Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-09

Almost at the same hour the presi-
dents Of the great republics. France ana
America, delivered i'm
Presidential portant messages to
a,, their people on the occa-
AuuAcsses. sion Of their Inaugural
ton. The message of n. Poincare' the
President of France. was read to the
French parliament on the 10th uiumo'
that Of Mr.. Wilson, the President OF the
United States. was read on the 4th IN
slant to the people from the steps OF the
Capitol at Washington.
The messages mark epochs in the lives
Of the two republics. The men them
selves are superior types of the two sis
ter republics. NJ. Poincare has been
likened to Theirs: Mr.. Wilson. has been
compared to Washington. The form and
harmony Of their addresses have chal-
lenged alike the admiration Of the peo-
pie and press of both countries. That of
the French president, aside from it's af-
firmation concerning the new and active
role of the president before the chamber
and people. contains a note that fortu-
nately Is lacking In the message of the
American President. l say fortunately
lacking because the note Is warning OF
Of an ancient and familiar maxim which
bids US prepare for war I'm times of
peace. Europe Is great armed camp,
and 1t Is natural that the French presi-
dent should proclaim that the first of his
duties to the nation is the preparation
for war in order to consolidate peace"
In America the conditions are other
wise. The American Presidents message
is essentially pacific.
The text Of the first paragraph of NJ.
n~fw. 800. k,,-r
and deputies merits reproduction:
THE peaceful and regular transmission
Of the presidential powers has made APP
parent once more to the world the UNI
breakable solidity of our institutions.
The republic has furnished q new proof
of its vitality and France has shown
that she has become definitely accustom-
ed to the regime Of liberty"
X x
After mention Of the important re-
forms created and Of those to be created.
the president concluded
Measures Of by saying that peace can
not be decreed by a sin
ASoeS' gle power. 1t was not
possible for a people to be effectively pa
cific except upon condition of being al
ways prepared for war. A France di-
fault to provocations and humiliations.
could no longer be France. 1t would be
crime against civilization to permit the
country to fall in the midst of nations
which augment their military forces UNI
ceasingly. The army and navy give proof
each day Of their valor and devotion.
They should turn to them their vigilant
thoughts. and they should not recoil
from any effort or any sacrifice to con-
solidate these forces. Thus. in brief.
and representatives, and, except the UNI
placated and implacable anarchists. they
applauded without regard to party.
The fall of the Turkish empire and the
coming in as If by a miracle-into the
family of nations-of Balkan coalition
a combination Of Christian states which
cannot be the toy or tool either of Eng
land or Germany. has created consterna-
ton at London and at Berlin.
Lord Roberts In a letter to the National
Service League in favor of preparing fol
war by obligatory military service has
written:
"The fall of the Turkish empire ir
Europe causes us to reflect upon our mill
ice may only remedy our ills. Shall we
expose ourselves to fall as Turkey did
under the blows of the more patriotic and
virile?''
The London Times correspondent ar
Berlin telegraphs concerning German
opinion over the unpopularity of the cost
Of the present increase OF the German
army. and he cites from the Cologne
Gazette, semi-official organ:
1.-THE downfall Of Turkey and the rise OF
the Balkan states have created not SO
much a new situation as q new prospect
that the German people are called upon
to face. There has been shifting OF the
balance Of strength In favor Of the whole
Slav element. and although fear of con-
f1ict is remote. Germany has to deal with
possibilities quite different from those
which existed before the war"
Is
The chancellor of the German empire
recently invited the German people to ac-
cept with stout hearts the
Germany's heavy burdens and sacrifices
which would soon be asked
0u1ueA' of them In the reichstag. The
German government. heretofore content
with increasing their electives only tG
keep up the standard. would now raise
ii by the alarming addition Of two Oh
more corps d'armee. Why? The query
ia asked on every hand. and although
there seems no immediate danger of q
conflict, yet the trouble and disquiet is
on every hand in Europe. Has the bal
ance of power shifted with the downfall
Of Turkeyr' is a question which may ex-
plain the persistent agitation In Austria,
and now in Germany. persuaded. perhaps,
that on the ruins of Turkey there ID 70
be formed a great Slav empire
The late William T. Stead foreshadoweo
in a remarkable article the coming or the
Slay. The annexation Of Bosnia Here.
goyina by Austria-Hungary was q dow
rather a check. to the onward march OF
the Slavs, of whom there are l0O,OOO,OOO
in Europe.
We are not alarmists. We do not be-
lieye that Germany and Austria hungary
are seriously aggressive or desire war
Austria surely does not, for 10 per cent
of her population and army is composed
of the Slavs. whom 1t were madness &c
provoke
minated at Moscow June 1, 1909. M.
Kramarsch. president of the executive
COMMITTEES. said: "Our dream was tC
create a rapproachment Of the great Slav
powers, Russia and Austria. After thu
annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina We can
no longer dream of detaching Austria
from Germany We may only work now
for the moral attachment OF all Siav ma
tiOnalists to q common ideal.
A spirit of reform and Improvement
actuates the Slavs OF Russia-Poland,
Servia, Austria-Hungary and Germany
The Slav race, bound by ties of blood and
tradition, is being taught the necessity OF
standing together as one family In order
to achieve its absorbing desire to become
a nation. Can any one doubt that the
Slavs OF Russia. Germany and Austria
have furnished unnumbered recruits to
the armies of the victorious Balkan states
that now form great military power
with which Europe must henceforth
1870 tTharo &c therefore every rea son