"
I need not describe in detail what Roosevelt thought of this. He
himself expressed his scorn for making war by rhetoric. He knew
that a man may boast of coming of fighting blood, and come so
late that all the fighting quality in the blood has evaporated.
Could not many of the Pacifists trace back to Revolutionary and
to Puritan ancestors, who fought as they prayed, without
hesitation or doubt, for the Lord of Hosts? They could, and their
present attitude simply made their shame the greater. The Colonel
had said very early in the conflict: "I do not believe that the
firm assertion of our rights means war, but in any event, it is
well to remember there are things worse than war." In 1917 he
declared: "For two years after the Lusitania was sunk, we
continued to fawn on the blood-stained murderers of our people,
we were false to ourselves and we were false to the cause of
right and of liberty and democracy through out the world." He
kept hammering at our need of preparation. He told a great
audience at Detroit:* "We first hysterically announced that we
would not prepare because we were afraid that preparation might
make us lose our vantage-ground as a peace loving people.
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