New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-27

but il would not abolish the peril.
For what the French and British are
row fighting is not nation, it is not a
people, it is an idea. 1t is the idea which
carried Napoleon from Madrid to Moscow
and led French armies from the Channe
to the Holy Land 1t is the idea Of WORLD
domination, of the superior race, Of the
right of one nation and one race to en-
slave, subdue, crush other races, merely
because it possesses greater numbers and
larger genius for adapting to the work
Of destruction the lessons and discoveries
of the modern age.
There is no question Of dividing Ger
many, there is no question Of partitioning
the provinces whose people are by choice
and loyalty Teutonic. No such ambition
to-day stands in the way Of world peace.
Peace is impossible because the Germans,
having invaded Belgium, France, Poland,
Serbia, claim as the reward of their efforts
the right to rule over French, Belgian,
Serbian and Polish people, claim the right
to transform by violence and might peo-
pie who would be what ancestry and ira
dtion make them into unwilling Germans,
that the grandeur and power Of the Ger
man people may be expanded and the en-
pire of the Hohenzollerns and the vassal
Hapsburgs may be the mightiest on the
face of the earth.
So long as this German idea remains
peace would be an empty sham. Until
that day when the German people are
willing to renounce the dream Of domino
ton over alien people and unwilling races,
there can be no peace and every tempo
rary truce is a danger, not respite. The
time when the German people will re-
nounce this dream has not yet come. So
far as it is possible to judge, the rulers OF
Germany remain now as faithful to the
doctrine Of world power as sixteen months
ago, when they launched their thunder
bolt. AS for the people, not yet is 1t pos
sible to believe that they are willing to
make the sacrifices which are essential TO
an enduring peace.
This then is the moral crisis in this
tremendous conflict, and in this crisis the
gravest responsibility must rest with the
British people The French have done
their part, and what they have done will
remain forever priced by those who love
liberty. Much the British have done, but
their sacrifice as compared with the French
is still slight. The great work which is to
be done must be done by the nation whose
resources are still undiminished, whose
numbers have known no such losses as
France has suffered in her magnificent
For many Americans the chief interest,
the real concern, now must be as to what
part the British people will choose to play
Peace on terms which will mean little or
no immediate sacrifice for the British can
lie had at any time. But such peace as is
now possible will leave France and Bel
GUM, if temporarily evacuated by the Ger
mans, exposed to a new storm few years
hence. It will leave the Serbs still at the
mercy of the Austrians and the Poles
under the domination Of the Prussians,
whose rule in Posen has been one OF the
most brutal examples of race slavery in
world history.
II the British are now prepared to pay
their price, to play their part in the
struggle, to send their millions to die In
the trenches where the French have fought
50 valiantly for many months, II they are
prepared to make the ultimate sacrifices
in blood and treasure which are the costs
that races and nations must pay for lib
ertv. then In a time which cannot be long
now. however slow the months may move,
we shall see the downfall of the German
idea and the victory Of the faith which Is
democracy and the gospel which is indie
pendence.
We Americans had to make the same
decision in 1864 after three years Of terri
BILE war, which swept like hurricane over
our fields and laid our cities in ruins
while taking Its terrific toll Of all that was
noblest and best. And in that greater period
In our history North and South alike made
the greater decision. BY both sides it was
recognized that there could be no peace
until the issue of the war was decided, and
the issue was national unity. In 1864 the
decision was not reached. The military
decision was had, just as the military deci-
sion in Europe has been attained. In 1864
the South was beaten, even more certainly
defeated than is Germany now; but there
remained the great question: Was there
left the moral courage to enforce the VIC
tory and harvest the fruits Of the colossal
sacrifices Of the preceding years7 Our
answer was the only possible answer, and
when II was made American unity was
assured forever.
II Is not necessary that the present war
should end at Berlin. In America there is
M avn, nathy with any spirit which aims at