The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1918-08-01
WHY WE ARE
AT WARMTH
GERMANY
EPHRAlM DOUGLASS ADAMS
Executive Head X story Depart
nent
Lelan5 Stanford Junior University

SAsetttse READ story Depart
nent
Lelan5 Stanford Junior University
The object Of TINS var S to deliver
tre Tree peoples Of the world from the
menace 5n5 t-e aCtaal power Of . vast
n7ultaFy establishment controlled by an
irrespons BE government. which. having
secretly planned to dominate the ~orlo,
proceeded 10 carry o4t the plan without
fegsrc either TO the sacred obligations
ct treaty or the establishes prac-
tces ana long cherished principles Of IN
ternational action ard honor. This
power Is not the German people Il is
tie ruthless master Of the German pee
pie. u IS our business 70 see 10
4 tnst the history Of the rest Of the
World Is no longer lett to It's handling"
es'dent Wilson, August p, 1917
DEMOCRACY VERSUS AUToCRACY
1t IS commonly said that this war
is one in which America was forced
p take part in order to make the
world safe for democracy" What
does the phrase mean?
The theories and acts Of the Ger.
man military autocracy definitely deny
the right Of the people of a state TO
rule themselves The German people
in spite. Of forms of government that
make a pretense Of popular control.
have no such actual control over their
governors as exists in democraucally
organized nations. In those nations
the governors can be rem0red bv
vote of the people In a general cleo
tion; in Germany the people have not
this power
The aristocracy OF Germany under
stand this difference, and are afraid
of the spread of democracy In Ger
many The whole much admired eff.
cheney of Germany is primarily due
20 a desperate and constant effort by
Germany's rulers to divert the German
people from thoughts of self govern.
ment by offering them material pros
peritY And the rulers have sue
ceeded one Of the causes Of this
war was the necessity by still fur
ther glorious acquisitions of terri
tory TO hush the murmurings Of
political discomfort in Germany Vie
tory in war, every so often is a nee
eSSity Of the German system. ct is
for social as much as for national
and political reasons that we must
fix our minds necessarily upon war"
Success is necessary 10 gain infu,
ence over the masses" wrote Bern
hardi, and General Won Bissng. just
before his death wrote a Political
! Testament since largely circulated in
| Germany, In which he argued for the
retention Of Belgium because, unless
il lCere dpHered me prestige Of the
military datocrdcJ tCould receive a
| fdfal bjoW
Are we-are the Allies then fight
ing to impose upon Germany a diff
ferent system; is that the meaning Of
making the world safe for democ-
! racy?'
Elihu Root says that American
democratic ideals include liberty not
for themselves alone but for all who
are oppressed Lloyd George asserts
that IL all countries had been demo
cratically organized, this war would
not have taken place; that this war
Will determine moi merely interna
tioual relations but will affect the
lives Of peoples ,ctbH their o1on pd-
tjoHS for generations 10 come; that
this war is to end in international
democracy" I g, in liberty, equal
! ity and fraternity betpeen nations
great and small General SHUTS. for
merly a soldier against Great Britain
in South Africa says that the essence
of this war is the question whether
governments should be founded on
military might or on principles OF
equity justice fairness and equality" ="
Various writer's have depicted this
war as a test of democracy to de-
termine whether democracy can ad-
just itself TO an emergency so that by
sheer efficiency it shall at least equal
the efficiency Of a military autocracy,
and assert that on this ground alone
the future government of all the ma.
tions of the world is at stake VIII
Crooks the British labor leader, says
this war is peoples war We are all
in it, the man at the village pump and
in the fields, the blacksmith. the car
penter and joiner the shipwright. and
the man of leisure. We are standing
together because Ue are fghttaq for
| liberty"
Yes this war is one in which ideals
Of government, Of individual liberty.
Of civilization itself are in conflict.
Democracy is lined up agaiAst autoc
racy. The war is in absolute fact a
war of ideals But we are not fight
ing to impose our ideals upon any
nation What we are fighting for,
IN making the world safe for democ-
racy, is to prerent a military autoc-
rdcy from imposing its authority and
its ideals upon u.s. We are ready to
keep on minding our own business
; and to let other nations do the same.
A military autocracy that proposes
to conquer the world must be de.
feated to the point where 1t renounces
meddling with other nations, great or
small, or there is no peace in the
world That is the issue at stake.
and in it rests our safety and the
safety Of the world
This Is the fifth Of a series OF ten
articles by Professor Adams.