Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1918-05-02
By RUDYARD KIPLLNG,

From time to time the representa-
tives of the Allies meet together and
lay down what the war-aims of the AL.
lies are. From time to time our
statesmen repeat them. They all
agree we are fighting for freedom and
liberty, for the right of small States
to exist, and for nations to decide for
themselves how they are to be gov
erned All this we understand and
perfectly believe That is the large
view of the situation. What is the
personal aspect of the case for you
and me?
We are fighting for our lives, the
lives Of every man, woman, and child
here and everywhere else. We are
fighting that we may not be herded
into actual slavery such as the Ger
mans have established by force of
their arms in large parts of Europe.
We are fighting against eighteen
hours a day forced labor under the
lash or at the point of the bayonet.
with dogs death and dogs burial
at the end of it. We are fighting that
men, women, and children may not be
tortured burned, and mutilated in the
public streets, as has happened in this
town and in hundreds of others. And
we will go on fighting till the race
who have done these things are in no
position to continue or repeat their
offense.
No Halfway House Tween
Victory and Defeat.
If for any reason whatever we fall
short of victory-and there is no half
way house between victory and de-
feat-what happens to us? This:
Every relation, every understanding,
every decency upon which civilization
has been so anxiously built up will
go-will be washed out, because it
will have been proved unable to en-.
dure.
The whole Idea Of democracy
which at bottom ls what the Hun
ffphta against-wlIl be dismissed
from mems !,kais, because 1t will
have been Shows Incapable Of
maintaining Itself against the
Hun. It will die; and 1t will die
discredited, together with every
belief and practice that Is based
on II.
The Hun ideal, the Huns root-no-
tions Of life, will take its place
throughout the world. Under that dis
pensation man will become once more
the natural prey, body and goods, of
his better-armed neighbor. Women
will be the mere instrument for con.
tinuing the breed, the vessel of mans
= lust and mans cruelty; and labor will
become thing to bs knocked on the
head IL 1t dares to give trouble, and
worked to death IL 1t does not.
And from this order of life
there will be no appeal, no possI-
blIIty Of any escape. This Is'what
the Hun means when he says he
Intends to Impose German
kULTUR-whleh ls the German
religion-upon the world. This ls
precisely what the world has
banded itself together to resist.
II will take every ounce In US; Il
will try US out to the naked soul.
Our trial will not be made less by
the earnest advice and suggestions
that we should accept some sort of
compromise, which means defeat, put
forward by Hun agents and confed-
crates among us. They are busy In
that direction already.
- Or Earth Becomes
A He'll Without Hope.
But be sure of this: Nothing
nothing we may have to endure now
will weigh one featherweight COM
pared with what we shall most GER
tainly have to suffer If for any cause
we fail of victory.
The war must go on. The more
we have suffered in this war, the
more clearly do we see this necessity.
Our hearts, our reason, every instinct
in US that lifts us above the mere
brute. show us that the war must go
on. Otherwise earth becomes a hell
without hope. The men, the ships.
the munitions must go forward to the
war. and behind them must come the
money, without which nothing can
move. Where our hearts are there
must our treasure be also. There has
been a great deal Of money spent In
England lately, several millions a day
for the last twelve hundred days.
That means that many people have
had the chance Of earning more
money than they could have earned
in peace times.
Our security for 9yr loan ls not
only the whole Of the British EN-
pIre, but also the whole of clvlIza-
tIon, which hae pooled Its re-
sources In men, money, and mate
elsl 70 garry on this war to vlo-
tory. Nothing else under Heaven
matters today except that the war
shall 40 on TO that end.