The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-02-11
Continued from page oneI

selfish and unbiased justice, with
view to the wishes, the natural con
rections, tho racial aspirations, the Sc
curity and peace of mind of the poo
ple involved, no permanent peace Will
have been attained. They cannot be
discussed separately or in corners.
None of them constitutes private or
separate interest from which the opin-
ion of the world may be shut out
Whatever affects the peace affairs OF
mankind if settled wrong is not settled
at all. 1t will presently have to be re-
opened.
is Count Won Hertling not aware
that he is speaking in the court OF
mankind, that all the awakened nations
of the world now sit in judgment on
what every public man of every ma
ton may say on the issues of con
flict which has spread to every region
of the world? The reichstag resolu-
tions of July themselves frankly ac-
cepted the decisions of that court
There shall be no anneXations, no con
tributions no punitive damages. REQ
ples are not to be handed about from
one sovereignty to another by an in
ternational agreement, or an under
standing of rivals and antagonists. Ma
tional aspirations must be repecteo'
peoples may not now be dominated and
governed without their own consent
Warming 10 Statesmen.
"'Self.determination' is not a mere
.nbrase 1t is an imperative principle
of action, which statesmen Will hence
forth ignore to their peril We cannot
have general peace for the asking or
by the mere arrangements of peace
conference. 1t cannot be pleceu To-
ether out of individual understandings
between powerful states.
IAN the parties to this war must JOIN
in the settlement of every issue an.
where involved in it, because what we
are seeking is a peace that we can all
unite on to guarantee and maintain
and every item of it must be submitted
to the common Judgment whether it be
right and fair. an act of justice, rather
than a bargain between sovereigns.
"The United States has no desire to
interfere in European affairs or to act
as arbiter in European territorial dls'
Dutes. She would disdain to take ad-
vantage of any internal weakness or
disorder to impose her own will upon
another people. She is quite ready TO
he shown that the settlements she has
suggested are not the best or the most
enduring They are only her own pro
visional sketch of principles and OF the
way in which they should be applied.
But she entered this war because She
was made a partner whether She
would or not, in the sufferings and in
dignities inflicted by the military mas
ters of Germany against the peace ana
security of mankind; and the condl-
tions of peace will touch her as nearly
as they will touch any other nation TO
which is entrusted a leading part in the
maintenance of civilization.
"Defies German Masters
she cannot see her way to peace un-
I'll the causes of this war are removed
its renewal rendered, as nearly as may
be- impossible.
This war had its roots in the disre-
gard of the rights of small nations and
Of nationalities which lacked the union
and the force 20 make good their claim
to determine their own allegiances and
their own forms of political life. Cove
nants must be entered into which will
render such things impossible for the
future and those covenants must be
backed by the united force Of all the
nations that love justice and are will
ing to maintain it at any cost.
IF territorial settlements and the
political relations of great populations
which have not the organized power To
resist are to be determined by the con
tracts of the powerful governments
which consider themselves most direct
" affected, as Count Won Hertline
proposes, why may not economic ques'
tions also? 1t has come about in the
altered world in which we now find our
selves that justice and the rights OF
peoples affect the whole field of in
ternational dealing as much as access
to raw materials and fair and equal
conditions of trade.
Count Won Hertling wants the essen
tial bases of commercial and industrial
life to be safeguarded by common agree
ment and guarantee, but he cannot eX
peCt that to be conceded him if the oth
er matters to be determined by the arti
cles of peace are not handled in the
same way as items in the final account
| ing. He cannot ask the benefit of com
mon agreement in the one field without
according it in the other.
II take it for granted that he sees
! that separate and selfish compacts with
regard to trade and the essential mate
rials of manufacture would afford nC
| foundation for peace Neither, he may
rest assured, will separate and selfish
compacts with respect to provinces ant
peoples.
Says Austrian Sees Clearly.
Count Czernin Of Austria seems tC
see the fundamental elements of peace
with clear eyes and does not seek t,
obscure them. He sees that an indie
pendent Poland. made up Of all the in
disputably Polish peoples who lie con
tiguous to one another. is matter o
| european cOIttTu anu llluoAt VI 'Nhi oN
be conceded; that Belgium must b'
evacuated and restored, no matter VIVA
sacrifices ara concessions that may in
volve; and that national aspiration!
must be satisfied, even within his OWL
empire, in the common interest OF Flu
rope and mankind.
IF he is silent about questions whicl
touch the interest and the purpose o
his allies more nearly than they tcuci
these of Austria only, it must Of cours
be, as he feels, constrained, 7 suppose
to defer to Germany and Turkey in tn
circumstances. Seeing as he does, tn
essential principles involved and III
necessity of candidly applying them, h
naturally feels that Austrian can re
spond to the purpose of peace as ex
pressed by the United States with les