Burleson County Ledger and News-Chronicle (Caldwell, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, December 10, 1915 Page: 5 of 8
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PRESIOENT'S m
15 TOME'
Annual Wessa:3 Pleads for Con-
certed and Efftoie.it
Action.
FOR GREATER REGULAR ARMY
* f'
t
Sitirsn Soldiery Part of HI Plan—
Problem of Commercial Mobilization
Stated—Dsloyaity Among Car-
tain Elementa in Our Na*
ttonal Life Serioua
Menace to Peace.
Washington. Dec. 7.—President Wil-
ton today delivered the follow lug mes-
us« to congress.
Gentlemen of the Congress: Since 1
laat had the privilege of addressing
you on the state of the I'nlon the war
of n&tiona on the other aide of the sea.
which had then only begun to discioae
.ta portentoua proportion , has extend-
ed its threatening and sinister acope
until It baa swept within its flame
some portion of every quarter of the
globe not excepting our own hemi-
aphere, has altered the whole face of
international affairs, and now preaents
a prospect of reorganization and re-
conatruction such as statesmen and
peoples have never been called upou
to attempt before.
We have stood apart, studiously neu-
tral. It was our manifest duty to do
so. Not only did we have no part or
lBtereat In the policies which seem to
have brought the conflict on; it was
necessary. If a universal catastrophe
was to be avoided, that a limit should
be set to the sweep of destructive war
and that some part of the great family
of nations should keep the processes
of peace alive. If only to prevent col-
lective economic ruin and the break-
down throughout the world of the In-
dustries by which its populations are
fed and sustained It was mauifestly
the duty of the self-governed nations
of thia hemisphere to redress. If pos-
sible. the balance of economic loss
aud confusion in the other. If they
could do nothing more. In the day of
readjustment and recuperation we
earnestly hope and believe that they
can be of infinite service.
American Nation Partner*.
In this neutrality, to which they
were bidden not only by their separate
life and their habitual detachment
from the politics of Europe but also by
a clear perception of International
duty, the states of America have be-
come conscious of a new and more
vital community interest and moral
partnership In affairs, more clearly
conscious of the many common sym-
pathies and Interests and duties which
bid them stand together.
There waa a time in the early days
of our own great nation and of the re-
publics flghtlng their way to inde-
pendence in Central and South Amer-
ica when the government of the Unit-
ed States looked upon Itself as In some
sort the guardian of the republics to
the south of her as against any en-
croachments or efforts at political con-
trol from the other side of the water;
felt It Ita duty to play the part ev«n
without Invitation from them; and I
think that we can claim that the toak
was undertaken with a true and dis-
interested enthusiasm for the freedom
of the Americas ana the unmolested
self-government of her Independent
peoples. But It was always difficult to
maintain such a role without offense
to tha pride of the peoples whose free-
dom of action we sought to protect,
and without provoking serious miscon
captions of our motives, and every
thoughtful man of affairs must wel-
come the altered circumstances of the
new day tn whose light we now stand,
when there is no claim of guardian-
ship or thought of wards but. Instead,
a full and honorable association as of
partners between ourselves and our
neighbors, In the Interest of all Amer-
ica. north and south. Our concern for
the independence and prosperity of the
states of Central and South America
Is not altered. We retain unabated
the spirit that has Inspired us through-
out the wholo Ufe of our government
and which was so frankly put into
words by President Monroe. We still
mean always to tnake a common cause
of national Independence and of po-
litical liberty In America.
Attltuds Toward Mexico.
Wo have been put to the test in
the case of Mexico, and we hnvo stood
the teat Whether we have benefited
Mexico by the course we have pursued
remains to be seen. Her fortunes are
In her own hands. But we have at
leaat proved that we will not take ad-
vantage of her in her distress and un-
dertake to Impose upon her an order
and government of our own choosing.
We will aid and befriend Mexico, but
we will not coerce her; and our course
with regard to her ought to be suffi-
cient proof to all America that we
seek no political sugerainty or selflsh
control.
The moral Is, that the states o!
are not hostile rivals but
operating rrtends and that their grow-
ing sense of community of Interest,
alike in matters political and to mat*
ters economic, is likely to give them
a new significance as factors In Inter
national affairs and in the polltleal
history of the world.
Drawing the Amsrioas Together.
