The Washington herald., 1917-02-27
Not Strong Enough.

curious mixture of militant indigna-
tion and paci6sm put forth by Presi-
dent Wilson yesterday is exactly what
might have been expected from q
rather unfortunate attempt to carry
water on both shoulders"
The address, is too mild to please
the out-and-out proponents of Ameri-
can rights on the high seas and too
virile to please the peace-at-any-price
group. Its net effect, so far as Con-
gress is concerned. is to make bad
situation worse. 1t has confirmed the
Republicans in their plans to con-
tinue the flibuster. All the anti-ad-
ministrationists can find common
ground for their opposition, no mat
ter what their individual differences
are. Instead of clarifying the situa-
tion, the address, apparently, has
muddied the waters still more.
The President asks for a general
authority" to arm American merchant
men, but he pointedly refrains from
any fat assertion that he will arm
them. His tortuous logic on this
point is such as to alarm and disgust
many a Republican who intended to
support him. He speaks in gigantic
terms of the blockade of American
shipping owing to the U-boat threat,
even refers to the "timidity" of ship
owners in connection with it. He does
not say specifically he will end this
blockade by placing the power of the
government behind the ships. He
missed great opportunity before him
and denied himself the one chance he
had of bringing Congress under his
leadership.
The President makes the assertion
the overt act" has not yet come;
and declares that while we must de-
fend our commerce and the lives oi
our people in the present trying cir
cumstances, the occasion has not yet
arisen for doing So"
On this point thousands of persons
in this country who are only too will
ing and anxious to be his supporters
are in flat disagreement with him
His address will create profound dis
trust among them, and the more's
the pity
The Presidents platitudes are SO
broad and elastic as to mean every
thing or nothing. He says:
81 am not now proposing or con-
templating war or any steps that may
lead to it" Then, referring to the
American rights which Germany has
violated and which by the words oi
her responsible statesmen she means
to violate, he continues:
81 cannot imagine any man with
American principles at his heart hesi-
tating to defend these things"
How can they be defended without
war, or without steps that may lead
to war? That is a question which
cannot be answered by clever gener-
alizations or apostrophes to human
ity"; it demands clear, specific words
of the kind that Congress expected
and had right to expect.
The one definite request made by
the President is request for money,
and even this may occasion bitter de-
bate on Capitol Hill, unless the Pres
ident consents to make definition
of his purposes.
By putting everything in the future
tense, the President clearly shows the
events of the past four weeks have
not led him to frame a decisive policy,
and he leaves the nation without the
security and satisfaction of knowing
just what degree of violation OF
American rights will lead to action
on his part.
The address contains such a sicken-
ing sop to paci6sm as to weaken the
strength of its main argument. 1t is
altogether too philosophic, detached,
academic, to meet the needs of a situ-
alton which has long passed out OF
the intellectual sphere into the realm
where force and action are the sole
factors that count with the power
that has challenged the honor OF
America.