Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-08
A JUDAS PEACE
The Germans Employ Two Forms Of Appeahe Pious and the
Pathehc--but Deceire No One

William Roscoe Thayer. author of the
life of John Hay, has contributed a notable
article to the North American Review for
October from which the following extracts
made;
NLTHEN a swindlcr goes about his work he
w takes it for granted that there is a cer-
tain number of persons whom he dupe
The number may be larger or smaller, but
he is certain that it exists and he sets his
traps to catch as many victims he can
His trap may he simply a gold brick or Il
roll of counterfeit banknotes, II he rreys on
the most gullible; it may be seductive
brokers circular, II he is cunning for per-
sons who have more dollars than wits; or 1t
may he the prospectus of a quack medicine
IL has remained for time to witness the
greatest swindle Of all--that of the cunning
rulers of a vast empire who, in their des-
peration, hope to win by deceit the victory
which they could not win by war. Their
trick IL SO novel that, although we nave peen
put on our guard. we cannot too often expose
it until sure that il has failed.
What Is il they hope to achieve by mem
dacity now? They hope to fool the Nllied
nations into accepting terms of peace by
which not only Prussian miltarsn,. the
ascendancy Of the Junkers, the autocracy OF
the Hohenzollern and the ruthlessness or the
commercial and industrial ring. typifed in
Ballin, shall remain undisturbed. but also
their Middle Europe empire shall stand un-
shaken. How can they expect to accom-
plish this. you may very well ask; now can
any Allied ministers or public men be such
fools as to fall into this obvious German
trap? The answer Is clear: there is prob
ably not an Allied cabinet minister in Europe
or here who is fooled. but they are all in
bondage to public opinion; and II the public
opinion which sways them demands peace
on any terms there is danger that they VIII
listen and submit
So the Germans aim their campaign of
mendacity not against the cabinet officers,
but against the people in the Allied countries.
They count on winning over enough men ana
women to turn the decision in their favor
In short, they reckon that every country
has a large number of dupes. Are you one?
When their propaganda reaches you in some
sly and seductive disguise. are you the sort
of person who will he caught by 1t? Shall
You say: THAT sounds reasonable and Just
why shouldn't it be carried OUT?
APPARENTLY the Germans have decided
"A to employ two forms of appeal-the pious
and the pathetic, They have already begun
to work several varieties of plous appeal, all
of which are based on the New Testament
and the doctrines of Christ. Months ago
clergymen, who were secretly pro-German
or pacihst, began to utter In many parts OF
this country the warning that as christ bids
US to love our neighbors when the time
comes to end the war we must not be harsh
or vlndictive toward the Germans, but must
forget and forgive their crimes ana atroci-
ties. Even admitting that the Germans did
wrong. they continue, we must take them
back into our confidence and esteem other
wise we should do wrong, and two wrongs
| do not make a right. In the parable OF the
prodigal son did not Jesus teach that the
| sinner must not only be forgiven, but feasted
and made much of?
| When | have dissented from this applca-
| tion of Christs parable | have been asked by
ministers whose sincerity was above suspl-
| con: But must not distinguish between
| the crime and the criminal? Can we not
| love the criminal though we hate his crime?"
| who endeavor to make this distinction
| usually minimize the crime and whitewash
| the criminal. They leave on their congrega-
tion the impression that after all We must
| not be too hard on the Germans, they are 50
| much like the rest of us.
For half century past mawkish senti-
| mentalists have WINGED at seeing justice
done; they send flowers to atrocious crimi-
| nails in prison or sign petitions 10 have them
| pardoned and released They lay stress on
| any trife to extenuate. to palliate. to excuse.
| Unless the respect for justice be quckened
| morals will vanish from among men. for
| justice is the backbone OF morals and with
| out morals civilization dies
| What shall we say. them for those per-
sons who urge or insidiousy suggest that
| we hold back the hand of Justice when we
| come to the great day OF reckoning with
| Germany They would make us abetters OF
the most awful criminals in history and