The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1917-06-14

the German states themsel The 4
dream had It's heart at Berlin. ItcouId
have had q heart nowhere elsel II
rejected tho idea Of solidarity Of race
entirely. The choice Of peoples played
no part in 1t at all It contempla ted
binding together racial and political
units which could be kept together only
by force-Czechs, Magyars, Croats,
Serbs, Rumanians, Turks, Armentans,
the proud states Of Bohemia and
Hungary, the stout little common
wealths Of the Balkans, the indomit-
able Turks, the subtle peoples Of the
east. These peoples did not wish to
be united. They ardentiy desired to di.
rect their own affairs, would be salts
fled only by undispute0 independence.
They could be kept quiet only by the
presence or the constant threat Of
armed men. They would live under a |
common power only by sheer compul. |
sion and await the day Of revolution.
But the German military statesmen
had reckoned with all that and were
ready to deal with 1t in their own way.
"And they have actually carried the |
greater part Of that amazing plan into
execution! Look how things stand. |
Austria is at their mercy. It has act.
ed, not upon its own initiative or upon
the choice its own people, but at Der.
Inns dictation ever since the war be-
gan. Its people now desire peace, but
cannot have 1t until leave is granted
from Berlin. The so.called Central
Powers are in fact but single Power.
Seryia is at its mercyt1 should its hands
be but for moment freed. Bulgaria
has consented to its will, and Rumania
is over.run. The Turkish armies,
which Germans trained, are serving
Germany, certainly not themselves, and
the guns of German warships lying II
the harbour at Constantinople remind
Turkish statesmen every day that they
have no choice but to take their orders
from Berlin. From Hamburg to the
Persian Gulf the net is spread.
as 1t not easy to understand the
eagerness for peace that has been man
tfosted from Berlin ever since the
snare was set and sprung? Peace,
peace, peace has been the talk Of her
foreign office for now year and more:
not peace upon her own initiative, but
upon the initiative Of the nations over
which she now deems herself to hold
the advantage. A little of the talk
has been public, but most of it has been
private. Through all sorts Of chan
nels it has come to me, and in all sorts
Of guises, but necer with the terms
disclosed which the German govern
ment would be willing to accept. That
government has other valuable pawns
in its hands besides those have men
toned. 1t still holds valuable part
of France, though with slowly relaxing
grasp, and practically the whole of Bel
blum Its armies press close upon
Russia and over-run Poland at their
will. 1t cannot go further; 1t dare not
go back Ii wishes to close its bargain
before it is too late and it has little
left to offer for the pound Of flesh it
will demand.
1.-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 an
inch, their power both abroad and at
home will fall to pieces like house
of cards. 1t is their power at home
they are thinking about now more than !
their power abroad. 1t is that power
which is trembling under their very
feet; and deep fear has entered their !,
hearts. They have but one chance to
perpetuate their military power or even
their controlling political influence. If
they can secure peace now with the
immense advantages still in their
HANDS which they have up to this point
apparently gained, they will have justl-
tled themselves before the German peo-
pie; they will have gained by force
what they promised to gain by it; an
immense expansion Of German power,
On immense enlargement of German in
dustrial and commercial opportunities.
Hheir prestige will be secure, and
with their prestige their political
power. If they fail, their people will
thrust them aside; government &C.
couatable 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 modern time except Germany,
If they succeed they are safe and Ger.
many and the world are undone; if
they fail Germany is saved and the
world will be at peace. If they sue.
coed, America will fall within the
menace. We and all the rest Of the
world must remain armed, as they will |
remain, and must make ready for the
next step in their aggression; II they
fail, the world may unite for peace and |
Germany may be of the Gnion.
do you not now understand the new
intrigue, the intrigue for peace. and
why the masters Of Germany do not
hesitate to use any agency that prom
ises to effect their purpose, the deceit
Of the nation? Their present particu-
lar ais i'm to deceive all those who
throughout the world stand for the