The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-07-22
Force and Diplomacy.

AS soon as the dllles can ubuiOusLTdpt
their assured superiority ON the western
front they may find the way made east
er for their diplomacy. A fleet, said
Nelson, is the best diplomat, and good
cause may make more Roadway when
backed by force. An unlucky cause does
not easily win supporters even II its
justice cannot be bainsaid. of all coun-
tries not involved from the outset in the
war the United States was freest TO act
on ideal grounds, because it held the
balance of power; not till the nation at
large had come to a well-matured de-
eision as TO our national duty was ac-
ton taken. 1t would be difficult to find
in history case where nation has
acted on more purely ethical principles.
For this very reason we may uncon.
sciously oyerrate somewhat, not the
power Of ethical principles, but the free
dom Of nations or groups within nations
to act upon them 1t is easy TO be good,
said poor Becky, on ten thousand year;
it is so easy for a strong, independent,
self governing country like the United
States to be good that it can find no pos
sible excuse for being anything else, and
we should be careful not to Judge too
harshly countries whose position is less
fortunate The responsibility of the
allies, in fact, is double-to put their
case before the world in a way to com
mand respect, and to back it with such
force as 10 command confidence. Both on
the ethical side and in respect to assur-
ance of victory, the adhesion Of the
United States is proving a powerful as
set. The check TO the German and Aus
trian drives is already winning new
support for our cause and the more con
spicuously the allied armies get the
upper hand the more Roadway can we
make automatically.
In this sense, and perhaps only in
this sense, it is strictly correct to say
that the war must be won on the west
ern front. II will be won as soon as
the German army is beaten, provided
the allies can win and keep the support
Of the whole non-German world. AL
ready great progress in this direction
has been made and even those neutrals
which from fear of German revenge have
not dared to resent their wrongs, are
now in the main anti-German in feeling,
If the allies keep on winning battles
and the Germans keep on blowing up
Spanish diplomats, even Spain may find
its neutrality more and more difficult.
II is in central and eastern Europe,
however, and in the far east, that the
allies most need to fortify their position,
first Of all by making the justice Of their
cause as clear as daylight and then by
showing that their cause is the winning
cause, 1t is not reasonable to expect
subject nationalities to incur the terri
BILE risk of revolt, for example, without
a well-based hope for success. Even on
ethical grounds rebellion is generally re-
garded as dubious when it falls; il is
felt that chronic rebellion is such a men.
ace that leaders of revolt ought TO be
sure of their ability to win before they
expose their country to the horrors Of
civil war. In Austria Hungary very
large part Of the population is anti
German and, has reason to desire Ger
many's defeat But these dissident ele-
ments are scattered and more or less OPP
posed to each other. To satisfy their
claims and to find basis for common
action has been a hard task for entente
diplomacy, and TO make such action Ell.
fective prosperity for the allied armies
is almost indispensable. In both re-
spects the aid Of the United States has
been invaluable. It's influence in Slav
countries is great, it has steadily worked
for democratic policies such as would APP
peal to nations struggling against the
tyranny of kings, and now it is supply
ing the visible force needed to assure
the triumph of the principles for which
it entered the war. Force to the ut
most" is a powerful backing even for
idealism; every time our soldiers in
France help General Foch win battle,
democracy will take long stride in
Austria, in Russia and even in Germany,
Springfield Republican.