The Washington times., 1917-12-08

ave, the people of the United
States Of America, in Congress as.
sembled," declared another war yes
terday. The operation was com
pleted, to all intents and purposes
at a quarter Of 4 o'clock p. m.
It was done with the best of good
feeling by all concerned-for all
concerned.
Mr.. Gillett Of Massachusetts is
opposed to war, as such, but in fa-
vor Of its enforcement wherever the
United States is concerned in it.
He may agree that the best Of good
feeling is an improvement on the
habits of the original cave man Of
the Stone Age. In declaring war,
the cave man painted one side Of his
face black and the other red. He
then showed heroic emotion by
calculations" As a rule, his "ejaeu-
lations" were Whoops, punetuated by
swinging his stone ak and -leaping
into the air as high as possible.
Then he "ululated." This Is a polite
way Of saying that he ended the
proceedings with a howl, intended to
be hair-raising.
When Eve, the people Of the
United States, in Congress assem-
bled," declared war yesterday there
was no hint of this sort of thing.
1t was the best-mannered, most
considerate, humane, and aItogeth-
er courteous declaration of war in
tie history Of the world since Co
lumbus discovered America. And
before that, there was nothing like
it back to the time the records
of civilization" begin with the pic
lures on the wall Of that famous
cave in France where cave men are
supposed to have held war con-
crosses about 10000 years before
Adam. So, even a slight suggestion
Of how we made this great improve
nent in history ought to be well
coined to the list Of the other world
records we have broken.
In the House, the Committee of the
and directing the Presi-
dent to use the resources of the
United States, military and civil,
against Austria Hungary was the
order of business after the reading
Of the Journal.
After a delay Of a, quarter OF an
hour on the noint Of Hno quorum"
the program opened and was car
red out in Committee Of the Whole
House, with Mr.. Garrett Of Tennes- I
see in the chair.
Chairman Flood, of the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, and Mr.. |
Cooper (Republican) of Wisconsin, |
Tor the same committee, as general
manager, gave complete satisfaction |
TO all present, both on the floor and |
in the galleries. The galleries were !
well filled. Perhaps some in the !
galleries, who had never seen a war
declared, expected something differ
ent, but thev were soon convinced !
that our way is the best possible.
Except for Mr.. Meyer London, Of
New York, Socialist, there was COM
plete unity. Mr. London did not |
really interfere with 1t, or try to do |
10. He merely squared his record
as the Lonesomest Man In America.
To summarize this unity as 1t was
and forcibly expressed on
he floor, 1t was American through
out.
In American unity, II we belong to
he party outside the War Adminis-
tration, we know we have one
chance ut the next election, as
against q war party In administra-
Ion. We must Get to the Front
little ahead Of the Administration,
[ possible, but never behind It.
Hence IN Congress Assembled, with
unity between Democrats and Re-
,ublicRns complete, We supported the
President on both sides with equal
though some Of u were
anxious TO do even more! In this
,aSo. Wa would have liked b include
Bulgaria and Turkey, but we post
,onad that for fear OF embarrassing
he President aE commRnder-in-chief
" tho army and navy. Not being
ave men We were calm, but. we
Ihowed we were holding ourselves
,Aek for tho Presidents sake.
This distinction, which made no
Inference at all 10 the result, ran
through the speeches, with only an
'oaasionAl variation,
In opening, Mr.. Cooper gave the
'ecoN Of Austro-H Hungarian subma-
-ine attacks on American vessels,
that a state Of war actually
lad existed for many month";, Such
lets on the high seas, being fully as
hostile as an armed invaalon Of our
erritory, the declaration Of war be-
iane merely q matter Of form,
Beyond the matter Of form, Mr..
1eepeF added a second Feason-the
IreeAt need Of italy for help, The
Italians need help, he said, not only
o regain the territory they have
ost, but to "march In triumph to
fienna," This was understood as
meaning the possibility of American
roops seon to be in Italy, as well as