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AMERICANISM 
 
 AND 
 
 PREPAREDNESS 
 
 Speeches 
 
 » of • 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt 
 
 July to November, 191 6 
 
 NEW YORK, 191 7 
 THE MAIL AND EXPRESS JOB PRINT 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 - PAGE 
 
 Duty First. Lewiston, Maine, August 31, 1916 5 
 
 Words and Deeds. Battle Creek, Michigan, September 
 
 30, 1916 30 
 
 The Square Deal in Industry. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- 
 vania, Oct. 14, 1916 62 
 
 The Mexican Iniquity. Phoenix, Arizona, October 21, 
 
 1916 92 
 
 Preparedness: Military, Industrial and Spiritual. 
 
 Denver, Colorado, October 24, 1916 103 
 
 True Americanism and National Defense. Chicago, 
 
 Illinois, October 26, 1916 121 
 
 The Soul of the Nation. Cooper Union, New York, 
 
 November 3, 1916 134 
 
DUTY FIRST 
 Lewiston, Maine, August 31, 1916 
 
 I COME here to Maine to advocate the election of Charles 
 E. Hughes as President of the United States, and the 
 election of a Senate and House of Representatives to support 
 him, and to give some of the reasons why in my judgment 
 it would be a grave misfortune for the people of the United 
 States to re-elect Mr. Wilson, 
 
 I make no merely partisan appeal. I ask the support of 
 all good citizens for our cause. I ask the support of all good 
 Americans. And I not merely ask, but demand as a matter 
 of right, that every citizen voting this year shall consider 
 the question at issue from the standpoint of America, and 
 not from the standpoint of any other nation. 
 
 The root idea of American citizenship, the necessary 
 prerequisite for patriotic service at home, and for service 
 to mankind at large, is that there shall be in our citizenship 
 no dual allegiance. There must be no divided loyalty be- 
 tween this country and the country from which any of our 
 citizens, or the ancestors of any of our citizens, have come. 
 The policy of the United States must be shaped with a view 
 to two conditions only: first, with a view to the honor and 
 interest of the United States, and second, with a view to the 
 interest of the world as a whole. It is therefore our high 
 and solemn duty, both to prepare our own strength so as 
 to guarantee our own safety, and also to treat every foreign 
 nation, in any given crisis, as its conduct in that crisis de- 
 mands. The citizen who does not so act, and who endeavors 
 to shape America's policy in the interest of the country from 
 which he or his ancestors have sprung, is no true American, 
 and has no moral right to citizenship in this country. Any 
 attempt to organize American citizens along politico-racial 
 lines is a foul and evil thing. Any organization of American 
 citizens which acts in the interest of a foreign power is 
 
6 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 guilty of moral treason to the Republic. It is because of 
 such action that I condemn those professional German- 
 Americans who in our politics act as servants and allies of 
 Germany, not as Americans interested solely in the honor 
 and welfare of America; and I would condemn just as quick- 
 ly English-Americans or French-Americans or Irish-Ameri- 
 cans who acted in such manner. 
 
 Americanism is a matter of the spirit, of the soul, of 
 the mind ; not of birthplace or creed. We care nothing as 
 to where any man was born, or as to the land from which 
 his forefathers came, so long as he is wholeheartedly and 
 in good faith an American and nothing else. If the man is 
 a good American we care nothing as to his creed, whether 
 he be Protestant, Catholic or Jew ; we care nothing whether 
 his ancestors came over in the Mayflower, or whether he 
 himself was born in England or Ireland, in France or Ger- 
 many, in Scandinavia or Russia. Some of the very best 
 Americans I have ever known were men who were born 
 abroad ; and in every great period of American history, the 
 Americans who deserved best of their country have included 
 men of different creeds ; men whose ancestors had for gen- 
 erations lived on this soil ; and other men who themselves, or 
 whose parents, had come from some of the lands of the 
 Old World. But all these men alike acted as Americans and 
 nothing else, and with an undivided loyalty to this nation, 
 and not with a half -loyalty to this nation and a half -loyalty 
 to some Old World nation. 
 
 Wilson Lacked Both Courage and Vision 
 
 During the last two years we have seen an evil revival 
 in this country of non-Am^erican and anti-American division 
 along politico-racial lines ; and we owe this primarily to the 
 fact that President Wilson has lacked the courage and the 
 vision to lead this nation in the path of high duty, and by 
 this lack of affirmative leadership has loosened the moral 
 fibre of our people, has weakened our national spirit, and 
 has encouraged the upgrowth within our own borders of 
 separatism along the lines of racial origin. When our own 
 government so acted as to bring shame on all our people, it 
 shook the spirit of loyalty among those to whom it was 
 
Duty First 7 
 
 vital that loyalty should be taught. Full-hearted allegiance 
 is shattered by the government that fails to uphold the 
 honor and interest of the nation by immediate and effective 
 action when the lives of its citizens are menaced or taken 
 by foreign powers. 
 
 The cause of preparedness is inseparably connected 
 with the cause of Americanism, of patriotism, of whole- 
 hearted loyalty to this nation and to all for which all the 
 great men of this nation in the past have stood. The events 
 of the last two years have made it evident that the dreams 
 of the professional pacifists were not merely dreams but 
 nightmares, so far as the unfortunate nations who trusted 
 them were concerned. Moreover, in practice these pacifists 
 have shown not only utter futility but moral baseness. They 
 have not only been helpless to defend themselves, but they 
 have been so anxious to save their own skins that they have 
 not dared to say one word against triumphant wrong and 
 in favor of the right that was crushed by the wrong. There 
 are few things more revolting than such an attitude when 
 taken by professional moralists. 
 
 As the world now is, our great free democracy must 
 understand that unless it can protect itself by its own 
 strength — and its strength is not strength at all unless it 
 is carefully trained in advance — it will sooner or later suffer 
 the fate that China is suffering before our eyes. Thanks 
 to the fact that President Wilson has sometimes led us 
 wrong, and sometimes not led us at all, and that at the best 
 he has merely followed afar off when convinced that it was 
 politically safe to do so, we are at this moment no more 
 prepared to defend ourselves than we were two years ago 
 when the world war broke out. At last we have begun the 
 work of restoring our navy to the position it formerly held ; 
 but it will take years to undo the harm done when in 1910 
 the Democratic party gained control of the House and 
 stopped upbuilding the navy; and it is entirely impossible 
 to make the navy what it should be made as long as we have 
 a President who appoints and retains at its head a public 
 official of the type of Mr. Daniels. Our regular army should 
 be increased to a quarter of a million men, with a short- 
 service term of enlistment; this would give us a mobile army 
 
8 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 of 125,000 men, enough to patrol the Mexican border with- 
 out help from the National Guard, when Mr, Wilson halts 
 between feeble peace and feeble war. But this is not enough. 
 The events of the past two years have shown that no people 
 can permanently preserve its freedom unless that people is 
 trained to arms. Above all, this is true of a democracy. 
 The enjoyment of right must go hand in hand with the per- 
 formance of duty. Universal suffrage cannot be justified 
 unless it connotes the performance by every voter of full 
 duty to the state both in peace and in war. The man who 
 refuses to fit himself to fight in righteous war for his coun- 
 try is not fit to vote in that country. We should follow the 
 examples of the free democracies of Switzerland and Aus- 
 tralia. There should be in this country a system of uni- 
 versal obligatory military training in time of peace, and 
 in time of war universal service in whatever capacity the 
 man or woman shall be judged most fit to serve the com- 
 monwealth. 
 
 An Injustice to Pontius Pilate 
 
 The policies of Americanism and preparedness, taken 
 together, mean applied patriotism. There should be cor- 
 relation af policy and armament. Our first duty as citizens 
 of the United States is owed to the United States. But if 
 we are true to our principles we must also think of serving 
 the interests of mankind at large. In addition to serving 
 our own country we must shape the policy of our country 
 so as to secure the cause of international righteousness, fair 
 play and humanity. Our first duty is to protect our own 
 rights; our second, to stand up for the rights of others. 
 President Wilson has signally failed to perforin either duty. 
 They can be performed only by deed. Words alone are use- 
 less. But, above all, fine words about abstract qualities which 
 are contradicted by unworthy deeds in concrete cases are 
 much worse than useless, because they teach us habits of 
 hypocrisy, and because they cause other nations to regard 
 us with utter contempt. President Wilson in his Decoration 
 Day speech said : "We hold dear the principle that small 
 and weak states have as much right to their sovereignty and 
 independence as large and strong nations." These were the 
 fine words. They were spoken about the abstract. When 
 
Duty First 9 
 
 it became his duty to reduce them to deeds in the concrete, 
 Mr. Wilson immediately flinched. The case of Belgium ex- 
 actly met his definition. It was a small and weak state (and 
 a highly civilized and well-behaved state). Its "right to 
 sovereignty and independence" was trampled under foot by 
 a neighboring "large and strong nation." But as soon as 
 the need for deeds arose, Mr. Wilson forgot all about "the 
 principle he held dear." He promptly announced that we 
 should be "neutral in fact as well as in name, in thought 
 as well as in action," between the small, weak, unoffending 
 nation and the large, strong nation which was robbing it of 
 its sovereignty and independence. Such neutrality has 
 been compared to the neutrality of Pontius Pilate. This 
 is unjust to Pontius Pilate, who at least gently urged 
 moderation on the wrongdoers. The President's fine words 
 were used merely to cloak ignoble action and ignoble in- 
 action. All Americans proud of their country should 
 keenly resent the wrong he thereby did their country. As 
 an American with exceptional international knowledge has 
 said : " . . .A single official expression by the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, a single sentence denying assent 
 and recording disapproval of what Germany did in Bel- 
 gium, would have given to the people of America that lead- 
 ership to which they were entitled in their earnest groping 
 for the light. It would have ranged behind American 
 leadership the conscience and morality of the neutral world. 
 It would have brought to American diplomacy the respect 
 and strength of loyalty to a great cause. But it was not to 
 be. The American Government failed to rise to the de- 
 mands of the great occasion. . . ." 
 
 Wilson's "Peace" Rages Furiously in Mexico 
 
 At this moment Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Wilson's fugle- 
 men, advance as his greatest claim that "he has kept us 
 out of war." This claim can be seriously made only by 
 individuals who endorse President Wilson's belief that 
 deeds are nothing, and words everything. War means a 
 clash between the armed forces of two countries. Nowa- 
 days (thanks quite as much to the professional pacifists 
 as to the militarists) it means, furthermore, the destruction 
 
10 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 of the lives of civilians, and the property of civilians, as 
 vjqW as the property of the government. Under President 
 McKinley we had a war with Spain. Under President 
 Wilson we are assured that we have had "peace" with 
 Mexico. These are the words. Now for the deeds. During 
 the war with Spain fewer Americans were killed by the 
 Spaniards than have been killed by Mexicans during the 
 present "peace" with Mexico. Let me repeat this. A 
 greater number of Americans have been killed by Mexicans 
 during these years, when we are officially informed that we 
 have been at peace with them, than were killed by the 
 Spaniards during our entire war with Spain. Moreover, 
 when the war with Spain was through, it was through. 
 But peace still continues to rage as furiously as ever in 
 Mexico. Nor is this all. The instant effect of the outcome 
 of the war with Spain was to put a stop to the dreadful 
 butchery and starvation in Cuba and the Philippines, and 
 the entry of both Cuba and the Philippines on a career of 
 eighteen years of peace and prosperity such as they have 
 never known before in all their checkered history. But 
 during these three years of Mr. Wilson's "peace," the 
 Mexicans themselves have been butchered by their own 
 bandits steadily and without intermission; and Mexican 
 women and children have died by thousands— probably by 
 scores of thousands — of starvation, and of the diseases 
 incident to starvation. In other words, Mr. McKinley's 
 war cost less bloodshed than Mr. Wilson's peace; and it 
 reflected high honor on the American people; whereas Mr. 
 Wilson's peace has been one of shame and dishonor for 
 the American people, and one of ruin and bloodshed for 
 the Mexicans themselves. 
 
 The Life Cost of Wilson's "Peace" 
 
 Mr. Wilson says we have had peace with Mexico. He 
 says he did not wage war with Mexico. If he takes any 
 comfort out of this denial, let us not insist upon the proper 
 terminology, and admit that he merely waged peace with 
 Mexico. Well, as one incident of his waging peace we took 
 Vera Cruz. Some seventy-five men wearing the American 
 
Duty First 11 
 
 uniform were killed and wounded, and three or four times 
 that number of Mexicans. In Mr. McKinley's war we took 
 Manila; and Dewey's fleet lost fewer men in the operation 
 that resulted in the fall of Manila than were lost in the 
 taking of Vera Cruz. Under these conditions, of what 
 earthly consequence is it to assert that the taking of Vera 
 Cruz was an act of peace, and the taking of Manila an act 
 of war? Only by a misuse of terminology, only by the use 
 of an incorrect nomenclature, can we distinguish one mili- 
 tary operation from the other. 
 
 Unlike McKinley, Wilson Quit 
 
 The real difference was that Mr. Wilson became fright- 
 ened and abandoned Vera Cruz, whereas Mr. McKinley 
 did not abandon Manila. Mr. Wilson's operations were 
 war just as much as Mr. McKinley's. But Mr. Wilson was 
 beaten in his war. It was a war which was entered into 
 pointlessly and abandoned ignobly; it was a war which 
 failed ; a war which did damage both to the Mexicans and 
 ourselves, and which in its outcome reflected infinite dis- 
 honor upon our nation. But it was a v/ar, nevertheless. 
 
 Again, in March last, Villa made a raid into American 
 territory. He was a bandit leader whose career of suc- 
 cessful infamy had been greatly aided by Mr. Wilson's 
 favor and backing. He was at the head of Mexican sol- 
 diers, whose arms and ammunition had been supplied to 
 them in consequence of Mr. Wilson's reversing Mr. Taft's 
 policy and lifting the embargo against arms and munitions 
 into Mexico. They attacked Columbus, New Mexico, and 
 killed a number of civilians and a number of United States 
 troops. On the next day the President issued an an- 
 nouncement that adequate forces would be sent in pursuit 
 of Villa "with the single object of capturing him." On 
 April 8th the announcement was made from the White 
 House that the troops would remain in Mexico until Villa 
 was captured. It was furthermore announced in the press 
 despatches from Washington that he was to be taken "dead 
 or alive." Fine words! Only — they meant nothing. He 
 is not dead. He has not been taken alive. 
 
12 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 Wilson's "Peace" Cost More Lives Than McKinley's War 
 
 On May 12th, the pursuit of Villa was formally aban- 
 doned. On June 1st the official figures of the dead and 
 wounded during this futile expedition were published, and 
 they showed that the killed and wounded included one hun- 
 dred and sixteen United States soldiers and ninety-five 
 American civilians. Since then the Mexicans have killed 
 many more; I notice, for example, in the press, that at 
 Decatur, Alabama, there has just been buried Claude Bates, 
 an American soldier, who died July 24th of wounds re- 
 ceived two days previously in a fight with Mexican bandits. 
 Every week I have seen press statements of the killing of 
 American regular soldiers or American civilians on the 
 border. I do not know the total number of these killings 
 since June 1st ; but they include the Carrizal massacre. 
 However, even before June 1st, in this futile expedition 
 against Villa, more Americans had been killed and wounded 
 than in all the fights by land and sea during the Spanish 
 War; save only the battle of Santiago itself. In other 
 words, during this murderous "peace" of Messrs, Wilson 
 and Carranza, in less than three months more American 
 blood was shed than in the destruction of the Spanish fleet 
 at Manila, and than in the destruction of the Spanish fleet 
 off Santiago ; and than in the taking of Manila ; and than 
 in the fight at Guasimas ; in short, in all the operations 
 combined during the Spanish War, save only the actual 
 battle of Santiago itself. And yet there are persons who 
 seemingly take comfort in speaking of one set of opera- 
 tions as being war, and who praise the other set as being 
 part of our "policy of peace" — the blood-stained peace of 
 Messrs. Wilson and Carranza. 
 
 You do not have to accept my statement of conditions 
 in Mexico. Accept the official statement of President Wil- 
 son's Secretary of State to Carranza on June 20th last, 
 which runs as follows : 
 
 The Ghastly Official Record 
 
 "For three years the Mexican republic has been torn 
 with civil strife; the lives of Americans and other aliens 
 have been sacrificed ; vast properties accumulated by Amer- 
 
Duty First 13 
 
 ican capital and enterprise have been destroyed or rendered 
 non-productive; bandits have been permitted to roam at 
 will throughout the territory contiguous to the United 
 States and to seize, without punishment, or without effec- 
 tive attempt at punishment' the property of Americans, 
 while the lives of citizens of the United States who ven- 
 tured to remain in Mexican territory or to return there to 
 protect their interests have been taken, in some cases bar- 
 barously taken, and the murderers have neither been ap- 
 prehended nor brought to justice. It would be difficult to 
 find in the annals of the history of Mexico conditions more 
 deplorable than those which have existed there during these 
 recent years of civil war. It would be tedious to recount 
 instance after instance, outrage after outrage, atrocity 
 after atrocity, to illustrate the true nature and extent of 
 the widespread condition of lawlessness and violence which 
 has prevailed. During the last nine months in particular 
 the frontier of the United States along the lower Rio 
 Grande has been thrown into a state of constant appre- 
 hension and turmoil because of the frequent and sudden 
 incursions into American territory and depredations and 
 murders on American soil by Mexican bandits, who have 
 taken the lives and destroyed the property of American 
 citizens, sometimes carrying American citizens across the 
 international boundary with the booty seized. American 
 garrisons have been attacked at night, American soldiers 
 killed and their equipment and horses stolen, American 
 ranches have been raided, property stolen and destroyed, 
 and American trains wrecked and plundered. 
 
 "The attacks on Brownsville, Red House Ferry, Pro- 
 greso postoffice, and Las Palades, all occurring during Sep- 
 tember last, are typical. In these attacks on American ter- 
 ritory Carranzista adherents, and even Carranzista sol- 
 diers, took part in the looting, burning and killing. Not 
 only were these murders -characterized by ruthless bru- 
 tality, but uncivilized acts of mutilation were perpetrated." 
 
 Wilson Kissed the Red Hand That Slapped His Face 
 
 And this is Mr. Wilson's own official account of the 
 "peace" he has secured in Mexico! In this official state- 
 
14 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 ment President Wilson gives the final result of his policy 
 in Mexico for the past three years. I call your attention 
 to the fact that he states that the* attacks on the four enumer- 
 ated American towns in September last were "typical," 
 and says that "in these attacks on American territory there 
 were Carranzista adherents and Carranzista soldiers, who 
 took part in the btirning and killing. Not only were these 
 murders characterized by ruthless brutality, but uncivilized 
 acts of mutilation were perpetrated." 
 
 President Wilson therefore explicitly shows that the 
 Carranzistas, not once but repeatedly, made attacks on 
 American towns, and killed American citizens, and muti- 
 lated them in September, 1915. Yet on October 19th, 1915, 
 less than a month later, this same President Wilson, 
 through his same Secretary of State, formally announced 
 to Carranza's agent that it was his "pleasure" to take the 
 opportunity "of extending recognition to the de facto gov- 
 ernment of Mexico, of which General Venustiano Car- 
 ranza is the chief executive." President Wilson thus recog- 
 nized the government which, his own Secretary of State 
 declares, had been, less than a month previously, engaged 
 in repeated assaults upon Americans, and in the invasion 
 of American soil ; the government at whose head was Gen- 
 eral Carranza, who, less than two months previously, on 
 August 2nd, 1915, had contemptuously refused to pay any 
 heed to any representations of President Wilson on behalf 
 of mediation, saying that "under no consideration would I 
 permit interference in the internal affairs of Mexico." 
 President Wilson did not merely kiss the hand that slapped 
 him in the face. He kissed that hand when it was red 
 with the blood of American men, women and children, who 
 had been murdered and mutilated with, as President Wil- 
 son, through his Secretary of State, says, "ruthless bru- 
 tality." 
 
 Wilson's Shameful Orders at Tampico 
 
 In all this shameful history of Mr. Wilson's dealings 
 with Mexico during the past three years, nothing has been 
 more shameful than his conduct at Tampico. 
 
 At that time the particular bandit Mr. Wilson was 
 favoring happened to be Villa. This, however, is of no 
 
Duty First 15 
 
 consequence. Mr. Wilson has sometimes helped the dif- 
 ferent Mexican leaders of bandits against one another ; now 
 Villa against Huerta; now Carranza against Villa; but he 
 has never stood up effectively for American rights against 
 any of them. When he has ventured to take action against 
 any of them he has always hastily abandoned the attempt 
 as soon as the resistance by the bandit involved became 
 serious. 
 
 At Tampico there was a general movement of attack 
 by the Mexicans on Americans and other foreigners. We 
 had a squadron of American warships in the neighborhood. 
 President Wilson did not use this squadron to defend the 
 lives of American men, and the honor of American women, 
 and the commanders of the German and English ships at 
 Tampico had to step in and perform the task our representa- 
 tives had so basely abandoned. At the very time that the 
 Mexican mob had surrounded the building in which the 
 Americans had taken refuge, and was howling for their 
 blood, the American fleet, under orders to join the futile 
 attack on Vera Cruz, steamed away and left the Americans 
 to be massacred by the Mexicans, or rescued by the Germans 
 and English. I wish to say with all gravity and in all seri- 
 ousness that in this case the offense of the murderous Mexi- 
 can mob was not as serious as the offense of the American 
 administration. 
 
 Watched Americans Die Like Rats 
 
 On August 27th, 1913, President Wilson said with 
 marked oratorical effect: "We shall vigilantly watch the 
 fortunes of those Americans who cannot get away from 
 Mexico." "Vigilant watching" — "watchful waiting" — the 
 phrase matters nothing; for there never is any deed to 
 back it up. Three years have passed since the date of this 
 oration; three years of incessant elocution on the part of 
 Mr. Wilson ; three years of repeated invocations to human- 
 ity and peace by Mr. Wilson; and Mr. Wilson still con- 
 tinues to "vigilantly watch the fortunes of those Americans 
 who cannot get away." There are not many of them left 
 now. Hundreds have been killed, and Mr. Wilson has 
 watched their fortunes as disinterestedly as if they had 
 
16 AmericanisTYi and Preparedness 
 
 been rats pursued by terriers. This administration has 
 displayed no more feeling of responsibility for the Ameri- 
 can women who have been raped, and for the American 
 men, women and children who have been killed in Mexico, 
 than a farmer shows for the rats killed by his dogs when 
 the hay is taken from a barn. And now the American peo- 
 ple are asked to sanction this policy in the name of peace, 
 righteousness and humanity! 
 
 A Single-Track Mind With Great Switching Facilities 
 
 Throughout this time President Wilson, in pursuance 
 of the policy he enunciated in his message to Congress in 
 December, 1914, has kept this country unprepared to fight 
 any foreign foe. But he has allowed all of the factions in 
 Mexico to prepare themselves to kill American soldiers and 
 American civilians. In his message above quoted he says 
 that he will "Follow the best practice of nations in matters 
 of neutrality by forbidding the exportation of arms and 
 munitions of war of any kind from the United States to 
 any part of the Republic of Mexico." This was on August 
 27th, 1913. On February 2nd, 1914, he changed his mind 
 (Mr. Wilson may have a single-track mind, but, as has been 
 remarked, in that event he possesses unexampled switching 
 facilities) and lifted the embargo on arms and munitions. 
 On February 5th the papers published the news of the 
 great rush of arms and ammunition across the border to 
 the Mexican armies. A couple of hundred of American 
 soldiers, sailors, and civilians were killed or wounded dur- 
 ing the next two months. And on April 23rd, 1914, Mr. 
 Wilson again changed his mind and ordered that the em- 
 bargo on arms be restored. But on May 15th he changed 
 his mind again, and the embargo was lifted so far as ship- 
 ments to Tampico and other Mexican ports were concerned. 
 On May 27th, the cargoes of arms which we had refused 
 to allow to land at Vera Cruz were accordingly landed else- 
 where and sent to Huerta ; while on June 2nd, the Car- 
 ranzistas got theirs through Tampico. On September 9th, 
 the embargo was lifted everywhere, and during the next 
 few months military supplies of all kinds crossed the bor- 
 der for all of the Mexican factions. 
 
Duti) First 17 
 
 At Least 276 Americans Murdered 
 
 On October 29th, 1915, when all the factions had been 
 amply supplied, Mr, Wilson again restored the embargo 
 as to all factions, excepting the Carranzistas. On October 
 29th last, therefore, Mr. Wilson specifically permitted arms 
 to be sent the adherents of the very same Carranza, who, 
 according to his own Secretary of State, in the month of 
 September, thirty days previous, on four specific occasions, 
 invaded American territory and butchered American citi- 
 zens, mutilating them before or after death. On the date 
 when this embargo was thus raised, the names of two 
 hundred and seventy-six Americans who had been mur- 
 dered had been officially placed on file. How many others 
 had been murdered cannot at present be told. 
 
 President Wilson took Vera Cruz in 1914, as we were 
 officially informed at the time, to get a salute for the flag, 
 and to prevent the shipment of arms into Mexico. He did 
 not get his salute. He did not prevent the shipment of arms. 
 But several hundred men were killed or wounded ; and then 
 he brought the army home without achieving either object. 
 President Wilson sent an army into Mexico in 1916, as we 
 were informed at the time, to get Villa "dead or alive." They 
 did not get him dead. They did not get him alive. Again 
 several hundred men were killed or wounded. Again 
 President Wilson is bringing the army home without achiev- 
 ing his object. Of course it is a mere play upon words to 
 say that these were not "wars." They were wars, and noth- 
 ing else ; ignoble, pointless, unsuccessful little wars ; but 
 wars. They cost millions of dollars and hundreds of lives, 
 squandered to no purpose; they accomplished nothing; but 
 they were wars. And yet Mr. Wilson's defenders say that 
 he "has kept us out of war." As a matter of fact, his policy 
 in Mexico has combined all the evils of feeBle peace with all 
 the evils of feeble war. He has secured none of the benefits 
 of war; but he has not avoided war. He has sacrificed the 
 honor and the interest of the country; but he has not re- 
 ceived the thirty pieces of silver. In fact, when Mr. Wilson 
 forgets himself he admits that we have been at war ; for ex- 
 ample, on May 11th, 1914, in an address over the dead ma- 
 
18 America7iism and Preparedness 
 
 rines at the Navy Yard in Brooklyn (in which, by the way, 
 he in effect claimed sympathy on the ground that his feel- 
 ings had been as much lacerated by sneers as the bodies ot 
 the dead men by bullets), he said that the marines had been 
 engaged in a "war of service." A war of service to whom 
 or what ? Certainly not to the United States ; nor to Mexico ; 
 nor to humanity at large. Was it to Mr. Wilson ? 
 
 Wilson's Futile Spasms 
 
 As it is with "war" so it is with "intervention." Presi- 
 dent Wilson has again and again said he would not "inter- 
 vene" in Mexico. As a matter of fact, he has intervened con- 
 tinuously. On January 8th, 1915, he announced that the 
 Mexicans had the right to "spill blood," to spill as much 
 blood as they pleased, without interference. The fact that 
 the blood they were spilling included the blood of American 
 citizens, both soldiers and civilians — and among them 
 women and children — evidently did not weigh with him. On 
 December 10th, 1915, he said that it was "None of our busi- 
 ness what the Mexicans did with their government, and so 
 long as I have the power to prevent it nobody shall butt-in 
 to alter it for them." Yet at that very time he had been 
 "butting-in" for two years, and he has been "butting-in" 
 ever since ; and he has avowed that he wished to alter it for 
 them in all kinds of ways, from land tenures up and down. 
 But as he never followed any policy of either intervention 
 or non-intervention with any resolution — always yielding 
 at the critical moment to some bandit chief of whom he be- 
 came fearful — both his spasms of intervention and his 
 spasms of non-intervention have alike been entirely futile. 
 In August, 1913, he sent a special envoy to Mexico to tell 
 Huerta he would not recognize him. He announced this 
 himself in a note in October, and on December 2nd he an- 
 nounced he would not deal with the Huerta Government. 
 This was intervention, and nothing else; it was such inter- 
 vention as if in 1877 some European government had de- 
 clined to recognize Hayes as President, and insisted upon 
 the seating of Tilden. Mr. Wilson intervened when he backed 
 Villa against Huerta. He intervened when he turned against 
 Villa, and recognized Carranza. 
 
Duty First 19 
 
 At one time Mr. Wilson's policy of intervention pro- 
 duced such unhappy results that on June 2nd, 1915, he 
 issued a formal warning to the Mexican factions in which 
 he said that "Mexico is apparently no nearer a solution of her 
 tragical troubles than she was when the revolution was first 
 kindled. She has been swept by civil war as if by iire. Her 
 crops are destroyed, her cattle confiscated, her people flee 
 to {he mountains to escape being drawn into unavailing 
 bloodshed, and no man seems to see or lead the way to peace 
 and settled order. There is no proper protection either for 
 her own citizens or for the citizens of other nations resident 
 and at work within her territory. Mexico is starving and 
 without a government." A delightful picture of the effects 
 of Mr. Wilson's policy, by the way! He therefore tells 
 Mexico that unless "within a very short time" the Mexican 
 leaders get together for the relief and redemption of their 
 prostrate country the United States "will be constrained to 
 decide what means should be employed" to deal with the 
 situation. But, as usual with Mr. Wilson, this solemn warn- 
 ing meant precisely and exactly nothing, and the Carran- 
 zistas and Villistas and the rest knew that it meant pre- 
 cisely nothing. They knew that Mr. Wilson would either not 
 back up his words by deeds at all or else that he would back 
 them up so feebly that by a sufficient show of resistance 
 he could be forced to abandon his purpose. 
 
 Some of the defenders of Mr. Wilson, in answer to Mr. 
 Hughes' merciless indictment of Mr. Wilson's course, have 
 sought to justify Mr. Wilson by attempting to turn the 
 whole issue on the character of Huerta, who was the de 
 facto President when Mr. Wilson became President of the 
 United States. They ask Mr. Hughes, "Would you have 
 recognized Huerta?" The answer is that any one of several 
 courses could have been adopted, provided only that the 
 course adopted had been followed with resolution and with 
 full acceptance of the responsibility involved. 
 
 Wilson Wobbled Between Two Policies 
 
 There was much to be said in favor of the policy of 
 recognizing Huerta and avoiding intervention. There was 
 also much to be said in favor of the policy of refusing to 
 
20 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 recognize Huerta, which was intervention, and then of fully 
 accepting the responsibility implied in intervention. But 
 there is nothing to be said in favor of wobbling between the 
 two policies, and neither recognizing Huerta nor accepting 
 the responsibility for the chaos caused by failure to recog- 
 nize him. Yet this was the course Mr. Wilson followed. 
 
 There was no excuse for the recognition of Carranza 
 in view of Mr. Wilson's failure to recognize Huerta. All the 
 objections to Huerta applied with greater force to Carranza. 
 Mr. Wilson's apologists say that Huerta was the murderer 
 of Mexicans. But Mr. Wilson himself, as quoted above, has 
 shown that Carranza was the murderer of Americans. There- 
 fore, Mr. Wilson treats the murder of Mexicans as a bar 
 to recognition ; but not the murder of both Americans and 
 Mexicans. And now, having condoned the repeated mur- 
 ders of Americans by the Carranzistas, and having abased 
 himself before Carranza, and having aided in placing Car- 
 ranza in power, what is Mr. Wilson's reward ? and who pays 
 it? The reward is that Mr. Wilson has to place 150,000 
 troops on the border to partially prevent the raids and mur- 
 ders that his friend Mr. Carranza will not or can not prevent ; 
 and the payment is made by the soldiers who are slain and 
 by the families of the guardsmen who go in want because 
 their husbands and fathers have been called to the border 
 to make good Mr. Wilson's refusal to let the regular army 
 administer such punishment to the bandits as to inspire in 
 them a healthy fear. Instead, Mr. Wilson's course has been 
 such as to encourage them into a feeling of boastful im- 
 punity. Mr. Wilson's course has been precisely like that of 
 a police commissioner who declined to permit his policemen 
 to use their night sticks against burglars, and instead in- 
 sisted that the householders should sit up all night so as to 
 scare the burglars away. 
 
 If You Must Hit, Hit Hard 
 
 It should be a cardinal rule of conduct in international, 
 as in individual, affairs never to hit if hitting can possibly 
 be avoided ; but never under any circumstances to hit soft. 
 Mr. Wilson has been engaged in continual hitting. But 
 he has always hit soft. And whenever his opponent has hit 
 
Duty First 21 
 
 back he has promptly dropped his arms,' stopped hitting, 
 and taken refuge in platitudes about peace, non-intervention 
 and humanity. Where, however, his opponent was suffi- 
 ciently weak, as in the case of Haiti, he has dropped these 
 platitudes, and has (with "blood-spilling") intervened. 
 Haiti did not behave as badly to us as Mexico behaved ; but 
 Mr. Wilson intervened, fought the Haitiens, shedding their 
 blood and the blood of our troops, took possession, and now 
 has our armed forces in control of Haiti and directing its 
 government. His course of action in Haiti can be defended 
 only if his course of action in Mexico is unqualifiedly con- 
 demned! for such action was far more needed in Mexico 
 than in Haiti. But there was a difference in the two cases ; 
 and to Mr. Wilson it was a vital difference. Haiti was 
 weaker than Mexico. No one was afraid of Haiti. 
 
