The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1917-08-23

%AA--~ a%-+A- Az ~NAA~A-
: worthy of name
lGERMANYs GREATEST LOSS
After three years of war, NJ
] hear a great deal about German
manpower being exhausted, sale
SUNDAY s. Lewiston Tribune edi
torially. There is a renewed tail
about German finances being a.
the point of collapse. That Gel
many 5 food supply is failing, ev.
| erybOdy knows; that many of hel
| industries are ruined is not de
MED; that her shipping and com
merce have suffered blows from
which il viii take a generation I,
recover is admitted BY Germal.
business men. 1t Is not strang,
that they are reported TO be urg
ing peace as an imperative neees-
sify If anything Is 10 be Saveo
out of the wreck. But Germany
has 10 mourn today a greater loss
than any Of those mentioned. She
has squandered her moral assets,
AT q time when she needs to call
up all her reserves of good faith
and confidence, she finds that
they have been wasted. Nobody be-
lieveS her. Nobody trusts her.
Upon the German government the
diSagreeable evidence that ii is
morally bankrupt is being pressed
from every quarter.
! The New York Evening Post
adds:
''This IS the indisputable truth
which stand out In the reception
throughout the world Of the loteSt
peace proposals by Germany. They
meet with almost universal skep-
tieism and suspicion This would
not be the case If Germany stood
at present IN the position which
she occupied IN the worlds esti-
nation at the beginning Of 1914
Il at that time we had had a spe-
cifie resolution adopted by the
German reiehstag, and a deelara-
ton by the German chancellor, re-
hewed, explained, we should have
said that here was something ser
iously to be reekoned with. Ii
would have been the Germany
which we thought we knew say
ing what It would be reasonable to
believe true. But three years
have suffieed to destroy that pre-
sumption. It is Germany herself
that has taught the world to dis
trust her. A long course Of law
lessness heaped upon duplieity, Of
brutality intermingled with de-
eeit, has made every utteranee of
the German government suspect
Hence the amazing, the painful
unanimity with which public men
and the press IN all belligerent
and neutral countries have looked
upon the repeated peace prOffers
Of the German authorities as mere
" a snare for the unwary. Whom
are they trying to trick now
What new betrayal are they pre-
pairing! For what fresh burst Of
ferOcity is all this a mask Such
arc the questions everywhere pro
Yoked b ythe German official adj
vanees in behalf Of peace. Ger
many ostensibly holds out an olive
branch, but prudent statesmen IN
sist upon examining it to see If il
does not conceal a dagger.
ssThus is the fated and terrible
punishment of Germany already
beginning. She is reaping what
she has sown. Her rulers have
brought the good name Of their
country into disrepute. Their pro-
misses no longer pass anywhere at
their face value Every govern
ment move by Germany is closely
scrutinized to see if some treaeh-
cry is not wrapped up In It. 1t
IS as if the word German had
now become the international
for double-dealingl |
This is the havoc which the Ger
nan government, in three years
las made Of the proud old tradi-
ion Of Deutsehe Treuei To-day
Germans look around the horizon
md see nowhere a friend. nowhere
nation that wiz accept the bare
hedge Of the German government.
Everywhere they perceive dislike
nd distrust. This is the moral
enlistment Of Germany for herl
rimes, and It is not to be won
erred at that many Of her eifizens
re crying out that the punish q
lent is greater than they can {
ear.
In their long studied plans to {
in the great war, the German
iilitary rulers depend mainly up q
n two things-terrorism and (
-iekery. Both have not only fail /
4 them, but have recoiled upon a
lem with tremendous and disas- 1
-ous effect. Against German bru-