The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1917-06-21

the whole OF Belgium. It's armies
press close upon Russia and overrun
Poland at their will. 1t cannot go
further; 1t dare not go back. 1t
wishes TO close its bargain before II
Is too late and It has little to offer
Tor the pound OF flesh It will demand.
The military masters under whom
Germany is bleeding see very clearly
TO what point Fate has brought them.
II they fall back or are forced back
an inch, their power both abroad and
at home will fall to pieces like a
house or cards. 1t is their power at
home they are thinking about now
more than their power abroad. 1t is
that power which is trembling under
their very feet; and deep fear has
entered their hearts. They have but
one chance to perpetuate their mill.
tary power or even their controlling
political influence. If they can secure
peace now with the immense advan.
tages still in their hands which they
have up to this point apparently
gained, they will have justified them.
selves before the German people: they
Will have gained by force what they
promised to gain by it: an immense
expansion OF German power, an i'm.
mense enlargement OF German indus
trial and commercial opportunities.
Their prestige will be secure, and with
their prestige their political power. II
they fail, their people themselves will
thrust them aside; a government ac-
countable to the people themselves
VIII be set up in Germany as 1t has
been in England, in the United States,
In France, and in all the great coun.
tries OF the modern time except Ger.
many. II they succeed they are safe
andGermany and the world are undone;
II they fail Germany Is saved and the
world will be at peace. II they sue
ceed, America will fall within the men.
ace. We md all the rest OF the world
must remain armed, as they will re-
main, and must make ready for the
next step in their aggression; If they
fail, the world may unite for peace
and Germany may be OF the union.
Do you not now understand the new
intrigue, the intrigue for peace, and
why the masters of Germany do not
hesitate to use any agency that prom
ises to effect their purpose, the deceit
Of the nations? Their present partic.
ular aim is to deceive all those who
throughout the world stand for the
rights OF peoples and the self govern.
ment of nations; for they see what
immense strength the forces OF JUS.
tice and OF liberalism are gathering
out of this war. They are employing
liberals in their enterprise. They are
using men, in Germany and without.
as their spokesmen whom they have
hitherto despised and oppressed. using
them for their own destruction
socialists, the leaders OF labor. the
thinkers they have hitherto sought TO
silence. Let them once succeed and
these men, now their tools, will be
ground to powder beneath the weight
OF the great military empire they WIN
have set up; the revolutionists in
Russia will be cut OFF from all succor
or cooperation in western Europe and
counter revolution fostered and sup
ported; Germany herself will lose her
chance OF freedom; and all Europe
will arm for the next, the final
struggle.
The sinister intrigue is being no less
actively conducted in this country
than in Russia and in every country in
Europe TO which the agents and dupes
OF the Imperial German Government
can get access. That government has
many spokesmen here, in places high
and low. They have learned discre.
ton. They keep within the law. 1t Ia
lrsv,f Id.
They proclaim the liberal purposes OF
their masters; declare this foreign
war which can touch America with no
danger to either her lands or her in
stitutions; set England at the centre
Of the stage and talk OF her ambition
to assert economic dominion through.
out the world: appeal TO our ancient
tradition OF isolation in the politics OF
the nations; and seek to undermine
the government with false professions
of loyalty 20 its principles.
But they will make no headway. The
false betray themselves always in
every accent. It is only friends and
partisans OF the German Government
whom we have already identified who
utter these thinly disguised disloyal
ties. The facts are patent to all the
world. and nowhere are they more
plainly seen than in the United States,
where we are accustomed TO deal with
facts and not with sophistries; aud
the great fact that stands out above
all the rest Is that this IS a Peoples
War. a war for freedom and Justice
and selfgovernment amongst all the
nations OF the world, war TO make
the world safe for the peoples who live
upon It and have made Il their own.
the German people themselves I'm.
cluded. and that with us rests the
choice 20 break through all these
hypocrisies and patent cheats and
masks OF brute force and help set the
world free or else stand aside and let
it be dominated a long age through by
sheer weight OF arms and the arbitrary
choices OF self-c0nstltuted masters by
the nation which can maintain the big.
gest armies and the most irresistible
armaments "a power 20 which the
world has afforded no parallel and In
the face OF which political freedom
must wither and perish
For us there SIS but one choice. we
.