Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-31
'7IiE BATTLE OF PEACE

ION the white sheet of a fifth sue
cesnfve calendar year the smudge of
~ nnger viii be stamped tomorrow. and
~ who refuse to sniff any but the keen
* january 4, 1919, will find us stiN
1l11ng away in the rut Of war. However.
ia the giuttons for hard facts doubt
1< 1870 will find the world in arms. No
+ 4Ermporary prophet, to be sure. comes
y authority to set term to the uni
Io1 plague. and yet there is a mighty
8 He IN the gesture of old General Con-
s. &41o of Opinion. He says that we are
& ~ about eighteen more months of
stting combat. and we are inclined to
W. him.
nat al the people believe will happen
~ are apt to make happen. When they
In their prophecy in danger of failure they
IN forth a herculean effort. and. some
tw or other. the Augean stables are
1tned. All Europe willed that Napoleon
Gned unbeatable: and then somethins
& 51&Spened and the boat sailed for Elba.
xkoeo u also good material reason for
4 {[1ng midsummer 1919. as the beginning
k ~ end. BY then Americas full strength
<Xm be in the field and Germany's re-
36xces will have lost another 25 per cent
k their original vigor.
81 hut there is something that moves
ifter than armies--that force that the
~ sang Of
<4 Cannonballs may aid the truth.
But thoughts a weapon stronger
4 - nations have become vocal. Men talk
351 pohcs and vet again Of peace. Time was
*V1Ien the pacifists were saying: Fight as
A)tl1oh a. you want, but keep talking, talk.
ZlaG. talking about peace; discuss. compare,
R6k1us. talk" If that was really all they
1ptod this world is become pacihsts'
z[I<opia- There is more to be read about
- than about war. Brest-Litovsk and
d(Eholm put out more literature daily
6n lieutenant Colonel Repington and
<t4rfng. No one thinks any more of rioting
~ peace; they find talk a stronger weapon.
& Action Is guided by the mind and the
61lnd Il guided by formulas. We are all
<t<knlning for new formula. We tried
*<11nco without victory" and then hastily
io1od on to II 'the world made safe for
ecracy." They were both good-almost
o SOD. The former IL now quito made
q n1e The latter has passed into the idiom
s NEhelish iantuage and can be made
G6an almost anything. It il an i'm.
~ 1dssi. to be cherished to the end of
But It does not tell US what to do
oertain parts Of German Lorraine.
probably would vote to remain Ger
Germany. limiting at a plebiscite on
8esLorraine. speaks a language Of con-
<Jsn which is now to her. Is there
<SeoGs ~ work at Brest-Litovsk which Is
onGlng the black heart of that Thing.
+ ~ 'tntolerable Thing Of which the mas
IrD of Germany have shown us the ugly
~, this menace Of combined intrigue anu
49, which the President declares must
~ bfashsd and, II 1t be not utterly brought
~ end, At least shut out from the
okIy intsrcourse of the nations?
ono change must take place; things
ct remain static. The completion of
bcett defeat in the next year, the
lhe of Germany's man-power and the
~ ef the American merchant marine
1oo1Eo the Central Powers compare
hormless and Allied and neutral
W5u in the course of time grow
- 1hs proportions of peace times.
&&o<y ship that Il built we are that
0c6<r the resumption of some of
~ normai functions. VIII stub
1xnany voluntarily abandon for all
- With the Far East and with the
Sh,if herself on from raw ma
- ports and from the good
Haknkind3 It Ia not credible.
~ y streininE for : formula
V IN ~ % u svery day Of
heahing 70 q hut talk