The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1919-01-24
JOHN SHARP WILLIAMS
.BLISTERS IAF0LET1E
The Senator Draws A Distinc-
ton Between A Lie And
A Falsehood

made by the Senator from Wisconsin
in St. Paul, it was series of false
, statements, and not only series Of
| false statements but a series of false
statements which must have been
consciously made. | find in that
speech charge that the United
States went to war to protect Nor
gan interests" of some sort or other.
! find in that speech charge that
we went to war and sacrificed our
children in order that rich Ameri-
cans might ride in British munition-
armed ships. l do not think have
misunderstood the speech as quoted
in the report. / do not think | mis-
read it the day after it waspublished.
II is an everlasting lie that these
United States went to war in order
to protect any Morgan interests or
any capitalistic interests of any sort.
1t is also an everlasting lie that the
people of these United States ever
sent their boys to be fed as cannon
fodder in Europe in order that Amer
lean citizens might ride upon muni-
| ton ships. 1t is an everlasting lie
that the Lustania was armed or had
dangerous explosives aboard, and that
any law Of the United States was
ever violated by any American citi-
zen who took passage upon the Lusi-
tania. 1t is an everlasting lie that
the ia American citizens-men wo-
| men and children-who went to their
graves Unknelled and unsung upon
, that memorable day of German bar
barity went there to uphold the doc
trine of capitalism. or of money-mak-
ling, or of the right to protect for
Eeign ship under foreign flag by
American citizenship, while it was
carrying dangerous explosives.
l, for one, do not want the history
|Sof the United States to be written so
that my children or grandchildren
shall read that sat quietly still
while the United States Senate said
that all that made no difference
have seen ignorant boys arrested and
tried and condemned. some few of
them to death and some more of them
to prison, for doing things and say
ing things that amounted to much less
than this St. Paul speech.
have no personal animosity to the
Senator from Wisconsin, anG he
knows it. l have been good to him
II days that have gone by, and he
knows it; but / have no glad hand of
welcome to extend to any enemy of
my country when my country is in
war, and | have no glad hand of
welcome to extend to any man that
SANDERS my country, that tells false
hoods about it. and 60 not care
whether he is a Senator or whether
he is a plowboy, except that l can
forgive the plowboy because of his
ignorance.
Here we were engaged in a great
war for the defense of the civiliza-
tion and the liberty of the world.
Every boy that could go went, or
nearly every one-a whole lot of them
at an rate-except the few who were
poisoned by this sort of literature
Is it to be said. for all time to come,
that Il Senator of the United States
is to be held absolutely blameless
while he announces to the world that
my boys and your boys, some of them
died, some of them were crippled. and
some of them came back happily
home, while they fought for the
civilization of the worlds it to be
held that he is blameless because he
is not a plowbOy when he says that
we went to war ''in the Morgan in
terest," when he says that we went
to war in order that men might Sc
cure safe passage upon munltion
ships, in order that we might pro-
tect explosives by putting passeh-
gers aboard? Is it to be considered
for one minute that he is teameless
and that we have nothing to do with
his utterances when he not only as
serts that, but asserts more than that?
He asserts, in effect, that the Amer
lean Republic has been guilty of hy-
pocrisy and ,cowardice, and especially
Of hypocrisy; that it has gone to the
Old World with the word in its mouth
that il was fighting for the liberty of