Norwich bulletin., 1920-06-17
Five Minutes a Day
 With Our Presidents
Copyright 1e2o-sy James Morgan
] .PREsIDENTl MoMt
oUS DECISION


 GUS DECISION as 1916-May, Germany promised the
 United, States to observe inter
 national law .on tue sea.
 June, Republican and demo-
 cratic, conventions declared for
 neutrality.
 Oct. 26, President. Wilson de-
 cIared at Cincinnati "Neutrali-
 ty is played out"
 Dec. 20, asked the beIliger-
 epts to discuss peace.
 1s17-JaE. ,22, proposed that we
 should join in world
 league for peace if the beIlig-
 erents stopped fighting. '. Feb. 3. broke off diplomatic re-
 lations with German on her re-
 newal of ruthless submarining.
 Feb. 26, asked congress to au-
 thorize arming of our mer-
 chant ships, but senate fiiibust- CT defeated aim.
 March 12 proceeded to arm
 them.
 March 21 called congress in
 extra session.
 April read his war message
 to congress.
 As he s.ood at the clerks desk in tht hall of the House of Representatives or the evening of April 2 1917 Presiden Wilson was the central figure in one o the great moments of word history. No only his own people but mankind stop ped to listen.
 The president had been re-eleetec only five months before becaus> n, kept us out of war" Alas the wa would not keep out of the United States For two years and a half the presiden and people together had continued t draw back from the yaWning inferno il to which events were pushing them. A lately as June 1916 both political partie in the national conventions agreed t one thing and one thing ony. Eacl squarely declared itself in favor of neu trality.
 Although the president himself pub liely admitted a few days before his re election that neutrality is played out As the one remaining means of keepin us out of the wari- he tried to stop tn the war in December and again in ] :. uary by appealing to the belligerenis : make peace His voice was drowned il the roar of the guns.
 The war took on new fury with tn resumption of . ruthless submarining which Germany had modified the yea before at our demand, The presiden thereupon handed the German ambassa dor his passports, and next he propose that we shoffuld arm our merchant ships The filibustering senate, failing to giy him this authority. he proceeded himsel to arm them. But our shipping vanishe from the sea, with it's hidden terror, an at last he called the newly elected con gress in extraordinary session to Ire ceive nication-concefning gray matters of national policy Did he mean var or something shor of war? B All afternoon Of the meetin sea waited; iE srispsrse, while congres | was organizing ard getting ready to re ceive this his.ers-ynakiRg message No other president in the Whe,e cours of his service has had to take so man momentous decisions as Woodrow Wi san has had to make jH the solitude c his study at the White House in thos i anxious days before. the assembling c congress. He could not divide the bur I den of such : heavy responsibility h l had to bear 1t alone, and without prs cedent to guide him.
 l The eours. seemed plain enough, ono ;, we. had entered suEon it. But first tn president had to. chart it by himself. Should we give q further trial to arm l ed neutrality? Or should. we enter upo an independent naval warfare against tt submarine menace to our shipping? C should we back the allies with none ! and supplies. but leave, them to do tt
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