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Show WILSON ASKS FOR Al POWER PRESIDENT DETERMINED TO PROTECT AMERICAN LIVES AGAINST SUBMARINES. Violation of Rights and Intolerable Blockade Brings Chief Executive Before Congress With Appeal for Authority to Act. Washington. President Wilson, on February 26th, asked congress for authority au-thority to use the forces of the United Unit-ed States to protect American ships and lives against the German submarine subma-rine menace to put the nation in a state of armed neutrality. The immediate response was the Introduction in the house of a bill, approved in advance by the president, empowering him to furnish guns and gunners to American merchantmen and to "employ such other instrumentalities instru-mentalities and methods" as may become necessary; and providing for a $100,000,000 (bond issue, to he used In his discretion for war insurance to encourage American commerce to brave the submarine peril. The president's long-expected action, ac-tion, while received in the main with expressions of support, threatens to force an extra session of congress. Standing at the clerk's desk in the hall of the house, grave, calm, speaking speak-ing earnestly in the attitude now familiar, fa-miliar, the president delivered his address while congress sat in tense, respectful silence, fully impressed with the soberness of the occasion. No cheers and applause such as have burst out before punctuated his sentences. sen-tences. By common consent the members mem-bers refrained from demonstration. There were vigorous nods of approval from Democrats and Republicans who have been urging a forward course; silence and indications of reserved thought from those opposed. But at the conclusion of the address, ad-dress, when the president spoke of the fundamental rights on which are based the structure of family, state and liberty, and said, "I cannot imagine imag-ine a man with Amreican principles in his heart hesitating to defend these things," cheers resounded through the chamber. For four weeks an unrestricted submarine warfare, the president told congress, has seen the destruction of at least two American ships, American-commerce American-commerce driven in a large measure from the seas through fear of the underseas peril, and a resulting congestion con-gestion of America's vital industries, growing more serious every day. The fact that more American lives had not been lost, he said, was due to the fact that German submarine commanders com-manders had exercised "an unexpected unexpect-ed discretion and restraint," rather than because of the irstructions under which they were acting. - To he unprepared, un-prepared, with congress out of session, ses-sion, the president said, would be "most imprudent." Consequently he asked for authority to act. During the course of his address, President Wilson told congress: I am not proposing nor contemplating war or any steps that might lead to war. " War can only come toy the wilful acts and aggressions of others. I must ask for your suporting authority au-thority in the most general terms. We must defend our commerce and the lives of our people with discretion, but with clear and steadfast purpose. I request that you will authorize ms to supply our merchant ships with defensive arms, should that become necessary, and with the means of using us-ing them, and to employ any other in- strumentahties or methods that may be necessary and adequate to protect pro-tect our ships and our people In their legitimate and peaceful pursuits on he seas. I request also a sufficient credit to enalble me to provide adequate means of protection, where they are lacking, including adequate insurance against war risk. I feel that I ought to obtain from you full and immediate assurance of the authority which 1 may need at any moment to exercise. No doubt I already al-ready possess that authority without special warrant of law. Our own commerce is suffering rather in apprehension than in fact, because so many of our ships are timidly tim-idly keeping to their home ports, than by ships having ibeen sunk. . This itself might presently accomplish accom-plish in effect what the new German submarine orders were meant to accomplish, ac-complish, so far as we are concerned. The case of the Lyman M. Law disclosed dis-closed a ruthlessnes of method which receives grave condemnation, but was accompanied by no circumstances which might not have been expected at any time in connection with the use of the submarine against merchantmen mer-chantmen as the German government has used it. There may be no recourse but to armed neutrality, which we shall now have to maintain and for which there is abundant American precedent. |