The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-09-30
To the Germans the letters ~. 8.
mean UNCONDITIONAL SURREN.

! To the Germans the letters u. s. "
| mean UNCONDITIONAL SURREN'
DER
The insignia ~. S." on the uni
form of every American soldier, ma
riue and sailor is notice TO the Hun
that unconditional surrender IS ths
only thing that will procure a cessa'
ton of hostilities.
When General Washington de-
feated CORVALLIS at Yorktown. the
British general sent a messenger
asking the commander OF the Ameri-
can forces for conference TO Ce-
termine terms of capitulation. Gen
eraI Washington, by the same mes
senger. replied that only uncondi-
tional surrender would be accepted.
At Appomattox. General Grant de-
manded. and received, the uncondi-
tional surrender of the confederate
forces under General Lee.
In the Spanish-American war, the
Spanish general at Santiago request
ed permission 10 withdraw his army
from the beleaguered town. Pres.-
dent Mckinley ordered his generals
| in the field 10 demand instant and
unconditioal surrender, at the same
time instructing them that anything
less than that would create the ne
csssity OF fighting at some other
time and place. under conditions less
favorable The Spanish army sur
rendered.
In view Of American history, it
may very we'll be said that the
United States has contracted the
habit OF demanding. and obtaining,
the unconditional surrender OF its
enemies
The time is near at hand when
Germany will ask for cessation OF
hostiIities. and a conference with
the allies to determine treaty OF
peace.
Throughout the United States there
is but one sentiment, and that is,
that when the end Of the war comes
it must be by treaty of peace, and
not by a mere truce; that IL must
be such a recognition of the princi-
pies of popular government, with
equal justice to all, and respect for
the rights OF others, that the Ger
mans may not in time to come throw
il into the waste basket as a mere
scrap of paper" So far as the Ger
mans are concerned. 1t must not be
peace with loaf" but triumph
OF the pprinciple that the will of the
people, and not that of the ruler, is
the Law OF the land. And the will Of
the German people must be made to
conform to the law of nations. and
they must be taught that treaty obi
cations may not be lightly set aside.
That peace can only be obtained
BY the absolute surrender of the Ger
man army is clear from an analysis
OF the German type OF mind. That
there Is no moral force, or standard
OF national right and wrong in Ger
many Is manifest from what 1t has
done during and prior to the present
war.
The plotting to Germanize the
world, the utter disregard for treaty
obligations, the murder and butch
cry of civilian noncombatants, the
enslaving of men and women in &C.
cupied territory, the crucifixion OF
prisoners, the mutilation of men.
women and children, the ravishing
Of women, the maintenance of sub
sea piracy, the recourse to sheer
brutality, cunning and craft. in man
ner only accredited to savages, clear
ly demonstrate that there is no un-
derlying conscience in Germany 20
which an appeal can be made for
world peace. Nothing but force
is known by the German, and by
force he must be regenerated, II at
all.
All classes of Germans-profes-
sors, students, statesmen and preach
ers, have approved Of every act of
cruelty ordered or sanctioned by the
military authorities. From the sink
ing of the Lusitania to the impaling