The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-03
WAR ECHOES

I from Europe are so rare that the follow 1 ing appreciative tribute from the London Daily News should not be overlooked. Secret diplomacy belongs to thetradi- tions of autocratic and personal govern ment: it has no place in democratic
 world and the example of the United States must become the model Of the civilized world on this vital matter II Europe is to be free from menace Ill the future"
 | The paragraph occurs in an article dis cussing the sudden precipitation Of war upon Europe, and especially upon Eng l land, to the surprise and consternaton of the people at large. The reader IS al- lowed to infer that if the diplomatic ne- gotiations had been conducted in the open, peace might have been maintained This is a debatabe question, but the | European commentators, confronted by all the horrors of devastating war, are I blindy groping about for the causes of ! it, and they hit first upon one reason for the catacylsm and then upon another as l though any single incident, or any single method of doing business could explain the great clash of conflicting national and racial ambitions now flooding the once peaceful fields of Europe with the blood of it's most vigorous young men.
 l It Is nevertheless true that secret iiplo- | macy belongs to the traditions of au- tocracy and personal government, and that public discussion of questions of in- ternational relations, within the limits of a wise discretion, is the only method that can be tolerated in a democracy. But diplomatic negotiations conducted in he open do not necessarily prevent war. as we know very well in the United States. There was no secrecy in the preliminary discussion with Spain of it's misrule in Cuba, and the whole nation knew what the President demanded. When Spain re- | fused it was ready for the inevitable. War did not come unexpectedly.
 1 Where the government is the people there can/be no secret understanding and no negotiation under cover, the nature oe which astounds the world when it is dis closed. Public diplomacy is demanded, not because it will always prevent var, but because it is the right of the people to know what negotiations are afoot in which they may become the chief actors. make all the sacrifices, bear the burdens and suffer the chief horrors
 | Cleveland Plain Dealer: When this hor- rible conflict is over; when the swords have been made into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks; when the war | drum throbs no longer and the battle fag
 is furled-then how will the historian speak Of this eruption of hostilities? 1 It has been comparatively easy to label the wars of the past. The Franco Prus-
 sian war tells it's own tale; the Spanish American war, the Russo-Japanese war. the Thirty Years war, the Crimean war history has designated these struggles and made them a part of herself witt. those labels attached. But how shall we refer to the awesome cataclysm that is now in progress?
 | We are not yet agreed on the official designations of struggles that were 9e- cded a half century ago. The south calls the war of 1S6o-e4 The War Between the | States" The north calls it "The War of | the Rebellion The school histories re- fer to it, without prejudice, as ''The Civil |
 England "The Revolution" That is 3
 dignified term. But in England it is called "The Rebellion of the North Amer
 ican Colonies" We are not agreed.
 England had civil war. France had a revolution. The history of modern civ ilization has yet to be crystallized How | then will the history of these times refer
 to the titanic struggle now going on in
 Europe?
 | The man on the street refers to It as
 '-the war in Europe" But there nave
 been many wars in Europe, so that is not
 a distinctive title. Shall we call it .'The | Pan European War;" That would not be
 a true name, for many European coun-
 tries have succeeded in remaining neil-
 tral Spain. Portugal, Switzerland. all O! the Scandinavian peninsula, Denmark.
 Holland-these belong to Europe, and these are not concerned with this war So it is not Pan-European. It cannot be called Franco-G German, either. When
 are engaged, when Austria and even ar
 Asiatic power are in the strife, we can
 not confine it to such a phrase. Suppose we call it The Anglo Franco -Austro. | Germanic-Slavic war?' That is silly-we cannot employ so many syllables while l leaving out so many factors
 It may be that future generations and future historians will agree to know il simply as "The Great Var Surely i. is the greatest war that has ever bee,
 waged by modern nations; surely il
 will need no more distinctive title. It was an European power, and passed on to the l armed nations of Europe. And so i | turned out to be the big war. Perhaps it will so be known to future historians.
 New York Sun: It is edifying to know
 how dearly all our warning brethren across the water love the United States
 Love it so tenderly that they would like 1 to see 1t reciprocate not only with hot
 hearted sympathies but with force and arms. As one reads the pleas of public
 men and newspapers one learns thai
 somehow every cock in the pit, including of course the Turkey cock if it's coming
 in, is fighting not merely for Itself, but if
 some mysterious way for beloved Uncle Sam. Of course each side is the side o civilization. Somehow the triumph ct tho other Is going to bring myriad woes tt the Americans.
 | It is an almost comic interlude in tht great kriegspiel. War is such a holy
 work that every nation ought to take {