Connecticut western news., 1917-12-06

conscience or honor or capacity for covenanted peace, must be crushed and if it be not utterly brought to an end at least shut out from the friend ly intercourse of the nations, and sec ond, that when this thing and its power are indeed defeated and the time comes that we can discuss peace, when the German people have spokesmen whose word we can be- lieve and when those spokesmen are ready in the name of their people to accept the common judgment of the nations as to what shall henccforth be the bases of law and Of covenant for the life of the world we shall be willing and glad to pay the fuiI price for peace and pay it ungrudgingly. :.
 Wants Nc Vindictive End.
 We know waa. tat rrice VIII be. It Vii. be lull iuIpar.ia! jGsi,e--j.s- tice CoIe at ever" g.int all 70 ever nation tLat the final settlement mus anect our enemies as well as our friends.
 You catch, with me, the voices of humanity that are in the air. They grow daily more audible, more articu- late, more persuasive. and they come from the h. arts of men everywhere. They insist hat the war shall not enc in yindictive ac,iCn of any kind; that no nation O. reoFl3 shall be lobbel or punished belaIse the irresl onsible rulers of a single country have them celves done deep and abommable wrong.
 1t is this thought that has been ex. pressed in the formula, mo anneNa- tions, 10 contributions, no punitive indemnitie3." Just because this crude formula expresses the instinctive judgment as to right of plain men everywhere it has been made diligent use of by the masters of German in- trigue to lead the people of Russia astray and the people of every other country their agents could reach in order that a premature peace might be brought about before autocracy has been taught its final and convincing lesson and the people of the -orld put in control of their own destia:cs.
 But the fact that d S-S-1 Cs~
 been made of a just idea is no leaspm why a righs use should not be made of it. It ought to be brought under the patronage of its real friends.
 Show hutocracy It's Futi'isy.
 Let it be said again that autocracy must first be shown the utter futility of its claims to power or leadership in the modern world" It is imDossi. blc to apply any standard or t"cticn so long ac such forces are unchecked and undcfeated as he present mas ters of Germany command. Not uLtE that has been done can right be sc up as arbitcr and peacemakor among the nations.
 But when that has been done, as, God willing, it assuredly will be. we shall at least be free to do an ur precedented thing, and this is thr time to avow our purpose to do it We shall be free to base peace on gen erosity and justice, to the eZc!usioI of all selfish claims to advantage, ever on the part of the victors.
 Let there be no misunderstanding Our present and immediate task is tt win the war and nothing shall turr us aside from it until 1t is accomplish ed. Every power and resource we pos, sess, whether of men, of money or Of materials, is being devoted and will continue to be devoted to that purpose until it is achieved. Those who de- sire to bring peace about before that purpose is achieved I counsel to carry their advice elsewhere. We will not entertain it.
 We shall regard the war as won only when the German people say to us. through properly accredited rep resentatives, that they are ready to agree to a settlement based upon jus tice and the reparation of the wrongs their rulers have done. They have done a wrong to Belgium which must be repaired. They have established q power over other lands and peoples than their own-over the great cm- pire of Austria Hungary, over hith- erto free Balkan states, over Turkey and within Asia-which must be re- linquished.
 Germany's success by skill, by in dustry, by knowledge. by enterprise, we did not grudge or oppose, but ad- mired rather. She had built up for herself real empire of trade and in- nuence, secured by the peace of the world. We were content to abide the rivalries of manufacture, science and commerce that were involved for us in her success and stand or fall, as we had or did not have the brains and the initiative to surpass her.
 Threw Over Her Peace Trlumphs.
 But at the moment when she had conspicuously won her triumphs of peace she threw them away, to estab- fish in their stead what the world will no longer permit to be established, military and political domination by