There is. I venture to point out. an
especial significance Just now attach
iug to this whole matter of drawlnr
the Americas together in bonds of lion
nrabie partnership and mutua ad*ar
tage because of the economic readjust-
ments which the world must inevi-
tably witness within the next genera-
tion. when peace shall have at last re-
sumed its healthful tasks. In the per-
formance of these tasks 1 believe the
Americas to be destined to plav their
parts together I am interested to fix
your sttention on this prospect now
because unless you take it within your
view and permit the full significance
of It to command your thought I can
net find the right light tn which to set
forth the particular matter that lies
at the very front of my whole thought
as I address you today I mean na-
tional defense.
No one who really comprehends the
j spirit of the great people for whom
I we are appointed to speak can fall to
perceive that their passion is fot
peace, their genius best displayed Ir.
the practice of the arts of peace. Great
democracies are not belligerent. Thej
do not seek or desire war. Theii
thought is of individual liberty and or
the free labor that supports life and
the uncensored thought that quicken
it. Conquest and dominion are not ii
our reckoning, or agreeable to our
principles. But Just because we de
mand unmolested development an'
the undisturbed government of ou
own lives upon our own principies o
right and liberty, we resent, fron
whatever quarter it may come, the ap
gression we ourselves will not pra<
tice We insist upon security in pros*
cuting our self-chosen lines of natioi.
al development. We do more than tha:
We demand It also for others.
Question of Preparedness.
Out of such thoughts grow all otr
policies. We regard war merely as
means of asserting the rights of a pe<
pie against aggression. And we sr.
as fiercely jealous of coercive or dk
tatorla! power within our own natic
as of aggression from withput. W
will not maintain a standing army ex
cept for uses which are as necessar
tn times of peace as in times of war
and we shall always see to it that ou
military peace establishment is n
larger than is actually and contiin.
ously needed for the useis of days i;
which no enemies move against uf
But we do believe in a body of trr
citizens ready and sufficient to tak
care of themselves and of the goven.
menta which they have set up to serv<
them.
But war has never been a mere mtu
ter of men and guns It is a thing oi
disciplined might. If our citizens ar>
ever to fight effectively upon a sudde::
summons they must know how rno'i
ern fighting is done, and what to <l<
when the summons comes to rende;
themselves immediately available am!
Immediately effective. And the gov
ornment must be their servant In this-
matter must supply them with tlK>
training they need to take care of
themselves and of it.
It is with these ideals in mind that
the plans of the department of war
for more adequate national defense
were conceived which will be laid be-
fore you, and which I urge you to
sanction and put into effect as soon
as they can be properly scrutinized
and discussed. They seem to me the
essential first stops, and they seem
to me for the present sufficient.
Larger Army Plsn.
They contemplate an increase of the
standing force of the regular army
from its present strength of 5,U?3
officers and 102,985 enlisted men of
all serviros to a strength of 7,136
officers and 134,707 enlisted men.
oi^ 141.84 H, all told, all services
rank and file, by the addition
of fifty-two companies of coast
artillery fifteen companies of engi
neers, ten regimentB of infantry, four
regiments of field artillery, and four
aero squadrons, besides 750 officers
required for a great variety of extra
service, especially the all important
duty of training the citizen force of
which I shall presently speak, 792
noncommissioned (¡ Ulcers for serv-
ice in drill, recruiting and the
like, and the necessary quota of en
listed men for the quartermaster
corps, tho hospital corps, the ord
nance department, and other similar
auxiliary services, These are the ad
dlttons necessary to render the army
adequate for its present duties, duties
which it has to perform not only upon
our own continental coasts and bor-
ders and at our interior army posts,
hut also In the Philippines, In the
Hawaiian Islands, at the Isthmus, and
In Porto Rico.
By way of making the country ready
to assert some part of Its real power
promptly and upon a larger scale,
should occasion arise, the plan also
contemplates supplementing the army
by a force of 400,000 disciplined cltl-
sens, raised la incrementa of 138,-
000 a year throughout a period
of three years. Thia ft it proposed
|o do hy i procesa of enlistment un-
der which the serviceable men of Ule
country would be asked to hind them-
selves to serve with the oolors for par*
pose of training for short periods
throughout three years, and to oome
to the oolors at call at any time
throughout an additional "furlough"
period of three years. This force of
400.000 men would he provided with
personal accoutrements as faat aa
enlisted and their equipment for
the field made ready to be sup*
plied at any time. They would be
assembled for training at stated in-
tervals at convenient places in asso-
ciation with suitable unite of the
regular army. Their period of annual
training would not necessarily exceed
two months in the year.
