New Britain herald., 1917-04-06
WHAT IT MEANS.

in the day. ahead. When grim war visits any land there must necessar- fly be suffering and sacrifice. This has been ever in ,'. minds of nose whose duty it is to protect this ,;,tion from harEl. This thought has ever been uppermost with those whose rcsponsi- bility is greater than that of mere cit izens The men at the head of the na- tional Government, from the Prcsi- dent down. have not been desirous of rushing ,headlong into war, whether 1t was to be war with Mexico or any Eu- ropean power. They exercised pn- ticnce so long as it w;ls compatible with the duties imposed upon them. When the limit of patience was reached they did what the honor of the nation demanded of them. The President has called attention to the long list of crimes committed against this government and it's people by the Imperial German government. He has pointed out that these offenses are in no Way the fault of tho German people. They are attributed to : the Prussian autocracy. the Hohenzollern dynasty which cares for no one or no people so long as it's own selfish ends are worked
 The people of the United States have been ever peaceful in their ways. They have wanted war with no nation on earth, at no time in their national existence. Every war that was fought by this nation, with the possible ex- ception of the Mexican war, has been a just war, and wagcd with justice ever present on the side of the United of conquest fought by the United States. There has never been a war of dominion waged by it's sons. What ever territory that has accrued to this government because of any wars it has conducted was afterwards pur- chased and paid for with good red gold. Even after the war with Spain, a war that was not brought on by the United States, the previous enemy found friend in this country, friend that was generous enough to spend millions for territory acquired by the sword. There is no nation in Europe with such a record. There is not an- other nation anywhere on the globe with such . history. If, at the end of the war with Germany, that nation needs friend. it is safe to say, now that the United States will be the first to offer the hand of help and do all in its power to sooth the wounds of war.
 Peace is precious thing. As the dark days of the future loom up, 1t grows more precious. But there are things even greater than peace, and without which there would be no use living on this sordid old earth. The people of this nation have learned to hold Democracy as their dearest treasure. Any crimes against it must be taken as a warning that it is in danger. All the assaults that have ever been conducted against it during the past two and half years have been deliberately lcvelled by the au- tocratic government of Germany. As the people of this country believe in the right of the people to have hand and 8 voice in their own government they have raised up against the mon sster that threatens their very liberty. And in taking the stand they do, they manifest a willingness tq fight for the tights of other people. They are will ing to fight the Hohenzollerns of Ger many that the people of Germany may enjoy the fruits of war for Democ- racy, what though the people of Ger many are unwittingly fighting the battles Of the royalty. There are no sons of the Kaiser in danger of death from bullets. There has not been one of his six killed to date. It is not the business of the Emperor and his off, cial imperial advisors to fight. It is their Divine Right to direct the fight ing, so we arc told. These are the things against which the American people now protest. So long as the Emperor of Germany kept his fight ing machines where they belonged, so long as they did not injure the lives of American men, women and chill dren, innocent non-combatants, the American people had no right to com plain. When the slaughter of inno- cents took place on the high seas they could prove true to their country in
 no other way than to resent these
 murders. It may be that in doing so