Vote on War in Congress.—A resolution declaring the United States in a state of war “with the imperial German Government” on the grounds that the imperial German government had committed repeated acts of war against the government and the people of the United States and that in consequence of these acts war had been thrust upon the United States, was passed in the Senate on April5 and in the House on April6,1917.

In neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives was the resolution passed by a unanimous vote.

In the Senate on April5 it passed by a vote of82 to6, and in the House by a vote of373 to50. No obstructions were resorted to, and comparatively a short time was consumed on both sides in speeches devoted to individual explanations.

In the Senate 43Democrats and 39Republicans voted aye and in the House 193Democrats, 177Republicans and three Independents (Fall of Massachusetts, Martin of Louisiana and Schall of Minnesota) voted affirmatively, while 16Democrats and 32Republicans, 1Socialist and 1Independent (Randall) voted in the negative. MissRankin, the first woman member of the lower House of Congress, voted against war.

The Senators voting “no” were Lane, Stone and Vardaman, Democrats, and Gronna, La Follette and Norris, Republicans.

In the lower House the members who voted against war were the following:

Alabama—Almon, Burnett.

California—Church, Hayes, Randall.

Colorado—Hilliard, Keating.

Illinois—Britten, Rodenberg, Fuller, Wheeler, King, Mason.

Iowa—Haugen, Woods, Hull.

Kansas—Connelly, Little.

Michigan—Bacon.

Minnesota—Davis, Knutson, Van Dyke, Lundeen.

Missouri—Decker, Igoe, Hensley, Shackleford.

Montana—Rankin.

Nebraska—Kinkaid, Reavis, Sloan.

Nevada—Roberts.

New York—London.

North Carolina—Kitchin.

Ohio—Sherwood.

South Carolina—Dominick.

South Dakota—Dillon, Johnson.

Texas—McLemore.

Washington—Dill, La Follette.

Wisconsin—Browne, Cary, Cooper, Esch, Frear, Nelson, Stafford, Davidson, Voight.

Paired,6; absent by illnesses,2; not voting,2; vacancies,2.

Speaker Clark did not vote.

The debate in both Houses will rank among the most memorable in the history of the country. With a degree of courage amounting to heroism, Senators La Follette of Wisconsin, Stone of Missouri and Norris of Nebraska spoke in opposition to the adoption of the resolution; but the surprise came in the House when the Democratic floor leader, Kitchin, announced his opposition to the measure. It should not be assumed that any of the men in either branch of Congress took the position in a spirit of light-hearted opposition. Not one among them but realized the heavy responsibility of his action. With a newspaper clamor for war unequaled in the history of the United States, with the bitter denunciation of Senators who voted against the armed ship bill in March still ringing in their ears, and with the widespread propaganda carried to the doors of Congress by those anxious for war, every legislator felt the gravity of his step in refusing to sanction the necessary authority which would plunge the country into the European conflagration.

An analysis of the vote shows that not a single representative of the people from an Eastern State (except New York, London, Socialist) voted against war. Every negative vote came from the West and South. The favorite slogan that the agitation against war emanated wholly from German sources was not verified by facts. It is said that there is hardly a German vote in the North Carolina district represented by Kitchin. No such influence operated upon Senator Vardaman of Mississippi, nor upon the two members from Alabama.

The largest vote against war came from Wisconsin, where, aside from Senator La Follette, nine members of the lower House were found on the negative side and but two on the affirmative, exclusive of Senator Husting. The latter went out of his way to make a bitter attack on the German-Americans and called the people of his State disloyal if they refused “to back up the President in the course he has decided to take.” He said this was the only question at issue, as he believed that if the question of peace or war only were submitted to the people war would be voteddown.

Sentiment in his State on the war question was indicated by the large anti-war vote of the Wisconsin delegation and the referendum votes taken in Sheboygan and Monroe on April3. In the former place only17 out of 4,000 votes cast were for war, and in the latter 954 votes were against and95 for war. A relative result was recorded from a Minnesota referendum.

Several incidents of interest out of the common marked the great debate, but there was a noticeable absence of the high feeling that accompanied the declaration of war against Spain. For part of the day the House was half empty while the debate was in progress and comparatively few people appeared in the galleries.

Representative Kitchin declared that he expected his vote against war to end his political career, but that he nevertheless could not act against his conscientious convictions. A rampant Southern fire-eater named Heflin, hailing from Alabama, attacked Kitchin and declared that the latter’s attitude should prompt him to resign from Congress, as he did not represent the opinion of the country.

The answer to this suggestion was a volley of hisses from the Democratic side of the House; and while Miss Rankin, tears in her eyes as she found herself confronted with the serious problem of doing a popular thing or following her convictions, declared in a broken voice, “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war—I vote no,” applause greeted her decision even from those who were voting the otherway.

Kitchin was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which has in charge the appropriations necessary to carry on the war. He distinctly announced that if war were declared he would present no obstructions to its successful conduct but would do all that was required of him as a member of the House.

In the main the debate was conducted with marked decorum. Little acrimonious discussion developed. The supporters of the resolution calmly and seriously declared that a state of war really existed as a result of German violations of American rights, while the opponents of war insisted that the German submarine campaign was forced by the illegal British blockade, which was as much a violation of American rights as submarine warfare.

The same apathy which characterized the situation on the floor in general marked the reception of the speeches. Applause at best was scattered, and the absence of patriotic display was noticeable. Members were in a serious mood and talked and voted with great solemnity. Kitchin, before delivering his stirring anti-war speech, had spent six hours in consultation with proponents and opponents of war, and decided to oppose the resolution only after he had carefully weighed his action.

The only member from Texas who voted against war was Representative McLemore, the author of the famous McLemore resolution, whose adoption was intended to forestall the possibility of war with Germany.

In the House the opening speech against the resolution was delivered by Representative Cooper, of Wisconsin, who made an eloquent plea in behalf of his contention that the United States should proceed against England as well as against Germany, as both had equally acted illegally and indefensibly in violating American rights. If we had cause for war against one we had as just cause against the other offender. Mr. Cooper was the ranking Republican member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House.

The only vote against war from Ohio, out of a total of24 in both Houses, including Nicholas Longworth, the son-in-law of Theodore Roosevelt, was cast by Representative Sherwood of Toledo. He enlisted in the Union Army April16, 1861, as a private and was mustered out as Brigadier-General October8, 1865; was in 43battles and 123days under fire and was six times complimented in special orders by commanding generals for gallant conduct in battle; commanded his regiment in all the battles of the Atlanta campaign, and after the battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., upon the recommendation of the officers of his brigade and division, he was made brevet brigadier general by President Lincoln for long and faithful service and conspicuous gallantry at the battles of Resaca, Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville.