Declaration of War

A War for Humanity

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the several States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.

"Fourth. The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people."

This declaration of war, in its purpose, its form, and its spirit, touches the high-water mark of government by the people for the good of mankind.

It is true that in other times strong nations have aided the weak in their battles for freedom. Queen Elizabeth of England aided the heroic Dutch to throw off the yoke of the cruel King of Spain; yet her battle against the Spaniards was more for the strengthening of her own throne and for the defense of English liberty against the danger of Spanish aggression than it was to help the Dutch.

King Louis XVI. of France sent his soldiers and his ships across the sea to aid Washington in our own American struggle for independence; but it was the desire to humble England for former defeat which moved the King of France more than his love of human liberty. The French Revolutionary Republic, a few years later, marched into Italy and liberated the

The Generous Pledge

Lofty National Ideal

oppressed nationalities there; but each battle fought by France in Italy was a blow for the defense of the young French Republic itself against the foreign despotisms which threatened it.

Surely never before has a people, aroused by the contemplation of appalling tyranny in a neighboring country and with an entire disinterestedness of spirit, declared war against the foreign oppressors and bound itself beforehand to give to the liberated people a free government of their own.

It marks a gratifying advance in the ideals of good government when a great self-governing nation, in one of the most solemn of national acts, carries, with her great heart and strong arm, the blessings of civil liberty, religious toleration, and popular education to the struggling subjects of a rapacious empire. Such an act helps the world to realize that states do not exist for the benefit of their Governments, nor even for security alone, but for the intellectual and moral progress of the people. It presents before all nations a loftier ideal, and it gives to the flag of our Republic a brighter and more glorious meaning.

American Confidence

Unprepared for War

THE

CHAPTER IV

The Preparation

'HE ordinary American never has any doubts of the power of his country to accomplish whatever it undertakes. If it will attempt something new and difficult he has the greater relish for it. The experienced ones may see the difficulties and plead for deliberation: the crowd will take counsel of their own enthusiasm rather than of their fears. Entire confidence that the nation will spring to any mighty effort with a bound is an American trait.

The impulses of the public, generous and soul-felt, carried the United States into the war with Spain in disregard of the national traditions, without much thought on the part of the people as to preparedness, but with the usual American confidence as to the result.

The nation was not at all prepared for war. It never has been prepared for war except in the midst of war. It has never even prepared for defense until in the immediate presence of attack. Such preparedness as it has had hitherto has been in its spirit, in its unbounded confidence that it can do anything it undertakes and do it quickly. It is not too much to say that it has had little interest in doing things as other countries do