Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-04-25
WE ARE FIGHTING A CON-
SPIRACY, NOT A NATION


before one can decide whether the
- United States should declare war on
Bulgaria and Turkey one should get
clearly in his mind what we are fighting
against.
We declared war first against "The
Imperial Government of Germany" Then
we declared war on the Austro Hungarian
Government. But as a matter Of fact
we are not making war on this Govern
ment or on that, but on conspiracy in
which is included Bulgaria and Turkey
as well as Germany and Austria
Hungary.
We cannot say that we have no quar-
rel with Turkey or that we are on
friendly relations with Bulgaria, because
the facts are against it. These two
nations are just as much our enemies as
is Germany. They are part of the con-
spiracy. They are in the league to
extend German domination over the
world. Their troops are fighting the
armies Of the Entente Allies. They are
giving all the aid and comfort possible
to our enemies.
This is so evident that no high school
pupil can fail to see it if his attention
is attracted to the matter. No one in
Washington is ignorant of it, though
there has been disposition in the Senate
to indulge in sophistical discussion about
the friendly relations between the United
States and the allies of our enemies.
Senator Knox, leading those who want
to face the issue squarely, has had the
courage to offer a resolution directing
the Committee on Foreign Relations TO
ask the President why a declaration of
war against these two allies of Germany
is rot desirable There must be enough
clearthinking men in the Senate to pass
the resolution.
1t did not need the discussion on it to
inform us that the Bulgarian minister in
Washington is in a position to get infor-
nation about what we are doing. He is
not charged with being a spy. He is not
spy, but is the honored guest of the
Government of the United States. His
mail is guaranteed free passage to
Europe under the ordinary safeguards
for the correspondence of diplomatic
agents. 1t is his duty to inform his Gov
ernment what is going on here. He
would be unfit for his office if he did not
give his Government all the information
which he thought would be in any way
useful to it in its prosecution of the war
against the Entente Allies, which means
in the war against us.
To say that we are not one Of the
Entente Allies is merely to quibble. 1t
was at our suggestion that a supreme
commander of the Allied armies was
appointed. Our forces are acting under
the orders of this supreme commander.
We have given up the theory that we
must act along parallel lines in co-opera-
ton with the forces of other nations
which guided US at the time our troops
helped put down the Boxer uprising in
China. We have accepted the new
responsibilities that go along with the
obligation to fight with England and
France for the same cause.
We are entertaining here the agents
of our actual enemies and we shall con-
tinue to entertain them so long as we
refrain from declaring war on both
Turkey and Bulgaria and neglect to hand
their passports to the ministers of these
two countries.
1t may be assumed that the President
had some reasons for delaying to ask
Congress to make this declaration of war.
But those reasons must have ceased to
be valid. When the Senate passes the
Knox resolution the nation expects the
President to reply to it with a request
for declaration of war.
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