The Monticellonian. [volume] (Monticello, Ark.) 1870-1920, 1917-06-21
SCORES THE KAISER
PRESIDENT SAYS MILITARY MAS
TIERS DENIED u. S. RIGHT
TO BE NEUTRAL.
FILLED COUNTRY WITH SPIES
Failed in Attempt to Spread Sedition
German People in Grip of Same
Sinister Power That Has
Drawn Blood From Us.


Wilson III Il Flag day address deliy-
cred here On Thursday declared that
we We're forced into the worldwide
war by the extraordinary insults and
aggressions of The military masters of
Germany.
The presidents address in part is as
follows:
My Fellow Citizens We meet 10
celebrate Flag Day because this fag
which We honor and under which we
serve is the emblem of our unity. our
power. our thought and purpose as
nation. 1t has no other character than
that which We give it from generation
10 generation. The choices are ours.
II floats III majestic silence above the
hosts that execute those choices
whether in peace or in war And yet,
though silent, it speaks 10 us-speaks
to us of the past, of the men and wom
en- who went before us and of the rec
erds they wrote upon it. We celebrate
the day of its birth; and from its birth
until now il has witnessed great his
tory, has fioated on high the symbol of
great events. of a great plan of life
worked out by Il great people. We are
about To carry il into battle. 10 lift il
where it will draw the fire Of our en-
emies. We are about to bid thousands,
hundreds of thousands, it may be mil
lions of Our men, the young, the strong,
the capable men of the nation. 10 20
forth and die beneath 1t on fields of
blood far away-for What? For some
unaccuStomed thing? For something
for which II has never sought the fire
befofe2 American armies were never
before sent across tie seas. Why are
they sent nov? For some new pur-
pose, for which this great flag has nev-
er been carried before. or for some old.
familiar, heroic purpose FOR which it
has seen men, It's own men, die on ev=
cry battlefield upon Which Americans
have borne arms since the Revolution
These are questions which must be
answered. We are Americans. We in
our turn serve America, and can serve
her with no private purpose, We must
Use her flag rs she has always used it,
We are accountable at the bar OF his
tory and must plead in utter frankneSs
what purpose II is we seek to serve
United States Forced Into War
1t is plain enough how we were
forced into the War. The eXtraordi-
nary insults and aggressionS of the inn
periaI German government left us no
self-reSpecting choice but To take up
arms IN, J.f.nIa e nv ,.jtrlt.5 A. F,.n,,
people and of our honor as a sovereign
government The military masters of
Germany denied us the right to he neu-
trail They filled our unsuspecting com
munities with vicious spies and CON
SpiratorS and sought 10 corrupt the
opinion of our people i'll their own be-
half When they found that they could
not do that their agents diligently
spread Sedition amongst us and sought
to draw our own citizens from their
allegiance, and some of those agents
were men connected with the official
embassy Of the German government il
self here in our own capital. They
sought by violence 10 destroy our in
dustfies and arrest our commerce
They tried To lncte Mexico 10 take up
arms against us and to draw Japan in
to a hostile alliance with her-and
that not by indirection. but by direct
suggestion from the foreign Office in
Berlin. They impudently denied us
the use of the high seas and repeated
ly executed their threat that they
would send to their death any of our
people Who ventured 10 approach the
coasts of Europe. And many Of our
own people We're corrupted. Men be-
gan 10 look upon their own neighbors
with suspicion and to wonder In THEN
hot resentment and surprise whether
there was any community in which
hostile intrigue did not Turk What
great nation in such circumstances
would not have taken UP arms? Much
n #e had desired pence, il was denied
us, and not Of OR own choice. This
nag under which We serve would have
been dizAonored had we Withhold our
nand.
No Emnty Toward German People.
Bnt that is only part Of the story.
We Know now aS clearly as we knew
before We We're ourselves engaged that
we are not enemies of tire German peo-
pie and Hiatt They are not our enemies.
They did net originate or desire This
hideous war or wish that We should be
drawn into it and we are vaguely CON
sceus that We are fighting their cause,
as they VIII some day see IT, as well rs
our own They are themselves in the
grip of the same sinister power that
has now az last stretched its ugly tai
ous ont and drawn blood from us. The
whole world is in the grip Of that pow
er and Is trying cur the great battle
which slall determine whether it is to
be brought nnder its mastery or fling
Itself free.
The war was begun hF tue military
masters Of Germany Who proved 10 be
also The masters of Austria-ITungnry
These men have never regarded ma
tions as peoples men women and
children of like blood and frame as
themselves, for whom governments eX-
listed and in whom governments had
their life. They have regarded them
merely as serviceable organizations
which they could by force or intrigue
bend or corrupt to their own purpose.