Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-11-12

concerted force against free peonles
If it is used by free people.
You know how many intimations
come to us from one of the central
powers that it is more anxious for
peace than the chief central power,
ana you know that it means that the
people in that central power know
that IL the war ends as il stands.
they Will in effect themselves be vas
sals OF Germany. Notwithstanding
that their populations are compound
eG win all the people of that part
Oh the world, and notwithstanding
the fact that they do not wish in
their pride and proper spirit of ma
tlonailty to be so absorbed and dom,
mated.
Would Hold Power
GernS-ny is determined that the
political power of the world shall
pelong to her. There have been such
ambitions before. They have been in
part realized. But never before have
those ambitions been based upon so
exact and precise and scientific n
plan of domination.
May ] not say that it is amazing
10 me that any group of people
pose, as some groups in Russia an
parently suppose, that any reforms
Planned in the interest of the people
can live in the presence of a Ger
many powerful enough to undermine
or overthrow them by intrigue or
force? Any body of free men that
compounds with the present German
government is compounding for its
own destruction. But that is not the
whole of the story. Any man in
America or anywhere else who sup-
ha i,
terprise of the world can continue
if the pan-German plan is achieved
and German power fastened upon
theworld, is as fatuous as the dream
ers of Russia.
Pacifist Stupidity
What ! am opposed to is not the
feeling of the pacifsts, but their
stupidity. My heart is with them, but
my mind has contempt for them. l
want peace, but l know how to get
1t and they do not.
You will notice that | sent a
friend of mine, Colonel House, to
Europe, who is as great a lover of
peace as any man in the world; but
did not send him on peace mis-
sion. ! sent him to take part in a
conference as to how the war was to
be won and he. knows, as / know,
that that is the way to get peace, if
you want it for more than a few
minutes.
"All of this is prefect to a con-
science that / referred to with re-
gard to what we are going 40 do.
If we are true friends of freedom
our own or anybody else's-we will
see that the power of this country
and the productivity of this country
is raised to its absolute maximum
and that absolutely nobody is allowed
to stand in the way of 1t.
when ] say that nobody is al
lowed to stand in the way, / don't
mean that they shall be prevented
by the power of the government, but
by the power of the American spirit.
Our duty, if we are to do this great
thing and show America to be what
we believe her to be. the greatest
hope and energy of the world. then
must we stand together night and
day until the job is finished.
Freedom of Labor
while we are fighting for freedom
we must see among other things
that labor is free: that that means
a number of interesting things. 1t
means not only that we must do
what we have declared our purpose
to do, see that the conditions of
by the war-but also that we shall
SEQ to 1t that the instrumentalities
by which the conditions of labor
are improved are not blocked or
checked. That we must do. That
has been the matter about what
have taken pleasure in comforting
from time to time with your presi-
dent. Mr.. Gompers. And, If | may be
permitted to do so, l want to express