The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-04

that new conditions call for a readjust-
 folly ot try to live in the belief of the
 past that the map of Europe can be
 made and remade without it's having any
 material interest to America.
 The good old days of the sailing vessel
 has rassed, and with it went glimmer-
 ing the theory that European happen
 of us who had the Atlantic between us
 Barrier. To still live in such a fools
 raradise is but to play the ostrich and stick our heads in the sands and thereby
 hope to hide from those who seek to
 pluck cur feathers for their own adorn-
 ment.
 do not see how any thinking man
 can fail to see in the light of past events
 that Germany had made up her mind
 sooner or later to put what Bismarck called "the insolent Monroe Doctrine to
 the test" And her hour for doing it
 will arrive unless she is beaten in this present war. We might as well under stand this now and give over the fond dclusion that the Atlantic is our best
 protection from any such design.
 England's strength for centuries was
 that she was girt about with water, and so could sit still in the tight little isle while Europe battled, and at the end when tired and exhausted step in and get something for herself, because she had furnished money or men with out, in fact, having to nay appreciable extent imperiled her herself. A care- full student of history can find out how she profted by continental wars without having to bear the real brunt of the 
 The thing l am trying to lead up to by was in itself a fair guarantee for the security of American shores from hostile aggression from overseas; that today it is hardly more protective to us than is the channel to England. This so far as we are concerned, is one of Iu6 STC4ltSl JcSSOuS Ol lHc WdI, anu forever puts an end to our great Amer ican doctrine of isolation, which kept us free from world alliances.
 The appearance of the German subma- rine off the coasts of America was a rude awakening to the comforting sense of peace which had made such a large part of our people indifferent about German aggressions In Europe. The pop call of the German commander at one of our ports before the war had shaken us out of our neutrality was a bit more than ! dramatic surprise, for it shook us out of our self-composure and brought home the unpalatable fact that our dream of | was at an end. The Lusitania md other incidents soon drove home the ,act that we had better get in condition to nip undersea visits in the bud or l we would always have before us the nightmare of invasion
 England has learned the lesson that | lie channel has become little more than l river, and her long opposition to hav- ng it tunneled for fear that it might | offer way for European troops to land | 'n British soil, has passed or is passing. i ind she has many times wished during l he past few years that it had been 1 roors safely over to France without | he menace of the submarine which has | 'evolutionized the whole theory of na- Tal warfare, and is at present literally | levouring the worlds commerce
 A self-contained and self-supporting | America is now thing of the past. l Without in anyway wishing it we have become a world power. The simple fact l hat a nation cannot live to itself alone | ,as been borne in on us in as unmistak- | ible way as that mo man can live | into himself alone' The old question as | Q who is our neighbor is becoming more ar-reaching every day. and We can no orger hug to our bosom the fact that | t is our mission to continually play | he role of tho good Samaritan. We are l % busy without our own wounds, and l
 hey are not merely to our national l ,yide, for each day the Hun gets closer 1 o our shores. The undersea robbers have | ,illaged our ships and bruised and killed | 'ur own precious loved ones.
 It has long passed the diplomatic | tage. The question of intentional in- | ult has been sufficiently answered to | atisfy even the most extra pacifist. | We have had ample proof of the fact | hat the hypocritical Bernstorff, in of- | ering an apology for the submarine war are that sent to watery graves Amer | can lives in days of neutrality was but | Q give the Kaiser time to build more | md deadlier undersea craft in order to 1 'e ready to throw the gauntlet of de- nance into the face of our patient l President and conduct ruthless cam ,aign which has shocked the world by | ts utter disregard of civilized methods. |
 Yet in spite of this there is in this | ountry men and women who are busy i with and underground propa ganda that America had no right to abandon her at- ! itude of neutrality. There should be no left in American sentiment. was Germany's dream The Kaiser had counted on the German American to keep this country out of f he war One of his chief counsellors lad thrown it into Ambassador Gerard's eeth that 500,000 of them would spring o arms to have his bluff called bv it of American humor that bit deep. when he replied that there were more amp posts in his country than that. -et's bring to light the neutrals If they Ire foreigners, they should be interned, |