The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-08-27

made lavish war offers Of troops
horses. money and jewelry. He even
assisted in the equipment and presen"
tation OF O. hospital ship to the gov
eminent. He is highly educated
man, 81 years old, and credited with
~-~-~-~~-~~~~~-~-~~~-~~-
ing to make peace have never been
published. We cannot get at the
German people through their news
papers. ..u..S - .bero
through the Stockholm conference,
because even the censored press
would have published the proceed
ings of that conference. The Ger
mans then would have known the
u What makes you think that the
censored press Of Germany would
have been permitted to publish the
proceedings Of the Stockholm con-
ference?" I asked. ut was not per
mi&Aed to publish the war aims
Lloyd George"
with what appeared to me to be
childish innocence, their own loyal
Germans would have attended as
delegates. and Of course the people
would insist on hearing their re-
ports. .-..,,.
Don't misunderstood me-" he
said. "I admit that such a confer
ence with the enemy, at a time when
the allied armies are engaged in
killing that same enemy on the bat
tlefield. would be morally and SEN
timentally grave thing. But 1 am
certain that the advantages Would
have outweighted the disadvantages.
All the French socialists, except a
group on the right, agree with my
point Of view.
After the war the working classes
in all the countries will have to nave
a common programme, that they may
force their point Of view on the gov
eminent. The Stockholm conference
would have furthered that solidarity.
1 regret that the American working
class cannot see that
I turned the conversation to the
Russian collapse.
"Ah, Russia, a great mystery, is 1t
not? When you think she Is ABOUT
to commit @ treachery you see a
Brusiloff offensive. When you think
she is almost to be sublime you be-
hold the Brest- Litovsk surrender.
Anarchy But Russia Is too great
to fall permanently. >
why are not France and America
there now, helping poor. wounded
Russia? All we do Is to send o mes
sage to the Moscow soviet: RUS
STA will emerge. Mon Dieul"
ITO whom would you offer your
help, Lenine and Trotzky?" l asked.
DO YOU think that we can help the
Russian people through men who are
daily delivering them piecemeal TO
the Germans?"
"Oh, / do not think Lenine and
Trotzky are exactly German agents,
although it is evident that they took
German money" was the extraor-
binary reply. "They see nothing ex-
cept their propaganda. Here was
money offered them, money they
needed for their propaganda Ger
man money-true, but what OF II!
They would take any money"
M. Albert Thomas evidently could
not see that men who would take
German money were incapable OF
being honest leaders, sincere proph-
cts, or anything in the world but
liars, thieves and traitors. No man
can exist half crook, half honest.
They see nothing but their propa-
ganda." That is a perfest descrip-
ton of M. Albert Thomas and all the
other misguided idealists who walk
with binders obscuring their eyes.
They think and talk as though I'M
aware that the world around them
was in flames.
Fanatics Here. Too.
On q battlefront of seventy-five
miles our men are enduring such
acles Of labor, are suffering such
wounds, such horrible multilations,
that no Imagination can compass the
acts. Every day some of these her
ole men give their blood, their beau
tiful young lives for the freedom
of the world.
They die for our liberty without
a. murmur. And while they are suf~
fering and dying, a whole section Of
the community in every allied coun-
try continues to ignore them for one
or another fatuous dream.
In France when these dreamers
beat at the chamber Of deputies to
be allowed to go to Stockholm, Glenn
enceau answered them: 81 under
stand your idealism, and share it.
But where we differ Is that am
under no illusion regarding the real
ity of facts"
The only important fact in the
world is that we are fighting the
greatest war in history, 'in order
that government Of the people, for
the people, and by the people shall
not perish from the EARTH" Nothing
else matters. Nothing. Every 9TH
er question is side ISSUE, some
thing to be considered and acted up
on after we have won the war.
In this country we have our Boil
sheviki who would take advantage
of the fact our best beloved, our
sons. are fighting, giving their lives
in a far land, to seize power for their
"class," We have fanatics whose
paranoia finds expression in ''radi-
caI' magazines. g
Theorists Fooled.
We have propagandists who find
supreme satisfaction in going around
the country making defeatist
speeches, and we have a public which
eEclaiEns in horror when one OF these
takers is arrested and given a WELL
merited prison sentence.
We have lawmakers, men In con-
gress, whose devotion to their prop
aaganda is so liInitIess that they are
willing to risk losing army appro-
priatfons, delaying the progress OF
the war. in order to hasten a little
the prohibition campaign
We have theorists who cannot
think very much about the war be-
cause they are so occupied with GET
ting on good terms again with d
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