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LL Americans must be glad that their President,in
asking Congress to resolve that a state of war exists
between the United Statesand Germany, called upon the
nation to strengthen itself in high-minded purpose. Selfish
ends-conquest, dominion, material compensation, indemnities-he bids us put out of o u r minds. We are but one
of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shallbe
satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as
the faith andfreedom of nations can make them. These
are loftysentiments.
And in the same vein are Mr. Wilsons words of magnanimous devotion tothe
cause of
democracy all over the world. They a r e certain to reverberatethroughout Europe. I n especial will his eloquent
reference to the wonderful and heartening things recently wrought by the Russian people be hailed in Petrograd as
a reinforcement against autocracy mightier than an army.
They will afford a new buttress to the Russian Republic.
And his plea for the right of those who submit to authority to have a-voice in their own Governments will help to
bring nearer the day of world-democracy. The whole address, in fact, once accepting the Presidentspremises, is
conceived and expressed in a way to command high admiration.
Most generous and gratifying is the language which the
President uses of the German people, here and abroad. He
expresses the largest confidence in the loyalty of Germaninthe response or
Americans. This is alreadyjustified
the German-American press. But Mr. Wilson goes further.
He summons native-borncitizenstoembraceeagerly
the
opportunity to show friendship and trust towards the miliions of men and women of German birth who live among
us and share our life. An attitude of coldness and suspicion towardsthem would sow discord where there ought
to be comradeship. And even as respects aliens on our soil,
the President asks hiscountrymen not to confuse a lawless
and malignant few with the great body that we may reasonably expect to submit themselves quietly to the laws of
the country and to conform to the proprieties of the situation in which they find themselves. Panic fears about their
possible treachery, with all spy-mania, the President would
have us banish far from us.
Wilson seeks to make broader a distinction which he
hinted at in his address to Congress at the time of breaking
off diplomatic relations with Germany. We mean, of course,
the distinction between the German people and the Government that speaks for them. It is only with the latter that
we have
quarrel. Weare, heasserts,thesincere
friends of the German people. Only that friendship has
enabled the Government of the United States to bear with
suchlongpatience
the acts of their rulers. It is merely
against an irresponsible Government in Germany, which
has thrown aside all considerations of humanity, that the
United States assumes a hostile attitude. What effect these
utterances will have in Germany-when they are known
t h e r e i t i s impossible to say. Theymaystimulate
the
popular resentment, already manifesting itself, against the
Prussian autocracy. But it is plainly possible that they
may be taken, for the time being, as only addinginsult
injury, and actually stiffen the German resistance. Which
way the result will lean, only the event can determine. But
all must be grateful to the President for saying what he
T h e European Solvent
April 5,19171
The Nation
389
[Vd.104,No. 2701
390
German-American fellow-citizens-a
duty not merely governmental, but one which rests upon us all:
If we are not unreasoning we must realize that the GermanAmericans who are loyal t o this country are passing through an
experience of real anguish. The common figure of speech which
calls Germany their mother and America their wife is n o t exaggeratea. These,
fellow-citize?a,
neighbors, and worthy
co-workers in the upbuilding of America, are torn between two
sincere and honorable devotions. They are following the biblical
saying, they are leaving father and mother and cleaving t o the
wife. But-the necessity of choice is a bitter one.
It is a p a r t ~ o fgood citizenship end of common human feeling
to try t o help the German-Americans in this trial,t o avoid offending their susceptibilities, now naturally exaggerated, to t r y to
make them feel that w e do not doubt their loyalty while recognizing their sympathies.
We
How
Army?
arms, that was resorted to by Abraham Lincoln with inconsiderable success i n 1863; Canada has not yet come to it,
and Australia voted it down for overseas service last year.
It is not being considered to-day, f o r it is unnecessary now,
and would bring out so many millions that they could not
be organized or handled. Neither is it the desire of some
of those who urge it that this shall go into effect a t once.