 It is not a pleasant task to point out these lamentable 
 failures in our foreign policy during the last few years. If 
 they were unimportant to the nation, if they only affected 
 Mr. Wilson personally, I would gladly keep silent about 
 them. If they were isolated and exceptional, I would pass 
 them by. But they are typical of the policy of drift to 
 which this nation has been committed during these great 
 and terrible years when we have needed at the helm a firmer 
 hand than at any other time since the Civil War. If the 
 policy of drift is sanctioned by the nation, and is permitted 
 for a sufficient length of time, we shall surely face national 
 shipwreck. 
 
 Wilson's Policy Is One of Drift and Spineless Failure 
 
 We are told that the mass of the voters, the mass of the 
 American people, will approve the policy of the Administra- 
 tion, the policy of drift, the policy of spineless failure to do 
 our duty to ourselves and to others because they believe 
 in "safety first." Such being the case, it is worth while 
 examining just what "safety" or "safety first" means, and 
 how far a policy based only on considerations of safety is 
 materially advantageous and morally justifiable. 
 
 Safety First 
 
 To treat "safety" as an indispensable element of any 
 continuous national policy is eminently proper. It is indis- 
 
22 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 pensable to wisdom that we shall shape our military policy 
 so as to make ourselves — our home country, our canal zone, 
 all our islands — absolutely safe against successful attack 
 by any great European or Asiatic military power. To this 
 extefit safety coincides with duty. But this ultimate safety 
 in the future is to be obtained, not by shirking, but by per- 
 forming, our duty in the present. When President Wilson 
 two years ago assured the American nation that there was 
 no need for preparedness, no need for worry about our mili- 
 tary shortcomings, no need for self-sacrifice and effort in 
 order to make good these shortcomings, he was sacrificing 
 our future safety to considerations of momentary political 
 popularity obtained by pandering to popular desire for the 
 enjoyment of material ease, and the avoidance of effort and 
 of serious facing of duties. Mr. Wilson then put "safety 
 first" as compared to duty; but he put it last as compared 
 to momentary enjoyment of ease and material pleasures, 
 and lazy refusal to face facts. I hold that this was exactly 
 the reverse of what he ought to have done. I hold that 
 it is our clear duty to sacrifice some of our present ease and 
 soft enjoyment of material things in order to guarantee our 
 future national safety. I hold that we should provide for 
 the ample safeguarding of the heritage which our fathers 
 left us and which our children should receive from us undi- 
 minished. I therefore believe, as I have before said, that 
 not only should we provide a big and efficient navy and a 
 small and efficient regular army, but that we should also 
 provide for a system of obligatory military training of our 
 young men, on the Swiss and Australian models. With all 
 my heart I believe in insuring the safety that can only come 
 through the full performance of duty, by the exercise of 
 courage and forethought under the compulsion of a high 
 sense of honor and patriotism. 
 
 This Is No Time for Flabby Ease 
 But this is not in the least what Mr. Wilson's advocates 
 mean when they ask us to support him, because he and 
 they are for "safety first." They are for the unworthy 
 safety that is merely obtained by the abandonment of duty. 
 They are for the momentary safety which shortsighted men 
 secure when they purchase escape from present risk and 
 
Duty First 23 
 
 effort at the cost of future disaster. They are for the 
 "safety" of each man to spend his time in money-making 
 and in flabby ease, at the cost of remaining untrained and 
 unfit to render service to the nation in the nation's hour 
 of need. They are for the mean safety which this nation 
 secured when it treated The Hague Conventions, which it 
 had signed, like scraps of paper and declined to make even 
 a protest on behalf of tortured Belgium. They are for the 
 safety this nation temporarily secured by tame submission 
 to the murder of its men, women and children on land by 
 Mexican bandits, and at sea in the Lusitania and similar 
 cases by German submarines. This kind of "safety first" 
 means duty last, honor last, courage last. I do not believe 
 in it. I believe that it is obtained at the cost of moral 
 degradation in the present and at the risk of national ruin 
 in the future. 
 
 In Maine there are many seafaring folks. I can illus- 
 trate what I mean about the use and abuse of the word 
 safety by the life-saving service. This is a service especially 
 designed to secure greater safety for ships' crews, and gen- 
 erally for persons whose lives are imperiled on the water. 
 It is a service to secure safety. But the safety is secured 
 only because some brave men are willing to risk their own- 
 lives in order to save other lives. They do not put "safety 
 first," as far as they themselves are concerned. If they 
 did, no lifeboat would ever be launched from a life-saving 
 station. But the men on a sinking ship who crowd into the 
 life-boats ahead of the women and children do put "safety 
 first." I will say this for them, however: Whenever they 
 get ashore they do not wear buttons to commemorate the 
 feat — as some of our opponents in the present campaign do. 
 
 Life-saving medals are granted every year. Each medal 
 means that a life has been saved ; and each means also that 
 in order to save it another life has been put in jeopardy. The 
 "safety first" class does not get such medals. Every life- 
 saving crew is composed of men who are tough, hardy and 
 well-trained. They put safety first as far as self-indulgence., 
 and soft ease, and mere money-getting are concerned ; other- 
 wise they would be helpless in a storm. But where duty 
 and safety are concerned, they put duty first and safety last. 
 
24 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 Put Duty, Not Safety, First 
 
 I wish to see this nation act in similar fashion, both 
 as regards its own safety and as regards the performance 
 of international duty. I wish to see it, by forethought, by 
 effort and hard training, and by the cultivation of a broad 
 and intense feeling of national endeavor and national 
 patriotism, to so develop its courage and its efficient strength 
 as to be able to hold its own against any possible aggression ; 
 and then I wish to see it put duty first, not safety first, when 
 any small, well-behaved people is treated as Belgium has 
 been treated. I stand for the safety that is obtained by the 
 performance of duty. I do not stand for the safety that is 
 obtained by the sacrifice of duty. 
 
 I believe that when the American people realize that 
 the issue is squarely before them they will put duty first 
 and not safety first; and I believe that only by so doing 
 will they secure real and ultimate safety. I believe that 
 they will support a policy of national action demanding 
 a spirit of national courage. The American peoplB are at 
 heart moral idealists and enthusiasts ; and in the past they 
 have again and again responded to some appeal for practical 
 action, calling for idealism to perceive it and enthusiasm 
 and self-devotion in order to achieve it. 
 
 The men who came across the ocean in the seventeenth 
 century to found here a new nation were men of courage and 
 energy inspired by idealism and enthusiasm. Under that 
 inspiration they attempted and accomplished the American 
 Revolution ; and later entered on the experiment of self- 
 government, founding a new nation "conceived in liberty 
 and dedicated to the proposition that all men are equal." 
 There were men of little faith among them, men of the 
 "safety first" type, of the professional pacifist type; but 
 in the end our forefathers rejected the leadership of these 
 men, and *f ollowed the leadership of Washington. 
 
 Since then our population has been swollen by immigra- 
 tion; and our immigrants have generally been men of cour- 
 age, energy and enterprise; a large proportion have been 
 men of moral enthusiasm. They dared to leave the old world 
 on the chance of starting a new life for themselves and 
 their children under new conditions. On the whole the 
 
Duty First 25 
 
 men and women who were called to our shores were the 
 picked men and women of their countries. A nation drawing 
 its blood from such sources is fundamentally sound, and 
 in the end it will support a plan which combined practical 
 action with genuine idealism. 
 
 Lincoln's Answer in 1860 
 
 In 1860 the question whether the American people 
 would allow the indefinite extension of slavery on the 
 American continent became acute. Conservatism said, Let 
 well enough alone; timidity said, Let us have peace; busi- 
 ness interests said. Safety first; the spirit of pacifism said, 
 Let us compromise, for the evils of slavery are not to be 
 compared with the evils of civil war and possible dissolution 
 of the Union. 
 
 To these arguments, so plausible that apparently they 
 carried the great majority of the Nation and had the sup- 
 port of multitudes of the best men both in church and 
 State, Abraham Lincoln answered in his Cooper Union 
 Speech : "Either slavery is right or wrong ; if it is right, we 
 ought to do. all that the South asks of us; if it is wrong, we 
 have no right to allow it in the territory under our control." 
 To this principle he adhered through the political campaign 
 which elected him, through the dark and dangerous days of 
 the interregnum after his election, and through all the 
 tragedy of the Civil War. The American people responded 
 to the appeal and sustained in practical fashion the great 
 moral principle Lincoln set forth and embodied. They put 
 duty first and safety second. I do not believe that we of 
 this generation have sunk so far below our sires as to be 
 incapable of responding in similar fashion to a similar ap- 
 peal. 
 
 . In 1896 Mr. Bryan initiated the campaign for Free 
 Silver. He was a popular speaker. The arguments for 
 Free Silver were popular, and indeed plausible. They were : 
 Our bonds are payable in coin; why substitute gold? If 
 silver has depreciated, gold has appreciated; why sacrifice 
 the debtor class to the gold bugs ? Recognized experts have 
 declared in favor of bi-metallism. Why abandon it? Why 
 ask the consent of Europe to continue it? Why not go it 
 
26 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 alone? The simple answer was, It is not right for a nation 
 to pay its debts to the world in anything less than the 
 world's currency. As fairly representing the national con- 
 viction which led to the national action, I quote a state- 
 ment at the time by a noted clergyman : "It is rarely morally 
 wise to do to another what he thinks unjust. It is never 
 morally right to enter on a course of action as to the justice 
 of which the actor is himself in doubt. These principles are 
 as applicable to nations as to individuals." It was right to 
 show that free silver would bring material disaster to the 
 nation; but it was primarily the moral appeal to the con- 
 science of the people which defeated Mr, Bryan in 1896. 
 
 Our Duty in Cuba and the Philippines 
 
 In 1898 the conditions in Cuba had become unbearable 
 to the American people. When full knowledge was ob- 
 tained of what had been done in the island it raised in this 
 country a storm of moral indignation which was irresistible. 
 The argument of the pacifists at that time was the same as 
 the argument of the pacifists of to-day. They varied be- 
 tween an unhealthy sentimentality and a still more un- 
 healthy materialism. They said that we were not concerned 
 with the injustice practised by a foreign government on a 
 foreign people; that it was no business of ours; that the 
 Cubans should be permitted to fight their own battles ; and 
 that the "blood spilling" in Cuba was not our affair. The 
 answer then was the answer we ought to make now. We 
 are our brother's keeper; injustice, whenever and wherever 
 perpetrated, does concern us ; and whether we act or not, no 
 considerations of self-interest should prevent our legitimate 
 expression of that concern. 
 
 Then followed the question of the Philippines. The ar- 
 guments of the so-called anti-imperialists were much like 
 the arguments of the pacifists of to-day. Again they varied 
 between an unhealthy sentimentality and an even more un- 
 healthy materialism. They said that the Philippines were 
 on the other side of the globe, and would never repay what 
 they cost us in money ; that serving the Filipinos would not 
 offset the sacrifice of the lives of American soldiers; and 
 they alternately advocated letting the Germans or Japanese 
 
Duty First 27 
 
 take the islands, and letting the islanders take care of them- 
 selves, and spill as much blood as they desired. The an- 
 swer was in spirit identical with the answer of Abraham 
 Lincoln to the pacifists of 1860 : For we said that we owed 
 a duty to the people we had set free, and would not abandon 
 them to anarchy and chaos. Again we appealed primarily 
 not to the pocket, but to the conscience ; not to self-interest, 
 but to the sense of honor, of the American people. Again 
 the appeal was successful. 
 
 An Opiate to Idealism 
 
 Since 1912 we have had four years of a policy which 
 has been an opiate to the spirit of idealism. It has meant the 
 relaxation of our moral fibre. Horror of war, combined with 
 a sordid appeal to self-interest and to fear, has paralyzed 
 the national conscience. We have been told that Americans, 
 if they do not wish to be killed, should leave Mexico and 
 should keep off the ocean; that to save a few American 
 lives it is not worth while to hazard the lives of American 
 soldiers; that Mexicans should be allowed to spill blood to 
 their hearts' content; that the European War is no concern 
 of ours; that even as between Belgium and Germany we 
 should be neutral not only in act but in sympathy. Not 
 once has President Wilson squarely placed before the 
 American people the question which Abraham Lincoln put 
 before the American people in 1860: What is our duty? 
 Not once has he appealed to moral idealism, to the stern en- 
 thusiasm of strong men for the right. On the contrary, he 
 has employed every elocutionary device to lull to sleep our 
 sense of duty, to make us content with words instead of 
 deeds, to make our moral idealism and enthusiasm evap- 
 orate in empty phrases instead of being reduced to concrete 
 action. America as a nation has been officially kept in a 
 position of timid indifference and cold selfishness. America, 
 which sprang to the succor of Cuba in 1898, has stood an idle 
 spectator of the invasion of Belgium, of the sinking of the 
 Lusitania, of the continued slaughter of our own citizens, 
 and of the reign of anarchy, rapine and murder in Mexico. 
 
28 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 American Rights and American Duty Were Relegated 
 
 Nevertheless I believe that the American people were 
 ready for the same kind of appeal which was made to them 
 by Abraham Lincoln in 1860, by the advocates of an honest 
 currency in 1896, by the advocates of the Spanish War in 
 1898, by the advocates of Nationalism in 1900. But the 
 appeal was not made. On the contrary, Mr. Wilson invoked 
 the spirit of timidity and selfishness. He made no effort 
 to invoke the sense of duty. He put "safety first," the imme- 
 diate safety of the moment, to be obtained by shrinking 
 from duty. He did not even put American rights first, still 
 less did he put American duty first. 
 
 Wilson Could Have Averted Massacre and Rapine 
 
 His task was not an especially difficult or dangerous 
 task ; but it needed a brave heart and a steady hand. Under 
 his lead America could and should have put itself at the head 
 of all the neutral nations, by its example if not by direct 
 diplomatic agreements, in demanding that the war should 
 be conducted in accordance with the usage of civilized na- 
 tions, that international law should be observed, that the 
 rights of neutrals and non-combatants should be respected. 
 If this spirit had animated our administration there would 
 probably have been no invasion of Belgium, no fears of a 
 like fate to terrorize other smaller nations, no torpedoing of 
 merchant vessels, no bombarding of churches and hospitals, 
 no massacreing of women and children, no murder of Miss 
 Cavell, no attempted extermination of the Armenians and 
 Syrian Christians. We cannot undo what has been done. 
 But we can repudiate what has been done. We can regain 
 our own self-respect and the respect of other nations for 
 this country. We can put in power an administration which 
 will throughout its term of power protect our own citizens 
 and live up to our national obligations. 
 
 It is just that this nation should concern itself with its 
 rights; but it is even more necessary that it should con- 
 cern itself with its duties. As between Mr. Hughes and Mr. 
 Wilson, who can doubt which is the man who will with 
 austere courage stand for the national duty? Mr. Wilson's 
 words have contradicted one another ; and all his words have 
 
Duty First 29 
 
 been contradicted by his acts. Mr, Wilson's promise has 
 not borne the slightest reference to his performance. We 
 have against him in Mr. Hughes a man whose public life is 
 a guarantee that whatever he says he will make good, and 
 that all his words will be borne out by his deeds. Against 
 Mr, Wilson's combination of grace in elocution with futility 
 in action ; against his record of words unbacked by deeds or 
 betrayed by deeds, we set Mr. Hughes' rugged and uncom- 
 promising straightforwardness of character and action in 
 every office he has held. We put the man who thinks and 
 speaks directly, and whose words have always been made 
 good, against the man whose adroit and facile elocution is 
 used to conceal his plans or his want of plans. The next 
 four years may well be years of tremendous national strain. 
 Which of the two men do you, the American people, wish 
 at the helm during these four years ; the man who has been 
 actually tried and found wanting, or the man whose whole 
 career in public office is a guarantee of his power and good 
 faith ? But one answer is possible ; and it must be given by 
 the American people through the election of Charles Evans 
 Hughes as President of the United States. 
 
WORDS AND DEEDS 
 Battle Creek, Michigan, September 30, 1916 
 
 AT the outset I wish to say a word as to the protests now 
 made by so many people that we must not criticize the 
 President. The newspapers and individuals making these 
 protests are, for the most part, the very ones who and 
 which when I was President spread every species of 
 calumny and slander about me. I then, as President, took 
 the view that no one had a right to speak untruthfully of 
 the President or of anyone else, but that even less than any- 
 one else ought the President to escape from truthful criti- 
 cism. I never complained of any attack on me unless it 
 was false, and if it was false, and the man making it was 
 important enough, I clearly showed its falsity. I apply to 
 others only the standard by which I asked that I myself 
 be treated. It is the standard explicitly set in reference 
 to myself by Mr. Charles Bonaparte on May 2, 1902, in his 
 speech to the Civil Service Reform Association of Maryland. 
 Speaking of me, the then President, he said : "Give him Hail 
 Columbia (not to speak of any thing less suitable for public 
 mention) when he does aught that savors of that abuse of 
 public trust for personal or party ends which he has himself 
 so often and so strenuously condemned ; if he is the man 
 some of us think him, he will think all the better of us for 
 doing this ; but whatever he or anybody else may think, it 
 is the right thing for us to do, and we have no business here, 
 this Association and its fellows have no warrant for further 
 existence, unless we are ready to do it. Moreover, although 
 we should, so far as may be practicable in reason, learn all 
 material facts bearing on the conduct of a public servant 
 before we blame him, there is no call for encyclopaedic 
 research into minute details to justify outspoken censure, 
 when this appears, on a fair, sober, second thought, well 
 deserved. It is the President's duty, no less than it was 
 
 30 
 
Words and Deeds 31 
 
 Mrs. Caesar's, to escape reasonable suspicion of wrong- 
 doing; should he or any other official tell us: 'If you knew 
 the facts, you wouldn't blame me,' we have a ready answer : 
 'Give us the facts, and we'll see.' " 
 
 I at the time emphatically endorsed this position of Mr. 
 Bonaparte's, who himself later served in my Cabinet. His 
 attitude was the proper one to take towards the then Presi- 
 dent; and it is the proper one to take towards the present 
 President. 
 
 I never uttered one word of criticism of President 
 Wilson until a year and a half after he was elected Presi- 
 dent. If he had stood by the honor and the interest of the 
 American people, I would have thrown up my hat for him, 
 and would have supported him heart and soul. I not 
 merely kept silent during the first eighteen months ; 
 I tried actively to support him. The only errors I have 
 made in connection with Mr. Wilson were due to incau- 
 tiously accepting his statements and supporting his policies 
 in the effort to "stand by the President." It was with deep 
 reluctance that I was forced to the conclusion that the effort 
 to stand by him was incompatible with standing by the in- 
 terests of mankind and the honor of this nation. But in my 
 view there was no alternative for any honorable man, when 
 once I became convinced, as I am convinced, that the con- 
 science of this people has been seared, and its moral sense 
 dulled, by the leadership of the Administration and of Con- 
 gress during the last three years. These false servants of 
 the people have taught us to enjoy soft ease and swollen 
 wealth in the present without taking one effective step to 
 ward off ruinous disaster in the future. These false serv- 
 ants of the people have betrayed the soul of the nation. 
 
 We Had War Under Washington and Lincoln 
 
 The supporters of Mr. Wilson say that the American 
 people should vote for him because he has kept us out of 
 war. It is worth while to remember that this is a claim 
 that cannot be advanced either on behalf of Washington or 
 of Lincoln. Neither Washington nor Lincoln kept us out 
 of war. Americans, and the people of the world at large, 
 now reverence the memories of these two men, because, and 
 
32 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 only because, they put righteousness before peace. They 
 abhorred war. They shunned unjust or wanton or reckless 
 war. But they possessed that stern valor of patriotism 
 which bade them put duty first, not safety first ; which bade 
 them accept war rather than an unrighteous and disastrous 
 peace. There were peace-at-any-price men in the days of 
 Washington. They were the Tories. There were peace-at- 
 any-price men in the days of Lincoln. They were the 
 Copperheads. The men who now, with timid hearts and 
 quavering voices, praise Mr. Wilson for having kept us out 
 of war are the spiritual heirs of the Tories of 1776, and 
 the Copperheads of 1864. The men who followed Washing- 
 tion at Trenton and Yorktown, and who suffered with him 
 through the winter at Valley Forge ; and the men who wore 
 the blue under Grant, and the Gray under Lee, were men of 
 valor, who sacrificed everything to serve the right as it was 
 given them to see the right. They spurned with contempt- 
 uous indignation the counsels of the feeble and cowardly 
 folk who m their day spoke for peace-at-any-price. 
 
 The Murder of Americans Has Been Invited 
 
 President Wilson by his policy of tame submission to 
 insult and injury from all whom he feared has invited 
 the murder of our men, women and children by Mexican 
 bandits on land, and by German submarines on the sea. 
 He has spoken much of the "New Freedom." In interna- 
 tional practice this has meant freedom for the representa- 
 tives of any foreign power to murder American men, and 
 outrage American women, unchecked by the President. 
 President Wilson has counted upon his belief that the 
 American people are indifferent to their duties, because they 
 are too much absorbed in war profits, too much pleased with 
 the unhealthy prosperity which flourishes because others are 
 suffering ; too greedily content with a momentary immunity 
 from danger, due to the fact that all possible foes are other- 
 wise engaged. He has believed that our people will not look 
 ahead. He has believed that they will remain blind to the 
 fact that disaster will surely in the end overtake them if 
 they shirk their duties in the present. He believes that if 
 they are allowed to enjoy good profits and high wages, and 
 
Words and Deeds 33 
 
 go to the movies, and purchase automobiles, they will pay 
 no thought to the possibility of future ruin, and no thought 
 to the sufferings of their fellow-countrymen and country- 
 women who, at the present moment, suffer the last extremi- 
 ties of torture and outrage. 
 
 Porter Emerson Browne has shown exactly the way in 
 which we are looked at abroad in a recent statement which 
 runs as follows: 
 
 "An American friend of mine attended a dinner given 
 in Mexico by the erstwhile revolutionist thereof, Pascual 
 Orozco. Pascual was puzzled. He asked my friend to ex- 
 plain that which so mystified him. 'We have robbed your 
 men, dishonored your women, killed your children ; tell 
 me,' pleaded Pascual, 'what does an American need to make 
 him fight?' Pascual, you see, being only an ignorant 
 Mexican, couldn't understand why . a wife or a couple of 
 children more or less meant little when you have a new 
 automobile and a fat bank account." 
 
 Consider Mr. Wilson's Statements 
 
 I do not ask you to take my statement for Mr. Wilson's 
 motive and actions. I ask you only to consider his own 
 statements, and the statements of his authorized representa- 
 tives, and his actions, and above all, his constant inaction. 
 Nearly one year and a half has passed since the Lusitania 
 was sunk. The act represented the most colossal single 
 instance of the murder of non-combatants, including men, 
 women and children, that had been perpetrated by any 
 power calling itself civilized for over a century. President 
 Wilson had full notice as to what was to be done, for the 
 German Ambassador, Mr. Von Bernstorff, had publicly 
 given such notice to the people of the United States. For 
 less than such action President George Washington, when 
 ours was a weak, infant nation, forced the recall of the 
 French Ambassador, Genet. But President Wilson did not 
 act. He only spoke. And his words were a direct incite- 
 ment to the repetition of the wrong. For immediately after 
 the sinking of the Lusitania he uttered his famous sentence 
 about being "Too proud to fight." In all our history there 
 has never been any other American President who has used 
 
34 Americanism mid Preparedness 
 
 a phrase that has done such widespread damage to the good 
 name of America. It is one of those dreadful phrases which, 
 as by a lightning flash, illumines the soul of the man 
 using it, and remains forever fixed in the .minds of mankind 
 in connection with that man. But this is not all. When the 
 man is President of the United States, it is a sad and dread- 
 ful thing that the shame is necessarily shared by the na- 
 tion itself; and it is completely assumed by the nation if it 
 fails to repudiate the man who uttered the phrase. 
 
 Imagine George Washington after the Lexington fight, 
 or even after the Boston massacre, selecting the occasion 
 as an appropriate one for remarking that the American 
 people might be "Too proud to fight!" Imagine Abraham 
 Lincoln making such a statement two days after the firing 
 on Sumter! 
 
 Nor was this phrase an isolated one. Shortly after- 
 wards, under date of May 27th, the New York Times con- 
 tained the statement that President Wilson declined an 
 invitation to speak at Independence Hall on July 5th, and 
 in response to a suggestion that he should only speak on 
 patriotism, remarked : "This is perhaps the very time when 
 I would not care to arouse the sentiment of patriotism." I 
 call your attention to the fact that I take this statement 
 from one of the most prominent Wilson papers. President 
 Wilson refused to speak in Independence Hall on the one 
 hundred and twenty-eighth anniversary of the signing of 
 the Declaration of Independence in that hall, and he so re- 
 fused because inasmuch as over one hundred of our men, 
 women and children had just been murdered on the high 
 seas he regarded it as "the very moment when he would not 
 care to arouse the sentiment of patriotism." Mr. Wilson 
 has a positive genius for striking when the iron is cold 
 and fearing to strike when the iron is hot. If one hundred 
 and twenty-eight years ago Washington and Jefferson, and 
 the other men who signed the Declaration of Independence, 
 had felt the same way about patriotism, and the same way 
 about fighting as Mr. Wilson does, we would never have had 
 a country. Had Lincoln felt the same way, there would 
 be no such thing as the American Republic now in existence. 
 
 Most assuredly, my fellow countrymen, the American 
 
Words and Deeds 35. 
 
 Republic will not live, and will not deserve to live, if for the 
 views of the men who signed the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence on July 4th, 1776, we substitute as the basis of national 
 action the views of the President who, one hundred and 
 twenty-eight years later, declined to speak in commemora- 
 tion of the day, because in a dangerous crisis it seemed to his 
 cold heart unwise "to arouse the spirit of patriotism." 
 
 Mr. Wilson's Deeds Contradict His Words 
 
 The other day, discussing his refusal to recognize 
 Huerta, President Wilson said in his speech of acceptance 
 that he would refuse to recognize any "title based upon in- 
 trigue and assassination," and that he would "refuse to 
 extend the hand of welcome to any one who obtains power 
 in a sister republic by treachery and violence." Fine words ; 
 only, as usual, they are contradicted by Mr. Wilson's deeds. 
 Let this statement about Huerta be tested by Mr. Wilson's 
 record in exactly similar cases when dealing with other 
 men. In February, 1914, at the very time he was refusing 
 to recognize Huerta in Mexico, President Wilson recognized 
 Colonel Benavides in Peru ; although Benavides had ob- 
 tained his power by the exact means which Mr. Wilson de- 
 nounced in the case of Huerta. The Government of Bena- 
 vides was founded on assassination, and had no vestige of 
 constitutional authority back of it. It came into power in 
 February, 1914, when Colonel Benavides led the garrison 
 troops against the President's palace, imprisoned the Presi- 
 dent and assassinated the Minister of War and various 
 others. Minister McMillan reported these facts fully to the 
 President. The case against Benavides was far more fla- 
 grant than that against Huerta ; but President Wilson boldly 
 "extended the hand of welcome to the man who obtained 
 power in a sister republic by treachery and violence, and 
 whose title was based upon assassination and intrigue." 
 It is absolutely impossible to accept Mr. Wilson's statement 
 as a justification in the case of Huerta unless we admit that 
 that very statement irretrievably condemns him in the case 
 of Benavides. The only other explanation is that Mr. Wil- 
 son's statement in the Huerta matter was not intended to 
 
36 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 correspond with the facts, but merely to impress well-mean- 
 ing persons who were ignorant of the facts. 
 
 In both San Domingo and Haiti President Wilson inter- 
 vened by force on behalf of men who had obtained power 
 precisely as Mr. Huerta obtained it. Indeed, in the case of 
 Haiti, President Zamor was guilty of far worse conduct. 
 But San Domingo and Haiti were weak and President Wil- 
 son was willing to act as regards them as he did not venture 
 to act in Mexico. 
 
 But it is Mr. Wilson's recognition of Carranza which 
 more than anything else applies the "acid test," of which 
 Mr. Wilson is so fond of speaking, to Mr. Wilson's own 
 allegations as to why he did not recognize Huerta. Every 
 argument against Huerta applied with tenfold more truth 
 and weight against Carranza. Immediately after Mr. Wil- 
 son recognized Carranza, the latter courtmartialed and shot 
 a former member of Huerta's cabinet, Garcia Granados, 
 who had committed no crime whatever except having served 
 in Huerta's cabinet. It was a deliberate murder of a man 
 of good character who was at the time in private life; and 
 Carranza had already permitted his followers to assassinate 
 members of the House and members of the Senate of the 
 Mexican Congress. For full particulars I refer you to the 
 speech of Senator Fall on June 2d last. On. April 3d, 1915, 
 the Americans resident in the City of Mexico sent to the 
 Department of State a letter setting forth that Carranza's 
 troops had without check by him, and acting by his orders, 
 killed men, outraged women and raided churches. More- 
 over, Mr. Wilson is himself a witness against his present 
 ally. I refer you to the letter of Mr. Wilson's own Secretary 
 of State of June 4 last. In this letter it is explicitly stated 
 that Carranzista soldiers in September, 1915, invaded 
 American territory at several different points, and engaged 
 in burning and looting American property and killing 
 American citizens ; and, says Mr. Wilson through his Secre- 
 tary of State, "not only were these murders characterized 
 by ruthless brutality, but uncivilized acts of mutilation were 
 perpetrated." One of these "uncivilized" acts was commit- 
 ted on September 29th, when some of Carranza's soldiers 
 captured an American trooper, killed him and cut off his 
 
Words and Deeds 37 
 
 head and ears. Exactly twenty days later, on October 19th, 
 Mr. Wilson expressed "pleasure" in informing Carranza 
 that he recognized him ! Since the recognition Carranza's 
 troops by his orders have treacherously attacked and mur- 
 dered American soldiers on at least two occasions. If the 
 acts above recited — which are merely samples of the course 
 of conduct Carranza had already pursued — do not constitute 
 "intrigue and assassination, treachery and violence," then 
 the words have lost their meaning. Mr. Wilson took "pleas- 
 ure" in "extending the hand of welcome" to Carranza, whose 
 own hand is red with the blood of murdered men and women 
 of his own nation, and whose hands, unlike the hands of 
 Huerta, were also red with the blood of murdered Ameri- 
 cans, of murdered American civilians, and of murdered 
 American soldiers wearing the American uniform. But 
 President Wilson cared as little for the deaths of these men 
 as he cared for the honor of the uniform. He with "pleas- 
 ure extended the hand of welcome" to the man guilty of 
 their murder. 
 
 Note-sending Not a Success 
 
 On September 5th there appeared in the newspapers a 
 statement by Secretary of the Interior Lane, of Mr. Wilson's 
 Cabinet, who is engaged in the humiliating and disgraceful 
 negotiations Mr. Wilson's government is carrying on with 
 the Mexican representatives at New London — and, by the 
 way, as the former negotiations were said to be with the 
 A, B, C powers, these negotiations, in view of the Mexican 
 demands for money, might well be called the I. 0. U nego- 
 tiations. Mr. Lane explained that in endeavoring to get a 
 settlement the American delegates "will not resort to the 
 note-sending plan," and he adds that "note-sending has not 
 been a success." Mr. Lane is entirely right, and his state- 
 ment is a condemnation of the entire diplomatic policy of 
 the President in whose Cabinet he sits. The New York 
 Times, under date of February 11th, stated that the claims 
 of Americans and foreigners for the loss of property and 
 life in Mexico now total about one billion dollars, of which six 
 hundred millions are due to Americans, and the other four 
 hundred millions to natives of Germany, England, France 
 
38 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 and Spain. The Times further mentioned that Mr. Lane 
 had been told that the representatives of these powers re- 
 garded the United States as obligated to make good their 
 property losses, and to pay indemnity for the lives of their 
 compatriots. 
 
 It was also announced in the public press that one 
 hundred million dollars was expended in General Pershing's 
 expedition into Mexico, and that we are now expending 
 fifteen million dollars a week to keep one hundred and fifty 
 thousand men on the border of Mexico in order to enable 
 Mr. Wilson to continue to wage peace with that country. 
 It seems probable that the fruits of Mr. Wilson's policy in 
 Mexico will be that we shall find ourselves saddled with a 
 debt of a billion and a half dollars ; while already many more 
 of our people have been killed than were killed in the war 
 with Spain ; and our policy has been ruinous to Mexico, dis- 
 honorable to ourselves, and infamous from the standpoint 
 of humanity ; while not the slightest progress toward a per- 
 manent settlement has been made. 
 
 In dealing with foreign nations, if we are to retain our 
 self-respect, and protect our citizens, the first essential is 
 that when we speak it shall be understood that we mean 
 what we say. In his speech at West Point on June 2d last. 
 President Wilson said : "Mankind is going to know that 
 when America speaks • she means what she says." Most 
 emphatically mankind will never know this as long as Mr. 
 Wilson is President. 
 
