The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1918-01-18
RESIDENT WILSON NAMES AMERICAS
WAR AIMS AND TERMS OF PEACE

candOr and in admirable spirit for
Britain. There is no confusion of cOun-
sci among the adversaries of the cen
trail powers, no uncertainty of prin-
ciple, no vagueness of detail. The only
secrecy of council, the only lack Of
fearless frankness, the only failure to
make definite statement of the objects
of the war, lies with Germany and her
allies. The issues of life and death
hang upon these definitions. No states
man who has the least conception of
HIS responsibility ought for a moment
to permit himself to continue this
tragical and appalling outpouring Of
blood and treasure unless he is sure
beyond a peradventure that the objects
of the vital sacrifice are part and par
Gel of the very life of society and that
! the people for whom he speaks think
them right and imperative as he does.
Voice Of Russian People Calling.
There is, moreover, voice calling
for these definitions of principle and
of purpose, which is, it seems to me,
more thrilling and more compelling
than any of the many moving voices
with which the troubled air of the
world is filled. 1t is the voice of the
Russian people. They are PROSTATE
and all but helpless, it would seem, be
fore the grim power of Germany, which
has hitherto known no relenting and
no pity.
Their power, apparently, is shat
tered. And yet their soul is not sub
servient. They will not yield either in
principle or in action. Their concep-
ton of what is right, of what is hu.
name and honorable for them to ac-
cept, has been stated with a frank
ness, Il largeness of view, a generosity
of spirit and universal human sym
pathy which must challenge the ad-
miration of every friend of mankind,
and they have refused to compound
/ their ideals or desert others that they
| themselves nay be safe. They call
on us to say what it is that we desire !;
in what if anything, our purpose and
our spirit differ from theirs.
Hope to Assist Russia.
"And l believe that the people of
the United States would wish me to
respond with utter simplicity AMI
frankness. Whether their present
leaders believe it or not, it is our
heartfelt desire that some way may he
opened whereby we may be privileged
to assist the people of Russia to attain
| their utmost hope of liberty and peace.
1t will be our wish and purpose that
the processes of peace, when they are
begun, shall be absolutely open and
! that they shall involve and permit
hencefOrth no secret understandings Q"
any kind. The day of conquest and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT is gone by; so is also
the day of secret covenants catered
into in the interest of particular gov
ernments and likely at some unlocked
for moment to upset the peace of the
world. 1t is this happy fact now clear
to the view of every public man whose
thoughts do not still linger in an age
that is dead and gone which makes it
possible for every nation whose pur-
poses are consistent with justice and
the peace of the world to avow now
or at any other time the objects it
has in view.
Why We Entered War.
1--WE entered this war because VIC
latiOns of right had occurred which
touched us to the quick and made the
life of our own people impossible I'M
less they We're corrected and the world
secured once for all against their re-
Currence. What we demand in this
war, therefore, is nothing peculiar TO
ourselves. 1t is that the world be
made fit and safe to live in; and par
ticularly that it be made safe for every
peace-loving nation which, like our
own, wishes to live its own life. de
termine its own institutions, be as
sured of justice and fair dealing by the
other peoples of the world as against
force and selfish aggression. All the
peoples of the world are i'm effect part
nerS in this interest. and for our own
part we see very clearly that unless
justice be done to others. it will not
be done to US.
World Peace Program.
The program of the worlds peace,
therefore, is our program; and that
program, the only possible program, rs
we see it, is this:
l. Open covenants of peace. openly
arrived at, after which there shall be
no private International understand
ingS of any kind, but diplomacy shall
proceed always frankly and in the pub
lie view.
=. Absolute freedom of navigation
upon the seas, outside territorial
waters, alike in peace and in war. eN-
cept rs the seas may be closed in whole
or in part by international action for