The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-11-11

possible in the circumstances will be
done to supply them with food and
relieve the distressing want that is
In so many places threatening their
very lives; and steps are to be taken
Immediately to organize these efforts
at relief in the same systematic
manner that they were organized in
the case OF Belgium. BY the use
OF the idle tonnage of the Central
empires 1t ought presently to be pos
sible to lift the fear of utter misery
from their oppressed populations and
set their minds and energies free for
the great and hazardous tasks OF po-
litical reconstruction which now face
them on every hand. Hunger does
not breed reform; It breeds madness
and all the ugly dtstempers that
make an ordered life impossible.
For with the fall of the ancient gov.
ernments which rested like an incubus
upon the peoples OF the Central EN-
pires has come political change not
merely, hut revolution; and revolu-
zion which seems as yet to assume no
dnsl and ordered form but to run
from one fluid change to another, IN
til thoughtful men are forced to ask
themselves, with what governments.
e@AAN Va what SUI - ~ dDOuI " uCol
in the making of the covenants of
peace? With what authority will
they meet us, and with what assur-
ance that their authority will abide
and sustain securely the international
arrangements into which we are about
to enter? There Is here matter for
no small anxiety and misgiving.
When peace is made, upon whose
promises and engagements besides
our own is it to rest?
Let us be perfectly frank with our
selves and admit that these questions
cannot be satisfactorily answered now
or at once. But the moral is not that
there is little hope of an early answer
that will suffice. 1t is only that we
must be patient and helpful and mind
full above all Of the great hope and
confidence that lie at the heart of
what is taking place. Excuses ac-
complish nothing. Unhappy Russia
has furnished abundant recent proof
of that Disorder Immediately defeats
itself. II excuses should occur, IL dis
order should for time raise its head.
a sober second thought will follow
and a day of constructive action, IL we
help and do not hinder.
The present and all that II holds be-
longs to the nations and the peoples
who preserve their self-control and
the orderly processes of their govern
ments; the future to those who prove
themselves the true friends OF man
kind. To conquer with arms Is to
make only a temporary conquest; to
conquer the world by earning its es-
TEEN Is to make permanent conquest
am confident that the nations
that have learned the discipline of
freedom and that have settled with
to its ordered prac-|
tice are now about to make conquest
OF the world by the sheer power OF
example and of friendly helpfulness.
The peoples who have but Just
come out from under the yoke OF ar
bitrary government and who are now
coming at last into their freedom
will never find the treasures of lib
erty they are in search OF IL they
look for them by the light OF the
torch. They will find that every
pathway that is stained with the
blood OF their own brothers leads to
the wilderness, not to the seat of
their hope. They are now face to
face with their initial test. We must
hold the light steady until they find
themselves.
And in the meantime, il IL be pos
sible, we must establish a peace that
will justly define their place among
the nations, remove all fear of their
and OF their former mas
tiers, and enable them to live in secur-
ity and contentment when they have
set their own affairs in order. ], for
one, do not doubt their purpose or
their capacity. There are some happy |
signs that they know and will choose |
the way of selfcontrol and peaceful |
accommodation. II they do. we shall !
put our aid at their disposal in every |
way that we can. If they do not, we |
must await with patience and sym
pathy the awakening and recovery |
that will assuredly come at last.