THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION (Established by order of the President April 4, 1917.) Distributed free except that in the case of No. 2 and No. 3 of the I. Red, White, and Blue Series: No. 1. How the War Came to America (English, German, No. 3. The Battle Line of Democracy. Prose and Poetry of No. 4. The President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Ger- No. 5. Conquest and Kultur, the Germans' Aims in Their Own II. War Information Series: No. 1. The War Message and Facts Behind It. No. 2. The Nation in Arms, by Secretaries Lane and Baker. Hazen. No. 4. The Great War: from Spectator to Participant. No. 6. American Loyalty by Citizens of German Descent. No. 9. Home Reading Course for Citizen Soldiers. No. 10. First Session of the War Congress, by Charles Merz. III. Official Bulletin: Accurate daily statement of what all agencies of govern- Address requests and orders to COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION, Washington, D. C. FOREWORD. HE "War Message" of President Wilson, delivered before Congress on April 2d, 1917, voices the best ideals and aspirations of the American people. It sets forth in language of dignity and moderation, but with unmistakable indignation and emphasis, the grievous wrongs which have made the United States take up arms against Germany. It makes very plain, even to the hitherto unconvinced, why at the present general crisis it is the duty of all good Americans to enter this war, "that the world may be made safe for democracy." In other words, Mr. Wilson's message is the best possible preparation for all loyal Americans who are studying the causes and justification for the present war, and who are trying to discover the proper mental attitude they themselves should take toward the personal part which they may be called to play in the struggle. Nevertheless, although the President was speaking in general to all good Americans, he was addressing, for the moment, Congress in particular. Now men at Washington, devoting all their time to public affairs, and most of them favored by long residence there and by special opportunities for information, did not need to be told of the many things which were not so obvious to even very intelligent citizens at home-at least unless the latter were willing to spend considerable time in various forms of investigation. Consequently Mr. Wilson speaks of a good many matters that need amplifying details if they are to be entirely clear, and he draws a number of inferences, very sound indeed, but again sometimes not self-explanatory to busy men and women. Also, here and there, he contrasts the American and Prussian political philosophy and methods of doing things in a way that would become even more convincing if he had been allowed time to enter into specific details. Solemn official promises made only to be broken, conspiracies to burn and blow up American industries, to hamper our manufactures and cripple our Government by strikes and riots, spies in every center of political and industrial activity, plans made on American soil and financed by German funds to dynamite canals, bridges, and munition factories in Canada, invitations to Mexico in times of peace to join with Germany in dismembering our Union, have led people and President alike to see submarine warfare as but a more flagrant expression of a German state policy running amuck in absolute disregard of every sense of national and international morals and decency and callous to the claims of common humanity. A military autocracy astride the ruins of Europe and dominant on the seas by virtue of an arm that both serves and reveals its ambitions and irresponsibility has forced America to accept its challenge. A new Monroe Doctrine must be defended on the pathways of the seas and in the fields of Flanders if the Western World is to be preserved as the citadel of a free-developing, forward-looking democracy. This annotated copy of the President's message has been prepared in the hope that it may make clearer the spirit and the facts back of a decision so momentous. Many of the facts are very familiar to most Americans, but the effort has been to bring together in one place the chief lines of evidence which made Mr. Wilson say that he felt it his duty to urge Congress to declare that "the recent course of the German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the United States." Very many of the documents quoted in these notes have the highest official validity, and almost none of the facts mentioned are capable of dispute by any fair-minded person. 5340°-17 3 Taken all in all, these facts, supporting the message, and many more that of course could be added, constitute something like "the case for America against Germany, and Americans after examining this case may rest well assured that their cause will be justified by the calm, impartial verdict of later-day history. The plan and much of the work are due to Prof. William Stearns Davis, of the history department of the University of Minnesota. He was very materially assisted by his colleagues, Prof. C. D. Allin and Dr. Wm. Anderson. Whether this evidence is valid can be tested by anybody with access to a good public library, for no secret documents have been used. The annotations represent a wholly volunteer service on the part of competent and patriotic scholars. The Committee on Public Information has had the assistance of the National Board for Historical Service in editing the manuscript. The Committee believes that pending the appearance of a more elaborate and official Government statement, the publication of this annotated copy of the President's address will serve a real national purpose. Copies of this document and of other publications may be had free on request. GUY STANTON FORD, Director of the Division on Civic and Educational Cooperation. |