TELL THE TRUTH AND SPEED UP THE WAR
January 4, 1918
Any man who at this time leaves undone anything to increase our fighting efficiency is a foe of America and a friend of Germany. The man who objects to fearless exposure and criticism of the governmental shortcomings which must be exposed if they are to be corrected is a foe to America and a friend to Germany, and in addition shows that he possesses a thoroughly servile mind. The critic whose criticism is not constructive, or who treats shortcomings as causes for being disheartened about the war instead of as an incentive to strive for the greater efficiency in waging the war and in preparing for the future, is a foe to America and a friend to every present or future foe of America.
When the Administration stands against universal military training and talks with vague looseness of future paper guarantees against war, it renders it imperatively necessary to bring home to our people the tremendous damage done by our lamentable folly in refusing to prepare since August, 1914. It is a betrayal of our country to protest against telling the truth for this purpose.
This is the twelfth month since Germany in effect declared war on us and we broke relations with Germany. We have developed our military strength so slowly that as yet we would be wholly unable to defend ourselves if we were not protected by the fleets and armies of our allies. No modern armies can fight without training in modern war methods and without modern field guns, auto rifles and airplanes. As yet we only have either cannon borrowed from the hard-pressed French or else wooden cannon. We have no auto rifles. Our airplanes are still unfit to fight modern war planes.
The Patriotic Education Society of Washington has done capital constructive work in truthfully telling our needs. It has fearlessly shown our dreadful shortage in shipbuilding and the deceitful wording of government announcements designed to conceal this shortage. It has shown the vital need of our, at this late time, bending every energy to building ships by working three eight-hour shifts a day in order to put our soldiers and supplies at the front at the earliest possible moment. The building of transport ships was the central feature of the problem we faced on January 31 a year ago. It was not only a misfortune, but a crime, to neglect it, as for nine months afterward it was neglected. The newspapers have just printed the statement that Colonel House’s committee reports that it is of the utmost importance to get our troops quickly to the front. Of course it is. Every man of broad vision has known this for a year. If there had been more fearless truth-telling during the year there would have been much less governmental delay and inefficiency.
Tell the truth and speed up the war. Tell the truth only for constructive purposes and only with the unalterable determination to exert every particle of our strength at the earliest possible moment, so as to win peace by overwhelming victory.