New Britain herald., 1918-07-05

1 where.
 ] sociated in action. the faith and pur- ] pose with which we act.
 1 People vs Greedy Autocrats.
 This, then, is our conception of 1 the great struggle in which we are 1 engaged. The plot is written plain : upon every scene and every act of 1 the supreme tragedy. On the one 1 hand stand the peoples of the world, 1 not only the "coples actually en- { gagged, but many others also who suf- 1 fer under mastery but cannot act; peoples of many races and in every part of the WOrld,-thc people of 1 stricken Russia still. among the rest, though they are for the moment un- organized and helpless. Opposed to them, masters of many armies. stand an isolated, friendless group of gov elnmentS who speak no common pur- pose but only selfish ambitions of their own by which none can profit but themselves. and whose peoples are fuel in their hands; governments which fear their people and yet are for the time heir sovereign lords making every choice for tn em and dis posing of their lives and fortunes as
 they will, as well as of the lives and
 fortunes of every people who fall
 under their pOWer-go Vernments
 cloth ed with the strange trappings
 and tn primitive authority of an age
 that is altogether alien and hostile to
 our own. The Past and the Present
 are in deadly grapple and the peo-
 ples of the world are being done to
 death between them.
 'Fhere can be but one issue. The
 settlement must be final. There can
 be no compromise. No halfway de
 cision would be tolerable. No half
 way decision is conceivable. These are the ends for which the associated peoples of the world are fighting and which must be conceded them be- fore there can be peace:
 First-the destruction Of every arbitrary power anywhere that can separately. secretly, and of it's single 1 choice disturb the peace of the world: l or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, ] at the least it's reduction to virtual l impotence.
 "Second-The settlement of every l question, whether of territory, of soy 1 erelgnty, Of ecohomic arrangement or ] Of political relationship from the basis 1 of the free acceptance of that settle ment by the people immediately con- cerned and not upon tn basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may de- sire a different settlem ent for the sake of it's own exterior influence or mastery.
 ''Third-The consent of all nations 10 De. governed in tn cir conduct to- wards each other bY the same prinui- pies of honor and of respect for the common law of civilized society that i govern the individual citizens of all : modern states in their relations with 1 one another. to the end that all promises and covenants may be sacredly observed. no private plots or, conspiracies matched, no selfish in- juries Wrought with impunity. and mutual trust established upon the handsome foundation of a mutual re- spect for right.
 'Fourth-The esta blishment of an :! organization Of peace which shall l make it certain that the combined power of free nations will check every invasion of right and serve to make peace and justice the more secure by affording a definite tribunal of opinion to which all must submit and by which every international readjustmc cnt that cannot be amicably agreed upon by the peoples directly concerned shall be sanctioned.
 These great objects can be put into single sentence. What We seek is the reign of law. based upon the l consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind
 These great ends can be achieved by debating and seeking to reconcile and accommodate what statesmen may wish. with their projects for bal ances of power and of national op- portunity. They can be realized only by the determination of what the peoples of the world desire. ! for social freedom and opportunity
 T can fancy that tue air of this place carries the accents of such principles with peculiar kindness l Here were started forces which the great nation against which they were directed at first regarded as ! a evolt against it's rightful authority but which it has long since seen to have been a step in the liberation of it's own people as well as Of the peo- pie of the United States; and l stand here now to speak,-spesk proudly and With confident hope,-of the spread of this revolt that liberation, to the great stage of the world it. self! The blinded rulers of Prussia have reused forces they knew little of,-forces which. once reused, can never be crushed to earth again; for they have at their heart an inspira- nd q