River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1917-11-22

by law within our borders. If they
could not sell their goods cheaper than
we could sell ours at profit to them
selves they could get a subsidy from
the government which made it pos
sible to sell them cheaper anyhow and
the conditions of the competition were
thus controlled in large measure by
the German government itself. But
that did not satisfy the German gov
eminent
"All the while there was lying be-
hind its thought, in it's dreams of the
future, political control which would
enable it in the long run to dominate
the labor and the industry of the
world They were not content with the
success by superior achievement; they
wanted success by authority. / sup
pose very few of you have thought
much about the archaeological rail-
way. The archaeological railway
was constructed in order to run the
threat of force down the flank of the
industrial undertakings of half a
dozen other countries so that when
German competition came in it would
not be resisted too far-because there
was always the possibility of getting
country quicker than any other armies
could be got there. Look at the map
of Europe now. Germany is thrusting
upon us again and again the discussion
of peace talks about what? Talks
about Belgium, talks about Northern
France, talks about Alsace-LOrraine.
Well, those are deeply interesting sub
jects TO us and to them, but they are
not talking about the heart of the
matter.
Germany After World Dominance.
take the map and look at it. Ger
many has absolute control of Austria
Hungary, practical control of the Bal
kan states, control of Turkey, control
of Asia minor. j saw map in which
the whole thing was printed in appro-
pirate black the other day and the
black stretched alb the way from Ham
burg to Bagdad-the bulk Of German
power inserted into the heart of the
world. If it can keep that she has
kept all that her dreams contemplated
when the war be gan. IF she can keep
that her power can disturb the world
as long as she keeps railways pro-
vided, for feel bound to put this pro-
viso in, always provided the present
influences that control the German
government continue to control it.
81 believe that the spirit of freedom
can get into the hearts of the Germans
and find as fine welcome there as it
can find in any other hearts. But the
spirit of freedom does not suit the
plans of the Pan-Germans. Power can
not be used with concentrated force
against free peoples if it is used by
free people.
Central Power Fears Germany.
"You know how many limitations
come to us from one of the central
powers that it is more anxious for
peace than the chief central power;
and you know that it means that the
people in that central power know
that if the war ends as it stands they
will in effect themselves be vassals
of Germany Notwithstanding that their
populations are compounded with all
the people of that part Of the world
and notwithstanding the fact that they
do not wish in their pride and proper
spirit of nationality to be SO absorbed
and dominated.
Germany is determined that the
political power of the world shall be-
long to her. There have been such
ambitions before. They have been in
part realized. But never before have
those ambitions been based upon so
exact and precise ard scientific a plan
of domination.
To Compound With Foe is Disastrous.
'May / not say it is amazing to me
that any group of people should be so
i'll informed as to suppose, as some
groups in Russia apparently suppose,
that any reform planned in the in
terest of the people can live in the
presence of Germany powerful
enough to undermine or overthrow
them by intrigue or force?
"Any body of free men that COM
pounds with the present German gov
eminent is compromising for it's own
destruction. But that is not the whole
story. Any man in America or any
where else who supposes that the
free industry and enterprise of the
world can continue if the Pan-German
plan is achieved and German power
fastened upon the world is as fatuous
as the dreamers of Russia.
What I am opposed to is not the
feeling of the pacifists, but their stu
pidity. My heart is with them, but
my mind has contempt for them.
want peace, but / know how to get it
and they do not.
Win War to Get Peace.
"You will notice that I sent a
friend of mine-Colonel House-tO
Europe, who is as great a lover of
peace as any man in the world, but I
did not send him on peace mission.
/ sent him to take part in a confer
ence as to how the war was to be won.
And he knows, as I know, that that
is the way to get peace if you want
it for more than a few minutes.
"All of this is preface to the con-
ference that referred to with regard
to what we are going to do. If we are
true friends of freedom-our own or
anybody else's-we will see that the
power of this country and the produc-
tivity of this country, is raised to it's
absolute maximum and that absolutely
nobody is allowed to stand in the way
of it.
Labor Must Be Free.
while we are fighting for freedom