The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-03-11

By William Almon Wolff of The Vigil.
antes

Suppose You made a bargain will
! Jones, who lives across the street? Sup
pose he gave you his word to do a GER
tain thing-say, to pay back $50 that
you lent him, as a friend and neigh
Dor, without a note, without any evil
dence of indebtedness? And suppose he
wantonly and cynically refused to keep
his word? Probably things like that
have happened to you.
And then suppose that Jones came to
you, after a while, chastened, perhaps,
| by adversely, and said that, of course, he
had been wrong, and that, after while,
he would discuss with you the matter OF
| paving YOU back your $50, but that,
meanwhile, he would like to enter into
an arrangement with you to do certain
things. What would you do! Wouldn't
you tell him that, since it was to your
interest. as well as his, to deal with him,
you would provided you got a guaran
tee of good faith from him. An agree
ment, say, sealed and witnessed with a
bond, probably, for the faithful perform
ance OF his part of the contract!
And suppose Jones drew himself up,
stiffiy, and said you were insulting him
that his word was good. What would
you do? Tell him to go to the devil, of
course
Germany guaranteed the neutrality of
Belgium. Germany broke her word You
can't trust the German government that
committed that monstrous breach of
faith any more than you could trust
Jones.
The German people are probably
pretty we'll disillusioned. They have suf-
fered enough, it may be, to chasten them,
and incline them to be neighborly and
law abiding. But, as matters stand, it
isn't with the German people that peace
can be made In England and in France
there are responsible governments. In
Germany there isn't. ProGermans and
German apologists use "A good deal of
camoufage in this matter. Americans
must go behind that and realize the
truth. The talk of representative gov
eminent in Germany is part of that cam
outage. II centers on the Reichstag, |
which, in Germany, is equivalent |
German apalogists would have you be-
lieve--to Parliament in England or Con-
gress here. They will talk to you about
the system by which its members are
chosen. They will tell you that the sys
tenn of proportional representation is ac-
tually more democratic than our own.
Well-maybe it is. Ii does give better
to minorities. Such a
system here would give the Republicans
in the South a voice in our government.
But, heavens above, what's the use of
the best system in the world of electing
A member of a body that is helpless aft
er it is elected. What can the Reich.
stag do? Talk! Suppose it disapproves
Of the chancellor's policies Nothing
happens. Ii a British or a French min. :
stry is beaten in vote in Parliament $
Or the Chamber of Deputies that min D
stry falls, and new one comes in. i
That isn't true in Germany And until c
here is ministry in Germany. rcspon-
.ible to the Reichstag aud so to the Ger a
nan people /, for one, don't see how there a
AN be a peace in which il will be pos I
iible to believe. What good are the
reaties. the promises. the agreements, of
government that doesn't keep its word
You wouldn't trust man, like Jones,
Who had proved himself to be a liar.
low can you trust a government that
las proved itself TO be a liar?
II isn't. as ] see IL. question of the
.aiser SO much. If the German people
want to keep him on. let them do it,
hey ought to be punished TO certain
xtent. anyway, and perhaps keeping the
aiser on the job is a good way. But
hey can't expect the rest of the world
o deal with him.
Here is another analogous case. Sup
ose YOU were doing business with con
srn and dealing with its general msnsg-
~ Suppose he broke his word and
cnerally. misbehaved himself. Natur- o
lly. YOU would have nothing more to do =
18th that concern. Suppose. then. that o.
$ president. or owner. came TO YOU. aud u
sked you TO resume relations. You y
ould tell him. probably. that il was mp -
, him-that Il he either fired his gen y
-al manager or clipped his wings. Won \
ould do % That = what We must sas
the German people. Whether they N
he the kaiser 81 resiuce has authority ]. iti
, to them. The point j. that VIC must f.
.sl with principals. alter this. not with u
sople y 10 have proved that they cant
. tr'lstel T. .isc tive powers delegated Fl
thea- e.