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Show I LODGE WOULD SEIZEVESSELS Urges Taking Over All Ger-- Ger-- man MerchantShips Held inU. S. Ports.' TIME FOR ACTION Congress Never Before Called for More Solemn Exercise of Great Power. WASHINGTON, April 4. Senator jySk Lodge, ranking Republican member of fi the foreign relations committee, in sup-m sup-m porting tho war resolution today, dc- clared that tho United States should M seize tho German merchant ships now H in American ports and use them to re place ships Germany has sunk by submarines. sub-marines. Senator Lodge, ranking Republican of the foreign relations committee, spoko aftor Senator Swan6on. "No one Is more conscious than I that this Is a moment for action nud not for debate," said Mr. Lodge. "But I wish briefly to state why I support It with the greatest earnestness of which I am capable. "Tho most momontous power entrusted en-trusted to congress by tho constitution constitu-tion Is the authority to declare war and nevor has congress been called to a moro solemn excrclBO of this great power than at this moment. We havo submitted to wrongs and outrages from the central powers of Europo with a lpng patience. We havo homo and foreborno to tho very limit of endurance. en-durance. Now tho Inevitable end Is hero and we aro about to declaro war against Germany. Speaking for myself my-self and I hope, for my associates L generally on this side of tho chamber, I desire to say that in this crisis and when the country is at war, party linos will disappear and this dlsap- . pearnnco of tho party line will, I am W confident, not be confined to tho W minority. Both Domocrats and Re- 1 1 publicans niUBt forget party in tho B presenco of a common dangor. 1 "Wo have only a very small army m and we muBt proceed at once as rap- m, idly as possible to build up a large j ' ono fit to defond the country In any m emergency. Our navy i3 strong in im certain branches and very weak In IK others. It must bo our business to IM ' supply tho deficiencies as rapidly as t possible. Fortunately those deficlon- Uv clos aro of tho kind which can bo most quickly supplied. K "Tho prosldent has said that war W- 'will Involve tho utmost practicable JK co-operation in council and action with K. tho governments now at war with iB Germany' and as Incident to that tho MJ' oxtentlon to those governments of the most liboral financial credits, in order Ipt that our resources may so far as pos- nrVrS ilblo be added to theirs. I am not only r? in agreement with this policy advised yjj by the prosldent, but it seemg to mo K that nothing is more important than jf to follow it out ,f Fighting Common Foe. s "I am a thorough boliovor flr the general policy laid down by Washington Washing-ton when he advised the people of the United States not to enter into permanent alliances; but the man who won tho American revolution through tho alliance with France would have been tho last to lay down a hard and fast rule that under no circumstances and for no purposes were we to ever ally ourselves with other nations. It would be madness for us to attempt to make war alone upon Germany and find ourselves, perhaps, per-haps, at the end left isolated, at war with that power, when all the nations had made peace, because we had not associated ourselves with them. The allies of the entente, as they aro called, call-ed, are fighting a common, foe and their foe is 'now ours. Wo cannot send an army across the ocean for we have no army to send. Yet, I should be glad for one, if we could send 10,000 men of our regular troops, so that tho flag of tho United States might at least be unfurled in the fields of France. I believe that tho mere sight of that flag Jn that region made so desolate by war would stimulate stim-ulate the courage and help the success suc-cess of those who have the same aim that we havo and who seek the same victory. We can also help tho allies, as tho president recommends, with largo credits and with those supplies which we can furnish and which thoy lack. We cannot do more in any direction direc-tion to bring this war to a speedy end than to give tho credits and furnish those supplies." Mass of Germans Loyal. Senator Lodge, referring to the president's statemont concerning German Ger-man spies in this country, said he believed be-lieved "the overwhelming mass of our citizens of German descent aro just as loyal to the United States as any citizens could be, "but that German agents must be dealt with, to quote tho president's address, "with a firm hand." Senator Lodge said ono of tho first acts of the United States should be to seize tho German ships now in United States ports and to put that tonnage to the world's service. Have Unbounded Energies. "We havo never been a military nation," na-tion," Mr. Lodge continued. "We are not prepared foe war in a modern sense, but our resources are vast and we have unbounded energies, and tho day when war Is declared wo should devoto ourselves to calling out those resources and organizing those energies en-ergies so that thoy can bo used with tho utmost effect in hastening tho complete victory. Must Not Be Half-Hearted. "Tho worst of all wars is a feeble war. War is too awful to bo entered upon half-heartedly. If we fight at all we must ficht for all we aro worth. It must bo no weak, hesitating hesitat-ing war. Tho most merciful war is that which is most vigorously waged and which comes mo3t quickly to an end. "But thero are. In my opinion, some things worse for a nation than war. National degeneracy is worso; national nation-al cowardice is worso. The division of our people into raco groups, striving striv-ing to direct tho course of tho United States in the interest of some other country when we should havo but one alliance one hope and ono thing all theso dangers have been gathering about us and darkening tho horizon during tho last three years. Whatever What-ever suffering and misery war may bring it will at least swoop theso foul things away. It wiflunlfy us into ono nation. Higher Purpooe'ln War. "But there is still a higher purpose here as I look upon it. The president presi-dent has said with great Justice that Germany iB making war on all nations. na-tions. We do not enter upon this war to securo victory for one nation against another. Wo enter this war to unlto with those who aro fighting tho common foe in order to preserve human froed6m, democracy and modern mod-ern civilization. They are all In grievous griev-ous poril, they aro all threatened. This war Is a war, as I sco It, against barbarism bar-barism panoplied In all the dovlcos of destruction of human life which science, bencflcient science can bring forth. Wo aro resisting an effort to thrust mankind back to forms of government, gov-ernment, to political creeds and methods meth-ods of conquest which we had hoped had disappeared forever from the world. |