AUGUST; 1917
The Commoner
tf
question, said tie secretary, it was impossible
to foretell the position in which the world would
find itself when these problems came to be de
cided, and it would be doing a very ill service
to the country were he to attempt to define the
position now.
The government believed that the nationalities
composing that heterogeneous state should be
allowed to develop along their own lines and to
carry on their civilization in their own way, he
said. '
"As everbody knows," continued Mr. Balfour,
"we first entered the war to defend Belgium
and prevent France from being crushed before
our eyes. Nobody with the smallest knowledge
of the facts supposed that Sir Edward Grey (for
merly foreign secretary) and the government,
of which he was a member when he made the
fateful declaration on August 3, 1914, made it
with the smallest thought of the great problems
which the course of. the war has opened up.
NO SELFISH MOTIVES
"We did not eter the war for any selfish pur
poses, certainly not for imperialist aim- or to
get indemnities. Our purposes were completely
unselfish; therefore we stood .n a different" posi
tion from any of our allies. We hoped to see
Europe freer and more stable."
If France asked it, he failed to see Low Great
Britain could refrain from going to assist her
until she got back to the position which existed
before theattack engineered against her by
Bismarck in 1871, namely that "she obtain. res
toration, of that of which she was robbed more
than forty years ago."
Mr Balfour expressed an opinion which was
simply his own when he said that if France
asked for Alsace-Lorraine, Great Britain should
support her, bi he declared that France was
not fighting for Alsace-Lorraine alone; she was
fighting for her very existence. The questions
the house had discussed were occupying the at
tention of the whole civilized world almost to
the exclusion of every other subject.
As to the democratization of Germany, said
the secretary, it had been hoped that autocracy
would give place 0' parliamentary institutions
as they are under stood, 1mt nobody was foolish
enough to suppose that It would be possible to
impose on Ge: many a constitution made outside
of Germany. Until Germany was either made
powerless or free, he did not think the peace of
Europe could be secured. The fight must go on
for if this war ended with a German peace, that
would only be a prelude to a new European war.
"The peace was to be one that England and
America could approve, then it would lead to a
permanent settlement which would in turn con
duce to that great understanding of the nations
which would give Europe a security it had never
known before," said the secretary.
"Germany must work out her own salvation,"
continued Mr. Balfour. "Nations must make
their scheme of liberty for themselves, accord
ing to their own ideas based on their history,
character and hopes.
"But if it be true that the great power of Ger
man imperialism is still depending upon the be
lief the belief driven into the German nation
by the wars of 1866 and 1870 that only under
the imperial tystem can Germany be great,
powerful and rich, then if experience shows that
the imperialistic system can produce not merely
a triumph one time, but inevitably lead to cor
responding disaster at another, it may well be
that the views, which found such powerful ex
pression in Germany in 1848, and which ani
mated all German teachers for more than a gen
eration before the Bismarckian domination, will
revive with new lustre and new strength and
that Germany, with all her powers of organiza
tion and all her inherited cultivation, will be
added to those nations which, before the war,
3uld hardly conceive how a universal war of
'his sort could be deliberately provoked in or
i'r to further the commercial or political inter
f" of any single community.
"When Germany has come to the level of the
1 ' ted States and Great Britain in that respect,
x ' may hope that one of the great disturbers
' the peace will forever be eliminated. I do
J t know who will venture to say for a moment
" bat, looking at the internal condition of Ger
1 any, as far as we -are allowed to see it at the
resent time, the ideas of which I have been
flaking will really grow in such fashion as to
'ise legitimate hopes that in our lifetimes we
fcnall see that established. But I am sure that
f it is not established, the security of Europe
will not be. established either." .
Secretary Lansing's
Speech
United States men, declared his belief that the
ocrL nf A P?,ySiCal mlBht o unIted lom-
eviTambi?ioi of 0rld,!S8 de8troycd forcvor "o
"tLm' hi I he military rulers of Germany."
pS of Vhe V"8 thQ Dly Way t0 rC8t0r? th0
thPiTwm ry PePl? 0n carth ablc t0 cxPrc8S
their will, there would be no wars of aggres
sion," he said, "and, if there were no wars of
aggression, there would bo no wars, and lasting
peace would come to this earth. The only way
that a people can express their will Is through
democratic institutions. Therefore, when the
world is made safe for democracy, when that
great principle prevails, universal peace will bo
an accomplished fact.
"No nation of peoplo will be fit more than the
United States when that time comes. But it has
yet to come. A great peoplo, ruled in thought
and word as well as In deed by the most sinister
government of modern times, is straining every
nerve to supplant democracy by the autocracy
which they have been taught to worship. When
will the German people awaken to the truth?
