The Dolores star. [volume] (Dolores, Montezuma County, Colo.) 1901-current, 1916-12-29

seated IN general terms to their oW1
people and % the world. ss-
Each side desires to make H.
rishts and privileges Of weak peoples
and small states ~ secure against a.
gression or denial I'm the future a. Tie
rights and privileges Of tle great and
powerful states now ut war. Each
wishes itself to be made secure in the
future. along with all other nations
and peoples. against the recurrence Of
wars like this and against aggression
OF selfish interference Of any kind.
Each would b Jealous Of the
OF any more rival leagues
to preserve an uncertain balance Of
power amidst multiplying suspicions:
but each II ready to consider the
formation of \ league Of nations to
insure peace and Justice throughout
the world.
Before that final step can be taken.
however. each deems 1t necessary
first to settle the issues of the pres
emit war upon terms which will Ger
tainly safeguard the independence, the
territorial integrity and the political
and commercial freedom OF the ma
lions involved.
In the measures to be taken to Sc
cure the future peace of the world
the people and government Of the
United States are a. vitality and ~
directly interested - the governments
new 1t war. Their interest. moreover.
In the means to be adopted to relieve
the smaller an6 weaker peoples Of the
world Of the peril of wrong and vio-
lence Is as quick and ardent a. that
OF any other people or government.
They stand ready, and even eager. to
cooperate in the accomplishment Of
these ends. when the war 10 over, with
every influence and resource ut their
command. But the war must first be
concluded.
The terms upon which 1t Is to be
concluded they are not at liberty 10
suggest; but the President does feel
that 1t IL his right and his duty to
point out their intimate interests in
its conclusion, lest 1t should presently
be too late to accomplish the greater
things which lie beyond its conclusion.
lest the situation of neutral nations,
now exceedingly hard to endure, be
rendered altogether intolerable, and
lest, more than all, an injury DO done
civilization itself which can never be
atoned for or repaired.
THE President therefore feels alto
gether justified in suggesting an i'm.
mediate opportunity for q comparison
Of views as to the terms which must
for the peace of the world, which all
L. ~
lions as well as those at war are
ready to play their full. responsible
part.
III the contest must continue to
proceed toward underlined ends by
slow attrition until the one group Of
belligerents or the other IL exhausted,
II million after million of human lives
must continue to be offered up until
on the one side or the other there are
no more to offer, II resentments must
be kindled that can never cool and
despairs engendered from which there
can be no recovery, hopes Of peace
and Of the willing concert Of free peo-
pies will be rendered vain and idle.
"The life Of the entire world has
been profoundly affected. Every part
of the great family of mankind has
felt the burden and terror OF this un.
precedented contest of arms. No ma
ton in the civilized world can be said
in truth to stand out to its influence
or to be safe against its disturbing
effects. And yet the concrete objects
for which 1t is being waged have
never been definitely stated.
"The leaders Of the several belliger.
"a he kakn
those objects in general terms. But,
stated in general terms, they seem
the same on both sides. Never yet
have the authoritative spokesman Of
either side avowed the precise objects
which would. If attained, satisfy them
and their people that the war had
been fought out. The world has been
left to conjecture what definitive re-
suits. what actual exchange o. guar
antics, what political or territorial
changes or readjustments, what stage
Of military success, even, would bring
the war to an end.
1T may be that peace il nearer than
we know; that the terms which the
belligerents on the one side and on
the other would deem 1t necessary to
Insist upon are not SO frreconcilable
as some have feared; that an inter
change Of Views would clear the way
at least for conference and make the
permanent concord, of the nations q
hope Of the immediate future, con.
cert Of nations Immediately prac-
ticable.
''The President Is not proposing
peace; he is not even offering media
ton. He is merely proposing that
be taken in order that we
may learn, the neutral nations with.
the belligerent, how near the haven
of peace may be for which all man
kind longs with an intense and in.
creasing longing. <
HE believes that the spirit in
which he speaks and the objects
which he seeks will be understood by
all concerned, and he confidsntly
hopes for a re8DOnae which will hrfns