war after
the national conscience had been stllled
and the national appreciation Of the real
facts of German policy had been dulled'
Time and again since then has The Tribune
asserted that we should end by drifting into
q war which we sought to avoid by closing
our eyes TO fact and shutting our ears
AGAINST the cries Of our women and children
slaughtered by German submarines.
We have come to that time. We have
drifted into war. We are at war. And
we are facing the spectacle of nation
coinr into war without thought of the
consequences and without realization OF
the fact. Never in human history has
n great nation come to the edge of war
with so little understanding of the dangers
and the responsibilities.
Must the condition which has endured
for so long continue after formal
declaration of hostilities transforms the
legal. but not the actual, fact OF our
relations with Germany? Are we not
now. at last. to have some leadership and
.o,,o intelligent guidance which will chart
for the future the course, the duty and
the responsibilities Of American citizens
in the presence of war?
The time has passed for recrimnatlon;
the time has passed for all criticism di-
rected at the failures of the past; but no
American can patiently endure continu-
alton Of present conditions or tamely face
the prospects of the future.
We arc at war with Germany; we have
been at war with Germany for many
months. Our citizens have been murdered;
our rights have been invaded. Treason
has been plotted by German agents within
our frontiers and German intrigue has
sought TO loose against us our neighbors
south Of the Rio Grande and beyond the
Pacific. What arc we going to do about
il now?
How much longer arc we to be permitted
10 90 on, ignorant Of the facts, blind to
the necessities, deprived of leadership, de-
prived Of advice, destitute of all knowl-
edge? To-day millions of Americans are
ready to perform their duty, to support
their government, to make any sacrifice
which is required Of them in the presence
Of war and foreign threat.
Will not Mr. Wilson now mobilize the
patriotism Of the country? Will he not
now lay aside that policy Of "watchful
waiting" which has proven as fatal to
America as did the "wait and see" policy
which for two years imperilled the very
existence Of the British Empire and sacri-
feed untold lives at Gallipol and in
Flanders?
For two years we have been lulled into
sleep by the belief that war was impossi-
bic. even in the presence of the fact of
war. Are we now TO be lulled to sleep
by the assurance that war itself is nothing
and that a country can be both at peace
and at war? Are we now to have a
policy? Does not the Administration now
consider that the time has come when we
should Join hands with the other nations
which arc fighting against German brutal
ity and barbarism in the world? Does not
the simple question Of future safety re-
quire that We should make common cause
with the rest Of the world and not find
ourselves one day still asleep, left to face
h a Germany freed from the complications
Of Europe and at peace with her present
u enemies?
When the Lusitana was sunk The Trib-
Une said that the President should act
that it was the time 70 end the German
danger, either by war or by German sub
Z mission 10 international law. When the
Arabic was sunk, when the Ancona was
sunk, when the Sussex was sunk, The
Tribune said the same thing. Time and
again The Tribune has pointed out that
peace in the world was impossible so long
IS the German government asserted the
right % murder and pursued the policy
Of assassination without regard 10 the
rights Of neutrals We have lodged
twisted, turned, shut our eyes 10 the truth,
hoped end believed that if we could Only