The Letters of Franklin K. Lane, Personal and Political
they served to do the trick which the whole Republican machine
wished done. For the Penrose, Lodge people would not let any bills
through and were glad to get La Follette's help. The Democrats
fought and died--because there was no "previous question" in the
Senate rules.
The weather changed for inauguration--Wilson luck--and the event
went off without accident. To-day, we had expected a meeting of
the Cabinet to determine what we should do in the absence of
legislation, but that has gone over,--I expect to give the
Attorney General a chance to draft an opinion on the armed ship
matter. I am for prompt action--putting the guns on the ships and
convoying, if necessary. Much love.
K.F.
To Edward J. Wheeler Current Opinion
Washington, March 15, 1917
MY DEAR MY. WHEELER,--I wish that I could be with you to honor Mr.
Howells. But who are we, to honor him? Is he not an institution?
Is he not the Master? Has he not taught for half a century that
this new and peculiar man, the American, is worth drawing? Why,
for an American not to take off his hat to Howells would be to
fail in appreciation of one's self as an object of art--an
unlikely, belittling, and soul-destroying sin.
I do not know whether Howells is a great photographer or a great
artist; but this I do know, that I like him because he sees
through his own eyes, and I like his eyes. If that be treason,
make the most of it. Cordially yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
To George W. Lane
Washington, April 1, 1917
MY DEAR GEORGE,--I took your letter and your proposed wire as to
our going into war and sent them to the President as suggestions
for his proposed message which in a couple of days will come out--
what it is to be I don't know--excepting in spirit. He is to be
for recognizing war and taking hold of the situation in such a
fashion as will eventually lead to an Allies' victory over
Germany. But he goes unwillingly. The Cabinet is at last a unit.
We can stand Germany's insolence and murderous policy no longer.
Burleson, Gregory, Daniels, and Wilson were the last to come over.
The meetings of the Cabinet lately have been nothing less than
councils of war. The die is cast--and yet no one has seen the
message. The President hasn't shown us a line. He seems to think
that in war the Pacific Coast will not be strongly with him. They
don't want war to be sure--no one does. But they will not suffer
further humiliation. I sent West for some telegrams telling of the
local feeling in different States and all said, "Do as the
President says." Yet none came back that spoke as if they felt
that we had been outraged or that it was necessary for humanity
that Germany be brought to a Democracy. There is little pride or
sense of national dignity in most of our politicians.
The Council of National Defense is getting ready. I yesterday
proposed a resolution, which was adopted, that our contracts for
ships, ammunition, and supplies be made upon the basis of a three
years' program. We may win in two years. If we had the nerve to
raise five million men at once we could end it in six months,
The first thing is to let Russia and France have money. And the
second thing, to see that Russia has munitions, of which they are
short--depending largely, too largely, upon Japan. I shouldn't be
surprised if we would operate the Russian railroads. And ships,
ships! How we do need ships, and there are none in the world.
Ships to feed England and to make the Russian machine work.
Hindenburg is to turn next toward Petrograd--he is only three
hundred miles away now. I fear he will succeed. But that does not
mean the conquest of Russia! The lovable, kindly Russians are not
to be conquered,--and it makes me rejoice that we are to be with
them.
All sides need aeroplanes--for the war that is perhaps the
greatest of all needs; and there Germany is strongest. Ned will go
among the first. He is flying alone now and is enjoying the risk,
--the consciousness of his own skill. Anne is very brave about it.
This is the program as far as we have gone: Navy, to make a line
across the sea and hunt submarines; Army, one million at once, and
as many more as necessary as soon as they can be got ready.
Financed by income taxes largely. Men and capital both drafted.
I'm deep in the work. Have just appointed a War-Secretary of my
own--an ex-Congressman named Lathrop Brown from New York, who is to
see that we get mines, etc., at work. I wish you were here but the
weather would be too much for you, I fear. Very hot right now!
Sometime I'll tell you how we stopped the strike. It was a big
piece of work that was blanketed by the Supreme Court's decision
next day. But we came near to having something akin to Civil War.
Much love, my dear boy.
F. K. L.
Grosvenor Clarkson, Director of the Council of National Defense,
in recording the activities of that body says:--
"It is, of course, well known that Secretary Lane, as a member of
the Council of National Defense, played a dramatic and successful
part in the settlement of the threatened great railroad strike of
March, 1917. By resolution of the Council of National Defense of
March 16, 1917, Secretary Lane and Secretary of Labor Wilson, as
members of the Council, and Daniel Willard, President of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Samuel Gompers of the Advisory
Commission, were designated to represent the government, at the
meeting in New York with the representatives of the railroad
brotherhoods and railroad executives--the meeting that stopped the
strike."
