The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1917-11-08

to ask questiOnH. CunninEiy eontrived
plans Of deception or aggression, car
Tied. % may be from generation 60 gen
Grafton, can be worked out and kept
from the Hight only within the privacy
of courts or behivd the carefully guard
ed condolences OF e narrow and privi-
IeEed class. They are happily impossi-
BILE where public Opinion commands and
Insists upon full infOrmntiOn concern
ting all the nations affRira.
A steAdfnst concert for peace can
never be ma lntained except by . part
nershlp Of democratic nations. No hu-
tocratIc government could be trusted
to keep faith within it or observe ttH
covenants. II must be q league OF
honor, n partnershiP Of Opinion. In
triEue would eat its vitals awayJ the
pIottinEs of inner circles who could
plan what they would, and render ne-
count 60 no one, would be corruption
seated at its very heart. Only free peO-
pie can hold their purpose and their
honor STEADY to q common end and
prefer the interest of mankind 20 any
narrow interest OF their own.
Does not every American feel that
assurance has been added to our hope
for the future peace of the world py
the wonderful and heartening Things
that have been happening within the
last few weeks in Russian Russia was
known by those who knew her best
to have been always In fact democrnuc
at heart In all vital habits OF her
thought, In all the intimate relation
ships of her people that spoke their
natural InstInct, their habltual attitude
toward life. The autOcracy that CROWN
ed the summit of her political strnc-
ture, long as II had stood and terrible
a. was the reality OF its power, Wss
not In fact Russian In origin, chnrnc-
ter, or purpose, and now IL has Deen
shaken on and the great generous Rus
sian peopIe have been added, In all
their native majesty and might, to the
forces that are lighting for freedom In
the world, for justice, and for peace:
Here is a ft partner for league OF
honor.
One of the things that have served
to convince us that the Prusslan auto
cracy was not and could never be our
friend Ia that from the very outset OF
the present war IL has filled our un-
suspectInE communities, and even our
Onlces of government, with spies ana
set criminal IntrIGues everywhere atOOt
against our national unity OF counsel,
our peace within and without, our In
dustries, and our commerce. lndeed IL
IN now evident that its spies were here
even before the war began and IL IL
unhappIly not q matter of conjecture
but q fact proven in our courts OF JUS
tice, that the intrIGues which have
more than once come perilOuSly near TO
| disturbing the peace and dlslOcatAnR
the Industries of the country, have been
carried on mt the instlgatiOn, with the
support, and even under the personal
directions of OmcIal agents of the Inn
perIal government accredited to the
government Of the United States.
Even in checking these things and
| trying to extirDate them we have
sought to put the most generous inter-
probation possible upon them, because
we knew that their source lay not In
any hostile feeling or purpose of the
German people toward US (whO were,
NO doubt, as ignorant of them a. we
ourselves were), but only In the selfish
designs of a government that did what
It pleased and told its people nothing.
But they have played their part in SeFV-
| Ing to convince us at Last that that
government entertaIns NO real friend
| ship for us and means to act against
| our peace and Securlty at itH convent
ence. That 1t means to stir up enemies
against us at our very doors, the in-
,tercepted note to the German minister
at Mexico City In eloquent evidence.
| We are accepting this challenge OF
| hostile purpose because we know that
| In such a government, following such
| methods, we can never have q friend,
| and that in the presence OF Its organ
lied power, always lying in wait to
| accomplish we know not what pur-
| pose, there can be no assured security
for the democratic governments of the
world. We are now about to accept
| the gage Of battle with the natural foe
| to liberty, and shall, II necessary, spend
the whole force of the nation to check
and nullify its pretensions and its pow
| err We are glad now that we see the
facts with NO veil OF false pretenSe
about them, to fight thus for the ultA-
mate peace of the world and for the
liberation of it's peoples, the German
peoples includedy for the rights of ma
tIOns, great and small, and the privi-
lexe of men everywhere to choose their
way Of life and of obedience.
The world must be made safe for
democracy. Its peace must be planted
upon the tested foundations of political
liberty. We have no selfish ends to
serve. We desire no conquests. no
dominion. We seek no indemnlties for
ourselves, no material compensation
for the SACRIFICES we shall freely make
We are but one of the champions OF
the rights of mankind. We shall be
satisfied when those rights have been
made as secure as the faith and the
Freedom of nations can make them.
i Just because we fight without rancor
| and without selfish object, seeking
nothing for ourselves but what we shall
wish to share with all free people. we
shall. l feel confident, conduct our oper-
ations as belligerents without passion
and ourselves observe with proud pune
tilio the principles of right and of fail
play we profess to be fighting for
1 have said nothing of the govern
ments allied with the Imperial gov
ernment of Germany because they have
not made war upon us or challenged
us to defend our right and our honor
The AustrO- Hungarian government has
indeed, aVOWed its unqualified indOrSe-
ment and acceptance of the reckless
and IawIess submarine warfare, adopt
ed now without disguise by the Imper-
InI German government, and 1t hns
therefore not been possible for thi'
government to receive Count TarnOw.
HIxl, the ambassador recently accredited
to this government by the Imperial ant
Royal government of AuStrIa-Hungary
hut that government has not actually
engaged in warfare against citizens OF
the United States ON the seas, and
take the liberty, for the present "a,
least, of pOstpOnlnE a discussion % OuI
relations with the authorities Mt vi
emma. We enter this war only where
we are clearly forced into 1t because
there are no other means of defending
our rights.
1t will be all the easier for us Il
conduct ourselves as belligerents In 8
high spirit Of right anS fairness be-
cause we act without Rnlmus, not will
enmity toward a people or with the
desire to bring any injury or dIsad
vantage upon them, but only In armed
opposition to an irresponsible govern
| w.hNOI. hau &hFOVwm aatdq all OOn
alterations of humanity and of rlgh
and IL running &muck.
We are, let me say again, the sin
cefe friends Of the German people, anG
shall desire nothing 20 much a. th'
| .nrIv rn-eatn MI n nnent Of intlmnte reln