The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-12-23

II. n as the note itself Is practically
only a reproduction or q paraphrase
OF the speech, the subject matter of
the note itself has been discussed in
formally between the allies. I am
glad to be able to state that we each
separately n Independently arrived
at identical conclusions.
II am very glad that the first an.
swer given to the statement of the
German chancellor was given by
France and Russia. They have the
unQ~uestionable right to give the first
answer to such an invitation. The
enemy Is still on their soil and their
sacrifices have been the greater.
The answer they have given has
already appeared in the papers and l
simply stand here to. give clear and
definite support to the statements they
have already made.
Amy man or set of men who wan
tonly or without sufficient cause pro-
ionged a terrible conflict like this
would have on his soul a crime that
oceans could not cleanse.
"On the other hand. 1t 10 equally
true that any man or set of men who
from a sense Of WEAKNESS or despair
abandoned the struggle without
achieving the high purposes for which
We entered II, wonld be guilty Of the
oostiiest act Of ,poltroonery ever per-
petrated By sny ststesruan. / should
f 6sAsss
1--WE sccsptsd this war for an OBJ
ject. and-a world object. and the war
Will end whom the fobject Is attained
under God. I hope 1t Will never END
until that time
Are we likely to achieve the object
by accepting the Invitations of the
German chancellor? What are the
proposals? There are none.
ITO enter. on the invitation of Ger
many, proclaiming herself victorious
without any knowledge of what pro.
posals she proposes to make, into a
conference Is to put our heads into
q moose with the rope end in the
hands Of Germany.
This country Is not altogether
without experience In these matters.
This Is not the first time we have
fought a great military despotism
overshadowing Europe and 1t won't be
the first time We have helped to over
throw a military despotism. We have
an uncomfortable historical memory
or these things and can recall one of
the greatest of these despots, whose
favorite device was to appear In the
garb OF an angel of peace, either when
he wished time to assimilate his con-
quests or to reorganize his forces for
fresh contest: or secondly, when his
subjects showed symptoms o: fatigue
and war-weariness, an appeal was
always made in the name of human
ity. He demanded an end to the
~bloodshed at which he professed him
self Mortified. although he himself
was mainly responsible.
Our ancestors were taken in once
and bitterly they and Europe rued it
The time was devoted to reorganizing
MS forces for deadlier attack than
ever upon the liberties of Europe.
Examples Of this kind cause us
to regard this note with a consider.
able measure Of reminiscent disquiet
! I'VE feel that we ought to know
before We give favorable consideration
to such an invitation that German,
Is prepared to accept terms on which
1t Is possible peace can be obtained
and maintained in Europe. Those
terms ave been repeatedly stated by
all the leading statesmen of the allies
They have been stated repeatedly
here and outside. To quote the lead
or OF the house last week:
Preparation and guarantee against
repetition. so there shall be no mis-
take. and II Is important that there
should be no mistake i'm q matter of
life or death to Millions"
Let me repeat-complete restitu-
ton. full PREPARATION and eff~ectual
guarantees.
Did the German chancellor use n
single phrase to indicate that he was
prepared to accept such q peace?
Was there q hint of restitution? Was
there n suggestion Of PREPARATION? Was
there an implication OF any security
for the future, that this outrage on
civilization would not again be per-