John Bernard Walker

“ Should the blow which Germany, in the hour of her dire need, is about to strike against the United States lead that great country to a realization of the necessity at all times for proper naval and military preparedness, the regret which I and Germany feel at having to break our friendly relations with a country with which we have always lived in perfect amity, will be tempered by the thought that, out of her temporary loss she will reap a future gain of inestimable benefit. ”

“ And then, as the great power stations fell beneath the salvos of the bombardment, and every wheel in New York's vast system of transportation ceased to turn, fear redoubled and frantic horror began again to crush the life out of that hope-abandoned mob. ”

“ Throughout the spring, summer, and winter of 1915, the titanic conflict, enlarged by the entry of over 3,000,000 troops of Italy and the Balkan States into the theater of operations, swayed to and fro across the blood-soaked soil of Europe, with a ferocity and slaughter which sickened even the most hardened veterans of the war. ”

“ Weight of numbers and a crushing superiority in artillery drove the armies of the Dual Monarchy back upon Budapest and Vienna, held the redoubtable Von Hindenberg within his own frontiers, and rolled the German armies in France and Belgium slowly back to the Rhine and the Dutch frontier.
Undismayed, and fighting against heavy odds with a magnificent courage and steadiness, Germany took up a seemingly impregnable position on the right bank of the Rhine and marshaled her forces for a strictly defensive campaign in 1916. ”

“ Not long thereafter was heard the tramp of marching men on the shore road, leading from Fort Hamilton, and in ten minutes' time the big ferryboat had backed away from the pier with 1,800 men aboard. The boat crossed the Narrows, and, the tide being at the flood, was enabled to push her nose up to the quarantine landing at Staten Island. But no sooner was she made fast than the shore line flashed with the rifle fire of the Wadsworth garrison, which had thrown out scouting parties in all directions in anticipation of attack. ”

“ On yonder side of the Atlantic lies an undefended treasure land, fifty billions of whose one hundred and fifty billions of wealth are to be found on the seaboard, and within easy reach of an expeditionary force and the guns of a hostile fleet. ”

“ Eastward to the bridges they surged, half a million strong; the mob becoming denser as it converged on the various approaches.
Overwhelmed by that human flood, vehicular traffic stopped. Roadways and footways, subway tracks and trolley tracks, all were submerged. The Manhattan Bridge, among others, in spite of its width of 120 feet, was packed from rail to rail with the fleeing host, and when the crush was at its worst the inevitable happened. Somewhere a fugitive slipped, a foot passing between the railroad ties of the tracks—someone stayed to help—more stumbled and fell. ”

“ Alsace and Lorraine have ever been a thorn in the side of Germany—the one impassable barrier to cordial relations with our great French neighbor, whose good will, as you well know, it has been my earnest endeavor to win. And as for our lost colonial possessions, I, as well as you, have long recognized that they were too widely scattered, too little coordinated, to carry much military value; moreover, as outlets for our expanding population, they have failed of their purpose. ”

“ Your land defences are in the hands of the enemy, our battleships are at Vera Cruz, and the lesser units of the Navy, and particularly the destroyers and submarines, were sunk in our navy yards at daybreak. The German fleet, freed from any menace from forts, submarines, destroyers, or our own battleship fleet, is in a position absolutely to destroy New York and take its own time to do it. ”

“ It would be an optimistic forecast for me to say that we could concentrate these 90,000 men at any point on the Atlantic Coast within thirty days of the declaration of war. And when the concentration had been made, the troops would be without properly trained artillery and cavalry organization, and without ammunition trains; they would be hastily organized and assembled for the first time in large bodies; they would be unprepared to act effectively as an army; and should these troops be defeated, the country would have back of them practically no reserve of men and supplies. ”

“ Germany realizes and accepts the new conditions which have been brought about by the great war. For the future, the resources, energy, and skill of the German people will be directed less to naval and military achievements and more than ever to the upbuilding and enlargement of her internal industries, the multiplication of the ships of her merchant marine, and the greater extension of her trade and commerce in all the countries of the world. ”

“ And, as for the other four-and-a-half billions,—well, New York, even with that financial burden to carry, was better than a New York thrown down by bombardment and ravaged by a universal conflagration. ”

“ Thomas, in the face of our recent protest, Germany challenges one of the most vital policies of the United States. The issues are clean-cut; either Germany must abrogate this sale, or we must abandon the 'Monroe Doctrine,' or the matter must be submitted to the test of war."
"I am for peace," said the Secretary of the Navy; "but I believe that our answer to this affront should be a sharp ultimatum offering to Germany the alternative of a return of St. Thomas to Denmark or—war! Germany will never dare to fight us over the 'Monroe Doctrine' ”

“ But before signaling to correct the range, the aviator planed down so as to obtain a closer view of the bridge. With amazement he saw that it was swarming from end to end with a helpless mass of humanity. The purpose of the bombardment was to damage—not destroy; and he realized that if the shells of the Koenig should cut the bridge cables, 50,000 souls would be hurled to their death in the river below! ”

“ There are moments in one's life which stand out with sharp definition amid the crowded and more or less blurred memories of the past. Among these I shall ever reckon the breakfast hour, on the morning of April 1st, in the wardroom of the Oklahoma, flagship of the United States North Atlantic fleet, which was at anchor, on that particular day, off Vera Cruz. ”

“ Secretary of State, have recently affirmed that such is the patriotism of our people, that you could raise an army of one million men between sun and sun; but I tell you that your million men, without the proper equipment of artillery and the other machinery of war, would be but a mob one million strong. ”

