The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-08-16


Germany. OF the military and naval
defence OF Germany. we must have
some control over It's ports" That is
the sort of independence Edward
offered to Scotland. and after a good
many years Scotland gave its final
answer at Bannockburn- That is
not independence; that IL vassalage,
The Meaning Of Indemnity.
Then there comes the doctrine of
the status quo, no annexation, 40 in
IDENTITIES. No German speeches are
explicit on that. but what does in
demnity mean? A man breaks into
! your house. turns you out for three
I years. murders some OF the inmates,
and is guilty of every infamy that
barbarism can suggest. occupies your
/ premises for three years. and turns
round and says when the law Is be-
! ginning 10 go against him. Take your
! house l am willing to- give you the
status quo. I will not even charge you
any indemnity" But. you say. even
/ pacafist. II II were done in his
| house. would turn round and say.
'You have wronged me. You have
/ occupied these premises for three
/ years You have done me an in
jury. You must pay compensation.
There is not a law in the civilized
(
sential part of Justice that you should
/ do So" And he says, In lofty way,
! My principle is no indemnity" 1t
IS not a question of being vindictive,
1t Is not e. question of pursuing re-
venge. Indemnity Is an essential
part of the mechanism of civilization
in every land and cline. Otherwise
what guarantee have you against a
repetition. against the man remain.
ing there for three years more, and
| when 1t has got rather too hot for
him clearing out and paying neither
rent nor compensation? Why, every
man in this land would be at the
mercy of every strong handed villain.
There is no law, there is no civilization
in that. You could not keep the COM
munity together. We are fighting for
the essential principles OF civilization
and unless we insist upon 1t we shall
not have vindicated what is the basis
of right in every land.
The same thing applies to Serbia.
But they say That is not what you
! are after. You are after our colo
MES, and Mesopotamia, and perhaps
Palestine Now let me put this to
gentlemen who talked like that, II we
had entered into this war purely for
German colonies. we would not have
raised our army of three or four mill
lions. We could have got them all
without adding single battalion to
the army we had. and II Germany had
won elsewhere we should have de-
fed the whole of her victorious ie-
gicns to take one of them back. II
we engaged In the gigantic enterprise
it was not for German colonies Our
i greatest army is In France. Which ter
ritory are we after there? We have an
army in Salonika. What land are we
coveting there? We are there to re-
cover for people who have been driv-
en- out Of their patrimony the land
! which belongs to them and to their
fathers. But" they say, what is go
ing to happen to these colonies?
What is going to happen to Meso-
potamia ?" Well, II you like, take
Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia Is not
Turkish, never has been Turkish. The
Turk is as much an alien in Mesopo-
tamia as the German is. and everyone
knows how he ruled It. This was the
Garden of Eden. What a land 1t is
rowi You have only to read that
terrible report to see what "A coun-
try the Turk has made of the Gar
den of Eden. This land, the cradle
of civilization, once the granary OF
civilization, the shrine and the temple
OF ClNlIlZaIlOfa, IL d WliNeTleSS uiluel
the rule Of the Turk.
Blasting Tyranny of the Turks.
What will happen to Mesopotamia
must be left to the peace congress
when 1t meets. But there is one
thing will never happen to it. 1t will
never be restored to the blasting ty
rannv of the Turk At best he was
the trustee OF this far famed land on
behalf of civilization. All. what a
trustee He has been false to his
: trust, ard the Ntrusteeship must be
given over to more competent
and more equitable hands, chos-
; en- by the congress which Will
settle the affairs OF the world.
That same observation applies TO Ar
menia land soaked with the blood
of innocents massacred by the peo-
, Lle who were their guardians, and
! who were bound to protect them, and
/ as the German colonies are a matter
which must be settled by the great
= International peace congress, let mo
point out that our critics talk as IL
we had annexed lands peopled by
} Germans, as II we subjected the Teu-
; tonic people to British rule, When
. you come to settle who shall be the
!. future trustees of these uncivtlized
!, lands you must take into account the
. sentiments o. the people themselves
!. What confidence has been inspired
in their untutored minds by the Ger
, man rule of which they have had an
experience? Whether they are anxi-
=, Gus to secure the return OF their form :
/ er masters, whether they would
rather trust their destinies to other.
and iuster. and, may confidently say.
Eentler hands than those who have
been governing them up to the present
time. The wishes. the desires and the
> interests of the people of these coun-
tries themselves must be the donli-
, nant factor in settling their future
government. That is the principle up.
: en- which we are proceeding.
The Best Guarantee. a.
! Is there any trace of any desire on
, the part Of Germany any indication Of
. a desire on the part of Germany. to
settle upon these essential terms :?
, Where are the negotiations? In a
, speech which appeared in the Glas-
} Cow papers this morning-delivered
5 think. yesterdav-the Austrian pre-
: mier emphatically repudiated the
principle that nations must have their
desttuies controlled accordfpo ,o @bat-