Republican farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1810-1920, 1918-02-15

? tria what shall be done with Poland.
| In the determination of all questions
affecting the Balkan states he defers,
| as I understand him, to Austria and
| Turkey; and with regard to the agree
| ments to be entered into concerning
the non-Turkish people of the present
Ottoman empire, to the Turkish au-
thorities themselves. After a settle
ment all around, effected in this fash
| ion, by individual barter and conces-
sion, he would have no objection, if I
correctly interpret his statement, to a
league of nations which would-under-
take to hold the new balance of DOW
er steady against external disturbance.
1t must be evident to everyone who
understands what this war has
wrought in the opinion and temper Of
the world that NO general peace, no
peace worth the infinite sacrifices Of
these years of tragical suffering, can
possibly be arrived at in any such
fashion. The method the German
chancellor proposes is the method of
the congress of Vienna. We cannot
and will not return to that. What IS
at stake now is the peace of the
world. What we are striving for is
a new international order based on
broad and universal principles of
right and justice-no mere peace of
shreds and patches. 1t is possible that
Count Won Hertling does not see that,
does not grasp it, is in fact living in
his thought in a world dead and gone.
Has he utterly forgotten the reich
stag resolutions of the 10Th of July,
or does he deliberately ignore them?
They spoke of the conditions of a
general peace, not of national aggran-
dizement or of arrangements between
state and state. The peace of the
world depends upon the just settle
ment of each of the several problems
to which I adverted in my recent ad-
dress to the congress. I. of course, do
not mean that the peace of the world
depends upon the acceptance of any
particular set of suggestions as to the
way in which those problems are to
be dealt with. mean only that those
problems each and all affect the whole
. world; that unless they are dealt with
in a spirit of unselfish and unbiased
Justice, with a view to the wishes
, the natural connections and racial as
, pirations, the security and peace OF
mind of the peoples involved. no per
manent peace will have been attained
They cannot be discussed separately
or in corners. None of them consti-
, tute a private or separate interest
, from which the opinion of the world
may be shut out. Whatever affect:
the peace affects mankind, and moth.
o ing settled by military force, if set
" tied wrong, it settled at all. 1t pres
: emily will have to be reopened.
Is Count Won Hertling aware he i
speaking in the court of mankind, tina
all the awakened nations of tn
o world now sit in judgment on VIVA
= every public man, of whatever nation
:. may say in the issues of a confiic
u which has spread to every region o
Q the world? The Reicl- stag resolution
u of July themselves frankly accepte
n the decisions of that court Their
q shall be no annexations, no contribu
e tons, no punitive damages. People
are not to be handed about from on
sovereignty to another by an inter
u national conference or an understand
II ing between rivals and antagonists
d National aspirations must be respect
l ed;peoples may now be dominated an
is governed only by their own consen
self determination" is not a mer
! phrase. 1t is an imperative principl
l. of action, which statesmen will hence
Is forth ignore at their peril. We car
1t not have general peace for the askin,
lie or by the mere arrangements of
J. peace conference. 1t cannot be piece
II out of individual understanding BIZ
er Tween powerful states. All the pal
l. ties to this war must join in the SCI
l. tlement of every issue anywhere il
K. volvd in it because what we are seeE
IT ing is peace that we can all unite I
10 guarantee and maintain and ever
to item of it must be submitted to tn
rs common judgment whether it be rigl
~ and fair, an act of justice, rather tina
n a bargain between sovereigns
al The United States has no desire
n. interfere in European, affairs or to a.
p as arbiter in European territorial di
at putes. She would disdain to take az
es vantage of any internal weakness
IS disorder to impose her own will upc
he another people. She is quite ready
mt be shown that the settlements 81
ce has suggested are not the best or tn
he most enduring. They are only he
ID own provisional sketches of prime
llv pies, and of the way in which tn,
N. should be applied. But she enter,
"A this war because she was made
90 partner, whether she would OF nj
- in the sufferings and indignities i
~ flicted by the military masters
- Germany, against the peace and S
curity of mankind; and the conditio
of peace will touch her as nearly
~ they will touch any other nation
i' which is entrusted a leading part
- the maintenance of civilization. 81
" cannot see her way to peace until t
US causes of this war are removed,
renewal rendered. as nearly as m
&c. &c, be impossible.
ny This war had it's roots in the disI
ls' gard of the rights of small nations a
an of nationalities which lacked the u
m ion and the force to make good tn,
lsS claim to determine their own allei
yes ances and their own forms of polite
be life. Covenants must now be enter
OF into which will render such things il
out possible for the future; and tho
d. covenants must be backed by the un
Dry ed force of all the nations that 10
US justice and are willing to maintain