Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-12
THE ISSUES IN 1861 AND 1917

WHEN Abraham Lincoln, the one hun
w dred and eighth anniversary Of whose
birth we are celebrating today, took
office on March T. 1881, he was confronted
by the Eravest crisis which had arisen
since the foundation Of the Union. II was
whether this nation was an indissoluble
union of sovereign States or a mere
temporary partnership to be dissolved at
the will Of any member.
In his inaugural address Lincoln said
~ hold that in contemplation of universal
law and of the Constitution, the Union of
these States is perpetual" Then with
irresistible logic he argued the point. The
Union antedated the Constitution. That
document was framed in express terms
by 'the people Of the United States in
order to form more perfect union" II
the right OF secession were admitted, the
Constitution would have made n less per.
feet union, for it would have opened the
way to the setting up of lot of petty
independent sovereignties.
The issue was clearcut. Lincoln boldly
met it by announcing his determination
to use all the means which the nation
would put at his disposal for asserting
the authority of the Federal Government
throughout all the States. And in con.
cluding his inaugural he addressed these
| pregnant words TO the South:
! In your hands. my dissatisfied fellow
| countrymen, and not in mine, is the
! momentous issue of civil war The
| Government will not assail you You
| can have no conflict without being your
selves tho aggressors. We
are not enemies. but friends. We must
not be enemies, Though passion may
have strained 1t must not break our
bonds of affection
We know what followed. The attempt
TO dissolve the Union failed, and the men
who led in that attempt lived to rejoice in
their failure. Every consideration of jus.
tice and cXpediency demanded that the
people who had begun the experiment of
free popular government here should
continue to work it out together under
one national sovereignty in order that we
might avoid the creation of lot of petty
States and open the way to the repetition
on this side OF the ocean Of the cOmpli.
cations which harass the peoples of
Europe. The conflict now waging there
vindicates the wisdom of Lincoln and OF
his associates.
The issue of 1917 is in its fundamentals
the issue of 1861 writ large on the map of
the world The United States has con-
tended from the beginning for the free.
dom of the seas. Her diplomatic history
is full of the record of negotiations in
which the right Of American ships to sail
not only the high seas, but the straits
,l,,
indenting foreign coasts, without let or
hindrance is asserted in no measured |
terms. We were at war with France for |
the last two years of the eighteenth cen.
tury because of French interference with |
our shipping. Our little fight with Tripoli |
was a shipping war. The War of 1912 |
was fought in order to defend our rights |
on the seas.
We insist that the seas are the high. |
ways of the nations, free on equal terms |
to all. While we admit with other ma
tions the right of belllgerents to block,
ade one anothers ports, we stand on the |
recognized principle of international law |
that a blockade to be recognized must
be effective It Is not sufficient for
belligerent to say that trade with a port
is interdcted. A force sufficient to pre-.
vent trade with that port must be sta.
toned near it.
Germany has announced that vir.
tually all the seas within four or five
hundred miles of the British coast are
closed to the merchant shipping of the
world that any vessel which enters that
area. save through a narrow lane specfi.
tod HIo |
fact that England has attempted to close
a smaller area In the North Sea where it
washes the German coast does not miti.
gate the enormlty of the German action.
II rather aggravates it.
There was only one course open for us,
and that was to protest against the action
of Germany and to stand ready to make
that protest effective, If our shipping
engaged in peaceful trade were inter.
fered with. Germany processes to be
1ghting for the freedom of the seas
while she is denying that freedom to the
nations. The United States is
defending the freedom of the seas; and
in this course is acting not only for the
protection OF the rights OF shipping to-
day, but for the right of our chidren's
children to use the salt waters freely in
common with all other nations in the
pursuit of their lawful occupations
The integrity Of the Union was In.
volved in the issues of 1861. The free.
dom of all maritime nations is involved
IN the issue of 1917. The theory that any
nation can plant itself athwart the great
water highways and say TO the rest of the
world, Thus far shalt thou go, and no
is intoerable.
Mr. Wilson has stated the American
position as clearly as Lincoln stated the
position of the believers in an indis.
soluble union.