The Washington herald., 1918-02-27
Fighting for Russia?

Ii the Eastern question is to be regarded as set
tied, or on the road to settlement then the whole
bottom drops out of the
II the people of England, France the United
States are made to think that the goes on
merely for the salvation Of Russia, merely to say
to Berlin You shall not fulfil your purpose in the
East" then Germany will just clearly have i'm
posed her will on the world if she held it pros
trate under her sword
Germany may tempt her enemies by offering
most reasonable concessions in the West, provided
they permit her free hand in the vvisection OF
Great and Little Russia. They may possibly be her
next bait. 1t may be the whole point of her pres
ent policy.
The next drive OF her propaganda may be along
this line: an appeal to the peoples of the West not
to Keep on fighting for the sake OF the millions OF
E..ssians who obviously not worth fighting
sbeat She may say to the masses Of Britain and
c.5rce and America:
We offer you peace now the basis of every
stipulation that you have made as essential peace
except the safety OF the Muscovites. Is Russia
worth fighting over? Is it not hopeless for you to
think that by any conceivable military effort you
can reverse the decision in the East"
This propaganda, doubtless, will be the most
desperate and dangerous of the sort that has ever
been put forth by the military overords of Prussia
1t will be hard to resist Particularly in view OF
the apparent impossibility of forcing decision in
IoI8 and with the not remote prospect OF years
more OF warfare to come, will it be hard for the
g.aF-weary millions to reject the bait.
However, there is obviously only thing for
. allied nations to do and that is, to spurn it eX-
acrry as they would have done if Russia had not
fTIsn flat on its face and degraded itself to the
rank OF China and Mexico. The Eastern question
is not settled. The fate of Russia is sealed
Book. The most gigantic loot OF history is not
going to stay in German hands. The spearhead OF
Prussian will to plumber may turn from the target
of Bagdad to the fallen land in the East, and it
may penetrate far into the flank of that helpless
territory; but it is not going to stay there.
We say it is not going to stay there because it
would be suicide for Britain France and the United
States to permit it to stay there These nations
fighting for as clearly defined a principle
brought group of peoples together. They not
fighting to save Russia from the consequences OF
her own folly They are sacrificing their
blood that Russians may be spared the Teuton
yoke OF undo what the Bolshevki have done.
They are fighting to the word from Ger
manization. They fighting a death-fght with
the German idea, for there is not room enough in
the world for that idea and the democratic idea,
too One or the other must 60. They fighting
to prevent the erection OF a German State
sprawlng over all Eastern Europe and all North
ern Asia. That State would just as surely effect
the conquest Of the world as if it already
astride it.
. 1t would be monstrous to permit Germany to
gorge itself on Russia. Unless the Western democ-
Tacies nearly ready to sign their death
warrants they cannot tolerate the idea either of
victorious Germany half-victorous Germany
There can be no isolation OF the Eastern question
from the problem or the peace problem. Ac-
ceptance OF such isolation even in the prclimi-
nary consideration of peace terms would be moral
disaster OF the first magnitude.
The simphcaton of allied aims progresses
speedily. They reducible to a single phrase
The destruction of the German idea-whch surely
needs no Identification tag for anybody-s all that
we arc fighting ior