Denver labor bulletin., 1917-12-22
Who Wants Peace?

though, | hope it will be in Berlin.
Who Wants Peace?
Who is it that wants US to state
our terms of peace? If they are in
telligent, they are pro-German. If
not, they might be just pacifists. Let
me discuss that for a minute, fairly,
because after all the truth generally
pays. l don't know what the presi-
dent feels about the terms of peace.
l assume that he has been too busy
thinking about war to bother himself
about peace. l don't know what any
body thinks about it but myself. l
have thought some about it, because
I know so many pacifists, although
don't know so many as | did. | used
to be one, that is the reason / know
so many, but maybe l will be one
again. but not until after the kaiser
| is licked.
Let us look at this question seri-
ously. Should we tell the world to-
dav when we are going to stop fight
| ing? Should we tell Germany when
we are going to stop fighting?
Shall we say we entered this war
| because the great German empire
attacked our commerce on the high
| seas. because their war upon the
ocean was not war but was murder?
| And shall we say: when yoT stop
/ MURDER ana 20 DdCh " NdL. biEtll We
will stop fighting?" Shall We say
| that? Let US see Before this war
| began Germany had overrun Belgium,
| she had overrun. / should say. about
| tenth of France, devastated their land.
/ DESTROYED their cities. and stolen what
money the people had left in the shape
of indemnities. which is another name
/ for larceny: levied medieval tributes
upon devastated land and unfortunate
| people who had been ravaged and de-
/ stroyed before the tributes were lev
/ led. She had done this.
! She had overrun Serbia. Before we
/ began she didn't say anything about
/ the terms of peace. Since that she
/ has held most of this territory, has
/ overrun Roumania. has taken con-
4 siderable part of Russia. and no one
knows how much more she may take.
/ although she won't get any more on
| this side Now. are we to say or can
we say when we will stop?
Our Duty to France.
We are fighting with France
/ France who has given almost her last
I man and her last dollar to fight our
fight and hers. France. who in 1871
. saw her country cisw mbere1 and saw
] Germany in triuuuh march off with
Alsace-Lorraine. that she has ever
.
part Of the German nation. Here Is
. Alsace-Lorraine. whose people ever
since 1870 have been the subjects of
/ Germany. bur who have still kept the
I dreams Of liberty in their minds and
b kept the sacred light burning in the
hone that one day they would again
be part Of France And here is France.
fighting first TO preserve herself,
fighting second to destroy the barbar-
iarS. fighting TO save civilization, ana
with it all, fighting to get back her
/ own.
Let me ask you as practical d"es-
! ton If we state our terms of peace are
we going to saw We will ha content 10
/ leave the map of the world as it was
before? Can we2 If we say to the
pacifists that we want to help France
/ get Alsace-L Lorraine. then thev say we
are tools of France and England and
/ want to give the best blood of our
Z boys for a foreign cause. And II we
saw to bleeding. suffering, glorious
France. We have no sympathy with
YOU and your righteous cause, but we
want to protect commerce on the
high seas, and when Germany Will
promise US that. we will leave you
behind" then what? Then we are
craven towards in the face Of the
world.
Is il necessary for our government
to saw now9 Why. we cannot saw II.
and nobody knows it. and we don't
know ourselves. | would say this:
That when the German army goes
back to their beloved fatherland. then
we can begin to talk about it.
When this war is over, we will all
know il. When Germany Is fairly
beaten. we will find it out, She prob
ably won't be repentant. but some day
she will be beaten. and then we can
talk terms of peace, and not until
then.
Many Of my old friends, that is,
who We're my friends. and some Of my
newer friends, say: you are fight
ing to make democracy safe IN the
world: YOU are fighting for liberty
on the seas. and you are losing lib
erty at home
Our Traditions Safe.
| confess that we have interfered
with meetings and with papers where
we would not have done 1t had We not
been at war. but this means nothing,
so far rs the fundamental purpose,
the traditions and the future of Amer
lea are concerned.
believe in liberty; | believe IN the
greatest possible freedom of speech
and the press. but know this: The
rules for war and the rules for peace
are not the same. and cannot be the
same Our liberty is not really found
in our constitution and in our statutes.
These are but the expression of the
faith of the people at the time they
are made. Real liberty rests in the
end in the mind and the hearts Of the
A,,,,rico,, reDDla If IL is not there,