Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-21
PEACE GAS BOMBS
The Renewal Of the Teutcnic Attempt TO
Paralyze the Entente Allies by Talk Of
Political NEGOTIATIONS 10 End Wai

their objectives in France and in Italy
is followed by peace talk. Along with
boasting of their victories to keep up
the courage of the people at home come
reports from various parts of Germany
of plans for ending the war.
Schedemann, the Socialist leader,
went to Holland to talk peace with the
Dutch Socialist leader. Georg Bern
hard, an enthusiastic Pan-Germanist, is
saying in the Vossische Zeitung that
"this war cannot be ended by any mill
tary but only by political action And
the Hamburg merchants are talking of
the economic war which they must face
in the future unless peace satisfactory
to the contending forces is made soon.
They dread the trade war more than the
war of arms, for it means the destruc-
tion of their business.
Bernhard is not content with the sepa-
rate peace negotiated with Russia, Ru
mania and the Ukraine provinces. They
are not enough, but must be continued
in order to detach one after another of
the Entente Allies from the combination
of enemies. France is to come next and
then Italy, leaving England and America
to be dealt with separately by war on
the sea.
This sort of talk is gas bomb hurled
into the air in the hope that it will stihe
the war spirit in Italy and France and
paralyze the spirit of America with the
nroSpect IF nopfip,,ipo ,rar inc
foe which has triumphed so extensively.
But the responsible men in the Gov
ernments of the Entente Allies are not
deceived by any such efforts. They have
been made too often in the past for their
significance to be misunderstood. Neither
are the reports sent out of Germany
about the discomfort of the population
accepted at their face value. We are
told that Germany is starving, that the
people are rioting, that they have lost
interest in the war. And we must admit
that there is doubtless some truth in all
these statements. But in spite of what
ever straits the people may be living in
the fact remains that the army is fight
ing with vigor and courage, and the
nation produces about 100000 youths of
military age every year to fill the ranks
depleted by the losses in battle. The one
fact of which there can be no doubt,
however, is that the German forces can
not be enlarged beyond their present
strength and that they must continually
grow smaller.
And the forces of the Entente Allies,
thanks to the strength of America, will
continue to grow larger for a year or
two to come. Germany is as we'll aware
of this as we are. This is why she is
making new peace drive in the hope
that she can detach some of her enemies
by subtle form of propaganda. Poit-
cal alliances may be suggested and trade
combinations against the rest of the
world and other forms of appeal to the
mercenary instinct of her enemies.
But she mistakes the attitude of the
nations fighting her. They are not mer-
cenary They are fighting for a great
principle, namely, that conquest shall
not be recognized as valid motive for
making war and that force shall not be
permitted to triumph when used for
selfish ends.
The issue was well stated by the
Kaiser at the celebration of the thir-
tieth anniversary of his accession to the
throne when he said that the war was
to decide whether German morals and
ideals should triumph or the ideals of
the Anglo-Saxons. A negotiated peace,
which would be a compromise, is the last
thing which the men fighting for Anglo
Saxon principles will consent to. The
French accept these principles with the
same loyalty which America shows for
them. And all reports indicate that they
are determined to see the business
through to the end.
The Entente Allies are equipped to the
last man with automatic gas masks,
which counteract the effect of all the
noxious fumes spread abroad by the
Teutonic peace propagandsts. They are
enveloped in a protective armor of
righteous purposes and are conscious
that they are fighting for the perma-
nent peace of the world, peace which
is not possible if Germany triumphs now
or if Germany is left in any condition to
make war for generation to some.
The idea that they are the chosen people
Of God, destined through the survival of
the fittest to rule the world, must be
knocked out of the German mind so
completely that the first faint concep-
tion of the rights and equality of all
peoples may begin to dawn on the Teu-
tonic consciousness.