Evening star., 1916-12-23

is at the basis of the direction of the
war War is made. as it is declared in
is there any assimilation possible be-
| tween these two groups of belligerents?
Evidently not.
Blame for q. S. Suffering.
THE United States is suffering from
the war. and nobody denies it, but they
suffer by the fault of those who desired
and brought on the war. They cannot
forget, moreover. that in the present
contest Frenchmen, companions in COM
bat for American independence, defend
French independence. 1t is not at a
moment when our forces. and those of
our allies, developed or created during
the war. are promising our just re-
venge. that we can be asked to sheathe
the sword They know that the Ger
man note, destitute Of substance. lack
ing strength, is only war maneuver
and not an act of peace. They know
that the Germans are ofering US a
peace trap. as two years ago it was
war trap, and they cannot ask US to be
caught therein. We want victory
which will prevent a return of aggres
sion and save US and neutrals from the
horrors Of war and it's consequences.
In this firm resolution, affirmed by
all the governments of the entente,
America finds the only valid guarantee
of it's pacific aspirations. She cannot
find 1t in the German word often
violated. All support. even moral.
given Germany now would have no other
result than to aid her in escaping by
diplomacy the responsibilities of war
and reserve for the future her liberty
of aggression. 1t is not that. from
all the evidence. the Washington cabi-
net wishes, and there is no doubt in
our mind regarding it's intentions. But
intentions are not all and consequences
= to- hi fC CT
enlightened by the study of facts and
based on the study of rights, that the
French people expect from the Amer
icon people as. more than century
ago, the American people awaited and
procured it from the French people"
Reflects Official Views.
This editorial in the Temps is un-
derstood here to represent authorita-
tive views in French official circles. In
another editorial the Temps says:
1T certainly seems that the Wash
ington cabinet in it's desire for peace
has neglected to look the problem in
the face and weigh the real evidence.
President Wilson's funda-
mental error dates far back. to his re-
fusaI to pass upon the initial re-
sponsibility for the war. Judge what
the two groups of bell!gerents say
and think about peace, Can one for
get that one Of them deliberately
broke the peace while the other did
everything to keep it?'
The Temps remarks that President
Wilson seems to see in Chancellor Won
Bethmann-H -Hollwegs speech declara-
ton of respect for the rights of small
nations and asks:
Can one forget in this connection the
wrong of Austria against Serbia; the
- ny,
After saying that the war map put
forward by Germany in her peace pro-
posals presents only an outward,
momentary appearance OF the sltuatlon'
The wish of the United States for
peace was ours and that of our allies
thirty months ago. The war was i'm
posed on us by people eager Tor
which alone will create durable
peace.
Termed a Dramatic Stroke"
"a dramatic stroke is the way
L'Intransigeant heads President Will
sons note to the belligerents. Com
menting on the note, the newspaper
says:
Everybody will understand the i'm
portance of Americas act Mr.. Wilson's
proposal is clear. The United States
has had to suffer from the war. Ger
rnany is torpedoing its boats and the
United States is sending US material
and already has given US financial aid
at is natural that the President
should desire to know the purposes of
the belligerents. Certainly this act
will disarranae the sly maneuver Ger
many is seeking to accomplish at this
time Since the enemy has provoked
peace efforts. it is right that he
should explain clearly just what he
wants and that he lay down his cards.
He will not be able to escape the re-
quest of the American government
LAS to u.s. we know why we are fight
ing Lloyd George explained it clearly
in the British house of commons. We
are fighting because we were attacked
and because we do not want to be at
tackled again"
"On the eve of the Christmas holi-