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Show BRYAN SQUARELY AGAINST WILSON Former Secretary of State Takes Direct Issue With President's Defense Plan. NOT NATIONAL POLICY Departure From Traditions, Menace to Peace and Safety Opening Gun of Fight. Washington, Nov. 5 Former Secretary Sec-retary Bryan came out squarely against President Wilson's national defense plan today in a formal statement state-ment iu which he took issue with tho president's views as expressed last night before the Manhattan club in New York. "A Departure from our traditions; a reversal of our national policy; a menace to our peace and safety, and a challenge to the spirit of Christianity Christi-anity which teaches us to influence others by example, rather than by exciting fear" is Mr. Bryan's view of the national defense plans. Opening Gun of Fight. The former secretary of state's statement which reiterates views he has previously expressed on the subject sub-ject of preparedness for war, was regarded as the opening gun in the fight which administration leaders ex- ( pect in congress against adoption of ( the plan. i Mr. Bryan's statement says: "I have read the president's speech at Now York with sorrow and con- corn. Ho is doing what ho believes ' to bo his duty and so long as a man follows his conscience and judgment, we cannot criticize his motives, but we may be compelled to dissent from his conclusions I feel It my duty to dissent, and, as ho has given his views with clearness and emphasis, thoso who differ from him are under a like obligation to express themselves them-selves with equal clearness. "Ho says that his position is different differ-ent from that of tho private individual in that tho individual is free to speak his own thoughts and risk his own opinion. This sentence is a little obscure. ob-scure. Insofar as he expresses his own opinion he does not differ from the prlvato citizen, except that he speaks under a sentence of official responsibility, but where a nation's fate Is involved In a policy every private pri-vate citizen, who loves his country and tries to servo It. is conscious of responsibility. The president will not assume that he is more deeply interested inter-ested In the welfare of his country than tho millions who lected him to be for the timo being their spokes- ... A wl f ra Via mrlrlnntlir 1,lltnT'uQ IIIUll, -film 11, " "i OMUV.UHJ UUlllO, he is giving voice to the opinions of his countrymen, he is, of course, anxious anx-ious to havo them as frank with him as he has been with them. How otherwise oth-erwise can he know whether he represents, rep-resents, or misrepresents their views? Reversal of National Policy. "Ho has announced a policy which has never beforo been adopted In this country and never endorsed by any party In tho couutry and ho has no way of knowing, until ho hears from the people whether ho has correctly Interpreted the will of the public. His appeal Is not to any party, but, as he says, to men of 'all shades of opinion.' He asks for the hearty support of tho country, meaning of course that he wants the support, provided the people peo-ple favor the policy which he has outlined. lie could not of course, ask them to support a policy which they did not endorse, especially if they considered the policy dangerous to the country. "From my view of the subject, the plan which he proposes is not only a departure from our traditions, but a reversal of our national policy. It is not only a menace to our peace and safety, but a challenge to the spirit of Christianity, which teaches us to influence others by example, rather than by exciting fear. Defense a Faiae Philosophy. "The president says that we should be prepared 'not for aggression, but for defense.' That Is the ground upon up-on which all preparation for war Is made. What nation has ever prepared pre-pared for war on the theory that it was preparing for aggression? It is only fair to assume that the European rulers who are involved in the present war thought that they were contributing contrib-uting toward the maintenance of peace when they were making elaborate elab-orate preparations for defense. It is a false philosophy and being false, It inevitably reads Into difficulties. The spirit that makes the individual carry a revolver and whoever carries car-ries a revolver except for defense? leads him not only to uso it on slight provocation, but to use language which provokes trouble. 'Speak softly, soft-ly, but carry a big stick' is one of the delusive maxims employed by those who put their faith in force There are two answers to it first the man who speaks softly has not the disposition disposi-tion to carry a club, and if a man with a soft voice is persuaded to carry a club his voice changes as soon as he begins to rely upon the club. Nation Must Win Respect. "if there is any truth in our religion, re-ligion, a nation must win respect as an individual does, not by carrying arms, but by an upright, honorable course that Invites confidence and Insures In-sures good will This nation has won its position in the world without resorting re-sorting to the habit of tooting a pistol or carrying a club. Why reverse our policy at this time? The president himself admits that there is no reason rea-son for a change. He says: " 'The country Is not threatened from any quarter. She stands in friendly relations with all the world. niir resources ana ner sen respect and capacity to care for her own citizens and rights are well known.' And to make the statement more emphatic, em-phatic, he adds 'There is no fear among us.' "If we're not threatened by any nation, if our relations with all na-tionsare na-tionsare friendly, Jf evorybodyknows that we're ablcTTcTdefehd ourselves If L necessary and If there is no fear among us why Is this time chosen to revolutionize our national theories and to exchange our policy for the policy of Europe? Why abandon the hope that we have so long entertained of setting an example to Europe? Why encourage the nations of Europe in their fatal folly by imitating them? Why impose upon the western hemisphere hemi-sphere a policy so disastrous? May wo not expect all Latin-America to be stimulated to preparation If we enter en-ter upon a new era of preparation? and will not such a policy make conflicts con-flicts between these republics more probable? wo aro doing harm to the neighboring nations as well as to ourselves our-selves If wo aro drawn Into this policy pol-icy which provokes war by a preparation prepara-tion which Is impossible without a largo increase in taxation and the arousing of a military system which sets up false standards of honor. Menace to Ideals. "We are now spending more than $250,000. 000 a year on preparedness ten times as much as we are spending on agriculture and I feel sure that the taxpayers are not In favor of increasing in-creasing this sum at this time when a change is not only unnecessary but a menace to our national ideals. "There has not been a time in fifty years when there was less reason to add to tho expenses of the army and navy, for wo are not only without an enemy, but our preparedness is increasing in-creasing relatively as other nations exhaust themselves. And there never was a time, and there never has been a time in our whole history, when our duty to the world more imperatively impera-tively demanded self restraint and the counsels of peace. "I hope the president will not be decolved by the atmosphere of tho Manhattan club. That Is the one place in the United States where the mammon-worshiping portion of the Democratic party meets to exchange compliments there is no group farther far-ther removed from the sentiment of the masses whether you measure that sentiment by economical, social or religious re-ligious standards." |