The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-04-03

II
world such q concert OF purpose and
of action as will henCefOrth insure the
| observance of those principles' neu-
| traIity is no longer feasible or ues
sirable where the peace OF the WorIo
is involved and the freedom OF It's peo-
pies. and the menace to tnat peacs
and freedom lies I'm the existence OF
autocratic governments backed by
organized force which is controlle0,
wholly by their will. not by the VIII
| Of their people. We have seen the last
of neutrality in such circumstances.
1--WE are at the beginning OF an age
in which 1t will be insisted that lnS
responsibility for wrong shall PC
observed among nations and their
governments that are. observed among
the civilized citizens of civilized states.
I'VE have no quarrel with the
German people. We have no FEEL
ina towards them but pne OF sym.
pathy and friendsbips5 u was not
upoi, their iTsapuIse that their gov =
ernnrent acted in snterina this
war, II was not wifi their previ-
Gus knowledge or apnroNal.
'1t was war determined upon as
wars used to be determined on In the
old, unhappy days whenspeopies were
nowhere, consulted Dy tneIE Eulsrs ~ ~
wars were provoked andEwaRed IN the
interest of dynastfes of or little Rroups
of ambitious men, who were accustom-
ed to use their fellowmen as paWns
and tools. ~.
fill their neiuhbor states with spies
or Get 1.-THE course Of intrigue 70
brine about some critical posture
OF affairs which will give them an
opportunity TO strike and make
CONQUEST. Such designs can be sue"
cessfulIy worked only under cover
and where no one has the right 90
ask questions.
"Cunnineiy contrived plans Of de-
ceptfon of aggression. carried, IL 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 con-
fiidences of a narrow and privileged
class. They are happily lmposslpie
where public opinion commands ana
insists upon full information concern
ing all the nations affairs.
"a steadfast concert for peace can
never be maintained except by part
nership OF democratic nations NO
autocratic government could De trust
ed to keep faith within 1t or observe
its covenants. II must De 2 iea 1ssn;o "
honor, a. partnership OF OPINION.
Intrigue would eat it's vitals away:
the .plottings of inner circles who could
plan what they would and render &C
count to no one would be corruption
seated at its very heart. only Tree
peoples, can hold their purpose ana
their honor steady to a common end
and prefer the interests of mankind
to any narrow interest OF their own;
Does not every American feel that
assurance has been added to our nope
for the future peace of the world py
the wonderful and heartening Things
that have happened within the last
few weeks in Russia?
Russia was known by those VINO
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 peopie
that spoke their natural instinct, their
habitual attitude towards life.
THE autocracy that crowned the
summit of her political structures
long as it had stood and terrible as
was the reality of it's power, was not
in fact Russian in origin, character or
purposes and now it has been shaken
off and the great, generous Russian
people have been added in all their
naive majesty and might to the forces
that are fighting for freedom in the
world, for justice and for peace: Here
is fit partner for a league of honor"
"one of the things that has
served to convince US that the
could never be our friend is that
4 from the very outset of the pres
ent war it has filled our unsuss
pectino communities and even our
offices Of government with spies
and set criminal intrigues every.
where afoct against our national
unity of council, our peace WITHIN
and without. our industries and
our commerce. sEak zsC
-
spies were here even before the war
began; and 1t is unhappily not a mat
ter of conjecture, but a fact proved In
our courts of justice that the intrtgues
which have more than once come per-
ilously near to disturbing the peace
and dislocating the industries OF the
have been carried on at the
with the suppQE ana even
under the personal direction of official
agents of the imperial government ac-
credited to the government of the
United States "s&
"Even in checking these things
and trying to extirpate them we
have sought to put the most gem
erous Interpretations possible
upon them because we knew that
their source lay, not in any hos
tile feeling or purpose OF the Ger
man people towards US twho were
no doubt, as ignorant of them as
we ourselves were) but only in the
selfish design of a government
that did what it pleased and told
its people nothing. But they nave
played their part in serving to
convince US at last that that gov.
eminent entertains no real friend
ship for US and means to act
against our peace and security at
it's convenience. That it means to
stir up enemies against Us at our
very doors the intercepted note to
the German minister at Mexico
City>is eloquent evidence.
I'VE are accepting this challenge Of
hostile purpose because we know that
In such government. following such
we can never have a friend;
and that in the presence of its or
ganized power, always lying in wait
70 accnnnn lish we know not what .nIIf-