The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-21
(By William English walling)

(By William English Walling)
Nothing is more certain in this war
: than that the attitude of the Ameri-
can people toward the German peo-
pie and our attitude toward the Ger
man government are two separate
and distinct things. The President
has lost no opportunity to voice the
American position in this matter. In
all of his addresses since the begin
ming Of the war he has touched upon
this distinction. But ne has only been
able to discuss limited phases of this
great and vitality important subject in
each speech; it is only when we put
all of his references to the German
people together that we realize how
completely he has stated the feeling
CT America.
Let us show briefly how the Presi-
| dent has stated % the relation of
the German government to the Ger
man people, CD the attitude of the
German people toward its government
and toward the present war, go the
feeling of the people Of the United
/ States toward the German people, and
t4) the reasons why we are at pres
ent engaged in fighting both the Ger
man government and the German
people.
! German Government and German
People
In his message calling for a declar-
! alton of war against Germany, Presi-
dent Wilson spoke of the German
| government as one that did what il
! pleased and told the people nothing u
/ and further referred to that govern
ment as an "autocracy backed by Or
! ganized force which is controlled
wholly by it's will, and not by the will
I of it's people,
Since this. great address the Presi-
! dents references to the character OF
the German government and it's atti-
tude toward the German and other
peoples have been frequent. One
quotation from his Flag Day speech
(June 14) will be sufficient to define
his well-known position:
The war was begun by the mill
! tary masters of Germany, who proved
E; to be also the masters of Austria
Hungary. These men have never re-
{ garded nations as peoples, men, wo-
men, and children like blood and
frame as themselves, for whom gov
eminent existed and in whom govern
ments had their life. They have re-
garded them merely as serviceable
organizations which they could, by
/ force or intrigue, bend or corrupt to
] their own purpose"
/ The Position of the German People
The President has carefully and re.
peatedly stated the tragic position OF
the German people at the present mo
ment as I've Americans see it. He ha!
said that this people did not originate
choose, or desire this hideous war, "ol
wish that we should be drawn into it
! (June 14)- sit was not upon their i'm
pulse that their government acted il
entering the war. 1t was not with
their previous knowledge or approx
al" (Apr. q
The President has gone out of hi!
way to pay a sincere tribute to the
sterling qualities of the German peo
pie as recognized by overwhelming
majority of Americans. In his ad
dress to the American Federation o
Labor at Buffalo (Nov. 13) he said
81 believe that the spirit or free
I
mans and find as fine a welcome Their
as it can find in any other hearts
but the spirit of freedom does not sui
the plans of the pan-Germans.'
But it is not necessary for US t.
enter further into the virtues or othe
characteristics of the German people
The essential question involved /
their attitude toward the people o
America. The President has state
at the very beginning of the war tina
we did not believe that the Germa,
people cherished toward US "any hos
tile feeling or purpose" CAPT. %
The Attitude of America Toward tn
German People
Feeling that it was impossible tina
the German people, apart from tn
German ruling classes can, or die
harbor any hostility toward Americ
(see above), the President thus ex
pressed the general conviction tina
I'VE are not the. enemies of the Ger
man people and they are not our enc
mics" June 14.)
The belief is almost universal i
this country that I'VE are fightin
their cause as they will some day Sc
it, as we'll as our own" (June 14.)
In the opening message of the wa
the President categorically declared
I'VE have no quarrel with the Ger
man people. We have no feeling to
ward them but one of sympathy an
friendship"
This expression met with the prac
tically unanimous approval Of the er
tire American people. In his Fla
Day speech June 14) the Preside1
further declared:
This is a peoples war, a war fc
freedom and justice and seIf-gover1