The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1918-12-25
THE sLAv LANDS OF CENTRAL EUROPE.



The causes OF friction which brought
the war about so that the world will
not have to live under the constant
menace OF future aggression. They
must readjust boundaries, not as ma
tionai pride or prejudice would die.
tate. but on tho basis OF full justice
to the Inhabitants of the territories
involved. II they do not the world
war with all It's misery and all Its
sacrifices will have been In vain.
The representatives Of the allies AZ
the peace conference win find many
obstacles In their way. Some of these
will come from the German side. the
diplomats Of the central powers seek
ing always to retail ~ much az pos
sible Of the unfair advantages their
governments had before the war and of
the gains they made during the early
part Of the struggle. Other obstacles
possibly the greatest-Day come
from the conflicting aspirations Of the
nations which have fought on the al
lied side.
Compromises Are Likely.
All Of these must be harmonized.
Compromises, no doubt. win have to
be made In some instances, but the
ends Of Justice must always be kept
first In mind. n this Is not done the
peace settlements viii be like
other settlements which have ended
wars in the past. The rights Of peo-
-, - ~,.A - a. r.
OF rulers and the treaty OF peace will
be only 4 stepping stone to strife.
The destinies of. roughly speaking,
a hundred million persons who, at the
beginning OF the war, either had no
separate political rights or were In
hahitants Of nations so small as to have
little weight In European councils, must
be fixed around the peace table. These
people are mostly OF Slavic stock.
They embrace the Let's. Lithuanians.
Poles. Czecho- Slovaks, Little Russians
or Ukrainians Roumanians and Jugo-
Slavs. including the heroic Serbians.
siav Lands Suffer Much.
All of these lands shown on the map
above, have suffered cruelty from the
war-more cruelty than during the
weary ages which preceded 1t. All
must FIRST be fed or their desperate
populations may be driven to anarchy.
All must be helped to establish order
and guided along the path Of seif-gov-
eminent All must be given financial
and economic assistance until they are
shfn 70 sfsnA an fhoiv (>>t
II this is not done Il is certain that
all Of these lands viii, In time, again
fall into the clutches Of Germany. II
will not do to conclude that Germany,
because her armies for the moment
are defeated and disorganised. no long.
er IL to be considered q factor in the
economic and political life Of the
world.
Socialists Are n-osmans.
The German government. ut this
writing. appears to be under the con-
troll OF socialist groups who will bit
terly oppose any return to the auto
cratic form. But these same socialist
leaders who now direct the German
government were at the outbreak Of
the war and. In fact, ~ to . very
few weeks before Its close. Just as
PAN German ~ the kaiser himself or
his junker advisers who now are 20
cordially hated.
The workers Of Germany-the so
c1alists now In contrsi sf the govern
ment-nust lock to the sutals world
for the raw materials - kesp their
mills bvsy and they nust fhswtse ieek
beyond the boundaries 81 their eoun-
Try for markets In which - zen their
surplus production Pc M pears Z
tssy have been taught tAA. Further,
tAey have besn taught nat Ne way -
get supplies Of raw materials from