The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1917-10-18
myself and could expect no one else
to have any respect for me.

ton it is his duty to give to Congress
his advice in such matters. II he
had desired to force wal upon us Il
could have advised our entering the
as president during the last two
wears. l believe that if we had ha>
as president during the last thr"
wears any man other than Woodrow
Wilson we would have been at
long before this time But with IL
finite patience, withstandlng the
taunts and gibes of the militarlsts,
he labored as no mortal man ever be-
fore labored, to keep his people out
of this war. It was not until the
mad monarch of Germany, miscon
truing President Wilson's patience
for corwardice, announced the deter
mined purpose of Germany to kill
our citizens, destroy our property,
and abolish our liberties, that the
president advised Congress to rec
ognize the fact that Germany was
making war upon us.
War Necessity.
abhor war. Looking into the fu-
ture realized fully the suffering and
hardships that war must bring to our
people, but Notwithstanding this, al
ter most careful deliberation | could
but conclude that the imperial gov
ernment of Germany had made it i'm
possible for us to adopt any course
other than that taken by the congress
of the United States. In justice to
my colleagues I should say, from my
intimate knowledge of them, that l
am satisfied that each and every one
of them voted his conscientious con-
yiction. Fifty members of the House
voted against the war resolution and
I have only the greatest respect for
them because 1 believe they voted as
their consciences dictated. But
while | do not question their motives,
I do question their judgment, and 1t
is my purpose to convince you that
they were wrong and that the 313
members who voted for the resolu-
ton were right.
In doing so shall endeavor to ap-
peal to the intelligence and not to the
passions of men. I shall indulge in
abuse and denunciation of no man.
am convinced that those citizens OF
our State who to-day believe our ma
ton should not be engaged IN this
war have been misled and that once
the facts have been submitted to them
they will be found as Loyal Ind pa
triotic as any among us. l go furth-
er and say that l disagree with those
who in their zeal believe that every
man who differs with us should be
placed in Jail. Treason and sedltlon
as defined by law should be sup
pressed, but as a member of congress,
the war making body, my official acts
are properly subject to criticism and
a man has the right to criticize any
member of congress provided his Ian
guage is such that it does not consti-
tute a violation of the law. l would
a thousand times prefer the patriotic
cooperation of our citizens based up
on an honest belief in the justice OF
our cause, to a hypocritical submis-
sion to the war based only upon fear
of the law.
Our Course is Just.
If we cannot convince our own peo-
ple whose lives and liberties are at
stake of the justice of our cause, We
cannot convince the neutrals of the
world, and cannot convince those who
will come after US. My belief in the
Justice of our cause is so great, and
my confidence in the intelligence and
patriotism of the people is so
great, that I firmly believe if
you will carry the truth to
the people of South Carolina, they
will be convinced of the righteous
ness of our cause and their views will
soon be reflected in the utterances Of
men in public life.
Never in the history of the world
has a nation gone to war for pur-
poses so unselfsh. We have given
our pledge to the world that we seek
no territory, and with us a written
pledge is more than scrap of paper.
| l am glad that it is so. AS an in
| dividual l covet the land of no man,
| and l seek the blood of no man, and
| | want my nation to covet the land of
no nation and seek the blood of no
people. Nor do we go to war for
| mere sentiment. II this were our de-