Appeals for American Defense
Need of Further Protecting Neutral Rights Set Forth.
By GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM.
_Formerly United States Attorney General._
_To the Editor of The New York Times:_
The destruction of the Lusitania by the Germans, and the wanton killing
of American men, women, and children, without warning, brings sharply
before the American people the question of how long the present sexless
policy of the conduct of our affairs is to be continued. Germany has
apparently decided to run amuck with civilization. It is now for the
American people to decide whether this nation has any virility left, or
if it is content to sink to the level of China.
A very clear course, it seems to me, is open for us to pursue: We should
cancel all diplomatic relations with a country which has declared war
upon civilization, recall our Ambassador from Berlin, and hand Count
Bernstorff his passports. Congress should be summoned in extra session,
and an appropriation of at least $250,000,000 asked to put us in a
condition to protect our rights as a neutral civilized power. At the
same time we should invite all neutral nations of the world to join us
in a council of civilization to agree upon the steps to be taken to
protect the interests of all neutral powers and their citizens from such
wanton acts of destruction of life and property as those which Germany
has been committing and which have culminated in the destruction of the
Lusitania and of so many of her passengers.
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