Debate on the European Situation, Why America Went to War

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Excerpt from Debate on the European Situation, Why America Went to War: Speech by Hon. James D. Phelan, of California, in the Senate of the United States, July 23, 1917Mr. Phelan. Mr. President, I am very glad that this digression has intervened, as it gives me an opportunity to call the attention of the Senate to the fact that under the guise of peace there has been a great deal of discussion that might savor of treason. When a country is engaged in war and calling upon its resources of men and treasure, at the very time when the moral effect is most desired, a futile discussion of peace, no matter how much we may desire it, is out of place and prob ably embarrassing, not only to the Executive, but to the Army and the Navy in the field and on the sea.I received yesterday a letter from an alarmed constituent, who inclosed me a paper published in Los Angeles, the American Woman, edited by Clara Shortridge Foltz, a brave and loyal woman, in which former Senator John D. Works has an article in answer to a patriotic appeal made by the editor to change his views on the war.He replies that it is a pretense to claim that the war is one waged for democracy, that it was inaugurated by us for the purpose of supplying a market for the manufacturers of muni tions and was inspired by corporate greed, and that it is a disgrace to humanity and a crime against civilization. I sup pose a Senator after he has departed from this body carries with him a certain amount of prestige, certainly among his neighbors and his friends, and the responsibility which is upon him for his utterance is not removed by the fact that he no longer sits in this Chamber. I - is service here was too recent for me to expatiate upon the character of the man. We know his pacifist views, and those views, sir, were for the most part. Expressed before we were engaged in war and during the period of proposed preparedness. But now that we are actually at war, I must say that any comment of the character contained in this article, from which I will brie¿y quote, not only involves great danger to his country by undermining that sentiment upon which this war must be conducted and that public opinion upon which our Government rests, but in conveying to the enemy even the intimation that among a considerable body of our citizens - claimed by him to be 75 per cent, if you please there is disloyalty and lack of harmony in prosecuting the war upon which we have embarked, and which is no longer a de batable question.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.