Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1917-06-05
WHY WE ARE IN THIS WAR.

The question, Why are we IN sh's
war? has been asked by NUMBER
of peaceable, but unthinking and, we
NAV see unposted people in peace
loving Alexandria during the Fast
few weeks when it became Eao"n
that all men between the ages o. q
and 81 would be called upon to reg
ister today, In some cases it was
difficult to make it, plain to some
who propounded this question. that
should Germany emerge triumphant.
in this world war one of the numbers
Of her program is to treat the, Uni
ted States as she has Belgium and
northern France should we dare at
tempt to defend our beloved coun-
trv from brutal Prussianism. We
are glad. to see that the eligible
Young men and those to whom the%
are near and dear have awakened
to the seriousness of the situation,
and that today the registrars at the
booths have been kept busy. In
some wards long lines of earnest
young men have stood awaiting pa
tiently their turns. The booths VIII
be kept open until nine o'clock at
night in order to accommodate many
who are employed during the day,
especially numbers who work IN
Washington. -
On the eve Of war registration day,
Secretary Lane made a speech before
the Home Club of the Interior De-
partment in Washington last night,
in which he addressed a word to
those who have not seen dearly the
reason for the country's call upon Its
young men, and in ringing sentences
answered the question: '..Why are we
fighting Germany"
America is at war, Mr.. Lane SAID,
in self-defense and because she could
not Keep out; she is at war to save
herself with the rest of the world
from the nation that has linked itself
with the Turk and adopted the meth
DDS of Mahomet, setting itself to
make the world bow before policies
backed by its organized and scientific
military system.
"Why are we fighting Germany?
The brief answer is that ours is a war
of self-defense. We did not wish
to fight Germany. She made the
attack. upon us; not on our shores,
but on our ships, our lives, our rights,
our future. For two years and more
we held neutrality that made US
apologists for things which outraged
mans common sense of fair play
and humanity.
"Then why are we in? Because
we could not keep out
eve talked as men until we We're
told that we could not walk the high
ways of the world without permission
Of a Prussian soldier, that our ships
might not sail without wearing a
striped uniform of humiliation upon
narrow path of national subser-
vience. !;
eve are fighting Germany because
she sought to terrorize us and then
to fool us. We could not believe
that Germany would do what she
said she would do upon the seas.
ave still hear the piteous cries of
children coming up out of the sea
where the Lusitania went down. And
Germany has never asked forgive
ness Of the world.
I'VE saw the Sussex sunk, crowd
ed with the sons and daughters of |
neutral nations.
"We saw ship after ship sent to
the bo*tom-ships of mercy bound
out of America for the Belgian starv-
ing--ships carrying the Red Cross J
and laden with the wounded of all
nations-ships carrying food and
clothing to friendly, harmless, ter
rorized peoples-ships flying the
Stars and Stripes-sent to the bot
tom hundreds of miles from shore,
manned by American seamen, muir
dered against all law, without warn
ing.
I'VE believed Germany's promise
that she would respect the uuetralI
flag and the rights of neutrals. and
we held our anger and outrage I'M
check. But now we see that she
was holding us off with fair promises
until she could build her; hugo Fleet4s
OF submarines. =. For when spring
Clnir she blew her nron1jso into tho