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Show H WAR CLOUDS. H 4 SHOULD the United States become A embroiled in a war with Germany at K this time, even before President Wil H son has been inaugurated on his sec- ond term, it may be looked upon as n B striking example of the irony of fate, K't and WH1 be somewhat of a disappoint- lj , ment to those fond but hysterical B wives and mothers who cast their votes for Wilson for the sole reason Bg- he us out M ''- Ah a imtUer of fact, as all thinking ateyaple recognize, neither President ""Wilson any other can M keep nation ' arcumstances, and maintain any sem- H blance of dignity and self-respect for I .4 the government. In the present crisis only two courses were open to this Hi country: First, to follow the counsel bBBBbB ,j. William Jennintrs H TwJBii strictly l-Jh A European conflict to take care of l B J ''""If, warning American subjects who B ,lol,nfHhe war zone do B Knowli. peri, B ..,OU?. Aim way be responsible for L officially ik, m a V their 1 ves or property m Correon(leP B. deeply mow ,l.''r overtake them. Sec- B Hit first act President Wilson has m tor, the Swlesever diplomatic By the German etry which announces H take Its prosecuting a In- l"k4UP','1i nt.fl upon the shipping interests of H world within a designated zone The H United States hae perhaps gone too H far to abandon the idea of a merchant marine at this time. Many ships have B been built and purchased during the BQ past two or three years md to forsake m i these interests would mean a great B financial loss, not only to the owners B of the vessels, but to the country at B large, which is dependent upon these H ships to further their commercial in- B terests with the balance of the world. H The course taken in this instance by BH Germany is very positive proof that W' . that country is in a very desperate Jwl condition, and intends to use the last I jM T-xv weapon at its command atrainst its 1 enemies. Starvation is staring the Off- IB man people in the face ind they are B determined to visit the same haid- h- ships and vicessitudes upon their foot, ' the entente allies, even though 1J1 KJ i have to sacrifice the lives and prop-. BV Tt f trty of any number of non-comhal- B ants ortler to gain their point. B Whether the action by the H United States will result in war with HHfi Germany or not, remains to be n t ijfc and is wholly dependent upon the HB w tion taken by the Imperial fcTovern- BB ment of Germany. If their actions V- s Wbm Baw comport with the threats already made, and they ruthlessly sacrifice the lives of Amcriran citizens, there is no doubt but that it will result in a declaration of war and the corn mencement of hostilities on the part of this country. It is our opinion that Germany will avoid this crisis as long as possible, or perhaps until the blunder of some submarine captain bring" the matter to a head. The fact of a German U-boat U-boat commander recently firing five shots at the American tanker West-wego, West-wego, none of which took effect, seems to justify the opinion that there is considerable bluff about their present, pres-ent, attitude. They no doubt think that by the sinking of a few neutral vessels they can frighten the others out of the area embraced in their prescribed pre-scribed war zone, and thus prevent supplies from reaching Great Rritait md France. In the mean time the Government of this country is rushing with all speed defense plans calculated to place us in a better condition in the event of war being declared. Appropriation Appro-priation measures and other legislation legisla-tion is also being speeded through GongrtM to give President Wilson a free hand and make him master of the situation. The statement is attributed to Germany Ger-many that before the United States can raise an army to engage in the war, it will be over and she will have her enemies vanquished. In this Germany is, without question, forgetting forget-ting to reckon with her host, and she will find that while your Uncle Sam-uel Sam-uel is a very peacable individual, it is dangerous to goad him too far. And his imperial highness is likely to get an exhibition of Yankee ingenuity and Yankee grit. If Germany has presumed on account ac-count of our peaceful proclivities that Yankees are lacking in nerve and courage, they have only to investigate investi-gate and they will find that already 50,000 or more of the citizens of this country are doing duty in the trenches of the allies. And if fifty or sixty thousand Americans will volunteer to fight the battles of other nations how long would it take to raise a formidable formid-able army to protect our own homes and interests? Furthermore, the United States has come to be one of the foremost manufacturers manu-facturers of arms and war munitions, and with the greater part of the gold of the world at her command she can very quickly develop a formidable navy na-vy and land defenses. If Germany compels the United States to ally herself her-self with England, France and Russia, there will be no serious doubt as to the outcome of the war and the position po-sition which Germany and Austria will occupy at the close of hostilities. At the same time all good American citizens will hope and pray that war may be averted, and that America's example to the world will be for an everlasting peace, rather than for accentuated ac-centuated bloodshed. |