The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-09-01
Declares U. S. Must Fight Until
Treaty Will Mean More Than
"Scrap of Paper"
WON'T take kAISER'S WORD
President Says, 1--WE Must Await New
Evidence of the Purposes of Gen.
traI Empires"-opposedto to Eco
nomic War and Annexa-
tions--Wants Restitu-
tion for Belgium.

washington, aug. OO. - EcSiuchl
Wilson rejected the peace proposals
of Pope Benedict XIV at this time.
In note sent the pope, he de-
clared, that the United States must
continue to fight until it is satisfied
that peace treaty would be more
than another "scrap of paper to be
torn by Germany's rulers at will.
While the presidents note is re-
lection of peace at this time, 1t leaves
the road wide open for further discus
sion and proposals.
eve cannot take the word of the
present rulers Of Germany as a guar
antee Of anything that is to endure, =
he says. And later he adds:
I'VE must await some new evidence
of the purposes of the great, peoples
Of the central empires. God grant 1t
may be given soon and in way to
restore the confidence of all peoples
everywhere in the faith of nations and
the possibility Of covenanted peace
President Wilson declares fatty
against an economic war after the war
against annexations or indemnlties
other than restitutions, such as pay
ment to Belgium and the return OF
Alsace-Lorraine to France.
Text of Wilson's Reply to Pope.
August 27, 1917.
"To His Holiness. Benedictus XIV
Pope.
''In acknowledgment of the communi
cation Of your holiness to the belliger
ent peoples, dated August /, 1917, the
president of the United States re.
quests me to transmit the following
reply:
every heart that has not been blind
ed and hardened by this terrible war
must be touched by this moving appeal
of his holiness the pope, must feel the
dignity and force of the humane and
generous motives which prompted It,
and must fervently wish that we might
take the path of peace he so per,
suasiyely points out.
"But it would be folly to take it, II
it does not, in fact, lead to the goal he
proposes. Our response must be based
upon the stern facts and upon nothing
else.
1T is not a mere cessation of arms
he desires; 1t Is stable and enduring
peace. This agony must not be gone
through with again, and 1t must be a
matter of very sober Judgment what
will insure us against It.
"His holiness in substance proposes
that we return to the status quo ante
bellum, and that then there be gen
eral condonation, disarmament, and a
concert Of nations, based upon an ac-
ceptance Of the principle of arbitra-
ton; that by similar concert free
dom of the seas be established; and
that the territorial claims of France
and Italy, the perplexing problems of
the Balkan states, and the restitution
of Poland be left to such conciliatory
adjustments as may be possible in the
new temper Of such peace, due re-
gard being paid to the aspirations of
the peoples whose political fortunes
and affiliations will be involved.
= Places Blame on the Kaiser.
ut is manifest that no part of this
program can be successfully carried
out unless the restitution of the status
quo ante furnishes a firm and satis-
factory basis for it
"The object Of this war is to deliver
the free peoples of the world from the
menace and the actual power of vast
military establishment, controlled by
an irresponsible government which,
having secretly planned to dominate
the world, proceeded to carry the plan
out without regard either to the sacred
obligations of treaty or the. slong es-
tablished practices and long Cherished
principles of international action and
honor; which chose its own time for
the war; delivered its blow fiercely
and suddenly; stopped at no barrier
either of law or mercy; swept a whole
continent within the tide of blood, not
the blood of soldiers only, but the
blood of innocent women and children
also, and Of the helpless poor; and
now stands baked but not defeated,
the enemy Of four-fifths of the world.
"This power is not the German peo-
pie. 1t is the ruthless master of the
German people. 1t is no business of
ours how that great people came under
Its control or submitted with temper
ary zest to the domination of its pur-
pose but it is our business to see to II