"1683-1920" / The Fourteen Points and What Became of Them—Foreign Propaganda in the Public Schools—Rewriting the History of the United States—The Espionage Act and How It Worked—"Illegal and Indefensible Blockade" of the Central Powers—1,000,000 Victims of Starvation—Our Debt to France and to Germany—The War Vote in Congress—Truth About the Belgian Atrocities—Our Treaty with Germany and How Observed—The Alien Property Custodianship—Secret Will of Cecil Rhodes—Racial Strains in American Life—Germantown Settlement of 1683 and a Thousand Other Topics

by Frederick Franklin Schrader

Representative Kitchin declared that he expected his vote against war to end his political career, but that he nevertheless could not act against his conscientious convictions. A rampant Southern fire-eater named Heflin, hailing from Alabama, attacked Kitchin and declared that the latter’s attitude should prompt him to resign from Congress, as he did not represent the opinion of the country.

The answer to this suggestion was a volley of hisses from the Democratic side of the House; and while Miss Rankin, tears in her eyes as she found herself confronted with the serious problem of doing a popular thing or following her convictions, declared in a broken voice, “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war—I vote no,” applause greeted her decision even from those who were voting the other way.

Kitchin was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which has in charge the appropriations necessary to carry on the war. He distinctly announced that if war were declared he would present no obstructions to its successful conduct but would do all that was required of him as a member of the House.

In the main the debate was conducted with marked decorum. Little acrimonious discussion developed. The supporters of the resolution calmly and seriously declared that a state of war really existed as a result of German violations of American rights, while the opponents of war insisted that the German submarine campaign was forced by the illegal British blockade, which was as much a violation of American rights as submarine warfare.

The same apathy which characterized the situation on the floor in general marked the reception of the speeches. Applause at best was scattered, and the absence of patriotic display was noticeable. Members were in a serious mood and talked and voted with great solemnity. Kitchin, before delivering his stirring anti-war speech, had spent six hours in consultation with proponents and opponents of war, and decided to oppose the resolution only after he had carefully weighed his action.

The only member from Texas who voted against war was Representative McLemore, the author of the famous McLemore resolution, whose adoption was intended to forestall the possibility of war with Germany.

In the House the opening speech against the resolution was delivered by Representative Cooper, of Wisconsin, who made an eloquent plea in behalf of his contention that the United States should proceedagainst England as well as against Germany, as both had equally acted illegally and indefensibly in violating American rights. If we had cause for war against one we had as just cause against the other offender. Mr. Cooper was the ranking Republican member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House.

The only vote against war from Ohio, out of a total of 24 in both Houses, including Nicholas Longworth, the son-in-law of Theodore Roosevelt, was cast by Representative Sherwood of Toledo. He enlisted in the Union Army April 16, 1861, as a private and was mustered out as Brigadier-General October 8, 1865; was in 43 battles and 123 days under fire and was six times complimented in special orders by commanding generals for gallant conduct in battle; commanded his regiment in all the battles of the Atlanta campaign, and after the battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., upon the recommendation of the officers of his brigade and division, he was made brevet brigadier general by President Lincoln for long and faithful service and conspicuous gallantry at the battles of Resaca, Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville.

War of 1870-71.

War of 1870-71.—What may be expected from the process of rewriting our school histories of American events by the friends of England is patent from the manner in which some of the most vital historical data of the world’s history was distorted during the war. For example, it has been persistently dinned into the minds of Americans that France was trapped into war with Prussia in 1870 by the subtle diplomatic strategy of Bismarck, who is represented as having forged a dispatch. The facts are easily accessible in “Bismarck, the Man and the Statesman,” published by Harper Brothers in 1899, in which the episodes and events, including the manner of the alleged dispatch, are treated with a degree of candor that can leave no doubt as to the responsibility for the war. It can be found in Chapter XXVII, entitled “The Ems Dispatch.”