CHAPTER XXI THE MEANING OF THE WAR War Means War The Initial Preparations Increase of the Army and Navy Appropriating a War Budget- Seizure of German and Austrian Vessels which Had Been Interned-Arrest of German Spies and Conspirators -Warnings and Orders to Alien Enemies Government Confiscation of Wireless Telegraphy — The Nation Placed upon a War Footing-The Coming of War Commissioners from the Allies - Our Practical Alliance with European Powers - A New Era in the Foreign Relationships of the United States. WAR MEANS WAR. That fact was not instantly grasped by the American nation upon our declaration of war with Germany. The scene of the conflict was far away. Surely we should not actually be mingled in the fighting. We should lend money to the allies, of course, and use our ships for conveying to them the supplies which they needed. But that would be all. It did not take long, however, for a truer conception of the situation to dawn upon even the easiest-going American mind. More than half a century ago Lowell wrote "It's war we're in, not politics; It's systems wrastlin' now, not parties;" and in the fateful month of April, 1917, the American people began to realize the fact. Immediately upon the declaration of war, bills were introduced in Congress for the prosecution of the conflict. A war loan of $7,000,000,000, the largest single appropriation ever made by any government in the world, was passed without a dissenting vote in either House. Later an Urgent Deficiency bill, appropriating $2,827,000,000 more for war expenses was passed, only a single vote being cast against it in the House of Representatives. Bills for the increase of the army and navy were enacted, one of them providing for "selective conscription" in place of the discredited volunteer system. This last supremely important measure, through scandalous "playing politics" in Congress, was not enacted until May 19th, and then the humiliating announcement was made by the War Department that, owing to the "depletion of supplies," none of the 500,000 conscripts would actually be called to the colors before about the first of September! GERMAN SHIPS SEIZED Meantime administrative acts were strenuous. A few hours after the enactment of the war resolution United States officers took possession of the vast and valuable array of German merchant vessels which had been interned for safety at various American ports. There were ninetyone of these vessels, including the largest steamship in the world and several others of the largest and swiftest class. Their total tonnage was in the neighborhood of 400,000, and their value was probably much more than $100,000,000. A catalogue of this gigantic argosy, the largest by far ever seized in the history of the world, is as follows: At the port of New York, including Brooklyn and Hoboken: Many of these vessels had been maliciously damaged by their crews, by the breaking of parts of the engines, etc., before surrender; but none so seriously but that they could soon be repaired and put into service. AUSTRIAN SHIPS ALSO TAKEN A few days later, upon severance of diplomatic relations with Germany's ally, Austria-Hungary, the government similarly took possession of fourteen ships of that nationality, as follows: The pier and water-front property at Hoboken, which had been occupied by the great German steamship lines |