Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-26
ABREAST THE DELUGE

4 n HAS passed into the folklore of the
= nation that vice is monster of such
hfdeous mien that the mere sight of it is
drevolting but, If gazed at long enough, it
= finally embraced. OF the reality of this
truth none is more convinced than the
Hun. who. substituting peace for vice.
holds its awful countenance continuously
IN view in the expectation that civllza-
i ton will become so accustomed to the
sight as eventually to welcome it and kiss
it, foul lips.
We are fairly dazed by the multitude
Of soporifcs being administered to the
american public. One day we are told
that the virus of Bolshevikism will adde
the Hun brain. Another day we are in.
formed that Germany is about ready to
quit that the financial interests see peace
n. the immediate future. Territorial adjust.
ments are talked of as IL these things were
vital questions on which the war hinged.
1t is camouflage. dangerous camouhage,
to talk of peace in terms Of Asace,Lor.
raine or Belgium or Serbia. Heaven knows
We never went to war to determine the
nationality of a coal mine or the stamp
on a bar Of steel. Why, there are actually
thousands of people who are beginning to
think that this is a geographical war and
the only thing necessary to end it is "A
change in the color of the map. This
idea is insidiousy cultivated by deliberate
forces favorable to Germany. and is even
4 more generally disseminated by some
Americans whose sincerity renders their
propaganda only the more dangerous.
We are in the war for but one reason
liberty. The destiny of every man, woman
and child now living and of every creature
to be born for generations TO come is in
volved in the decision. Boundaries are
important only according to who makes
6em. victorious autocracy or a trium-
pllant democracy All men know, of
course, that to the victor belong the
spoils. Who wins takes the mastery of
the earth, and takes it so completely that
the great grandchildren of this generation
must die and the vivid pictures of mighty
catastrophe be rendered dull by time
before democracy again could raise its
head If militarism should lure or drive the
Allies to a peace. Let Germany but get
/. dut Of this situation with the prestige of
victory and the whole thought of humanity
must change.
Why talk. then, of negotiated peace?
y The highwayman has his spoils. His
Y eagles flash below the Bosporus and
\ Europe With no more than a pistol in
his hand. his banditry has lifted him into
commanding position. So he is willing
to trade, willing to hand back part Of
the plunder, willing to shake hands with
his victims and eat salt with them again
until a new thirst puts his teeth once more
in their heart. Yes. the news is full of con.
jectural peaces. full of bases of settlement
full of all sorts of devices to weaken the
purpose of America and lure the nation
into a false dream Of security and peace
n Without sacrifice. Better we be dragged
down into the nethermost depths than to
B tall into this trap, with its inextricable
ruin.
s We have allied now against the Hun
the full might of human liberalism and
democracy. Never again could such a
y coaiescence of forces be achieved. Unless
z 4 holds the key to victory then autocracy
s and Hohenzollernism are so firmly rooted
I n the earth that extirpation is not pos
< ofble until the system topples of its own
<6&feht centuries hence. Men laughed at
Noah. but the flood came. Men may mini.
X n,ixs the immensity Of the Hun terror, but
II \ is here.
The Russian collapse, shorn Of its de-
! IN. means that every essential American
no1itical institution exists only by virtue
+ - the blood we shed to protect 1t and the
mt we bring to bear In its defense. We
<1 better made peace at Germantown
IRE We were nation tnan to make one
w this nation 1t is not a question Of
>1her we can win: we have got to win.
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