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Show NIHCO RALLY IS ADDRESSED - BY Li ROOT Demonstration Staged for Announced Purpose of ! Vindicating Windy City of Disloyalty Charges. TREASON DEFINED - BY EX-SECRETARY Samuel Gompers Pledges Labor to Fight Until I World Terrorism Has Been Overthrown. CIITCACO, Sept. 14. Treason to America in the world-war was defined v by Klihu Root, and labor was pledged by Samuel Gompers to fight until world terrorism bad been overthrown, at a patriotic rally here tonight staged by the National Security league lor the announced purposo of vindicating Chi- ' -' cago against alleged intimations of un- patriotism. "The men who are speaking, writing and printing arguments against the war now, and against everything that is being be-ing done to carry on the war, are ren- dering more effective service to Ger- many than they ever, could render in the field with arms in their hands,"-declared hands,"-declared the former secretary of state, 1 amidst cheers. "It is impossible to resist the conclusion con-clusion that the greater part of them are at heart traitors to the United States. "As time goes on and the character 'of these acts becomes more and more clearly manifest, all who continue to associate with them must come under the same condemnation. There are some who doubtless do not understand what this struggle really is." Meant for Thompson. At this point the speaker was interrupted inter-rupted by cries of "Hello, Bill," and departed from the text of his speech - lung enough to declare: " "1 don 't think he understands it. But 1 think he will some time." Declaring that General Grant said -."Let us have peace," only after Lee had surrendered, Mr. Gompers asserted that "After kaisorism has surrendered, then we, too. will have .peace." ' " There can be no Teacer..'iie.. con-' con-' tinned, "not while "there is a 'Teuton on the soil of France. .There must be no r.cace until they are driven from outraged Belgium." The president of the American Federation Fed-eration of Labor was interrupted frequently fre-quently by anplause when he detailed the plans laid by the government for I war insurance for soldiers and sailors, and its attempts to make sure that the ! standard of American home life shall i i - uot be lowered. w Judge Jacob M. Dickinson presided as chairman in the absence of Governor i l-'i-aul: O. Lowden. I Fronted by a hedge of glistening bay: j onets. carried by a detachment of na- ! tioual guardsmen, the sneakers ad- m essed a crowd which rivaled any na tional convention throng that ever ) filled the Coliseum, both in size and ,w vociferous enthusiasm. Root's Address. ' In defining the attitude of citizens lo- ' ward Hie conduct of the war and in- I 1 cidentally what constituted being a I traitor, Elihu Root said: The declaration of war between the I'n'.tod Slates and Germany com pletely changed the relations of all the Inhabitants of the country to the subject of peace and war. Before the declaration everyoody had a rltfht to discuss in private and in public the ciucstion whether the United States should carry on war ! against Germany. But the question of peace or war ' , , has now been decided by the presi- ' dent and congress, the ole authorl-! authorl-! - tics which had the right to decide, i The question no longer remains open. It , has been determined, and the United States Is at war with Ger- , many. 1 !-' Discussion Imbecile. Tlie decision whs made by over- whelming majorities of both bouses nf congress. When such a decision has been made, the duties and therefore there-fore the rlght.s of all the people of the country immediately change. It becomes their duty to slop discussion upon tlie question decided and to t acl. to proceed hnmedl.nely to do cvetythinc In their power to enable ihe government of their country to .-v succeed in the war upon which the i country has entered. A nation which declares war and goes on discussing whether it ought to lutve declared war or not Is impotent, im-potent, paralyzed, imbecile, and earns the contempt of mankind and the. certainty of humiliating defeat and subjection to foreign control. A democracy de-mocracy which cannot accept its own decisions, made in accordance with Its own laws, hut must keep on endlessly end-lessly discussing tlie question already decided, has failed in the fundamental requirements of sclf-go eminent. Tat riot or Rebel. Hut. after the decision in favor of war. Ihe country has ranged Itself; . . and tlie only isne let I for the in dividual citizen is whether he is for or against his country. trom that tune on arguments against the war in whM, the rountrv 1b eneaced ar1 enemy argrunipntf:. Their spin is ihe snlrlt of rebellion aaitiM tiie government gov-ernment and laws of the I'nitpil Stains. Tl'eir effect is to hinder an-! lessen that popular support r 1 government fn arryinc; on the Mar which Is r.ecessa ry to .success. Their manifest purpose is to prevent action by continuinc dis 'usslon. They fii- "-courage "-courage the ppcmv, They tend to introduce in-troduce delay ami irresolution into our councils. The men who are 50eakin.tr and writ inp and printing arKimien's a saint t he wa r now and against everything that if bein: done io carry on the war are rendering more effective service to Germany than they could render In the field with arms in their hands. The purpose and effect of what they are doing- Is so plain that it is impossible t resist re-sist the conviction that the greater part of them are at heart traitors to the Putted Slates and wilfully keeking to brine; about the triumph of Cer- j many and tlie humiliation and defeat of their own country. Must Bow to the Law. The same principles apply to the decision of numerous questions which arise In carrying on the war. Somebody Some-body has to decide such questions before be-fore there can be action, and when they are decided the act