The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-01-14
|RAHM TELLS MORE
OF WAR CONDITIONS

Helingsborg, Sweden, Dec. Ia, ,l9l4.
Editor Glacier: In my former lettel
| endeavored to make few things
clear TO YOU regarding the war an'
some things connected Herewith al
thew appear only few hours railway
journey from the seats Of action. VI
course. | am aware of the fact that ev
erything that happens IN this connee
tion-and more tOo-is telegrspheu u
American newspapers, but you know
things are apt to get mixed these day'
almost beyond eXtrlcatlon. ,uoil
know whether my last letter mad'
the past and present situation clearer
to YOU, but what 1t lacked IN explicit
ness YOU would undoubtedly IN you
own judgment supply.
Volumes have already been writer
and hundreds more will be ground ou'
on this horrible subject for the present
and still unborn generations to study
and wonder at But what concerns VI
most lust now is what the outcome o.
TINS war will be and what effect 1t viii
have upon the different phases (anC
faces) of the life Of the innocent by
stander" and on the whole world n
general. OF course, opinions diifer u
this respect, depending upon our lndl'
vidual point of view.
We ali know that England has moi
for a thousand years, that is since the
Norman invasion, been a conquered
country, and from the reign OF the
cruel and arrogant King John Is
marked by common consent as the time
from which the English date the birth
of their national freedom in its later
form.
This national freedom was, like most
constitutional liberties which nations
and peoples have gained, wrenched
from the hands of a despotic ruler by
force of arms. English national free
dom of that time does not. of course,
compare with the almost unlimited
"do- as YOU please" fashion which all IN
England now are enjoying. But since
that time national freedom and the lib
critics and personal rights of the indl'
vidua in England have been the insplr'
alton for nobler work and greater
progress towards the emancipation OF
humanity of all truly great statesmen
all over the civilized world. That ir
England there have attempts beer
made, many of them, by oppressive
tryants and cold blooded reactionarle'
to curtai the freedom and liberties Of
the people is only manifestation Of
the law of retrogradation, which seem
to be the most natural characteristic.o o
many individuals high in the socia
scale of life, even in our day and time
We have occasionally seen tendencies
in that direction even IN America
where reactionary plutocrats by thel
great corporations and combination o
corporations have attempted to contro
the government of the United State
for their own selfish interests. Ha
Alexander Hamilton in his day an
generation been successful in establish
ing government after the pattern h
had cut out the U. S. A., and possibl
the whole world, would politically an
socially have had different aspeC
from what it now has. But the reaC
tionary tendencies in the United State
have quickly been quelled becaus
there never was, and, | hope, neVt
will be hereditary ruling class 1
nearly all the nations in Europe hay
been burdened with from time immen
orial.
| do not need to recaptulate as
: what England has done in our oW
time in the way of breaking down Il
old order of things and putting Il
governing power where it belongs
an enlightened nation, namely in Il
, hands of the governed. The reform
for right and justice, for social and p
litical equality, for the bettering
the economic conditions under whit
the great toiling mass is laborinl
which the present liberal ministry
, England has driven through. in spite
desperate tory party, are certain
far reaching in their uttermost cons
quences. And the reforms which ha'
already become established laws a
not only progressive in themselves, b
will in their application have a tende
cy to still further accelerate the pro
ressive movement which in the nej
future will make the people of Gre
Britain the most democratic govern,
nation in the wOrld-not even Il
! United States excepted.
Now what will happen if both Fran
and England are crushed under Il
Prussian military machine, the Jugge
naut, under the wheels of which all i
divduality, all personal freedom, d
social equality, all civil right and ju
tice vis-a-vs the military caste a
ground in the dust and to dust?
You may think and probably mo
{ Americans believe that that question
, none of their concern, but | want
tell you that it is
> 1t is said that Alexander the Gre
shed bitter tears when he had co
quered all the then known world, b
. William the Great will meet no SUI
! disaster when the European natio
are brought to their knees before hi
because there is still left him to CO
. Quer-the United States of America
, You and many with you will probab
smile at such an apparently absu
! statement, nevertheless that is exact
what the imperial program contain
according to the statement recent
made by German professors who in
semi-oiicial capacity have been Wis
( ing Sweden the last few weeks.
e One of them came here about 70
weeks ago, a Professor Ostwald,
feel the Swedes on the pulse and
D prepare the way for the great even
e which Germany plans to surprise &
= world with when her enemies shf
have been pulveri2ed. The who
scheme was not, of course, laid bare
once; that would have been too mu
to begin with and might have caus
apprehension on the part of some
the more thoughtful elements. T
. willy Kaiser knows better than
[ frighten prospective customer al
confederate by revealing too much
his diabolical schemes, until the tin
comes when he is ready to strik
Then the nation which has been "ho
ored" by his proposal will either ha
to accept or be Belgiumized.
According TO this Professor Ostwal
| ,sth hn h.g kn l. 4