The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1914-08-13
Wars Great Issue

lar rule was again made plain In 1898
in his attitude toward Leo the Kills
famous encyclical. In this now his
torical document, the Catholic-spirited
Pope spoke in very friendly man.
ner of democracy and of popular in
stitutions. Against this the Kaiser
stormed and ragged He even sent
personal threats to the Pope, declar-
Ing he would go to any extremes to
offset this accursed movement toward
self-government.
The Kaiser is firmly convinced he
rules by divine right, that he was sent
as vicar of God to build up the ideal
modern civilization, that no other
man on earth can do the work that he
is doing and that democratic govern
ment Is not only inefficient but a
moral iniquity.
In the light of this. it should be easy
to understand the great political sig
nificance Of Germany's possible vic
tory. What will happen If she wins?
France will be reduced to a third
power. Belgium and Holland will
lose their nationality. British India
will become German province. The
great far spread British Empire will be
dismembered and the scattered re-
| mains of it brought under the con-
lIO1 Ol duIOCIdLlC IOTmdQy OF equally
! autocratic Austria.
Meanwhile, Asia will be absolutist.
At the present moment, China is any
thing but republican and il Germany
| wins, Russia will see to it that she
becomes less republican than ever
Africa will be put through the same
school. South America which even
| now is financial colony of the
| European nations will be compelled to
pay constant tribute to the autocracy
that will rule the world.
This whole situation has been ex-
pressed with fine cogency by an
| editorial writer in the New York
! World:
"The issue is now joined. Either
German autocracy must be crushed, or
European democracy will be obliterat-
ed. There is no middle course. If the
forces that the Kaiser has loosed are
victorious, the map of European re.
publ1canism may as we'll be rolled up
and the American people prepare to
make the last great stand for
democracy. All of continental Europe
s1anized. France will be reduced to
the status of a third-rate power. Bel
GUM, Holland and Denmark will fall
successfully into the nav Of German
imperialism. Italy will become a vas
sal state, the sun will have set upon
the British empire as we'll, and the
mailed fist of the conqueror will
make ready to strike the final blow al
democracy in the new world.
America, as this prophetic utterance
suggests. will be left the one great
democratic country Of the world. II
Is impossible to believe that autocracy
after gobbling up the whole of Europe
Will be content to leave this great
North American continent in the
hands of the hated democracy. Il
Asia Is Russianized, If Europe Is
Prussianized, it is inevitable that thi.
nation would either be thrown into
the maelstrom of autocracy or have
the very essence Of it's character anC
Its government transsubstantiated
These issues are not visionary
They are real and momentous. and the
very vastness Of all that is at stake
makes 1t impossible to believe tha
Germany and Austria can win The
ideas OF popular sovereignty have too
much permeated the peoples O
Europe. The probabilities are on tn,
contrary that this war will 20 fa
toward convincing the people of tn,
hollowness Of the claims and Of tn,
1neffiency of the methods of Europea,
autocrats.