The Elbert County tribune. [volume] (Elbert, Elbert County, Colo.) 18??-1920, 1918-05-31

You cannot tell what man is a spy
today. You cannot tell the sort Of
clothes he will wear, what may be
his rank or ctation in life. what may
be his real ambition. his real aim in
life. He may speak German alone, or
broken English. or many tongues flu
emily. Buff any assurance be
needed after the long list of ircen-
diary fires, OF incendiary explosions,
Of losses of ships. of buildings, of
manufacturing plants through tho
treachery of ''German-Americans" Iiv-
ing this side the water-you may be
sure of one thing: That same secret
diplomacy, that same treachery, that
same faithlessness, which broke open
Russia for Germany and took Russia
off the firing line for us; that same
treachery which broke down the first
italian army at the Isonzo; that same
German treacherous diplomacy which
was undertaken at Washington; that
same treachery of the German guest
at the American table which has
marked that faithless nation all these
years-that same unvarying principle,
In the form of practical German
propaganda for the German cause.
exists all through the United States
today. The country is honeycombed
with German spies. 1t is time wasted
to have too much sympathy with them
or those who back them and inspire
them.
Washington sent 1900 alien enemies
out of the city limits not long ago.
In Chicago court recently there were
more than 100 alien enemies on trial
at one time. These are men whom we
may call bolsheviki In America. They
are doing all they can to undermine
this government. They are doing all
they can here. there, and everywhere,
In countless ways. In countless places,
to kill the American enthusiasm for
this war and the American confidence
In our ability to win this war.
Those Worse Than Traitors.
This propaganda Is an enormous
thing and a tremendously dangerous
thing. Any man who countenances it,
any man who apologies for these trail
tors, Is himself worse than q traitor
to his country today. He sides with
the murderers of innocent women and
children. He Endorses the German sub
| marine, the German bombing of nom
combatant towns. the use of liquid fire
In war, and gas In war-all those
abominable contrivances Of cowartiIce
with which Germany has attempted to
impose her will upon the civilized por-
ton Of the world.
We Americans don't know how
many American troops there are on
French soil today - but Germany
knows; be sure of that. There is no
great move made here, nor any small
move of military preparation, which
Germany does not know as well as we
do, or better. There has never been
In the history Of the world so COM
plete campaign of perfidy and
treachery and undetermined faithless-
ness us Germany has shown to the
civilized world In this war. Why be
patient with it7 Why not root 1t outf
Why not call spade spade. a spy
n spy7 And why not give to the spies
the things that we owe to spies2
have heard the mayor Of a very
big city-and mayor for more than
one term. too-sit laughing at table
and say, Just bsfore one Of his cam
paigns, "What do care for the Amer
lean voter To - with It'll want
the German votel"
| Well, he got the German vote. He
was elected. He could be elected again
by the German vote. But fancy that
by and by 1t is going to be the ques-
ton Of a good many of our Knownoth-
ings. What Is the American vote1
Does that really need to include the
spy '0'e' H.
America is being stabbed In the
back all the time by traitors and by
spies. 1t is not only the sort Of rough.
neck spy who blows up a munition
plant or wrecks railroad train. It is
the shrewder ard more Machiavellian
spy who attempts to wreak yet greater
ruin on US by undermining our own
national spirit, by instilling feeling
of distrust of the government, of the
administration, OF our army, of our
country, of our aims and purposes in
this war.
| Our aims and purposes In this war
are ratified by practically the entire
world outside of the central powers Of
| Europe. If we had no other reason
in the world to go to war except the
sinking of the Lusitania. that reason
alone were reason enough.
The horrors Of the German practices
in France and Belgium are now being
| placed gingerly before our American
readers. A few of the writing men Of
this country have had these facts In
incontestable form. illustrated, proveo
| attested by chapter and verse and line
and word any time these months and
Ypnrs So far as these awful things