 On August 27th, 1913, he directed the American Con- 
 sul-General in Mexico to notify all Mexican officials that 
 "they will be held strictly responsible for any injury done 
 to any American, or for injury done to their property." On 
 February 10th, 1915, he sent his first note to Germany as 
 regards the use of submarines in sinking merchant vessels, 
 warning Germany that in case an American vessel or the 
 life of an American citizen should be destroyed by a German 
 submarine, the United States would hold the Imperial Gov- 
 ernment of Germany to "strict accountability." At the 
 same time Secretary of State Bryan, according to his pub- 
 lished statement, informed the Austro-Hungarian Ambassa- 
 dor Dumba that the note was intended merely for "home 
 
Words and Deeds 39 
 
 consumption," and was not to be taken seriously by Ger- 
 many, and he reported his conversation to President Wilson, 
 who approved of it. This makes an interesting gloss on Mr. 
 Wilson's statement that "Mankind is going to know that 
 when America speaks she means what she says," 
 
 Ships Torpedoed Continually 
 
 On March 28th, 1915, the steamship Falaba was tor- 
 pedoed, and of the one hundred and eighteen persons 
 drowned, two were Americans. On May 1st, 1915, the Gul- 
 flight, an American vessel, was torpedoed without warning 
 by a German submarine, and the lives of three persons on 
 board lost. On May 7th the Lusitania was torpedoed, and 
 thirteen hundred and ninety-six persons were drowned. 
 But President Wilson did not "make mankind know that 
 when America speaks she means what she says." On the 
 contrary, he selected this as the appropriate occasion for his 
 remark about being "too proud to fight." He did not hold 
 Germany to strict accountability. He did not hold her to 
 any accountability, strict or loose. He wrote notes. We 
 have the authority of Mr. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, 
 for the saying that "note-writing has not proved a success." 
 President Wilson's first note to Germany was on May 13th. 
 Germany answered it on May 25th by torpedoing the Ne- 
 braskan, an American vessel. On June 9th, President Wil- 
 son sent his second note, and on July 21st, a third. Ger- 
 many answered these notes on August 19th by sinking the 
 Arabic, drowning forty-one persons, including two Ameri- 
 cans ; and on September 6th, the Hesperian, twenty-six 
 persons being drowned, including two Americans. On De- 
 cember 30th, the Persia was sunk, the number of lives lost 
 being three hundred and thirty-eight, including two Ameri- 
 cans, one of them a Consul-General. Other vessels have 
 since been sunk. No atonement has been made by Ger- 
 many ; and in more than one case the newspapers report 
 that the captain of the submarine has been promoted or 
 decorated as a reward. You ask me whether I would have 
 "gone to war" in such a case? I believe that a firm policy — 
 such a policy as I followed while I was President — would have 
 kept us out of war — as it actually did while I was President. 
 
40 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 But, if in order to stop repeated murders of our men, women 
 and children, and repeated outrages on our women, it had 
 been necessary to fight, I would have fought on the drop 
 of a hat. 
 
 So much for the "strict accountability" to which Ger- 
 many was to be held. The "strict responsibility" to which 
 Mexico was to be held resulted in precisely a similar manner. 
 While Germany was drowning between one and two hun- 
 dred Americans, and a couple of thousand other noncom- 
 batants who were at sea, the Mexicans were killing a some- 
 what larger number of Americans, and a still larger number 
 of other noncombatants on land. President Wilson did 
 not hold Germany to "strict accountability" in one case, and 
 did not hold Mexico to "strict responsibility" in the other. 
 He did nothing whatever. Nobody has been punished for 
 the lives lost. 
 
 Mr. Wilson's Words Mean Nothing 
 
 In President Wilson's speech of acceptance, he said 
 that "the loss of life is irreparable," and that the "direct 
 violation of a nation's sovereignty" stands on a similar 
 plane, and that "the nation that violates these essential 
 rights must expect to be checked and called to account by 
 direct challenge and resistance." Words ! Very fine words ! 
 They would have meant much if Andrew Jackson had spoken 
 them. But from Mr. Wilson they mean absolutely nothing. 
 "Mankind knows that when America speaks" through Presi- 
 dent Wilson she does not mean what she says, and will take 
 no action. Mr. Wilson never ventured for one moment to 
 "call to account by direct challenge and resistance" either 
 Germany or even Mexico. He says quite properly that "the 
 loss of life is irreparable." Therefore, it was his solemn 
 duty to prevent the loss of life. On February 10th he issued 
 his strict accountability note. On March 28th, the Falaba 
 was torpedoed. If he had then made good his words; if 
 he had immediately held Germany to strict accountability, 
 not one of the subsequent sinkings would have taken place. 
 The Lusitania, the Arabic, the Persia, the Sussex, and the 
 other vessels would be afloat, and twenty-three hundred 
 men, women and children would be alive. They lost their 
 
Words and Deeds 41 
 
 lives because President Wilson did not venture to call "to 
 account by direct challenge and resistance" Imperial Ger- 
 many. He did not dare to make his words good. 
 
 President Wilson says in his speech of acceptance that 
 he is "more interested in the fortunes of oppressed men and 
 pitiful women and children than in any property rights 
 whatever." President Wilson sent note after note to Eng- 
 land protesting against interference with property rights ; 
 and he has just taken action on behalf of property rights, 
 against France and England, which if he had really thought 
 about it in advance, and meant what he said, might very 
 well lead to the most serious consequences with these pow- 
 ers. If it does not have this effect it will be because Mr. 
 Wilson's words will again be left unbacked by deeds. This 
 action by Mr. Wilson would be entirely proper and necessary 
 if he had taken the right position on behalf of Belgium and 
 had exacted prompt atonement for the murder of our men, 
 women and children by German submarines. But it is 
 improper when he has done none of these things. It is 
 sardonic evidence that, if he thinks a political purpose is to 
 be served, he will instantly show far more "interest" in 
 "property rights" than in "the fortunes of oppressed men 
 and pitiful women and children," whether in Louvain or 
 Lille, in the United States or in Mexico, or on the high seas 
 or anywhere else. If he had really shown by his deeds dur- 
 ing the past two years an effective and determined purpose 
 to protect our own "pitiful women and children" and all 
 other "oppressed" people, if he had been their resolute and 
 successful champion, it would now be his clear duty to take 
 straightforward and effective action against any improper 
 interference with our mails and merchandise, whether by 
 blacklist, by the exercise of the right of search or otherwise. 
 If he had thus acted in the past on behalf of human rights, 
 it would be eminently proper to stand up for our property 
 rights now. But the action actually taken by the President 
 of the United States convicts us as a nation, in the eyes of 
 other nations, and above all, in our own eyes, as being guilty 
 of hypocritical insincerity in the whole matter. If the 
 President had begun, two years ago, effectively and actively 
 to prepare our military and naval strength, and if he 
 
42 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 had meant what he said, and had clearly shown that he 
 meant what he said, we would have rendered real service to 
 mankind, we would have safeguarded all our rights, we 
 would have been a potent force for peace, and we would 
 have preserved unstained our national honor. As it is, 
 we have earned the derision of mankind by our policy of 
 mixed bluster, hypocrisy, and unpreparedness, and we have 
 come perilously near to drifting into a position where we 
 would have to face the alternatives of a humiliating 
 backdown or else a war for which we were unprepared. 
 President Wilson never looks ahead either when he utters 
 threats or when he utters fine phrases about humanity. In 
 the present instance we may or may not have trouble. Prob- 
 ably we shall avoid it, because it is probable that in the 
 end Mr. Wilson will follow his usual course of submitting 
 to wrongdoing by every one, instead of standing up for our 
 rights and the rights of humanity against every one. 
 
 Mexico offers the most striking instance of contrast be- 
 tween words and deeds on the part of our government. Mr. 
 Wilson speaks loftily on behalf of "oppressed men and pitiful 
 women" in the abstract ; but when the forces of Carranza 
 and Villa murdered American men, and outraged American 
 women, acting under the direct authority of their leaders, 
 Mr. Wilson made no effective protest of any kind ; and in his 
 speech of acceptance he has actually apologized for these 
 men on the ground that they "represented at least the fierce 
 passions of reconstruction which lies at the very heart of 
 liberty." It is difficult to speak .patiently of such an utter- 
 ance, when we remember the infamy which it covers, and 
 the abject submission to infamy for which it seeks to 
 apologize. 
 
 President Wilson says that he is "interested in the 
 fortunes of pitiful women and children." On the Lusitania 
 there were drowned 103 babies under two years of age ; fifty 
 of them being babies under one year of age. How did Mr. 
 Wilson's "interest" in these pitiful women and children show 
 itself? It showed itself by the statement just two days later 
 about being "Too proud to fight." It showed itself in his 
 statement a little over two weeks later to the effect that it 
 was inexpedient then to arouse the spirit of patriotism. Let 
 
Words and Deeds 43 
 
 him square these acts with these words of his. Let him 
 square these words with his professions of "interest" in 
 the fortunes of "pitiful women and children," Let him 
 square his absolute failure to take any action whatever with 
 his statements that any "nation that violates our essential 
 rights must be checked and called to account by direct chal- 
 lenge and resistance." Never in our history has there been 
 such ignoble contrast between the words and the deeds of a 
 chief executive. 
 
 A Parallel for Mr. Wilson's Interest in Oppressed Men 
 
 There is, however, a parallel for the kind of interest and 
 concern President Wilson has thus shown for "oppressed 
 men and pitiful women and children." But we have to go 
 for it, not to history, but to fiction. His attitude recalls that 
 of the walrus in "Alice Through the Looking Glass," who 
 took the oysters out to walk on the beach, and then ate 
 them up. While eating them the walrus bewailed their fate ; 
 and his words, emotions and actions are thus described : 
 
 "I weep for you, the walrus said, 
 
 I deeply sympathize ; 
 With sobs and tears he sorted out 
 
 Those of the largest size. 
 Holding his pocket handkerchief 
 
 Before his streaming eyes." 
 
 Mr. Wilson's Weasel Words 
 
 As on almost every question President Wilson has occu- 
 pied at least two diametrically opposite positions, we can 
 usually find in some of his words an outline of the position 
 we ought to have taken ; but almost without exception, these 
 fine words have had the meaning weaseled out of them by 
 other words; and usually there have been no deeds what- 
 ever. Take, as an instance, the question of preparedness, 
 and of the means necessary to secure it. In the fourteen 
 months extending from December 8th, 1914, to February 
 10th, 1916, there were fifteen messages, letters and speeches 
 of President Wilson which I have read. In these fifteen 
 messages, letters and speeches, during those fourteen 
 months, President Wilson took forty-one diflferent positions 
 
44 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 about preparedness and the measures necessary to secure 
 it; and each of these forty-one positions contradicted from 
 one to six of the others. In many of his speeches the weasel 
 words of one portion of the speech took all the meaning out 
 of the words used in another portion of that speech ; and 
 these latter words themselves had a weasel significance as 
 regards yet other words. He argued for preparedness, and 
 against preparedness. He stated that our army was ample ; 
 and that we did not have enough troops to patrol the Mexi- 
 can border in time of peace. He said the world was on fire, 
 and that sparks were liable to drop anywhere and cause us 
 to burst into flame ; and he also said that there was no sud- 
 den crisis ; and then again that he did not know what a single 
 day would bring forth. He said that we were on the verge 
 of a maelstrom ; and then that there was no special or criti- 
 cal situation. He said the danger was constant and imme- 
 diate ; and also that we were not threatened from any 
 quarter. He said that there was no fear among us ; and 
 also that we were in daily danger of seeing the vital interest 
 and honor of the country menaced and the flag of the United 
 States stained with impunity. He said that we were in very 
 critical danger of being involved in the great European 
 struggle; and also that there was no need to discuss the 
 question of defense, or to get nervous or excited about it. In 
 one and the same speech, he said that a sufficient number of 
 men would volunteer, and that if they did not he would be 
 ashamed of America ; and he also said that he did not know 
 of any law which laid upon them the duty of coming into 
 the army, if it should be necessary to call for volunteers. 
 He said that we needed 500,000 volunteers, and that if there 
 was any legitimate criticism of this demand it was because 
 it was too small ; and as soon as Congressman Hay objected 
 to the plan, he promptly abandoned it. He said that the 
 National Guard was not the proper body upon which to rely ; 
 and then not only changed his own mind but forced his own 
 Secretary of War out of his Cabinet because this Secretary 
 possessed less flexible convictions and was unable instantly 
 to reverse himself when going at full speed. 
 
 When the President argued every which way, and stood 
 on every side of every proposal, it was no wonder that Con- 
 
Words and Deeds 45 
 
 gress was puzzled. Public opinion was not led by the Presi- 
 dent. He followed it in sharp zig-zags, now in one direction, 
 and now in another, as he believed it at the moment to be 
 going. In consequence, the laws just passed for our military 
 establishment have been positively mischievous, and they 
 will have to be repealed or amended before any really good 
 legislation can be adopted. The course of the administra- 
 tion has so thoroughly discredited itself in the public mind, 
 that it has been almost impossible to get recruits. I know 
 of many old soldiers who have refused to re-enlist because 
 of the unsatisfactory condition of our military laws at this 
 moment, and above all, because of the shameful mishandling 
 of the military forces during the past three years. If the 
 recent rate of recruiting is a sample, it will take five years 
 to increase our army by as much as twenty thousand men, 
 allowing for the discharges. 
 
 The Democrats and the Navy 
 
 Six years ago, in 1910, as soon as the Democrats got 
 possession of the House, they stopped work on the navy. 
 From being the second naval power in the world in point of 
 size, we have, during the last seven years, slipped down to 
 being the fourth; and under Secretary Daniels, and thanks 
 to the action of President Wilson, our efficiency reached its 
 nadir. Now at last, and many years too late, the adminis- 
 tration and the Democratic leaders in Congress have turned 
 in panic, and are now seeking to build the navy. The plan 
 they have authorized is, in effect, the plan for which I asked 
 eight years ago in my message of April 14th, 1908, when I 
 advocated the building of four super-dreadnoughts with, of 
 course, other vessels in proportion. 
 
 The difference is that I was wise before the event, and 
 they after the event. They are now acting too late to have 
 any effect upon our standing during the present war, or at 
 the period of settlement immediately following its conclu- 
 sion. If the course I advocated in 1908 had been followed 
 and our foreign affairs had been handled as they were then 
 being handled, there would never have been an American 
 life taken by any representative of the governments of 
 either Mexico or Germany ; and there would never have been 
 
46 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 the appalling carnival of violations of international law that 
 we have seen during the past two years and a quarter. We 
 cannot undo the mischief that has been done during these 
 three years; but if President Wilson is re-elected, we can 
 make certain that this mischief will be repeated and per- 
 petuated. We must elect Mr. Hughes as President, and we 
 must in good faith take a policy the direct reverse of the 
 present policy of feeble vacillation and empty elocution. Let 
 us provide for a great navy, the second in size in the world ; 
 and let us provide for a regular army of a quarter of a mil- 
 lion men, short service men, so that we can have one hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand men who can be concentrated at once 
 on the Mexican frontier, or on either coast, if there is serious 
 trouble. And let us begin patiently and farsightedly to 
 inaugurate in this country the system which treats the per- 
 formance of the duties of citizenship as a necessary comple- 
 ment to the enjoyment of the rights of citizenship. Let us 
 provide for universal obligatory military training of all our 
 young men in time of peace, and for the recognition of the 
 principle that in time of war every man and every woman in 
 the country is bound to render service wherever it is deemed 
 that he or she can render it best. 
 
 Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wilson 
 
 I ask you to test the character and courage of Mr. 
 Hughes and Mr. Wilson by comparing their attitudes as 
 regards the demands of the railway brotherhoods, which 
 culminated recently in the miscalled eight-hour legislation 
 at Washington. 
 
 During the last eighteen years, covering the period 
 when I was Governor, and President, I have hitherto on 
 every important issue supported the brotherhoods. I am 
 very proud of the fact that I am an honorary member of 
 one of the brotherhoods. I have publicly stated that during 
 the ten years when I held high public office, I found myself, 
 on the whole, in closer agreement with the Brotherhoods 
 than with any similar organized body, whether of business 
 men, professional men, or labor men ; with the possible ex- 
 ceptipn of the members of the surgical and medical profes- 
 sion, in so far as they can be said to be organized. But it is 
 
Words and Deeds 47 
 
 the duty of every good American, and especially every good 
 public servant, in each question that arises touching the rela- 
 tions of labor and capital, to judge that particular question 
 squarely on its merit. I equally abhor both the White 
 Terror and the Red Terror, and I will stand as stoutly 
 against one as against the other. We have seen in this 
 country few things more discreditable to our representa- 
 tives and more ominous for the future of the nation than 
 the spectacle of the President and Congress of the United 
 States being required to pass a certain bill before a certain 
 hour at the dictation of certain men who sat in the gallery 
 with their watches in their hands threatening ruin and dis- 
 aster to the nation if there was the smallest failure to sat- 
 isfy their demands. 
 
 Conduct Should Be the Test 
 As President I dealt at various times with both corpora- 
 tions and labor unions. In every case, according to the best 
 of my ability, I stood in favor of the corporation or union 
 that was doing right, and against the corporation or union 
 that was doing wrong. For example, I stood against the 
 Western Federation of Miners at one time, jus-t as I stood 
 against the richest and most powerful corporations of Wall 
 Street at other times. I am therefore not asking any public 
 servant to take a stand which I myself did not take when I 
 was in public office. 
 
 The Anthracite Coal Strike 
 
 In particular I ask you to remember the Anthracite Coal 
 Strike, because the menace that strike contained was even 
 greater than the menace of a general tie-up of the trans- 
 portation systems of the country ; for it meant the pos- 
 sibility of actual death by cold to hundreds of thousands 
 of our own people. At that time the great and wealthy 
 mine owners, backed by the heads of the wealthiest 
 and most powerful industrial and railroad corporations in 
 the country, refused to arbitrate. The men struck. Winter 
 was approaching, and fell disaster threatened all the East- 
 ern half of our country. The representatives of the mine 
 owners in response to my request insisted that there was 
 nothing to arbitrate ; and through their counsel also insisted 
 that I had no power under the Constitution to act, and that 
 
48 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 the public could not interfere, through the representatives 
 of the public, with the way in which they managed their 
 business. I took the opposite view. 
 
 Public Need Placed First 
 
 I held that where the public necessity was national and 
 imperative, it became the duty of the chief of the nation 
 to act. I held that in any such gigantic controversy be- 
 tween labor and capital as to threaten the welfare of 
 the nation, there were three parties in interest, viz.: 
 the capitalists, the workingmen and finally the people 
 as a whole; and that where the public need was 
 vital, that need must control. I specifically took the view 
 that before final action was taken on the points at issue, we 
 must have full information, given to the public and the 
 representatives of the public by an unbiased body after a 
 thorough study of the situation ; that the power of the Gov- 
 ernment must be used to make effective the findings of this 
 body, and that, pending its finding, the work of mining must 
 go on, because the public need so demanded ; and that there- 
 fore I would use the entire power of the nation to see that 
 the work went on, that there was an arbitration by dispas- 
 sionate experts, and that the conclusions of this arbitration 
 were accepted. When the mine owners, backed by the most 
 powerful financial interests in New York, refused to arbi- 
 trate, I proceeded to appoint an arbitration commission 
 without regard to them, and I secured the assent of a politi- 
 cal opponent, Mr. Cleveland, an ex-President of the United 
 States, to serve as head of that commission. I saw the 
 Lieutenant-General of the Army, and arranged with him 
 that, if necessary, I would put the army in possession of the 
 mines and would treat him as the receiver to run the mines, 
 and to see that neither side interfered with the running. 
 Fortunately, when it became evident that I would put my 
 program through at no matter what hazard or difficulty, 
 the hazards and difficulties both vanished, and I was able to 
 secure an agreement for arbitration and for the return of 
 the men to work pending the result of the arbitration. 
 Eight-Hour Day Not at Issue 
 I believe in labor unions. But I believe first and fore- 
 most in liberty and justice obtained through the Union to 
 
Words and Deeds 49 
 
 which all of us belong, the union of all the people of the 
 United States. I believe in the eight-hour day as the genei^al 
 rule toward which we must strive; but I recognize that 
 special needs must be met in special industries ; and that in 
 all such cases there must be very careful consideration of all 
 the conditions before final action is taken. In this case, how- 
 ever, the eight-hour day is not the issue. The issue is an 
 increase of wages, given by law, without previous investiga- 
 tion or knowledge. The principle of the eight-hour day is 
 not at issue and is adroitly invoked merely to cloak the real 
 issue. 
 
 Eight hours may be the outside limit of proper work 
 time in Mr. Ford's factory, where the man is all the time 
 working at just one thing intensively, and without vacation ; 
 but eight hours that includes periods of doing nothing but 
 sit around, and also change of occupation, may not be long 
 enough. Moreover, there are occupations of intermittent 
 activity where to limit the total time on duty in any one day 
 to eight hours would be an absurdity ; and there are others 
 where excessive activity on one day is compensated for by 
 complete leisure on the following day. 
 
 Really a Wage-Increase Bill 
 
 The case at issue is pre-eminently one that comes in the 
 category of those that can be settled only after careful inves- 
 tigation and full consideration of many important conflicting 
 elements. I believe in the eight-hour day, on moral and 
 sociological grounds, as being the ideal towards which we 
 should strive. I believe in wages being just as high in any 
 business as is compatible with square treatment to the other 
 parties in interest. But if the Government is to intervene 
 in order to secure shorter hours and better wages it must do 
 so only after full knowledge and not merely under the duress 
 of threats. Moreover, the issue must be honestly stated. 
 The Government must not be used really to get higher 
 wages, when the nominal and surface demand seems to be 
 for fewer hours of labor. It appears that what in this case 
 is demanded is not really a day of eight hours' labor, but a 
 higher rate of pay for the eight hours, or a higher rate of 
 overtime pay beyond eight hours. In other words, it is not 
 
50 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 a law to limit hours of labor in the sense that we use in 
 speaking of an eight-hour day for women, or an eight-hour 
 law for three shifts in continuous industry. It is primarily 
 a bill to secure an advance in wages ; the securing of an 
 eight-hour day is wholly secondary, and as regards many 
 employees, would probably not be brought about or desired. 
 
 Must Have Arbitration 
 
 When any labor trouble becomes of such size as to 
 involve the public, the public has a right to interfere, to 
 insist that there shall be no interference with the welfare 
 and safety of the public, and therefore to insist on arbitra- 
 tion, that is, for just decision by the Government, after an 
 investigation conducted through a commission which will 
 get all the facts and lay them before the Executive and 
 Legislative representatives of the public for what action 
 they deem necessary. These were the principles which by 
 actual deed, when I was President, I upheld in the teeth of 
 violent opposition from the most powerful corporations in 
 the land, representing the employers' interest. The opposi- 
 tion of these great employing corporations was asserted in 
 every possible way against me throughout the period when 
 I held public ofRce or was a candidate for public office. I 
 absolutely disregarded it, because I thought that only by 
 disregarding it could I do my duty to the country. In just 
 the same way, and from just the same motives, I shall now 
 disregard any opposition by the representatives of mis- 
 guided labor unions to the principles which I then put into 
 effect, and which they then applauded me for putting into 
 effect. As I said when I was President, I believe that the 
 welfare of the laboring man, with the sole exception of the 
 welfare of the farmer, is more important to this country 
 than the welfare of any other citizen ; I shall do all I can to 
 secure his permanent welfare ; I shall do everything in my 
 power for the working man except what is wrong; but I 
 will do wrong neither for him nor for any other man. 
 
 Must Be One Law for All 
 
 There must be but one law to be applied in these cases, 
 and to be yielded to by all alike. To yield to the threats of a 
 
Words and Deeds 51 
 
 great organized body of workers is just as evil and cowardly 
 a thing in a public man as to yield to the influence of repre- 
 sentatives of great organized capital; and in the long run 
 just as dangerous to the country. It is a wicked and a peril- 
 ous thing, without a hearing, without regard to the rights 
 of the case, to burden the whole country, to tax the whole 
 country, because a special benefit is demanded by a group 
 of voters who can exert formidable political pressure, who 
 threaten temporary inconvenience and damage, and who 
 therefore cow timid or shifty politicians. Such wrongdoing 
 by our public men will in the end be fraught with even 
 greater mischief to the workers than to the capitalists, for 
 if the policy of yielding to improper influence is substituted 
 for the policy of justice, in the long run capital will exert an 
 insidious force exceeding any that the labor unions can bring 
 to bear. It has been well said that "Democracies cannot 
 live if organized minorities can force them to unconsidered 
 acts." Whether the arrogant disregard of justice and of the 
 public weal is shown by organized capital or organized labor 
 is of no consequence whatever. If either is permitted to 
 intimidate the representatives of the people, the effect 
 upon free institutions will be equally fatal. 
 
 Action Without Knowledge 
 
 The representatives of the brotherhoods nominally re- 
 fused to submit the question to arbitration. What they really 
 did was to insist upon action by Congress without previous 
 investigation, without full knowledge, and indeed, without 
 any knowledge. The President made their action his own. 
 He therefore denied us full knowledge ; and all that we can 
 say is that, with the knowledge before us at present, it ap- 
 pears that the question at issue was not really that of an 
 eight-hour day at all. but of an increase of wages. The 
 demand was not that on freight trains eight hours should be 
 made the day's work, but that eight hours should "be made 
 the measure of a day's work for the purpose of receiving 
 compensation," so that the men should receive the same 
 wages that they now receive for ten hours' work ; and that 
 provision should be made for overtime at about the rate of 
 time and one-half. The passenger service was exempted. 
 
52 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 This was because of the high-speed basis of many passenger 
 schedules, which means that many of the men on these 
 trains complete their day's work in four or five hours, and 
 that because of the mileage basis on which they are paid 
 they may receive in one day pay for twenty hours' work 
 although they do not work ten or even eight hours a day. 
 Now, I wish it distinctly understood that I am not in the 
 least prepared to say that this demand is wrong. It may be 
 absolutely right. My point is that, without full investiga- 
 tion we cannot say whether it is right or wrong. President 
 Wilson yielded to the dictation of the heads of the brother- 
 hoods, and made no effort to find out whether the demand 
 was right or wrong. He made no effort to find out whether 
 it could be complied with without raising freight rates. He 
 made no effort to find out all the equities in the case ; those 
 affecting the men, those affecting the stockholders, those 
 affecting the shippers. He took his orders from that one of 
 the parties in interest which he most feared. He insisted that 
 the law be passed without inquiry. And then he deferred 
 the operation of the law until after election, which, of course, 
 could only have been done for political reasons. We have 
 not at this moment any power to determine which side of 
 the controversy is right, and which wrong. We do not know 
 whether it is right to increase the wages without increasing 
 the freight rates ; and whether in such event it is proper to 
 the public that both the rates and wages shall be increased 
 to the amount this bill will require ; or whether any increase 
 in rates ought to be made ; or whether in the interest of the 
 public neither wages nor rates should be increased. I be- 
 lieve, from the standpoint of the public interest, in the 
 proper limitation by law of the hours of work on railroads ; 
 but it is essential that there shall be full knowledge and 
 consideration of all the facts before determining exactly 
 what the law shall be. 
 
 The President and Congress Coerced 
 
 The question at issue was not that of an eight-hour 
 day at all. The question was whether the President and 
 Congress should enact a law, without investigation and 
 without knowledge, to give increased wages to a certain 
 
Words and Deeds 53 
 
 portion of the body of wage earners. The labor leaders 
 on this issue, without regard to the right or wrong of the 
 matter, first coerced the President, and then with his aid 
 coerced Congress. The question at issue was not one of 
 hours of labor. It was one of wages. And it was set- 
 tled by the President and Congress without investigation 
 and without knowledge. The settlement was due partly 
 to fear and partly to hope of political profit. President 
 Wilson in his speech on the 23rd of this month sought to 
 explain and justify his action. He stated his whole case 
 with probably unconscious accuracy when he said that be- 
 fore he undertook to settle the controversy he had "learned 
 that the whole temper of the legislative bodies of the 
 United States was in favor" of what one side announced 
 to be its contention. In other words, he had made up his 
 mind in advance; and he had made it up because he be- 
 lieved the majority of the Congressmen (for the most part 
 pure politicians) were on what they deemed to be the 
 popular side. In this speech he explicitly admitted that in 
 this controversy "the main partner was left out of the 
 reckoning," because the two parties declined to consider 
 "what rights had the hundred million people of the United 
 States?" And President Wilson eagerly joined with these 
 men in refusing to consider the rights of these hundred 
 millions of people. President Wilson knows well that he 
 has betrayed the rights of these people. He admits that 
 when in the same speech, with his usual faculty for using 
 fine words about the future when he desires to cover up 
 mean deeds in the present, he says, "How are we going to 
 prevent any organization from overriding the interests of 
 society ? . . . America has the privilege to say : You must 
 not interrupt the national life without consulting us." 
 Exactly! Fine words! Words such as Mr. Wilson loves 
 to use. And, as is customary with Mr. Wilson, these fine 
 words of his about abstract rights are flatly contradicted 
 by his unworthy deeds as soon as the concrete case arises. 
 Mr. Wilson uses these lofty words about the future at the 
 very time when he has made America submit to seeing "an 
 organization override the interests of society," when by 
 his action he has permitted this organization to "interrupt 
 
54 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 the national life without consulting us." Of course, it is a 
 mere pretense to say that there is any sacred social reason 
 why there is any greater reason to refuse to arbitrate the 
 number of hours of labor than to refuse to arbitrate the 
 amount of wages. And the question really at issue in 
 this case does not really refer to the number of hjours of 
 labor. It refers really to the rate of wages. What Mr. 
 Wilson really did was to insist on legislation about the 
 wage scale without any previous investigation or knowledge. 
 
 Proper Course Abandoned 
 
 For years the great railways insisted that they would 
 not arbitrate such cases; that they- would not admit the 
 right of the Government to interfere. Now at last they 
 have been brought to admit that they will accept arbitra- 
 tion. They admit the right and the duty of the National 
 Government in the premises. Immediately thereupon Presi- 
 dent Wilson and the majority in the two houses of Con- 
 gress turn around, and in the momentary and evanescent 
 interest of a small section of labor they abandon the great 
 principle for which all the farsighted champions of labor 
 have been fighting. They thereby put a premium upon the 
 use of force, by threat or by action, in order to secure 
 special privilege. They establish a most evil precedent, the 
 consequences of which may be widespread and lasting. 
 
 The Right Course 
 
 There was but one course that could rightly have been 
 taken, and that the perfectly simple course. The President 
 had ample knowledge. He had many weeks in which to 
 secure proper action by the parties to the controversy ; 
 and if either would not agree to such action, he had ample 
 time in which to get Congress to give him any power nec- 
 essary in order to deal thoroughly and without difficulty 
 with the situation. If the regular board of mediation and 
 conciliation was inadequate, he should have at once ap- 
 pointed a special commission, which would have included 
 men thoroughly acquainted with the situation from the 
 wage workers' standpoint, possessed of an understanding 
 sympathy with the wage workers, and incapable of being 
 
Words and Deeds 55 
 
 bullied or of being influenced in any improper manner. 
 The President should have insisted that every matter be 
 laid before this committee of arbitration, and nothing with- 
 held. The commission would have dealt in thoroughgoing 
 and satisfactory fashion with all the various questions in- 
 volved — all of which are interrelated and interdependent. 
 It would have dealt with the question of an eight-hour 
 day, and with the complicated question of the amount of 
 wages to be paid for that day and for overtime in the 
 various positions. It would also have dealt with the ques- 
 tion as to whether this necessarily meant a raise of rates. 
 As an incident to this it would have had to take up the 
 question of securing just renumeration to the property 
 holders; and therefore it would have had to deal with any 
 question of recent over-capitalization ; for although I do 
 not believe it would be wise to take up old cases of 
 over-capitalization (where grave injustice to innocent peo- 
 ple would be caused by any action) any recent instance of 
 over-capitalization should be accepted as having been gone 
 into after full notice and with full knowledge, and should 
 be punished accordingly. 
 
 Pending the decisions of the commission, it should 
 have been made clear that the President would permit no 
 interference with the traffic which is essential to the life 
 of the commonwealth ; that there should be no stoppage of 
 the arteries of circulation in the body politic and social ; 
 and that rather than see such a stoppage the Government 
 would itself run the trains if necessary until such time as 
 the commission could report. When the commission's re- 
 port was made, it would have become the duty of the Gov- 
 ernment to see that it was put into effect, and in case of 
 any controversy itself to interpret and apply the rules. 
 That was the course demanded by courage and honor; and 
 that was the course demanded by every man to whom 
 Americanism was a fact, and not an empty phrase. 
 
 If the improper course which the President followed 
 had been due to mistaken conviction, to erroneous principle, 
 its effect would nevertheless have been evil. As it is, the 
 effect is far worse, because there is grave reason to believe 
 that the course he followed was directly opposed to his real 
 
56 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 convictions. The President is now a candidate for office 
 and speaks well of labor. Until he became a candidate 
 for office, and as long as he was President of a University, 
 he, with entire safety, ignored or assailed the Labor 
 Unions. Indeed, he was then their bitter, ungenerous, and 
 often unjust critic. At the People's Forum on February 
 25, 1905, he said: "Labor Unions drag the highest man to 
 the level of the lowest." In an address at a dinner in the 
 Waldorf-Astoria on March 18, 1907, in speaking of the 
 capitalists, he said: "There is another equally formidable 
 enemy to equality and betterment of opportunity, and that 
 is the class formed by the labor organizations and leaders 
 of this country." In a letter written January 12, 1909, he 
 said: "I am a fierce partisan of the open shop." In June 
 of the same year, speaking at Princeton, he said: "The 
 usual standard of the employee in our day is to give as 
 little as he may for his wages. Labor is standardized by 
 the trades unions and this is the standard to which it is 
 made to conform. I need not point out how economically 
 disastrous such a regulation of labor is. The labor of 
 America is rapidly becoming unprofitable under this regu- 
 lation. Our economic supremacy may be lost because the 
 country grows more and more full of unprofitable serv- 
 ants." I have no question that when Mr. Wilson thus 
 spoke he expressed his sincere convictions. Less than two 
 years later he was in public life and immediately his atti- 
 tude changed. There is no reason to believe that his con- 
 victions changed. 
 
