PAGE TWO ; rutSL.iv l e D u e k satikmi, march lith. loia
PREPAREDNESS
(T. B. HILL, Virgilina, Va.)
Editor Public Ledger:
You do me the honor to ' refer to
my recent visit to our County Seat
in your Editorial column, and also centralization of wealth, and surely
gave some of the conversation that we will as a (nation not make the
passed between us on Preparedness, fntQl miHnt0 fW in
this country. The Republican party
has by its legislation caused the cen
tralization of wealth, which is one
of the greatest dangers that threat
ens our civilization. Greece and
Rome survived everything except the
which was correct, l am more con
vrnced than when 1 wrote an open
letter to Mr. Stedman,that prepared
ness is worse than militarism, be
cause it combines with it British
navalism.
I still stand by my statement, that
the fellow with a chip on his should- party made at the Balitmore Conven-
izations made, in placing the wealth
and power of the nation in the hands
of the few instead of masses.
Therefore, I hold that in as much
as the platform of the Democratic
Announcement !
er is sure to eret into scrap. But dis-
eent from the view of Mr. Wilson
that big fellow is not likely to be at
tacked by the boys. It is as true as
life that it is always the bully -that
get licked, and that by a fellow much
under his size. There seems to be a
contempt for the bully in the heart
of humanity. No one likes him. I
have never known a really brave
man, who was not a lover of peace,
and slow to resent insults. So much
as an offset to Mr. Wilson's idea of
the immunity of the big fellow from
attack by the other fellows of the
campus.
tion made no mention, of such a navy
and such an army as is now advocat
ed by Mr. Wilson, that neither Mr.
Wilson, nor the Democrats of Con
gress have a right to pass such a re
volutionary measure, before the peo
ple pass upon it at the ballot box. Mr.
Wilson says that we are threatened
from no quarter. That no thoughtful
mam need feel any panic haste in the
matter. It is not long until the Demo
cratic Convention will meet in St.
Louis. That is the place to pass up
on such a revolutionary measure. I
believe that the people are the safest
i i wlTT,i.a- guardians- of their liberty. I believe
w j w w w w am w www w r m w. w w -w- m -rwrr
tion is to call the attention of the
tax payers to the fact that President
Wilson has at last defined his pre
paredness program so we can under
stand what he means by it. He said
on his recent sDeech-making tour
that he wanted the United States to
have a navy second to the navy of no
nation in the world. And I most
that the people yet know what sort
of government that will be best for
them. The Democrats will write an
other platform at the St. Louis Con
vention. The Republicans will write
their platform, and the people will
select the one best suited to their
need. The people evidently felt that
the Democrats at Balitmore wrote the
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night in connection with the other
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The picture for this Tuesday
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Am Ad M TMs Papip Wnl
. - , i.s.i measures in their nlatform best, snit-
respectiuiiy as ior wnat: exiamij i . ,n , . , ' ;
not for defensive purposes. The WJLW wnauu
ctiiu ct j-t; hi uci a. Lie juiigress w ouiu
never have been elected. Therefore
I feel that Mr. Wilson and the Demo
crats of Congress will violate their
navy League of New York who seem
to be backing Mr. Wilson, say it is
the duty of every nation to grow
richer and richer by any honorable
means, such as armed conquest. But Pledge to the people if they do not
live up to the letter of that Conven
tion.
One more word. I wish to call at
tention to one important fact. The
advocates of preparedness are not
giving the facts concerning our navy
as they are. But are suppressing
them. Mr. Wilson says that our
navy ramks third with the navies of
the world. Now I have before me
evidence by the navy experts of the
world to show that we rank second
only to the navy of Great Britain.
And that battleship for battleship
there is not a navy superior to ours.
Mr. Wilson in none of his speeches
made a detailed comparison of our
And that it was best aiaiT,with any otner navey of the
worm, uoes any one oeiieve for one
some will say that's all stuff. It goes
to show that there are dangerous
forces at work in our nation that are
to be reckoned with. It plainly
shows that the advocates of prepar
edness are believers in militarism
and navalism. They may say that
they want the greatest navy in the
world for purpose of peace only, but
it nevertheless is militarism. Great
Britian said that her navy was only
for selfdefense. Germaaiy said that
her great army was only for self de
fense. Let's admit that they were
sincere in it, and were conscientious
in believing that it was best for
Great Britian to have the largest navy
in the world.
for Germany to have the greatest
army in the world. Yet the more
thoughtful are now admitting that
the conscious strength of both Eng
land and Germany brought on the
awful conflict and set three fourths
of the world on fire. Great Britian
had the greatest navy in the world
but it did not make any body afraid
of her. Germany had the greatest
army in the world, but who was a
fraid of her? And I for one would
like to avoid the things that have
brought such ruin and sufferings to
Europe.
