The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-22


can't trust a German as far as you
can see him! To save himself he will
sign anything, swear to anything
and then try to better his situation in
his ordinary insidious, lying. cowardly,
but intensely clever and tenacious
mapner-so that he may afterward.
grown strong again, impose his will BY
force.
Did not the German officers leav-
ing Strasbourg the other day say
that they would be back in five
years? Were not the returning Ger
man troops greeted in Berlin tho
other day as victorious troops-not
beaten by the Allies? The Germans,
most of them. believe that.
But we Allies are not fools. My
guess Is that they won't fool us. They
have done so once. They are all try
ing their hardest to do so again: to
realize this completely, even from over
here, is not difficult. think. The
destruction they wrought was so COM
plete that nothing remains; even the
fruit trees have been cut down; and
the misery OF all our. poor people of
the north is indeed terrible.
Christmas I'm Two Countries.
THE German soldiers, going back
to their homes after having ravaged
our poor country. find their home fires
burning. They will have their jolly
Christmas dinner in their fine and
pleasure loving towns. They plead
that they have nothing TO eat and are
terribly miserable. Ono way or the
other, think that cowardly pleading
OF theirs is perfectly disgusting when
you read. according to your own cor
respondent, of what is going OH in
Coblenz, Colonge. the Rhine towns
and then think of our dead cities,
Reims. Arras. Louvain. Ypres, &c.
and OF all the sufferings, the torture,
that the Germans inflicted on US for
more than four years.
mo. indeed; in most homes Of the
invaded countries, In that land which
was the battlefield of the world, there
| are no homo fires burning this Christ
mas. The armiStice has been signed
Peace will perhaps come too-but II
will still be misery and desolation and
sadness there.
1t Will take long years to rebuild
the homes OF our poor, suffering refu-
gees, and to alleviate their misery. 1t
Will take long years OF hard work,
and, indeed. very much money, to re-
build our plants. our factories-to re-
plant our orchards-to give our golden
northern country, the richest in
France before the war. a little OF its
ante-bellum aspect and possibilities
We know we can count, rely, on Amer
| lean help in doing all this. You came
! to us as Lafayette and France OF old
came to you in your need, and we
| know that you realize that II is not
sufficient 10 sign an arnistice. a scrap
| of-papcr peace, and then suppose that
| the safety OF the world Is assured
| that all tho wars wrongs are rightcL
! that all miseries are assuaGed.
Struggle Not Yet Over.
"No. You know as We know thai
We have still practically all the work
before us. We made war to make the
world n decent place to live in We
| made war so that our common ideals
OF Justice and freedom should pre-.
| dominate henceforth. We made wal
| 81 thdb tIl WEOiSuOerS should DE Sc
verely punished. all wrongs repaired
all miSeries alleviated. We must see
that this work is done thoroughly
! This is the work for and In which
! millions Of our boys have laid dowr
their lives. Remains with US to carry
on TIL the end is attained.
I'VE owe 1t to our martyrs TO see
that, in a phrase OF your great Lin.
coin, these honored dead shall not
have died In vain Let us, then, q
on fighting the Boches in our coun,
tries as we did at the front. They
are more terrible in their propa ganda
offensive than on the battlefield.
America, 10 us In France, appear,
as the mother OF everything nobl,
and good Our reception Of YOU
President, representing tho American
people, in Paris shows il plainly. II
the heart OF every FrenChman Their,
stands an ever growing love for ON
American brothers ana their free
country.
81 have told you OF our toc,ng FOL
your soldiers. : wish TO say also how