Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1917-03-30
IFFom this weeks issue Of tho

lllSu w Ollu.
AT this moment we are passing
through a crisis such as no American
Under fifty faced before. In that far
off Spring Of 1861, the country was
en- the verge Of war. The Union OF
States, which had made of weak and
disjointed political entities a great
and powerful nation, was threatened
with dissolution. The manhood Of
the North was summoned to defend
1t with their lives. The response
was worthy of the great issue that
was at stake From the cities, towns.
villages and farms the youth of the
land came hurrying to the defense of
the flag. For four years the patriotic
ardor evoked by Abraham Lincoln's
appeal to his countrymen to defend
the integrity Of the Union remained
unabated. Here and there there
there were some towards and slack
ers, like Elihu Root and Joseph
Choate, but the great mass Of the
American people showed themselves
willing to fight and die for the per-
petuation of the political institutions
that had made America what she
was 1t was this firm and unswerv-
ing resolution of Lincoln's plain peo-
pie that made possible the victory
that crowned that four years armed
struggle
And now in these opening days of
the Spring Of 1917 we are face to
face with q warlike situation similar
to that the patriotic saviors Of the
Union fronted in April, 1861. But
how different are the incentives
offered to the youth of the land to
leave their homes and risk their lives
in n foreign land fighting, not in the
defence Of their native country, but
in the interest Of foreign govern
ment. There is no Disgusting the
fact that if the United States be
dragged into the European war, it
will he because a merccnary press,
subsidized by English gold, has been
poisoning the wells Of public opinion
England and her agents on this side
Of the Atlantic want the fghting
strength and financial resources Of
the Republic placed at the service OF
the Entente Powers. Even before
Congress has decided that the coun-
try shall go to war, a demand has
been made that a half million Of
Young Americans shall be shipped to
France to fight for England in the
trenches
Whilst precious American blood is
to be poured out like water, 1t is pro-
posed that a billion dollars shall be
handed ever to England to stave off
temporarily the bankruptcy now
threatening her, Bonds bearing
three per cent interest are to be is
sued to secure this loan A billion
dollars represent the present nation
al debt Of the United States. So that
we are asked to double the national
debt to help England out of the
financial difficulties in which she
finds herself in consequence of her
Intellectual attempts to conquer Ger
many, her much dreaded and much
hated trade rival in the markets of
the world If the Declaration Of In
dependence had never been written,
and if this country were still a Brit
ish colony, could more be expected
of US? And yet patriotic Americans
in Congress and outside the walls OF
Congress are branded by shameless
press as guilty of treason to the Re-
public, because they are unwilling TO
see their country occupying such
humiliating position.
Last week persons who hold this
view Of treason had foregathering
here in New York. For days before
their meeting at Madison Square
Garden It was advertised in the daily
press by lamboyant notices. Elihu
Root was the principal speaker No
more unfit person could have been
selected to urge young Americans to
fight for their country than this same
Elihu Root. In the dark days OF our
Civil War he skulked at home whilst
young men Of his own age were brav-
ing the perils of battle from Bull
Run to Appomattox. When "war
smoothed his wrinlSled front" Elihu
Root lent his professional services to
Boss Tweed to enable the latter to
plunder the City of New York. Later
on he piled UP a fortune by becom-
ing the hired servant OF predatory
corporations.
This is the man who now has the
audacity to preach patriotism to his
fellow countrymen, who are asked by
him to approve of a proposed war
which, IL it comes, will be waged for
England. Here are one or two ex-
tracts from the Madison Square Gar
den speech of the man who refused
to fight for his country In the hour
Of its deadliest peril: X hate war
but ! welcome the coming Of the in
cvitable at the beginning. | don't
want TO defend my house by putting
off an attack during the brief minutes
] can spend under the bed" AS one
who, fguratively speaking, spent
four years under the bed at the time
his country was fighting for its very
existence, Elihu Root can claim to
speak as an expert on under-the-bed
tactics
But the audacity of Ellhu Root in
asking the young men of today to do
for England what he himself refused
to do for his native land in '61, is
surpassed by his effrontery in pro-
claiming that we owe our safety to
the protection Of the armies and
navies Of the Allies! We quote his
own words: There is no nation on
eaTth--not England, nor France, nor
Belgium, nor Italy, nor Russia with
greater stake in the success Of the
Allies in this war against German
militarism than the United States
We are able to hold this peaceful
meeting with few weak explosions