 Political Expediency First 
 
 The course actually followed by the President and the 
 majority of Congress put the interests of the country sec- 
 ond to considerations of unhealthy political expediency. It 
 appealed to timid and shortsighted men outside of Con- 
 gress no less than to those within Congress. It is upheld 
 now by certain men who say, "Thank God, President Wilson 
 averted a strike," just exactly as they and those like them 
 say, "Thank God, President Wilson has kept us out of 
 war." These persons do not ask whether he averted the 
 strike honorably or dishonorably, any more than they ask 
 
Words and Deeds 57 
 
 whether he averted a war honorably or dishonorably. 
 They have not considered in either case whether temporary 
 safety was to be ignobly purchased at the cost of future 
 disaster. All that they have demanded was that war should 
 be averted in one case, and a strike averted in the other 
 case, in order that thej^ might not have to undergo risk or 
 temporary material discomfort. They have been too timid 
 and too shortsighted to make any sacrifice for the sake of 
 right and justice, or to undergo any risk in order to pre- 
 serve the foundations of Democracy and of Free Govern- 
 ment in America. These men have shown entire willing- 
 ness to submit to organized tyranny both from outside our 
 borders and from inside our borders, if only at the mo- 
 ment they could avoid inconvenience and financial loss. 
 These men are not the heirs of the Americans who brought 
 the Revolutionary War to a successful close nor of the men 
 who wore the Blue and the Gray for four long years in the 
 great struggle of the Civil War. If the American people 
 of today are willing to accept such leadership, they will 
 give justification for the belief that they prize ease and 
 comfort above the principles for which their forefathers 
 suffered and died. 
 
 An Invitation to Disaster 
 
 We of the United States invite disaster, we sacrifice 
 every principle of manhood, if we raise a breed of men in 
 this country who determine vital issues in such fashion. 
 Such men when they face any issue merely ask if it is 
 difficult to meet it honestly and bravely; and if it is, they 
 instantly proceed to meet it dishonestly and timidly. They 
 measure the acts of their public men in terms of imme- 
 diate material content and ease. They do not require 
 them to act in terms of right and justice. They say that 
 they stand for the administration because it has kept us 
 out of war, and has averted a strike. They refuse seriously 
 to consider, as all high-minded Americans ought to con- 
 sider, the President's refusal to do his plain and honest 
 duty by meeting great crises honorably and courageously. 
 
 If our people follow the President who has kept them 
 in the easy path of temporary comfort and material ease 
 
58 Americayiism and Pre'paredness 
 
 at the sacrifice of national honor and of true Americanism, 
 and of the immutable principles of righteousness, then as 
 a people we shall lose all moral greatness in the present, 
 and most assuredly we shall see this loss followed by the 
 loss of material greatness in the future. 
 
 Promise and Performance 
 
 An ounce of performance outweighs a ton of promise. 
 In all these cases whenever there was any risk, any danger 
 to be encountered. President Wilson has promptly retreated. 
 He has then sought to cover his retreat by uttering high- 
 sounding words. But in these cases his high-sounding 
 words amount to absolutely nothing. Only his acts, or 
 failures to act, count. In the anthracite strike we settled 
 the principle that the public rights are superior to any 
 private rights in matters of vital public moment. Presi- 
 dent Wilson surrendered this principle at the demand of 
 the great labor leaders, without investigation and regard- 
 less of the facts, and shifted the burden to the public, while 
 abandoning the rights of the public. For justice in dealing 
 between capital and labor he has substituted the policy of 
 craven surrender to whichever side has the superiority in 
 brute force. Once more in our internal aff'airs, as in our ex- 
 ternal affairs, he has stood for peace at any price. He 
 refuses to look ahead. He shows not -one shred of that 
 stern and unyielding courage which enables a leader to 
 face temporary risk, discomfort and hardship for the sake 
 of a lofty ideal and a splendid ultimate triumph. He was 
 cowed by the big labor leaders exactly as he had already 
 been cowed by Germany and by Mexico. He himself 
 acknowledged the evil of the situation when he said, *'It 
 must never be allowed again." But by his actions he has 
 guaranteed that it will arise again, whenever there is in the 
 White House a man too timid to face threats or front 
 danger. Mr. Wilson's acts in the White House have shown 
 that what he seeks in any emergency of this nature is mo- 
 mentary relief, temporary safety, purchased at whatever 
 cost of present ignominy and at whatever risk of future 
 disaster. President Wilson has announced that in theory 
 he stood for arbitration in such matters, but the minute 
 
Words and Deeds 59 
 
 that he was threatened he not only abandoned the principle 
 but supported the assault on it. The union leaders an- 
 nounced that they had "steadily refused to arbitrate," and 
 that in their action they were "supported by the President 
 of the United States." President Wilson was the guardian 
 of the public weal. He betrayed the public weal. This is 
 specifically set forth in the official announcement of the 
 chairman of the union representatives, who thus described 
 the contest : 
 
 "In times like this men go back to primal instinct — 
 to the day of the caveman, who, with his half-gnawed 
 bone snarled at the other caveman who wanted to take his 
 bone away. We leaders are fighting for our men, the rail- 
 roads are fighting for their stockholders, and the shippers 
 for themselves. And the public will pay." And President 
 Wilson let the public pay. He let the contest be decided 
 not on principles of justice, but by the rules obtained be- 
 tween cavemen snarling over a bone. No wonder that the 
 rugged cavemen of industrial warfare treated with utter 
 contempt the feeble appeals of the apostle of peace at any 
 price. 
 
 Lasting Harm Done to Nation 
 
 By his actions President Wilson did lasting harm 
 to the nation. The vice of his procedure was four-fold. He 
 delivered a deadly blow at the principle of industrial arbi- 
 tration. He immensely weakened the power of the National 
 Executive to act under such conditions on behalf of the 
 public. He established the shameful and perilous prece- 
 dent that the Government of the United States can be co- 
 erced, and legislation extorted from Congress, by terror- 
 ization and the threat of violence. He aided in securing a 
 settlement which puts a premium on the overriding of 
 justice by appeals to brute force. 
 
 "The Sanction of Society" 
 
 President Wilson seeks to justify himself on the 
 ground that it was "futile" and dangerous to "stand firm- 
 ly." This is an appeal that can with equal truth be made 
 by every soldier who runs away in battle. He further al- 
 
60 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 leges his belief that the cause he championed "has the sanc- 
 tion of the judgment of society in its favor," I remember 
 thirty-odd years ago in the Black Hills a local vigilance 
 committee which was in doubt about hanging a suspected 
 wrongdoer. While they were discussing the matter, there 
 appeared over the neighboring divide a frowsy, elderly 
 horseman in a linen duster, who promptly galloped towards 
 them, waving his arms and shouting "Hang him ! Hang 
 him!" The leader of the vigilantes at once asked the 
 frowsy stranger what he knew of the facts, whereupon the 
 stranger answered : "I do not know anything about the 
 facts, and I never saw the man before; but there's eleven 
 of you and only one of him, and I believe in majority rule!" 
 This is merely a picturesque paraphrase of what Mr. Wil- 
 son calls action under "the sanction of society." It ex- 
 emplifies the principles upon which President Wilson has 
 acted in those public matters, internal and external, where 
 he was threatened with the use of force. 
 
 Elect Hughes 
 
 I appeal to my fellow citizens that they shall elect 
 Mr. Hughes and repudiate Mr. Wilson because only by so 
 doing can they save America from that taint of gross sel- 
 fishness and cowardice which we owe to Mr. Wilson's 
 substitution of adroit elocution for straightforward action. 
 The permanent interests of the American people lie, not 
 in ease and comfort for the moment, no matter how ob- 
 tained, as Mr. Wilson would teach us, but in resolute 
 championship of the ideals of national and international 
 democratic duty, and in preparedness to make this cham- 
 pionship effective by our strength. President Wilson em- 
 bodies in his person that most dangerous doctrine which 
 teaches our people that when fronted with really formidable 
 responsibilities we can shirk trouble and labor and risk, 
 and avoid duty by the simple process of drugging our 
 souls with the narcotic of meaningless phrasemongering. 
 Mr. Hughes, to the exact contrary, embodies the ideal of 
 service rendered through conscientious effort in the face 
 of danger and difficulty. Mr. Wilson turns his words into 
 deeds only if this can be achieved by adroit political 
 
Words and Deeds 61 
 
 maneuvering, by bartering a debauched civil service for 
 congressional votes on behalf of some measure which he 
 had solemnly promised to oppose. Our own self-respect 
 demands that we support the man of deeds done in the 
 open against the man of furtive and shifting political 
 maneuvers ; the man of service against the man who, when- 
 ever opposed by a dangerous foe, always takes refuge in 
 empty elocution. 
 
 There is nothing that we of this country so much need 
 as to practice the doctrine of service. As a people we 
 need the sterner virtues even more than we need the softer 
 virtues. Material prosperity, bodily ease, money, pleasure, 
 are all desirable ; but woe to us if we consider them as 
 the be-all and end-all of our private lives or of our col- 
 lective national life ! Woe to us if our material prosperity 
 brings in its wake lethargy of spirit and deadness of soul! 
 Let us in our lives apply the great doctrines of duty and 
 of service. Above all let us realize that lofty profession is 
 a mischievous sham when it is not translated into efficient 
 performance. Among the companions of Lucifer in Mil- 
 ton's mighty epic there was none among the fiercer fiends 
 so dangerous as he who 
 
 "With words clothed in reason's garb. 
 Counselled ignoble ease and peaceful sloth. 
 Not peace." 
 
THE SQUARE DEAL IN INDUSTRY 
 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1916 
 
 I HAVE accepted the invitation to come to Wilkes-Barre, 
 to discuss the Adamson law, because Wilkes-Barre is the 
 headquarters of the great industry in connection with which 
 I myself as President was brought into close and intimate 
 touch with the labor movement in this country. If what I 
 have to say is of any value it must be not only because it 
 represents what in the abstract is right, but also because 
 in the concrete I applied, in actual practice, when I had 
 power, the principles which I criticize Mr. Wilson for not 
 applying now. Therefore, I wish to recapitulate to you just 
 what occurred in connection with the anthracite coal strike 
 and to contrast it with what Mr. Wilson has done in con- 
 nection with the law for the increase of wages on railroads. 
 
 United States First 
 
 At the outset, I wish to express my very hearty admi- 
 ration for the Brotherhoods. I am proud of the fact that I 
 am an honorary member of one of them. I have usually 
 been in entire sympathy with them. While I held public 
 office I found myself, in the vast majority of cases, able to 
 support them in their demands, because these demands were 
 right. But now they have demanded legislation raising 
 their wages to be taken without investigation and without 
 the exercise of that form of judgment shown by a compe- 
 tent arbitration commission; and such a demand is wrong, 
 and I stand against it because it is wrong, exactly as I have 
 stood against the demands of bankers and lawyers, and 
 mine owners and railroad presidents when they were wrong. 
 I believe in labor unions. I am proud that I am myself an 
 honorary member of a labor union. But I believe first of all 
 in the Union to which all of us belong, the union of all the 
 people of the whole United States. 
 
 62 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 63 
 
 President's Action Wrong by His Own Statement 
 
 In the case of the settlement of the anthracite coal 
 strike, the action I took was of precisely the kind which 
 President Wilson now says the law should make obligatory 
 in all similar cases in the future. But Mr. Wilson himself 
 admits that his own action was so bad that it ought never 
 to be repeated, for he has assured the public that although 
 Congress has adjourned without doing anything, it is his 
 intention when Congress meets to see that it does some- 
 thing to render it impossible for another President ever to 
 repeat exactlj^ what he has just done. In other words, I 
 stood and stand by my action as the proper action, constitut- 
 ing the proper precedent for future action. Mr. Wilson 
 himself confesses that his action was wrong and that the 
 precedent thereby set is so evil that legislation must be en- 
 acted rendering it impossible for another President ever to 
 repeat the action. 
 
 There is another point of difference, and a vital point. 
 The action I took was intended to meet the situation at 
 once. The action that Mr. Wilson took has been deferred 
 so that it shall not take place until considerably after elec- 
 tion. 
 
 The Anthracite Coal Strike 
 
 Fourteen years ago the great anthracite coal strike 
 had occurred in this region. From the beginning I put the 
 governmental agents in touch with the situation and kept 
 myself thoroughly informed, so that I should be able to act 
 immediately if it became necessary for me to act. I hoped 
 that it would not be necessary, and that the parties them- 
 selves would come to an agreement ; for I was very loath to 
 interfere if it could be avoided. But cold weather approached, 
 a coal famine menaced the entire eastern section of the 
 United States, and there was not the slightest symptom of 
 an agreement being reached by the contending parties. I 
 felt that the time had come for me to act. On the one side 
 were the greatest and wealthiest mine-owners of the coun- 
 try, intimately connected with the wealthiest and most 
 powerful industrial and railroad corporations in the coun- 
 try. These men absolutely refused to arbitrate. They said 
 
64 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 there was nothing to arbitrate, that I had no power under 
 the Constitution to act, and that the public could not inter- 
 fere, nor the representatives of the public, with the way in 
 which they managed their business. The representatives 
 of the mine workers, of labor, on the contrary, expressed 
 their entire willingness to arbitrate and demanded nothing 
 except that as one of the conditions of arbitration there 
 should be some representative of organized labor to sit 
 together with the representatives of capital and of the pub- 
 lic at large. I made every effort to get the two sides to 
 agree. When I failed, I decided that I would act myself. 
 I held that where the public necessity was national and im- 
 perative it became the duty of the Chief of the Nation to 
 act. I held that in any such gigantic controversy between 
 labor and capital, containing such a threat to the welfare 
 of the great body of our people, there were three parties in 
 interest: viz., the capitalists, the workingmen, and the peo- 
 ple as a whole ; and that where the public need was vital that 
 need must control. 
 
 Arbitration Insisted Upon 
 
 I held, moreover, that in any case of such importance 
 and such interest we must have full knowledge before final 
 action on any of the points at issue was taken, and that this 
 •knowledge must be obtained by an unbiased body of arbitra- 
 tors after a thorough study of the situation. I held that the 
 power of the Government must be used to make effective 
 the findings of this body, and that pending the findings the 
 work of mining must go on because the public need de- 
 manded it. Therefore, I decided that I would use the entire 
 power of the nation to see that there was an arbitration by 
 dispassionate experts, and that the conclusions of that arbi- 
 tration were accepted by both sides, and that until their 
 decision was rendered the work of mining should go on in 
 the interests of the people as a whole. When the mine 
 owners, backed by and representing the most powerful finan- 
 cial interests of the country, positively refused to arbitrate, 
 I proceeded to appoint an Arbitration Committee without 
 regard to them ; securing the consent of a political opponent, 
 ex-President Grover Cleveland, to serve at the head of that 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 65 
 
 commission. I saw the Lieutenant-General of the Army 
 and arranged with him that if necessary I would put the 
 army in possession of the mines and would treat him as a 
 receiver to run the mines, and to see that neither side inter- 
 fered with the mining. When it became evident that I 
 meant what I said, that both sides could count on my en- 
 deavor to do strict justice, and that they could also count 
 on my insisting that the public needs be immediately met, 
 the capitalists yielded and the Commission was appointed. 
 
 You know the rest, you miners here! Work was re- 
 sumed in the mines immediately, on the old terms, which 
 continued until the Commission reported. The Commission 
 consisted of as able and as impartial men as there were in 
 the country, including the head of the Order of Railway 
 Conductors, Mr. Clark. It also included among others, a 
 Federal Judge, a skilled engineer, a trained labor expert and 
 a beloved friend of mine, Archbishop Spaulding, of Illinois, 
 whose interest in the welfare of the workingmen was gen- 
 uine and sympathetic, and who also understood with entire 
 clearness that in the long run justice to the workingmen 
 could be permanently secured only if it was made part of 
 a scheme to secure justice for everybody concerned. 
 
 Arbitration Successful 
 
 • 
 
 The arbitration was successful. I understand that with 
 
 slight modifications, you have continued to operate the 
 mines under its terms up to the present day. More im- 
 portant still, it set the precedent for the course that ought 
 to be followed in all disputes of this nature hereafter. Mr. 
 Wilson, on the contrary, has set a precedent which he him- 
 self admits must never hereafter be followed if justice is 
 to be done. This is a vital point of difference between the 
 conduct of the Chief Executive in one case and in the other. 
 When fourteen years ago, I acted, there was no precedent 
 for me to follow, and no established instrumentalities 
 through which to work. I had to establish the precedent in 
 order to meet a great crisis. I had to create my own instru- 
 ment, the Arbitration Commission. Mr. Wilson had before 
 him the precedent I had created, and he had as instruments 
 ready to hand the Arbitration Board, and the Interstate 
 
66 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 Commerce Commission, with its enlarged powers. But he 
 failed to follow the precedent, or to use the instruments 
 which were ready to his hand. I, although lacking the 
 agencies of law for the application of the principle, never- 
 theless applied it, and established arbitration in the settle- 
 ment on their merits of industrial disputes. Mr. Wilson, 
 with all the agencies of law subject to his command, ignored 
 them, destroyed the principle of arbitration in the settle- 
 ment of industrial disputes, and put a premium on securing 
 this settlement by threat and duress. 
 
 The President Condemns Himself 
 
 President Wilson in his speeches of August 29th and 
 September 23d has furnished his own condemnation out 
 of his own mouth. In them he explicitly condemns exactly 
 what he has done and actually demands legislation which 
 will make impossible the repetition of such a proceeding! 
 This is so extraordinary an attitude that I quote his own 
 words. He said he wished "to provide" against "the recur- 
 rence of such unhappy situations in the future" by securing 
 "the calm and fair arbitration of all industrial disputes in 
 the days to come." This is an explicit assertion that arbi- 
 tration of all industrial disputes is the right method of ac- 
 tipn; and therefore that he had adopted the wrong method 
 of action — although in the case of the anthracite coal strike 
 he had an exact precedent in point, by following which he 
 would have enforced the right method. 
 
 President Wilson further says, "This is assuredly the 
 best way of vindicating a principle, namely, having failed to 
 make certain of its observance in the present to make cer- 
 tain of its observance in the future." On the contrary, 
 this is the very worst way of vindicating a principle. In- 
 deed, it is impossible to devise a worse way of vindicating 
 a principle, than to flinch ignominiously from enforcing it in 
 the case at issue and at the same time to seek to cover the 
 ignominy by vociferous protestations about applying it in 
 the nebulous future. The same paper, the New York Times, 
 from which I quote the above sentences, contained state- 
 ments from the leaders of the Brotherhoods whom he was 
 befriending, in which they said that they would never con- 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 67 
 
 sent to the legislation providing for future arbitration for 
 which President Wilson asked; and President Wilson kept 
 a weak and nervous silence about this defiance. He did not 
 get the legislation which he declared was essential to "vin- 
 dicate the principle" in the future. All that he accomplished 
 was the violation of the principle in the present, in the con- 
 crete case at issue. The only law he secured established the 
 precedent of violation of the principle. All that he did was 
 to establish the most evil of all precedents for a democracy, 
 the precedent of violating a principle under the duress of 
 threat and menace. It is a precedent which will return to 
 plague us throughout all future time whenever we have in 
 the White House a President who is timid in the face of 
 threat of physical violence or who subordinates duty to the 
 hope of personal political profit. 
 
 President Wilson further said, while trying to gloss 
 over his timidity in the present by assuming an attitude of 
 frowning defiance as regards the nebulous future, that the 
 American people must hereafter be made "a partner in the 
 settlement of disputes that interrupt the life of the nation," 
 that it must "enforce the partnership and see to it that no 
 organization is stronger than that organization to which we 
 all belong, our own Government," and that we the people 
 must say to any outside organization that it "must not inter- 
 rupt the National life without consulting us." These arie fine 
 words about the future. They are intended to cover up, 
 but as a matter of fact, they furnish the strongest condem- 
 nation of, Mr. Wilson's deed in the present. In these words 
 Mr. Wilson exactly describes what he ought to have done 
 with the Brotherhoods, and explicitly condemns the action 
 which he in fact took. H the principles he laid down were 
 good for the future, they were good for the present. Do it 
 now, Mr. Wilson! Do not use fine words about what some- 
 body else ought to do in the future in order to cover your 
 own shameful abandonment of duty in the present. 
 
 Wages, Not Hours, at Issue 
 
 Mr. Wilson has adroitly maintained that the question 
 at issue was the eight-hour day. This is not the fact. The 
 question at issue was the question of wages. The law does 
 
68 Americmnsm and Preparedness 
 
 not say that there shall be an eight-hour day. It says that 
 eight hours shall "be made the measure of a day's work for 
 .the purpose of receiving compensation." In other words, 
 it was primarily an increase of wages and not a diminution 
 of hours that was aimed at. 
 
 Eight-Hour Day the Ideal 
 
 I believe in the eight-hour day. It is the ideal toward 
 which we should tend. But I believe that there must be 
 common sense as well as common honesty in achieving the 
 ideal. Mr. Wilson has laid down the principle that there 
 is something sacred about the eight-hour day which makes- 
 it improper even to discuss it. If this is so, if it is applied 
 universally, then Mr. Wilson is not to be excused for not 
 applying it immediately where he has complete power, and 
 that is in his own household. If the principle of the eight- 
 hour day is sacred and not to be changed under any cir- 
 cumstances, then the housemaid, who in Mr. Wilson's house, 
 arises at seven must be let off at three in the afternoon; 
 and if Mr. Wilson's butler is kept up after a State dinner 
 until ten, he must not come on until two of the following 
 afternoon, and no hired man on a farm must get up to milk 
 the cows in the morning unless he quits work before milk- 
 ing time arrives that same evening. Of course, the simple 
 truth is that under one set of conditions an eight-hour day 
 may be too long or at least may represent the very maxi- 
 mum of proper work ; whereas there may be other conditions 
 under which a man working more than eight hours one day 
 gets one or two days of complete leisure following, or where 
 the work is intermittent throughout the day, or is of so 
 easy or varied a type that no exhaustion accompanies it, 
 or where a rush of work for a few days will be compensated 
 by complete leisure on certain other days. It is ridiculous 
 to say that an engineer of a high-speed train under especially 
 difficult conditions, an engineer of a low-speed train under 
 very much easier conditions, a farm laborer in harvest time, 
 a man engaged as a watchman through the quiet work of 
 the night, or a man engaged in the exhausting work of a 
 steel puddler in a continuous seven-days-a-week, night-and- 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 69 
 
 day industry, should be governed by precisely the same rule, 
 or by the same rigid application in detail of a second, general 
 principle. 
 
 Justice Cannot Be Done Without Full Knowledge of the 
 
 Facts 
 
 I heartily believe in a proper limitation by law of hours 
 of work in the railroad service, and I recommended legisla- 
 tion to that effect when I was President. I believe in the 
 wages in any industry being just as high as it is possible to 
 make them without injustice to the capital invested and to 
 the public which is served. But it is a mere truism to say 
 that it is impossible to get this ideal achieved unless an 
 honest and dispassionate effort is first made by the proper 
 commission to ascertain the full facts in the particular case. 
 As regards the railroads, we have to consider the wages paid 
 to the different classes of employees, the interest on the 
 investment, the earning power of the road, and the kind of 
 service that must be rendered to the public. It is impossible 
 to secure a proper solution of the problem unless all these 
 factors are considered. Mr. Wilson absolutely declined to 
 consider any of them. He declined even to ask what they 
 were. We have not at this moment one particular of trust- 
 worthy information which will enable us to decide whether 
 the demands of the men were just or not. I wish it dis- 
 tinctly understood that I am not trying to pass judgment 
 upon the justice of the case. I regard the engineers, firemen 
 and enginemen and trainrhen generally as doing peculiarly 
 responsible and arduous work, and entitled to particular con- 
 sideration as regards both hours of labor and pay. I hope 
 that they are fully entitled as a matter of justice to what 
 they will receive under the Adamson bill, and if it so appears 
 I shall heartily support it. But I protest against the far- 
 reaching evil of the precedent set in the method which has 
 been followed. We are denied knowledge. We see Congress 
 forced to act under threats. I protest against any law 
 passed under such duress. I protest against the case being 
 decided without giving each party its day in court, and above 
 all without giving the public its day in court. I hope the 
 demands of the men were just, and would have been proved 
 
70 Americanism and Pi'eparedness 
 
 so to be, if investigated before a competent body. But I ex- 
 plicitly protest against any action by the Government when 
 no investigation has been held to see whether the claims are 
 or are not just, and when they are granted through fear and 
 not as a matter of right. 
 
 The Public Must Pay 
 
 Remember, it is the public that in the end will pay. You 
 
 do not have to take my assertion for this. Take the asser- 
 tion of Mr. Wilson's master in this matter. The Union lead- 
 ers, through their Chairman, Mr. Garretson, announced that 
 "they would steadily refuse to arbitrate and that in their 
 action they were supported by the President of the United 
 States." They stated their case in a nutshell as follows: 
 "In times like this, men go back to primal instinct — to the 
 day of the caveman with this half-gnawed bone, snarling at 
 the other caveman who wanted to take his bone away. We 
 leaders are fighting for our men. The railroads are fighting 
 for their stockholders; and the shippers for themselves. 
 And the public will pay." Mr. Garretson is right — the 
 public will pay. And it will pay without having had the 
 chance to know whether it ought or ought not to pay. Mr. 
 Wilson betrayed the public when he refused to insist that 
 the contest should be decided on principles of justice, and 
 when he permitted it to be decided in deference to greed and 
 fear. Mr. Wilson announced that it was "futile" to stand 
 firmly against these improper demands. It would not have 
 been futile if a Democrat of the stamp of Andrew Jackson 
 or Grover Cleveland had been President. The futility in- 
 hered solely in Mr. Wilson himself. If President Wilson had 
 stood by the honor and the interests of the United States 
 in this matter; if he had insisted upon a full investigation 
 before action ; if he had insisted upon arbitration and had 
 announced that if there was any attempt to tie up the traffic 
 of the United States he would use the entire power of the 
 United States to keep the arteries of traffic open, I would 
 have applauded him and supported him. But, to take such 
 action needed courage. It needed disinterestedness. It was 
 necessary that the man taking it should put duty to the 
 nation first and political and personal considerations last. 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 71 
 
 What President Wilson did was to permit the overriding 
 of justice by appeals to brute force. 
 
 He says that it would have been "futile" to show cour- 
 age and stand up for the right. From the standpoint of the 
 nation, the worst type of futility in a President is to fail to 
 stand up for the right. President Wilson felt it was futile 
 to oppose these men, exactly as President Buchanan, his 
 spiritual forbear, felt in 1860, that it was futile, to oppose 
 secession. That type of futility gives the real measure of 
 the man who practises it. What Buchanan considered futile 
 Lincoln made heroic. 
 
 Mr. Hughes Incapable of Yielding to Threats 
 
 I champion Mr. Hughes as against Mr. Wilson because 
 in every such crisis Mr. Wilson, by his public acts, has 
 shown that he will yield to fear, that he will not yield to 
 justice; whereas the public acts of Mr. Hughes have proved 
 him to be incapable of yielding in such a crisis to any threat, 
 whether made by politicians, corporations or labor leaders. 
 
 I have always stood for the rights of labor. You miners 
 before me know that. I stood by you, and I incurred the 
 hostility of the greatest financial powers of the land by so 
 doing, and I have felt, that hostility in public life ever since. 
 But I did not care, because I knew that my course was 
 bright. I stood by you because I believed you were right. 
 If I had been the type of jnan who was willing to stand by 
 you when you were wrong, I would never have dared to 
 stand by you when you were right, against such opposition 
 as at that time I encountered. I have stood for shorter 
 ^ours of labor. I have stood for a better wage for the 
 laborer, for better housing conditions ; for giving the labor- 
 ing wageworker better living conditions and better and 
 safer working conditions. I have stood to give him and his 
 wife and his children the chance to make of themselves all 
 that American citizens should make of themselves, I have 
 stood, and always shall stand, for everything in the interest 
 of justice for the laboring man. But I have always stood 
 and always shall stand, against yielding anything through 
 fear or because of threats. I believe in the great principle of 
 arbitration. I believe in invoking the action of the govern- 
 
72 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 ment to help labor; but I also believe that to invoke such 
 action will in the end be ruinous to labor, as well as to the 
 country, if it is not exercised with wisdom and fearlessness 
 and in the spirit of exact justice to all the parties concerned. 
 If these questions are not settled right, then some time they 
 will have to be unsettled, and infinite trouble is thereby laid 
 up for us in the future. The only way we can settle them 
 right is by deliberation, after all the facts have been put 
 before a disinterested and competent body, and the judg- 
 ment of that body obtained thereon. This is the course that 
 even now ought to be pursued as regards the Adamson bill. 
 Its operation has been deferred until after Congress assem- 
 bles. Congress should hold it up until a proper commission 
 shall investigate the entire subject; and then the Adamson 
 bill should be enacted either unchanged, or with whatever 
 changes and additions the report of such dispassionate com- 
 mission may show to be desirable and necessary. 
 
 Labor leaders who are shortsighted may at the moment 
 get from a man in public office who is not actuated by jus- 
 tice, more than from a man who is actuated by justice. But 
 the laboring people as a whole cannot afford to accept such 
 gains. If unjust legislation is given them for improper rea- 
 sons, then unjust legislation against them may be enacted 
 for improper reasons. More than any other people in the 
 country, the wageworkers should insist on just and fair 
 action. There is grave reason to believe that in the course 
 President Wilson has followed he did violence to his own 
 real convictions. Until he became a candidate for office he 
 was a bitter, ungenerous and often unjust critic of labor 
 unions. I have before me speeches and letters of his made 
 and written in 1905, 1907 and 1909, in which Mr. Wilson 
 says among other things that "labor unions drag the highest 
 man down to the level of the lowest," and in speaking of the 
 capitalistic class, he says that "there is another equally 
 formidable enemy and it is that class formed by the labor 
 leaders of this country," and again "I am a fierce partisan 
 of the open shop," and again "The usual standard of the 
 employee in our day is to give as little as he can foir his 
 wages. Labor is standardized by trade unions and this is 
 the standard to which it is made to conform. I need not 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 73 
 
 point out how economically disastrous such regulation of 
 labor is. Our economic supremacy may be lost because the 
 country grows more and more full of unprofitable servants." 
 These were the utterances of Mr. Wilson when he was presi- 
 dent of a university and had neither fear of nor desire to 
 profit by the labor vote. In Mr. Wilson's "History of the 
 American People" he explicitly stated that the Chinese 
 ought not to be excluded from this country because it is bet- 
 ter to have them here than it is to have the immigrants we 
 now get from Europe. His words were: "The Chinese are 
 more to be desired as workmen than most of the coarse crew 
 that come crowding in everywhere at the Eastern ports." 
 Now he turns round and says: "Our gates must be kept 
 open" to those whom he thus denominated a "coarse crew." 
 Since he went into politics he has again and again, inces- 
 santly and continuously, reversed himself on what he had 
 professed to be his deepest convictions prior to entering 
 politics, and in each case the announced change of conviction 
 agreed with what at the moment seemed to be his political 
 interest. 
 
 If it is alleged that President Wilson has been actuated 
 only by principle in connection with the Adamson law, then, 
 I ask, why has he failed to apply the same principle to the 
 railway postal clerks, where he has full power? Estimating 
 six days to the week, these postal clerks, operating between 
 New York and Pittsburgh, are required to run 205 miles per 
 day (for the present administration has reduced the number 
 of crews from six to five), whereas the present trainmen's 
 agreement requires only 155 miles per day, which is to be 
 reduced still further by the Adamson law. The only pos- 
 sible explanation of Mr. Wilson's action in one case and in- 
 action in the other is that only 400 men are affected in that 
 case where the government has full control of the hours of 
 labor, whereas 400,000 men are supposed to be affected by 
 the Adamson bill. 
 
 The Triumvirate in Control of Mexican Affairs 
 
 Mr. Gompers has recently established himself as the 
 especial champion of Mr. Wilson, and claims joint credit 
 with Mr. Wilson for their conduct of our foreign affairs 
 
74 Americanifim and Preparedness 
 
 so far as Mexico is concerned. He asks labor to support 
 Mr. Wilson specifically on the ground of Mr. Wilson's atti- 
 tude in Mexico, which, he states, he has helped to secure. 
 He says, for example, that he was largely instrumental in 
 securing the recognition of Carranza in Mexico, because of 
 Carranza's sympathy with the labor movement there. For 
 the details of what I speak, I refer you to Senator Fall's re- 
 cent speeches, where the exact quotations are given. Mr. 
 Gompers states that when all other agencies failed in the 
 effort to secure the recognition of Carranza by President Wil- 
 son, Gompers intervened on September 22nd, 1915, and Mr. 
 Wilson's recognition of Carranza immediately followed. Mr. 
 Gompers continues by saying that Carranza was recognized 
 as the friend of the working people in Mexico. On Septem- 
 ber 2nd, 1916, Mr. Gompers appealed for the support of 
 laboring men for Mr. Wilson on the ground of Mr. Wilson's 
 policy as regards Mexico. He thus tied himself up with 
 Messrs. Wilson and Carranza as one of the triumvirate which 
 exercises supreme control in Mexican matters. This makes 
 it worth while for the workers to whom Mr. Gompei:s espe- 
 cially appeals to study what Carranza, the favored friend 
 and ally of Messrs. Gompers and Wilson, has done to labor- 
 ing men in Mexico — not to speak of what he has done to 
 Americans in Mexico. Mr. Gompers states that when Car- 
 ranza refused to surrender the American soldiers taken 
 prisoners at Carrizal, in response to President Wilson's re- 
 quest, he, Mr. Gompers, telegraphed on June 28th last to 
 Carranza appealing to him upon the ground of "patriotism 
 and love" for the release of the American soldiers ; and that 
 immediately Carranza responded on June 29th to Mr. Gomp- 
 ers, saying that he had ordered the release of the prisoners. 
 The telegram closed with: "Salute, very affectionately, V. 
 Carranza." Thereupon Samuel Gompers, in the name of 
 the Federation of Labor, on June 30th, thanked General 
 Carranza for releasing the American soldiers. 
 
