PRESIDENT WILSON'S MESSAGE.
THREE months ago—to be precise, on September 12th— we published an article entitled " A Word to America." In that article, with all the emphasis at our command, we urged upon the American people the imperative duty of considering the question of national defence, and of taking suitable action. We pointed out that in all human probability the Allies would beat the Germans, but that, since all human calcula- tions were fallible, it might be that the Germans would beat the Allies, and that in that case on America would devolve the duty of protecting the English ideals of civil freedom, the right of self-government, and the rights of democracy. If Germany should come to dominate the Old World, it was, we argued, unthinkable that she would leave the New World alone, for the world was not big enough to contain the antagonistic ideals of militarism and liberty. Unless the unthinkable took place, and America were willing to become a kind of vassal State to Germany, the Germans would have to extinguish what they would regard as the dangerous torch of liberty on the other side of the Atlantic. If not, it might some day fire their own Imperial buildings. Therefore we urged upon America the need for making preparation for national defence before it was too late. We may perhaps be allowed to quote a passage from our article on the preparations required to make her safe :— " What we should like to see America do is considerably to augment her Fleet, to raise her Regular Army to at least a quarter of a million, with a Reserve, and to make the Militia a National and not a State Militia, and increase it to at least a million men in all. But perhaps Americans will say : 'That would be a very dangerous policy. It might provoke Germany to attack us at once and before we are ready. Our condition may be one for anxiety, but do not let us make it worse by rashness.' We are bound to admit there is something in that view, but, at any rate, even the Germans could not claim to dictate to America as to whether she should increase her store of the munitions of war. Not even the military caste of Prussia would venture upon such an outrage as that, At least, then, let America set her arms and munition factories to work, so that she may feel that if the need were to come she would not be faced with the worst tragedy that a great and strong nation could be faced with—that of having millions of men at her disposal, but all useless because they have no arms. We shall be accused, no doubt, of talking as if armed mobs made an army. We are fully alive to the fact that they do not. But we will say this : there is one thing essential to the soldier, and that is the rifle. If the rifles are not forthcoming it is not worth while even to try to make an army. Any nation, however, that has rifles may, at any rate, attempt to defend itself, and who knows that it would not succeed, as Grant and Sherman and Sheridan succeeded, in hammering an army into shape as the war proceeded? Therefore, once again, we would warn the President of the United States and Congress not to trust to a chapter of accidents, but to see to it that if America is to defend herself she shall be in a position to do the work."
We confess to no small sense of pride in finding that America's first citizen, the President of the United States, has now spoken to his countrymen in a similar spirit. The tiny whisper of the English journalist has been taken up by a voice which will be heard by the ears of a hundred million of men. It is true, no doubt, that not only does President Wilson give counsel to his countrymen in terms which compared to ours might be represented by a thousand millions to one, but also that he speaks from a very different standpoint—the standpoint of the convinced pacifist. That, however, we venture to say, is a non-essential fact. What is essential is that, though by so different a road, he has reached exactly the point which we reached in our article three months ago—the need for America to increase her means of defence. To show that we are not exaggerating we will put before our readers verbatim the passage in the Presidential Message which deals with the question of armaments :- " We have always found means to defend ourselves against attack and shall find means whenever it may be necessary. The dread of the power of any other nation we are incapable of. We are the true friend of all nations because we threaten none, covet the possession of none, and desire the overthrow of none. Therein lies our greatness. We, as the champions of peace and concord, just now should be particularly jealous of this distinction, because it is the dearest at present. I hope that this reputation may presently in God's providence bring us an opportunity, seldom vouchsafed to any nation, to counsel and obtain peace in the world. If asked, Are you ready to defend yourselves ?' we reply, 'Most assuredly, to the utmost.' Yet we shall not turn America into an armed camp. We must depend in every time of national peril, not upon a standing Army nor upon a reserve Army, but upon the citizenry, trained and accustomed to arms. It will be the right American policy to provide a system by which every citizen volun- teering may be made familiar with the use of modern arms and the rudiments of drill and manoeuvre. The National Guard should be developed and strengthened. More than this would merely mean that we had lost our self-possession, been thrown off our balance by a war with which we have nothing to do. A powerful Navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defence, but who shall tell us now what sort of Navy to build ? The country has been misinformed. We have not been negligent of national defence. We shall profit by the lesson of every new experience, every new circumstance, and what is needed will be adequately done."
