El Nuevo mexicano., 1917-04-05
Woodrow Wilson

ourselves are not common wrongs;
they cut to the very roots Of human
life.
with a profound sense of the
solemn and even the ~tragicaI char.
acter of the step. | am taking and Of
the grave responsibility which it in
Wolves, but IN unhesitating obedience
to what l. deem my constitutional
duty, advise that the congress de-
clare the recent course Of the i'm
periaI German government to be in
fact nothing less than war against the
government and people of the United
States; that 1t formally accept the
status Of b~eIIigerent which has thus
been thrust upon it, and that 1t take
Immediate steps not only to put the
country in a more thorough state of
defense, but also to exert all its
power and employ all its resources to
bring the government Of the German
empire to terms and end the war.
What II Will Involve
"What this will involve is clear.
II will involve the utmost practicable
cooperation in counsel and action
with the governments now at war
with Germany, and, as incident to
that, the extension to these govern
ments of the most liberal financial
credits, in order that our resources
may, so far as possible, be added TO
theirs. 1t will involve the ~organiza-
ton and mobilization of all the ma
teriaI resources of the country to sup
ply the materials Of war and serve
the incidental needs of the, nation In
the most abundant, and yet the most
economical and efficient way pos
sihle. 1t will involve the immediate
full equipment Of the navy in all re-
,spects but particularly in supplying
II with the best means of dealing with
the enemy's submarines. It will in
voIve the nation to be prepared to
use the armed forces of the United
States, already provided for by law,
in case of war, at least, 100000 men,
who should IN my opinion be upon
the principle Of the universal liability
to service, and also the authorization
Of subsequent additional increments
of force so soon as they may be need
ed and can be handled in training.
at will involve also, of course, the
granting of adequate credits to the
government, sustained, so far as can
be sustained, by the present genera
ton by we'll conceived taxation. say
sustained so far as may be equitable
by taxation because It seems to me
that It would be most unwise to base
the credits which will now be neces-
sary entirely on money borrowed. 1t
Is our duty, | most respectfully urge,
to protect our people so far as we
may against the very serious hard
ships and evils which would be likely
to arise out of the Initiation which
would be produced by vast loans. In
carrying out the measures by which
these things are to be accomplished
we should keep constantly IN mind
the wisdom of interfering, in our own
preparation and in the equipment of
our military forces with the duty
for 1t will be a very practical duty
of supplying the nations already at
with Germany with the materials
which they can obtain only from US
or by our assistance. They are In the
field and we should help them In
every way to be effective there.
Il shall take the liberty of sug-
costing, through the several executive
departments of the government for
the consideration of your committees,
easur for the accomplishment OF
the several objects | have mentioned.
| hope that it will be your pleasure to
deal with them as has been framed
after very careful thought by the
branch of the government upon
which the responsibility of conduct
ing the war and safeguarding the ma
ton will most directly fall.
'tWThile we do these things, these
deeply momentous things, let us be
very clear and make very clear to all
the world what our motives and u
objects are.
"My own thought has not been
driven from its habitual and normal
course by the unhappy events of the
last two months, and | do not believe