Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-04-12

lutnt llSOn ucIINtltu III 'H' hAN'
Regiment armory in Baltimore. Nd
on last Saturday:
| "Fcllow citizens: This is the ami
IverSary of our acceptance of Ger
many's challenge TO hight for our right
Ito live and be free, and for the sacred
Irights OF free men everywhere. The
nation is awake. There Is no need
Ito call 10 il. We know what the war
Imust cost, our utmost sacrifice, the
| lives vi our iittest men anu, II nee
Ibc, all that We possess. The loan We
are met 10 discuss Is one of the least
parts of what We are called upon 10
give and to do, though in itself 1t Is
imperative. The people OF the whole
country are alive 10 the necessity OF II
and are ready TO lend TO the utmost,
even where il involves u sharp anu
IUaily sacrifice To lend out OF mcagcr
IcarningS. They will look with repro
baton and content upon those VINO
can and will not, upon those who de-
mand higher rate vi interest, upon
those who think of II as mere COIN
nercial transaction. l have not come,
therefore, TO urge the loan. have
come only TO give you, II l can, Il
more vivid conception Of what IL Is
| for.
| THE reason for this great war, the
reason why il had TO come, the need
to fight II through, and the issues that
| hang upon Its outcome are more
CLEARLY disclosed now than ever be-
| fore. 1t is easy to sec just what TINS
particular loan means because the
cause we are lighting Tor stands more
sharply revealed than Ut any previous
crisis Of the momentous struggle. The
Il A.. 4. An.4
plainly how the cause oil justice
stands and what the impcrishablc
thing is he is asked To invest in. Men
in America may be more sure than
they ever were before that the cause
| is their own, and that, II 1t should bc
lost, their own great nations place
and mission in the world would be
lost with II.
| IL call you to Witness my fellow
Icountrymen, that at no stage of this
terrible business have l Judged the
purposes OF Germany intemperately.
should be ashamed in the presence
OF affairs so grave, 80 fraught win
the destinics Of mankind throughout
all the world. 10 speak with trucu-
lcnce, to use the weak language OF
hatred of vindictive purpose. We
must judge as we would be Judged.
| have sought TO learn the objects
Germany has In this war from the
mouths of her own spokesmen and
| to deal as frankly with them as /
wished them to deal with me. | have
laid bare our own ideals. our own
purposes, without reserve OF doubtful
| phrase, and have asked them 10 say
as plainly what 1t Is that they seek.
| I'VE have ourselves proposed no in
justice, no aggression. We are ready,
whenever the final reckoning Is
made to be just to the GYEnpR-.
fp.e, dea faffy Win tie German pow
er, as with all others. There can be
no difference between peoples In the
| final judgment, II it is indeed TO be
Il righteous judgment. To propose
lanything but justice, even handed and
ldispassionate justice TO Germany AT
any time, whatever the outcome Of
the war. would be to renouncc and
dishonor our own cause. For We ask
nothing that we are not willing to
accord.
1T has been with this thought that
| have sought to learn from those
who spoke for Germany whether IL
was justice or dominion and the eX-
ccution Of their own will upon the
other nations of the world. that the
German leaders were seeking. They
have answered, answered in unmis-
taxable terms. They have avowed
that it was not justice but dominion
and the unhindercd execution OF their
own will.
"The avowal has not come from
Germany's statesmen. 1t has come
from her military leaders, who are
her real rulers. Her statesmen have
said that they wished peace. and were
ready TO discuss its terms whenever
their opponents were willing TO sit
down at the conference table with
them. Her present chancellor has
said in definite and uncertain terms.
indeed. and in phrases that often
seem 10 deny their own meaning, but
with rs much plainness as he thought
prudent-that he believed that peace
should be based upon the principles
which we had declared would be our
own in the final settlement.
AT BreSt- -Litovsk her civilian dele
gates spoke in similar terms; profess
I'd their desire to conclude fair
peace and accord to the peoples with
whose fortunes they were dealing the
right to choose their own allegiances.
But action accompanied and followed
the profession. Their military mas
tcrs, the men who act for Germany
and exhibit her purpose in execution.
proclaimed a very different conclu-
sion. We cannot mistake what they
have done-in Russia, in Finland, In
the Ukraine, in Rumania. The real
test of their justice and fair play has
come. From this we may judge the
rest. They are enjoying in Russia
cheap triumph in which no brave or
gallant nation can long take pride. \
great people, helpless by their own
act, lies for the time at their mercy.
Their fair professions are forgotten.
They nowhere set up justice but ev-
erywhere impose their power and eX-
plot everything for their own use
and aggrandiZement: and the peoples
of conquered provinces are invited to
he free under thei: dominion.
Are We not justified in believing
that they would do the same things
at their western front If they were
not there face to face with armies
whom even their countless divisions
cannot overcome?
"If they have felt their check to be
final. they should propose favorable
and equitable terms with regard to
Belgium and France and Italy, could
they blame us II we concluded that
they did so only TO assure themselves
of a free hand in Russia and the
east?
Their purpose Is unuouDteuiS 10
make all Slavic people, all the free
and ambitious nations OF the Baltic
peninsula, all the lands that Turkey
has dominated and misruled, subject
to their will and ambition and build
upon that dominion an empire Of
force upon which they fancy that
they can erect an empire Of gain and
commercial supremacy-an empire as
hostile to the Americas as to the Eu-
rope which 1t will oyerawe-an en-
pire which will ultimately master
Persia, India and the peoples OF the
Far East. In such a programme our
ideals, the ideals Of justice and hu-
manity and liberty, the principle OF
the free self determination Of nations
upon which all the modern world in
sists, can play no part. They are re-
jected for the ideals Of power, for the
principle that the strong must rule
the weak, that trade must follow the
flag, whether those to whom II Is TAX
en- welcome It or not that the peo-
pies of the world are to be made sub
ject to the patronage and overload
ship Of those who have the power to
enforce it.
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