Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-04-05

| trine and 1 never shall. I have stood
behind him when I believed him right,
and l shall continue to oppose him
when 1 believe him wrong"
Senator La Toilette read a sheaf of
| kilograms reporting straw vote" post
card and other polls in various COM
nun opposing war. He declared
that of $4,000 or 10000 letters and tele-
grams he had received regarding his
vote on the armed ship bill from so to
20 per cent had approved his stand.
ne senator's who opposed the armed
! "scurrilousIy 1ibeled" In the news
papers. he declared, contrary to the
spirit OF fairness which once pervaded
| the nation.
Senator La Toilette declared that the
sentiment OF the poor against war
would make itself heard. land hope
| IN peaceful and orderly way. and be-
fore long. when, II we take this step,
! prices of necessities will multiply and
| they viii come to be taxed double
| again and again." If vote were taken
! among the American people. he insist
| ed. it would show ten to one against
I war.
Says Britain Is to Blame.
| Senator La Toilette charged that the
blame for the present situation was due
| to Great Britain and not to Germany.
He said that Great Britain had disre-
J garded absolutely the declaration of Lon
| don and thereby upset the whole fabric Of
| international law relating to naval war
| fare. He said that she had declared to
| be contraband. articles, such as food not
destined for the armed forces of bel
| ligerent. as contrabaud, even when ship
| ped to neutral port from a neutral port
| Her purpose, he said, had been to starve
| the German civilian population and to
/ ruin neutral trade.
! He quoted from an identic note sent
by Bryan, when Secretary of State, to
\ inv n1 Rrtf in ", b;rI,
| both nations were asked to agree to the
| following:
| 1. Neither side to SOW floating mines.
| 2. Neither side to use submarines to
| attack merchant vessels, except with the
! accepted visit and search requisite.
3. Neither side to use flags of neutral
/ nations as a war ruse.
Germany Would Have Accepted.
| Germany. he said. would have accept
ed these conditions. Great Britain re-
| fused. Great Britain. therefore. he
| charged with precipitating the situa-
| ton now confronting the United States
He said that Great Britain had seized
merican mails unlawfully: had seized
i American mails unlawfully; had seized
citizens and pressed them into her own
service. Ensland's mining of the
/ North sea. free to commerce under in
ternational law. in November. 1914, was
a violation of neutral rights
| This country. he said. had acquiesced
in the action Of Great Britain in min
| ing the North sea.
| when we did that" said Senator La
| Toilette. I'VE became pledged to treat
Germany in the same way, and to ac-
| auiesce If she declared barred zone
| We should not treat one belligerent
differently from another. / was about
to say that no American Congress
would dare to make war on such a
| ground.
] 1.-The administration has proceeded
| on the principle that it could enforce to
the last degree the letter of the law
absolutely lax in enforcing the law
against the other"
Senator Williams Reply.
Senator Williams of Mississippi took
the floor when Senator La Toilette
| yielded IT.
THE speech of the senator from Wis
! consin would have become Herr Won
Bethmann Hollweg more than a sena-
tor of the United States" said Senator
Williams Il expected. as he went
took his seat a defense Of the invasion
of Belgium. I heard his pro-German-
almost pro-Vandal and pro-Goth-
speech. 1t was anti-President, anti
Congress, anti-American. Even Holl-
veg did not have the audacity to say
what the senator from Wisconsin has
| said.
Instead of his great praise of the
Germans he might have praised the
American people.
| "a little common sense is a valuable
! thing. Will you tell me that / have
got to be kicked a second, a third and
| even a fourth time. and then be noti-
| fed, before 1 am to fight?
Who Has Brought on War.
"It is not the President, nor Con-
1 gress, nor the American people who
/ have brought on this war, but the