The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-03
HENRY CLEWS
 WEEKLY LETTER

WEEKLY LETTER
 War Is seemingly g. foregone con- lclusaon: e war into which the United States is driven entirely against its win by ruthless disregard of Its neu- tral rtghts. and by final recognition that we. too, must join the Allies m | the worldwide struggle for political freedom. As in all great social or po- lftscal upffeavals, the issues are hagn- Jlv complex. Each nation is apparent tly fighting for some individual pur- tpoee. yet underneath these movements ithere Is . common object which plnos the Allies together, that of democracy against autocracy, or government oA the people by the people Tor the people, as opposed to government oi the State by the State for the state. ITO such. policy there can De ohiy ono end If popular government IS to survive, and that is complete oe1ea1 and abolition of an autocracy based upon militarism. The greatest auto cracy In tho world has already fallen,
 
 to the will of the people if we are to have a, lasting peace. The country Is lnov facing one of the greatest crisis ESn lis history in 2. calm and confident i ssnirtt. President Wilson Is expect 1 cd to deliver a forceful message be- fore Congress There is every reason to expect an early declaration that a l state of war exists. Public opinion, ithouxh reluctant about entering into tho conflict with Germany, Is now overwhelmingly behind the President; and the war, If 1t si to be, will be IenerEetically prosecuted to a success ful conclusion. Those who anticipate anything to the contrary, will be grossly mistaken. Plans for conduct sin4 the war have been silently per lfected far more thoroughly than gen orally supposed. The first step will without doubt be the calling of large ibodies of men to create a new army, the size of which is not yet known The method of financing is also a se- cfet thus far, though 1t is believed Ethat a loan of $1,000,000,00 3 per cent. bonds will be promptly an- nounced. Beyond question this will be immediately taken, our resources being relatively unlimited and patrio- tism q powerful incentive. There Is also much talk of a similar govern 1nent loan or credit to the Allies. It is recognized that we can aid the lat ter most effectively by intelligent CO operation and by providing ample funds and munitions. To curtail the Allies supplies of these would assist the enemy, prolong the war and ag- grava.te our own difficulties. More or less excitement may be expected during the early stages of the con -clict, but the country will soon ad- Just itself to the new situation and settle down to a quiet determination to see 1t through. It is true some sporadic disturbances may be expect ed from fanatics; but there is reason to believe that the great body of Ger mans will quietly accept the inevit- fable, while far-reaching arrangements have been perfected for maintaining internal order throughout the coun- try, so that any outbreak will certain [ly be sternly dealt with. The great tmass of Germans can undoubtedly be relied upon to discourage any disloyal activities. As for peace prospects, much depends upon the campaign of the next six months, as well as the
 
 tinued German reverses and q poor wheat crop for the Central Powers would assuredly mean an early end to the war.
 The present crisis will profoundly change our foreign relations and a new era will open with the beginning of hostilities Whether we like it or not, the time-honored policy of isola- ton in foreign affairs will depart for ever, never to return; so hereafter we will be an influential member of the family of nations, and must courage 0usly assume the duties and responsi- bilities that we have too frequently been inclined to shirk. Our attention at the moment is mainly occupied with preparations for war; yet we must not overlook the new foreign relationships that peace will force us : into. The United States will take an important part in the council cham ber when the new terms of peace are discussed, and commercial relations between the various nations, especi- ally the Allies. will prove very inn portant factor in the discussion. Many new treaties will follow, new tariffs will be made, old ones revised and the whole order or international exchanges will of necessity undergo great changes. Even before these things happen, we will find ourselves committed by events beyond our con- trol to closer intimacies or interde- pendencies with Europe. Our inn mense new investments in foreign se- curities, the large credits we have re- cently given foreign governments and the probability of our making still larger ventures of this sort all tend rope, to set free new economic forces country away from its old policy of isolation. The once popular cry of NO entangling alliances" was suited to former conditions, and the more careful we are about forming inter | national compacts the better, and there should be no secret traaties. But the underlying reality of . common interest and interdependence between ourselves and other nations cannot be ignored, and the unseen ties which are thus created will prove even more ! binding and safer than any formal treaties. New policies should be made as liberal as possible. Restric- tions upon commerce should be kept at the lowest possible point, and all
 efforts at retaliation and discrimina- ton should be discouraged at the start; for, in politics as in trade, lib- erty of opinion and freedom of actions , is the surest road to peace and pros-
 perity.
 Stock Exchange activity has been