Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-18
THERE MUST BE A REPENTANT
GERMANY
| Only With Such Nation Can the Entente
Allies and America Be Magnanimous

only WIN SuCh Natlon Ian the Entente
Allies and America Be Magnanimous
w the men about President Wilson are
considering the advisabiity of treating
| Germany when the war is over with the
! same magnanimity which the North
| showed to the South at the close of the
Civil War.
There is peril in attempting to draw
any such parallel at the present time,
and perhaps at any time. 1t involves,
comparing the southern States with Ger
many, comparison which is an insult to
those States. The South never sought
world dominion. 1t never attempted to
force its views upon reluctant peoples.
1t never dreamed of conquest. And it
was never guilty of deliberate and organ
lied harbarism in violation of the laws
of war and the dictates of humanity.
Lincoln fought the war on the issue of
the preservation of the Union, and when
the war ended that issue was settled for
all time.
to have the kind of government and the
kind of social institutions which she de-
sires. as the South fought, but to force
her Government and her social institu
tions on the rest of the world. 1t is a
war of conquest which she has started, a
war disregardng the rights of other ma
tions, a war in the prosecution of which
she has broken hcr sworn word and vio-
lated all the principles of honor among
nations, in the belief that the German
race is destined through the process of
evolution to be the dominant race and
that other races are to exist merely as
German vassals.
The differences in the purposes and
motives behind this war and our Civil
War are radical, and they must tinge
and color all our thinking on the sub
ject. Whether one agreed with the
South or not one could respect its pur-
poses. They were honest and worthy of
civilized men. The German motives are
those of a savage tribe which, by rapine
and murder, massacre and pillage, seeks to
destroy the tribes which occupy the lands
that it covcts.
Only one course is open to the nations
arrayed against Germany and her sub
servient vassals, and that is to fight them
on the field till they are defeated This
is the task on which we are now en-
gagged, and in which we shall continue
until it is accomplished. No attempt
to divert us by peace propaganda in
tended to weaken our arm and divert
our minds from the great task will be
permitted to succeed.
When Germany is defeated will be time
enough to consider how she is to be
treated. And, if we mistake not, the
treatment which she receives will depend
uron her mental attitude-not the mental
attitude of the HohenzolernS and the mil
itary party, but on the attitude of the
German race as a whole.
1t is conceivable that the Germans may
admit that their purposes We're indefen-
sible and that the war which they started
had no justification whatsoever, and that
they may admit the right of other ma
tions to life and independence free from
the danger of aggression by ambitious
Powers This would mean that she has
repented and is in mood to do works
meet for the repentant In such a case
the world will be magnanimous.
But if a defeated Germany is sullen
and unrepentant, magnanimity would de-
feat its own purposes. Ii would strengthen
the military party in its belief in force
and that party would Immediately begin
to prepare for another war for dominion
There is not the slightest doubt of this
Until we know the state of mind of the
German people it is useless to spend time
discussing seriously what we are to do
with Germany after the peace treaties
have been signed. The terms of peace, of
course, will be those which America and
the Entente Allies shall dictate. And
they will he framed for the protection of
the small and the big nations alike
against a German menace Whether
Germany is to be admitted into league
of nations will depend upon whether her
purposes agree with those of the league.
At the present moment they do not agree,
and until Germany has repented they
cannot agree. And no negotiation, secret
or public at this time can make them
agree. ...