Macon beacon., 1917-06-22
SCORES THE KAISER
PRESIDENT SAYS MILITARY MAS
TERs DENIED U. S. RIGHT
TO BE NEUTRAL
FILLED COUNTRY WITH SPIES
ealled In Attempt to Spread Sedltlon
German People In Grip Of Same
Sinister Power That Has
Drawn Blood From Us.

cred here on Thursday declared tha
We were forced into the world.wld,
war by the extraordinary Insults anc
aggressiohs of the military masters OF
Germany.
The presidents address in part is as
follows:
My Fellow Citizens: We meet Il
celebrate Flag Day because this naf
which we honor and under which VIC
serve IS the emblem of our unity. our
power our thought and purpose as a
nation. II has no other character than
uat which we give II from generation
10 generation The choices arp ours.
IL noats In majestic silence above the
hosts thht execute those choices,
whether In peace or In war And yet.
though silent 1t speaks to us-Speaks
10 us OF the past Of the men and won.
en- who went before US and Of the rec.
ords they wrote upon It. We celebrate
the day Of its birth; and from It's birth
until now 1t has witnessed n great his
tory, has floated on high the symbol of
great events, Of great plan Of life
worked out by great people We are
ABOUT to carry 1t into battle, to lift II
where 1t Will draw the fire of our en-.
emies. We are about to bid thousands
hundreds of thousands, It may be mil.
Hons OF our men, the young, the strong,
the capable men Of the nation, to 20
forth and die beneath It on fields OF
blood far away--for what2 For some
uhaccuslomed thingf For something
Tor which 1t has never sought the fire
Detoref American armies were never
before sent across the seas. Why are
they sent pow2 For some new pur.
pose, for which this great flag has new
er been carried before, or for some old
familiar. heroic purpose for which It
mas seen men, It's own men, die on ev-
cry battlefield upon which Americans
have borne arms since the Revolntonl
These are questions which must be
answered. We are Americans. We in
our turn serve America, and can serve
her with no private purpose. We must
use her flag as she has always used 1t.
We are accountable Mt the bar OF his.
tory and must plead In utter frankness
what purpose II Is we seek to serve.
United States Forced Into War.
1t Is plain enough how we were
forced into the war The extraordi.
nary Insults and nggressions of the i'm.
perlal German government left us no
Belf-respecting choice but to take I'M
arms In defense of our rights as free
people and of our honor as Il sovereign
government. The military masters of |
Germany denied us the right to be neu.
tral They filled our unsuspcctlng com.
munities with vicious spies and con.
splrators and sought to corrupt the
opinion Of our people in their own be.
half. When they found that they could
not do that, their agents diligently
spread sedltion amongst us and sought
10 draw our own citizens from their
allegiance, and some OF those agents
were men connected with the official
embassy of the German government II.
self here in our own capital. They
sought by violence to DESTROY our I'm.
dustries and arrest our commerce.
They tried to inclte Mexico to take up
arms against us and to draw japan in.
TO hostile alliance with her-ond
that, not by indlrectlon, but by direct
suggestion from the foreign Office I'm
Berlin. They lmpudently denied us
the use OF the high seas and repeated
ly executed their threat that they
would send to their death any of our
people who ventured to approach the
coasts of Europe, And many of our
own people were corrupted. Men be-
gan to look upon their own nelghbors
with suspicion and to wonder in their
not resentment and surprise whether
there was any community In which
hostile intrigue did not lurk. What
great nation In such circumstances
would not have taken up arms? Much
as we had desired peace, II was denied
US, and not Of our own choice. This :
nag under which we serve would have
been dlshonored had we withheld onr
hand. I
No Emnty Toward German People.
But that Is only part of the story
We know now as clearly as we knew
'efore we were ourselves engaged that u
We are not enemles of the German peo. 9
'le and that they are not our enemies :
Ihey did not originate or desire this "
ideous war or wish that we should be /,
rawn into 1t; and we are vaguely con. c
cious that we are fighting their cause a
s they will some day see It, as well as h
ur own. They are themselves in the n
rip OF the same sinister power that n
as now at last stretched It's ugly tai. s
rs out and drawn blood from us. The |,
hole world is in the grip of that pow n
: and is trying out the great battle r.
hich shall determine whether II is TO "
! brought under its mastery or fling n
self free. n
The war was begun by the military f,
asters of Germany, who proved to be "
so the masters of Austria Hungary. n,
1ese men have never regarded ma
ms as peoples, men, women, and h,
ildren of like blood and frame as p,
emselves, for whom governments ex. o,
ed and in whom governments had W
eir life. They have regarded them is
rely as serviceable organizations n
Iich they could by force or intrigue re
nj ar onrr,,nt 40 fha{r nu.,, ,,,,,.,,,,.,, -