The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 30, 1917, Page 7

T AN A AN ABOUT CRUSHING BRITISH statesman is quoted as saying that no peace terms A will be stated by the allies except to ‘‘a Germany free or a Germany crushed,’’ and this phrase is being parroted by the American press. It is such statements that are doing more to break down the confidence of the peoples of the allied governments that this is a just war than all the speeches and writing of the pacifists of all countries put together. If history teaches anything it teaches that a form of government can not be forced on a people from the outside. Governments are re- formed from the inside. No matter how badly Germany is beaten, the allies can never succeed in forcing a permanent form of government on her. All the allies can do toward German freedom is to take a posi- tion of fairness toward the German people that will encourage them to reform their own government. The first step in encouraging Germany .to throw off Kaiserism is for the allies to state frankly and definitely what terms Germany is expected to bow to in peace terms. This_will destroy the present belief of the AL SECT N tion. Austria ‘‘crushed’ and enslaved the states of Italy, but the Italian states united and rose stronger than ever and Italy has been a menace to Austria ever since. Loose talk about ‘‘crushing’’ Germany is made by persons, he they ‘‘statesmen’’ or not, who do not know history—who do not know that a ‘‘crushed’’ people is a people filled with hatred and desire for re- venge and a people that will disturb world peace when opportunity arises. They do not know that no nation can be ‘“‘crushed’’ and stay crushed for long, and when such nations do recuperate their desire is war and revenge. When pcace comes it must be on a basis that will prevent future wars. * *® * We want an “American peace’—a peace that will make the world ' safe for democracy. The quickest vvay to get it is to state specific peac2 terms—the terms we demand the enemy to bow to. The people of the United States, as well as the German people, are entitled to know what terms the allies expect Germany to accept. When Germany accepts those terms the war should end. i AN ‘“AMERICAN PEACE” German people that the allies are 2 IID Leader has not declar- conducting a war of extermina- l GRAIN DEALERS’ PATRIOTISM I 101 an “‘immediate * tion and that their object is to wipe out the German people. Un- til definite terms of peace are stated, the Kaiser will make good with the German people with his argument that Germany is fight- _ ing in self-defense and that the allied plan is to enslave Germany. As to the other part of the stateman’s utterance, it is already answered.- The statement that no peace terms will be outlined unless Germany is crushed, is the |FROM # 9 best kind of propaganda for #1.828. 000 THIS YEAR Kaiserism in Germany. It is also a blood-thirsty sentiment. Crush- ing Germany means sacrificing millions upon millions of lives and bhillions of dollars. Even then, many military experts doubt if it can be done. The statement of the statesman means this, if carried out: The war carried to a point at which the Germans are willing to accept terms of peace; the refusal of the allies to con- sider peace, even then; the further carrying on of the war, not to get the allies’ peace terms accepted, which Germany is already willing to accept, but simply for the pur- pose of forever ecrippling Ger- - many; carrying the war on for the sake of war and revenge. News item—“The Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce has increased its commis- . . sions by a vote of brokers, 213 to 33. This, we must confess, is a pretty f sentiment for the ears of the suffering, war-torn world. There seems to be a belief by some statesmen that Germany can be crushed to a point where she will forever be impotent, and that this should be the allied object. A Germany crushed will be a Germany full of hatred for those who crushed her. Centuries could not wipe out that hatred. A Germany full of this kind of hatred will be a menace to future world’s peace—it will be a Germany ready and waiting for any opportunity that arises for revenge. Is that what we want? Is that how we will assure the future peace of the world? France was ‘‘crushed’ by Germany in 1871 and a peace forced on her that included a huge indemnity and tbe cession of provinces to Germany. Did France ever forget that? No.” The hatred engendered by that war-and that kind of peace resulted in the French alliance with Russia and Great Britain against Germany, and was one of the main causes of the present war. The Italian states were ‘‘crushed’’ last century by Austria, and Austria took some Italian prbvinces. Did Italy ever forget that? No. That war and that kind of peace resulted in Italy breaking a treaty with Germany and joining the allies in the present war, in order to get back from Austria those provinces. Again, a nation can not be ‘‘crushed’’ short of extermination. The ancient peoples ‘‘crushed’’ their enemies by wars of extermina- tion. They found that nothing short of extermination ever effectively _crushed a people. France was ‘‘crushed’’ in 1871 by Germany, yet France rose in supreme strength in this war, 40 years later. France recovered in a few years. Napoleon ‘‘crushed’’ Germany once and dictated humiliating terms of peace. Germany recovered with a vengeance in 1871. She would recover in a few years from any “crushing’’ the allies may gwo her in this war, short of externiina- peace a ‘““CGerman peace.”’ It has merely declared for the statement by the United States and her allies of terms on which they will make peace. ‘When such a statement is made then it will be time to talk about peace. There can be no talk about peace or demand for peace that will get anywhere until it is known in specific language what terms we demand of the enemy. Do not the allies owe it to their people to state frankly what the allies demand—what they want the enemy to concede? Is there anything to be ashamed of in what the allies arc fighting for? Are there any seeret agreements as to war aims that the rulers have made which the peoples of the allied countries would repu- diate if they knew about them? We hope not. We are loath to believe it. But continued refusal the enemy must bow to is con- firming a belief in many that there is some kind of secret agree- ment among rulers. Let us come out in the open and persuade our allies to do so. Let us know definitely what we are fighting for, and let the enemy know. Then, when the enemy is willing to concede the terms stated, it is time for a peace conference. If Germany concedes the things the allies are fighting for;-as expressed-in concrete terms in a frank state- ment by the allied governments, how could a peace hased on those terms be a ‘‘German peace?”’ If the man you are fighting with con- cedes everything you ask, is he the victor or are you? When he does concede all, will you continue to fight him for revenge or for the joy of combat—for the purpose merely of beating him into a pulp and throwing him into the ditch? That is all there is to the position of the Leader in regard td peace —merely a demand that the allied countries outline plainly and in de- tail what terms they want to force on Germany, and what they expect to gain by the war. This will give Germany a chance to make peace ON THE ALLIES’ TERMS. Maybe she is willing to concede every- thing wanted now. But nobody knows, because the allies have not out- lined specifically what they want Germany to bow to. If Germany is willing to concede everything demanded by the allies is it not murder to sacrifice another life? And how can we know what Germany will concede till we state what we want? Let’s be honest. ‘We want an ‘‘ American peace’’—a peace that will make the world safe for democracy—and we want it as soon as possible. I “The conditions of peace now can be stated in general terms that are as acceptable to a reasonable man in Berlin as they are to a reasonable man in Paris, London, Petrograd or Constantinople. ' There are to be no conquests, no domination of recalcitrant populations, no bitter insistence upon vindictive penalties, and there must be something in the nature of a -world-wide league of nations to keep peace securely in the future, to make the world safe for democracy, and to maintain international justice.”— H. G. Wells, British novelist and publicist, in asking for a concrete state- " ment of peace terms by the allies. 4 PAGE SEVEN peoples as well as to the German to- state specifically what terms -