Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1916-12-23
LET Us An REJOICE.


we believe that any of the warning
Powers wants that door closed.
The very common belief that one
side is eager to continue the war and
the other wearily anxious to quit is a
misconception due partly to the CEN
sorship and partly to the naive ig-
norance of European politics, diplom-
acies, military situations and real OBJ
jectives which is so painfully evident
in most of American newspaper COM
ment and discussion.
No really well-informed man sup
poses for q moment that everything
Bethmann-Hollweg or Lloyd George
or BRAND or any Of the other pre-
miers says in public speeches is to be
taken with no salt.
Each Minister must speak some
things for home consumption. Each
must indulge in measure of elo-
quent defiance. Each must please
his own people by claiming victory.
The Chinese are not the only people
whose Government practises the art
Of Saving the face" It is a very
ancient art and survives in all coun-
tries
The real truth is that all the Gov
ernments are not only weary of the
war but are seriously frightened at
the prospect of another year of war
The concealed danger which they
all keep silent about, and which they
all fear with q shaking fear, is pop
ular revolt against the unbearable
burdens and horrors of further war.
1t is all very well for comfortable,
well-fed gentlemen whose only peril
is indigestion to insist that the war
must 80 on to a knockout. Probably
the most bloodthirsty warriors to be
found anywhere are right here at
home, shedding ink on white paper
in person and blood at safe distance
by proxy. 1t is impossible to curb
the furious eagerness Of these bel
igerents-though seasickness or
some other dreadful obstacle seems
quite able to keep them physically
apart from tho hated foe.
But the men who are weary Of the
war are the men who are suffering
and dying in the hateful trenches,
who arc summoned TO be murdered
by machinery, the men who pay in
their own agonies and life blood the
price Of every ugly word and every
hateful boast that is uttered by those
who brag and abuse far from that
hell Of woe and slaughter, whose
flames they strive to keep alive and
TO augment.
II Is not the stay-at-homes, either
in Europe or in America, who are
weary OF this "morass Of horror"
IL is the brave men, in all the ar
mics, who have fought and suffered.
instead OF lying down at night to
sleep in soft safety and rising up in
the morning to brag and to shrek
for more bloodshed in the same
safety
These men, whose stout hearts and
strong hands have held the battle
lines intact, whether under the Ger
man eagles or the intermingled
crosses and tri-color Of Britain and
France--thcse men are weary OF
killing.
And their rulers know that they
are weary.
That is the truth which gives power
and effect and opportuneness to the
noble appeal wherewith the President
has secured his fame, has honored
his country and has greatly served
mankind.
There may be some who doubt this
statement that the soldiers are
weary of mutual murder and anxious
for reasonable peace because it is the
statement of an American newspaper.
But we suppose that these persons
know that the ablest and one OF the
most devotedly loyal of all England's
great journals Is the Manchester
Guardian--~a journal which speaks
with authority such as the London
Times once exercised. And this Is
what the great English journal
gravely and seriously says upon this
point:
There is in this, as I'm all the
countries at war, a great volume
of opinion, too little vocal, un-
fortunately, III favor of Il SER
ious eiiort on the part OF Euro
pean statesmen TO put an end to
the carnage which Is destroying
whole generation OF young
men who are not in a mood to
fight ON Dlindly, killing and be-
ing killed for the sake of fight
ing.
"They arc aghting for peace
based on the reign of justice and
law. This they will have, but
they want none OF the trappings
of military glory. They know
the cost of these in human blood
and misery too well.
"This growing volume of opin-
ion every Government in Europe
must carry and to carry il must
prove itself determined 10 neg
lcct no opportunity OF getting
at the mind OF tho opponent.
If the armies themselves could
speak, this volume of opinion
would be revealed as even great
en- and more set than ii is in the
homes for which those armies,
one and all, are longing"
Now, this is the truth, spoken by
powerful and influential English
Journal, which we have so earnestly
and so frequently tried to impress
upon you.
The hatefulness and ugliness evi-
dent in the newspapers and among
the stay-at-homes, and evident in the
senseless and mischievous utterances
OF American newspapers Of type
we'll known here in New York, are