Judsonia weekly advance., 1917-11-07

1t will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with moderation of counsel and a temper ateness of Judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feelings away Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vim dfcation of right, of human right of which we are only a single champion.
 When I addressed the congress on the 26th of February last I thought it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms. our right to use the seas against unlawful interference, our right to keep cur people safe against uniaw- fuI violence. But armed neutrality. it now appears. is impracticable. Because submarines are fin effect outlaws, when use as the German submarines have been used against merchant shipping, it is impossible to defend ships against their attacks, as the law of nations has assumed that merchantmen would de- lend themselves against prfvnteers or cruisers, visible raft giving chase up- on the open sea. 1t is common pru dence in such circumstances, grim nec- essity indeed, to endeavor to destroy them before they have shown their own intention. They must be dealt with up- on sight, If dealt with at ali.
 The German government denies the right of neutrals to use arms at all within the areas of the sea which it has prescribed even in the defense of rights which no. modern publicist has ever before questioned their right to defend. The intimation is conveyed that the armed guards which we have placed on our merchant ships will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with as pirates would be. Armed neutrality Is fneffec- at i'm cfr stances and in the face of such prcten- stOns 1t is worse than ineffectual; 1t is likely only to produce what 1t was meant to prevent, 1t Is practically cer- tain to draw us into war without either the rights or the effectiveness of the bel HSerents. There is one choice we can not make, we are incapable of making, We will not choose the path of submis- sion and suffer the most sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ig- nored or violated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves common wrongs; they cut to the very roots of human life.
 With profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking and of the grave respOnsf- bilities which 1t involves, but in un- hesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty. advise that the congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German government to be in fact nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States; that it formally ac cept the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust upon it; and that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense. but also to exert all it's power and employ all it's resources to bring the government of the German empire to terms and end the war.
 What this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost practicable CO., operation in counsel and action with the governments now at war with Ger many. and as incident to that. the ex tension to those governments of the most liberal financial credits in order that our resources may so far as pos sible be added to theirs.
 It will involve the organization and mobilization of all the material re- sources of the country to supply the materials of war and serve the inci- dental needs of the nation in the most abundant and yet the most economical and efficient way possible.
 It will involve the immediate full equipment of the navy in all respects. but particularly in supplying it with the best means of dealing with the enc my's submarines.
 It will involve the immediate addi- tion to the armed forces of the United States, already provided for by law in case of war. of at least 500,000 men. who should in my opinion. be chosen upon the principle of universal labil- ity to service and also the authoriza- tion of subsequent additional incre- ments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and can be handled in training.
 1t will involve also, of course, the granting of adequate credits to the ant ts.sx, as they can equitably be sustained by the present generation, by weIi-cOn- ceived 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 necessary, entirely on money borrowed. It is our duty. most respectfully urge, to protect people, far may, against the very serious hard ships and evils which would be likely to arise out of the imitation which would be produced by vast loans.
 In carrying out the measures by which these things are to he accom- plished we should keep constantly in mind the wisdom of interfering Iit- tie as possible in preparation and in the equipment of our own miIi- tary forces with the duty-fOr it will be very practical duty-Of supplying the nations already at war with Ger many with the materials which they can obtain only from or by our sfstance. They are in the field, and we should help them in every way to be effective there.
 I shall take the liberty of suggest ing, through the several executive de- partments of the government, for the consideration of your committees, measures for the accomplishment of the several objects I have mentioned I hope that 1t will be your pleasure to deal with them as having been framed after very careful thought by the branch of the government upon whom