It is said that even Homer some
ties nod. And it is an admitted fact
that great men make mistakes and
sometimes blunder. Champ Clark
would have been President today, but
for the blunder in his speech on re
ciprocity with Canada when he jok
ingly remarked about annexing Can
ada to the United States. Bryan
would have been President of the
United States but for the blundering
remark about the government own
ership of railroads. Mr. Wilson would
not be President today, had Mr. Taft
vetoed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Bill.
Mr. Wilson has brought a cloud over
his administration by his prepared
ness measure. He, himself, says,
"no thoughtful man need feel any
panic haste in the matter." If that
be true why divide his party over a
useless thing. And an echo, answer
why! I was forced to feel a sense of
defeat the other day when a staunch
Republican said with a sound of tri
umph in his voice, "How does this
sound? 'Minority Leader Mann de
fends the President's preparedness
program against the democrats.' "
Mr. Wilson could now allay all op
position to his preparedness program
if he would show that by actual com
parison that our navy ranked second
to the navy of Germany. But that
he cannot do. Mr. Stedman would
have carved my open letter to him
into shreds if he could have disprov
ed my statements. Mr. Stedman may
not consider me worthy of his steel.
And I may not be. The question at
issue, is not how learned are either
of us; for I am fully persuaded that
wisdom will not fade from the earth
when both of us have passed away.
But were the facts set forth by me
against preparedness well founded. I
feel that as a voter and as a tax payer
and as a life-long Democrat, who
never scratched a ticket, besides
other considerations that I might
mention Mr. Stedman was in duty
bound to reply to my letter. If Mr.
Stedman is in favor of preparedness
as the papers report him to be there
are many reasons why he should ex
plain his position to his constituents.
One reason in particular is, the plat
form of the Democratic party made
at the Baltimore Convention makes
no mention of such a navy and such
an army as is now propsed by Mr.
Wilson. Another reason is, this pre
paredness program is a revolutionary
measure. One powerful reason is,
this preparedness issue was started
by the Republicans. It is Republi
can doctrine, and I have been con
vinced from early manhood that Re
publicanism is a dangerous thing for
DAVIS, THE HARDWARE MAN
pays the freight on your roofing,
your wire, and everything else, tf
moment that Mr. Wilson would not
have done so, if the facts of the com
parison would have been favorable
to his postition. Mr. Wilson did not
tell the people that since 1905 that
we .have spent upon our army and
navy the sum of $2,546,201,171.17.
Is this not an ernomous amount of
money? And yet after all this
money has been spent upon the army
and navy within the past few years
the advocates of preparedness say
that we are yet at the mercy of any
European nation. Who believes it?
Certainly not the reading portion of
the public.
You do me the honor, Mr. Coble, to
place me with Claud Kitchin and
William Jennings Bryan in this meas
ure. It is exalted company. God
bless Claud Kitchin. I believe that
God called him to Congress for this
very hour. It is' to him that the peo
ple are now looking for deliverance
from this great evil. He has defied
the worshipper of mammon, and
towers high above that sordid crew
which are clamoring for millions and
millions upon millions to carry cru
cible steel and Bethlehem Steel, Du
Pont Powder, and all the rest of war
munitions to new high levels on Wall
street. Claud Kitchin is today the
one tower of strength between the
toilers of the republic, and those who
would bind new burden upon their
backs that are now already burdened.
He has forever enthroned himself in
the hearts of the people. They love
him, and they are not afraid to trust
him. No son of North Carolina has
ever reflected more honor upon the
grand old State than has Claud Kit
chin, the friend of the poor and the
oppressed. When the future histor
ian shall write the history of the men
of today whose lives were benedict
ions to the world, none will shine
with more winning brilliancy than
the life of Claud Kitchin.
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MMSEKS
CREEDMOOR, N. C.
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