Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-12-05
Declares Prussian Autocracy and
Oppression Must Be Done
Away With.
DEMANDS FULL PREPARATION
No Desire 20 interfere With Internal
Affairs OF Central Nations, but
Peace Cannot Be Made With
0ssmany's Present Ruless-
Declaration Of War on
Austria Hungary.

1SSt0uOSSOV " var VU &.
Austria. Hungary.
Washington, Dec. 4.-President vii.
son In his message to congress today
declared emphatically for a peace bas-
ed on generosity and justice after Ger.
man autOcracy "shall first be shown
the utter futility Of its claims to
power or leadership in the Inodern
world"
The message follows:
"Gentlemen Of the Congress--Eight
months have elapsed since I last had
the honor Of addressing you. They
have been months crowded with events
Of immense and grave significance for
us. shall undertake to detail or even
to summarize these events. The prac-
tical particulars of the part we have
played in them will be laid before you
in the reports Of the executive depart.
ments. I shall discuss only our pres.
ent outlook upon these vast affairs,
our present duties, and the immediate
means of accomplishing the objects
we shall hold always in view.
II shall not go back to debate the
causes Of the war. The intOlerable
wrongs done and planned against us
by the sinister masters Of Germany
have long since become too grossly
obvious and odious to every true Amer
lean to need to be rehearsed. But i
shall ask you to consider again and
with a very grave scrutiny our objec.
dves and the measures by which we
mean to attain them; for the purpose
Of discussion here in this place Is ac-
ton. and our action must move
straight towards definite ends.
Must Win the War.
''Our object Is, of course, to win the
war; and we shall not slacken or suf-
fer ourselves to be diverted until it is
won. But it is worth while asking and
answering the question: When shall
we consider the war won?
"FrOm one point Of view 1t is not
necessary to broach this fundamental
matter. do not doubt that the Amer
lean people know what the war is
about and what sort of an outcome
they will regard as realization of
their purpose In 1t. AS nation we
are united in spirit and intention.
pay little heed to those who tell me
otherwise. hear the voices of dis
sent-wh0 does not? hear the criti-
cism and the Glamour of the noisy,
thOughtless and troublesome. also
see men here and there fling them
selves In impOtent disloyalty against
the calm. indomitable power Of the ma
tion. hear men debate peace who
understand neither its nature nor the
way In which we obtain 1t with uplift-
ed eyes and unbroken spirits. But l
known that none of these speaks for
the nation. They do not touch the
heart Of anything. They may safely
be left to strut their uneasy hour and
be forgotten.
No Peacs by Compromise.
"But from another point of view
believe that 1t Is necessary to say
plainly what we here at the seat Of ac-
ton consider the war to be for and
what part we mean to play in the set
tlement of its searching issues.
"We are, the spokesmen Of the Amer
ican people, and they have right to
know whether their purpose is ours.
They desire peace by the overcoming
Of evil, by the defeat once for all Of
the sinister forces that interrupt
peace and render II impossible, and
they wish to know how closely our
thought runs with theirs, and what ac-
ton We propose. They are impatient
with those who desire peace by any
sort of c0mpromise-deeply and indig-
nantly impatient-but they will be
equally impatient with us If We do not
make 1t plain to them what our OBJ
jectives are and what we are planning
for In seeking to make conquest of
peace by arms.
Menace Must Be Crushed.
II believe that I speak for them
when say two things: First, that
this intOlerable thing Of which the
masters Of Germany have shown us
the ugly face, this menace Of COM
bined intrigue and force which we now
see so clearly as the German power.
Thing without conscience or honor
or capacity for covenanted peace, must
be crushed and, II It Is not utterly
brought to an end, at least shut out
from the friendly Intercourse Of the
nations; and, second, when this Thing
and Its power are inAeed defeated and
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