At least so much by the way of
preparation for defenae seems to me
to be abaolutely imperative now. We
cannot do lesa.
The Naval Program.
The program which wtll be laid be-
fore you by the secretary of the navy
is similarly conceived. It Involves
only a shortening of the time within
which plans long matured shall be
carried out; but It doee make definite
and explicit a program which has
heretofore been only Implicit, held in
the minds of the two committees on
naval affairs and disclosed In the de-
bates of the two houses but nowhere
formulated or formally adopted. It
seems to me very clear that tt will be
to the advantage of the country for
the congress to adopt a comprehen-
sive plan for putting the navy upon
a final footing of strength and effi-
ciency and to press that plan to com-
pletion within the next five years.
We have always looked to the navy of
the country as our first and chief
line of defense; we have always seen
tt to be our manifest course of pru-
dence to be strong on the seas. Year
by year we have been creating a navy
which now ranks vary high Indeed
among the navies of the maritime na-
tions. We should now definitely de-
termine how we shall complete what
we have begun, and bow soon.
The program to be laid before you
contemplates the construction within
five years of ten battleships, six bat-
tle cruisers, ten scout cruisers, fifty
destroyers, fifteen fleet submarines,
eighty-five coast submarines, four gun-
boats, one hospital ship, two ammuni-
tion ships, two fuel oil ships, and one
regular repair ship. It Is proposed
that of this number we shall the first
year provide for the construction of
two battleships, two battle cruisers,
three scout cruisers, fiften destroyers,
tlve fleet submarines, twenty-five coast
submarines, two gunboats, and one
hospital ship; the second year, two
battleships, one scout cruiser, ten de
stroyers, four fleet submarines, fifteen
coast submarines, one gunboat, and
one fuel oil ship; the third year, two
battleships, one battle cruiser, two
scout cruisers, five destroyers, two
fleet submarines, and fifteen coast
submarines; the fourth year, two bat
tleships, two battle cruisers, two scout
cruisers, ten destroyers, two fleet sub
marines, fifteen coast submarines, one
ammunition ship, and one fuel oi'
ship; and the fifth year, two battle
ships, one battle cruiser, two scotr
cruisers, ten destroyers, two fleet sub
marines, fifteen coast submarines, on<
gunboat, one ammunition ship, an;,
one repair ship.
More Men for the Navy.
Tho secretary of the navy is asking
also for the immediate addition to the
personnel of the navy of 7.5ftft sail
ors, i.200 apprentice seamen, ami
1.500 marines. This increase would
be sufficient to care for the ships
which are to be completed with-
in the fiscal year 1917 and also for the
number of men which must be put in
training to man the ships which will
be completed early In 1918. It Is also
necessary that the number of midship
men at the Naval academy at Annap-
oIIb should be increased by at least
three hundred
If this full program should be car-
ried out ve should have built or build-
ing In 1921. according to the estimates
of survival and standards of classifi-
cation followed by the general board
of the department, an effective navy
consisting of 27 battleships, of the first
Une, 6 battle cruisers, 25 battleships
of the second line, 10 armored cruis-
ers. 13 scout cruisers, 5 first-class
cruisers, 3 second-class cruisers. 10
third-class cruisers. 108 destroyers. 18
fleet submarines. #>7 coast submarines.
6 mo litors , 20 gunboats. 4 supply
ships. 15 fuel ships. 4 transports,
3 tenders to torpedo vessels, 8 ves-
sels of special types, and 2 ammuni-
tion ships. This would be a navy fit-
ted to our needs and worthy of our
traditions.
But armies and Instruments of war
are only part of what has to be con-
sidered If we are to consider the su-
preme matter of national self-sufficien-
cy and security In all Its aspects.
There are other great matters which
will be thrust upon our attention
whether wq will or not. There is. for
example, a very pressing question of
trade and shipping Involved In this
great problem of national adequacy.
It Is necessary for many weighty rea-
sons of national efficiency and devel-
opment that we should have a great
merchant marine.
It Is high time we repaired our mla-
take and resumed our commercial Inde-
Saved Girl's Life
"I want to tell you what wonderful benefit I have re-
ceived from the use of Thedford's Black-Draught" writes
Mr*. Sylvania Woods, of Clifton Milla, Ky.
