The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1917-12-08
AMERICAS PART IN THE WAR.
Why She Went In and What She Must
Get Out OF 1t.

4 Perhaps no speaker in the country
has given the people an altogether
clearer or more forcible exposition of
the irresistible causes that carried
America into the world-war and the
purposes this nation is bent upon ac-
complishing as belligerent than Hon.
| VIM. G. McAdoo, the able and elo-
| quent secretary of the treasury. The
| Chief has taken previous occasion to
quote some of Mr.. McAdoo's pa
triotic utterances on this all-import-
ant subject, and we are glad to give
space now to the following extracts
from an address he delivered at a
meeting of business men and bankers
of Iowa in Des Moines:
'sIn the first place, gentlemen, let
it be understood now that this war
was just as unacceptable for the Amer
lean people as it is to escape the ris-
ing of tomorrow's sun. Your great
president, at whose side I have had
the privilege and the honor of serving
for the past four years, has done
everything that mortal man could do
| to keep this country honorably at
peace. : know how his soul has been
wrung with the anguish Of the man
| whose whole thought is of humanity
when he has had to face the terrible
problem of leading this peaceful ma
| ton into war. But there is a power
above that of any human being,
which, in these momentous crises that
arise from time to time in the worlds
'ife, directs action and against which
fallible man is powerless to assert
himself. This is one of those crises.
We are in the midst of one of those
great upheavals Of civilization, one of
those cataclysmic times out of which
great events are born, great events
that are going to profoundly affect
the whole future of the human race
for centuries, perhaps; and it is be-
cause the omnipotent God has seen
in this country the greatest leader OF
democracy, the greatest champion OF
liberty in the civilized world, the III
strument to restore to suffering hui
manity the blessings of peace-stable
peace based upon justice through the
destruction of military autocracy-
that we find ourselves forced into
this struggle.
"Whatever the difference Of opinion
may have been about peace or war
heretofore-and / am quite sure
there were honest differences OF
opinion as to whether or not America
should have entered this war; l am
perfectly willing to respect the
opinions of the men who thought
differently from me upon that great
iss1e-this is no time to talk about
that. The die has been cast, the rep
resentatives of the people OF the
United States, after being Informed
by your president of the situation,
have, by almost unanimous vote, SAID
that America must 90 into this fight /
Now that she is III, her duty to God,
to herself, and to humanity is to win
as quickly as possible in order to
stos, this horrible slaughter upon the
battle fields of Europe that threatens
to destroy the very soul OF the clvls-
lied world. We are just as much IN
terested, my friends, in stopping the
slaughter of Germans as we are In
stopping the slaughter of Engllsh-
men and Frenchmen and Serbians and
Belgians and Russians and ltailans.
We are Just as much interested IN
stopping the slaughter of every human
being as we are in stopping the
slaughter of Americans. But let me
saw here that in this great service TO
which God has called us, to which the
voice of stricken humanity cries out,
if it be necessary to drain the last
drop of American blood from the
veins of every freeman in this coun-
trv in order that civilization may be
reestablished upon the bases OF stable
peace and justice in the world we
must be prepared to make that sacri-
fee. W.
"What are we fighting? We are
not fighting the German people. My
friends. this is the most extra ordinary
war of all time. Here we find our
selves, a great people, without enmlty
or hostility to another great people
engaged in a war with them. we are
not fighting the German people; we
are fighting the German military au-
tocracy which is trying to enslave the
world, America in the bargain. Ana
once we succeed in the destruction OF
that military autocracy, seif-goVern-
ed peoples may then rest IN securl.y'
because, my friends, do you reallze
that the one grave menace TO the
neace of the world for the last forty
wears has been the military autocracy
of Germany? We are striving Tor the
destruction of that autocracy,, not
onIv to save America for the future
but we are. strange as it may seem,
fgbtinp in order that the German peo-
ple may be disenslaved. We are Try.
ing to help them get self-government
in order that they may in the future
he able to enjoy the same blessings
that the people of this great repuoilece &c
have enjoyed, that they may snake OH
the shackles of this military system
which has enslaved them all Cnese
wears. When that is accompllsnneu,
and we have succeeded, as | pray Goa
that we may, in extending. seif-goV-
ernment to ali the responsible peoples
of the world, then and then only, my
friends, have you got the guarantees
of that stable peace which is foundea
upon justice; and unless peace IS
founded upon justice you Will never
have stable peace in this world;
"Do YOU realize how profoundly the
ideals of this great republic nave
moved the world in the last five years
Do you realize that the greatest IN
one sense, of all autocracies IN tne
matter Of sovereign power-that ls'
the despotic power of the sovereign.
has crumbled by the very example OF
this oraa+ renuh1ic3 7 speak OF the