The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1918-01-17
Justice to All, No Conquest, VIII
son Declares in Address to
Congress.
IA DEMANDS BY AMERICA
Reparation to France for Taking Al
SAGE; Free Poland and Autonom-
Gus States in Austria-Hungary-
Evacuation of All Russian Ter
ritory-8elelum Must Be
Freed.


son yesterday, addressing congress, de-
livered n restatement of war aims In
agreement with the recent declaration
by the British premier, David Lloyd
George.
The president spoke as follows:
Gentlemen of the Congress: Once
more, as repeatedly before, the spokes-
men Of the central empires have indi-
Gated their desire TO discuss the OBJ
jects Of the war and the possible basis
of general peace.
"Parleys have been in progress at
Brest-Litovsk between representatives
of the central powers to which the
attention of all the belligerents has
been invited, for the purpose of ascer-
tanning whether 1t may be possible to
extend these parleys into a general
conference with regard to terms of
peace and settlement.
Presented Definite Statement.
"The Russian representatives pre-
sented not only a perfectly definite
statement of the principles upon which
they would be willing to conclude
peace, but also an equally definite pro-
gram of the concrete application Of
those principles.
''The representatives of the central
powers, on their part, presented an
outline of settlement which, If much
less definite, seemed susceptible of lib
eral Interpretation until their specific
program of practical terms was added.
THE program proposed no conces-
sions at all, either to sovereignty Of
Russia or to the preferences of the
population with whose fortunes II
dealt, but meant, in a word, that the
central empires were to keep every
foot of territory their armed forces had
occupied-every province, every city,
every point Of vantage-as perma-
nent addition to their territories and
their power. II is a reasonable con-
lecture that the general principles Of
settlement which they at first suggest
ed originated with the more liberal
statesmen of Germany and Austria,
the men who have begun to feel the
force Of their own peoples thought
and purpose, while the concrete terms
of actual settlement came from the
military leaders, who have no thought
but to keep what they have got. The
negotiations have been broken off.
Full of Significance.
"The Russian representatives were
sincere and in earnest. They cannot
entertain such proposals of conquest
and domination.
"The whole incident is full of sig
niflcance. 1t is also full of perplexity.
With whom are the Russian represent
atives dealing? For whom are the rep
resentatives of the central empires
speaking? Are they speaking for the
majorties of their respective parlia-
ments or for the minority parties, that
military and imperialistic minority
which has so far dominated their
policy and controlled the affairs of
Turkey and of the Balkan states which
have felt obliged to become their asso-
ciates in this war?
"The Russian representatives have
insisted, very justly, very wisely, and
in the true spirit of democracy, that
the conferences they have been hold
ing with the Teutonic and Turkish
statesmen should be held within open.
not closed, doors, and all the world has
been audience as was desired. To
whom have we been listening then
To those who speak the spirit and in
| tention of the resolutions of the Ger
man reichstag on the 9th of July last.
the spirit and intention of the liberal
leaders and parties of Germany, or TO
those who resist and defy that spirit
and intention and insist upon conquest
and subiugatlon2 Or are we listening
i'm fact to both unreconciled and I'm
open and hopeless contradiction ,
These are very serious and pregnant
questions.
World Peace at Stake.
Upon the answer to them depends
the peace of the world.
But whatever the results of the par
leys at Brest-Litovsk, whatever the
COMMISSIONS of counsel and of purpose
in the utterances of the spokesman of
the central empires, they have again
attempted to acquaint the world with
their objects in the war and have
again challenged their adversaries to
say what their objects are and what
sort of settlement they would deem
just and satisfactory.
There is no good reason why that
challenge should not be responded to
and responded to with the utpuast ,an-
dor. We did not walt for Il. Not once.
but again and again we have laid our
whole thought and purpose before the
world. not in general terms only, but
each time with sufficient definition TO
make 1t clear what sort of definitive
terms Of settlement must necessarily
spring out Of them