We have nothing but respectful praise for the fine spirit in which President Wilson's Message is conceived. All we want to urge upon the American people is that action, and efficient action, should follow on his words. We quite agree that it is the greatness and glory of America to be the true friend of all nations, to "threaten none, covet the possession of none, and desire the overthrow of none." No ideal could be higher or better worth preserving. We also are entirely with President Wilson when he says that the American people should be specially proud of being the champions of peace and concord. But we would urge him and his fellow-citizens not to be content with general expressions, but, in America's own vigorous language, to " make good." Americans must not feed themselves on the enervating food of generalization. Let them be lovers of peace, but let them take thought how to defend its citadel. Artemus Ward, in one of those pieces of inspired humour which delighted our fathers in the " sixties," grimly remarked that, though the pen might be mightier than the sword, it stood a very slim chance against the needle-gun! Generous thoughts and generous feelings are mighty things, no doubt, but, like the pen, they would stand a very slim chance against a German machine gun or the howitzers which shattered the forts of Liege, Namur, and Antwerp. The Angel of Peace, if she is not to be smothered with artillery fire, needs very strong protectors. As friends of America, we are delighted with President Wilson's answer to the question, " Are we ready ?"—" Most assuredly, to the utmost." But we are bound to urge our flesh and blood across the Atlantic to make quite sure that the "utmost" is the utmost not in courage, chivalry, and moral determination, but in material, for in these days the man whose courage is not supported by good arms goes like a sheep to the slaughter. When President Wilson tells us that the American people will not turn America into an armed camp we are entirely with him. It is not necessary for America to have a huge standing Army. She can trust the citizenry—why not the good old phrase beloved of Lincoln, "the common people "?—when the citizenry are, in Presi- dent Wilson's phrase, "trained and accustomed to arms." We must remind President Wilson, however, that at the present moment the American people are not only not trained and accustomed to arms, but, what is worse, that they do not possess arms or ammunition to put into the hands of a citizenry, trained or untrained. We venture to say once more what we said in our original " Word to America." What America ought to do is, while there is yet time, to prepare the material for the improvisation of an Army of national defence, should the need come upon her. And she should remember that the less well trained and established the Army is the more need is there that the equipment should be the very best in the world. A great artist can draw with a stick dipped in ink ; a great tennis player cantake a shovel from the parlour fire-irons and play with it a very creditable game ; a great polo player can make something of a game on a cunning donkey ; but the amateur and the beginner want the very best tools to help them.
The best model for America, in our opinion, is the Swiss Army. With a population so vast as that of America it would in all probability be quite enough to give every male citizen a competent training in arms in his youth, and then to trust to volunteering from this trained citizenry, pro- vided always that the Government had in their arsenals plenty of rifles and plenty of guns. If, in addition to learning to read, write, and cipher, every young American had a few months' compulsory training, as in New Zealand and Australia, there would be no fear of militarism growing up, and yet when men flocked to the colours in a crisis they would know their drill and know how to shoot. To make this system efficient it must not be a, question of selected men, but of every one. Every male citizen who had reached the age of twenty-one should already have been obliged either to go through six months' recruit training and then have his name entered upon the Reserve, or else to serve for four years in an improved State Militia. That in time would give America a reservoir of men trained to arms into which she could dip when the need arose. She must remember, however, that though in this way she could secure plenty of infantry soldiers and plenty of mounted corps, in the case of the specialist branches, the Artillery and the Engineers and the General Staff, she must not trust to improvisation. She must act instead on the very wise principle acted on by the Boers, who, trusting as they did to their commandos for the rank-and- file, always maintained a, regular professional artillery. America should have, and could have, professional artillery corps and machine-gun sections large enough to provide artillery and machine guns for an Army of a couple of million men. Indeed, America's Regular Army should practically consist of Artillery and Engineers. To be specific, we would leave the present American standing Army as it is—a, very useful Federal Police Force—but make all additions to it consist of Artillery and Engineers ; the latter, of course, in much smaller numbers than the gunners.
We will end with a riddle which we hope will not be thought irrelevant by our American readers. How does the American "citizenry, trained and accustomed to arms," differ from the English Territorials or the men of the New Army, raised for the duration of the war ? Why should the one description of the fighting man inspire the friend of peace, and the other send cold shivers down his back ? For ourselves, we give it up.
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