The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-10-11

dunn. In other words LatOllctle,
like the wolf which devoured the
lamb at the spring. can find some ex-
cuse for hampering his country in
war with a great despotism. however
farfetched and quibbling and incon-
sistent and worthless that excuse may
be.
AS a sample of false representation
the following regarding the pact of
Paris" is a peach" mo one thing
has been done more to solidify the re-
sistance of the central powers than
the adoption by the Paris conference
of it's policy of trade reprisals to be
made effective after the war The
TIMES has frequently paid its re-
spocts to the pact of Paris which
was certainly economically unsound
and Automatically indefensible, and
which would naturally have the ten
dency which LaFollette intimates.
But fairness should have impelled
him to emphasize in extenuatiOn the
fact that it was a REPRISAL, some
thing done in revenge for a policy
previously outlined by the other side
For the definition of the word in in
ternational law is, "The act or prac-
tice of resorting to force short of
war. to procure redress of griev-
ances." In this case the reprisal was
in the nature of trade retaliation,
whereby the customs of nations we're
to be perpetually utilized in trade re
lationship after the war to favor the
foes of Germany and the neutral ma
tions and in discrimination against
Germany and her allies. This was
done because the Pan-German party
had triumphed in the empire and
boldly announced that central powers
would themselves discriminate against
all nations opposed TO them, and to a
lesser extent against all neutral ma
tons The true view was that taken
by President Wilson, that the danger
GUS elements in Germany must be
made subject to the masses and that
by the terms of peace all trade dis
ordinations having their origin in
the war must be inhibited on both
sides This is the view of republican
Russia and also the view of Lloyd
George, who has asked leave of the
other entente powers to withdraw
from the unfortunate pact" which
would necessarily breed more war in
the future. But it should never be
forgotten that in this, as in other
cases Germany was the aggressor.
How far the Pan-Germanist ele-
ment predominated in Germany may
be seen by the work Mittel-Europa
Central Europe). by the great Lib
eral professor, Friedrich Naumann, a
translation of which is now to be
found in the Twin Falls library.
Though fundamentally opposed to the
absurd trade restriction involved,
Naumann is so confident of the per
manent triumph of the element IA
voring discrimination and militarism,
and of German victory in the war, that
he actually assumes that it must be
granted as the lesser of evils and pro-
ceeds to work out an elaborate scheme
for its operations, which he admits
presents tremendous practical diff
culties. With this condition CON
fronting them, representatives of the
entente nations met in Paris June IA,
1916. and adopted plans for reprisal
in a short session lasting but five
days, drafted the ill-starred pact
which, through the withdrawal of
Russia, the virtual withdrawal of
England and the vigorous denuncia-
ton of President Wilson, has already
become a thing of memory only. Yet
LaFollette parades this ghost of a
thing that never really lived before
the people as if it bound the whole
anti-German world, including the
United States. At no place did he call
attention to what the president had
said for if he had done so, it would
have destroyed the effect of his
rounded periods about the alleged
/ dangers OF one man power to the eco
nomic liberty of the nation
The reason why LaFollette wants
congress to interfere in the man
agement of the war against Germany,
is because such interference would
seriously cripple the management OF
the war which he obviously wants to
fail Speaking of the constitution
which he says is endangered. il
might be remarked that the men who
wrote it inserted a provision that the
president should be commander in
chief of the forces called into the SER
vice of the country. and said nothing
about congress commanding it. And
the strictest of all strict construction