The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1917-01-25

racial and national allegiance.
Inc equality of nations upon which
peace must be founded, if it is to last,
must pc on equality Of rights, the guar
nlze nor imply a difference between big
natlons n small, between those that
are powerful and those that are weak.
Must Be Based On Equity.
Right must be based upon the COM
mo- strength, not upon the individual
strength of the nations upon whose
concert peace will depend. Equality OF
territory and resources, there Of course,
cannot be; nor any other sort Of equal
lty not gained in the ordinary peaceful
ana legitimate development of the
peoples themselves. But no one asks or
expects anything more than an equality
OF rights. Mankind is looking now for
freedom of life not for equipoise Of
power.
And there is a deeper thing involved
n even equality of right among or
canned nations. No peaceNcan last, or
ought to last, which does not recognize
and accept the principle hat govern
ments derive all their just powers from
the consent Of the governed, and that
no rlght anywhere exists to hand peO-
pies about from sovereignty to sover-
eighty as If they were property. 1 take
1t for granted, for instance, if I may
venture upon a single example that
statesmen everywhere are agreed that
there should be united, Independent and
autonomous Poland and hat hence
forth in inviolate security of life, Of
development should be guaranteed to
all peoples who. have lived hitherto
under the power of governments de-
voted to a faith and purpose hostile to
their own.
81 speak of this not because of any
HaStra fn n~olf ON ohCtroo of r01ifioc1
principle, which has always been held
very dear by those who nave sought to
build up liberty in America, but for the
same reason that / have spoken of the
other conditions Of peace, which seem
to me clearly indispensable because l
wish frankly to uncover realities. Any
peace which does not recognize and
accept this principle, will inevitably be
upset. 1t will not rest upon the af-
fections or the convictions of man.
kind. The spirit Of whole populations
will fight subtly and constantly against
The world can be at peace only If its
life is stable and there a be no liberty,
where the will is rebellion, where there
is not tranquility of spirit and a sense
Of justice n freedom and right.
so far as practicable, moreover,
every great people now struggling
towards a full development Of it's re-
sources and Of it's powers, should be
assured a direct outlet to the great
highways of the seas. Where this can
not be done by the cession Of territory
it can, no doubt be done by the neu-
tralization of direct rights Of way I'M
der the general guarantee which will
assure the peace itself. With a right
comfy Of arrangement no nation need
be shut away from free access to the
opec paths of the worlds
Sea Must Be Free.
And the paths of the sea must alike
in law n in fact be free. The free
dom of the seas is the sine qua non
of peace, equality and cooperation No
doubt a somewhat radical r%econsid-
GRAFTON of many Of the rules Of inter-
national practice hitherto sought to be
established may be necessary in order
to make the seas indeed free and COM
mon in practically all circumstances for
the use Of mankind. but the motive for
such changes is convincing and COM
pelling. There can be no trust or in
timacy between the peoples Of the
world without them. The free, con
stant, u~nthreatened intercourse Of ma
lions is an essential part Of the pro-
cess of peace and of development. 1t
need not be difficult to define or to Sc
cure the freedom of the seas if the gov
ernments of the world sincerely desire
to colne to an agreement concerning it.
ut is a problem closely connected.
with the Limitation Of naval ornaments
and the cooperation of the navies Of
the world in keeping with the seas at
once free and safe. And the question
Of limiting naval ornaments opens the
wider and perhaps difficult question Of
the limitations Of armies and of all pro-
grams OF military preparation. Diff
cult and delicate as these questions are,
they must be faced with the utmost
candor and decided in a spirit of real
' q TNHJ M 1 afinr If nnorn ic m onroo
with healing it's wongs and come to
stay. Peace cannot be had without con-
ceSsion and sacrifice. There ear be
no sense Of safety and equality among
the nations if great, preponderating ar
ma1nentS are henceforth to continue
here and there to be built up and MAIN
tanned. The statesmen of the world
must plan for peace n nations must
adjust and accommodate their policy
to 1t as they have planned for war
and made ready for pitiless contest and
rivalry. The question Of ornaments,
whether on land or sea, is the most i'm
mediately n intensely practical ques-
ton connected with the future fortunes
of nations and of mankind.
Speaks Nations Sentiment.
Il have spoken upon these great
matters without reserve and with the
utmost eXplicitness because it has
seemed to me to be necessary if the
WOIlu > SetIilllS ueSlT9 IOf peace was
! anywhere to find free voice and utter
ance. Perhaps l am the only person in
high authority amongst all the peoples
of the world who is at liberty to speak
and hold nothing back. I am speaking
as an individual and yet ] am speaking
also, of course, as the responsible head
of a great government and [ feel on
fidcnt that ! AVE said what the people
of the United States would wish me
to say May | not add that l hope and
believe that l am, in effect, speaking
for liberals and friend of humanity in
every nation and for the silent mass Of
mankind everywhere, who have as yet
had no place or opportunity to speak
their real hearts out concerning the
death and ruin they see to have come
already upon the persons and the
homes they hold most dear.
ana in holding out the expectation
that the people and government of the
United States will join the other civil
lied nations of the world in guarantee
~, -I t,r y,,N -, 1,a- -