St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1917-08-29
The Conflict Between Might and Righl

Secretary of Commerce Redlicld in
a reply to a communication which was
received by him from East Orange, N.
J., has stated his attitude toward the
La Toilette peace resolution. The
author OF the request for his favor
able consideration of the peace resO
luton was J. E. Van Dyke, and in his
communication to Mr.. Van Dyke the
Secretary of Commerce stated:
II have received over your sigma
turc under date of the 10th instant
what you are pleased to call the i'm
portan request for my favorable
consideration of the La Toilette reso-
luton
Your communication is eXtraordin-
AIRY by reason of what it omits. There
is, for example, no reference to the
rape of Belgium, nor does it show
either By direct word or by internal
evidence that you have read the clear
and lucid statements Of the Prcsl-
dent on the causes of the war
There is no word in your commu-
nication that speaks an American
spirit You seem interested to assert
evil intentions on the part of the ma
tons associated with us in the war and
an equally earnest wish to slur over
the spirit and acts on the part of Ger
| many which brought this war into
being.
''Subtly and by indirccticn you take
such a course as would stab your
country in the back, as would tie the
hands of the President and make in
effective for righteousness the sacri-
| fees of our men and our treasure.
'Ycu deal with superficialities and
neglect the substance. You chase
shadows and ignore realities. You
seem not to know that there are two
great opposing ideals in the world
one of which must go down before
the other, for neither is tolorable to
the other These ideals are autocracy
| and dem ocracy. Autocracy has put
its heel on Belgium, on Serbia, on
Montenegro, on Poland, on Roumania,
on a fair part of France. Tt is q skill
full and highly trained autocracy. 1t
knows we'll how to disguise it's pur-
poses and how to conduct through
weak and willing hands a secret cam
paign in many lands, including our
own, hiding itself under the guise of
fairness, pleading in the fair name of
Peace for the privilege of doing its
| foul deeds.
Against this militant autocracy,
whose lust for power led it to begin
this murderous war by deliberate at
| tack on nations who sought only
quiet, against this desperate among
the nations Stand the democracies of
the world; the free peoples against the
| peoples that are bound; the peoples
whose ideal is right against the peo-
pies whose ideal is might. In the
| fearful combat autocracy trembles on
the edge of disaster, and this is the
time you cunningIy lift your voice in
its behalf.
Your country stands today with
| the free peoples of the world in order
to make it safe fora free people to
| be. In this larger cause are bound
up many lesser though still great
ones. For the American people abhor
| not only autocracy but that which
autocracy has done in this war. They
| look with horror on what autocracy
has done in Belgium. They shrink at
/ what autocracy has done with the
daughters of France. They shudder
at the continued slaughter of women
and children in dcfenseless towns in
| the name of autocracy. They deeply
resent that men and women are sent
to O pitiless death that autocracy may
work its VIII upon the sea- Against