The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1917-12-27

must perish, the American ideal must
live We fight not to revenge the
LusItania, not to rebuild Louvain, not
to xacttreparation for murdered wom-
en- and children. We fight to slay the
government which taught It's people
to commit such damnable atrocities.
We fight that never again may a ma
ton with cynical insolence throw in
the face of the world the base asser-
lions that treaties are scraps of paper,
that necessity knows no law, that
might Is the right Of the strongest,
and that the State can do no wrong.
We fight to hurl the Hohenzollern and
his dangerous doctrine of divine right
upon the scrap-heap of useless trum-
perry, and to set the German people in
his place, that they may learn to rule
themselves. ~ Ut
How shall the end be achieved? Not
by a halfway war, not by Cancellation
or compromise. Great ends are not
achieved by petty measures. The I'm
perial German armies must be defeat
ed on the battlefield and driven from
the lands they conquered. The Ger
man people must learn that for all its
inefficiency, democracy is stronger
than disciplined autocracy. Restitu-
ton Of the fruit, Of past conquests
must be required, Bosnia and Here.
govina, Alsace-Lorraine and Poland re.
stored to rightful sovereignty. The
German people must learn that the
dream Of a Central European Empire,
founded on military conquest, Is for
ever dashed to earth. Reparation for
grievous wrongs, so far as these may
be repaired by money indemnities,
must be exacted. The German peo-
pie must learn that upon the guilty
aggressor, not upon the innocent vic.
tim, falls the heavy burden OF re-.
storing ravished lands, rehabilitating
burned and pillaged cities, supporting
ruined homes, and indemnifying those
whose innocent loved ones were foul.
ly wronged or slain. War in the past
has been immensely profitable to Ger.
many. She must be taught that It 10
the most costly crime nation can
commit. With these ends achieved
we may reasonably hope that the Cor.
man people, sick of the bloody dis
asters born of Prussian militarism,
will awaken from the trance in which
they live and throw off the hateful
Hohenzollern yoke. If they do not,
then we must fight to force the central
citadel Of Prussian power. We must
not lay down the sword till the Hob
enzollern throne is empty.
When the sufferings Of this war
press heavily upon us, when long cas-
ulty lists fill the columns Of our pa
pers, when business losses mount high
and the people clamor for bread, there
will arise loud and insistent de.
mand for an inclusive peace. Then
let us envisage the magnitude of the
issue of this war, and prepare to make
sacrifices commensurate to the ends
we seek. Let us remember that we
fight to tear out, root and branch, an
ideal government deep-grcwn in Gen.
trail europe. The gathered strength
of centuries is not overcome by the
efforts of day, nor the struggles Of
a deluded people stilled without much
suffering. The contest may lengthen
into years, defeat may humiliate us
and dangers increase, every family
may mourn its dead and every heart
be heavy with foreboding; still let us
fight on, shoulder to shoulder with our
gallant allies, till the liberty Of the
o,or1d ho rcr fhrict 1io1 IN
make men holy, let us die to make
men free; for God is marching on.