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Show H RUSHING INTO WAR. WE roRret exceedingly the ntll- tudc taken by the Wilson nd- H ministration since the withdrawal of H William Jennings Rrynn from the jjB cabinet. It seems evident to us that H wo arc rushing blindly, heedlessly, or H Ignoruntly into the world's greatest H of all wars, mid if we do not land H fairly and squarely in the turmoil in B a short time, it will ccrtuinly bo no H fault of the present congress of the j United StatCB. H The craze for gold, for power, prcs- H tige and authority has seized our nn- H tion. The capitalists, who clearly dic- H tate our policies, have como to covet H the shipping and commesce of the H world, which is in reality the very j thing for which the nations of Europq H arc contending. To successfully wrest H this from the older nations, we must H have a powerful navy and a much H larger standing army wo must lmve H "Preparedness," for wliich our wor- H thy prsident has been contending so j "valiantly. Wo must impress the for- H eign nations with our prowess and im- H portnncc by insisting that Americans H havo a right to go unywherc they like H on any ship, neutral of combatant, H armed or unarmed, and of course tho H United States must follow them and H ' redress, any mistreatment shown to H It matters not that the ship on H whicli Americans sail may be Joadcd H with ammunition to the decks with H which to kill Germans, nor that sho H carries mounted guns for defense and H offense, that ship must be unharmed, H because, forsooth, there are Amori- H cans aboard. And what nation, in the H position in which Germany is now B placed will halt in its avowed mcth- H ods of warfare, because neutrals in- H sist in placing themselves in danger? H Germany hns conceded more already B V in the interests of peace with the U. H S. than anyone, almost, evpr expected H that sho would; now wo must needs L- goad her a little further and back her into n corner where sho will bq, com- BBr polled to fight us,'orrabandon the'wnr BBtf entirely and sue for peace. B; The United States Congreiis did a Bx fool thing when they votbd down tho H'' bill to warn Americans from sailing B on armed merchantmen of the bclig- B - gercnt nations. Not only should that H bill have become u law, but they B should' have went further and served B notice on nil Americans that if thoy H shipped into the war zone on other B than a duly authorized American vcn- B sel, they did so at their own risk and B peril, and that tho United Statos B would assume no risk whntcver in B t'10 matter. H Yes, and we have no disposition to B shield or excuse the action of our B representatives in Congress. Senator H Sutherland gave hissupport to the ad- B ministration in the light; Senator H Smoot dodged tho issue by not regis- H tering his vote. Of course Teddy H Roosevelt and a lot more radical rc- B publicans are howling their heads off, H so to speak, because the ndmiuistrn- H tioi has not plunged into war long B ( ago. But the fact remains that tho B ' most important thing tho present nd- H ministration hns done is to keep out B of war; and it is almost certain that B all the credit of this accomplishment H is due to the peaceful proclivities of H Mr. Bryan, while a member at the B cabinet, and it is equally certain that H Messrs; Wilson and Lansing will get B us into war, if given time, as it is that B Bryan kept us out. H In the event of war with somo of' H the European countries developing H ns a result of the policy recently us- Hj sumed by Congress, every congress- H man voting to sustain the present pol- H icy of the administration should be H compelled to shoulder a musket and B take his place with the rank and file B at tho front. |