The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1917-01-25

portunity for which they have sought
10 prepare themselves by the very
principles and purposes of their polity
ana the approved practices Of their
government, ever since the days when
they set up a new nation in the high
and honorable hope that 1t might, In
all that 1t vas and did, show mankind
the way to liberty. They cannot, in
honor, withhold the service to which
they are now about to be challenged
They do not wish to withhold it. But
they w it to themselves and to the
other nations Of the world to state the
conditions under which they will feel
free to render it.
THAT service Is nothing else thar
this-to d their authority and their
power to the authority and force of
other nations to guarantee peace and
justice throughout the world. Such a
settlement cannot now be long post
poned. 1t is right that before 1t comes
this government should frankly for
mulate the conditions upon which ii
would feel justified in asking our peo-
pie to approve it's formal and solemn
adherence to a league for peace. I am
here to attempt to state those condi-
tions.
Must Be Lasting Peace.
"The present war must first be end
ed; but we owe it to candor and to a
just regard for the opinion of mankind
TO say that, so far as our participation
in guarantees of future peace is con-
cerned, it makes a great deal of diff
ference in what way and upon what
terms it is ended. The treaties and
agreements which bring it to an end
must embody terms which will create
a peace that is worth guaranteeing and
preserving, a peace that will win the
approval of maniind; not merely q
peace that will serve the several inter
eStS and immediate aims of the nations
engaged. We shall have no voice in de-
termining what those terms shall be
but we shall, | feel sure, have a voice
in determining whether they shall be
made lasting or not by the guarantees
Of a universal covenant, and u judg-
ment upon what is fundamental and
essential as Il condition precedent tC
permananCy should be spoken now, not
afterwards when it may be too late.
mo COY enant of cooperative peace
that does not include the peoples OF the
enw world can suffice To keep the fu-
turc safe against war and yet, there is
only enc sort Of peace that the peoples
Of America could join in guaranteeing
The elements of that peace must
be elements that engage the confidence
and satisfy the peace of the American
government, clements consistent with
their political faith and the practical
convictions which the peoples Of Amer
lea have, one for all, embraced and
undertaken to defend.
Must Create Big Force.
81 do not mean to say that any
American government would throw any
obstacle in the way of any terms OF
peace the governments now at wal
might aSree upon, or seek 10 upSet
them, when made, whatever they might
be, l only take it for granted that mere
terms Of peace between the belligerents
will not satisfy even the belligerents
themselves. Mere agreements may not
make peace sure. 1t will be absolutely
necessary that q force be created as q
guarantee OF the ~permanency of the
settlement, SO much greater than the
force OF any nation now engaged or any
alliance hitherto formed or projected,
that no nation, nor probable combina-
tons of nations, could face or with
stand it. If the peace presently 10 be
made is to endure it must be a peace
made secure by the organized major
force Of mankind. The terms of the
immediate peace agreed upon will de-
termine whether there is.a peace where
such guarantee can be secured.
The question upon which the whole
future peace and policy Of the world
depends is this:
Urges Community of Power.
rs the present war a struggle for a
just and secure peace, or only for a new
balance of power? If it be only a
struggle for a new balance of power,
who will guarantee, who can guarantee,
the stable equilibrium OF the new ar
rangement. Only a tranquil Europe
can be a stable Europe. There must be
not a balance Of power, but a commu-
nifty OF power, not organized rivalries,
but an organized common peace.
~"Fortuntely, we have received very
explicit assurances on this point. The
statement Of both Of the groups Of ma
tons now arrayed against n another
have said in terms that could not be
misinterpreted, that it was no part of
the purpose they had in mind to crush
their antagonists. But the Implications
of these assurances may not be equally
clear to all-may not be the same on
both sides OF the water. / think it will
be seryicoable if | attempt TO set forth
what we understand them to be.
Peace Without Victory.
They imply first of all that it must
be q peace without victory. 1t is not
pleasant to say this. | beg that | may
be permitted to put my own interpre-
tation upon it and that 1t may be UNI
derstond that no other Interpretation
va in my thought. am seeking only
10 face realities and to face them with
out soft concealment. Victory would
les peace forced upon the loser. a
~Nictor's terms imposed upon the van
Guished. 1t would be adopted in humil-
itation. under duress, at an intolerable
sacrifice and would leave n sting Of re-
sentiment. a bitter memory upo which
fprpnC nf nanra NNnnl1 pnSt-nnt npr-
mancntly, but only as upon quick sand.
Only a peace between equals a last.
Only a peace, the very principle OF
which is equality, and a common par
ticipation in a common benefit. The
right state Of mind, the right feeling
between nations. is as necessary for a
lasting peace as is the just settlement