TO FRANK I. COBB NEW YORK WORLD
Washington, April 13, 1917
MY DEAR FRANK,--I have your note and am thoroughly in sympathy
with it. The great need of France at this moment is to get ships
to carry the supplies across the water. It is a secret, but a
fact, that France has 600,000 tons of freight in New York and
other harbors waiting to ship. I am in favor of taking all the
German ships under requisition, paying for their use eventually,
but this is a matter of months. Immediately, I think we should
take all the coastwise ships, or the larger portion of them. The
Navy colliers and Army transports can be put into the business of
carrying supplies to France.
We are to have a meeting of the Council of National Defense to-day,
and I am going to take this matter up. I have been pushing on
it for several weeks. As to the purchasing of supplies, I think we
ought to protect the Allies, especially Russia, but, of course, we
cannot touch their present contracts. ...
TO GEORGE W. LANE
Washington, April 15, 1917
MY DEAR GEORGE,--I enclose a couple of confidential papers that
will interest you. The situation is not as happy in Russia as it
should be. The people are so infatuated with their own internal
reforms that there is danger of their making a separate peace,
which would throw the entire strength of Germany on the west
front, and compel us to go in with millions of men where we had
thought that a few would suffice.
My work on the National Council of Defense lately has been dealing
with many things, chiefly mobilization of our railroads and the
securing of new shipping. At my suggestion to Mr. Willard he
called together the leading forty-five railroad presidents of the
United States, and I addressed them upon the necessity of tying
together all of the railroads within one unit and making a single
operating system of the 250,000 miles. They met the proposition
splendidly and appointed a committee to effect this. It will
require some sacrifice on the part of the railroads, and
considerable on the part of the shippers; for free time on cars
will have to be cut down, some passenger trains taken off, and
equipment allowed to flow freely from one system to the other
under a single direction, no matter who owns the locomotives or
the cars. I put it up to them as a test of the efficiency of
private ownership.
On the shipping side we are not only going about the task of
building a thousand wooden ships, under the direction of Denman
and Goethals, but we are going to take our coastwise shipping off,
making the railroads carry this freight, and put all available
ships into the trans-Atlantic business. We want, also, to get
some steel ships built. The great trouble with this is the
shortage of plates and the shortage of shipyards. In order to
effect this, I expect we will have to postpone the building of
some of our large dreadnaughts and battle cruisers, which could
not be in service for three years anyhow. Whether we will succeed
in getting the Secretary of the Navy to agree to this is a
question, but I am going to try.
We, of course, are going to press into service at once the German
and Austrian ships, such of them as can be repaired and will be of
use in the freight business, but we will not confiscate them. We
will deal with them exactly as we will deal with American ships,
paying at the end of the war whatever their services were worth.
This spirit of fairness is to animate us throughout the war. Of
course enemy warships were seized as prizes of war, but there are
very few of these, and of no considerable value. I do not believe
they can be of any use.
England is sending over Mr. Balfour with a very high Commission.
These gentlemen will arrive here this week, and I expect with them
Viviani and Joffre, from France. We will have intimate talks with
them and gain the benefit of their experience. I expect Mr.
Balfour to make some speeches that will put England in a more
favorable light, and the presence of Joffre will stimulate
recruiting in our Army and Navy. He is the one real figure who has
come out of the war so far.
We are raising seven billions; three billions to go to the Allies,
largely for purchases to be made here. Money contributions pass
unanimously, but there is to be trouble over our war measures
respecting conscription and the raising of an adequate army. Some
pacifists and other pro-Germans are cultivating the idea that none
but volunteers should be sent to Europe. Some are also saying
Germany can have peace with us if she stops her submarine warfare.
I doubt if that line of agitation will be successful before
Congress. Certainly it will not be successful with the President
or the Cabinet. We are now very happily united upon following
every course that will lead to the quickest and most complete
victory.
The greatest impending danger is the drive on the east front into
Russia, possibly the taking of Petrograd, and the weakness on the
part of the Russians because of so large a socialistic element now
in control of Russian affairs. We offered Russia a commission of
railroad men to look over their railroad systems and advise with
them as to the best means of operating them. At first Russia
inclined to welcome such a commission, but later the offer was
declined because of local feeling. We intend to send a commission
ourselves to Russia, possibly headed by McAdoo or Root, and on
this commission we will have a railroad man with expert knowledge
who can be of some service to them, I hope. The Russian and the
French governments have ordered hundreds of locomotives and tens
of thousands of cars in this country, a large part of which are
ready for shipment, but which cannot be shipped because of lack of
shipping facilities. Affectionately yours,
F.K.L.
Grosvenor Clarkson, who was first Secretary and then Director of
the Council of National Defense, writes in February, 1922, this
account of the work of the Council:--
"As early as February 12, 1917, or nearly two months before we
went into the war, Secretary Lane presented resolutions at a joint
meeting of the Council of National Defense and its Advisory
Commission, to the effect that the Council 'Call a series of