The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-12-01
LANSDOWNE
STATEMENT
CONDEMNED
Resolutions Deploring Pub
LEGATION of Letter Pass
ed At Meeting
SEVERE CRITICISM
FROM BONAR Law
National Misfortune 1t
Should Have Been Pub
lished Now"

London, Dec. Am authorized re-
port concerning the unionist meeting
of Yesterday says 1t was attended by
1900 representatives of unionist bod
les throughout the country, and that
resolutions were unanimously carried
deploring the publication of the let
ter Of the Marquis of Lansdowne.
Declaring firm adherence to the war
aims of the allies, as defined by the
premier, Mr.. Bonar Law and Mr..
Asquith, it was decided that the re-
solutions should be wired to the
premier and Mr.. Balfour at Paris.
A scene of enthusiasm ensued, the
delegates rising and singing the ma
tional anthem. Bonar Law delivered
4 speech in which he admitted that
he never had met anyone more
patriotic or disinterested than the
Marquis of Lansdowne. Neverthe-
less, Mr.. Bonar Law said:
Il disagree absolutely not only
with the arguments, but with the
whole tone of the letter. think it is
nothing less than a national misfor-
tune that it should have been pub
lished, now of all times. Tt is not
that we do not desire peace. 1t is
horrible to look forward to a contin-
uance of the war; but it is a strange
assumption that because the Ger
mans declare their readiness for a
pact of nations and talk of dis
armament, that peace is therefore
possible.
Did Not Dare Suggest II.
Before the war our government
did not dare suggest disarmament to
Germany. They often went near it,
but the Germans regarded 1t almost
as a casus belli. And before the war,
books recommending disarmament
were prohibited in Germany, and I
believe they are prohibited to this
day.
You heard nothing of this kind Of
thing in the first and second years
If the war when things were not go
ing we'll in Germany. If the conclus-
ion of peace were conceivable today,
1t would mean that the very men who
in my judgment committed the
greatest crimes in history, who
plunged the world into anguish and
misery, would be left again in power
with the same machinery, ready to
repeat the same thing when oppor-
tunity arose in the future.
How can they be bound by pact
of nations? Nobody will pretend that
they will be bound because they sign
a treaty, and what force is to bind
them? The whole world is against
them today, armed and organized in
! n way that it is not likely they will
again be; and If we cannot insist on
our rights now, how will we fight
against them in new conditions here
after?
Have TO Prove IL.
NOW, gentlemen, it is horrible to
think of, but it Use true. In my judg-
ment we have got to show the Ger
man nation in the only way they can
be made to realize that war does not
pay; that their military machine
cannot &c the desired results. 1t is
only by decisive military results that
the war can be ended. Let the. Ger
mans realize that we can go on longer
than they, and the change of feeling
in Germany of which we hear so
much. will grow daily and will itself,
perhaps, bring the results we all long
TO see".
Bonar Law intimated that should
The Marquis of Lansdowne's letter
stimulate the pacifist movement to
the point of the government losing
support for needful war measures,
there would be only one alternative
for the government He declared
that q peace on this basis would real
ly he defeat for Great Britain,
Does anyone really believeA that
unity in the British empire could
continue the same after such a de-
feat, the chancellor asked in con-
cluslon.