GERMANY EXPECTING VICTORY & A SECOND WAR

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2338

FORMER WAR SECRETARY SAYS AMERICANS CAN NEVER REALIZE THE EXTREMES TO WHICH GERMANS GO

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) One hundred years ago today, June 12, 1917, former Secretary of War Jacob M. Dickinson*, speaking before the Rock Island Railway Club here in the Windy City, said that Germany is "laying plans for world wide conquest--for the next war--accepting as an accomplished fact a German victory in the present war."

Mr. Dickinson, who served in the administration of President William H. Taft, warned that according to reports in German newspapers, the Kaiser was making plans to reorganize his military resources to the maximum.

He went on to say...

"We of America can never be brought to realize the German mind...to go to the extremes to which Germans...go."

*Jacob M. Dickinson (1851-1928) was born in Columbus, Mississippi & served in the Confederate army during the Civil War.  JMD graduated from the University of Nashville in 1871 & was admitted to the TN Bar in 1874. 

JMD served on the Tennessee State Supreme Court 1891-93, was Assistant U.S. Attorney General 1895-1897 & was a professor of law at Vanderbilt University.

SOURCE

"Kaiser Plans For Next War, Says Dickinson", The Chicago Daily Tribune, June 13, 1917.

Jacob McGavock Dickinson
Moffett Studio (1909)
Library of Congress Photo

A PROFOUND EXPRESSION OF LOYALTY

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2265

CHICAGO HOLDS PATRIOTIC RALLY ON EVE OF WAR DECLARATION

Chicago, Illinois  (JFK+50) 100 years ago this evening, March 31, 1917, Chicago held "one of the most enthusiastic mass meetings in the city's history."  The rally, held in the City Auditorium was described in The Chicago Daily Tribune as a "profound expression of loyalty."

The stage was decorated in red, white and blue and for the first hour, 7 to 8 p.m., the Chicago band entertained the crowd with tunes like Onward Christian Soldiers, The Star Spangled Banner, America, and Dixie.  

The audience also sang one of the most popular songs of WWI, It's a Long Way to Tipperary.  Sitting in the crowd were veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.  

Then, former Secretary of War Jacob M. Dickinson* read the call for the meeting.  He referred to "the parasites of pacifism" who preached peace while Americans were "being murdered on the high seas."

Illlinois Governor Frank Lowden** said...

"It is time that something happened...to accentuate the average citizen's sense of duty to his country.  If this crisis brings universal military service it will be worth all it costs."

*Jacob M. Dickinson (1851-1928) was born in Columbus, Mississippi & served in the Confederate Army at the age of 14.  JMD graduated from the University of Nashville in 1871, studied law & was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1874.

JMD served on the Tennessee Supreme Court 1891-1893, was a law professor at Vanderbilt University 1897-1899 & was Secretary of War under President Taft 1909-1911.

**Frank Orren Lowden (1861-1943) was born in Minnesota & graduated from the University of Iowa in 1885, & Union College of Law in 1887.  FOL was a professor of law at Northwestern University and served as Governor of Illinois 1917-1921.

SOURCES

"Uphold Nation, City's Cry," The Chicago Daily Tribune, April 1, 1917, www.archives.chicagotribune.com/

Auditorium Building Stage

Photo by J.W. Taylor

PD-US Gov-Interior-HABS

Library of Congress Image