The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1916-04-20

moral standards. There come times In
the lives Of nations as Of men when to
treat wrong as If it were right Is trea-
son to the right.
The Wrong Done to Belgium.
The American people were entitled
not merely to feel. but to speak con-
cerning the wrong done to Belgium.
1t was not like interference in the In
ternal affairs Of Mexico or any other
nation, for this was an international
wrong. The law protecting Belgium
which was violated was our law and
the law of e-ery other civilized cOun-
try. That law was the protection OF
our peace and security. 1t was our
safeguard against the necessity or
maintaining great armaments and
wasting our substance in continual
readiness for war. Moreover, that law
was written into a solemn and formal
convention, signed and ratified by Ger
many and Belgium and France and the
United States in which those other
countries agreed with US that the law
should be observed.
There was no question here OF inter-
fering in the quarrels Of Europe. We
had a right to be neutral, and we were
neutral as to the quarrel between Ger
many and France. but when as an In
cldent to the prosecution Of that
quarrel Germany broke the law which
we were entitled to have preserved
and which she had agreed with US to
preserve we were entitled to be heard
in the assertion of our own national
right.
Neutral Between Right and Wrong!
Yet the American government ac-
Quiesced in the treatment of Belgium
and the destruction of the law Of ma
tions. Without one word of objection
or dissent to the reputation of law
or the breach of our treaty or the vio-
lation of Justice and humanity in the
treatment of Belgium our government
enjoined upon the people of the United
States an undiscriminating and all en-
bracing neutrality, and the president
admonEhed the people that they must
be neutral in all respects in act and
word and thought and sentiment. We
were to be not merely neutral as to the
quarrels Of Europe, but neutral as to
the treatment Of Belgium, neutral be-
tween right and wrong, neutral be-
tween Justice and injustice, neutral be-
tween humanity and cruelty, neutral
between liberty and oppression. Our
government did more than acquiesce,
for in the first Iusitania note. with the
unspeakable horrors of the conquest
of Belgium still fresh In our minds, on
the very day after the report Of the
Bryce commission on Belgian atroci-
ties, 1t wrote these words to the gov
ernment of Germany:
Recalling the humane and enlightened
attitude hitherto assumed by the imperial
German government in matters Of inter-
national right and particularly with re-
gard to the freedom of the seas having
learned to recognize the German views
and the German influence in the field OF
international obligation as always engaged
upon the side of justice and humanity, etc.
And so the government Of the United
States appeared as approving the treat
ment of Belgium, 1t misrepresented
the people of the United States in that
acquiescence and apparent approval
1t was not necessary that the United
States should go to war In defense
of the violated law. A single official
expression by the government Of the
United States, a single sentence deny
ing assent and recording disapproVal
of what Germany did in Belgium,
would have given to the people OF
America that leadership to which they
were entitled in their earnest cropping
for the light. It would have ranged
behind American leadership the con-
science and morality of the neutral
world
It was not to be. The American
government failed to rise to the de.
mands of the great occasion. Gone
we're the old love Of justice, the old
passion for liberty, the old sympathy
with the oppressed, the old ideals OF
an America helping the world toward
a better future, and there remained In
the eyes of mankind only sOlicitude fol
trade and profit and prosperity.
Shrank From the Truth.
The American government could moi
really have approved the treatment OF
Belgium, but under mistaken policy
1t shrank from speaking the truth.
Such policies as have described are
doubly dangerous in their effect upon
foreign nations and in their effect at
home. 1t is matter of universal ex,
perience that weak and apprehensive
treatment Of foreign affairs invites en-.
croachments upon rights and leads to
situations in which it is difficult to
prevent war, while a firm and frank
policy at the outset prevents difficult
situations from arising and tends most
strongly to preserve peace. On the
other hand. II government is to be
strong in its diplomacy its own peo
pie must be ranged In its support by
leadership of opinion in national
cause worthy to awaken their patFi
Otism and devotion.
We have not been following the path
Of peace. We have been blindly STUN
bling along the road that continued
will lead to inevitable war.
When our government failed to tell
the truth about Belgium it lost the
opportunity for leadership Of the mora
Eense OF the American people and Il
lost the power which a knowledge OF
that leadership and sympathetic re-
sponse from the moral sense of the
world would have given to our diploma
cy. When our government failed ID
make any provision whatever for 6e
Tending its rights in case they should
be trampled upon 1t lost the power
which belief In its readiness and vii