New-York tribune., 1918-02-22


i&W which ! opposed, and confronted
with the alternatives either of lighting
in q way OF which disapprovc or Of
being court-martiallcd and sentenced
to term of imprisonment in which
to become disillusioncd and cmbit-
tered. appeal to YOU TO make it pos
siblc for me. and for that idcrablc
number OF young men who agree with
nc, to serve the nation and the Amcri-
can cause in some way which will not
exact Il betrayal Of our intellectual
convictions nor compel us to violate
that living sentiment which rcvolts at
an enforced apprenticeship TO the
anarchic and pitilcss machinery of
destruction.
"It is not because Of any unfairncss
in the operation of the sclcctvc draft
law that am constrained to make this
earnest appeal. The cause strikes me
deeper than that and has to do with
American policy, with .he conccp
tion of the state, and with war itself.
After a period Of doubt and long
searching reflection, have become
one of an increasing number of my
generation who cannot bring them
selves, even at the laws command. to
the point Of submission to the mill
tary authority, with its comic-opcra
dignity, its automatic reactions, its
feudalism and it's poisonous glamour.
"lloldng the opinions that hold.
cannot voluntarily cooperate in mas
tcring the rcd science of the hayonet
and the machinc-gun in order the bet
ter to butcher youths OF my own age
who have been dragooncd to fight in
the belief, the heroic belief. that Ger
many battles for the defence of her
culture, her colonies and frontiers, tor
the freedom of her national life and
development, for future sccurity and
peace.
Says We Will Fail
"Wc who are on the outside Of that
charmed circle call this belief slavish
crcdulity or unblushing hypocrisy and
fatuously ignore its tremendous sig
niiicancc Rightly or wrongly, that be
OF the German people. all of whom
officially arc our enemies. and, to-
gcthcr with a lingering conviction that
Germany was cncirclcd and attacked,
it is the emotional cement which binds
them together in an impregnablc pha
lanN dcfying the worlds onslaught.
Our youthful armies viii break against
that phalanX and. with all their gal
lantry and generous heroism, will
break in vain. Our apocalyptic diplo
macy will seek to disintergratc it by
timely revelations of it's boundless de-
pravity: but so long as it cooperatcs
Internationally with those who menace
Germany, who's covct her possess ions,
end who are neither as disintcrested
nor as QuiXotlc as we, 1t, too, will
fail
1--WE cannot in this world conduct
organized slaughter of a people and
simultaneously convince them that we
love them. Yet is not that what VIC
are trying to do" We cannot convict
Il peoples government before their
own eyes Of INSCRIPTIONS and i'm
proper interference in the affairs Of
tion by their own hands SO long as
we permit its European rival to sub
sidizc and instruct the manufacturers
of public opinion in The United States
and TO conduct through the press a
campaign OF hatred, euphcmistically
called patriotism.
"Nor can we successfully demand
the Inauguration of government by
the consent Of the governed in Ger
many while we sit up nights in Amer
lea devislng methods Of suspGndinr
constitutional guarantees Of freedom
and speak without a blush of postpon-
ing regular elections in order to pre-
vent the public discussion Of our
aVoWed purposes IN the war and to
defeat the election OF ;hose who dis
agree with the doubtful majority which
is conducting it. There are some
things which even American ingenuity
cannot do.
Time is Out of Joint"
"lt ought to be clear to every one
by this time that only phantom host
win ever conquer Germany. That
hung'lng host OF brave IDEAS with
which new Russia fights is thc only
hostile army which viii camp in Ber-
ln Cars and kaisers go down be-
lore 1t, and thu ramparts Of the war
makers crumolc before its mighty
tenderncss Y>t, behold the American
people to-day reduced TO the ignominy
OF officially sitting at home the cy-
preston OF those very ideas which an
unparalleled situation compcls her to
rely upon for her chief support abroad,
truly the time is out of Joint. and we
know not what we dc.
1--WE arc engaged in an undertaking
which we only partially understand -
one whose success the military and
naval forces. even could they be as
completely victorious rs they desire.
are OF themselves powerlcss either to
achieve o. 10 maintain. For, let there
oc 20 understanding as 20 this. our
natlonai purpose u.s. neither to conlime
eUlprt Nor Jo punish " "~i.re. It is
10 drive cut consuming fear. to in
fuse knowledge and understanding and