The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1918-01-05
Insists War Is
Not Justified.

But further, as to the loyalty and
| patriotism of this defendant:
"The war Of the United States
against Germany cannot be justified
even on the plea that it is a war in
defense of American rights or Am
erioan honor Ruthless as the un-
restricted submarine war policy Of
the German government was and is,
1t is not an invasion Of the rights Of
the American people as such, but
only an interference with the oppor-
tunity of certain groups of American
capitalists to coin cold profits out OF
the blood and sufferings of our fell
low men in the warning countries OF
Europe.
s"It is not q war against the mill
tarist regime Of the Central powers.
Militarism can never be abolished
by militarism.
"It is cant and hypocrisy to say
that the war is not directed against
the German people, but against the
Imperial government of Germany. If
we send an armed force to the battle
fields of Europe, its cannon will NOW
down the masses Of the German peo-
pie and not the Imperial German
government.
But a few days before the Presi-
dent of the United State, in one of
the most dramatic hours the world
ever saw, in the house Of represen-
tatives at Washington, had said to
the world, eThis country is not to
wage war against the German peo-
ple"; and this bunch of inflated
egotists down there at st. Louis,
while his voice is still ringing in the
ears Of the American people, give
him the lie, and say Ii is cant and
hypocrisy when he says it! That is
the way the defendant wants to sup
port the government!
But further:
"Our entrance into the European
conflict at this time will serve only
to multiply the horrors Of war, to
increase the toll Of death and de-
struction and to prolong the fend-
ish slaughter. It will bring death,
suffering and destitution to the peo-
pie OF the United States. and parti-
cularly to the working class. 1t will
give the powers of reaction in this
country the pretext for an attempt
to throttle our rights and TO crush
our democratic institutions, and 20
fasten upon this country perman-
ent militarism."
Looking into the face of the Presi-
dent of the United States and nearly
every man i'm the congress Of the
United States, and the senate OF the
United States, the lie is given to them
as to their purpose.
1.-THE working class of the United |
States has no quarrel with the
working class of Germany or OF any
other country. The people OF the
United States have no quarrel with |
the people of Germany or OF any
other country. The American people |
did not want and do not want this
war. They have not been consulted |
about the war and have had no part
in declaring war They have been |
into this war by the trickery |
and treachery of the ruling class of |
the country through its representa- |
tives in the national administration |
and national congress, its demagogic |
agitators, its subsidized press, and !
other servile instruments of public |
expression.
Don't you think that gospel ought
to be preached from the Atlantic to |
the Pacific?
I'VE brand the declaration Of war
by our government as a crime
against the nations OF the world
In all modern history there has /
been no war more -unjustifiable than |
the war in which we are about to
engage.
mo greater dishonor has ever
been forced upon people than that /
which the capitalist class is forcing /
upon this nation against its Will
Should Not Suspend
Their Struggles,
In harmony with these principles
the Socialist party emphatically re-
jects the proposal this is the de-
fendant speaking that in time OF
war the workers should suspend i
their struggle for better conditions.
On the contrary, the acute situation
created by war calls for an even
more vigorous prosecution of the
class struggle, and we recommend
to the workers and pledge ourselves
to the following course Of action"
assume that the defendant is not
a traitor to the Socialists.
Mrs. O'Hare: May / make a
statement just to your honor?