The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-09-26
TO WR-

in their minds; and on Dec. IS the
Chief of the Naval Staff laid be-
fore Grand Admiral Won Tirpitz
the draft of a letter to the
Foreign Office, in which he re-
quested their approval of the
opening of a submarine campaign
at the end Of January, the Eng
lish Channel and all the waters
surrounding the United Kingdom
to be declared as a war zone
If the United States permitted
the English to do it she surely
could not raise difficulties when
the Germans followed their ex-
ample?
A T the beginning of 1915 few
L n in the United States could
have seriously anticipated an
American participation in the war
Yet in fact the coils were tighten
ing; already all the chief causes
of our ENHANCEMENT had been
firmly established, and already
war was the most likely outcome.
For the urgent problem thus
posed it was Mr. Wilson's duty to
find a satisfactory solution. Any
one of several policieS-Strict and
effective neutrality, intervention
in alliance with the Entente, even
intervention on the side of Ger
many, for that matter-might, if
consistently pursued, have been
made to yield relatively salts
factory results. Unfortunately the
course actually adopted represented
only confused attempt to follow
them all, with the result that it
became increasingly difficult
succeed with any.
The nation was at peace in a
warning world. and the possibility
that virtue might be its own re-
ward was quite apparent to the
thoughtful.
Such elevated sentiments were
scarcely calculated to soften the
shock, the anger and the dismay
with which the publication of the
strenuous American protest against
British trade restrictions was re-
ceived in Great Britain.
The note appeared in full in the
morning papers of Jan. l. To the
publics on both sides of the water,
who had imperfectly followed the
diplomatic history behind it, it
came as the first important Off
cial action taken by the govern
ment of the United States in
regard to the European war.
Yet it was not against Germany
that it was directed; it was
against the Allies
MIR. PAGE. in London, was
IVA grieved by the "shirtsleeve
tone" of the State Department.
Spring Rice gave way to enraged
despair; he was certain that all
America would be pro-German
within six months and talked
wildly about boycotting the State
Department.
Instead he ultimately called
upon Mr.. Bryan with representa-
lions that today seem to verge
almost upon the insulting.
At the same time the Bryanite,
or pacifist, peace movement was
gaining strength and conscious
ness. During that winter Mrs.
Pethwick Lawrence, an English
woman, and the brilliant Hun
garian, Rosika Schwimmer, were
preaching crusade throughout
the country against "the common
enemy of mankind"
Between them they inspired
Jane Adams to found the
Women's Peace Party, dedicated
to urging the immediate discus
sion of reasonable peace terms.
Miss Adams, however. got next
to no serious attention in the
newspapers; while there was that
other, more elegant and more
militant peace movement in the
field.
It's liberal leaders we're already
deep in the work out of which the
League to Enforce Peace was later
to grow
They might have guessed where
it was leading them when they
suddenly received the support OF
none other than Mr.. Roosevelt
the nations most influential mill
tariSt.
mol. HOUSE was in Washing
~ ton on Jan. II, and in IL
minute talk with the President
before dinner 1T was decided that
I should go to Europe on Jan. 30.
1t was time to deal directly
with the principals"
Next day the irascible Spring
Rice found himself again con-
fronted by the House menace
which he supposed they had sue
cessfully laid the month before.
But the new threat to peace
proved easy to handle. Sir Cecil
was "sulky" and full Of his
grievances about our pro-German
tendencies. and under this bar
rage the colonel fastened to ex-
plain that he did not intend to
discuss specific peace terms with
the Germans.
He was merely going to throw
the great moral strength" Of the
United States behind "a perma-
nent settlement" Sir Cecil not
unnaturally cheered up at once.
Thus simply had Houses mis-