Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-04-13
CONTINUED from Page Ons)


position. of being, 1 think. the first
prime minister of the Crown who.
speaking on behalf Of the people Of
this country. could salute the Ameri-
can nation as comrades in arms. ! am
glad not only because of the stupendous
resources which this great nation Will
bring to the succor Of the Allies. but
rejoice as a Democrat that the advent
of the United States into this war gives
the final stamp to the character OF the
conflict as struggle against military
autocracy throughout the world. That
was the note that rang through the
great deliverance Of President Wilson's.
1t has been in your resounding words,
sir.
Noble Tradition
1.-THE United States Of America, of
noble tradition. never broken, never
have engaged in a war except OF lib
erty.
This is the greatest struggle for lib
erty that they have ever embarked
upon. / am not at all surprised. when
one recollects the wars of the past,
that America took it's time to make up
its mind about the character of this
struggle in Europe. Most OF the great
wars in the past were waged for dynas-
tic aggrandizement. and for conquest. 1t
is no wonder that when this great war
started there were some elements Of
suspicion still lurking in the minds OF
the people Of the United States Of AM
erica. that there were many who
thought perhaps that the Kings were at
ola a or
somewhat. perhaps. regarded 1t as in
the nature of a conspiracy Of monarchi-
cal swashhucklers. That the United
States of America has made up its
mind finally makes it abundantly clear
to the world that this is no struggle Of
that character, but a great fight for
human liberty.
What Prussia Was
They naturally did not know at first
what we had endured in Europe for
years from this military caste--it had
never reached as far as the United
States of America. Prussia is not a
democracy. The Kaiser promises that
it will be a democracy after the war.
I think he is right. But Prussia not
merely is not a democracy; Prussia was
not state; Prussia was an army. 1t
had it's great institutions, it had its
great universities, it had developed it's
science. All these were subordinate to
the one great predominant purpose Of
an all-conquering army to enslave the
world. The army was the spear-point
of Prussia---the rest was the gilded
haft.
Europe's Oppression
THAT is what we had to deal with in
this old outworn country. It was an
army that in recent times had waged
three wars, all of conquest, and the in
cessak tramp Of its legions through
the streets of Prussia on the parade
ground of Prussia, had gone to the
Prussian head. The Kaiser, when he
witnessed it on a grand scale at his
reviews got drunk with the sound of
1t. He delivered the law to the world
as a new pastor on Sinai delivering the
law from the thunder clouds. But make
no mistake. Europe was uneasy, Eu-
rope was half inundated, Europe was
anxious. Europe was apprehensive. 1t
knew the whole time what it meant.
What we did not know, of course was
the moment when it would come. This
is the menace this is the oppression
from which Europe has suffered for 80
years It sapped the benefits and the
equities of all states which ought to
have been devoted and concentrated
on the wcll-being of their peoples. They
had to take into account this menace,
which was their constant pre-occupa-
ton. as a cloud ready to burst over the
lard
"France-No one knew except
Frcnchnnen what they endured from
this tvrannv-pa tiently. calamity. with
dignity. prepared till the hour of deliv-
erance came The best energies Of
democratic France have been devoted
to preparing against the impending
terror: the brave things France was
capable of. and that great home Of
the imaginative. fertile mind. which
would otherwise have been devoted to
progress, was paralzed. This Is the
state Of things we have to encounter.
Hindenburg Line
"The most characteristic Of all Plus
sian institutions is the Hindenburg line.
What is q Hindenburg line? A linden
burg line Is line drawn on territories
of other people. warning them that the
inhabitants of those territories shall
not cross it at peril of their lives. That
line has been thrown across Europe
for 50 years, in many lands. You recol-
lect what happened some years ago to
France when a French foreign minis
ter was practically driven out of Of
flee by prussian interference. Why?
What had he done? He had done moth
ing but what a minister of an indie
pendent state had the most absolute
right to do. He had crossed the imag-
mary line drawn within French terri
tory by Prussian despotism.
But Europe, after enduring this for
generations. made up its mind. at last
that the Hinderburg line must be
drawn along the legitimate frontiers Of
Germany.
Emancipation Of World
This has been an undoubted fight for
the emancipation Of Europe and the
emancipation of the world. 1t was at first
hard for the people of America who tried
to appreciate that. Germany had never
interfered in a single step with their
freedom. But at last they have daily to
endure the same experience. Americans
were told they were not to be allowed to
cross and re-cross the Atlantic except at
their peril American ships were sunk
without warning.