The Washington herald., 1918-04-29

to aid the nations war program
means that We are fully aware OF
the serious aspects of getting ready
to fight on the other side. and that
We are NOW entering the equation
with some idea of what efficiency
is and to what extent it should per-
wade our affairs:
Bernard Earuch. Edward Stcttin-
ius. Charles NJ. Schwab and John D.
Ryan.
Those arr rames to cOnjure with
in big affairs. They are men who
have been EencralisSimos in the
| commercial and industrial world.
men who can match the Kaiser in
! wits any day the Kaiser wants to
submit to the test, either in person
or by proxy with any of his busi-
J nc,5 heads.
Before these men were brought
into lnrlC Sans war machine the
duties which they now have. and
, their power were scattered and suT-
rounded, wherever they might be
found. with an unCndinG length OF
red tape. There were confusion and
lack of authority. Many men there
were to do many things and many
to do 4 few things.
1t took weeks to achieve what
should have been brought about
sometimes in single day.
Some "t the bi- men in control of
some branches of our affairs were
wholly out Of touch with their de-
partments, and som" of the subor-
dinatcs were held to foolish prece-
dents which hampered and re-
strained them at every turn.
All of that is changed now. We
have not reached the peak. Of
course. but there have been a null
titude Of changes maze which have
| immensely improved our war ma
, chine and which have encouraged
our allies into believing that Amer
lea. famed for efficiency and for
afacrity. would not he found want
ing when the final test came.
In the last thrc" months some
wonderful things have been made
knOwn-and in the next three
months some wonderful results will
follow by reason OF those things
being made known.
Had America began to prepare
Tor war on GI-antic scale three
or four years ago, had she bought
cannon and guns. and had she
trained millions Of young men in
camps. then she might have made
| such an Impression on Germany
that our conflict with that AFRO
| giant nation would never have
come.
This is what some of the law
makers are beginning to think
They believe, with all their might.
that such a move on the part of
this nation would have brought
Germany to her senses long before
she became insane with this mad
ness of war. and that her treat
ment of this country would have
been far different than it was, when
she had the idea that we were a
nation of mollycoddles and weak
lings and liktly to be rent asunder
by d wac involving any of our
Heterogeneous population.
The assumption may be incorrect
for all we know. Whether it is, no
one IAN tell. But there is no ques-
tiOn but that the antipreparedness
campaign made by some of the so
called patriots of the nation ha
much to do with impressinS Ger
many of our thorough desire for
pcdCt At any anu lldI lLc
United States would never oppose
her in any unreasonable or war
like demand she might make upon
the peace and sanctity of the world.
If the members OF that so-called
peace party, those who fought
antipreparedness. now see their
folly, we hope they will do all they
can to remedy it. We hope they
will realize what their fOolishness
has cost this country. and what il
will continue to cost. We hope the
nation at large sees the danger we
were in. and we hope it will never
again be said of America that 1t
slept on dreamily and criminally
when it should have been alert to
the dark menace across the ocean.
America, we think, has learned
a lesson-and part of that lesson is
not to listen to the pleadings OF
politicians or chautauqua lecturers
not to protect its rights and not
to be prepared to defend itself in
the only way a nation can.
"Pork" receives more than casual
treatment in President Wilson's
Congressional Government" The
subject is handled entcrtainingly.
but with an absence of political un-
derstanding with which Mr.. Wilson
became more familiar later on in
life. In these paragraphs he makes
a rather microscopical study OF
pork" but does not find any OF
g.