Connecticut western news., 1918-01-10

Condemns Foes Lack or Frankness.
 There is no confusion of counsel among the adversaries of the central powers, no uncertainty of principle, no vagueness of detail. The only secrecy of counsel, the only lack of fearless frankness, the only failure to make definite statement of the objects of the war, lies with Germany and her allies. The issues of life and death hang upon these definitions. No states man who has the least conception of his responsibility ought for a moment to permit himself to continue this tragical and appalling OutpOuring of blood and treasure unless he is sure beyond peradventure that the objects of the vital sacrifice are part and par eel of the very life of society and that the people for whom he speaks think them right and imperative as he does.
 There is, moreover a voice calling for these definitions of principle and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more thrilling and more compelling than any of the many moving voices with which the troubled air of the world is filled. It Is the voice of the Rus sian people. They are prostrate and all but helpless, 1t would seem, before the grim power of Germany, which has hitherto known no relenting and no pity. Their power, apparently, Is , shattered And yet their soul Is not subservient They will not yield either in principle or in action. Their nf iSs 1.i,r nf 1t is humane and honorable for them to accept a largeness of view, a sen erOsity of spirit, and a universal hu- man sympathy which must challenge the admiration of every friend of man. kind; and they have refused to com pound their ideals or desnrt others that they themselves may he safe.
 The Russian People Speak.
 "They call to us to say what 1t is that We desire, in what, i in anything, our purpose and our spirit differ from theirs. And believe that the people of the United States would wish me to respond with utter simplicity and frankness. Whether their present leaders believe 1t or not, 1t Is our heartfelt desire and hope that some way may be opened whereby we may be privileged to assist the people of Russia to attain their utmost hope of liberty and ordered peace.
 Tt will be our wish and purpose that the processes of peace, when they are begun, shall he absolutely open, and that they shall involve and nfr- init henceforth no secret understand ings of any kind The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants en- tered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some un- looked for moment to upset the peace of the world. It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still finger in an age that is dead and gone, which makes 1t possible for every nation whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow now or at any other time the objects it has in view.
 The Purposes of America.
 "We entered this war because viola tions of right had occurred which touched us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible un- less they were corrected and the world secure once for all against their recur- renee
 "What we demand in this war, therefore, Is nothing peculiar to our selves. 1t is that the world be made fit and safe to live in, and particularly that 1t be made safe for every peace loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of jus tice and fair dealing by the other peo- pIes of the world as against force and selfish aggression.
 "All the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest, and for our own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others 1t will not be done to us. The pro- gram of the worlds peace, therefore, is our program, and that program, the only possible program, as we see 1t, IS this:
 "1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understand ina of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and In the pub lie view.
 "2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial wa ters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or In part by international action for the enforcement of international cove nants.
 "3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the es- tabIishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations con- senting to the peace and associating themselves for it's maintenance.
 M4- Adeuuate guarantees given and