The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1918-05-02
WHY WE ARE
AT WAR WITH
GERMANY
BY
EPHRAlM DOUGLASS ADAMS
Executive Head, History Depart
ment
Leland Stanford Junior University


the free peoples Of the world from the
menace and the actual power OF vast
military establishment controlled by an
irresponsible government, which, having
secretly planned to dominate the world,
proceeded to carry out the plan without
regard either to the sacred obligations
of treaty or the g-establshed prac -
tlces and long cherished principles Of in
ternational action and honor; This
power Is not the German people. Il Is
pie. !. -. It Is our business to see to
It that the history Of the rest Of the
world Is no longer left to its handling"
President Wilson, August 27, 1917
DEMOCRACY VERSUS AUTOCRACY
1t is commonly said that this war
is one in which America was forced
to take part in order to make the
world safe for democracy" What
does the phrase mean?
The theories and acts of the Ger.
man military autocracy definitely deny
the right Of the people of a state to
rule themselves. The German people
in spite of forms of government that
make pretense Of popular control
have no such actual control over their
governors as exists in democratically
organized nations In those nations
the governors can be remored by a
vote of the people in a general elec
tion in Germany the people have not
this power
The aristocracy Of Germany under,
stand this difference, and are afraid
Of the spread of democracy in Ger
many. The whole, much-admired "effi.
cheney" of Germany is primarily due
to desperate and constant effort by
Germany's rulers to divert the German
people from thoughts of self govern.
ment by offering them material pros,
perity. And the rulers have sue.
ceeded. One of the causes of this
war was the necessity, by still fur,
ther "glorious acquisitions of terri,
tory" to hush the murmurings of
political discomfort in Germany. Vic,
tory in war, every so often is a nee.
essity of the German system. 1T is
| Cor social as much as for national
and political reasons that we must
fix our minds necessarily upon war
Success is necessary to gain inau
ence over the masses, wrote Bern.
hardi; and General Won Bissing, just
before his death, wrote a Political
Testament" since largely circulated in
Germany, in which he argued for the
retention of Belgium, because, unless
it tcere dnnered, the prestige OF the
military dutocracy pould receive q
| fatal bloto
Are we-are the Allies-then fight
ing to impose upon Germany diff
ferent system; Is that the meaning OF
making the world safe for democ
racy?" p
Elihu Root says that American
democratic ideals include "liberty moi
for themselves alone but for all who
! are oppressed Lloyd George asserts
that if all countries had been demo
cratically organized, this war would
not have taken place; that this wal
| will determine not merely interna
tional relations, but will affect the
lives Of peoples pithin their orn ma
tons. for generations to come, thai
| his war is to end in "internatiOna
| democracy i. e., In liberty, equal
| ity, and fraternity. betreeH nations
! great and small General SHUTS. for
| nerly soldier against Great Britain
| n South Africa, says that the essence
If this war is the question whethel
governments should be founded or
| military might or on principles Of
quity, justice, fairness AID equality
Various writer's have depicted thi.
war as a test of democracy, to de
'ermine whether democracy can ad
lust itself TO az emergenc" 50 that b.
sheer efficiency it shall at least equa
he efficiency of military autocracy
and assert that on this ground alone
he future government of all the ma
tions of the world is at stake. viii
Crooks, the British labor leader, says
his war is peoples war We are all
N it, the man at the village pump and
in the fields, the blacksmith. the car
Denter and joiner, the shipwright, and
he man of leisure. We are standing
together because We are fighting TO,
liberty"
Yes, this war is one in which ideals
Of government, of individual liberty
of civilization itself are in conflict
Democracy is lined up against autoc
racy. The war is in absolute fact a
war of ideals. But we are not fight
ing to impose our ideals upon any
nation. What we are fighting for
in making the world safe for democ
racy," Is to prevent military dutOc
rdcy from imposing its authority ana
its ideals up0n as. We are ready tc
keep on mi1ding our own business
and to let other nations do the same
military autocracy that proposes
to conquer the world must be de-
feated to the point where it renounces