Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-04-13
Point of View of the French Po Reported by E. Phillips Open
helm, Writing From Somewhere France"-" Is Belgium
Who Shall Make Peace When 1t Comes; Who Has
Better Righ?"

DoN D~'ACAdf navy tNO SOllS iCll-
have lost much and suffered much
Day by day l have seen the losses of
those about me increasing. l am fifty
eight years old, and peace would give
me back my two sons. There are so
many like me-"
Madame, the soldier answered.
and this time he seemed to include
me in the argument-"peace will not
give back to the many hundreds of
thousands of French mothers the sons
and husbands they have lost. Peace
would only dishonor their memories.
would bring the cruelest of all bitter
ness into their lives. Look you, they
fought for their homes and their
womankind, they fought for a sacred
cause, they fought for others besides
themselves. See how it is today with
those others Belgium Can one
speak of it, 1t. is Belgium who shall
make peace when it comes. Who has
better right? What will she ask
for, 1 wonder? Fifty thousand Ger
man men and women to make slaves
of them? The maidenhood of Ger
many to debauch? No, they are not
Boches. But strict justice would give
them all that, and MORE"
Madame shook her head. She, too,
was moved.
zone must forget" she muttered. 81
had a niece myself at Lille-but one
must not speak of those horrors. God
alone can punish such crimes"
The Poilu rolled another cigarette
viciously.
Monsieur" he said, glancing across
at me, Il appeal to you. You pre- Eng
fish, are you not?'
Il am English" I told him; "but
with your permission I will be silent
Even our friends call us a somewhat
obstinate nation. They say that we
find difficulty in seeing any side of
these great issues save our own. Let
me hear you speak more of the peace"
The Poilu lit his cigarette. Madame
leaned forward.
"There Is the Trap"
Listen" she interviewed 81 have
heard it said that the Boches now are
willing to restore all Belgium, that
they will give back the tlhole of their
conquered territory"
''If we leave their military machine.
their great engine of tyranny, autoc-
racy, aggression and destruction, with
all the power in it that made them
begin the war;" the Poilu interrupted
vigorously. "Ah, madame, there is the i
trap. We trusted once to German |
treaties and German faith. See how
they regarded them o Treaties 1t |
was Germany who dismissed them with |
the immortal phrase, Mere scraps of |
paperp Pro misses Listen, madame. |
Their own chancellor, he stood up in |
their parliament and he pleaded guilty |
to a great broken faith. Necessity, he |
declared, demanded it. And l tell you
this, when necessity, which with them
means German ambition, demands |
then a German promise and
a German treaty are worth just snap
Of the fngers-no more. That is why
say-I and those others who have
lived and fought through these desc
late years-that with an unconquered
Germany-there can be no peace"
One Who Had Thought Much.
my son." the old lady declared,
looking at him with interest, you
speak like one who has thought much"
The Poilu glanced down at his mud
stained clothes.
81 was an advocates clerk before
he war" he said grimly. what 1 am
now God only knows; but up there in
he front it is not all fighting. There
ire, long, lonely hours when the rain
works, hours of solitude when one
ices the truth"
Madame sighed.
at is not often" she confessed,
that read the journals. My eye
light is failing, and my daughter
veil, we will not speak of her. 1 lost
Ter. Therefore 1t is a new thing for
ne to talk to one like yourself Re
member now, If you please, that
peak only in the language of the vii
age. They say have heard it said
that Germany hungers for peace;
hat therefore 1t is better for us to
i've peace now and so spare needless
A little cloud of smoke surrounded {
he soldiers head. His clinched fist {
truck the knapsack by his side. His
yes-hot and red they were with ia
gue-hashed. |
Forty Years of Preparation. [
"They talk like cattle, madame" he
eclared vigorously. where are Ger .
lany's conquests? Belgium, with odds d
gainst her of ten to one in men and
fly to one in artillery! Montenegro, s
mountain tribel Serbia? Well, it
,ok them eighteen months and cost "
lem a good many army corps to |
rive the Serbians from their country, v
nd the end of them is not yet Rou-
ania? Victims of a foolish cam
iign, if you will, but even then over
)wered with the war machine which Z
has taken Germany thirty-ive years lt