The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1918-01-24

decided to have great numbers Of sim
ple-minded men under their orders go
out and kill their fellow men. and con-
tinue to kill them In order to increase
the power Of the plOtters. The great
majority Of the men who did the actual
killing would obtain no benefit what
ever for themselves, and many Of these
German soldiers might have brought
little enthusiasm to their task II they
had understood II, so they were told
that they were fighting for the "exist-
ence" Of the ''Fatherland" and that
Russia began 1t" and England be.
gan it"
OF course, d government which be.
lieves in violating oaths-that is, vio-
lating the honor Of the nation which
1t represents or controls-such a gov.
ernment would lie to its own people.
(It made Germany perJurer, for the
German government stands before the
world as Germany and acts as and for
Germany-until the German people re
move 1t, and only by removing it can
Germans regain for Germany some
thing Of lost honor.) This govern.
ment deceived its own people first
about the immediate causes Of the
war, then about the historical causes
of the war, and then most vehemently
about the character and intentions Oi
the allies opposed to Germany.
Germanys Lies.
Is there a doubt anywhere that the
German rulers will lie, In any manner
whatsoever, If they believe the lie will
result to their own advantagef Their
take one lie with which they havG
filed Germany: That the president Of
the United States and the American
congress, with the American people
behind them, declared the United
States to be in a state of war with the
German empire because the American
munition makers wanted to make
more money, and Mr.. ]. P. Morgan
was afraid of the depreciation Of his
loans to Englandi
There are two significant things
about this lie. One is the state Of
mind of the German politician who
puts it forth, and the other is the state
of mind of the unfortunate German
subject who believes it. The politician
must necessarily count on an abysma,
| ignorance as well as q loyal credulity
in the subject; and the politician who
uses such lies is Of type we know
in our own country, in certain lower
forms of slum-precinct manipulation
But in Germany this type-better ed
ucGted, incomparably more powerful
but nevertheless the moral twin of, one
of our corrupt precinct committeeman
Of the slumS-is in actual high cOntro
of the German destiny and has as its
obedient machine, not ward heelers
from the barrel houses, but the mos
terrible army known in history. Ant
if the German spirit truly manifestS
itself through such an agency, it is 6
spirit so sinister and Of such mighty
i'll omen to us that we must either ex
orcise it by high explosives or be it
slaves.
Voice From Germany.
For this is the voice that we heal
from Germany:
1--WE Germans" It trumpetS, "w'
are Gods chosen people. His specia
favorites, and God is German himself
God rules over US in the person Of oul
kaiser, whom he appointed for tina
purpose. We are better than all Othel
people Of the earth; we are wiser ant
purer and nobler and more industriOu:
and more learned and stronger ant
cleverer and kinder and braver ant
more spiritual and more warlike thai
all others.
eve are so much greater than the!
that whatever we do to advance Oul
own interests, at the cost of theirs, |:
right and praiseworthy. If we kill
great many of them, those who survive
will in the end be improved, because
they will work for US and learn some
thing by observing US. Any deceit 1!
proper and morally correct If it bene
fits us; and when we practice polio!
Of terror upon those who oppose us 1
is really philanthropy and shows how
gentle we are, because the survivors
learn through our cruelty that it Il
useless to oppose us, therefore they thu
sooner submit their wills to ours. w
cannot do wrong, no matter what w
do, so long as all that we do is for oul
own benefit. And, since our nature Il
warlike, war is beautiful and neces
sary. We study in peace times how tt
use every man Of US in time of war
and that is our great glory. By oul
bright swords we will take possession
of the earth, which ought to belong
to us, because we are Germans. W.
believe in the heaviest possible breed
ing of babies, that they may grow VI
and be trained to carry liquid fire anC
poison against any opposition to us
And, all the same, we are the only rea
peace lovers In this malign and preju
diced world, which, except for us anC
the Austrians and the Bulgarians anC
the Turks, is composed exclusively O
stupid rufians who were so jealous
and envious Of US that they forcet
this war upon US, hoping to make SOM
money out Of us by annihilating us
We love peace, and are fighting for ou
mere exiStence-that is, the right t
adjust our frontiers so that they will
include the countries which we hav'
conquered by the sword. For instance
we must never again be threatened b!
an invasion through Belgium. W.
prepared for this war as no cOuntr!
ever before prepared-not even in 1870
when we made war on France-and w
were forced to begin it because w
had to begin it before somebody els
/