Senator Chamberlain, for instance, has lately
been quoted
as saying that the thing to
do is to get universal service
voted now, t o g o into
when
war is over. Prom the
military point of view, t h a t is the only sensible policy, and
Washington reports are to the
effect that this is getting
to be the opinion of the War Department. It will undoubtedly be that of the
if it gets over its case of
nerves and settles down to consider the matter calmly. If
the country wishes universal service, that
is the policy to
pursue.
But what then are we to do? is the question. Must
we
raise an army of volunteers in the old American way, just,
as Kitchener raised his millions? Has not
Gen. Wood demonstrated that the old-fashioned volunteer system has inevitably meant waste, confusion, and loss
of life? To this
the answer is that there is no other way for us to-day, and
t h a t so far from being always a misfortune, it has worked
so remarkably
marvellouslyinAustraliaandCanada,and
inEnglanditselfthatconscription,when
it finally came,
added, it is stated, not above three hundred thousand more
to the field forces. Of course, much depends upon the efficiency with which the raising of an army is attended. Universal service and the calling out of a nation in arms may
be wholly useless if there are inefficiency, waste, and corruptionasinRussiaduringtheJapanese
war andto a
lesser extent in the present
one. But, it is asked, are we
not in for another such experience
as we had in the Civil
War and the war with Spain?
Not at all. What our amateur newspaper strategists are
overlooking is that there were never before such favorable
conditions for raising volunteers, and that by far-reaching
legislation the Congress has tried to make impossible the
so greatlyagainst efficiency
verydefectswhichmilitated
in o u r previous wars. It was nearly two years ago that this
law was signed-April
25, 1915-only two years ago that
theGeneral
Staff, whichdrew
it andfathered
it, and
its blessing, looked upon
sent it forthtoCongresswith
the volunteer system as the only way in which the United
States would ever raise armies. But
it has been
cornpletely forgotten in the hysteria
of the last two years
as
if it had never been drawn. The law carefully prescribes
how the President shall raise an army
of volunteers after
Congress has empowered him to. It specifies that he must
follow the procedure of the regular army, the laws, orders,
and regulations of which will be binding upon either the
militia called into service or the volunteers. In many other
matters the law calls for such changes in the organization
of volunteer troops that veterans of the Civil War will be
utterlystaggeredbyitsdifferentiationsfromwhatwere
the customs in 1861.
Themostradicalchange
is intheselection
of officers,
for they are all to be appointed by the President, subject
to confirmation by the Senate; whereas in 1861 they were
allappointedby
the Governors of theStates.Doubtless,
Governors will suggest men now, but the President does not
have to acceptthemunlesshesees
fit. Hemayappoint
every single. volunteer colonel from the regular army, for
ARD on the heels of the Russian revolution comes another great victory for democracy-the definite promise of the leaclers of both the- English parties that English
women shall receive the vote as soon as the registry lists
of voters are made
The promise has already been confirmed by a vote of the House of Commons, so that the vict o r y is assured. Though there may be delays, rejoicing is in
order. A great political battle has been won, =and won in the
heat of an unparalleled conflict, in the turmoil of which the
leaders of those who believed in the sex-line in politics have
laid down their arms and surrendered at discretion. They
can do nothing else, they say, in view of the remarkable sacrifices and the patient heroism of English women in a war
as to the entering on which the women had no voice ; and
theyfreelyadmit
that if the women were towithdraw
their aid from the Government the latter could not go on.
Thus has the war-time strategy
of Field-Marshal Pankhurst resulted in a stupendous success. At the outbreak of
hostilities she induced her followers t o lay down their arms
and to enlist in the struggleon the side of the Government,
with which they had been waging a private war
of their
own. Inher manifesto to her followers sheforetold the
very victory which has come to pass, asserting her belief
that if women would make themselves indispensable to the
nation, no political leaders, however opinionated and reac-