The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1917-07-05

their own purpose. Iney nave IS
garded the. smaller. states, in partlcu
overwhelmed by force. as their ma
tural tools and instruments OF dom1
nation. Their purpose has long beer
ayOwed
Developed Plan of Rebellion.
The statesmen of other nations, tc
whom that purpose was incredible
paid little attention; regarded Wha1
German professors eXpounded IL
their classrooms and German writers
set forth to the world as the goal Of
German policy as rather the dream
OF minds detached from practical al
fairs, as preposterous private concep'
tions of German destiny, than as the
actual plans of responsible rulers;
but the rulers of Germany them.
selves knew all the while what con-
crete plans, what Well-adyanced in
trigues lay back of what the profes-
sors and the writer's We're saying.
and were glad to go forward unmo-
Tested, filling. the thrones OF Balkan
states with German prices, putting
German officers at the service OF
Turkey to drill her armies and make
interest with her government. devel-
oping plans Of sedition and rebellion
in India and Egypt, setting their
fires in Persia. The demands made
by austria upon Serbia were mere
single step in plan which compass
ed Europe and asia, from Berlin to
Bagdad They hoped those demands
meant to press them whether they
d4d or not, for they thought them.
selves ready for the final issue OF
arms.
Their plan was to throw broad
belt of German military power and
political control across the very cen
ter of Europe and beyond the Medi-,
Austria Hungary was to be. as much
their tool and pawn as Serbia or Bull
garia or Turkey or the. ponderous
states OF the east. Austria Hungary,
indeed, was to become part OF the
central German Empire, absorbed
and dominated by the same forces
and influences that had originally ce-
mented the German states them
Berlin. 1t could have had a heart
nowhere else! 1t rejected the idea
of solidarity of race entirely. The
choice of peoples played no part in it
at all. 1t contemplated binding to-
gether racial and political units
which could be kept together only
by force-Czechs, Maygars, Croatss,
Serbs, Roumanians, Turks, Armenl-
dHS-luS pIOuu StdteS " oohSnii''
and Hungary, the stout nttle com
monwealth of the Balkans, the in
domitable Turks, the subtle peoples
of the east. These people did not
wish to be united. They aruently
desired to direct their own affairs,
would be satisfied only by undisput-
ed independence. They could be
kept quiet only by the presence or
the constant threat. of armed men.
power only by sheer compulsion and
await the day of revolution. But the
German military statesmen had
reckoned with all that ana We're
ready to deal with it in their own
way.
Austria at Gelmany's Mercy.
And they have actually carried
the greater part OF that amazing plan
into execution Look how things
stand. Austria is at their mercy. 1T
has acted, not upon Its own initiative
or upon the choice of its own people,
but at Berlin's dictation ever since
SIZE nea+ea b,rr- Ca Ttatf-ffO have it~thr1
leave is granted from Berlin. The
so-called Central Powers are in fact
but a single power. Serbia is at its
mercy, should its hands be but for d
moment freed. Bulgaria has consent
ed 10 it's will, and Roumania is over
run. The Turkish armies, which Ger
mans trained, are serving germany,
certainly not themselves, and the
larbor at Constantinopie remind
turkish statesmen every day that
they have no choice but to take their
orders from Berlin. From Hamburg
to the Persian Gulf the net is spread.
Is it not easy to understand the
eagerness for peace That has been
manifested from Berlin ever since
the snare was set and sprung? Peace,
peace, peace has been the talk OF her
foreign office for nov, year and
more; not peace upon her own Until
alive, but upon the initiative of the
nations over which she now deems
herself ~ hold tne advantage. A,
Title of the talk has been public, but
most of it has been private. Through
all sorts CT channels it has come 70
me, and in all sorts OF guiSes, but
never with the terms disclosed when
the German government would he
willing to accept. That Government
has other valuable pawns in its hands
besides those have mentioned. 1t
still holds a valuable pa VI r1anGa.
though v..,:. slowly relaxing grasp,
and practically the whole OF Belgium.
us ARMIES press CLOSE Abei RNSSid
and overrun Poland at their will. 1t
can not go .arther; it dare not go
back. 1t wishes to close its bargain
before it is too late and it has little
left to offer for the pound OF flesh
it Will demand
The military masters under whom
&c. many is bleeding see very clearly.
u what fate has brought them: II
they fall back or are forced pack, an
inch, their power both abroad and at
home viii fall 10 pieces like house
OF 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 en-
tered their hearts. They have but
one chance to perpetuate their miti-
taiy power or even their. controlling
political influence. If they can Sc
cure peace now, with the immense
still in their hands which
they have up to this point apparently
gained, they will have justified them
selves before the German people;