"It certainly has no equal for la grippe, bad colds,
liver and stomach troubles. 1 firmly believe Black-Draught
saved my little girl's life. When she had the measles,
they went in on her, but one good dose of Thedford's
Black-Draught made them break out, and she has had no
more trouble. I shall never be without
BLACK-Draught
In my home." For constipation, indigestion, headache, dixi-
ness, malaria, chills and fever, biliousness, and all similar
ailments, Thedford's Black-Draught has proved itself a safe,
reliable, gentle and valuable remedy.
If you suffer from any of these complaints, try Black-
Draught It is a medicine of known merit Seventy-five
years of splendid success proves its value. Good for
á young and old. For sale everywhere. Price 25 cents. ¡
iWMMiWiitiStlfimW
: rn :J
U/P still have a full stock of OATS,
"L HAY, CORN, CHOPS, BRAN
: Cotton Seek Meal, Etc.
Also will have a full supply of Garden Seed, Cane,
I, Seed, all kinds of Seed Corn, Cotton Seed, Etc.
Evsrythlng aold strictly for CASH. We will
appreciate your trade.
i Matthews & Giddings, i
♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦ ♦♦ ♦><1111miMiHMinmiie
YOUR DRY GOODS BILL
Now that you are marketing your cotton
come around and let us sell you that bill
of Dry Goods that you will need for the fall
and winter, our Goods are clean and simple
and our prices are as low as consistent witii
the goods we sell.
Val E. Herbst.
IMIIUH
pendence on the seas.
Need of Merchant Marine.
For it is a question of Independ-
ence. If other nations go to war or
seek to hamper each other's com- •
merce. our merchants, it seems, are j
at their mercy, to do with as they j
please. We must use their ships, and
use them as they determine. We have
not ships enough of our own. We
cannot handle our own commerce on
the seas Our independence is provin-
cial, and is only on land and within
our own borders. We are not likely
to be permitted to use even the ships
of other nations tn rivalry of their
own trade, and are without means to
extend our commerce even where the
doors are wide open and our goods
desired. Such a situation is not to
be endured. It Is of capital Import-
ance not only that the United States
should he its own carrier on the seas
and enjoy the economic independence
which only an adequate merchant ma-
rine would give it. but also that the
American hemisphere as a whole
should enjoy a like indeipndence and
self-sufficiency, If it Is not to be drawn
Into the tangle of European affairs.
Without such Independence the whole
question of our political unity and
self-determination is very seriously
clouded and complicated indeed.
Moreover, we can develop no true
or effective American policy without
ships of our own—not ships of war.
but ships of peace, carrying goods and
carrying much more; creating friend-
ships and rendering Indispensable
services to all Interests on this side
the water.
Must Provide Ships.
With a view to meeting these
pressing necessities of our commerce
and availing ourselves at the earliest
possible moment of the present un-
paralleled opportunity of linking the
two Americas together in bonds of mu-
tual Interest and service, an oppor-
tunity which may never return again
if we miss it now, proposals will be
made to the present congress for the
purchase or construction of ships to
be owned and directed by the govern-
ment similar to those made to the last
congress, but modified In some essen-
tial particulars. I recommend these
proposals to you for jour prompt ao-
I ceptance with tha more confidence
FREE FREE
To the Most Popular
Girl in Burleson
County
—ONE-
$15.00
BOX JACOBS CANDY
With every purchase made
from November 1st to Decem-
ber 28th you will get votes.
1 will have a large stock of
the best candies, apples, oran-
ges and nuts that money can
buy.
R. STRUWE, Jr.
Next Door to Post Office
HOUSTON & DRESCHER
Blacksmiths, Gunsm i t h s,
Woodworkmen, Wheel-
wrights and Horse*hoers.
Down town shop in charge of
Eil I (reseller with Jack Boyle
Assistant.
West end shop In charge of
Dr. J. B. Houston with G. P-
Allen. Assistant.
Moth Simps Guarantee All Work.
Dr. J. B. Houston, Veterinarian,
Give* Prompt Service day and Night
Shop Phone 201, Residanca 128
To Drive Out Malaria
And Build Up The System
Take the Old Standard GROVB'8
TASTELESS chill TONIC. Yon know
what you are taking, as tha formula is
printed on «very label, showing it la
Quinine and Iron in a tasteless form..
Tha Quinine drives out malaria, the
Iron builds up the system. 90 cents
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Burleson County Ledger and News-Chronicle (Caldwell, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, December 10, 1915, newspaper, December 10, 1915; Caldwell, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth168951/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harrie P. Woodson Memorial Library.