South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-08-16
49, - u -
Tells Personal Record

answer challenge of some repub-
hcan state district papers 10 explain
here why the National Security
league a self-constituted know-all
OF legislation and stool pigeon OF
opposition proclsims that voted
wrong on FIVE OF the eight priu-
cipal preparedness bills" as DO calls
them and failed 10 vote on one {
did not vote wrong voted right
Four Of these votes against amend
ing pending bills. were cast long be-
fore Germany forced MS into the
war. when our country was neutral
and hoped 20 remain So voted
for the bills as they were unani-
mously framed 0y the members OF
/ the military and naval affairs COM
mittees. with the approval OF the
war and navy departments. and as
! signed by the president. These votes
were cast long before the last cleo
ton and since which time the PEG
\ pie have reelected both president
| Wilson and myself on our records
/ The so-calleJ Cooper bill 10 pre-
Vent our ships from carrying arms
and munitions TO the nghtins coun-
tries in Europe, for which I voted
a year before war was declared
was IN harmony with the neutrality
rule Of nations which has always
decreed that neutral ships shall not
carry cOntraband Of war as such &C
tion is bound 10 be considered un-
( friendly acts by one or the other of
the fighting nations did not vote
L..
naval bill, in June. 1916. because
was i'm a Baltimore hospital at the
bedside of my dying wife. but
I would have voted against IL for
Sec'y OF the Navy Daniels and the
naval affairs committee did not ap-
prove the amendment and their
wisdom has given our country the
greatest and most efficient navy H.
the world regardless of the sneer~
and jeers of the extremists who
wanted our country Germanized
with militarism As to the Kahn
Consumption amendment the con-
gressional record. in its report OF
my speech and vote. speaks for my
consistent course. The military az
fairs committee prepared the CON
/ scription bill with a provision for
the volunteer privileges before the
draft I was in favor OF that for il
would afford both volunteer and
draft plans Mr. Kahn presented
his amendment 10 make the iraft
| enectual at once and without the
volunteer privilege and voted
against IL iu the committee. and FOR
e. a
but when the bill came into the
house for adoption. L voted for it,.
with the Kahn amendment in it..
: for We had 10 have an army and
/ have il quickly But the wisdom
( and justice of permitting all 10 vol
uuteer who wanted TO do so and as
II voted IN the committee of the
whole 20 DO. was afterward sane
toned by the war department so
that all who wanted to volunteer
had the privilege Was / right or
was / wrong i'm voting 10 have the
volunteer draft law formed as it
was afterward administered
leave that TO all fair minded men %
answer
Political Complainers.
If this does not explain TO the
republican editors and their COM
planning ally, the National Security
league, then they are opposed TO me
because I stood with our admins
tration 10 avoid this horrible war.
IF possible. by all honorable means
land precautions and then. when we
had TO fight 10 protect our people
and our country. ] stood with the
administra ton in its every step 10
prosecute the war 10 the earliest and
most successful conclusion Tt ,se
political GROWERS AGAINST whatey -
has been done are like the trouble
hunting citizen who said ne would
kick the table upside down If his
wife didn't have supper ready when
he got home and then kicked it
over because she disappointed him
by having IL ready.
Political complainers have ried TO
lay all sorts of obstacles in the way
of the successful prosecution of the
war by the administration. A year
ago. one OF their foremost leaders
declared we ought 10 have forty
thousand soldiers in France By the
first OF the year We had more
than twice that number there by
that time Then the fault finders
said we ought 10 have a half a mil
lion soldiers in France 10y July first
and we had more than q million
there by that time and were sendins
more at the rate of three thousand
a month our own Sen. New de-
clared i'm a senate speech that We
would have less than forty fly!ng
machines in action by July first. and
the war and navy heads report more
than 200 i'm service AT that time
r They acclaimed both Sec'y Of the
. Navy Daniels and Sec'y Of War
F Baker failures and said that our
I Military establishment had fallen
down and ceased 20 function Blu,
these war and navy heads de-
uounced as failures, have sent a
/, million and a half soldiers 20
, France in the past year. with sup
) plies and munitions TO support them
and Notwithstanding the treacher-
{ Gus and murderOus German subma
rines that seek 70 destroy our sol
b diers and their supplies only III
+ soldiers have been lost al sea ard
/, only fragmentary per cent OF mil