 No Atonement for Murder of American Soldiers 
 
 I really question whether we have ever in our history 
 known anything as extraordinary as the President of the 
 United States playing second fiddle in such a manner to the 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 75 
 
 head of a private organization when dealing with interna- 
 tional matters. I wish to call your attention especially to 
 two facts in connection with the incident. Neither Mr. Wil- 
 son nor Mr. Gompers, neither of the two amateur diplomats 
 who thus acted on a footing of fraternal equality in their 
 joint conduct — and misconduct — of American foreign rela- 
 tions made any appeal or demand for atonement for the 
 death of the American soldiers treacherously slain by Car- 
 ranza's troops. They did nothing about the killing of Boyd 
 and Adair and their troopers. All that they ventured to do 
 was to ask that the American soldiers who had been taken 
 prisoners when their comrades were slain be returned. That 
 was the only request that the joint committee of suppliants 
 for safety, composed of President Wilson and President 
 Gompers, ventured to demand of their master, Mr. Car- 
 ranza. 
 
 Carranza Orders Strikers Shot 
 
 There is a further fact which should be considered by 
 the workingmen who are asked to support Carranza by 
 Messrs. Wilson and Gompers on the ground that he is the 
 friend of labor, I have before me a copy of a decree issued 
 by Carranza under date of August 1st, 1916, only ten weeks 
 ago. It has been furnished me by Senator Fall. This decree 
 was issued because the employees of the electric plant and 
 street railroads had struck for higher wages. General Car- 
 ranza had ordered that they should accept one peso of paper 
 money, that is, ten cents silver, as their daily wage. This 
 they refused to do, and struck. Thereupon General Car- 
 ranza issued a decree; and remember that General Car- 
 ranza's government is a purely military government, where 
 neither judges nor legislators have power to interfere in 
 any way with what is done by General Carranza and the mili- 
 tary authorities who do his bidding. The decree runs in 
 part as follows : "The military authorities not long ago ad- 
 vised the laboring classes that they would not allow the 
 creation of a tyranny so harmful to the welfare of the Mexi- 
 can Republic as the tyranny of labor. Notwithstanding this 
 the strike of the employees of the electric light company and 
 of others allied to it is a palpable demonstration that the 
 
76 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 workmen have not wished to be persuaded that they form 
 only a small part of society. The suspension of work be- 
 comes illegal the moment that the strike not only serves to 
 bring pressure on capital, but also harms society in direct 
 or indirect manner, as is the case with the present strike. 
 The conduct of the labor union in the present case must be 
 considered as anti-patriotic and criminal, and constitutes 
 without doubt an attack on the public peace. In view of the 
 foregoing I have decreed the following as an addition to the 
 existing code: Besides the disturbers of the public peace, 
 punishable by death as heretofore described, the death pen- 
 alty will also be imposed on the following: Those who may 
 incite the suspension of work in factories or enterprises des- 
 tined to public service, or who preside over meetings in 
 which it is proposed to discuss or approve such a strike, 
 those who may defend or sustain the same, or who assist in 
 these meetings, and those who endeavor to make the strike 
 effective upon being declared, and those who by threats or 
 force prevent others from rendering their services to the 
 companies or enterprises against which the strike is de- 
 clared." In short words, this decree is that inasmuch as Mr. 
 Carranza disapproves of the strike ordered by a certain 
 labor organization, any one who strikes, or who attends a 
 strikers' meeting, or who gives assistance or aid to the 
 strikers, shall suffer the death penalty — that is, shall be 
 tried by drumhead courtmartial and immediately shot. This 
 decree was issued on August 1st last. 
 
 Nevertheless Gompers Endorses Carranza 
 
 Yet Mr. Gompers asked the support of the laboring men 
 of the United States for Mr. Wilson on the ground that he 
 is the sponsor of the military tyrant who issued this decree. 
 
 It is now announced in the press that Mr. Gompers is nego- 
 tiating with Mr. Carranza in order to get him to withdraw 
 the decree. If so it will only be until after election. But let 
 all American citizens think deeply before they retain in 
 power an Administration which tolerates such an inter- 
 national alliance as that between Messrs. Wilson, Gompers 
 and Carranza, and such management of its foreign affairs 
 
The Square Deal in Industry 11 
 
 as Mr. Gompers is carrying on with the countenance, and in 
 the interest, of Mr. Wilson. 
 
 Protective Tariff Indispensable 
 
 The welfare of the laboring man and the welfare of the 
 farmer taken together represent the foundation of the na- 
 tional welfare. I have always conscientiously endeavored 
 to do everything in my power for the wageworker who 
 worked with his hands and for the farmer. I will do every- 
 thing that in me lies for their permanent good, except any- 
 thing that is wrong, and that I will do for no man, I speak 
 out of my deepest convictions and as conscientiously as it 
 is in my power to speak when I say to you that I believe that 
 Mr. Wilson's action in connection with the Adamson bill is 
 deeply pre judical to the real and permanent interests of the 
 laboring man. I say to you with deepest conviction that if 
 you yourself will look back you will find that on the average, 
 the wageworker has prospered more when this country has 
 been under a protective tariff than when the protective tariff 
 has been so low as not to give protection to our immense 
 and varied industries ; and above all, to the men working in 
 those industries. As you know, I have always stood for the 
 tariff only to the degree in which the benefit was reasonably 
 shared between the men in the front office and the men who 
 receive the pay envelopes. I stand for that division now. 
 But there must be something to divide, or nobody will get 
 anything. 
 
 The Democratic Deficiency Tax 
 
 I ask you to look back only two short years. Mr. Wil- 
 son was inaugurated as President three years ago last 
 Spring. He and his party immediately passed a low tarirt 
 law. Under it Government receipts fell off so alarminglv 
 that there was a great deficit which had to be met by 
 a special tax. This was later called a war tax; but it was 
 not due to the war at all ; the decrease in receipts was prior 
 to the war, it was a deficiency tax, pure and simple. As 
 some one pointed out at the time, Canada had a war with 
 no tax ; whereas we had a tax with no war. It was purely a 
 deficiency tax. 
 
78 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 Widespread Misery Due to Democratic Action 
 
 During the first eighteen months of this Administration 
 the national business went to pieces, the sidings of the rail- 
 roads were jammed with empty cars, and the number of 
 unemployed in every great industry grew to appalling di- 
 mensions. I speak here of what I personally know ; for less 
 than two years ago I had to take an active part in New 
 York in measures to relieve the unemployed. I then saw 
 municipal lodging houses crowded to overflowing with peo- 
 ple desirous of working, who could not get any work, and 
 who did not have enough money to pay for the poorest 
 lodging or the cheapest meals. The unemployed were num- 
 bered not by the thousands, but by the scores of thousands ; 
 and I was in active correspondence with men and women 
 in other cities, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia, where the 
 conditions were just as bad as in New York. Every kind 
 of provision had to be made, by private charities and by the 
 public authorities, in order to care for the multitude of peo- 
 ple who wished to work but who were in dire want because 
 there was no work. The misery was widespread. For in- 
 stance, the Board of Health of New York had to pass a spe- 
 cial resolution allowing the eating of horse meat (I think 
 the exact phraseology gave permission to fatten old houses 
 for slaughter and food), because every effort had to be 
 made to give to those out of work the cheapest food that 
 would sustain life. Remember that those times were nor- 
 mal. There was then no war. We were at peace. We were 
 simply experiencing the normal results of 'legislative action 
 under Mr. Wilson and the Democratic Administration. 
 
 Artificial Stimulus Due to War 
 
 The suff'ering was widespread throughout this country. 
 Suddenly the war came. At one stroke this country was 
 granted a measure of protection greater than any it had ever 
 received under any tariff in its history. Moreover, the de- 
 mand for munitions of war was stimulated to such an enor- 
 mous degree as to completely reverse trade conditions. For 
 example, comparing the fiscal years ending June 30, 1914, 
 and June 30, 1916, that is,, the year before the war and the 
 year that has just elapsed, the losses in ordinary exports 
 
The Square Deal hi Induatrij 79 
 
 during the last year, compared to the former, were over two 
 hundred milHon dollars ; whereas there was a gain in exports 
 of war material of nearly two billion dollars. If it were not 
 for these artificial conditions, the suffering from unemploy- 
 ment in this country at this time would in all probability 
 be as great as it was in 1914, and we would have seen two 
 or three years of an industrial crisis at least as bad as any 
 we have ever known in our history. The present stimulus is 
 artificial. It will cease with the war conditions coming to an 
 end. It will then be difficult to avoid some suffering any- 
 how. If Mr. Wilson is kept in office, this suffering will 
 doubtless be prolonged and acute. 
 
 "If You Will Steal For Me, You Will Steal From Me" 
 
 In short, you miners of Pennsylvania, I appeal to you, 
 and I appeal to all wageworkers of the United States, both 
 in the name of sound American citizenship, and also in the 
 name of your real and permanent self-interest. No Amer- 
 ican citizen can afford to put the stamp of his approval on 
 any law supposed to be passed for the benefit of anybody 
 without investigation, under duress of threats or for fear 
 of the loss of political power. I ask any men who are 
 tempted to approve of the politician, big or little, whom 
 they think has helped them by doing wrong in their interest, 
 to remember that the man who for his profit does wrong in 
 your interest will just as unhesitatingly do wrong against 
 your interest, if ever he thinks it to his profit to do so. 
 
 In the old days, thirty years ago, when I lived on a cow 
 ranch in the short grass country, the branding iron and the 
 cowboy took the place of fences, and our herds were man- 
 aged by branding each calf with the brand of the cow it fol- 
 lowed. If the calf was not branded the first year, then the 
 next year when it was an unbranded yearling, it was called 
 a maverick. By range law^ we were supposed to brand each 
 maverick with the brand of the ranch on which it was found. 
 One day I was riding across a neighbor's ranch with a 
 puncher I had just hired, and we came across a maverick. 
 We got down our ropes, threw the maverick, and built a lit- 
 tle fire of sagebrush to heat one of the cinch rings ; and the 
 puncher started to run on the brand. I said, "Put on 
 
80 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 the thistle brand" — the brand of the range we were on. He 
 answered, "All right, boss, I know my business"; and in 
 another minute he had put on my brand, remarking, "I 
 always put on the boss's brand." I answered, "Well — go 
 back to the ranch and get your time." He jumped up and 
 said, "What's that for? I was putting on your brand, wasn't 
 I?" I answered, "Yes, my friend, you were putting on my 
 brand, and if you will i^teal for me you ivill steal from me!" 
 This is a good rule to remember, for laboring men, 
 farmers, professional men, business men, for all citizens of 
 the United States, in dealing with their public servants. If 
 a public servant will do wrong to please any particular class, 
 it may be taken as absolutely certain that he will do wrong 
 against the interest of that particular class whenever it 
 becomes to his own profit to do so. 
 
NATIONAL RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL 
 
 DUTY 
 
 Louisville, Kentucky, October 18, 1916 
 
 AT the outset of my speech I wish to point out, as I have 
 elsewhere pointed out, that the doctrine now often ad- 
 vanced as to the impropriety of criticising the President, 
 without any regard as to whether the criticism is or is not 
 just, has no warrant either in history or on grounds of pub- 
 lic morality. Andrew Jackson in a message to the Senate on 
 April 15th, 1834, put the case exactly as it should be put. 
 He said : 
 
 "The President is accountable at the bar of 
 . public opinion for every act of his administra- 
 tion. Subject only to the restraints of truth and 
 justice, the free people of the United States have 
 the undoubted right, as individuals, or collectively, 
 orally or in writing, at such times and in such 
 language and form as they may think proper, to 
 discuss his official conduct and express and pro- 
 mulgate their opinions concerning it." 
 
 This lays down the law that should be followed. There 
 must be truth and justice in all that is said of the Presi- 
 dent, or of any one else ; but less than any one other man in 
 the nation has he the right to claim immunity from any 
 criticism that is both just and truthful. I criticise President 
 Wilson because his deeds have belied his words, and his 
 words have belied one another. 
 
 Mr. Wilson's Promises Broken 
 
 Mr. Wilson's promises before election, both those made 
 in his own speeches, and those made in the platform, have 
 been so well-nigh invariably broken, that the breaking of 
 them has become a subject for jest even among his own 
 
 81 
 
82 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 friends. One of Mr. Wilson's prominent Democratic sup- 
 porters in Congress stated with refreshing frankness the 
 exact truth about Mr. Wilson's pre-election promises, and 
 those made on his behalf, when in answer to some charge of 
 inconsistency, he responded by saying that "Our platform 
 was made to get into office on — and we have won." You 
 will find this remark on page 4618 of the Congressional 
 Record, the Third Session of the 62nd Congress. It is im- 
 possible to study Mr. Wilson's pre-election promises and 
 post-election performances; it is impossible to compare the 
 diametrically opposed attitudes he has assumed at different 
 times on almost every public question; it is impossible to 
 compare what he says in one set of speeches with what he 
 says in another set, without feeling that what this congres- 
 sional supporter of his said of his platform applies also to 
 his speeches. 
 
 Now, I do not regard such action on the part of Mr. 
 Wilson and his followers, and the cynical frankness with 
 which they avow it, as a matter for jest. I doubt if it is pos- 
 sible more effectively to undermine public morality in this 
 country than by accustoming the people to regard promises 
 made in politics with cynical amusement as intended only 
 for purposes of deception. A high-minded man regards a 
 promise made on the stump by a candidate for office, a 
 promise intended to secure the support of those to whom 
 it is made, as a pledge which it is as imperatively necessary 
 to redeem as if it were made in private life to a private in- 
 dividual ; and its subsequent repudiation in one case can 
 only be justified by conditions substantially like those which 
 would justify it in the other case. An honorable man will 
 scorn an untruth on the stump juSt as much as off the 
 stump. An honorable man will break a promise made pub- 
 licly in a political campaign just as reluctantly as he will 
 break a promise made to another man in private life. An 
 honorable man keeps faith in public life no less than in pri- 
 vate life. 
 
 Mr. Wilson's Speeches 
 
 President Wilson's speeches are models of adroit, in- 
 direct suggestion and avoidance of downright statement. 
 But the other day at Omaha he seems to have committed 
 
National Rights and International Duty 83 
 
 himself to the statement that he was "willing to fight," but 
 was "waiting for something worth fighting for," for some- 
 thing which would "put all the corpuscles of his blood into 
 shouting shape." It would be interesting to know exactly 
 what outrage on American citizens, or on the rights of hu- 
 manity anywhere, which would make him cross the line be- 
 tween being "willing to fight" and "too proud to fight." He 
 certainly did not regard the treacherous murder of Boyd and 
 Adair, and this United States, as "something worth fighting 
 for." He did not even write a note about it. The murder 
 of 1394 men, women and children on the Lusitania did not 
 "put all the corpuscles of his blood into shouting shape." 
 His. corpuscles did not shout ; they did not even whisper ; 
 apparently all they did was to suggest to him that it was a 
 happy occasion for his classic remark about being "too proud 
 to fight." I am tempted to think that Mr. Wilson did himself 
 an injustice when he said that he was "willing to fight" 
 either for any great cause or on account of any wrong here- 
 after done to this country ; and that the truth was expressed 
 the other day by his eager eulogist, Secretary Baker, when 
 he said that he was "glad" that "no one could insult Mr. 
 Wilson and make him go to war." Unquestionably General 
 Carranza, and probably Herr von Tirpitz, heartily agree 
 with Secretary Baker — and deep in his own heart I am 
 inclined to believe that Mr. Wilson himself also agrees with 
 him. 
 
 Preaching Degrading Doctrine 
 
 Two of Mr. Wilson's most distinguished champions, one 
 official and one non-official, take the same view. Secretary 
 Lane stated that the fact that "American citizens have been 
 killed by outlaws and bandits" was a proper subject for 
 "much regret" but not for "sacrificing the blood of our 
 sons." Does he think that a woeful allusion of "regret" 
 is the way to move bandits? Dr. Charles W. Eliot, former 
 President of Harvard, praises Mr. Wilson for having made 
 a "great contribution to the peace of the world and to the 
 promotion of humane and just dealings between nations," 
 by having "gone far to establish as the American policy 
 the policy of non-intervention by force of arms for the 
 protection of miners, commercial adventurers, investors and 
 
84 Americanism mid Preparedness 
 
 workmen in foreign parts," and by having refused to adopt 
 the "malign suggestion" to protect the lives of these men "by- 
 punitive expeditions and compelled agreements." Reduced 
 to concrete terms, this statement of Dr. Eliot is that Presi- 
 dent Wilson is greatly to be praised because he took no ac- 
 tion when some nineteen fine, unoffending, hard-working and 
 totally unarmed American miners, and engineers, were 
 taken from a railroad train, tortured and murdered by an 
 armed Mexican force. Dr. Eliot has been a severe censor 
 of political morals, strong in his condemnation of bosses, 
 crooked politicians, and demagogic labor leaders; but no 
 corrupt boss, no crooked politician or labor leader, no con- 
 scienceless capitalist, has ever preached or practised a more 
 degrading doctrine, a doctrine more ruinous to the soul and 
 the manhood of this nation, or more destructive to human- 
 ity and justice in the world at large, than the doctrine 
 .thus set forth by this former College President. There 
 can be no more severe condemnation of Mr. Wilson than 
 to say that he is not unworthy of such praise. American 
 women are raped and American children murdered in Mex- 
 ico; American men are tortured to death; hundreds of our 
 people are slain ; continual forays are made into our own 
 territory; Mexico itself is utterly devastated and its people 
 slaughtered by the hundred thousand; and Dr. Eliot de- 
 nounces as a "malign suggestion" any proposal to put a 
 stop to these horrors in the only way by which it is pos- 
 sible to stop them. It would be unfair to China to compare 
 Dr. Eliot with even an old-school Chinese statesman. If 
 he really represents the American people, then let us by all 
 means abandon the Monroe Doctrine, and preparedness, and 
 patriotism and every form of manliness, national and indi- 
 vidual; let us leave Mexico to be set straight by Germany 
 or England -or Japan ; and let us sit in helpless folly at 
 home until some virile nation makes us what we would 
 under such conditions deserve to be made — the hewers of 
 wood and drawers of water for alien conquerors. But 
 if we Americans are fit sons of our sires, if we are worthy 
 of our forefathers of the days of Washington, if we are 
 entitled to claim kinship with the valiant souls who wore 
 the blue in the armies of Grant or the gray in the armies 
 
National Rights and International Duty 85 
 
 of Lee, let us treat such counsel with the derision it deserves, 
 and view with deep suspicion the President who has earned 
 such support. 
 
 Not Too Proud to Fight Small Nations 
 
 There was probably no American outside his own im- 
 mediate following more anxious to see Mr. Wilson succeed, 
 and more disappointed when he failed, than I was. I criticize 
 him only because my duty as an American citizen, proud 
 of his country and jealous of her honor, forces me to stand 
 against him. Apparently the chief claim advanced for 
 Mr. Wilson now is that he has "kept us out of war." Mr. 
 Wilson himself said in effect the other day that if he was 
 not elected we would have war. Yet Mr. Wilson, through 
 the Democratic platform, announces that "the Mexicans 
 have made war upon us, and have murdered our citizens." 
 Apparently Mr. Wilson does not mind the Mexicans being 
 at war with us, as long as we are not at war with the 
 Mexicans. Mr. Wilson's conception of war painfully re- 
 sembles that described by Mr. Stephen Leacock in his anec- 
 dote of how Mr. Smith took Mr, Tompkins by the coat col- 
 lar from behind and began kicking him vigorously, "and 
 the fight continued in this manner for several minutes." 
 The war out of which Mr. Wilson has not kept us with 
 Mexico has been waged in precisely this manner; and Mr. 
 Wilson's attitude has been precisely as dignified as that of 
 the mishandled hero of Leacock's anecdote. And the great 
 military nations of the old world have treated Mr. Wilson, 
 and through Mr. Wilson have treated Uncle Sam, in similar 
 fashion. However, in one case Mr. Wilson asserted him- 
 self. Hayti had not behaved towards us one hundredth part 
 as badly as Mexico, nor one-tenth as badly as Germany; 
 but Hayti had neither army nor navy, Hayti did not even 
 have arms and ammunition, and therefore President Wil- 
 son was not too proud to fight Hayti. He has taught the 
 world that no nation which is small enough to be helpless 
 can insult us with impunity. Are you proud of the record, 
 you Americans of Kentucky, you whose fathers were once 
 not too proud to fight? Mr. Wilson has "kept us out of 
 war" forsooth! Why, on our eastern coast war now grins 
 
86 . Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 at us from just outside the three-mile limit, and on our 
 southern border war has been waged on us within our own 
 territory again and again by bands of armed invaders dur- 
 ing the last three years. 
 
 In his great book on international law, Vattel defines 
 war as "the effort to assert rights by violence," The 
 Mexicans, during Mr. Wilson's term, have killed more 
 Americans than the Spaniards killed in the Spanish War. 
 We have now gathered on the Mexican border, and have 
 kept there for three months, a far larger army than the com- 
 bined armies that took Cuba and the Philippines from the 
 Spaniards — and I throw in all the men on the American 
 squadrons. There are down on the Mexican border at pres- 
 ent more than ten times as many men as were in Mexico 
 under Scott and Taylor combined in our war with Mexico. 
 We have had all the bloodshed and expense of war, but 
 we have not secured what follows a wise, righteous and 
 manful war — peace. 
 
 The exact value of the Mexican ''good will" which 
 President Wilson has obtained by his policy of tame sub- 
 mission to the murder and outrage of our citizens can be 
 gathered from the following statement in one of his chief 
 newspaper organs, the New York World, of Oct. 10th : 
 
 "CARRANZA ENVOYS IN FIRMER ATTITUDE 
 
 "U-Boat Exploits Give Them Hope That We Shall Have 
 More Complications. 
 
 (From a Staff Correspondent of the World) 
 
 "Atlantic City, N. J., Oct. 9. — The activities of Ger- 
 man submarines off the American coast and the possibility 
 that another crisis may arise between the United States 
 and Germany had an appreciable effect upon the Mexican 
 conference here today. 
 
 "The Carranza delegates were elated at the prospect 
 of this country being involved in further international en- 
 tanglements, and their attitude stiffened considerably." 
 
 This statement is well worth serious consideration. 
 It comes from one of President Wilson's close organs. It 
 
National Rights and International Duty 87 
 
 shows that the Carranza Government, which owes its very 
 existence to President Wilson, eagerly awaits the opportu- 
 nity to join with any hostile old-world power against us. 
 This is the fine flower of President Wilson's policy in Mex- 
 ico. He has permitted the country to be ruined and its 
 people decimated. He has permitted our own people to be 
 murdered unchecked. He has prostituted our national honor 
 to the bandits whose cause he has espoused. And he has 
 won from these bandits only a venomous and treacherous 
 hostility to the United States. 
 
 Our Citizens Abandoned 
 
 For three years there has been no protection of our 
 citizens abroad. The rights of a citizen of the United States 
 to demand the protection of his Government when wronged 
 by a foreign power have been settled by the Supreme Court 
 of the United States, when it said (83 U. S., p. 79) : "It is the 
 privilege of a citizen of the United States to demand the 
 care and protection of the Federal Government over his 
 life, liberty and property when on the high seas or within 
 the jurisdiction of a foreign government." This applied 
 to our citizens on the Lusitania and the Arabic who lost 
 their lives from German submarines. It applied to our 
 citizens in Mexico and Chihuahua, who lost their lives at 
 the hands of the Mexican soldiers of Carranza. It applied 
 to the Americans whose property was taken in violation of 
 the principles of international law by the English fleet. 
 The right to life comes ahead of the right of property, and 
 unless we first deal with the offenses against the lives of 
 our citizens, we have no justification for dealing with of- 
 fenses against the property rights of our citizens. But if 
 we had done our duty in the first case, it would then have 
 become incumbent upon us to do our duty in the latter case. 
 At this moment our first duty should be to see that Ameri- 
 can citizens, especially women and children, shall not be 
 set afloat in rowboats miles off our coast on the October 
 seas, as a result of submarine attacks on merchant vessels. 
 The German U-boats in effect established a "pacific" block- 
 ade of our coast. The "guarantee" of the safety of non-- 
 combatants aboard the vessels recently torpedoed off our 
 
88 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 coast was carried out by American destroyers, not by the 
 German submarines; if the Germans had themselves made 
 good, and intended to make good, their guarantee, there 
 would have been no necessity for American destroyers to 
 be present. 
 
 The Course of Dishonor Followed 
 
 At the outset of this war Mr. Wilson had one of two 
 courses to follow. He could by deeds stand up for our 
 own rights against everyone, and champion the rights of 
 the weak against the strong in all cases ; or else he could sub- 
 mit to our being wronged by everyone, and acquiesce tamely 
 when wrongs were committed by the strong against the 
 weak, even although we had covenanted that such wrongs 
 should not be committed. The first was the course of honor, 
 of temporary risk and of permanent safety. He did not 
 follow it. The second was the course of dishonor, of tem- 
 porary safety and of permanent danger. He followed it. 
 As to the course we ought to have followed, it is to be 
 found laid down in his own utterances, and in the platform 
 of his own party. He has himself specifically stated, and 
 in the party platform the statement was reiterated, that 
 "We hold that it is the duty of the United States to use 
 its power ... in the interests of humanity to assist 
 the world in securing justice. We believe that the small 
 states of 'the world have the right to enjoy from other 
 nations the same respect for their sovereignty and terri- 
 torial integrity that the great powers insist upon. We 
 again declare fully the policy that the sacred rights of 
 American citizenship must be preserved at home and 
 abroad." I ask all decent men, all right-thinking men of 
 straightforward minds, whether there ever has been ranker 
 hypocrisy than the use of such expression by the man, and 
 the men, who, when the conditions they thus set forth were 
 met to a dot, to a line, in the case of the killing of our 
 men, women and children on the high seas and in Mexico, 
 and in the case of the invasion of Belgium by Germany, 
 instantly forgot their duty to America, to humanity and 
 justice, and took no action to back up their high-sounding 
 words? President Wilson has seen the lives of some five 
 
National Rights ayid International Duty 89 
 
 hundred Americans taken, afloat and ashore; but never in 
 one case has he made good the promise of his platform. 
 As soon as Belgium was invaded Mr. Wilson instantly for- 
 got his "concern" for the "rights and sovereignty of small 
 states," and announced that we must be neutral not only in 
 deed, but in thought, between right and wrong, and that 
 we had no concern with the European war, and that the 
 combatants (including the Belgians, who were fighting for 
 their wives, children and hearthstones) were all merely 
 "madmen." Out of their own mouths President Wilson 
 and his party supporters stand condemned for their action 
 and their inaction. 
 
 Our Rights Abandoned 
 
 This case of Belgium was the first of Mr. Wilson's in- 
 ternational sins. It combined lofty promise and complete 
 failure in performance. It consisted of words which were 
 nullified by deeds. In these respects he made it the pre- 
 cedent w^hich he followed ever afterwards. He followed it 
 when he wrote his "strict accountability" note to Germany 
 and then for a year held Germany to no accountability, 
 either strict or loose, while it sunk ship after ship with 
 thousands of non-combatants, including hundreds of Ameri- 
 cans ; and no atonement has been made for the lives thus 
 lost to this day. When he dealt with our property rights, 
 he announced to England that the United States intended 
 fearlessly to accept the "championship" of neutral rights. 
 But, as in the case of his note to Germany, he did nothing 
 to back up his words. They were words and nothing else. 
 He said he would hold Mexico to a "strict responsibility," 
 and he did not hold her to any responsibility. He said he 
 would hold Germany to "strict accountability," and he did 
 not hold her to any accountability. He said that the Eng- 
 lish blockade was illegal, ineffective, and indefensible; 
 and he neither made his words good nor acted on them. 
 He announced that he would insist on all our rights; and 
 then he abandoned them all. He wrote strong notes, to 
 both sides ; and he took no action to back up the notes to 
 either side. We accomplished nothing with either side. 
 We incurred resentment from both sides. In just one 
 
90 Americanism and Prej)aredness 
 
 respect we have succeeded. We have induced the belliger- 
 ents to agree on one point. They agree in their utter con- 
 tempt for America, in their conviction that the American 
 people cannot be goaded into virile action to defend the lives 
 of their men, women and children, and in their certainty 
 that we are actuated only by the desire to profit by the 
 agonies of our European brothers. 
 
 No Real Leadership in Washington 
 
 Instead of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, 
 President Wilson spoke bombastically and carried a dish- 
 rag. For these offenses against us I blame the Germans, 
 for nothing can excuse their jeopardizing and taking the 
 lives of men, women and children ; and I do not believe that 
 under like circumstances we would have done what they 
 have done. For their less heinous offenses against our 
 pi:operty rights I blame the British, but I blame them much 
 less, and I do believe that under like circumstances we 
 would have acted in the same way, if other nations would 
 have let us. But I blame the United States even more than 
 I blame Germany, and far more than I blame England, for 
 in our case there has been no splendid alloy of heroism to 
 offset the wrong-doing. Our offenses have been those of 
 cold, shortsighted selfishness and of a mean timidity which 
 has invited, and has therefore been partly responsible for, 
 the German and British offenses against us. We could have 
 stopped them had we had any real leadership in Washing- 
 ton ; had we shown any firmness of soul and readiness to 
 make effort and encounter risk for high ideals. "Kept us 
 out of war!" If the Wilson administration could point to 
 one sacrifice this nation has made for the right, to one 
 indication of willingness to face loss on behalf of a princi- 
 ple, it might deserve some credit. But it deserves none. 
 Thanks *to President Wilson, we have shown ourselves too 
 craven to stand up for our own rights, or for the rights 
 of weaker peoples. If we had done as we ought to havf* 
 done, our neutrality would have been a badge of honor 
 and not one of shame. If we had shown emphatically that 
 we intended to give a square deal to everyone, and to de- 
 mand a square deal for and from everyone ; if we had done 
 
National Rights and International Duty 91 
 
 for Mexico what under President McKinley we did for 
 Cuba; if we had protested against the invasion of Belgium; 
 if we had summarily stopped the murder of our men, wo- 
 men and children by German submarines, and had then 
 effectively asserted the freedom of the seas against the 
 British, we would certainly have brought about the recog- 
 nition of our rights, and very possibly would have inspired 
 sufficient confidence and respect in the belligerents to have 
 enabled us to secure peace before this time. Had we so 
 acted, we would have proved ourselves loyal Americans in 
 the first place, and in the next place we would have shown 
 a veritable, instead of a sham, loyalty to humanity. We 
 would have proved that our devotion to humanity was more 
 then mere lip worship. But let it be understood from the 
 beginning that never can we or any other nation take such 
 a position unless there is both preparation in advance, and 
 also the willingness to sacrifice something in order to com- 
 pel the observance of the nation's own sovereign rights, 
 and in addition to enable it to perform its duty to the rest 
 of mankind. 
 
THE MEXICAN INIQUITY 
 Phoenix, Arizona, October 21, 1916 
 
 WHAT has happened to our people in Mexico and here 
 along the border, offers the clearest possible illustra- 
 tion of what happens to any nation whose government be- 
 haves with the vacillation and timidity shown by Mr. Wilson 
 in our foreign affairs wherever he has had to deal with any 
 foe of whom he was in the slightest degree afraid. 
 
 In Mexico when the Revolution gathered headway, 
 there were many foreigners. There were English, Ger- 
 mans, Japanese and French. There were also Americans, 
 Spaniards and Chinese. Mexico was afraid of and respected 
 Germany, England, Japan and France. She neither feared 
 nor respected the United States or China; and she did not 
 believe that Spain at the moment could act against her. In 
 consequence it appears that during these disturbances, as 
 far as can be gathered, there has not been one German killed 
 in Mexico, and only one Englishman and two Frenchmen. 
 I can not find that any Japanese were killed. These figures 
 may not be quite accurate, but they are substantially ac- 
 curate. The minute the Frenchmen were killed, the French 
 Government served such summary notice on Mexico that it 
 has been exceedingly careful not to kill any others. When 
 the Englishman, Benton, was killed, not merely did England 
 flame up, but it is actually true that far more interest was 
 excited in this country than was shown over all of our own 
 men, women and children who were killed in Mexico. There 
 have been no further outrages on the lives of British sub- 
 jects. The Germans are not only safe, but at Tampico, for in- 
 stance, enjoy special privileges. The Japanese enjoy the 
 same consideration. But meanwhile, according to the best 
 information at our disposal, the Mexicans have killed over 
 three hundred Chinese; over five hundred Americans; and 
 at least a couple of hundred Spaniards. I ask you to con- 
 
 92 
 
The Mexican Iniquity 93 
 
 sider these facts. The MexicaiivS have not killed a single 
 German and only one Englishman. But they have killed 
 several hundred Americans and several hundred Chinese. 
 They class the Germans and Englishmen as belonging to 
 nations able to protect the lives of their citizens ; whereas, 
 thanks to Mr. Wilson, they regard the Americans and 
 Chinese as equally safe to murder, outrage and plunder. I 
 ask the people of this country to consider these facts for 
 themselves, and to draw their own conclusions ; and if they 
 have ordinary self-respect, if they have feelings of ordinary 
 patriotism, they cannot consent to continue in power the 
 Administration that is responsible for such a condition of 
 affairs. 
 
