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Show OUR COUNTRY AND OUR POLICY Tho legal right of th0 United States to permit Its citizens to engage en-gage in tho commorco In arms and munitions of war with belligerent governments is clear. Equally clear is tho legal right of the United States to chock or prohibit pro-hibit such commerce. Which right it will exorcise is a question that lies ontirely within tho doninu of policy. ' Upon tho outbreak of tho present war our govemmont adopted tho policy of neutrality, and neutrality Implies that the government shall tak0 no action which will disturb tho normal relations between this country coun-try and any belligerent. Tho most impoitnnt of thoso rolatlons is that of frco commorco, and strict neutral-Ity neutral-Ity demands that whatover tho abnormal ab-normal conditions produced by tho belligerents themselves, our government govern-ment shall not Interfere with such commorco as can bo carried on with any or all of them. Tho practical consequences of this normal passive policy nro created by tho nets of belligerents and ll0 outside our legal responsibility. Whether wo maintain this position must depend upon considerations not of legality but of duty and Interest. It is becoming Increasingly evident that our exercise of or even our diplomatic dip-lomatic Insistence upon our neutral rights is causing resentment both in England and In Gormany. In tho formor country ther0 Is a natural disposition dis-position to Identify tho English causo with that of human progress, civilization, civiliz-ation, independence freedom, and international good faith, and United Stutes Is blamed for not accepting this Identity and coming actively to tho dofenso of so much thnt wo prlzo. Even In Its mora modorato olllclal form wo aro made conscious of tho expectation that a moral support of them should take tho form of permitting permit-ting tho nllles a freo hand oven nt our own cost and tho disparagement of our neutral policy toward Germany. Ger-many. On tho other hand, German feeling, assuming Germany to bo tho victim of Urltlsh perfidy and Russian ambition ambi-tion and Identifying tho German cause with all that is good In modern civilization, civ-ilization, resents tho practical assistance as-sistance to tho allies which our gov-ernmont's gov-ernmont's neutrality nnd our citizens commercial Interest bring about. Tho nctual rosult, whatover tho legal le-gal theory of right may bo, is that tho nllles nro ablo to obtain In America Am-erica nrma and munitions for tho destruction of German lives, and German feeling 1ms moro and moro openly resented this. In short, wo nro begetting tho enmity en-mity of both Englnnd and Germany. With this unfortunato fact fully recognized, It Is for us gravoly to consldor our position and our policy. Wo-nro not ready to accept tho Idealized vlows of tholr cspectlvo parts m tho war hold by the various combatants. Without denying the Idealistic oleraont In tho causo maintained main-tained by any of thorn, wo aro fully nwnro that self Interest has boon and Is a controlling factor In all of tholr policies. England, is fighting for England, nnd Germany for Gormany, and Russia for Russln, and Franco for France yes, nnd Uelglum for Uclglum. That is human nnd right and necessary. nec-essary. And It Is human and right and necessary nec-essary for tho Unltod States to work for Its own Interest. Tills may bo an offonslvo consideration consider-ation to tho Utopian, the theoretical altruist. Nevertheless It Is a reality of lntornntlonal rolatlons and of human hu-man nature, nnd tho peoplo which ignoro It becauso Its own necessities aro not nt tho moment pressing nnd becnuso It Is ploasnnt to ludulgo In theoretical nltrulsm without apparont oxponso is deceiving Itself and preparing pre-paring for Its own costly disillusion-mont. disillusion-mont. Tho world is shaking with tho tremendous tre-mendous combat of nrmod national egotisms. If wo aro not bomusod with Utopian dreams wo know that this combat will not ushor In tho millennium mil-lennium and wo Bhnll roallzo from tho spectacle of so much violence and destruction that tho timo has not yet como when a nation can afford to Btand naked In the world without Ubor dofenso than the good will of Its neighbors. Whllo Interests clash wo profor our own to those of othor nations. Tho man who does no't is not an Amorlcan. Until mankind has attained a hlghor dovelopmont, a greater uniformity of ideals, standards, stan-dards, anu traditions, nnd n grontor community of Interests than aro dls-cornablo dls-cornablo to tho mass of men today, nationality with Its rivalries must bo accoptcd as a fact. This Is tho wisdom wis-dom of underlying tho blunt practical practi-cal patriotism of Stophon Decatur's toast, and though tho extreme altruist altru-ist may bo offended ly It, It la ac cepted and approved by all but a very small minority. From this standpoint of tangible national Interest our commerce In arms, until conditions chango materially, mater-ially, must remain what it Is. It Is within the unpleasant possibilities possi-bilities that we should 'be subjected to measures so drastic as to compel an equally drastic response With full consciousness of tho extreme gravity of our action wo might bo compelled to resort to nn embargo, and this would bo ontirely within our legal right. I3ut in present conditions our national na-tional interest lies in our present Pol-Icy Pol-Icy .1 Tho financial and social benefits to us from tho commorco in arms are substantial, and they aro benefits we could not W'oll afford to wnlve. Tho war has stricken this country. Tho need of building up our International Internation-al credit balance is plain. Tho need for employing Idlo workers is great. But thoro is another phaso of this commorco, which, though It is Ignored, Ignor-ed, Is of great importance It has developed our caplclty for manufac-turning manufac-turning nrms and munitions of war, nnd to that extent wo havo diminished diminish-ed our unprcparedness for national defense. Tho Importance of being ablo to provide arms and munitions of war within one's own borders has been acutely emphasized by tho preBent war. It may oven prove to be tho decisive factor. Our supply of copper, cop-per, of Iron, and other necessaries is probably ample Dut manufacturing plants and trained direction nnd labor la-bor also nro necessary. These aro now bolng developed. This war has tremendously emphasized empha-sized tho importance of artillery, machine ma-chine gun, and great supplies or resources re-sources of ammunition. It also has brought about in America a development develop-ment of this vital factor of defense without tho exhortation of pure blind congressmen or the awakening of an uninformed nnd hence Indifferent public. The occasion for tho growth of this necessary Industry Is tragically deplorable but since it has been thrUBt upon us, It Is tho part of wisdom to make tho most of it. Chicago Tribune. |