The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1917-04-05

to deal with them as having been
framed after very careful thought by
the branch OF the. government upon
which the responsibility of conduct
Ing the war and Safeguarding the Ma
ton will most directly fall.
While we do these things, these
deeply HefHenteHss things, let us he
very clear. and make very clear TO all
the world. What our motives and our
objects are. My own thought has not
been driven from its, habitua! and nor.
NAL course by the unhappy events OF
the last twn months. and do not be-
!eye that the thought OF the Nation
has been altered or clouded by thea.
Il have Exactly the same things IL
mind now that l had in mini Wien
addressed the Senate the 22d OF jan
nary last the same that had in mind
when | addressed the Congie $ the 81
of February and the 26th OF February.
Cur objec! Lnw. as then, is to vindi-
cate the principles OF peace anil the
justice in the life of the world as
against selfish and -autoeratic lows:
and to set up against the really FRI
and self governed peoples Oh the wor d
such concert OF purpose and Oh ac-
ton AS will hencefOrtl; insure the Oo-
servans: Of these principles. '
Neutrality is no longer feasible Or
desirabl" where the peace OF the
world is involved and the irt edo.n
Of lis peoples. and the menace TO MAT
peace and freedom lies il the exist
ence OF '.ntocratic governments back
I'd by organized force which is cor
tn,,l eel, l,S, mi It
the wilt-ef-tAeir people. W" ila'c
seen the last Of ncutrali,: in such
circumstances.
Nations As Individuals.
I'VE are at the beginning oi he ;s:sc
IN which it will be Insisted that tie
same standards of conduct AMI OF ,e-
spon >ibility for wrongioinE shall lie
obsrrs ed among nations and tn.!r gov
ernmeuls that are observed among
the individual citizens Of civilized.
states.
I'VE have no quarrel with the Ger
man people We have 10 feeling to-
wards them but one of sympathy and
friendship 1t was not upon their i'm
pulse that their government acted III
governing this war 1t was not with
their PIE, ious knowledge or approval.
it was Il war determined upon as wars
used to be determined on in the old,
unhappy DAYS when peoples we're no
where consulted by their rulers and
wars We're provoked and waged in the
interest of dynastieS or of little groups
of ambitious men who were accus-
toned to use their fellow men as
pa ~ns and tools.
Self government nations do not
fill their neighbor states with spies or
set the course of intrigue to bring
about some critical posture of affairs
which will give them an opportunity
to strike and make conquest. Such
designs can be successfully worked
only under cover and where no one
has the right to ask questions.
"Cunningly contrived plans of de.
ception or aggression, carried it may
be from generation to generation can
be worked out and kept from the light
only within the privacy Of courts or
behind the carefully guarded conf
dences of narrow privileged class.
They are happily impossible where
public opinion commands and insists
upon full Information concerning all
the nations affairs.
"A steadfast concert for peace can
never be maintained except by part
nership of democratic nations. No
autocratic government could be trust
ed to keep faith within it or observe
its covenants. 1t must be league OF
honor partnership of opinion. In
trigue would eat it's vitals away; the
plottings of inner circles, who could
plan what they would and render ac-
count to no one, would be corrup.
ton seated at it's very heart Only
free peoples can hold their purpose
and their honor steady to common
end and prefer the interests Of man
kind to any narrow interest of their
own.
Does not every American feel that
assurance has been added to our hope
for the future peace of the world by
the wonderful and heartening things
that have been happening within the
last few weeks in Russia?
Russia was known by those who
knew it best to have been always in
fact democratic at heart. in all the
vital habits of her thought, in all the
intimate relationships of her people
that spoke their natural instinct, their
habitual attitude towards life.
Prussians Never Our Friends.
The autocracy that crowned the
summit of her political structure, long
as it had stood and terrible as was
the reality of its power, was not in
fact Russian in origin, character or
purpose, and now it has been shaken
off and the great. generous Russian
people have been added in all their
native majesty and might to the forces
that are fighting for freedom in the
world, for justice and for peace. Here
is q fit partner for league of honor!
"One of the things that has served
to convince us that the Prussian au-
tocracy was not and could never be
our friend is that from the very out
set of the present war it has filled
our unsuspecting communities and
even our offices of government with
spies and set criminal intrigues every.
where afoot against our national unity
Of council, our peace within and with:
out. our Industries and our commerce.
0TuAand II Ia now evident that th0ae