French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1918-06-06
WHY THE UNITED STATES
is AT WAR WITH GERMANY.

war;
"In vain the Dove of Peace has tried
To end the cruel strife:
TheVulture of the East seeks naught
Save blood and human life.
The Tyrant, from his far off seat,
Has flung his challenge wild.
His armies, merciless, have spared
Nor man, nor beast, nor child.
From over head his human birds
Drop bombs (where none resist)
To still the breast of harmless ones,
(But why should they be missed?)
Beneath the waters of the sea,
His fish of metal hide,
And strew with wreckage ev'ry where
The oceans bosom, wide.
And now and then in peaceful guise,
His grey hounds scent their prey,
And loose their masked fangs of steel,
And shoot, and sink, and slay.
And now the Tyrant grows more rash,
The whole wide world defies;
Nor Justice. Mercy. Peace nor Right
Can move him by their cries.
Aroused, the Dove no longer mourns;
1t thrills from toe to crest,
And 10, the Dove of Peace is now
The Eagle of the West.
The Dove CHATS now ar eagle free)
Scars screaming in the air,
And bids the nation, GREAT and strong,
Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!
Hurrah! Hurrah! The work goes OF!
Nor shall it ever rest,
Till low the Vulture lies beneath
The Eagle of the West"
Why do we fight Germany? eve
have no selfish ends to serve. We de-
sire no conquests. no dominion. We
seek no indemnities for ourselves, no
material compensation" Then, whv
are we ready to sink billions of dol
lars without one dollar of return,
when not n foot of territory will be
added to our domain? Why are we
ready to sacrifice thousands of u
young men, the very flower of our
young manhood?
The answer is easily given. An an
swer which gives US our highest war
rant of war by every law of nations.
even the most narrow, and by every
natural law, for self defense is Ma
lures first law. We are fighting in
self defense, we are resisting inva-
SION. We are fighting now in France.
that we may not have to fight later in
America We are fighting with help
now, that we may not fight without
later. "Plans have been formed and
printed, by men of military rank. for
an invasion of America"
"Can we doubt it when GERMANY
stands self confessed? America had
better look out after the warp
Three weeks to Paris, three months
to London, three years to New York"
Out of her w mouth she stands
condemned, and by her confession do
we stand justified. Our liberty is in
peril, our democracy is in danger,
our nation is threatened, our flag, Old
Glory, is lnsulted, our honor is af-
fronted.
The evidence of Germany's bad
faith and hostile intent is piled up on
every hand. Her bubbles, misrepre-
s~entatlcns and counter accusations,
to our protests against her methods
of warfare and disregard of rights of
Neutrals. No friendly nation fills an
other with spies, subsidies neWspa-
pers to stir up internal discord, nor,
while protesting friendship, plots and
conspires to make war. Yet, "the I'm
perial German Government" "flled
u unsuspecting communities with
vicious spies and conspiritors." Her
agents spread sedition amongst our
people, and, by violence, sought to
destroy our industries and arrest our
commerce. Insurrection was stirred
up in Cuba, Haiti, and San Domingo;
hatred and distrust was aroused in
Latin America Mexico was melted to
attack US; and German intrigue
sought to embroil US in wal with ia
pan. Our hospitality was abused and
violated, our turst betrayed, our
honor insulted. "The flag under
which we serve would have been dis
honored had we held our hand"
Then, came the attacks of subma-
rines upon the lives and property of
citizens. Ship after ship
was sent to the bottom. "Ships of
mercy bound out of America for the
Belgian notwithstanding food and
clothing to friendly, harmless, terror
lied people; ships flying the Stars and
Stripes, sent to the bottom hundreds
of miles from shore, manned by
seamen, murdered against
all law, without warming" In May,
1915, the Lusitania was sunk with
one hundred and fourteen Amrican
lives lost. On August 10, 1915, the
Arabia was sunk, three American
lives lost. September 4, 1915, the
one American lost; Octo-
Der, 1916, The Marina, eight Ameri-
lost; December IA, 1915, Rus
sian, seventeen Americans lost; Feb
ruary 26, 1917, Laconia, eight Ameri-
cans lost; March 16, 1917, Vigilancia,
five Americans lost; March p, 1917,
Healdten, seven Americans lost;
April 1, 1917, Aztec, twenty-eight