Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-10-01
LimitEof Neo-Prussianlsm Is
Reached In United States

.StS.ItI-I ISaS% yssNr fSJh-ftaE ~ stg4yNtFa 49, 4A&aI Il
!. Peoples Council and Others 40
Glad scandinavians are Mosay
Aonal council who opposes practically
al the m6asur6s proposed by the adj
lniristration for q successful carrying
out o. the wary which Autocratic
perfidy.} cupidity and ambition for
world dominion ha1 forced upon the
United states. I am glad that OF the
sc~andinayians in; ccngress he Y the
ally, gives comfort and Aid to our
mortal foe. And why should we
Scandinavians be classed q the fol-
lowers Of the one representative and
not u the followers OF the several?
1t 10 to the "disloyaW Scandinavian
Americans that I address myself
through the kindness Of the Grand
Forks Herald. .4Ss IA
Permit{me to cali attention to cer-
idea which prevails in the minds Of
many, and which breeds q disposition
OF disloyalty. 3ss@
Tho Snare Of the Enemy.
), First, the idea which many have
that this ts England's> and RussiA's
war, must be given up. And why? It
man a~utocrats, and beyond their state
ment 1t has not a bit of evidence In
its favor. It must be given up be-
cause tits the SNARE Of our enemy by
which he hopes to hold many from
genuine loyalty to Americas cause.
Who Ii then the real instisator of
the war? History points with it, many
fingers. to tho Prussian autocracy
coupled With its very eficient mill
lForstner cut down AElame shoemaker
in Zabern of Alsace-Lorraine region.
This incident caused the memorable
debate in the reichstag on December
9, 1919. which resulted in the anti
government demonstration In that
body on May 20, 1914. This caused
To- revival Of the BismArckean "1sen
und Blut" theory, for the purpose Of
welding together a ~disgruntled people.
In. the '70s Bismarck succeeded re-
markably we'll in uniting under Prus-
political units of various kinds by
precipitatng the Fran.o-Pruss,an
war. Relative to the Zabern affair our
Ambassador Gerard. who. was there
and studied the situation closely, says
that this wal perhaps "the nnaI fac
tor which decided, the advocates Of
the old military system of Germany in
favor Of European war" It was the
blood-letting cure" for civil insub-
ordination.
x War Of SELF Defense.
July &, 1914, is the date to which a
group Of incontrovertible witnesses
point u the date when the "blood-
letting was decided upon. At this
meeting Of the military authorities
with the kaiser in the palace at Pots
points of theNAustrian ultimatum to
lServia. The witnesses as, to this event
are too many and too reliable to be
swept aside by any denial from Ger
man %autocracy. This is. pre-eminently
lGermany's war. Austria is only a
secondary factor. France and the
allies are in the war for self defense.
Sec6nd.-America is in the war on
the side of the allies because this war
has become a war of aggression
against the United States. We are
fighting our own battles for self de-
Tense on European soil. Let us be
very thankful that we are not obliged
to fight them on our W soil, where
our y homes would be destroyed,
and our own, families carried away
into German prisons and slavery.
Here I need only to refer to Milton
Bronner's most excellent article in the
Grand Forks Herald for September 5.
There - an abundance OF proofs which
- more than enough to convert any
reasonable man who Is not determined
to deny the statements Of a9y and all
J but tho German ~autocrats. 1
Strange, after all, how many there
are who will not believe anything said
to place the blame where it belongs
on the leaders Of Prusisa. who for
selfish ends have planned the war
ever since the '70s and who for do
mesttc and. foreign reasons found 1914
an opportune time, and the murder
OF the crown prince at Serajevo an
opportune occasion that would lend
itself - q reasonable pretext for let
ting loose this terrible world war.
gr America Warned.
It .is not to be wondered at that
the kaiser said to Ambassador Gerard
1T the beginning Of the war: Amer
lea better look out after this war. I
shall stand no nonsense from America
after this war" No wonder the
kaiser. did not see At to allow an
answer to the following. appeal, sent
on July 81. 1914:
Your. Excellency: Is there moth
ing that my country can do? Nothing
that I can doh toward stopping the
dreadful war? I am sure that the
president would approve. any act of
mine looking towards peace.'
This was signed by our ambassador,
James ". Gerard, and when our am
bassador again on August 10, 1914,
this time at the presidents request in
the name Of the United States, offered
to mediate ,between the warning pow
era, the kaiser penned his secret mes
sage to President Wilson. wherein he
bellies himself. at several turns. and
The existence Of this message has been
semi-6mcially denied, but az the mes
sage was turned over to Gerard in the
kaiser's own handwriting. and has
now been published IN fac smile. the
kaiser's perfdy stands unchali4nged.
u. s. TRIED to Avert Greatg War.