The Washington times., 1917-04-03
The Presidents Appeal


voice is the voice of the American
people; his thought is their thought;
his inspiration their impulse. The
speech in which Mr.. Wilson laid be-
fore Congress the international stu
alton and invoked its powers to rem
edy the wrongs of the country and
of humanity was a noble utterance
alike in its restraint and in its cour-
age. 1t was worthy of this, one of
the greatest crises in history. No
more can be said.
A notable contrast the speech af-
fords in its calm array of facts and
inevitable logic with the hysterical
misrepresentation and demented
reasoning of German craftsmanship.
The President appeals to the present
and the future with a recital of Ger
many's outrages and American pa
tience. His conclusion is irresistible
that the point came where patience
ceased to be virtue.
Not merely American rights but
the principles of civilized life, the
welfare of mankind, eternal justice
were at stake. 1t became imperative
to recognize in form the existing
fact that the German imperial gov-1
ernment is making war upon every
thing that free men hold sacred.
Acknowledging this condition, only
one course remained possible: that
of armed resistance to the monstrous
aggressor. War now becomes obi
gatory in honor and morals, war for
the stoppage of the wrong, war for
the salvation of liberty and right,
war for the protection of these
precious gifts through frture ages;
therefore war for the complete over
throw of the oppressive force of evil,
war for victory, a war to be waged
at whatever cost to the point of sue
cess.
The plans and methods, the means
of attaining the great end, which
the President indicates, meet fully
the public expectations. They ap-
pear to be sound and wise from every
point of view. Territorial defense
is made subordinate; in truth, in the
present state of the great war, the
country is in no serious danger. The
great, the overwhelming business of
the hour is to strike at Germany eff
fectively, to shorten the war and its
miseries by making our enormous
power felt in its prosecution.
Two principal lines of policy lie
before us; the one to enter into most |
cordial and efficient cooperation with
the other governments now at war
with Germany, to lay our plans in
concert with them, to strengthen
and uphold them with all the great
means at our disposal. Not only
must we support their credit, but
also aid them with abundant sup
plies of all kinds to give their armies
the maximum of fighting energy. All
this Mr.. Wilson recommends with
force and clearness that carry ire
sistible conviction.
But he realizes and enjoins upon
Congress and the people the view
that this is not enough. Accepting
the existence of the state of war, we
must make our own force count
toward the result: so to speak, we
must make felt our personality as a
nation of men. Noblesse oblige.
We must not seek victory through
the blood and lives of other peoples,
but by the necessary effort of our
own manhood, by the necessary sac
rifces of our own most treasured be-
longings, by the endurance of all the
sorrows and sufferings that enoble a
nation at war in a righteous cause.
The President lays plainly before
all this sacred obligation, this better
because braver policy. and urges that
it be pursued to the limit of the
national capacity until the desired
end be attained. We are to begin,
as the President planned, with a
force Of half million men to carry
the flag to the fighting line and dem
onstrate the national spirit shoulder
to shoulder with our great allies
splendid France, determined Britain,
eager Italy, regenerate Russia, and
bleeding Belgium. This is the first
step. 1t is to be followed with all
the speed that prudence allows by
other and greater levies as fast as
our means of training and equipping
them accumulate.
Meanwhile, our ships will sweep
the seas, suppressing the submarine
piracy and reasserting the law of
nations and of humanity. {
1t is an inspiring program. 1t 4
makes the blood Of every true man &