ion can be only in accordance with the decision. You may be jpposed to raising an army in one way and I may be opposed op-posed to raising it in another way; ! and, so long as the question is tin- ! decided, we are entitled to try to get our own views about it adopted, but I we do not have the decision. j The whole of the American people i have elected a president and congress ! to listen to your views and to mine, and then to decide the question. When they have decided it is plain that the only way in which we can raise an army and go on with the war is by accepting that decision and any attempt to discourage volunteering volunteer-ing or to oppose conscription is an attempt to hinder and embarrass the government of the linked States 1n the conduct of the war and to help Germany by preventing our government govern-ment from raising armies to fight against her. Power of President. - Somebody has to decide where armies are to fight. The,-power to make that decision res t&r with the president as commar-"tn-chief. Anybody who seeks, by Jiment or otherwise, to stop the execution of the order sending troops to France and Belgium is simply trying to prevent pre-vent the American government from carrying on the war successfully. He is aiding the enemieR of his country, and, if he understands what he is doing, do-ing, he is a traitor at heart. It is beyond doubt that many of the professed pacifists, the opponents of the war after the war has been entered en-tered upon, the men who are trying to stir up resistance to the draft, the men who are inciting strikes In the particular branches of production ' which are necessary for the supply of arms and munitions of war, are intentionally seeking to aid Germany and defeat the United States. Fail to Understand. There are doubtless some who do j not understand what this struggle really is. Some who were born here resent interference with their comfort com-fort and prosperity and the demands for sacrifice which seem to them unnecessary; un-necessary; and they fail to see that the time has come when, if Americans are to keep the independence and liberty which their fathers won by suffering and sacrifice, they, in their turn, must fight for the preservation of that independence and that liberty. lib-erty. There are some born abroad who have come to this land for greater freedom and broader opportunity, and have sought and received the privileges privi-leges of American citizenship. All these naturalized citizens who are taking part in obstruction to the government in the conduct of the war are false to their oaths, are for- j feiting their rights of citizenship and : are ' repudiating their honorable obli- j gations. We must believe that in j many cases this is done because of failure to understand what this war really is. War of Defense. Tills is a war of defense. Tt is per- j fectly described in the words of the i constitution which established this j nation "to provide for the common ' defense" and "to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." pos-terity." The national defense demands de-mands not merely force, but intelligence. intelli-gence. By entering this war in April, the United States availed itself of j the very last opportunity to defend itself against subjection to, German j power before it was too late to defend ' itself successfully. For many years we have pursued our peaceful course of internal development de-velopment protected in a variety of ways. All these protections were swept away by the war which began in 1914. From that date until the present pres-ent time, in a war waged by Get- many with a revolting barbarity un-equaled un-equaled since the conquests of Gen- ghis Khan, Germany has violated every rule agreed upon ' by civilized nations in modern times to mitigate i the barbarities of war or to protect tlie rights of non-combatants and ! neutrals. t Why the War Started. Why were these thines done by j Germany? The answer is that this I , war was begun and these crimes ! against humanity were done because Germany was pursuing the hereditary I policy of the Hohenzollerns and following fol-lowing the instincts of the arrogant ' military caste which rules Prussia to erasp tlie overlordship of the civilized civ-ilized world and establish an empire ' in which she should play the part of ancient Rome. ! Plainly, if the power of the German' j government is to continue. America I can no longer look for protection to the law of nations or tlie fa i th of , treaties, or the instincts of humanity, or the restraints of modern civilization. civiliza-tion. Tl' America had stayed out of j the war and Germany had won. couM we have defended the Monroe doc- f trine? Could we have maintained our I independence? I If America, had stayed out of the I creat war and German y had won. A merfca would forthwith be required j to dofend herself. ! J Instinct of Democracy. ! The Instinct of the A merican do-j do-j rnorracy which led it to act when I it did arose from a long-delayed and I reluct a nt consciousness, still vneue and half rxpressed. that this is ito ordinary war which the world Is was-f was-f inc. It is a mlchty ;md all-em- bracing struggle between two'' con- i flictiiiR principles of human right and ( human duty. It is a conflict between j the divine rich! of sings to govern mankind through armies and nobles and the rleht of the peoples of the I earth who toll and endure and aspire to govern themselves by law in the ' freedom of individual manhood. Tt is ', the climax of the Mipreme struggle between autocracy and democracy, i N'o nation can stand aside a nil be free from its of feci s. The two sys- j terns cannot endure together in the same world. To tli is crea t conflict for human rights and human liberty America has commit led herself. There ran bp no backward step. There, must he eifber humiliating and degrading suhnvsslon or glorious victor. |
