The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-12-04

Germany is wrong-let that be said
straight out and emphatically.
The contrary has so long been
preached by the party represented by
the AftOnblad, and neutrality, in
certain newspapers, has so long meant
the same as toadying to Germany,
that truth really need not sit any
longer abashed and dumb.
We in Sweden are so soft-hearted,
simpleminded and lukewarm-we who
worship truth and Justice that, in
everyday life, the voices of oppres-
sion, injustice and lying alone make
themselves heard. We are so "neu-
trail" at heart, we who, nevertheless,
believe that there is a distinction be-
tween right and wrong, light and
darkness. black and white. We are
so punctiliously refined, so niggardly
scrupulOus, so anxiously solicitous
about the veriest particle of humanity
that exists even in a scoundrel-that,
whilst we are weighing and reweigh-
ing it, the scoundrel accOmplishes his
work and innocence is trampled on.
We shun passing sentence even in the
case if the case is clear and obvious.
And when we do pass sentence, it is
done with scolding-to the plaintiff,
whom the sentence cannot strike
down.
In these days one has heard till one
was sick of it the hashing up of an
tiquated halftruths or truths such as
There are faults on both sides It's
nobody's fault when two fall out"
wonder how long these cheap wise
saws" will hold good in the legal
squabbles of our citizens, and if one
OF these philosophers-now so high
minded where the grievances of others
are concerned-w would, in a lawsuit OF
his own, be satisfied with a Book of
Proverbs instead of the Swedish code.
Sweden, like Europe in general, has
during the past year sorely lacked
strong, authoritative voices thai
might have compelled attention to her
verdict
Tolstoy is no more-and he would,
l suppose, have been expected to take
part in the case. Ibsen and Bjornson
are gone. Strindberg is dead. 1t is
uncertain, perhaps, what their verdict
would have been, these old men whom
a long life had linked together Maybe
Ibsen alone would have pronounced
the right verdict.
Among the great ones still living
Denmarks Brandes and Swedens Ell
len Key are the only ones who have
pronounced their opinion--the former
in manner that reminds us that he
is a Dane and the enemy of Russia,
but quite forgets he is a European
and Ellen Key in a manner exactly
such as might be expected of her but
not as |, for my part, had hoped in
the long run, that she, whose courage
and will no one call i'm question,
would have pronounced judgment.
She, too, has envisaged the situa-
ton too narrowly to be able to pro-
nounce judgment where judgment
must be pronounced It is not enough
to blame all the parties in dispute, to
find this fault in the one and that
fault in the other; not enough to as
sert that the injured party was to
blame in days gone by or else is
planning revenge in the future. In
short, what ought to be decided in
this case is, who is right and who is
wrong?
Suppose we throw the chief blame
on Frances thoughts of revenge OF
England's colonization, yet even then
we are not so profound or so historic
al as we fancy ourselves to be. for
previous to Frances thirst for re-
venge Of it then existed) occurred
Prussias mutilation of France in 1870
Before this mutilatiOn was that Of
1S14-1S15-prior to that the attack
on France during the first years OF
the Revolution. Before this attack