ecessarily
by conquest or even formal annexation, but by a decisive control in one
form or another."

Here the argument of manifest destiny is backed by the argument of
"military necessity,"--the argument that led Great Britain to possess
herself of Gibraltar, Suez and a score of other strategic points all
round the earth, and to maintain, at a ruinous cost, a huge navy; the
argument that led Napoleon across Europe in his march of bloody, fatal
triumph; the argument that led Germany through Belgium in 1914--one of
the weakest and yet one of the most seductive and compelling arguments
that falls from the tongue of man. Because we have a western and an
eastern front, we must have the Panama Canal. Because we have the Panama
Canal, we must dominate Central America. The next step is equally plain;
because we dominate Central America and the Panama Canal, there must be
a land route straight through to the Canal. In the present state of
Mexican unrest, that is impossible, and therefore we must dominate
Mexico.

The argument was stated with persuasive power by ex-Senator Albert J.
Beveridge (_Collier's Weekly_, May 19, 1917). "Thus in halting fashion
but nevertheless surely, the chain of power and influence is being
forged about the Gulf. To neglect Mexico is to throw away not only one
link but a large part of that chain without which the value and
usefulness of the remainder are greatly diminished if indeed not
rendered negligible." By a similar train of logic, the entire American
continent, from Cape Horn to Bering Sea can and will be brought under
the dominion of the United States.

Some destiny must call, some imperative necessity must beckon, some
divine authority must be invoked. The campaign for "100 percent
Americanism," carefully thought out, generously financed and carried to
every nook and corner of the United States aims to prove this necessity.
The war waged by the Department of Justice and by other public officers
against the "Reds" is intended to arouse in the American people a sense
of the present danger of impending calamity. The divine sanction was
expressed by President Wilson in his address to the Senate on July 10,
1919. The President discussed the Peace Treaty in some of its aspects
and then said, "It is thus that a new responsibility has come to this
great nation that we honor and that we would all wish to lift to yet
higher service and achievement. The stage is set, the destiny disclosed.
It has com