 American Citizenship a Handicap 
 
 The natural effect of this policy is shown by the fact 
 that it is no longer safe for foreign companies in Mexico to 
 have American employees or to be operated under an Amer- 
 ican name. Instance after instance of this kind has been 
 brought to my attention with the personal request that I do 
 not use it for fear that damage should come to those giving 
 me the information. I know case after case where this has 
 been true of industrial, mining and pastoral enterprises, but 
 where my informants feared for their lives if the informa- 
 tion was made public. There are, however, published state- 
 ments of specific instances to the same effect. For example, 
 I saw a public statement issued by the Santa Gertrudis 
 Company, Limited, issued at London the 21st of July last, 
 which notifies the shareholders that it has become neces- 
 sary "to withdraw the American management and staff, and 
 to arrange for the continuance of operations under English 
 and Mexican management." I have received letter after 
 letter from men in Mexico, who have stated that they have 
 tried to obtain German or English citizenship and abandon 
 American citizenship because as Americans they were liable 
 to insult and murder, and as Germans or Englishmen they 
 were comparatively safe. I know a Boer who was deported 
 by the English from South Africa after the Boer war, but 
 who in Mexico has established his rights as an Englishman, 
 not as an American citizen, because our government gives 
 no protection to its people. 
 
94 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 Actions Due to I^'ear 
 
 Thanks to President Wilson and the professional paci- 
 fists it is safe for Mexican bandits to murder Americans 
 and Chinese, and to take their property, and the murderers 
 and* bandits are encouraged by the acts and utterances of 
 the President of the United States and his authorized rep- 
 resentatives. Remember also that these bandits are the 
 worst foes of the decent citizens of Mexico, and that these, 
 honest and law-abiding Mexicans have been the people most 
 damaged by President Wilson's policy of tame submission 
 to infamy. What President Wilson's motives a,re it is hard 
 to guess. As reported in the press, not a few of Mr. Wil- 
 son's own supporters take the ground that he acts in this 
 manner because he is influenced by downright fear. On 
 August 8th last it was announced in the press that Mr. 
 Frank B. Vrooman, Democratic National Committeeman, of 
 Colorado, stated at Denver that "President Wilson had 
 wisely avoided war with Mexico because there are 400,000 
 Japanese soldiers in Mexico, and because both Germany and 
 Japan are planning to overthrow the Monroe Doctrine, and 
 therefore war with Mexico would mean war with both these 
 countries." Mr. Vrooman's premises are unsound. There 
 is slight reason to believe that there are as many as 4000 
 Japanese of military age in Mexico. But his statement, if 
 correctly reported (and it has not been contradicted), is a 
 frank admission and assertion of his belief, the belief of one 
 of President Wilson's close political admirers and sup- 
 porters, that President Wilson is afraid to interfere in Mex- 
 ico, because he is afraid lest Germany and Japan stop us 
 when we try to exact atonement for the murder of American 
 citizens and the destruction of American property. Re- 
 cently Vice-President Marshall is reported in the press as 
 having said that for us to take action in Mexico (in defense " 
 of the lives and property of our people) would be to "make 
 war on Berlin," and that therefore we must not act against 
 Mexico. I have seen no denial of this statement. In other 
 words, these champions of Mr. Wilson justify his conduct 
 — conduct otherwise utterly inexplicable — on the ground 
 that he is afraid to protect American life in Mexico, lest he 
 thereby offend great old-world powers. Why, if this state- 
 
The Mexican Iniquity 95 
 
 ment is true, it is itself the bitterest indictment of Mr. 
 Wilson's policy, and proves his abandonment of the Monroe 
 Doctrine. His own friends thus announce that he tamely 
 acquiesces in the murder of American men, and the outrage 
 of American women by Mexican bandits for fear that he 
 should offend Japan and Germany. For the three and a half 
 years of his term of office he has kept us in a condition of 
 such military and naval impotence that we dare not assert 
 even such elementary rights as that American citizens shall 
 be secure in life and property, not merely in a foreign land, 
 but even within our own borders — for remember that scores 
 of our citizens have been killed and wounded within our own 
 boundaries. 
 
 Mr. Wilson Condemns Himself 
 
 Remember always that the infamies that have been 
 committed in Mexico have been explicitly set forth by 
 President Wilson himself through his Secretary of State on 
 June 20 last. President Wilson, in the course of his efforts 
 to shield Carranza, denounced the truthful statement of the 
 hideous conditions in Mexico as being a "traffic in false- 
 hood" designed to "create intolerable friction between our 
 Government and Carranza's in the interest of certain own- 
 ers of Mexican properties." He made these deliberate 
 charges on March 20th last. Senator Fall promptly chal- 
 lenged President Wilson to name these alleged conspirators 
 and also challenged him to make public the documents in 
 the State Department. As always when challenged fear- 
 lessly. President Wilson promptly flinched. He has not 
 dared to publish the documents in the State Department, 
 and by failing to publish the names of the alleged conspira- 
 tors during these seven months, he has admitted that his 
 statement was without foundation in fact. But this is not 
 all. His note of June 20th is the fullest and most complete 
 admission of all that has been charged and all that he has de- 
 nied or palliated. The facts therein set forth furnish a 
 complete and irrefutable condemnation of his own policy 
 towards Mexico and towards Carranza. 
 
 This authoritative statement issued by Mr. Wilson 
 through his Secretary of State sets forth that for three years 
 there has been continuous bloodshed and disorder in 
 
96 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 Mexico; that Americans have been barbarously murdered, 
 and vast properties developed by American capital and en- 
 terprise destroyed; that the murderers have not been 
 brought to justice; that during the past nine months there 
 have been constant invasions, depredations and murders on 
 American soil by Mexican bandits; that American soldiers 
 have been killed ; American ranches raided, American rail- 
 way trains wrecked and plundered, and American towns 
 destroyed ; and that Carranza's soldiers and adherents took 
 part in the looting, burning and killing; that the murders 
 were characterized by ruthless brutality and barbarous 
 mutilation ; that^some of the leaders in these atrocities have 
 not only received protection, but encouragement and aid 
 from Carranza's Government; that during this time there 
 was instance after instance of the barbarous slaughter of 
 unoffending Americans in Mexico itself, in addition to the 
 heinous crimes committed in murdering, burning and 
 plundering on American soil; that Carranza's generals 
 made no effort to stop the crimes, and that Carranza him- 
 self was either unable, or else considered it undesirable, to 
 punish the criminals; that Carranza gave neither co-opera- 
 tion nor assistance to the American troops who pursued 
 the bandits ; that on the contrary, Carranza's adherents 
 halted the American pursuit at Parral and became the pro- 
 tectors of Villa and his bandits ; and that Carranza's Gov- 
 ernment has shown that it does not intend or desire that 
 the outlaws, bandits and criminals who have been guilty 
 of these murders and outrages shall be captured, de- 
 stroyed or dispersed, either by American troops or by Mexi- 
 can troops. 
 
 In the above statement I have used the exact words of 
 Mr. Wilson's Secretary, merely condensing the statement 
 and keeping exactly its sense. I have not used one word 
 not contained in the statement. No indictment by me of 
 Mr. Wilson's policy could be as strong as that furnished by 
 himself. Immediately afterwards occurred the treacherous 
 murder of our troops at Carrizal. Then Mr. Wilson be- 
 came frightened, bowed in abject submission to Carranza, 
 kissed the hand that was red with the blood of American 
 men and women, and, inasmuch as he dared not hold Car- 
 
The Mexican hdquity 97 
 
 ranza responsible, began in unmanly fashion to scold Car- 
 ranza's wretched American victims. 
 
 Mr. Wilson says he has "kept us out of war." The 
 Democratic platform says that the Mexicans "have made 
 war upon and murdered our people." For once the Demo- 
 cratic platform told the truth. Mr. Wilson says that some 
 of the murdered men were barbarously mutilated. In the 
 press one such case of mutilation is described. Two troop- 
 ers of the 12th U. S. Cavalry, Henry Stubblefield and 
 Richard Johnson, one from Virginia and one from New 
 York, were killed by Carranza's troops at Progreso, Texas, 
 on September 29th, 1915. Stubblefield's body was found 
 soon after the fight. Johnson was reported missing, but 
 Mexican prisoners informed our officers that Johnson had 
 been tortured and beheaded, his body thrown into the Rio 
 Grande, and his head and ears cut off and displayed to the 
 populace of the Mexican town of Concepcion as evidence 
 that American troops had been routed. This was not an 
 exceptional instance; it was typical of what has gone on 
 unchecked in Mexico. 
 
 What Could Have Been Done 
 
 Mr. Wilson and his followers are fond of asking, when 
 we criticize his action, "What would you have done?" 
 Either one of two courses could properly have been fol- 
 lowed. It would have been defensible to have recognized 
 Huerta, in view of the fact that other great powers had 
 recognized him; and, of course, it was quite indefensible 
 to refuse to recognize him and yet recognize Benavides in 
 Peru, and Carranza in Mexico. In such event we would 
 have held Huerta to "strict responsibility" by acts, for re- 
 storing order in Mexico and for protecting American life 
 and property. 
 
 This course would have been defensible. Personally, it 
 seems to me that it would have been even better to have done 
 exactly what Mr. Wilson said he would do, but did not do. 
 He said to Congress on August 27th, 1913 : "We should 
 let everyone who assumes to exercise authority in any part 
 of Mexico know in the most unequivocal way that we shall 
 vigilantly watch the fortunes of those Americans who can- 
 
98 Americanism mid Preparedness 
 
 not get away, and shall hold those responsible for their 
 sufferings and losses to a definite reckoning. This can be 
 and will be put beyond the possibility of a misunderstand- 
 ing." On the same day he sent to the American Consul- 
 General and Consular Agents in Mexico two telegrams in- 
 structing them "to notify all officials, military or civil, 
 exercising authority, that they would be held strictly re- 
 sponsible for any harm done to Americans or for injury to 
 their property." These were fine words. Excellent words ! 
 They were as good as the words in the Democratic Plat- 
 form, four years ago and now, to the effect that all Ameri- 
 can citizens, at home and abroad, must be protected in 
 their rights, and no wrongs permitted against their persons 
 or property. The trouble is that neither the promises and 
 menaces of President Wilson nor the pledges in the Demo- 
 cratic platform were worth the paper on which they were 
 written or the breath expended in uttering them. 
 
 Disgraceful Withdrawal at Tampico 
 
 Mr. Wilson's notice was explicit and emphatic. If he 
 had meant what he said and if he had possessed the small- 
 est fraction of the resolution and courage of such a Demo- 
 cratic President as Andrew Jackson he would have lived 
 up to this notice. He would have acted at once against 
 every leader, whether Huerta, Villa or Carranza or any one 
 else, who permitted injury to American life and property or 
 who failed to prevent it; and if necessary, he would have 
 sent some such man as General Leonard Wood into the 
 country to behave precisely as we behaved in Cuba, to re- 
 habilitate Mexico and to restore her to her people just as 
 we did in the case of Cuba, when order and civilization 
 again obtained in the country. Instead of doing this, Presi- 
 dent Wilson stood idly by while hundreds of Amsricans 
 were murdered. He has not protected American lives and 
 American property. All that he has done has been from 
 time to time to help one bandit leader against some other 
 bandit leader. The Tampico incident furnishes the best 
 proof of this fact. There were 2300 American refugees in 
 Tampico, whose lives were threatened by the Mexican 
 revolutionists. American gunboats were in the harbor to 
 
The Mexican Iniquity 99 
 
 protect them. But President Wilson was not concerned 
 with their protection. He was concerned solely with helping 
 his then friend Villa, and antagonizing Villa's foe, Huerta. 
 He was furnishing Villa with the arms which Villa used for 
 the slaughter of Americans. We have it on the authority 
 of Mr. Wilson's friend and champion. Senator Lewis, of 
 Illinois, that Mr. Wilson actually intended to recognize Villa, 
 the murderer, raider and robber, as President, but was 
 afraid to do so because of the Republican opposition. The 
 American ships at Tampico were withdrawn from this duty 
 of protecting the lives of American men, women and chil- 
 dren from would-be murderers, and were sent to operate 
 against Huerta at Vera Cruz, in the interest of Villa. The 
 Americans owed their lives to the protection of the German 
 and British warships. Whether this dreadful betrayal of 
 duty was due immediately to the direct action of Secretary 
 Daniels, or to the action of the officers whom he had put in 
 charge at Tampico and Vera Cruz, is of no consequence. 
 The ultimate responsibility for this and for all the other 
 shameful episodes in Mexico, rests directly on President 
 Wilson himself. 
 
 Mexico Ruined 
 
 President Wilson has seen the Mexicans during these 
 three and a half years become socially, politically and 
 morally barikrupt. He has not helped Mexico. He has 
 ruined Mexico. The jungle is creeping over the great plan- 
 tations. The cattle on the ranches have been wantonly and 
 wastefully slaughtered. The thoroughbred stock farms 
 which were the work of decades have been destroyed. Irri- 
 gation plants are out of service, railroad terminals have 
 been burnt, rolling stock and locomotives broken up and 
 damaged beyond repair. Mines that furnished employment 
 to scores of thousands are standing idle. The National 
 Treasury has been emptied. A paper currency, debased and 
 worthless, has been substituted for the nation's money. 
 All the means of an orderly economic life have been de- 
 stroyed. An epidemic of typhus rages that twice has men- 
 aced the health of our border cities. The country no longer 
 produces sufficient foodstuffs. Actual starvation is upon the 
 people. Sixty thousand white men, who were one of the 
 
100 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 great civilizing and developing forces of Mexico, are in exile. 
 The jungle, the desert and a cruel, primitive savagery hold 
 sway. Carranza's government is but a shell of authority, 
 based on murder and plunder, limited to a few of the larger 
 cities and railroad lines, in antagonism to every organizing 
 force upon which a government can rest. The absolute 
 refusal of the outside world to lend it money is evidence of 
 the low credit in which it is held, and is also a grim com- 
 mentary on Mr. Wilson's folly in assailing the American 
 miners, ranchers, workingmen, investors and business men, 
 who alone rendered possible a healthy prosperity in Mexico. 
 In the message above referred to President Wilson said 
 that it was our duty to discharge the trust that "the great 
 powers of the world had placed in our hands with reference 
 to Mexico." But he has done nothing to discharge this trust. 
 He has sent our sailors and soldiers to invade Mexican soil. 
 These men have shot down Mexicans and have themselves 
 been killed. But nothing has resulted, except to increase 
 the hatred of the Mexicans for Americans. He has con- 
 tinually protested that he would not intervene in Mexico, 
 and yet he has intervened continually, in every way, from 
 diplomacy to war ; but always with futility, and always with 
 timidity. He has sinned heavily against Mexico. He has 
 sinned against humanity. He has sinned most heavily 
 against the United States. He has allowed Mexico to drift 
 into bloody anarchy. Mexico needs peace and security. We 
 can give peace and security to Mexico, but only if we show 
 courage and resolution. If we fail, then some foreign power 
 will, in the end, itself do the task, and make Mexico its 
 servant, to our own irreparable damage. Mr. Wilson is 
 inviting this disaster, 
 
 Mexico and the Panama Canal 
 
 It can not be a matter of indifference to us what kind of 
 a government arises in Mexico. Mexico in its geographical 
 and physical aspects, with the Panama Canal adjoining, rep- 
 resents to the United States what the Balkans and Asia 
 Minor represent to Europe. There the Dardanelles and the 
 Suez Canal are the prize, valuable as the Panama Canal is 
 valuable to us, as a source of profit and national power. 
 
The Mexican Iniquity 101 
 
 After a decade of internal warfare and struggle in the Bal- 
 kans, the present world war resulted. If we let Mexico sink 
 into permanent anarchy, and show ourselves too feeble to 
 restore order, then sooner or later some old-world military 
 power will itself step in and take possession, with results as 
 disastrous to us as the anarchy in the Balkan peninsula has 
 been disastrous to Europe. Mexico, like Asia Minor, is a 
 mountainous peninsula. It dominates the Caribbean and has 
 immediate access to both ends of the Panama Canal. The 
 government in Mexico must necessarily interact with and 
 upon the governments and population of the northern half of 
 the South American continent. A strong and stable govern- 
 ment in Mexico, working in harmonious relations with the 
 United States, could establish security for property and 
 make it possible for American enterprise to carry railroads, 
 irrigation works and other benefits of civilization into that 
 territory. The development of the Mexican railroad net 
 would enable the United States, in case the need ever arose, 
 to help ward off aggression by a foreign power, A railroad 
 extending to the Panama Canal would give us access by land 
 to the Canal, with which the future of the United States is so 
 intimately bound up^ Such a Mexican government, repre- 
 senting the best forces of that country, would be eager to 
 work with us by the free exchange of what they have to give 
 in return for the advantages of what we can offer them. Such 
 a government would be of incalculable benefit to Mexico it- 
 self, and would also add greatly to the security of the United 
 States. A weak, disorganized Mexican government as a 
 willing or unwilling ally of a foreign power, hostile to our 
 country, might do us irreparable damage. 
 
 Intelligence and Self -Sacrifice Necessary 
 
 It will take foresight, intelligence and self-sacrifice on 
 the part of our statesmen and our people to solve these 
 problems in the right way now so as to ward off danger in 
 the future. President Wilson's policies have been without 
 plan or purpose; he has not looked beyond tomorrow; he 
 has had no objects aside from momentary political profit 
 at home, and possibly the gratification of personal spite 
 toward, or personal favoritism for, some particular bandit. 
 
102 Ame7'icanism and Preparedness 
 
 His attitude has shifted hither and thither. At an enormous 
 expense to all that is good and stable in Mexico and at a 
 terrible cost of American lives, property and prestige, he 
 has lifted Carranza into power. Through the maneuvering 
 of an A-B-C convention he placed him upon his shaky ped- 
 estal and today, by the expedient of another I-O-U conven- 
 tion, he is trying to prop and bolster the tottering structure. 
 Yet at this very time, Carranza's government, which is 
 wholly the child of President Wilson's diplomacy, turns 
 against us, and thereby foreshadows the course that this 
 same man Carranza would take if, by the aid of such loans, 
 as it has been vaguely hinted that the present Admmistra- 
 tion is trying to secure for him in financial circles, his gov- 
 ernment would become strong. This is shown in the New 
 York World, Wilson's administration organ. In a dispatch 
 from its special representative at Newport, on October 10th, 
 it set forth that as soon as the German submarines began to 
 operate off the coast, the Carranza delegates at the confer- 
 ence "became elated at the prospect of this country becom- 
 ing involved in further international entanglements and 
 their attitude stiffened considerably." The threat thus re- 
 vealed in the attitude of these Carranza agents is a sinister 
 omen of the future danger that lurks in Mr. Wilson's di- 
 plomacy. Some day this diplomacy will be paid for by this 
 country in the bloodshed, suffering and disaster of war. 
 
PREPAREDNESS: 
 MILITARY, INDUSTRIAL AND SPIRITUAL 
 
 Denver, Colorado, October 24, 1916 
 
 I SPEAK to you especially of the prime duty of self-de- 
 fense. I abhor unjust and wanton war. I shall always 
 do. as I always have done, everything to secure honorable 
 and lasting peace. But it is folly to say that w^e shall never 
 be engaged in war. The events of the past two years show 
 that as the world now is, such an assumption by any nation 
 is not only folly, but criminal folly. Washington, who was 
 the very opposjte of the pacifists of his day, said that this 
 country could not expect always to avoid war. His words 
 were true then. They are true now. If this nation con- 
 tinues its national existence long enough it is sure at some 
 time in the future to be involved in war exactly as at times 
 in the past it has been . involved in war. Our prime duty 
 is so to prepare as to minimize the number of occasions 
 when war will come and to ensure that, when it does come, 
 it shall result neither dishonorably nor disastrously for the 
 American people. At this moment we are not ready in any 
 way, physically or spiritually, to face a serious foe. We 
 owe this lamentable fact to several causes, but especially to 
 the evil leadership given our people in high places. Mr. 
 Wilson has not only been too proud to fight, but has also 
 been too proud to prepare. 
 
 The people of this country should provide for a first- 
 class navy, a navy relative to the other powers what our 
 navy was in February, 1909, when the battle-fleet returned 
 from the cruise around the world. We should have a regular 
 army of a quarter of a million short-service men, which 
 would give us a mobile army of 125,000 or 150,000 to deal 
 with such exigencies as that which the feebleness of our 
 government has brought about on the Mexican border at 
 this moment. And this should be only the beginning. A 
 
 103 
 
104 Americanis7)i and Preparedness 
 
 freeman must not merely hire others to do his fighting for 
 him. If he wishes permanently to remain a freeman he 
 must fit himself to fight for his own rights, that is, for his 
 country's rights. 
 
 System Should Be Changed 
 
 I honor the National Guardsmen who are at the front. 
 They have the true soldierly stuff" in them. But the system 
 under which they have been sent is an atrocious one, and 
 should be changed at once. They have been tricked into 
 going into what they supposed was a war on behalf of the 
 country. When they entered the militia most of them had no 
 idea that they would be Conscripted as they have been. Their 
 sense of honor has forbidden them to refuse going. But 
 they should never have been sent for mere police duty ; for 
 remember that, thanks to Mr. Wilson's tame refusal to 
 punish the Mexican bandits, we now have on the border a 
 force of American soldiers from ten to twenty times as 
 numerous as the bandits across the border; and yet this 
 force does nothing. Many men have gone who have been 
 obliged to leave their wives and children to suffer actual 
 want, arid who have permanently injured their professional 
 or business careers, or definitely lost their jobs, because 
 they had to go to the front and spend months away from 
 their business, awaj'" from their homes, to make good the 
 damage done by the utter folly of our rulers in Washington. 
 
 These rulers in Washington were not really interested 
 in Preparedness. They were not really interested in the 
 defense of their country. They thought only of their own 
 political fortunes in the immediate future. They refused 
 to give us expert military legislation. They gave us political 
 military legislation ; legislation designed to secure votes 
 next November at the cost of the lives of the gallant ofl^icers 
 and men of the regular army ; at the cost of the lives of the 
 civilians, men, women and children on the border, and in 
 Mexico; and at the cost of the well-being of thousands of 
 the families of national guardsmen who had themselves 
 been sent to the Mexican border. The legislation of the last 
 session should be repealed and the work of preparedness 
 entered upon with serious purpose. The Hay military law 
 
Preparedness: Military, Industrial and Spiritual 105 
 
 was evil from almost every standpoint. The system of 
 militia pay which it embodied, taken in connection with its 
 other features, made it an unworthy political expedient 
 designed to transform the militia of the several states into 
 a huge political machine, dangerous to the well-being of 
 the country and of its citizen soldiery. Most regrettably 
 this feature of the militia pay, in its present. unwise form, 
 and the other unwise features of the bill, are due in no small 
 degree to the influence of a powerful militia body on the 
 President and on Congress. This lobby represented not the 
 military interests of the nation, nor the interest of the 
 immense majority of the rank and file and junior officers 
 of the National Guard, but the interests of a limited num- 
 ber of officers,, most of them of higher rank. Replacing and 
 repealing this law, we should have a law restoring the 
 militia to its former status and establishing a system of 
 obligatory universal military training and service under 
 which we would avoid the cruel injustice and hardship in- 
 flicted this summer on so many thousands of the National 
 Guardsmen who have been sent to the border — not to make 
 war for the country, but to help Mr. Wilson wobble between 
 feeble peace and feeble war until after election. 
 
 Universal Training and Service Needed 
 
 See that your representatives vote for a large and effi- 
 cient navy and a small but efficient regular army. But 
 always remember that in a free democracy no man should 
 have the right to vote in the civil affairs of the country if 
 he does not perform all the duties required by the country, 
 not only in peace, but in war; and he cannot perform these 
 duties in time of war unless he fits himself to perform them, 
 unless he trains himself to perform them, in time of peace. 
 I believe in universal military obligatory training of all our 
 young men in time of peace; and, in time of war, in uni- 
 versal military service for every man and every woman in 
 whatever position it is deemed that man or women can best 
 render such service to the nation. 
 
 Federal National Guard Inadequate 
 
 The mobilization of the militia on the border has proved 
 that the Federal National Guard is a broken reed from 
 
106 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 the standpoint of National Preparedness, and represents no 
 adequate national strength either to repel sudden attack or 
 to carry on prolonged defensive warfare. The amiable 
 pacifist who was chosen by Mr. Wilson, with his usual ex- 
 quisite sense of entire military unfitness, to be Secretary of 
 War, prattled with Bryan-like cheerfulness about how "mo- 
 bilizations take place easily and need not be upon magnif- 
 icent scale in advance." Then on June 18th, working on 
 this theory of easy and unprepared-for mobilization, he 
 commanded the entire National Guard to mobilize imme- 
 diately. After ten days of maximum effort just twelve per 
 cent, of the men were started for the border. Over thirty 
 per cent, of the Guard were found to be unfit for duty. 
 Many of the men who started for the boi^der had never re- 
 ceived a single day's training. Many had never fired a rifle. 
 Most of the cavalry regiments had no horses. Half the 
 artillery batteries had no guns. I know one division in 
 which, after three months, ten per cent, of the men have not 
 received their blouses and twenty per cent, have not received 
 their rifles. Some of the regiments on the border have 
 learned with wonderful quickness and are in fine shape. 
 Some have made no improvement. A few have proved 
 utterly worthless, because their officers were so untrained 
 and so unfit for command that they could not teach and 
 guide and help over difficulties and care for their men, who 
 became little better than a mob. The best men in the best 
 regiments on the border have profited much; have profited 
 more than men who go to the excellent Plattsburg and 
 similar military training camps have profited. But now, 
 after over four months, a first-class National Guard officer, 
 who is with his regiment on the border, writes me : "Here 
 we have all the organized troops in the country on the 
 border and they only total a very small force, part of which 
 is ineffective ; I should say that, after three months, we have 
 between 50,000 and 75,000 useful troops in all." In other 
 words, after three months we did not assemble an army fit 
 to resist a single German or Japanese army corps, such as 
 could be landed in New York in a fortnight or in San Fran- 
 cisco in a month. President Wilson has refused to read the 
 dreadful lesson written in fire and blood across the face of 
 
Preparedness : Military, Industrial and Spiritual 107 
 
 the world during the last two years and a quarter. He has 
 left us shamefully unready to protect ourselves or do our 
 duty by others. 
 
 What a National Guard Officer Says 
 
 The letter of the National Guardsman I have quoted 
 above puts certain facts, in which I believe with all my 
 heart, so clearly, that, coming as it does from a man in the 
 field, I quote it : 
 
 "I am more and more impressed with the need of uni- 
 versal service, and its extreme desirability, even if it were 
 not needed. With any kind of effective universal service we 
 could, in the event of an emergency like the present, raise 
 and officer half a million fairly well-trained troops without 
 disturbing anything. Of course, I realize that we must 
 keep the cartridge makers in their factories and the equip- 
 ment makers all at their work, so that the troops in the 
 field can be properly equipped and supplied. That should 
 mean that every voter is card catalogued, so that in time 
 of war you could tell whether he should be used as a general 
 or a captain or a private or an equipment manufacturer or a 
 railroad operator. They are all necessary and part of the 
 organization of the country as it should be arranged. 
 
 "I am terribly afraid people will soon begin to say, 
 'Things are quieting down, we should get over our hysteria 
 for preparedness.' That would be an awful calamity. We 
 have been unable to handle the situations that have come 
 up so far, which, thank heavens, have not been as serious 
 as they might, but things will arise in the near future that 
 we must be ready for or we will lose our ability to handle 
 our own future destiny. We got our liberty by war and 
 I think it may easily require war for us to preserve it. 
 
 "Even if universal service did not appeal as necessary 
 I know it would be most desirable. Here I have seen men, 
 undeveloped, slovenly, or natural butts of ridicule, in three 
 months of proper military training made into strong, 
 clean, self-respecting men. We could do that by the mil- 
 lion annually if' we had the chance. It would improve the 
 whole type of the whole nation. 
 
 "Add to this, mixing all our people of all our diflferent 
 
108 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 classes under equal circumstances and conditions, and the 
 help to democracy would be wonderful. The hard part 
 would be the choice of officers, who must be educated and 
 have the habit of command; and yet every one must be 
 given the chance to rise if he really has the stuff in him." 
 
 Switzerland Should Be Our Model 
 
 This is only asking that we in this great Republic do 
 what has been done for many decades in the little Republic 
 of Switzerland. Switzerland is a more genuinely Demo- 
 cratic Republic than we are, and there is nothing that has 
 helped her people more, physically, mentally and morally, 
 or that has done more to perpetuate and increase the genu- 
 ineness of her Democracy, than the universal training, of 
 the kind I advocate, which her sons have received. So far 
 from being militarism, this kind of universal training is 
 a healthy and efficient antiseptic to militarism. An army 
 so trained, which would consist of the citizenship of the 
 country in arms, would never be used for aggression. Its 
 only purpose would be for self-defense. Every intelligent 
 lover of peace, every peace lover whose convictions spring 
 from reason instead of from sheer hysterical timidity and 
 folly, ought to welcome the calling into being of such a 
 system. It is the very system which was demanded in the 
 name of peace and humanity by the great French Socialist 
 Juares, who advocated it on the ground that while it would 
 not guarantee nations against war, it would tend most 
 strongly in that direction by creating a force efficient for 
 defense and very unlikely to be used for offense. 
 
 Switzerland in the time of the Napoleonic Wars was 
 trampled on by all of the surrounding belligerent nations, 
 saw gigantic battles between them fought on its territory, 
 and was finally annexed by one of them, and its young men 
 drafted into her armi-es. The present war, one hundred 
 years later, has seen her territory respected, although had 
 she not been ready she would have unquestionably suffered 
 the fate of Belgium. The reason for the difference is that 
 one hundred years ago there was no universal training 
 among her men, nor any aptitude for war on the part of 
 the nation, which therefore fell a helpless prey to the 
 
Preparedness : Military, Industrial and Spiritual 109 
 
 military powers. Now there is universal service ; the peo- 
 ple are trained to defend themselves; and because of the 
 fact that they had been thus trained, that they were efficient, 
 that they had prepared their strength, and were ready 
 to use their strength, they were spared the necessity of 
 using it. Also remember that this military training of 
 the Swiss has enormously helped them in civic, social and 
 industrial matters. It has increased each man's industrial 
 capacity; it has taught him not to be slack and inefficient, 
 to work hard, to be clean and punctual, to respect himself 
 and to respect others. It has benefited him morally, 
 mentally and physically. It makes him more lawabiding; 
 it is more than a coincidence that relatively to their numbers 
 there are in Switzerland but one-tenth as many homicides 
 as in the United States. 
 
 Universal Training Beneficial in Peace 
 
 I advocate universal military training as much because 
 of what it will mean to this nation in peace, as because of 
 what it will mean to this nation in war. Washington said : 
 "A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined." 
 This is simply another way of saying that there should be 
 universal obligatory military training for our young men; 
 and surely we need the discipline, all of us, in civil life 
 just as much as in military life. Such training is em- 
 phatically American, emphatically Democratic, emphatically 
 anti-militaristic; and every young man who enjoys it will 
 be a better citizen in time of peace, better able to hold his 
 own, and more desirous of doing his duty by his fellows. 
 At present only those who can pay for it can get such 
 training and discipline. This is unjust. At present, in the 
 event of the outbreak of war, the officers' commissions must, 
 rightly and properly, be given to the boys who have fitted 
 themselves for the jobs. Therefore under the present sys- 
 tem, instead of having all the boys, without any regard to 
 whether their parents are or are not people of means, 
 treated alike and the best men made officers, we find com- 
 missions limited to those who can afford to pay for their 
 training. Inevitably under present conditions, if a war 
 came, a very much larger proportion of the officers would 
 
110 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 be chosen from this class than from the class with less 
 means. In addition to this, the shirk, the coward, the 
 mere money getter, the creature without patriotism, would 
 stay at home and would try for the job the patriotic man 
 left when he went to the front. I have actually seen, 
 even this summer, cases where men who have been sent to 
 the front in the National Guard have had their jobs taken by 
 men whom, I am sure, no mere appeal to patriotism would 
 ever be able to get to the front. 
 
