The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1918-10-31
Some Bricks Winch VII 60
I,to Building Peace Foundation

many,s wi lingness.to eyacuats Alsace.
Lorraine. II She is In earnest and act.
ing IN good faith, then she Will agree
10 the surrender OF Metz and Strass.
pufg. precisely as she dema nded In
July. 1914, that Franco should evacu-
ate ysrdun and Epfnal, as "a guarantees
Q. Neutrality. She will consent because
tnere IS no other possibility OF gaining
an armistice. because Foch end Haia
ana Pershfng are not going IL. surren-s
Ger ei the advantages SO dearly purchased
N recent weeks and permit Iiermany
TO reorganize her beaten armies and
renew the fight in good condition next
spring at the line selected by her.
But Germany Is acting in bad
falth, then she vii, refuse to s1rrender
Metz and Sir-ssDu.g, she VIII attempt
70 rouse. the people OF America, Britain
and Italy by arguing that they are
Kept in the fight because OF French
ambitions, she will seek to sow discord
among her enemies, she will gamble on
possible willingness of the president
to be her advocate, and she will call
culate that rather than surrender
Alsace and Lorraine her people win
consent to prolong the war, that Ger-
many Will rise to the threat OF what
will be held by her to be mutilation, as
Ky ahd sssllR N I7ss Wy = - -
AWf greatest peril now lies In think
ing OF the war as over or accepting
tho words of the German when these
words are not translated into corre-
spending deeds. The German is talk
ing peace in acceptable words, but he
IS spreading ruin and waste over the
richest and faircst fields of Europe.
Won.d he continue to do this If he ex-
pected to make peace presently on
terms which would compel him to In
demnify his victims for his current
hn 111~y 20, Hy>y.,,J F-
Monday il he expected on Saturday. to
make peace with the guaranteed in
demnifiction of the people of Cambrai9
At least it does not seem likely.
We have come to this most Critical
moment in more than feYr years Of
struggle We haye Won fEs Mar, We
NOT YET reached the POINT where NJ
can safely accept his verbal assdr-
efeI ss es s as5fe7 q f tRe k q
by the German Of the fact of defeat,
short OF his consent to the expression
IN practical terms OF, pur victory, we
cannot safely or wisely consent to an
arnlistice or permit ourselves to be-
l1eve our labors are at an end.
We cannot forget that the German
attacked the civilized world four years
ago and In defiance of all his written
and spoken pledges. We cannot for
get mat Tor four years he has con-
tinued to disregard all pledges until
the moment when his armies were
beaten and all chance of victor,s
peace escaped him. We must act with
this knowledge in mind: we must de-
mand immediate guarantees which will
prevent resumption of the contest
under conditions favorable to Germany
next spring. Above all else, we must
IN our armistice translate our victory
in positive terms.
These terms are the surrender Of
Alsace- Lorraine and Italia Irredenta,
the temporary occupation of the left
bank Of the Rhine from Holland to
switzerland and the prompt demobfl-
ization Of the German army and navy
Anything else would be mockery, a
negation of all that the world has
striven for over four years OF agony,
a sure foundation for a new German
adventure and aggression I do not
see how we can negotiate with Ger
many in arms; I do not see how we
can ask less than unconditional sur
render, however that phrase may be
interpreted, nor do I see how that
phrase can be nationally interpreted
save by the demand that the Germans
retire behind the Rhine and once and
for all abandon those French cities Of
Metz and Strassburg, which have been
the foundations, morally SIS we'll as
militarily, Of her great crime against
civilization