The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1918-07-25

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II 1914 U.ea.... auu the u..ei1
World i..o war. 80 anpuastlics cor
corning ple-W>r politics can ever Oh
eJie iDis l&cf. II is 50 Obvious as net
10 need arguing, Great HI:tain'$ entry
into The conflict VAS determined by
iermany's action, and not by warlilze
ambitions. Hating war. approaching
fully the misery and the wastefulness
of war, and frequently attending inter-
national conferences to promote peace
full relations between the peoples of
different countries. Britain could not
do less than maintain her treaty obli-
cations to Belgium and moral Obliga-
tions to France.
The inevitable results of the annexa-
Zionist policies of Austria, her seizure
Of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878,
and her efforts to compel Serbia to &C.
cept de facto' suzerainity, were al
ways provocative of war. Behind Aus
tria lay the traditions Of Germany plus
Germany's aggressive spirit, her ma
terialistic tendencies, her years of pre-
paration, her consciousness of military
might, and her determination to dOnli-
nate by force of arms. These facts
and ambitions left the world no chance
for peace until arms had decided
whether Germany, an instigator of the
policies of the Central Powers. was to
control the thought and life of the
world, or whether Germany was to live
and have her being in common and on
the same terms as other nations.
In 1914. three courses were open to
British statesmen-they could engineer
u ''rapprochement" with Germany and
share with her the spells that such an
alliance might wiring from the rest of
Europe-or they could ignore treaty
and moral obligations and leave Bel
GUM and France and Russia to their
fate-or they could follow the honor
able course and join with Bel
GUM and France and RuSSia
and Serbia in resisting the attempt to
reduce them to vaSsalage. This latter
course. thank God, they decided to fol-
low. Britain occupies and has occll-
pied from the beginning. the position of
the citizen who seeks to prevent Il
thief stealing the goods OF the citizens
neighb0r. 1t is absurd to suggest that
Britain stands in the way of peace.
The people of Britain entered the
war reluctantly and IN sorrow. They
knew that their then existing army
was smaller than that of any power
involved. They were conscious of their
lack of guns and mechanical applian-
ces and they knew from past expert
ences how serious would he IN. tinan-
cial burden the world wuulu expect
them to carry.
AS the responsibility for the com
many. 50 With her rests the response
bility for the continuance of war. Dur
ing four years. this unhappy war has
ragged. and ON all the battle fronts wo-
men and children have suffered physi-
cal and mental torture and millions of
men have died agoniZing deaths. Dur
ing the whole of this time Germany
has tried to persuade the world that
she, the aggressOr was waging war
Of defense, and during the whole If
this time she has talked of peace, but
in vague and general terms. Once only
has she made any definite statements,
and that was when the Chancellor de-
clared that Germany's peace terms
must take cognisance of the map OF
Europe. In other words, that any terms
Of peace that Germany would consider
must include political and economic
control, if no positive annexation, Of
the territories she has invaded. She
did, indeed, permit neutral power to
indicate her desire for peace, but she
has never replied to Britain's express
ed willingness to consider and to place
before the Allied Powers any terms she
cared to specify.
Germany has sought to create pre-
JUDGE against Britain by constantly
reiterated. but vaguely expressed de-
clarations concerning the freedom of
the seas. In the days that preceded
Germany's declaration of war upon
France, the maritime traffic of the
whole world crossed the seas without
let or hindrance, and the ports Of
Great Britain were free to all the ships
of all the nations. Indeed, so great was
this freedom that it led to internal
controversy, many in Britain holding
that the freedom accorded by Britain