The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-14
WHY WE FIGHT

Every American knows the causes of our war with the German govern ment. Yet this course would be ln- complete if it did not contain a brief review of the events that 1lnauy forced us into war, when at last there remained '"no other means of defend ing our rights
 The soldier of an autOcratic Kaiser
 may fight best when he understands least of the true meaning Of the war. To tell him the facts would be to chill his enthusiasm. But the c1tfzen soldier of 8, democracy is entitled to
 know for what purposes he enters the struggle. He fights best when he sees most clearly why he fights.
 The resolution of Congress declar- ing state of war (Apr. 6, 1e17) ex- nresses the immediate cause in these few words:
 ''The Imperial German government has committed repeated acts of war against the government and the peo- pie of the United State of America. Chief among the acts of war were attacks by German submarines on American ships and on unarmed mer- chant ships of other nations carrying 1 American passengers. Vessels or every kind." said the President in his address to Congress on April 2, 1917, | l their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to l the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belliger. ents. Even hospital ships iand ships carrying relief to the sore1y bereaved
 and stricken people of Belgium.
 though the latter were provided with
 safe conduct through the prescribed areas by the German government it. self and were distinguished by unnis- takable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of
 compassion or of principle < }" .. The present German submarine war l fare against commerce is warfare | against mankind"
 German Insults. and Aggressions There were other acts of hostility | in addition to the submarine warfare
 In his Flag Day address delivered at Washington on June 14,s. 1917, the President summed up the events that brought on war as follows: [ "It is plain enough how we were forced into the war. The extraordin-
 ary insults and aggressions of the Inn peria1 German government left us no respecting choice but to take up arms in defense of our rights as a Ifree people and of our honor as a
 sovereign government. The military masters of Germany denied us the
 right to be neutral. They filled our l unsuspecting communities with vi- e1ous spies and conspirators and tsought to corrupt the opinion of our
 people in their own behalf. When they found that they could not do
 that, their agents diligently spread se- dition amongst us and sought to draw j our own citizens from their allegiance i-apd some of those agents were men l connected with the official embassy l of the German government itself here | in our capital. They tried to incite
 Mexico to takA up arms against us
 and to draw Japan into a. hostile alh-
 ance with her-and that, not by indi- trectfon, but by suggestion from the
 foreign office in Berlin. They i'm lpudently denied us the use of the high
 seas and repeatedly executed their threat that they would send to their
 death any of our people who ventured to approach the coasts of Europe" I Our Liberty and Safety Involved l Yet even this list of Extraordinary
 insults and aggressions" does not tell
 the whole story. Our motives for war F8O even deeper. NOC Outy our T1SALS
 and self respect, but our liberty and
 safety, are involved. Speaking on
 July 2e, 1917, at the officers training camp at Madison Barracks, N. r., the Secretary of State said:
 "The evil character of the German government is laid bare before the
 world. We know that that govern
 ment Is inspired with ambitions which
 menace human liberty, and that to gain its end 1t does not hesitate to
 break faith, to violate the most sacred rights, or to perpetrate intolerable acts of inhumanity < |. Let us un- I understand once for all that this is no
 war to establish an abstract principle I of right. It is a war in which the
 future of the United States is at II stake"
 Il The record out of which grows our
 deep conviction that it is necessary
 at once to put curb on so power
 full and interruptions an enemy is set
 forth in an official publication 'eHow the War Came to America"
 Judging the German government
 now in the light of our honest ax- tempt to keep the peace, we could see