Evening star., 1917-09-25
BITTERNESS Of GERMANY
COL. ROOSEVE[T'S TOPIC
Former President Pronounces Ameri.
cans Who Defend Teutonio Gov
ernment Guilty Of Moral Treason.
By the Associated Press.

| KANSAS CITY, No. September 25.-
| The attitude Of the German-American
press and the German alliance in this
country 'in their hearty support OF the
| German government" and the attitude
| Of the Germans at home toward their
government shows that they are back
| of 1t, Col Roosevelt said, in a speech
at the Old Glory week festival here
| last night in commenting on the theory
| that the United States is fighting the
| German government, but not the peo-
pie.
and express such bitter and contemptu-
Gus hostility as for the United States.
he said. There is no nation on the
| face of the globe which they would
| be more delighted to ruin and plunder.
| Under such circumstances the public
men and newspapers engaged IN de
| Tending Germany or assalllng England
! and our other allies or in protesting
against the war and demanding an In
| conclusive peace are guilty OF moral
| treason to this country. and while the
German-American papers have achieved
an evil prominence in this ma mater G rs the
| are as bad, and the purely sensational
dema gogic and unpatriotic section of
the native American press Is the worst
1of all.
| m1lltaClSt1C AuIOCr2cV.
Germany embodies the principles of
successful militaristic autocracy- Much
has been said about our being against
the German government, but not
against the German people. The atti-
tude of the German-Amerlcan press ana
the German alliance in this country IN
their hearty support OF the German
government and the practically unani-
nous support of that government here
tofore by the Germans at home shows
that at present the Germans are back
of the German government;
They have enthusiastically supported
its policy of brutal disregard of the
rights of others. Until they reverse
themselves. until they cast off the yoke
of militaristic autocracy. they identify
against them. 1t is for the German
people themselves to differentiate them
selves from their government. Until
they do this they force us to be against
the German people as necessary in
cident OF being against the German gov
ernment
The Germans govern from above
down. The people of this republic. like
the people Of France. like the people
of England. believe in government
from below up. In other words. we
believe in government by ourselves.
The Germans believe in being governed
by an autocratic dynasty which rests
primarily on a great milltarlstic class
and great bureaucratic class No
man who supports Germany at this
time can claim to be real democrat
or a real lover of free institutions.
He is false both to democracy and free
DOM
Germany had well matured plans for
the conquest and oppression of the
United States, he said. This was evil
denced. he said. by the conversation
of some recently captured German Off
GERS who talked to their English cap
tors freely without knowing that an
American officer was present
Threaten to Smash the O. S.
"These Germans announced that Ger
many was going to win, and that they
were going to smash the United States
and bleed it white with an enormous
inde emnity and make it pay the whole
expense Of the war; he said. They
in his senses doubts that this would
be the policy adopted as a matter of
course by Germany
IF at this moment, while we are still
helpless. France and England were de-
feated. the German fleet would be at
our doors in fortnight and an army
of conquest would have landed here
within a month. Some years ago I saw
openly published in Germany a pam
phlet written by a member of the Ger
| man general staff containing a we'll
worked-out plan for the conquest Of
the United States. which the German
staff regarded as easy. and for the
| levyingN of enormous contributions at
our expense.
Saying that the preparedness meas
ures we are taking now should have
been carried out three years ago the
! colonel declared that "if Germany
! could land a single small army of $4,000
men in this country we would be
| wholly unable to match it, for we have
| neither artillery nor airplanes that
\ could be put against them. If at this
| n1lr de 90
we would be helpless prey to Ger
! many or any other first-class European
| or Asiatic military power