Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1917-05-18
DISPENSING OUR MONEY AND
MEN OVER THE WORLD is
UNSOUND, DANGEROUS
DOIICX
From the New York American of
May II.

From the New Y ork American OF
May II.
Like Colonel Roosevelt, we are
getting tired of so much oratory It
is about time the heroics were put
away in moth balls We shall not
win this war with parades, banquets,
after-dinner speeches and all that
spectacular stuff The allies are over
here after four things-money, food,
ships and men-all of which can be
summed up in the one word, money,
because that buys the other three.
In spite of silly persons, who think
that hysteria, bombast and other
childish manifestations are patriot
ism, and who think that common
sense and truthfulness are treacher-
Gus and traiterous, we shall continue
to use common sense and to tell the
truth. Our part in this war, for
months to come, is to pay the bill-to
finance and to feed hungry and bank
rupt England, hungry and bankrupt
France, hungry and bankrupt Italy.
That is precisely what the British,
French and Italian commissions say
they expect us to do-to provide
them with money, ships and food.
And. as far as we can do this without
running ourselves, we should do so.
But most certainly we must not lose
sight of our own interests or save
others from bankruptcy by irretriev-
ably bankrupting ourselves There
is long future ahead of us. No man
can say when we may be called upon
to meet the cost of another great
war. No man can say what coalition
we may or may not have to fight. 1t
might be Japan, Mexico and South
America 1t might be Germany,
Japan and Russia. 1t might be Eng
land, Japan and Mexico. No man
who knows the history Of nations is
deceived by, or gives much credence
to, professions of national affection.
Germany and Austria, now so friend
ly, were at war only three years be-
fore the Franco-Prussian war. France
and England were on the very edge
of war only few years ago over, the
Fashoda incident. We ourselves
were on the point of war with Eng
land in President Cleveland's time.
We have twice prepared for war with
France, and did actually wage naval
warfare with the French Republic
less than fifteen years after the
Revolutionary War ended. We must
help the allies, OF course, because
that is a military necessity. But we
should not allow any sentimental
considerations to hurry us into bank
rupting our country for a generation
to come We must consider our own
interests exactly as each of the
belligerents is doing. We must not
forget that Japan is steadily strength
s,.r !, 81 a. cft oil lot
ing her armies, steadily strengthen
ing her navy, steadily Strengthening
her mercantile marine, steadily
strengthening her Illegal and menac-
ing grip upon China. If we are so
lost to common prudence as to
weaken our own resources, wealth
and commercial marine beyond re-
pair in a generation, our children
may suffer at the hands of Asiatics
such humiliations and cruel outrages
as an invaded and conquered people
always suffer. We say plainly that
there must be reasonable caution in
extending to the allies the help they
are clamoring for-and particularly
in handing out our money. All the
allies are begging us for cash. Eng
land wants money-in heaps-at u
per cent, while she pays her own peo-
pie per cent and demands 5 per
cent for the money she lends France,
Italy, Russia and Canada and Aus
tralia The Italian Commission is
here with a request for money Ser
bia is begging for money. So is Ru-
mania. So are Panama and Cuba.
We suppose Mexico mad Argentina
and Brazil and Colombia will soon
prefer their modest requests. All
the world seems to be headed toward
our national treasury. And Mr. Nc
Adoo ardently believes in the Scrip
ture, which AYERS that the Lord
loveth a cheerful giyer. There is ap-
parently no limit to his generosity
with our money. Congress had hard
ly finished giving Mr.. McAdoo the
power to spend public money at his
own discretion, when $2O0,O0O,OOO
was handed over in one lump to j. p.
Morgan 6 Co. to pay half of the
credit that firm had extended to Eng
land. We understand that the re-
naming $200,000,0 900 will come out
of our public treasury to pay off the
Morgan concerns claims upon the
British treasury. Now, no matter
how anxious we should be to bolster
up England and the other allies, COM
mon sense tells us that there is a
limit to this dispersion of our money
which cannot be passed, unless we
want to bankrupt and fatally weaken
our own country. We cannot wage
our own war and carry England and
all the rest of the world upon our
backs. Nor ought we to be asked to
DO it, The German Empire went into
this war with less than one-half the
wealth of England and France. Ger
many has managed to get along with
out help. France is not begging us
for billions. We do not understand
why England, with much more wealth
and income than either Germany or
France, must be handed a scoop
shovel and be told to help herself to
our money. 1t was only last Friday
that Lloyd George and Lord Curzon
told Parliament that England would
come out of the war with navy
larger than all the combined navies
of the world and with q larger mer-
camille navy than she had in 1914.
1t seems to us that there is somethinS
in that worth thinking about. If the