 The democratic thing is to give all of the men, rich 
 and poor, a chance on equal terms to prove the stuff there is 
 in them, so as to secure each man his rights. Then, in 
 order to exact from each man the full performance of his 
 duty, make the lazy man, the selfish man, the mere greedy 
 money getter, the poltroon and the pacifist do their part 
 of the work of war, when war comes, and run their full 
 share of the danger, instead of sitting at ease at home 
 to profit by the courage and self-sacrifice of their more 
 patriotic brothers. This is imperatively needed, from the 
 standpoint of the nation. It will secure our national effi- 
 ciency in war. It will immensely help our individual effi- 
 ciency in time of peace. It will benefit us individually in 
 soul, mind and body. It will make the average man more 
 self-respecting and law-abiding, better able to shift for 
 himself, and to work for and in conjunction with others. 
 
 This training will be of immense consequence in in- 
 creasing our power of collective action. There is no more 
 thoroughly democratizing agent than the dog tent. Under 
 such a system of universal training all the young men of 
 the nation would for several months do the same hard, 
 healthy work, and live together on the same terms. The 
 son of the railroad president, and the son of the brakeman, 
 the son of the farmer and the son of the lawyer, the son 
 of the bricklayer and the son of the banker, would all have 
 the same training, the same chance; and the officers w^ould 
 be chosen squarely on their merits from the boys best fit 
 for the jobs. The most important feature will be the de- 
 velopment of the officers, for whom, after they had been 
 thus chosen from the ranks, there would need be a special 
 training course established. 
 
Preparedness: Militari/, Industrial and Spiritual 111 
 
 The Only Democratic System 
 
 Let all the young men go on the same hikes, and work in 
 the same drills, let them become sergeants, lieutenants and 
 captains in fair competition with one another ; and let them 
 understand and appreciate and make allowances for one an- 
 other. The man who comes out from that training will in 
 civil life be infinitely more fit to perform his duties as an 
 American citizen. He and his fellows will be stirred by a 
 more genuine patriotism. They will understand that there 
 is no such thing as real patriotism save in so far as it con- 
 notes the spirit of sacrifice, of service, of comradeship and 
 of brotherhood, of devotion to duty, and to lofty ideals. 
 They will learn to put service first, duty first, country first, 
 and to look with abhorrence and scorn on the man who puts 
 safety first, ahead of duty and country. They will learn 
 how to act with self-reliance and with self-control, and they 
 will also learn how to accomplish most in acting with others, 
 in disciplined fashion, in a spirit of brotherhood, and with 
 the power to subordinate each his own case and enjoyment 
 to the common welfare, the collective good. Such service 
 would fit us for our duty in our collective tasks, political, 
 social and industrial. We can best ensure the proper per- 
 formance of these collective tasks of peace, in a spirit of jus- 
 tice, of generosity, and of mutual understanding, if the 
 young men of this nation, on their entry to manhood, are 
 trained as I have advocated. 
 
 Military preparedness is only the foundation of, and 
 safeguard for, social and industrial preparedness; and 
 therefore, for the effort to increase our individual efficiency 
 and at the same time to see that the fruits of this efficiency 
 are divided with reasonable fairness and justice. 
 
 Federal Civil Service Debauched 
 
 Mr. Wilson recently said that the supporters of Mr. 
 Hughes included incongruous elements. The Democratic 
 Party, with Mr. Wilson at its head, is itself composed of 
 utterly conflicting elements with no sincere bond of union 
 except the desire to secure Federal ofl^ice. In consequence 
 the internal legislation Mr. Wilson has obtained has had 
 to be obtained by the exchange of offices for congressional 
 
112 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 support ; and, as a result, the Federal Civil Service has been 
 debauched as never before, and Washington has witnessed 
 the worst administration of the executive departments we 
 have had for thirty years. If specifications are needed, 1 
 refer you to the statements of dispassionate, non-partisan 
 experts in administration, such men as Gifford Pinchot, 
 Lucius Swift and William Dudley Foulke. 
 
 There are certain things for which Mr. Wilson and his 
 party claim credit where credit can only be awarded them 
 by emphasizing the duplicity of their action. The banking 
 law is a good law in certain of its provisions; but these 
 provisions are those of the Aldrich bill, which before elec- 
 tion the Democrats so frantically denounced. They de- 
 nounced in similar manner a Tariff Commission and an 
 Industrial Commission; and they are now in rather im- 
 potent fashion feeling after both. They have passed a 
 Child Labor law (which is so drawn, however, that it may 
 be utterly ineffective) after Mr. Wilson had emphatically 
 declared against it. They champion a law which will make 
 the needed revival of our shipping by private enterprise 
 more difficult than ever. Their tariff law was working ruin 
 to our industry until the war created an outside tariff more 
 protective than any we have ever previously had. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. has endeavored to satisfy both the profes- 
 sional pacifists and the men desiring preparedness, by per- 
 suading each side that he stood for something the other did 
 not want. He is making a similar effort as regards labor 
 and business. The President is astute and farsighted in 
 his management of politicians for party and personal ends. 
 He believes that the solid South will vote for anything with 
 the Democratic label wholly without regard to the principle 
 involved. The solid South is ultra-conservative; but inas- 
 much as in the South the negro and the poor white laborer 
 are both of them unorganized, an appeal to the class fol- 
 lowers of trades unionism in the North does not disturb 
 Mr. Wilson's power in the South. In consequence the 
 Democratic Party under Mr. Wilson's leadership seeks to 
 develop as a radical laboy party in the North, so as there to 
 capitalize the labor vote, while remaining reactionary in the 
 South, and endeavoring to reassure the big money interests 
 
Preparedness: Military, Industrial and Spiritual 113 
 
 because of what the South can do in national matters. The 
 result of such efforts cannot be for the ultimate good of the 
 nation; but it is naturally attractive to politicians who 
 think only of the moment's success. 
 
 On the other hand, we who are opposed to Mr. Wilson 
 have a more difficult task, because we in good faith seek 
 real solutions for our economic and social problems. We 
 believe in organization. We understand the great value of 
 corporate activities. We believe in enterprise and leader- 
 ship. We do not appeal to envy and class antagonism as 
 the Democrats under Mr. Wilson's leadership have done — 
 for although Mr. Wilson was first schooled for the political 
 race as a conservative who was to take advantage of the 
 reaction against a wise radicalism, he promptly abandoned 
 his former friends when he got into politics, and now stands 
 as the champion of an unwise radicalism in those localities 
 where he does not stand for mere bourbonism. 
 
 The Lack of Constructive Policy 
 
 The absolute lack of any constructive policy in Mr. 
 Wilson's leadership comes out strikingly in his attitude 
 toward business. His platform pledges, of course, amount 
 to nothing on this point, or for that matter on any other 
 point, but as far as they went they committed him, as did 
 his promises, to the breaking up of all corporations, and 
 the reintroduction of old-fashioned, ruthless, competitive 
 methods in business — methods such as obtained in the mid- 
 dle of the last century. We were promised explicitly, four 
 years ago, in the Democratic platform, and by the Demo- 
 cratic orators on the stump, that they would destroy all 
 trusts by the utilization of the Sherman Law, and a tariff 
 for revenue only, and would thereby lower prices and the 
 cost of living. But prices and the cost of living have steadily 
 gone up and Mr. Wilson has not invoked the Sherman Law 
 against any big trust. The Sherman Law is on the books. 
 It was a dead letter fourteen years ago. It became a live law 
 only because of the success of the Northern Securities Suit. 
 This suit established the vitally necessary principle that the 
 national government had complete control over interstate 
 business ; but the establishment of this principle was about 
 
114 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 all of any real use that was achieved under the Sherman 
 Law, Great and important suits were won under it prior to 
 Mr. Wilson's taking office; but the poor effects, or rather, 
 non-effects, of these suits have shown that the Sherman 
 Law offered no real method of doing away with the evils of 
 corporate activities, while yet retaining what was good. 
 There must be a totally different method of dealing with 
 the problem. The case was admirably put by Mr. Hughes 
 in his reply to Mr. Bryan on September 5th, 1908, when 
 after a merciless dissection of Mr. Bryan's own proposals, 
 he stated what our aim should be, as follows : 
 
 "It is the function of law to define and punish wrong- 
 doing, and not to throttle business. In the fields of in- 
 dustrial activity the need is that trade should be fair; that 
 unjust discrimination and illegal allowances giving prefer- 
 ential access to markets should be prevented; that coercive 
 combinations and improper practices to stifle competition 
 should be dealt with regardless of individuals; but that 
 honest industry, obtaining success upon its merits, denying 
 no unjust opportunity to its competitors, should not be put 
 under prohibitions which mingle the innocent and the guilty 
 in a common condemnation." 
 
 In other words, we believe in constructive regulation 
 to free legitimate business from confusion, uncertainty and. 
 fruitless litigation; while by means of a strong Federal 
 administrative commission we prevent false capitalization, 
 special privilege and unfair competition, including all un- 
 fair trade practices, such as agreements to limit output, 
 refusing to sell to customers who buy from business rivals, 
 using the power of transportation to aid or injure special 
 business concerns, and the like. We do not fear commercial 
 power, but we desire that it be exercised openly under 
 efficient publicity, supervision and regulation. Together 
 with such regulation and management of business we be- 
 lieve in effective legislation looking to the prevention of 
 industrial accidents, occupational diseases, overwork', and 
 involuntary unemployment ; to the enforcing of minimum 
 safety and health standards by means of the Federal con- 
 trol over interstate commerce and the taxing power; secur- 
 ing an effective prohibition of child labor (in my judg- 
 
Prcparedne^is: Militari/, Industrial and Spiritual 115 
 
 ment, preferably by the use of the, taxing power) ; securing 
 a living wage and an eight-hour day for working women, 
 one day's rest in seven and the eight-hour day in continuous 
 industry, and other such measures. 
 
 President Wilson has made no effort whatever to en- 
 force the Sherman Law. Neither has he made any effort to 
 change it. In one of his speeches he used a sentence which 
 seemed to indicate that he regards the Federal Trade Com- 
 mission as having the power to modify the Sherman Law. If 
 this is what he meant, it is certainly not in accordance with 
 the facts. Mr. Wilson is, however, a master of subtle in- 
 direction in speech, and this sentence, like so many of his 
 other sentences, is perhaps susceptible of several different 
 interpretations. In any event; neither he nor any one else 
 can point out wherein the Federal Trade Commission has 
 the power to modify the Sherman Law; or wherein the 
 Sherman Law has been in any way changed by any legisla- 
 tion since he has been in office. He has not enforced it, but 
 neither has he secured any modification of it. Unques- 
 tionably he should have followed either one course or the 
 other. The only certainty about the Sherman Law, espe- 
 cially in view of the conflicting decisions in the lower courts 
 as regards the Harvester Company and the Keystone Watch 
 Case Company, is that its interpretation is surrounded by 
 absolute uncertainty. But if Mr. Wilson's words about it 
 mean anything — a rather wild supposition on my part, I 
 admit — they mean that this law stands against modern co- 
 operative methods. 
 
 At any rate, either the law is good, in which case it 
 should be enforced everywhere, or else it is not good, in 
 which case it should be modified to whatever degree is nec- 
 essary in order to make it efficient against dishonest busi- 
 ness and no longer a threat to honest business. Mr. Wil- 
 son has adroity avoided doing anything one way or the 
 other. He has left the law sleeping on the statute books, 
 but liable to be revived against all business, good and bad 
 alike, at any moment. He has left all of the dangers and 
 difficulties just exactly where they were before. He and 
 his party have done nothing to protect the people frdm the 
 evils in business of ^yhich they have been complaining ; ^ 
 
116 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 nothing to prevent over-capitalization, or stock watering or 
 any other evil practice. In all of Mr. Wilson's utterances 
 put together there is not one touch of the constructive 
 statesmanship shown by Mr, Hughes in the single quotation 
 above given. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, before election, announced that the trusts 
 must be destroyed by state action. As Governor of New 
 Jersey he secured the passage of the "seven little sisters" 
 bills, which he asserted would put a stop to the evils of the 
 trusts. They have not done so in even the smallest degree. 
 .The evils of the corporate system in the United States have 
 been left absolutely unchanged and unremedied by anything 
 that Mr. Wilson has done either as Governor of New Jersey 
 or as President of the United States. 
 
 Mr. Wilson and World Trade 
 
 Nor is this all. Mr. Wilson has recently announced 
 his desire, or, as he has put it, his "dream," that the United 
 States shall "take her place in the great field of world 
 trade." He has been appealing for the business vote by 
 pointing out an alluring picture of the advantages and 
 opportunities that foreign markets will soon offer. In his 
 recent Omaha speech he said that we must "finance some 
 of the chief undertakings of the world for ourselves." 
 These words mean less than nothing so long as Mr. Wilson 
 stands by his other words, uttered by himself and by his 
 Secretary of State, announcing that American business 
 men who went into Mexico did so at their own risk, and 
 that he had no sympathy for them after they went; and 
 that he would not try to protect them in their investments. 
 Mr. Wilson never used weasel words of more significance 
 than those two statements. Either his statement that we 
 must "finance some of the chief undertakings of the world 
 for ourselves" weasels all the honesty out of his statement 
 that he is not interested in, and will not protect, American 
 dollars in Mexico, which means, "the financing of some of 
 the chief undertakings" of Mexico by Americans; or else 
 the latter sentence weasels all meaning out of the first. 
 Mr. Wilson has the right to say which of these two state- 
 ments is the weasel, and which is the egg; but he cannot 
 
Preparedness : Military, Industrial and Spiritual 117 
 
 deny that the relation between them is strictly that of the 
 weasel and the egg. Mr. Wilson has said that he will fur- 
 nish no protection to the business men who have made in- 
 vestments in Mexico ; and for once his conduct on this 
 point has made his words good, for he has not protected 
 any man in Mexico, whether workingman, miner or rancher. 
 Now, the country is entitled to know whether he really 
 intends to reverse himself on this policy so far as countries 
 outside of Mexico are concerned; and if so, why; and just 
 what measure of protection he contemplates furnishing 
 those business men who accept his rather dangerous invita- 
 tion. The plainest construction of honesty and sincerity 
 demands that he either reverse his Mexican policy or else 
 announce that the only safe course for American business 
 men in the future lies in avoiding the effort "to finance," 
 or having any connection with, "the chief undertakings of 
 the world" outside of the United States. There is no 
 middle ground. I put this direct question to Mr. Wilson: 
 Which of these positions does he take? Either he does 
 not stand on his Mexican record, in which case he ought 
 to admit the hideous and lamentable blunder of his whole 
 Mexican policy for the last three and a half years; or else 
 he does stand on his Mexican record, and if so his asking 
 American business men to go into foreign markets is down- 
 right hypocrisy. If Mr. Wilson will, not by subtle and 
 adroit evasion, but with downright straightforwardness, 
 attempt to answer this question, I believe he will find the 
 attempt very stimulating to what he calls his "intellectual 
 processes." 
 
 The Proper Aim 
 
 So much for ,Mr. Wilson and the Democratic Party. 
 Now for ourselves. We who believe in protecting the 
 legitimate interests of business men, in encouraging the 
 great corporate instruments necessary for carrying on 
 modern business, and in rewarding enterprises and leader- 
 ship, must do all this for the very reason that we treat as 
 of first importance the needs of labor. Our aim is to 
 secure the maximum of good result for the average man, 
 for the ordinary, decent, hard-working citizen. He is the 
 man whom we have primarily in mind. The successful 
 
118 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 business man is entitled to justice for his own sake; and 
 moreover unless we grant him such justice we can do 
 nothing for anyone else ; but unless his profit is shared by 
 farmer and workingman, by the ordinary man generally, 
 our prime object is not achieved. We must see the cor- 
 porate viewpoint; but we must see very much more than 
 the corporate viewpoint. We must not offer to labor such 
 empty solutions as are contained in the "New Freedom," — 
 which in practice is merely the old, old freedom of the 
 strong to prey on the weak^or in the chance to coerce 
 capital by sinister and improper action tending to the 
 limitation of output. We must correlate the demand for 
 the enjoyment of rights with the sense of obligation fully 
 to perform duties. We must raise, collectively and indi- 
 vidually, our industrial standard. We must develop the 
 power of self-help ; and we must supplement this power by 
 the wise use of governmental power. We must ourselves or- 
 ganize, and furnish the use of, satisfactory state and na- 
 tional governmental machinery to accomplish those things 
 that labor cannot accomplish for itself — and which it some- 
 times attempts to accomplish in ways that would be de- 
 structive to itself and to all of us. Bismarck carried such a 
 programme through in Germany, with« the result that Ger- 
 many has achieved a literally phenomenal industrial success, 
 together with an exceptionally high standard of average 
 well-being. He deliberately undertook to better the condi- 
 tions of industrial and social life, not by adding to the cost of 
 production, but by eliminating waste and introducing scien- 
 tific — that is, rational, skillful and efficient — principles into 
 the work of production and of distribution. It was one 
 prime object of his policy to see that business was success- 
 ful, and business men of leadership rewarded ; for other- 
 wise the community would either stagnate or go backward, 
 and nobody would get any reward at all. But it was also 
 with him a prime object to secure for the wageworkers 
 their legitimate share of the benefits, not only in wages, 
 but in standard of living and in such ways as sickness in- 
 surance, old-age pensions, and the like. Germany is in- 
 finitely ahead of us in all of these matters. Germany gives 
 better care, at less cost, to the workingman, in health and 
 
Preparedness: Militarij, liidmtriai and <^piritual 119 
 
 in sickness, by her system of organization under govern- 
 ment direction, and of organization by perfected private 
 co-operation, than we do by our unregulated individualism. 
 Under our system the workingman gets but one-third of 
 what the German workingman gets in such a matter as 
 compensation for injury. England is not so far ahead of 
 us as Germany is. But even England's co-operative so- 
 cieties are immensely ahead of ours. In Denmark, and 
 elsewhere on the Continent, the farmers' co-operative or- 
 ganizations have eliminated to an extraordinary degree the 
 waste in the market. 
 
 National Life Must Be Reshaped 
 
 Neither demagogues nor doctrinarians can do such 
 work, and least of all can it be done by the bitter preachers 
 of class hatred. But mere tory obstructionists must not 
 be permitted to stand in the way. Our strongest and ablest 
 men are needed to give the lead in securing such national 
 organization. We must apply under modern industrial 
 conditions a programme that will lead to the fullest pos- 
 sible life for, the great mass of our people. The very 
 structure of our national life must be reshaped to meet the 
 vast new needs, and it can best be remade in desirable 
 fashion if the leadership is furnished by men of affairs who 
 understand that, while they must themselves be encouraged 
 and aided by the government, the encouragement and aid 
 must be given on the condition of their helping to reshape a 
 nationalized United States in such fashion that the farmers 
 and wageworkers and ordinary business and professional 
 men shall have their full share of the benefits. Our people 
 generally must be made to feel that they share in the re- 
 wards of our world trade, so that it may be obviously to 
 their interests to support a self-respecting and vigorous 
 policy in international affairs, and to accept the discipline 
 and duty of universal service. The wise employers must 
 realize in the future that the productive power of our fac- 
 tories will ultimately depend upon the well-being no less 
 than upon the zeal and good faith of our workers ; and the 
 education of our children along cultural and vocational lines 
 must be so handled as to' give us a trained, disciplined and 
 
120 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 efficient manhood and womanhood. Our business men must 
 co-operate heartily in the effort to secure statesmanlike 
 leadership in support of the great programme of reconstruc- 
 tion in our nation, a programme in many respects such as 
 that laid down by Bismarck when he organized the internal 
 forces of his own nation. When this war is closed the ques- 
 tions of social and industrial justice will come more strongly 
 to the front than ever before, because this war will have 
 turned the European States into communities more modern 
 than we ourselves are now. After this war, if we do not 
 face the new conditions, we shall be the Old World, and 
 Europe the New World. 
 
 The adroit demagogy of the Democratic leaders offers 
 worse than no solution of the problems affecting us. It be- 
 hooves sincere and sane men of vision to do their part in 
 offering a constructive programme. This programme must 
 not aim at the destruction of business to gratify envy, nor 
 at the diminution of the efficiency of labor in a spirit of nar- 
 row and bitter ignorance. It must seek to expand and re- 
 ward business; it must seek to increase the efficiency and 
 the output of labor ; but it must also secure for labor its full 
 share in the reward. Business can not permanently flourish 
 unless the wageworkers and the farmers have ample op- 
 portunity to share in the rewards of our national effort. 
 
 Remember always this effort to secure for each man 
 his rights will be a failure unless at the same time we 
 insist upon the full performance of duty by each. Neither 
 farmers, laborers, nor business men deserve any considera- 
 tion for their rights save in so far as they fully and whole- 
 heartedly recognize their duties to the State and to their 
 fellows, and perform these duties. 
 
TRUE AMERICANISM AND NATIONAL 
 DEFENSE 
 
 Chicago, Illinois, October 26, 1916 
 
 THERE are many things this nati(5n needs, but the two 
 vital things are, first, that it shall be a nation and, sec- 
 ond, that it shall prepare itself in soul and body so that by 
 its own strength it may guarantee to continue to be a na- 
 tion. The reason that we hold Washington and Lincoln 
 incomparably above all other Americans is that the great- 
 ness of one was shown in making this people a nation, and 
 the greatness of the other in keeping it alive as a nation. 
 In other words, the most vital of all issues are those of 
 Americanism and Preparedness ; and of these two Ameri- 
 canism must come first, for there is no use to prepare to 
 defend or uphold the American nation unless there is an 
 American nation to defend and uphold. 
 
 We may just as well definitely face the fact that no man 
 can ever be a good American, no man can ever be a really 
 first-class citizen of the United States unless he is an Amer- 
 ican and nothing else. Recent events have shown us that the 
 effort to combine loyalty to this land with loyalty to any 
 other can only result in weakening the loyalty to this coun- 
 try. Washington and Lincoln were of English descent, but 
 they were not English- Americans. Their loyalty was undi- 
 videdly and whole-hearted to the United States and to all of 
 the people of the United States in every part thereof. - In in- 
 ternational relations they judged England precisely as they 
 judged all other nations; that is, in any given crisis they 
 judged every foreign nation exactly in accordance with its 
 conduct in that crisis; they were as incapable of the mean- 
 ness of unreasoning malice and hatred towards any par- 
 ticular nation as of the meanness of truckling to it and mak- 
 ing its interests superior to our own. They set the standard 
 of Americanism which all of our citizens should follow in 
 
 121 
 
122 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 their relations with one another, in their attitude toward 
 their own country, and in their attitude toward each and all 
 foreign nations. 
 
 Americanism a Matter of the Soul 
 
 When I was a boy I received my first guidance in poli- 
 tics through the cartoons of that famous American cartoon- 
 ist, Thomas Nast. There never was sounder Americanism 
 preached than by Nast. His cartoons dramatized for us of 
 that time the hideousness of political corruption, and the 
 equal hideousness of political demagogy. They dramatized 
 for us, when I was a boy, the cruel injustice with which our 
 public men too often treated the Army and Navy of the 
 United States ; indeed, it was he who first gave me the feel- 
 ing of eager championship of the Army and Navy which I 
 have ever since retained. It was an education in American 
 patriotism for any boy or young man to study and follow the 
 cartoons of Nast, as I and my fellows studied them forty 
 years ago. Tom Nast was born in Germany, but he was no 
 more a German-American than Lincoln was an English- 
 American, or Grant a Scotch-American, or Phil Sheridan an 
 Irish-American. Grant to an especial degree was his hero; 
 and Grant once remarked that among civilians not holding 
 public office no other man in the country had done as much 
 for this nation as Tom Nast. The two men worked together 
 in this fashion precisely because each was an American and 
 nothing but an American. They looked at all our domestic 
 questions, and they looked at all our foreign questions, from 
 the American standpoint and from no other. 
 
 Later in life, when I was Police Commissioner in New 
 York — not a silk stocking job, by the way — the man who 
 was closest to me was Jacob Riis. He was by birth a Dane, 
 but he was an American and nothing else. His loyalty to 
 this country was undivided, and no man within our borders 
 rendered more useful service, both to its body and to its 
 soul. I could multiply such instances indefinitely. I men- 
 tion these particular men only because I wish you to visual- 
 ize just what I mean when I speak of Americanism. It 
 does not depend upon the man's birthplace, it does not de- 
 pend upon the man's creed. It does depend upon the man's 
 
True Americanism and National Defense 123 
 
 soul, and upon his possession of single-minded and whole- 
 hearted loyalty to this country of ours. 
 
 Moral Treason to the Republic 
 
 To divide our citizens along politico-racial lines is to be 
 guilty of moral treason to the Republic. I have condemned 
 unstintedly, and shall continue to condemn, apy effort by the 
 professional German-Americans to shape our politics in the 
 interests, not of the United States, but of Germany; and [ 
 would just as strongly condemn any effort to organize any 
 of our citizens as English-Americans, or French-Americans, 
 or Irish-Americans for or against any foreign power. It is 
 our business now, as it was in the days of Washington, to 
 treat each and every foreign nation in any given crisis ac- 
 cording to that nation's conduct in that crisis, guiding our- 
 selves by but two considerations: first, the honor and wel- 
 fare of the United States, and, second, the interests of hu- 
 manity as a whole. To follow any other course is to be dis- 
 loyal to this country. To hold for this country only a half 
 allegiance is in reality to be hostile to this country; for in 
 practice when the crisis comes the man whose loyalty is 
 on a fifty-fifty basis between this country and some other 
 always shows that his loyalty to the other country comes 
 first. There is no room in this country for the perpetuation 
 of different nationalities. Unless we succeed in fusing 
 all of our people into one thoroughgoing American citizen- 
 ship, into one American type, it is as certain as fate that 
 this nation will in the end be shattered into fragments. If 
 we are content to remain or become a conglomerate of many 
 different nationalities, each holding apart from its fellows, 
 each with its real devotions and ideals in some spot over- 
 seas, and all united only as dollar hunters who live in the 
 same boarding-house are united, we shall never really be a 
 nation at all. And, my fellow citizens, remember that if such 
 be the case, every individual in this nation will suffer in con- 
 sequence. We can not attain our full stature as men except 
 as we attain it through our' common American nationality, 
 and this is true of our political, our social, our literary and 
 artistic life. 
 
 The modern man can accomplish but little singly, as an 
 
124 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 individual. He can attain a broad life only if he is a citizen 
 of a great nation. As in the days of St. Paul, it is today 
 important to be a "citizen of no mean city." The advantages 
 of modern science and modern tools, and of a great litera- 
 ture, and art, can be secured only as we stand together 
 clasping the hands of our fellow citizens in a common loy- 
 alty to our nation. The strength and effectiveness of a 
 nation, in its domestic affairs and in its international rela- 
 tions, are dependent primarily upon national solidarity and 
 the loyalty and patriotism with which each individual is 
 united to his fellows in their devotion to the flag which 
 symbolizes this common country. 
 
 It is not really open to our people to remain representa- 
 tives in good standing of the Old World countries from which 
 they or their forefathers sprang. If they make the attempt 
 they merely become second-rate transplanted Germans or 
 Englishmen or Frenchmen, as the case may be ; and the Ger- 
 mans, Englishmen or Frenchmen of the Old World, in their 
 hearts, cordially despise and look down on these transplanted 
 aliens, even though they make sinister use of them against 
 the United States. 
 
 Allegiance Must Be Undivided 
 
 The only way for all of us, or for any of us, to achieve 
 our own self-respect, and to deserve and win the respect of 
 other nations, is by becoming Americans and nothing else. 
 I ask those who believe that any other course is compatible 
 with genuine loyalty to this country to read the letter from 
 Professor Munsterberg of Harvard to Chancellor Bethman 
 Hollweg, published in the New York Times of Oct. 10th. I 
 grieved to see this letter; for Professor Munsterberg has 
 long been my friend whom I have liked and respected; he 
 has given much advice to Americans ; and it was a matter of 
 genuine regret to me to see this proof that he treated the 
 well-being of America as negligible compared to the inter- 
 ests of Germany. In his letter he spoke of his purpose- to 
 aid Mr. Wilson, in view of the desirability of Mr. Wilson's 
 offering himself as a mediator, in the furtherance of Ger- 
 many's plans. His eulogy of Mr. Wilson as a peace arbi- 
 trator, however, has in it a touch of wholly unconscious 
 
True Americanism and National Defense 125 
 
 humor. He says : "If he once works himself into the idea of 
 being the arbitrator of the world he will be so intoxicated by 
 the joy of playing a historic part that he will give himself 
 up to it with his whole soul and without rest. He will re- 
 main strictly neutral, less out of moral conscientiousness 
 than from an aesthetic pleasure in his unique role." He 
 then explains why in the interest of Germany, not the United 
 States, he supports Mr. Wilson as mediator, and the paci- 
 fist, peace-at-any-price crowd, saying in part : "I hold it now 
 to be my chief task here to encourage the pacifist sentiment 
 now abroad, and so my main work consists in continually 
 writing new essays and articles in favor of the preservation 
 of peace and of Wilson's reputation as a mediator. All this 
 peace material naturally appears without my name. Un- 
 fortunately, the peace call which Bryan was going to issue 
 has found its way into the papers too soon." He then re- 
 gretfully asserts that "it can not be denied that the Ger- 
 ^man-American cause has suffered a most unexpected slump 
 . German-Americans of all classes are suddenly en- 
 deavoring to accentuate their American tendencies — the 
 patriotic ivavc has swept all the loeaker elements along ivith 
 it!" The italics of this last astounding sentence are my own. 
 Dr. Munsterberg then continues by complaining that so 
 many German- Americans are beginning to shape their policy 
 "in America's, not Germany's, interest." 
 
 Two things are notable in this letter. The first is that 
 Dr. Munsterberg is using his position in America to serve 
 Germany, without regard to whether such service hurts or 
 harms America. The second is something for which we 
 must all feel devoutly grateful ; for by the best possible tes- 
 timony, that of an adverse and unwilling witness. Dr. Mun- 
 sterberg shows that the professional German-Americans who 
 put Germany above America can not carry with them the 
 mass of Americans of German descent, who, on the contrary, 
 when a crisis comes, are swept "by a patriotic wave," and 
 act "in America's, not Germany's, interest." It is a tribute 
 which I am sure that the immense majority of American 
 citizens of German descent richly deserve. And the letter 
 itself shows the absolute impossibility of successfully serv- 
 ing two masters. No man can be either, both an English- 
 
126 Americmiism and Preparedness 
 
 man and an American, or both a German and an American. 
 In each case he must be one or the other. No American is a 
 good American unless he is absolutely undivided in his 
 loyalty and allegiance, in word, deed, thought and spirit, to 
 the United States. 
 
 Americanism is the first essential. Readiness for na- 
 tional defense is the second. At Denver I went over in detail 
 what should be done from the military standpoint. To-day 
 I wish to discuss Mr. Wilson's handling of the Navy. 
 
 Nine-tenths of Wisdom Is Being Wise in Time 
 
 In any matter where the man who criticises another 
 has himself held the same office, it is right that the critic's 
 record should be compared with his criticisms, so that his 
 deeds and his words may be judged together. I ask you 
 to remember that while I was President, in a message to 
 Congress I held up to this nation as the model for action in a 
 democracy the Swiss and Australian systems for universal 
 military training for the young men. There was at the time 
 no disturbance of any kind that demanded an increase in 
 our regular army ; and I confined myself as regards the 
 regular army to the effort to make it more efficient. After 
 the failure of The Hague Convention to limit the size of 
 armaments or the silze of ships, I made recommendations 
 in my annual message of December, 1907, and sent a special 
 message to Congress on April 14th, 1908, which, as state- 
 ments of national and international needs and policies, apply 
 exactly to-day. In these messages I supported the plan sub- 
 mitted by the General Board, of which the central feature 
 was the provision of four super-dreadnought battleships a 
 year. If these recommendations of mine had been acted 
 upon and been since treated as a settled policy, and if the 
 navy had been handled as it was then handled, our strength 
 would now be such that there would be no fear of attack 
 from any Old World power. Last spring, after three years 
 of halting and folly, President Wilson turned a character- 
 istic somersault and under the pressure of public opinion 
 stood for substantially the same program for which I stood 
 nearly nine years ago. The difference is that he was wise 
 after the event and I before the event. Nine-tenths of wis- 
 
True Americanism and National Defense 127 
 
 dom is being wise in time ! If Mr. Wilson had been willing 
 to face facts when the great war broke out, and when even 
 the blindest ought to have been able to read the awful lesson 
 written in blood across the face of Europe, our navy and 
 army would now be in such shape that, in the hands of a 
 resolute man, they could guarantee our safety. This is not 
 now the case, and on President Wilson's shoulders rests the 
 entire responsibility for our lamentable failure. 
 
 One of the gravest offenses against the nation which 
 has been committed by President Wilson and the Democrats 
 in control of the two Houses of Congress during the last six 
 years has been the handling of the navy. Seven years ago 
 the navy had reached a point of efficiency, relatively to the 
 other nations of the world, never before attained. In 1909 
 there was no other navy in the world at so high a point of 
 efficiency and enthusiasm. This was at the time the battle- 
 fleet returned from its voyage around the world, an event 
 unparalleled in history, a feat no other nation had ever per- 
 formed, a feat of incalculable service to this country alike 
 from the standpoint of increasing our navy's efficiency, and 
 from the standpoint of impressing the most powerful for- 
 eign nations with the fact that we desired to show friend- 
 ship to all, but that we were ready at any moment to defend 
 our rights from whatever quarter they might be assailed. 
 The organization of the Navy Department was being re- 
 modeled under a commission composed of Admiral Mahan, 
 Judge Moody, and other distinguished men who were out- 
 lining a new and effective plan to replace the antiquated and 
 vicious bureau system. 
 