When will they arise in their might and cast off
the yoke and become their own masters? I fear
that it will not be until the physical might of
the unitedv democracies of the world have de
stroyed forever the evil ambitions of the mil
itary rulers of Germany, and liberty triumphs
over its arch-enemy."
Mr. Lansing sought to drive home to the stu
dent officers the righteousness of the cause for
which they had volunteered to go to France and
fight, asserting that America would 'win "be
cause our cause is the cause of justice and of
right and humanity." The immediate cause of
our war with Germany the breaking off of her
promise as to indiscriminate submarine war
fare has a far more deep meaning, he said,
than has been thought. "The evil character of
the German government is laid bare before the
world. We know now that that government Is
inspired with ambitions which menace human
liberty, and that to gain its end it does not hes
itate to break faith, to violate the most sacred
rights, or to perpetrate intolerable acts of in
humanity. "It needed but tho words reported to have
been uttered by the German chancellor to com
plete the picture of the character of his gov
ernment when he announced the only reason
why the intensified submarine campaign was de
layed until February last, was that sufficient
submarines could not be built before that time
to make the attacks on commerce efficient. Do
you realize what this means? If it means any
thing it Is that the promise to refrain from
brutal submarine warfare which Germany made
to the United States, were never intended to be
kept, that they were only made to gain more
submarines and that when the time came to act,
the German promises were unhesitatingly torn
to pieces like other 'scraps of paper.'
"It is this disclosure of character of German
government which Js the underlying cause of our
entry into the war. We had doubted, or at least
many Americans had doubted, the evil purpose
of the rulers of Germany. Doubt remains no,
longer In the light of events we can read the
past and see that for a quarter of a century the
absorbing ambition of the military oligarchy
which was the master of the German empire,
mq fnr world dominion.'
Asserting that the future of the United States
is at stake, Secretary Lansing said: "If any of
you have the idea that we are fighting other's
hnttles and not our own, the sooner you get
away from that idea, the better it will be for
all of us imagine Germany victor in Europe
because the United States remained neutral.
!iL think vou would be the next victim
S"thoSe who aroC'tog to be masters of the
Ji. mirth' Would not this country with Its
rhormous wlth arouse the cupidity of an 1m
enormouo triumphant Germany?
P"Wo dn't thls democracy be the only obstacle
betwlen the autocratic rulers of Germany and
I'ISACKt "I CANT KRIS ANY PLACi: WIIKIII3 I
CAN TAKK KOMI OK IT"
From Do Nlcuwo AtnHtordammor (Ammonium)
her supremo ambition: Do you think that they
would withhold their hand from so rich a prize?
Every man who fights tho armies of the Gurman
emperor, goes forth to fight for his country and
for the preservation of those thlngn our fore
fathers were willing to dio for. To those who
thus offer themselves wo owe tho same debt that
we owe to those men who in tho past, fought
on American soil In tho cause of liberty."
Answering those whom he said might think it
improbable that Germany would attack tho
United States if Bho won tho war, Mr. Lansing
cited things which Germany has Ijecn guilty of
which woro thought "Improbable yen, Impos
sible," before tho war violation of the treaties,
the crimes of mmder, extortion and vandalism
in Belgium and Franco, submarine brutality and
bomb dropping on cities. "Yot, God help us,
these things rave come to pass," he exclaimed,
"and iron crosses have been awarded tho per
petrators!" "But there is more," he continued, "which
might be added to this record of unbelievable
things which the German government has done.
I only need to montion the attempt of foreign
officers at Berlin to bribe Mexico to make war
upon us by promising them American territory.
Spies and conspirators were sent throughout tho
world. Civil discord was encouraged to weaken
the potential strength of nations which might
be merciless to the lust of Germany's ruler for
world masteiy. My friends, I am firmly con
vinced that the indepent'ance of not one nation
is safe until the military despotism which holds
theGerman people In the hollow of its hand, has
been made impotent and harmless forever.
There is but ono way to restore peace to the
world and that is by overcoming tho physical
might of German imperialism by force of arms.
"If enthusiasm and ardor can make success
sure, then we Americans have no cause for anx
iety, no reason to doubt the outcome of tho con
flict. But enthusiasm of righteousness of your
cause, and on a profound conviction of the
righteousness of your cause and an Implicit
faith that tho god of battles will strengthen the
arm of him who fights for tho right."
Most of the boasting that is done about the
number of automobiles in a city or state is by
persons who do not own them. The average
man talks harshly about the careless driving of
motor cars and the danger that attends walking
in a city, but he doesn't move out on that ao-
count.
The government has decided to fix the prlc
of wheat at the primary market, which means
where the man who has bought it from the pro'
ducer sells it. Just what effect that will haw
upon tho consumer is doubtful, unless they
either fix the price or the size of the loaf k
bread the baker sell?
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