The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-12-02
WHY WE ARE FIGHTING"

stand the right and wrong of the mat ter, that their opinions might not pc unjust, began to seek every source or information which might help them 10 learn who started it and why. Al Iirss as the sources of information were not immediately at hand-there seemed room for argument, though on the lace oa things it was apparent that AuslIla .s. lli ?. declared war upon Servia and Germany then declared war upon Russia ano France We saw plainly that SerVla hau been begging and squirming to aVolu war and that Russia had been working for peace. Austria and Germany were the countries that declared war, and' oi course until somebody did actually de- clare war or actually made war tnere was a chance for peace.
 As soon as the diplomatic documents were published we all saw-any per son who could read was able to see that Austria had been bent upon war with servia and that Germany had Austria to make such war, and, un- der a rather careless pretext of wish ing to preserve the peace, had actually prevented peacemalling on the yart of inc other governments. It was clear, too that Russia had been bound to protect Servia from Austria, and that Germany understood this and knew that Austrias attack on Servia smenat war between Austria and Russia, which also meant, of course, war between Germany and Russia and between Germany and France, since the latter was Russia s ally.
 Nothing could have been more sig nificant than this that Germany, being herself already prepared-down to the last buckle-for immediate war, de- clared war on Russia for the alleged reason that Russia was getting pre- pared for war. We know this sort of talk of old in thousand trials for cold -blooded murder in our own coun- try. Self -defensel' shouts the murder CTS attorney. "The deceased made a motion towards his hip pocket" Ger many stood with a bright new auto matic revolver in hand, and Russia made a motion toward his hip pocket where there was later found a penknife with two blades broken "Self-defense, Germany claimed loudly through her at torneys. "He made motion toward his hip pocket; so I had to shoot him. -
 GERMAN CONTENTION
 The German chancellor declared in the Reichstag that Russia made this fatal motion toward the hip pocket in spite of England's effort to keep peace. lor-and then few days later all Ger : many began shouting that England began iti" This was when England fulfilled her oath to Belgium, and Ger many broke her own.
 The evidence went more and more against Germany, and there were some vicious sidelights which made the case stronger against her. The German army was sent into the peaceful little country of Belgium, which 1t turned into slaughterhouse, with the owners for victims. and the German govern ment said that the German army did this because it would help Germany to conquer France. At the same time the Germans in authority told a great number of lies to excuse themselves. They said that they knew they were doing a wrong thing, and that they were breaking the law and violating their oath; and nevertheless they claimed that they were Justified be, cause the Belgians were a wicked people and France intended soon to behave Gin respect to Be1gium) as Ger many was behaving. Altogether. the trickiness and cruelty of Germany in the Belgian matter caused our opinions of the German government Iconcern- ing who began it) to become much dark CT. So far as Belgium went. the Germans were finally and absolutely convicted in the plain sight of all men convicted of lies as odious as they were stupid convicted of the most abominable, cold -blooded plotting: con- yicted of a selfishness not seen on earth since the seventeenth century and of a cruelty not known since the sixteenth.
 Of course, men who were capable of these things In regard to Belgium, were of a character distinctly capable of having plotted the great war; and, as they lied about Belgium they would lie about the rest of it.
 Since then evidence has piled up-- evidence not circumstantial but so