 Under the excellent administration of Secretary of the 
 Navy Meyer the report of this commission was carefully 
 considered and confirmed, and a good beginning was made 
 in the aide system. Congress still lagged behind the Navy 
 Department ; nevertheless it continued the upbuilding of the 
 navy. But when in 1910 the Democrats secured control of 
 Congress, they immediately put a stop to the further building 
 up of the navy, embarrassing Mr. Meyer's administration 
 and preventing the fulfilment of his plans. 
 
128 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 The Navy Brought Into Partisan Politics 
 
 Then President Wilson was elected, and he appointed 
 as Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Daniels, a gentleman who, I 
 have no doubt, is of amiable private character, but who is 
 without one single qualification for his task; and whose ap- 
 pointment not only meant that President Wilson was en- 
 tirely ignorant of the needs of the navy and entirely indif- 
 ferent to them, but also that the navy, in his view, was of 
 no consequence, except as it could be made an asset in un- 
 worthy partisan politics. By no possibility could the ap- 
 pointment of Mr. Daniels be taken to mean anything else. 
 It has borne its full and natural fruit, Mr. Wilson has not 
 only appointed and retained him in office but has specifically 
 endorsed him. It is Mr. Wilson, not Mr. Daniels, who is ulti- 
 mately responsible for every shortcoming in our naval, as 
 in our military and international, policy. 
 
 Politics Preferred to Military Principles 
 
 The acts and policies of the Navy Department during 
 the past three years have shown a determination on the 
 part of Mr. Wilson's Administration to subordinate and 
 ignore efficient professional and military agencies and influ- 
 ences, and to promote in every department afloat and ashore 
 the rule of injustice, personal fads and improper political 
 considerations in direct opposition to sound military princi- 
 ples. For two years the navy was not even permitted to 
 engage in the fleet maneuvers and fleet target practice abso- 
 lutely essential to its efficiency, and it was only the storm 
 of public condemnation that forced Mr. Daniels finally to 
 yield to the professional advice which he had previously 
 ignored and permit a beginning to be made toward restoring 
 at least the Atlantic squadrons to something resembling 
 their old efficiency. The aide system established in order to 
 co-ordinate the bureaus and emphasize purely military effi- 
 ciency and preparedness was gradually abolished. The 
 aides were not merely ignored, but punished when they en- 
 deavored to secure action on vitally important service mat- 
 ters. The conduct of the Department to Admiral Bradley 
 Fiske offers the most striking proof of this fact. Instead of 
 seeking his own personal comfort and profit by obsequiously 
 
True Americanism and National Defense 129 
 
 bowing to the men in political control of the navy, Admiral 
 Fiske stood loyally and unswervingly for the interests of the 
 service. In November, 1914, he wrote a really pathetic let- 
 ter asking for action on the very points that subsequently 
 met with the approval of the people and of Congress, as 
 shown in the bills just passed. The present Administration 
 now claims credit for passing these bills. The Administra- 
 tion never took the slightest action upon them until forced 
 to do so by the people. Admiral Fiske's letter was sup- 
 pressed, and was only published seventeen months later at 
 the request of the Senate. In this letter the Admiral showed 
 that we were unprepared and deficient in training, and yet 
 Mr. Daniels, although thus warned and given opportunity 
 to learn, in his annual report to Congress inverted the truth 
 and misled the people. 
 
 The administration merely followed public opinion, 
 after having sedulously tried to mislead it ; and at that time 
 not merely ignored Admiral Fiske's letters, but drove him 
 from the Navy Department. His persistent attempts to 
 secure attention for important matters submitted by the 
 General Board met with repeated failure, and on at least 
 one occasion his earnest and respectful effort to get proper 
 consideration for subjects vitally necessary for the well- 
 being of the navy earned him a severe reprimand and per- 
 sonal rebuff. Throughout the first three years, and until 
 the growing concern and weariness of the people showed 
 that it was no longer possible wholly to deceive them, the 
 Administration never brought to the front or considered 
 the question of the war efficiency or battle efficiency of the 
 navy. It devoted its whole time to considerations of per- 
 sonal and partisan politics. Officers of the highest standing, 
 whose letters I have seen, state that any visitor on personal 
 and political business, any man with private ends to serve, 
 whether in connection with supposed labor interests or sup- 
 posed capitalistic interests, had a full hearing at the De- 
 partment ; but the men with the welfare of the navy at heart 
 had none. Finally the Navy Department went back to the 
 Bureau System, which all of the best naval officers for 
 thirty years have condemned as absolutely impossible under 
 the modern conditions of war, and which has been aban- 
 
130 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 doned by every first-class navy in the world. The adminis- 
 tration of the Navy Department was left in the hands of 
 the Secretary and his personal appointees, a plan which 
 meant the personal control of the navy by civilian poli- 
 ticians, in opposition to all military principles ; and this 
 was done with the full and hearty backing of President 
 Wilson. The very points where there has been improvement 
 in the navy have been in cases such as that of the organiza- 
 tion of the office of operations, which was forced through 
 by a prominent Congressional leader with the zealous assist- 
 ance of Admiral Fiske, and in direct opposition to the Navy 
 Department. The Administration opposed military control 
 of the navy yards, and sought to substitute political and 
 civilian influences and in some of the appointments this 
 result has, lamentably for the navy, been achieved. The 
 retention of useless navy yards, which forms one of the 
 best illustrations of pork barrel politics, has been favored. 
 Favoritism and unfairness have prevailed in handling the 
 personnel. When zealous officers, single-minded in their 
 devotion to the navy, have pointed out defects ^or improve- 
 ment, they have in turn been reprimanded, and this whether 
 the man concerned was at the head of the submarines, or 
 was an admiral who had to do with the management of 
 fleets. It is only under the flail of a partially aroused public 
 opinion that this matter has been in a measure corrected 
 during the last nine months. 
 
 Such Official Tyranny Never Before Existed 
 
 Before entering into power Mr. Wilson announced that 
 he was going to insist on "pitiless publicity," but as a mat- 
 ter of fact we have never had an Administration where there 
 has been so much furtive and underhand work. The recent 
 letter of Mr. Richard H. Dana shows this as regards the 
 civil service. It has been the case especially in the navy and 
 army, where the tyranny over officers, to prevent them from 
 expressing their opinions on those military matters which 
 they are most competent to discuss, has been such as never 
 before obtained in time of peace in this country. I know 
 personally of instance after instance where officers have 
 been refused permission to express themselves on such sub- 
 
True Americanism and National Defense 131 
 
 jects as universal military training, or on matters vital to 
 the welfare of the navy, or where they have been rebuked 
 for so expressing themselves. I could give the names were 
 it not that I would invite punishment upon the men con- 
 cerned. 
 
 There are certain matters, however, which have been 
 made public. Admiral Fiske was refused permission to 
 address the Commercial Club of Chicago on our naval needs. 
 It was announced in the press that the President of the 
 Naval War College was severely reprimanded for an admir- 
 able paper on naval needs read before the Efficiency Society 
 of New York. The Naval Institute was refused permission 
 to publish an article of great value on the enlisted personnel 
 which won honorable mention. Under the present adminis- 
 tration the only publicity permitted was what would pro- 
 mote the personal and political self-advertising of the Admin- 
 istration. In no monarchical country of Europe has such a 
 despotic rule been known. In Great Britain officers freely 
 discuss naval needs and policies, and if the people of this 
 country were alive to the needs of the navy in this matter, 
 they would never for an instant tolerate the deception con- 
 cerning the true conditions of the navy through the tyran- 
 nical smothering of the truth in the interests of the poli- 
 ticians who now direct our navy. It is peculiarly easy for 
 a political leader in high public office to mislead our people 
 about the navy, if he is either a doctrinaire or a politician. 
 It is a branch of the public service concerning which there 
 is need of expert knowledge; and therefore the public can 
 readily be misled by leaders willing to sacrifice the welfare 
 of the nation in the future to -considerations of party poli- 
 tics in the present. 
 
 Harm Done to the Navy 
 
 More harm has been done to the navy by the politicians 
 in power during the last three years than in the preceding 
 thirty. Whatever good has been accomplished in the navy 
 during the last three years has been done by naval officers, 
 who in most cases have been snubbed and punished for their 
 proposals as long as it was safe to do so ; whereas Mr. Daniels 
 now turns and claims credit for what was thus forced upon 
 
132 Amer'icanism and Preparedness 
 
 him. For example, in 1915, the General Board demanded 
 19,000 men, and yet the Administration asked for only 10,000 
 men. During the years of peace immediately preceding the 
 present Administration some 14,000 men had been added to 
 the navy, although at that time there was no special strain 
 on the navy. After 1913 the strain became acute, thanks to 
 the Mexican trouble and the great war. The proof of this 
 is the action of the Administration in at last proposing a 
 great increase of the navy; for the considerations that jus- 
 tify and require this increase became as strikingly evident 
 two years ago as they ate now. The action of Congress and 
 the Administration now in doing what all true friends of the 
 navy have for years demanded can be justified only if we 
 unhesitatingly condemn them for not having taken this 
 action two and a quarter years ago, at which time even the 
 blindest ought to have seen the need. 
 
 For three years after this Administration took office it 
 refused seriously to prepare, or even to recommend serious 
 preparation, although repeatedly asked to do so by the best 
 naval experts. Shore stations were stripped of men, and 
 ships placed out of reserve for lack of men to man new ships. 
 Confusion and inefficiency followed. The 27,000 additional 
 men authorized in the present navy bill were allowed by 
 Congress on the testimony of officers, and in direct opposi- 
 tion to the Navy Department. 
 
 In short, throughout President Wilson's term there has 
 been neglect or positive maladministration in connection 
 with departmental organization in navy yard, aeronautics, 
 mines and torpedoes, and in all other matters affecting the 
 efficiency of the fleet and the enthusiasm of its officers and 
 men. Every improvement and every advance has been forced 
 upon an unwilling Navy Department by the people enforc- 
 ing their desires through Congress, or else by officers of the 
 navy; and these officers have, received no credit for their 
 self-sacrificing efforts, and in some cases have been actually 
 rebuffed or punished. The activity and energy of the Navy 
 Department under President Wilson have been primarily 
 concentrated upon schemes aimed at vote-getting or adver- 
 tising. Strict military considerations affecting the efficiency 
 and morale of the officers and enlisted men were neglected 
 
True Americanism and National Defense 133 
 
 and thrust aside until the public feeling rendered it impera- 
 tive that some attention should be paid to them. 
 
 Had the progress that had been made in our naval af- 
 fairs prior to the incoming of this Administration been con- 
 tinued ; had the advice of Admiral Fiske and other such offi- 
 cers been heeded during the last three years of stagnation 
 and political domination, our navy would now be in first- 
 class shape. The past three years have been the most im- 
 portant in world history for a century, and in our history 
 for fifty years, and after August, 1914, our needs were so 
 evident that it was a crime against the nation to disregard 
 them. But the present Administration took no action what- 
 ever until, with the opening of the present political cam- 
 paign, it became politically unsafe longer to delay. 
 
 Under Mr. Wilson and Mr. Daniels the conditions in our 
 navy have closely paralleled the conditions in the French 
 Navy a dozen years ago. A capital French book, published 
 in 1904 from the soundest patriotic motives, describes what 
 was done in the French navy just prior to that time, under 
 an incompetent civilian head who made it his business to 
 lessen the efficiency of the fighting forces of the navy by 
 treating the navy as primarily a political asset, and also 
 using it to advance injurious fads. All intelligent observers 
 of foreign affairs knew at that time that the French navy 
 was in a state of demoralization, for that was in the period 
 when the professional pacifists gained an influence in French 
 administration, which, if it had not been speedily overcome, 
 would have resulted in the absolute, complete ruin of France. 
 The widespread demoralization in the navy of France when 
 it was dominated by irresponsible politicians who treated it 
 primarily as an asset in partisan politics bears an ominous 
 resemblance to what has occurred in connection with the 
 mishandling of our own navy under President Wilson. 
 
THE SOUL OF THE NATION 
 Cooper Union, New York, November 3, 1916 
 
 New York, Oct. 2Uh, 1916. 
 
 Honorable Theodore Roosevelt, 
 
 en route, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 It is our conviction that no other Presidential campaign 
 in the history of the United States has presented graver 
 issues or more far-reaching problems than does this. Not 
 only is the domestic welfare of the nation profoundly to be 
 affected by the result, but the honor and the very safety of 
 the Republic are at stake. 
 
 Upon the character and the policies of the next Admin- 
 istration tvill depeyid the course of the United States duri7ig 
 its most critical years. As business men and as loyal citi- 
 zens we are deeply concerned in aiding to bring about a 
 decision that will restore sound principles and true Amer- 
 icanism to the conduct of our national affairs. 
 
 In this momentous hour the vital need is for such a 
 presentation of the issues as ivill arrest the tvidest attention 
 and carry the clearest message to the public mind. Ajid this 
 task ive commend to your hands. 
 
 No living American has a greater audience. Already 
 you have done memorable service to your country in awak- 
 ening it to a sense of its perils and obligations, and you have 
 revealed an unselfish patriotism that makes your voice sin- 
 gularly potent in counsel and inspiration. Will you not lend 
 it to the cause once more, by addressing the people of the 
 nation from the vantage ground of a great mass meeting in 
 the metropolis? Under these circumstances a message 
 from Theodore Roosevelt on " America' s Crisis" would ring 
 from coast to coast, and might be the final means of avoid- 
 ing a calamitous decision at the polls. 
 
 The undersigned suggest Cooper Union as the place, 
 
 134 
 
The Soul of the Nation 135 
 
 and an evening during the week of October' 23d-28th as the 
 time. Severally arid unitedly we urge upon you acceptance 
 of this great opportunity for public service. 
 
 John G. Shedd, Chicago, 111. 
 
 R. Livingston Beekman, Providence, R. I. 
 
 Charles Curtis Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 William Barbour, New York. 
 
 Andrew D. White, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, Somerville, N. J. 
 
 Darwin P. Kingsley, New York. 
 
 Myron T. Herrick, Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 Horatio C. King, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 David Jayne Hill, Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 John B. Farwell, Chicago, 111. 
 
 Frederick Talcott, New York. 
 
 John Wanamaker, Philadelphia. 
 
 Hamilton Fish, Garrison, N. Y. 
 
 Charles Sumner Bird, East Walpole, Mass. 
 
 Julius Rosenv^ald, Chicago, 111. 
 
 George C. Riggs, New York. 
 
 H. J. Heinz, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 
 Isaac N. Seligman, New York. 
 
 Warner Miller, Herkimer, N. Y. 
 
 Nathan T. Folwell, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Thomas R. Proctor, Utica, N. Y. 
 
 Truman H. Newberry, Detroit, Mich. 
 
 Lloyd Griscom, New York. 
 
 Sylvester S. Marvin, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 
 
 I am glad to speak in this historic building, at the re- 
 quest of men of such high standing as those who have asked 
 me to speak ; and I thank them for having asked me to speak 
 on the most vital of all present-day questions, the "Nation's 
 Crisis," a crisis preeminently moral and spiritual. 
 
 There can be no greater misfortune 'for a free nation 
 than to find itself under incapable leadership when confront- 
 ed by a great crisis. This is peculiarly the case when the 
 crisis is not merely one in its own history, but is due to some 
 
136 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 terrible world cataclysm — such a cataclysm as at this mo- 
 ment has overwhelmed civilization. The times have needed 
 a Washington or a Lincoln. Unfortunately we have been 
 granted only another Buchanan. 
 
 The appeal is made on behalf of Mr. Wilson that we 
 should not change horses in crossing a stream. The worth 
 of such an appeal is not obvious when the horse, whenever 
 he comes to a stream, first pretends he is going to jump it, 
 then refuses to enter it, and when he has reached the middle 
 alternately moves feebly forward and feebly backward, and 
 occasionally lies down. We had just entered the greatest 
 crisis in our history when we "swapped horses" by exchan- 
 ging Buchanan for Lincoln; and if we had not made the 
 exchange we would never have crossed the stream at all. 
 The failure now to change Mr. Wilson for Mr. Hughes would 
 be almost as damaging. 
 
 Washington and Lincoln confronted crises of different 
 types, and therefore in any given crisis it is now the example 
 of one, now the example of the other, which it is most essen- 
 tial for us to follow. Each stood absolutely for the National 
 ideal, for a full Union of all our people, perpetual and in- 
 destructible, and for the full employment of our entire col- 
 lective strength to any extent that was necessary in order 
 to meet the nation's needs. Lincoln had to deal with vital 
 questions of internal reform, and with the overturning of 
 internal forces tending toward the destruction of the Union. 
 Washington had to deal primarily, not only with the creation 
 of our Union, but with the maintenance of our liberty against 
 all adverse forces from without. This country must learn 
 the lessons taught by both careers, and must apply the 
 principles established by those careers to the ever-changing 
 conditions of the present, or sooner or later it will go down 
 in utter ruin. 
 
 The lesson of nationalism and therefore of efficient ac- 
 tion through the national government is taught by both 
 careers. At the present moment we need to apply this prin- 
 ciple in our social and industrial life to a degree far greater 
 than was the case in either Washington's day or Lincoln's. 
 
 The expansion of our people across the continent has 
 gone hand in hand with their immense concentration in 
 
The Soul of the Nation 137 
 
 great cities, and with gigantic changes in the machinery of 
 communication, transportation, and production; changes 
 which have worked a business revolution almost as vast as 
 that worked by all similar revolutions put together since the 
 the days of the Roman Empire. Therefore we are now 
 forced to face problems not only new in degree, but new in 
 kind. We must face these problems in the spirit of Wash- 
 ington and Lincoln ; but our methods in industrial life must 
 differ as completely from those that obtained in the times 
 of those two great men of the past as the weapons of war- 
 fare now differ from the flintlocks of Washington's soldiers, 
 or the muzzle-loading smooth-bores of Lincoln's day. We 
 must quit the effort to meet modern conditions by flintlock 
 legislation. We must recognize, as modern Germany has 
 recognized, that it is folly either to try to cripple business 
 by making it ineffective, or to fail to insist that the wage- 
 worker and consumer must be given their full share of the 
 prosperity that comes from the successful application and 
 use of modern industrial instrumentalities. Both capitalists 
 and wageworkers must understand that the performance of 
 duties and the enjoyment of rights go hand in hand. Any 
 shirking of obligation toward the nation, and towards the 
 people that make up the nation, deprives the offenders of all 
 moral right to the enjoyment of privileges of any kind. 
 This applies alike to corporations and to labor unions, to rich 
 men and poor men, to big men and little men. 
 
 There can be no genuine feeling of patriotism of the 
 kind that makes all men willing and eager to die for the land, 
 unless there has been some measure of success in making 
 the land worth living in for all alike, whatever their station, 
 so long as they do their duty; and on the other hand, no 
 man has a right to enjoy any benefits whatever from living 
 in the land in time of peace, unless he is trained physically 
 and spiritually so that if duty calls he can and will do his 
 part to keep the land against all alien aggression. Every 
 citizen of this land, every American of whatever creed or 
 national origin, should keep in mind the injunction of George 
 Washington to his nephews, when in his will dated July 9th, 
 1799, he bequeathed to each of them a sword, making the 
 bequest in the following words: 
 
138 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 "The swords are accompanied with an injunc- 
 tion not to unsheathe them for the purpose of 
 shedding blood, except it be for self-defense, or 
 in defense of their country and its rights ; and in 
 the latter case to keep them unsheathed and prefer 
 falling with them in their hands to the relinquish- 
 ment thereof." 
 
 These are noble words. Remember that they gained 
 their nobility only because the deeds of Washington had 
 been such that he had a right to utter them. His sword had 
 been sheathed until he drew it on behalf of national liberty 
 and of humanity, and then it was kept unsheathed until 
 victory came. His sword was a terror to the powers of evil. 
 It was a flame of white fire in the eyes of those who fought 
 for what was right. 
 
 Washington loved peace. Perhaps Lincoln loved peace 
 even more. But when the choice was between peace and 
 righteousness, both alike trod undaunted the dark path that 
 led through terror and suffering and the imminent menace 
 of death to the shining goal beyond. We treasure the lofty 
 words these men spoke. We treasure them because they 
 were not merely words, but the high expression of deeds 
 still higher ; the expression of a serene valor that was never 
 betrayed by a cold heart or a subtle and selfish brain. 
 We treasure what Washington enjoined on his blood-kin 
 as their duty when they should inherit his swords ; but we 
 do so only because Washington's own sword never slipped 
 from a hand made irresolute by fear. We treasure the 
 words that Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg, and in his second 
 inaugural ; words spoken with the inspiration of a prophet 
 of old, standing between- the horns of the altar, while the 
 pillars of the temple reeled round about. The words spoken 
 by Lincoln were spoken when he was weighed down by iron 
 grief, and yet was upheld by an iron will, so that he stood 
 erect while the foundations of the country rocked beneath 
 his feet, and with breaking heart and undaunted soul poured 
 out, as if it were a libation, the life blood of the best 
 and bravest of the land. We cherish these words of his only 
 because they were made good by his deeds. We remember 
 that he said that a government dedicated to freedom should 
 
The Soul of the Nation 139 
 
 not perish from the earth. We remember it only because 
 he did not let the government perish. We remember that 
 he said that the bondman should be free at whatever cost. 
 We remember it only because he paid the cost and set the 
 bondman free. 
 
 When Lincoln accepted the nomination of the Repub- 
 lican Party in 1860, he spoke of the platform of that party as 
 follows : 
 
 "The declaration of principles and sentiments 
 which accompanies your letter meets my approval, 
 and it shall be my care not to violate or disregard 
 them in any part." 
 
 This was a short statement. It derived its value from 
 the fact that it was a promise that was kept. I ask you to 
 compare this record of Lincoln's with the cynicism shown 
 by Mr. Wilson at different times in repudiating almost every 
 promise he has ever made on any matter of vital importance. 
 He has repudiated the promises of the platform on which 
 he was elected. He has repudiated the promises he m^de on 
 the stump to further his own election. He has now repu- 
 diated about all the promises which he has made since he be- 
 came President. 
 
 I have been assailed because I have criticised Mr. Wil- 
 son. I have not said one thing of him that was not abso- 
 lutely accurate and truthful. I have not said one thing of 
 him which I did not deem it necessary to say because of the 
 vital interests of this Republic. I have criticised him be- 
 cause I believe he has dragged in the dust what was most 
 sacred in our past, and has jeopardized the most vital hopes 
 of our future. I have never spoken of him as strongly as 
 Abraham Lincoln in his day spoke of Buchanan and Pierce 
 when they were Presidents of the United States. I spoke 
 of him at all, only because I have felt that in this great world 
 crisis he has played a more evil part than Buchanan and 
 Pierce ever played in the years that led up to and saw the 
 opening of the Civil War. I criticise him now because he has 
 adroitly and cleverly and with sinister ability appealed to 
 all that is weakest and most unworthy in the American char- 
 acter ; and also because he has adroitly and cleverly and with 
 
140 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 sinister ability sought to mislead many men and women 
 who are neither weak nor unworthy, but who have been mis- 
 led by a shadow dance of words. He has made our states- 
 manship a thing of empty elocution. He has covered his 
 fear of standing for the right behind a veil of rhetorical 
 phrases. He has wrapped the true heart of the nation in a 
 spangled shroud of rhetoric. He has kept the eyes of the 
 people dazzled so that they know not what is real and what 
 is false, so that they turn, bewildered, unable to discern the 
 difference between the glitter that veneers evil and the 
 stark realities of courage and honesty, of truth and strength. 
 In the face of the world he has covered this nation's face 
 with shame as with a garment. 
 
 I hardly know whether to feel the most burning indig- 
 nation at those speeches of his wherein he expresses lofty 
 sentiments which his deeds belie, or at those other speeches 
 wherein he displays a frank cynicism of belief in, and of 
 appeal to, what is basest in the human heart. In a recent 
 speech at Long Branch he said to our people, as reported 
 in the daily press, that "You cannot worship God on an 
 empty stomach, and you cannot be a patriot when you are 
 starving." No more sordid untruth was ever uttered. Is 
 it possible that Mr. Wilson, who professes to be a historian, 
 who has been a college president, and passes for a man of 
 learning, knows nothing either of religion or of patriotism ? 
 Does he not know that never yet was there a creed worth 
 having, the professors of which did not fervently worship 
 God whether their stomachs were full or empty? Does he 
 not know that never yet was there a country worth living 
 in which did not develop among her sons something at least 
 of that nobility of soul which makes men not only serve their 
 country when they are starving, but when death has set its 
 doom on their faces ? 
 
 Such a sentence as this could be uttered only by a Presi- 
 dent who cares nothing for the nation's soul, and who be- 
 lieves that the nation itself puts its belly above its soul. 
 No wonder that when such a doctrine is preached by the 
 President, his Secretary of War should compare Washington 
 and Washington's soldiers with the bandit chiefs of Mexico 
 and their followers who torture men and murder children, 
 
The Soul of the Nation 141 
 
 and commit nameless outrages on women. This sentence 
 is as bad as anything Secretary Baker himself said. I call 
 the- attention of these apostles of the full belly, of these 
 men who jeer at the nation's soul, I call the attention of 
 President Wilson and his Secretary of War and his Secretary 
 of the Navy, to what Washington said of his own soldiers 
 when he spoke of them in a letter to Congress on April 21st, 
 1778: 
 
 "Without arrogance or the slightest deviation 
 from truth, it may be said that no history now ex- 
 tant can furnish an instance of an army's suffering 
 such uncommon hardships as ours has done and 
 bearing them with the same patience and forti- 
 tude. To see men without clothes to cover their 
 nakedness, without blankets to lie on, without 
 shoes for the want of which their marches might 
 be traced by the blood from their feet, and almost 
 as often without provisions as with them, march- 
 ing through the frost and snow and at Christmas 
 taking up their winter quarters within a day's 
 march of the enemy without a house or a hut to 
 cover them till they could be built, and submitting 
 without a murmur, is a proof of patience and obe- 
 dience which, in my opinion, can scarce be para- - 
 - lleled." 
 
 That is what Washington said. Does Mr. Wilson think 
 that these men of Valley Forge were not patriots, because 
 they were starving? Is his own soul so small that he cannot 
 see the greatness of soul of Washington and of the Conti- 
 nental soldiers whose feet left bloody tracks upon the snow 
 as they marched towards the enemy? They were clad in 
 rags ; their eyes were hollow with famine ; their bodies were 
 numbed with cold and racked with fever; but they loved 
 their country ; they stood for the soul of the nation and not 
 for its belly. Mr. Baker and Mr. Daniels have done evil to 
 this country only because they stood where their master, 
 Mr. Wilson, had placed them. Mr. Baker has preached the 
 doctrine of contempt for the men of the Revolution only 
 because he has followed the lead of the President, who says 
 
142 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 that religion is merely a matter of a full stomach, and that 
 patriotism vanishes when heroes feel the pinch of famine. 
 I call your attention to these statements not only because 
 they are foul slanders on everything that is good in human 
 nature, not only because they are a foul slander on every 
 American worth calling an American, but because they show 
 the character of Mr. Wilson himself. 
 
 So much for Mr. Wilson when he says what he really 
 feels. Now a word about what he says when he speaks 
 what it is quite impossible that he really believes. On last 
 Saturday afternoon, with an effrontery that is literally 
 dumbfounding, he said that when he "started in one direc- 
 tion" he "would never turn around and go back," and that he 
 "had acted upon this principle all his life," and that he "in- 
 tended to act upon it in the future," and that he "did not see 
 any obstacle that would make him turn back." Why, his 
 whole record has consisted in turning back at every point 
 when he was bidden to do so by either fear or self-interest. 
 He has reversed himself on almost every important position 
 he has ever taken. There is not a bandit leader in Mexico 
 who does not know that if he can show enough strength he 
 can at any moment make Mr. Wilson not merely turn back, 
 but humbly kiss his hand ; kiss the hand that is red with the 
 blood of our men, women and children. Mr. Wilson says 
 that he "never turns back!" Why, he has been conducting 
 his whole campaign on the appeal that he has "kept us out 
 of war" ; and yet last Thursday, without a moment's notice, 
 and only ten days before election, after having been going 
 full speed in one direction, he turned around and went full 
 speed in the reverse direction on this very point; saying, 
 forsooth, that if there was another war we must not keep 
 out of it! He has been claiming credit because in the case 
 of Belgium he has preserved a neutrality that would make 
 Pontius Pilate quiver with envy ; and yet in this speech last 
 Thursday he said that never again must we be neutral ! He 
 has kept us absolutely unprepared ; so that now we are as 
 absolutely unprepared, after he has been in office three and 
 a half years, as we were when he took office ; and yet he now 
 says that we must enter the next war whenever one comes ! 
 He has looked on without a single throb of his cold heart, 
 
The Soul of the Nation 143 
 
 without the least quickening of his tepid pulse, while gallant 
 Belgium was trampled into bloody mire, while the Turk 
 inflicted on the Armenian and Syrian Christians wrongs 
 that would have blasted the memory of Attila, and he has 
 claimed credit for his neutral indifference to their suffering ; 
 and yet now, ten days before election, he says the 
 United States must hereafter refuse to allow small nations 
 to be mishandled by big, powerful nations. Do it now, Mr. 
 Wilson! If you mean what you say, Mr. Wilson, show that 
 you mean it by your action in the present. 
 
 There is no more evil lesson that can be taught this peo- 
 ple than to cover up failure in the performance of duty in the 
 present by the utterance of glittering generalities as to the 
 performance of duty in the nebulous future. With all my 
 heart I believe in seeing this country prepare its own soul 
 and body so that it can stand up for the weak when they are 
 oppressed by the strong. But before it can do so it must 
 fit itself to defend its own rights, and it must stand for the 
 rights of its citizens. During the last three years and a 
 half, hundreds of American men, women and children have 
 been murdered on the high seas, and in Mexico. Mr. Wil- 
 son has not dared to stand up for them. He has let them 
 suffer without relief, and without inflicting punishment 
 upon the wrongdoers. When he announces that in some dim 
 future he intends to stand up for the rights of others, let 
 him make good in the present by now standing up for the 
 rights of our own people. He wrote Germany that he would 
 hold her to "strict accountability" if an American lost his 
 life on an American or neutral ship by her submarine war- 
 fare. Forthwith the Arabic and the Gulflight were sunk. 
 But Mr. Wilson dared not take any action to make his threat 
 effective. He held Germany to no accountability, loose or 
 strict. Germany despised him ; and the Lusitania was sunk 
 in consequence. Thirteen hundred and ninety-four people 
 were drowned, one hundred and three of them babies under 
 two years of age. Two days later, while the dead mothers 
 with their dead babies in their arms lay by scores in the 
 Queenstown morgue, Mr. Wilson selected the moment as 
 opportune to utter his famous sentence about being "Too 
 proud to fight." Mr. Wilson now dwells at Shadow Lawn. 
 
144 Americanism and Preparedness 
 
 There should be shadows enough at Shadow Lawn; the 
 shadows of men, women and children who have risen from 
 the ooze of the ocean bottom and from graves in foreign 
 lands ; the shadows of the helpless whom Mr. Wilson did not 
 dare protect lest he might have to face danger ; the shadows 
 of babies gasping pitifully as they sank under the waves; 
 the shadows of women outraged and slain by bandits; the 
 shadows of Boyd and Adair and their troopers who lay in the 
 Mexican desert, the black blood crusted round their mouths, 
 and their dim eyes looking upward, because Pr-esident Wil- 
 son had sent them to do a task, and had then shamefully 
 abandoned them to the mercy of foes who knew no mercy. 
 Those are the shadows proper for Shadow Lawn; the 
 shadows of deeds that were never done ; the shadows of lofty 
 words that were followed by no action; the shadows of the 
 tortured dead. 
 
 The titanic war still staggers to and fro across the 
 continent of Europe. The nations engaged in the death 
 wrestle still show no sign of letting up. Some time in the 
 next four years the end will come, and then no human being 
 can tell what this nation will have to face. If we were ready 
 and able to defend ourselves and to do our duty to others, 
 and if our abilities were backed by an iron willingness to 
 show courage and good faith on behalf both of ourselves 
 and of others, not only would our own place in the world be 
 secure, but we might render incalculable service to other 
 nations. If we elect Mr. Wilson it will be serving notice on 
 the world that the traditions, the high moral standards, the 
 courageous purposes of Washington and Lincoln have been 
 obscured, and that in their stead we have deliberately elect- 
 ed to show ourselves for the time being a sordid, soft and 
 spineless nation; content to accept any and every insult; 
 content to pay no heed to the most flagrant wrongs done to 
 the small and weak; allowing our men, women and children 
 to be murdered and outraged ; anxious only to gather every 
 dollar that we can, to spend it in luxury, and to replace it by 
 any form of moneymaking which we can follow with safety 
 to our own bodies. 
 
 We cannot for our own sakes, we cannot for the sake 
 of the world at large, afford to take such a position. In 
 
The Soul of the Nation 145 
 
 place of the man who is now in the White House, who has 
 wrought such shame on our people, let us put in the Presi- 
 dential chair the clean and upright Justice of the Supreme 
 Court, the fearless Governor of New York, whose whole 
 public record has been that of a man straightforward in his 
 thoughts and courageous in his actions, who cannot be con- 
 trolled to do what is wrong, and who will do what is right no 
 matter what influences may be brought against him. 
 
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