Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1918-03-14
OVATION GREETS
DAVIES

which our country was a party as a
scrap Of paper under the excuse OF mill
tary necessity. 1t was this philosophy
which excused repeated violations of the
rules of the Geneva and Hague conven-
tions, of which Germany and our coun-
try were signers, by the massacre of en-
tire villages for the crimes or indiscre-
tons of a few, by the levying of fines
upon populations on account of the acts
of individuals, by the deportation and
enSlavement of civilian populations of
All these things are proved by the official
reports not only of this country. but of
Germany itself.
1T was this philosophy which con-
doned the wanton slaughter Of American
men, women and children aboard = re
Lusitania and made that tragedy through
deceit of the German people the occasion
for public celebration.
1T was this philosophy which at
tempted to impose upon this nation
which had fought to establish the free
dom of the seas in 1872, conditions, with
out color Of right, as to where our ships
and citizens must travel and to prescribe
the variegated dress our ships must
wear.
Forced to Protect Our Honor.
This war came to US in spite Of all
the patience that an honorable and self
respecting nation could sustain. 1t came
to us because we had to protect our
national honor-yes-but it also came to
US because we had to preserve our right
in the world to travel the seas without
let or hindrance and without fear that
we might take our crops, our metals and
our manufactured products wherever the
seas might find for us markets. 1t
came to us by reason Of a conviction
that these rights could not be sustained
unless we fought the fight on European
soil. for unless the fight were won there,
the fight would be upon the Atlantic sea-
board of our own country.
That this conviction was not born or
idle fancy is shown by the statement of
the kaiser to Ambassador Gerard in
1915: America had better look out aft
er this war. I shall stand no nonsense
from America after the war"
"It is~Our war now. 1t is a war. not
only to protect our material possessions,
to protect our rights on the high seas.
and to protect our homes and our con-
ceptiOns OF the rights of man; but it is
war to sustain the very fundamental
base OF civiIiZatiOn-tO sustain the rule
OF law in the world. 1t is war to sus-
tain Christian civilization, for the es-
sence of Christianity is that aItruism
and law as enunciated by the Son Of
God should be the ruling power of the
world instead of brute strength and
mere power OF might.
"Such philosophy and rulers guided by
1t would destroy the Christian eiviliza.
ton OF the world. For If such philoso:
ply wins, then the world will be ruled
by these Supermen, and all the rest VIII
be slaves. This fight means either Cal.
vary, the gospel Of the carpenter of Call
lee, or Corsica, the rule of the mailed fist
OF might and power.
Pays Tribute to Schurz
"This city of my birth was at one time
the home of one of our greatest Amerl-
cans, a great liberal and a great DEM
ocrat, Carl Schurz have been inter-
ested in reading his memoirs. There are
passages from his book which describe
the Prussian military rulers of his youth
in such a way that one might believe
he were today reading descriptions or
the War-mad rulers of the imperial gov
eminent of Germany His description or
the persecution which the friends of lib
erty and German unity had to bear at
the hands of monarchists and autocratS
is intensely interesting, for it pictures
the beginning of this system which now
endangerS the world.
His description Of his escape by MD
ing in sewer, his description of his
rescue Of his liberal friend, the college
professor, from the fortress or mill
tary power, gave one graphic appre-
citation of why German liberals came to
this free country. Any man cannot
read the memoirs OF carr Schurz put
that his whole spirit would rise today
against the horrible power which a utlll-
tartan and monarchfcal system is seek
ing to impose upon the world. And you,
Fmy friends and fellow citizens OF Ger
man birth and descent who l know in
this community, would share with him
the hatred of that system of government
which so many of you came to this
country to avoid
Il feel | know that in the hearts of
every man here there burns conVlc-
ton that this pernicious system or
thought of the ruling classes, OF Ger
many must be destroyed for the future
of the world and the safety of democ-
What, then. is the situation? To
win this war is the first big job that
tC q 9
that the country has before it. Let us
not deceive ourselves. 1t is big task.
1t will require all of our united and best
effort To do it will require that we
gether for the one big task. To do the
job right there must be no division of
counsel or party This undertaking is
vital to our country and the welfare
in hazard.
1T is a tremendous problem which
confronts us. We must organize and
equip our man power. We must build
and furnish ships in greater volume.
1t must equip the second line of our de-
Tense. Our industrial conditions must
be made fair. Our consumers must be
protected. Labor must be given its
full share in profits of production. Its
standard of living must be kept high,
commensurate with what American Ia
Dor should be- These things require the
united and best effort and genius of our
country. To do these things demands
that the nation must be as a unit with
your president and my president, our
commander-in-chi of the army and the
navy. There is only one duty in such
situation; that duty is to sustain the
constituted authorities Of the nation in
this war.
IF there be criticism it must be help
full and constructive criticism. Mistakes
perhaps have been made and more will
be made, for men otherwise would not be
human. Never in the history of the
country has so great an intelligence and
so great devotion to the public interest
been manifest in public work by men of
all parties, as has been displayed in
Washington during the war. Honest
and fair criticism is welcome, but the
test should be crucial one as to wheth-
er the criticism was directed in good
faith by those who desire to aid the war
or made by those who desire to hinder
the successful prosecution of the coun-
try'S aims.
Freedom of Speech not Limited.
"We must not forget that while the
guarantees of the constitution should be
religiously preserved, at the same time
they should never be permitted to be-
come shelter for SeditiOn and treason.
There is not man who does not believe
in the right of freedom of speech. The
government of the United States has
imposed no restriction upon the freedom
of speech. The people of the United
States through their representatives
have imposed restrictions upon treason
and reasonable speech. Freedom is not
license. Conditions make the ease. A
man may call fire in an open street with
impunity. but a false cry of fire in a
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