The Lakeland evening telegram., 1917-02-09
Fx-COV. CIICHRET
GIVES HIS VIEWS ON
THE WAR SITUATION

9 as Governor of Florida from 1909 t,
1913 and therefore having been Com
= mander-in-chieg of ALL the militar,
and OF ALL the naval forces of tn,
state. and having served also as pri
vate to General in the militia, and al
private to captain in the U. s. Volun
teer Infantry in Cuba. feel as though
, am in a position to somewhat aero
plane or submarine the situation
: President Wilson in 1915. having in
formed the Central Allies, that the
U. S. would omit no word or act
necessary to inforce our position with
reference to our rights on the seas
did exactly right in breaking of dip.
lomatic relations. with Germanf Ger.
many had just announced her inten.
ton of diseregarding our contention.
SO out of every 100 American citizens
concur in the position of the Presi.
dent. However | think il would be
suicidal for the smaller neutral Euro.
pean nations to follow the Presidents
suggestion, in breaking off diplomatic
intercourse with Germany. The
breaking off of diplomatic intercourse
with Germany by the u S. is reiterat-
ing the proposition that we yill omit
no word or action" in maintaining
our rights on the seas. IL these rights
are now willfully violated war is nee
essarily the next act. hardly
think that Germany will formally
change her position. Private orders
can be issued to submarine command.
ers to consider the word or act'' of
the U. S. Suppose Holland were to
follow the suggestion of the Presi-
dent, breaking off diplomatic relations.
The sinking then OF Dutch boat by
German submarines, would necessari.
ly involve Holland in war. The Amer.
ican Nation would no be willing to go
to war In behalf ~ Holland. which
has simply followed the Presidents
suggestion. Germany woulI simply
eat Holland alive, as she did Snrvia.
Montenegro. Rumania. | have heard
some people say that If practically all
the neutral nations were to follow the
Presidents lead that the moral force
of such would produce peace"
In reply to the Presidents peace
note, the Entente Allies stated in sub
stance. that Restitution. reparation,
and guarantees for the future" were
necessary as basis for peace They
practically stated that Alsaca and
Lorraine should be returned to France
that Germany and Austrian Poland
would with Russian Poland. be made
a separate kingdom under the sover
eighty OF Russia, that Rumania, acr,
via, and Italy would get parts of Aus.
tria and that Russia would swallow
up alive the "Unspeakable" Turk.
Germany's army and navy were to be
disbanded. Belgium was
to be restored The amount of cash
indemnity to be paid was not stated. !
What England was to get was deli
cately omitted. The foregoing were
the terms of peace offered
to the Central Allies II will be re-
membered that the Central Allies
had conquered Servia. Montenegro.
Rumania Begium. good slice of /
France. and much territory in Russia.
1t will be remembered that the En-.
tente Allies had permitted Servia.
Montenegro. and Rumania to be con.
quered in detail 1t will also be re.
membered that during the year 1916 i
there was a great. military drive for
the British and French In France
from the North Sea to the end OF
the battle line near Switzerland the
distance is about 500 miles. From
Combles to Peronne the distance is
about 9 miles. Between Combles and
Beronne. in France the Entente Allies
advanced in a wedge shape, a distance
of to miles, at a cost of about
100000 men. The distance from Com
lies tc the Rhine is about l50 miles:
from the Rhine to Berlin il is about
325 miles. At this rate how long will
il take the Ententee Allies to get to
the Rhine. and how much will it cost
in men and money? The peace terms
offered by the Entente Allies could
only be accepted by the conquered.
submit that appearance do not show
that the Central Allies are conquered
Does any one suppose that moral
force" such as that which would be
exerted by the neutral nations I'm fol- !
lowing the Presidents suggestion
could possibly be of such power as to
induce the Central Allies to accede to /,
peace on the terms suggested? Not |