“ There is a shortage of men and guns in the regular field artillery; we possess less than half the needed militia field batteries; and it would require three months of training to render what we have efficient.
"Practically all of our coast fortifications can be taken in reverse. Many of them to-day are manned only by a few companies, and it would be possible for the enemy, by a night landing and surprise attack, to capture the fortifications from the rear, thus rendering it possible for the enemy's fleet to enter our harbors and lay our seacoast cities under tribute. ”

“ Our own pre-dreadnought fleet is in the Pacific, and, because of the preponderance of the enemy in the Atlantic, it must remain there. We cannot increase our naval strength; for all of our navy yards and shipbuilding plants on the Atlantic seaboard are in the hands of the enemy. Whatever the duration of the war, Mr. President, the command of the sea will remain with the Germans; and they will be free to bring over the whole German Army, should they wish to do so. ”

“ With our seacoast cities and fortifications in the hands of the enemy, it would be possible for him, having at hand unlimited transport, a vast army, and complete equipment, to land in the first week of the war sufficient forces to capture all the arsenals, ammunition, supplies, and factories for the manufacture of guns, rifles, and powder, long before our widely-scattered mobile army of 30,000 regulars and 60,000 militia could be brought together, effectively to stay his progress. Modern wars, Mr. President, are machine-made, and without the proper machinery war cannot be waged. ”

“ The decisive action would have to be fought between the dreadnought fleets of the two nations, and, if we gave battle, we should find ourselves opposed by a fighting line of double the strength of our own; for Germany can oppose twenty dreadnoughts to our ten, and judging from such naval actions as were fought in the late war, in which both the gunnery and the seamanship of the Germans were excellent, there can be little doubt that with such great odds against us, we should be defeated. ”

“ Therefore, if we carry on the war, the cost of the war, not merely to us but to the enemy, must be borne by the United States.
"The question of our ability to raise and equip an army sufficient in numbers, equipment, and training to enable us to drive the enemy back to the sea depends, primarily, upon the strength of the forces which he may bring over. So great is the prize for which Germany would contend that she would match corps with corps, army with army ”

“ The Committee turned and saw in the fair white northern face of the beautiful Woolworth Tower a yawning cavity—and, filling the air below, a mass of falling débris!
The crisis had come, swift and appalling; and with a steady nerve and a quick-thinking brain each man of that Committee set himself to meet it. ”

“ The gun detachments withered under the pitiless hail of German bullets, and when the enemy charged home, not a man was on his feet to dispute possession of the guns.
Leaving their own and the American wounded to be cared for by the stretcher-bearers of Fort Myer garrison, the Germans, now some 2,000 strong, mounted and moved back to the city. Here, on learning from dispatch riders that the force sent to the Washington Barracks was heavily engaged with the garrison in the neighborhood of the steamboat wharves, they swung around to the south and took the enemy on the right flank and rear. ”

“ President, as to whether Germany, having emerged from a great war, would be ready to undertake another, I have this to say: that all history teaches us that a nation never fights more readily and valiantly than immediately after the close of a war in which it was involved. ”

“ Our beloved Fatherland has set up before the eyes of the world a kultur too broad and beneficent, and the influence of that kultur upon the great world outside of Germany has been too profound and will prove too lasting, for God ever to contemplate the fall and passing away of the great German Empire. ”

“ The crowd stopped its convulsive struggle. Except for the down-trodden and dying, silence fell on that multitude, and, awestruck, they gazed skyward at the harbinger of death and waited for his messengers. ”

“ The prestige of the army and navy and the confidence of the people in its ruling class can be restored only by some swift and brilliant feat of arms—and in view of the rapidly augmenting strength of the Socialistic upheaval, that feat of arms cannot be performed too soon. ”

“ In the militia of the United States, which totals 127,000 men and officers on paper, only 104,000 are actually mustered. Of these 104,000, only some 60,000 are ready for immediate service in the field; so that our total forces in the United States consist of 16,000 men scattered in the coast defences throughout our Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coast fortifications, which would not be available for service in the field ”

“ In the event of invasion by Germany in great force, with a thoroughly equipped army provided with the full complement of field-guns, howitzers, and other necessary equipment, the first contingent of which expeditionary force might readily amount to 150,000 veterans of the late war, where should we stand? ”

“ Not all of the troops, however, were thus immediately redistributed to the farms and factories and business houses of Germany. A picked force of 200,000 veterans of the first line was diverted to the leading German seaports on the North Sea and the Baltic, and within a few days after the close of the war 20,000 of these troops, with the necessary artillery and equipment, had been embarked upon certain transports of moderate size and draft, which, as soon as the troops were aboard, pulled out into midstream and awaited further orders. ”

“ Moreover, you must not forget that the most populous portion of the country is held by the enemy, and if he can prevent it—which he will—not a single volunteer will be available from the captured territory.
"The problem, however, is not to get the men, but the officers to lead them and the rifles, uniforms, ammunition, and above all the artillery, with which to equip them. Without these, your 10,000,000 men, Mr. Secretary, as I told you in Washington, would be merely a mob, 10,000,000 strong. ”

“ In displacement the ships varied from the 20,000 tons of the Delaware to the 27,500 tons of the Oklahoma. The belt armor was from 11 inches to 131⁄2 inches in thickness, and the maximum speed of the fleet was 21 knots.
Every ship could fire its whole broadside on either beam, and in every minute of the coming engagement we would be able to hurl at the enemy 110 tons of projectiles, every one of which, if it landed squarely, would pass entirely through the belt armor of the enemy and burst in the interior of the ship. ”