Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-02-21


, - s@vsssos1 - aasehse b
tesaat1eaal ~esafsrsses g q undee.
standing bstvsea dvals and astasoa-
tsfs. National aspiratiens must b
respected. peoples mag now b dsak
mated and soversed only By their eW
consent.
"'Selfd etermination' b not Q mere
phrase. It ID m imperative principle
o. action. which statesmen will hence.
forth ignore 1t their peril. We cannot
have general peace for the asking OF
oy the mere arrangement Of q peace
conference. It cannot b. pieced to.
sether ont Of individual understand.
ings between powerful states.
Al Parties Must Jeln.
All the parties to this war must
join In the settlement Of every issue
anywhere involved in 1t, because what
We are seeking Is . peace that We can
al unite to guarantee and maintain
n every item Of Il must be submit
TED to the common judgment whether
1t be right or fair. an act Of Justice
rather than Q bargain between sou
ereigns.
THE United States has NO desire to
Interfere In European affairs or to act
as arbiter In European territorial dis
putes. She would disdain to take ad.
vantage Of any internal weakness OF
disorder to impose her own will upon
another people. She is quite ready to
be shown that the settlements she has
suggested are not the best or the most
enduring. They are only her W pro
vlstonal sketch Of principles and of
the way In which they should be APP
piled.
but she entered this wal because
she was made q partner. whether she
would or not, In the sufferings and in
dignlties inflicted by the military mas.
tiers of Germany. against the peace
n security Of mankind. and the con-
ditions OF peace will touch her as near
ly as they will touch any other nation
to which is intrusted a leading part
IN the maintenance Of civilization. She
cannot see her way to peace until the
causes of this war are removed, its re-
ney'nl rendered as nearly as may be i'm
possible.
Rights Of Weak Disresarded.
"The war had its roots in the disre-
gard OF the rights Of small nations und
OF nationalities which lacked the union
Il the force to make good their claim
TO determine their own allegiances and
their W forms Of political life.
Covenants must now be entered
Into which will render such things i'm
possible for the future; and those coy-
enants must be backed by the united
force OF all the nations that love Just
Ice and are willing to maintain 1t ut
any cost. If territorial settlements
and the political relations of great
populations which have not the organ
lied power to resist are to be deter
mined by the contracts Of the power.
ful governments which consider them.
selves most directly affected, as Count
Won Hertling proposes. why may not
economic questiones also? 1t has come
about In the altered world In which
we now find ourselves that justice and
the rights Of peoples affect the whole
field OF international dealing as much
as access to raw materials and fair
and equal conditions of trade.
Count Won Hertling wants the es-
sential bases Of commercial and indus.
trial life to be safeguarded BY common
agreement and guaranty, but he cannot
expect that to be conceded him II the
other matters to be determined by the
articles of peace are not handled In the
same way as items In the final &C.
counting.
Separate Paets Barrier.
He cannot ask the benefit Of com.
mon agreement In the one field with.
according 1t in the other. take
1t for granted that he sees that sen.
arate and selfish compacts with regard |
to trade and the essential materials of !
manufacture would afford no founda. |
ton for peace. Neither, he may rest |
assured, will separate and selfish com.
pacts with regard to provinces and |
Count Czernin seems to see the /
fundamental elements of peace with
clear eyes and does not seek to obscure
them. He ees that an independent
Poland, made up Of all the indisputa.
bly, Polish peoples who lie contiguous
one another, ID a matter Of Euro. |
pean concern, and must, Of course, be
conceded; that Belgium must be eva
and restored, no matter what |
and concessions that may in.
volve. and that national aspirations
must be satisfied even within his own
in the common interest Of Eu.
rope and mankind. II he IL silent
about questions which touch the inter-
and purpose Of his allies more
nearly than they touch those Of Aus
tria only. II must Of course he hecouoo |