The Benson signal., 1917-12-15

guarantee the worlds peace. That
partnership must be q partnership OF
peoples, not a mere partnership OF
governments.
1t might be impossible, also, in such
untOward circumstances, to admit
Germany to the free economic inter
course which must inevitably spring
out of the other partnerships of real
peace. But there would be no aggres-
sion in that, and such situation, in
evitable because of distrust, would In
the very nature of things sooner Oh
later cure itself by processes which
would assuredly set in.
The wrongs, the very deep wrongs,
committed in this war will have to be
righted. That, Of course. But they
cannot and must not be righted by the
commission of similar wrongs against
Germany and her allies.
The world will not permit the COM
mission of similar wrongs as means
of reparatiOn and settlement. States
men must by this time have learned
that the opinion of the world is every
where wideawake and fully compre-
hends the issues involved No repre-
sentative or any self-governed nation
will dare disregard it by attempting
any such covenants of selfishness and
compromise as were entered into the
Congress of Vienna
The thought of the plain people here
and everywhere throughout the world,
the people who enjoy no privilege and
have very simple and unsophisticated
standards of right and wrong, is the
air all governments must henceforth
breathe if they would live. 1t is in the
full disclosing light of that thought
that all policies must be conceived and
executed in this midday hour of the
worlds life. German rulers have been
able to upset the peace of the world
only because the German people were
not suffered upon their tutelage to
share the comradeship of the other
peoples of the world either in thought
or in purpose. They were allowed to
have no opinion of their own which
might be set up as a rule of conduct
for those who exercised authority
over them. But the congress that
concludes this war will feel the full
strength of the tides that run now in
the hearts and consciences of free
men everywhere. It's conclusions will
run with those tides.
Russian People Poisoned by Lies.
All these things have been true from
the very beginning of this stupendous
war, and 1 cannot help thinking that
if they had been made plain at the
very outset the sympathy and enthus-
ioc Of ho 10 ioht hoy
been once for all enlisted on the side
of the allies, suspicion and distrus\
swept away and a real and lasting
union of purpose effected. Had they
believed these things at the very mo-
ment of their revolution and had they
been confirmed in that belief since,
the sad reverseS which have recently
marked the progress of their affairs
towards an ordered and stable govern
ment of free men might have been
avoided.
The Russian people have been pois-
oned by the very same falsehoods that
have kept the German people in the
dark, and the poison has been admin
istered by the very same hands. The
only possible antidote is the truth. 1t
cannot be uttered too plainly or too
often.
From every point of view, therefore,
it has seemed to be my duty to speak
these declarations of purpose, to add
these specific interpretations to what
I took the liberty of saying to the
Senate in January. Our entrance into
the war has not altered our attitude
towards the settlement that must
come when it is over.
When l said in January that the ma
tions of the world were entitled not
only to free pathways upon the sea-
but also to assured and unmolested
access to those pathways, was think
ing, and l am thinking now, not of
the smaller and weaker nations alone
which need our cOuntenance and sup
port, but also of the great and power
full nations, and of our present enc
mics as well as our present associ
ates in the war. I was thinking, and
am thinking now, of Austria herself
among the rest, as we'll as of Serbia
and of Poland. Justice and equality
of rights can be had only at a great
price. We are seeking permanent
not temporary, foundations for the
peace of the world -and must seek
them candidly and fearlessly. AS al
ways, the right will prove to be ex
pedient.
Asks Immediate War on Austria.
What shall we do, then, to push this
great war of freedom and justice to
it's righteous conclusion? We must
clear away with a thorough hand all
impediments to success and we must
make every adjustment of law that
will facilitate the full and free use OF
our whole capacity and force as a
fighting unit.
One very embarrassing obstacle
that stands in our way is that we are
at war with Germany but not with
her allies. l, therefore, very earnest
ly recommend that the Congress i'm
mediately declare the United States
in state of war with Austria Hun
gary.
Does it seem strange to you that
this should be the conclusion of the
argument I have just addressed to