The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-05-06

American ambassador at the en-
bassy, when a message came to him
from the foreign office, on the aft
ern0on of July %. 1914, that Austria
had declared war on Serbia. The
reading of that message brought a
solemn expression to the faces of
those present, and the assembly soon
melted away. I turned to the project
Of police of Paris, who stood by me,
and said I presumed the trouble
would be confined to those two coun-
tries, or, at any rate, not extend be
yond that region Of social and polit-
ical canker in Europe, the Balkans.
He shook his head and replied no one
could tell how far it would reach.
But" said he, eve are sure Amer
lea will be found on the side Of right
and justice"
And so at last it is. And America
is there in no feeble or hating man
ner. "Thus, from Palos, in 1892, to
Sarajevo, in 1914, the hand of Eu-
rope has drawn US ever and ever
closer" and now we, too, must face
the "Pentccost Of calamity" For
democracy. the hope Of humanity;
for freedom from oppression; for
rights which 90 with liberty and civ
ilization, we resist and we strike,
We will lose blood and treasure;
but we feel that no great accomplish
ment was ever realized, no desirable
goal was ever reached, no achieve
ment worth while is possible, without
rupture and hemorrhaGe That is
the law Of life. We will have fewer
dollars at the end, but We will have
our own self-respect and the respect
of all other people.
On the LIST of August I was again
in Paris and saw the beginning of
the mobilization of that magnificent
French army. The government took
charge of the railroads and COM
Wandered the motor. cars, trucks,
and every means of conveyance. That
night, camped in the plaza fronting
. the Care du Nord were something
like a thousand Belgians. They were
a sturdy, manly, honest, sober, seri-
Ous-minded lot of men. They had
come from the wheat fields of France
where they had been assisting in the
harvesting of the crop. They were
waiting for transportation to their
homes, to which they had been sum
mOned Within a few weeks those
Woodworking, brave men were par
ticipating in another harvest. They
were being moved down by a reIont-
less, OverpOwering foe in "bleeding
+ Belgium"
/ France had a conversation with
/ Germany in which she answered the
! curt inquiry as to what She meant by
modelling by saying simply she pro-
: posed to protect her interests. Ger
many declared war on her The men
disappeared from their usual vOca-
! lions and rushed to the colors Wo-
men took their places in the hotels
i and elsewhere Seeing a woman bid
! one of these men good-by with her
/ blessing and encouragement, I in
/ CURED If she was not distressed to
! have these men go, and she replied.
! Every man should go-we expect
| no mercy from the Germans" If half
! we read is true she was right.
! This grave step by Austria was
unwarranted. The action was wholly
unjustifiable. Servia had conceded
all she could honorably grant and
! made every reasonable effort to avoid
war. The prevailing impression then
/ was, and time and developments have
/ crystalized that into fixed opinions
which may be called the public opin-
ion Of the world, that if Aust1ia's I'M
! reasonable action was not actively in
/ stigated by Germany it could have
been directed and controlled by the
latter.
History will write the truth, that
! if Germany did not strike the match
which set the world Attire, she could
have readily extinguished it before
any damage was done. Her rulers
had purposes of their own to sub
serve.
Here spoke Prussianism. The Prus-
( sian creed came into play:
eve HOhenzollerns take our crown
from God alone. On us the Spirit of
God has descended. I regard nv
whole task as appointed by heaven
Who opposes me l shall crush tC
pieces. Nothing must be settled il
this world without the intervention
of the German Emperor. Might /:
right and is decided by war. The
peace of Europe is only a secondary
matter for US. The sight of suffer
lllE NoFS one SO&is IIlt lI1IlCliDu OF
suffering does one more good. Thi.
war must he conducted as ruthlcssly
as possible"
, Germany was willing to make ;
glowing region on some theory tina
it meant for her some sort Of "plact
= in the sun"
On the Sd our party managed t,
! get a troop train to Dieppe, an,
thence a boat to New Haven, an
thence a train to London. Fnglan,
; was modelling, and on the 4th wa
I was declared on her. In an orderly
systematic way she began the as
t sembling and training of her forces
On the 10th we sailed from Ply
/ mouth, and there on the docks wer
g the motor busses we had seen fiv
? days before carrying passengers o
t the streets of London transfe~re
4 into ambulances. We were told 90
4 900 soldiers had already left tha
4 port for France, We sailed ava
t from those stirring scenes httI