Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1917-06-21

The demands made by Austria upol
serbia were a>meFe single step In
plan which comprised Europe IN
Asla. from Beriin to Bagdad. III.
hoped those demands might not arous
Europe. hat they meant to prcss then
whether they did or not. for the,
thought themselves ready for the nna
issue Of arms.
Vast Empire Planned.
Their plan was to throw u broad bel
Of German military power and politica
control across the very center of Eu
rope and beyond the Mediterranean In
to the heart Of Asia ; and Abstraction
gary was to he as much their tool ant
pawn as Serbia or Bulgaria or Turke,
or the ponderous states Of the East
The dream had its heart at Berlin. i
could have had a heart nowhere else
II rejected the idea Of solidarity al
race entirely. The choice of peoples
played no part In 1t ut all. They ar
IDENTIFY desired to direct their WI af
fairs, would be satisfied only by rndis
puteti independence. They could b'
kept quiet only by the presence or the
constant threat Of armed men. The
German military statesmen had reck'
onetl with all that and were ready ia
deal with ii In their w way.
And they have actually carried the
greater part If that amazing plan into
execution. Look how things stand.
Austria is at their mercy. 1t has acted.
not upon its own initiative or upon the
choice OF It's w people. but nj Ber-
Inns dictation ever since the war be-
gan. It's people now desire peace, but
cannot have it until leave is granted
from Berlin. The so-called central
powers are in fact hut a single power.
Serbia Is at its mercy. should Its hands
be but for n moment freed. From
Hamburg to the Persian gulf the net
is spread.
Why Berlin Seeks Peace.
Is 1t not easy to understand the Gag
erness for peace that has been mani
Tested from Berlin eve since the snare
was set and sprung? Peace. peace.
peace has been the talk of her foreign
office for now a year and more: not
peace upon her w initiative. but up
on the initiative of the nations over
which she now deems herself to hold
the advantage. Through all sorts of
channels II has come to me. and in all
sorts of cuises. hut w with the
terms disclosed which the German gov
eminent would he willing to accept.
That government still holds a valuable
part Of France. though with slowly re.
taxing grasp, and practically the whole
of Belgium. 1t cannot 60 further: II
dare not go back. 1t wishes to close
its bargain before ii is too late and 1t
has little left to offer for the pound of
flesh it will demand.
The military masters under whom
Germany is bleeding see very clearly
to what point Fate has brought them.
If they fall back or are forced back
nu inch, their power both abroad and
at home will fall to pieces like a
house of cards. If they can se-
peace now with the immense ad-
vantages still in their hands which
they have up to this point apparently
gained. they will have justified them
selves before the German people; they
will hurIa uninn1 Ey- fnroa vt-hat thnI-
promised to gain by Ii: an immense
Of German power, an Inn
mense enlargement Of German indus
and commercial opportunities, II
they fail, their people will thrust them
n government accountable to
the people themselves will be set up
in Germany as it has been in England.
in the United States. In France, and
in all the great countries of the mod
ern time except Germany. If they sue
coed they are safe and Germany and
the world are undone; If they fail Ger
many Is saved and the world will he at
peace. If they succeed, we and all
the rest of the world must remain
armed, as they will remain. and must
make ready for the next step OF az
gression: If they fail, the world may
unite for peace. and Germany may be
OF the union.
Seek to Deceive World.
The present particular aim of the
masters Of Germany is to deceive all
those who throughout the world stand
for the rights Of peoples and the self.
government Of nations; for they see
what immense strength the forces Of
justice and Of liberalism are gathering
out of this war.
The sinister intrigue is being no less
actively conducted In this country than
In Russia and In every country in Eu-
rope to which the agents and dupes of
the imperial German government can
get access.
United States In War for Freedom.
The great fact that stands out above
all the rest Is that this Is u Peoples
war, q war for freedom and Justice and
self.government amongst all the ma
items of the world, a wnr to mike the
world safe for the peoples who live In
It and have made It their own, the
German people themselves included
and that with us rests the choice Il
break through oil these hypocr1sies ant
patent cheats and masks Of brute forct
and help set the world free, o, elss
stand aside and let II be dominated {
long age through by sheer weight Of
arms md the arbitrary choices Of self
constituted masters, by the natior
which ian maintain the biggest armies
and the most irresistible armaments-
a rover to which the world hns nf