many and Japan. Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months."

On April 2, President Wilson addressed Congress, urging a declaration of war. After reviewing the long list of grievances which the United States had against Germany, he outlined the motives back of this final decision, and the hopes concerning the peace to follow. The object of the United States, he said, was "to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth ensure the observance of these principles." Referring to the menace to the peace of the world which lay in the existence of autocratic governments "backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people," he declared that the United States could never be on friendly terms with a government of that sort.

"We are glad," he said, "to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German people included, for the rights of nations great and small and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and obedience. The world must be made safe for democracy. . . We have no selfish aims to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. . . . We shall fight for democracy . . . for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free." The declaration of war passed the House on April 4, the Senate on April 6.

Wilson's opponents and critics, who had taken exception to nearly all of his foreign policy, expressed dissent from his interpretation of the causes of the war. Germany, they argued, had not changed any between 1914 and 1917; why had it taken the President so long to find out that she was a menace? And if the real purpose of the war was to make the world safe for democracy, why had so much valuable time been lost? Furthermore, was it not presumptuous on the part of the United States, as a late comer, to attempt to lay down specifications concerning the peace? Possibly the Allies, who had not been idle from 1914 to 1917, might desire a voice in the final arrangements.

In the vehemence of their criticism some of Wilson's opponents overlooked the fact that the famous war address was the President's own interpretation of events, the explanation of why he went to war, and that it did not in itself determine the causes of the war. These remained the same, regardless of what he might say; they were in part objective grievances against Germany. It is obviously more than a coincidence that the realization of the need for making the world safe for democracy came after the German submarine policy had become intolerable. The real cause of American entrance into the war was the impossibility of bearing longer with German aggression.

In attempting to elevate the war from the practical to the ideal, President Wilson was following sound war psychology. His addresses thrilled the people, stirred up their emotions, and gave them an abstract cause to fight for. The danger in that course, if there was any, would appear after the war was over. Then the working out of the peace might create a conflict between essential facts and the emotional idealism of the war. In 1919 some of the bitterest criticism directed against the President came from those who expected the idealism of war to be carried over into the peace, and from those on the contrary, who expected the practical considerations to take precedence over the idealism. He could satisfy neither side.

CHAPTER LXVIII

THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR

WAR PREPARATIONS

When the United States entered the war the administration expected that its primary contribution would consist of ships, airplanes, food, and finance; because of the length of time required for training, and the distance for transport, the actual military contribution would be a minor matter. With this general principle to serve as a guide, the government began to develop its program. The Council of National Defense, consisting of the heads of the departments of War, Navy, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, went to work with an advisory commission of civilian experts to provide the essential supplies. Daniel Willard of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was chairman, with general oversight of transportation. Among the others were Howard Coffin, a prominent automobile manufacturer, in charge of munitions and manufacturing; Julius Rosenwald, of Sears, Roebuck and Company, in charge of supplies, including clothing; Bernard M. Baruch, in charge of minerals, metals, and raw materials; and Samuel Gompers, in the field of labor. To complete the personnel of the commission and its subsidiary committees "dollar a year men" were called in. This became the first civilian war organization.

The United States Shipping Board, already in existence, turned its attention to the task described in a popular song of the day as "building a bridge to Berlin." Coöperating with the Shipping Board was the newly created Emergency Fleet Corporation, which assumed responsibility for letting contracts for vessels, and increasing the facilities for shipbuilding.

Fully as important as ships was the problem of food. The Allies in Europe needed American food, and some agency was necessary to stimulate production, and to prevent hoarding and unnecessary speculation. It so happened that an American, Herbert C. Hoover, had been director of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium, and President Wilson selected him as food controller. When Congress at

once refused assent to the project, Wilson authorized him to go ahead without legal sanction. It fell to him and his assistants to urge the farmers to increase the acreage devoted to grain, especially wheat, to stimulate enthusiasm for back-yard gardening and domestic canning, and to provide for the most effective distribution of available supplies. In May, the Aircraft Production Board was organized, under the direction of Howard Coffin. The enthusiasm of the country in 1917 led the people to expect miracles in the production of airplanes, and when no miracles came, the disappointment was as bitter as the hopes had been high. But the problem of quantity production was tremendous, and progress was slow. The Board finally produced a new engine, the "Liberty Motor," and plans and machinery were all in being for extraordinary production in 1918. At the same time the personnel of the aviation section of the signal corps was increased until the United States had a force of 86,000 officers and enlisted men in this branch of the service. During this first year of the war there was no chance of making in this country the planes needed for the American troops in France, so the War Department ordered over 6,000 in France. French industry was carrying too heavy a load even then; to get these planes without increasing the burdens of the French the United States sent over 7,000 trained machinists to work in the French factories.

The task of financing the war was the greatest work of its kind in the history of the country. Between April, 1917, and October, 1919, the United States raised $35,413,000,000, of which less than one third, or $11,280,000,000 came from taxation. The rest was secured through the four "Liberty Loans," and the "Victory Loan" of April, 1919. These bonds were issued in small denominations, and every effort was made to have every money-earning person a subscriber. A Liberty Loan organization had charge of presenting the needs to the country. Pamphlets and posters flooded every part of the country, and the now almost forgotten "four-minute men" appeared with their appeals on the platform of every motion-picture house. By the fall of 1918 there were 43,000 of these "volunteer orators, whose message it was impossible for the most indifferent to evade."

In each one of the wars of the United States, except possibly the War with Mexico, it has been customary to make the declaration first and then to raise an army. The National Defense Act, or the Hay Act, of 1916, had been designed as a measure of partial prepara

tion. In addition to the increase in the regular army, carried out under the Hay Act, the War Department had established a few officers' training camps. In May, 1917, a second series of camps was opened, for the training of first and second lieutenants. After a long debate, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which became law on May 18, 1917. This provided for raising an army by conscription, but in picking the men the plan was to take those who were not engaged in essential industries, and who were without dependents. The actual work of enrolling the men was carried out by the local draft boards, 4,557 in number. On June 5, 9,586,508 men registered, and from this supply men were drawn in lottery fashion for the training camps. To receive them the government had to build a series of new camps, with barracks, hospitals, water supplies, in fact everything needed for a small city. Although work on these new camps was not started until after the declaration of war in April, some of them were ready to receive the first groups of drafted men by September 5. By November, 1918, there were 37 of these great camps.

The plans for raising the army were designed to provide the necessary number of men with as little friction and as little damage as possible to the industrial life of the country. At the same time the officers chosen to command the army in France were selected on the grounds of training, ability, and fitness. These impersonal regulations were carried through with surprisingly few exceptions. On the whole the people approved. Perhaps the most conspicuous instance of disapproval came with the rejection of Roosevelt's plea. The exPresident wished to raise a volunteer division and to command one of the brigades in it. His admirers felt that his very presence in France would prove a tremendous help to the Allied cause. President Wilson refused to avail himself of Roosevelt's services. "This is not the time or the occasion," he wrote, "for a compliment or for any action not calculated to contribute to the immediate success of the war. The business now in hand is undramatic, practical, and of scientific definiteness and precision." In some quarters feeling on this subject ran high, as it was bound to where Wilson and Roosevelt, both of whom had the capacity for arousing controversy, were engaged as principals in a dispute of their own. Probably the great majority of Americans felt that it was no time for crack regiments to go on parade, and that no officer could be appointed who might lack the qualities required for effective team work. Probably General