Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-01-24
Justice to All, No Conquest, vii.
son Declares in Address to
Congress.
0eparation TO France for Taking Al.
saee; Free Poland and Autonom.
QUE States In Austria Hungary
Evacuation Of All Russian Ter.
rttory-Beielum Must Be
Freed.

Washington, Jan. 9.--President VIII
son yesterday. addressing congress. de-
fivered a restatement Of war aims In
agreement with the recent declaration
by the British premier, David Lloyd
George.
The president spoke rs 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
5ects Of the war and the possible basis
Of a 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-
scented not only n 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.
"fhe representatives Of the central
powers, on their part, presented On
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 it
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 a perma-
nent addition to their territories and
their power. 1t is a reasonable con.
lecture that the general principles Of
settlement which they at first suggest
ID 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 of.
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.
nifcance. 1t Is also full Of perplexlty.
With whom r the Russian represent.
atives dealing? For whom are the rep.
resentatives Of the central empires
speaking2 Are they speaking for the
majorities Of their respective parlIa.
ments or for the minority parties, that
military and imperialistic minority
which has &C 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, tina,
the conferences they have been hold.
ing with the Teutonic and Turkish
statesmen should be held within open
net closed, doors, and all the world has
been audience as was desired. tt
whom have we been listening then
10 those who speak the spirit and in
BENTON Of the resolutions of the Ger
man reichstag OF the 9th of July last
ne spirit and intention Of the liberia
leaders and parties Of Germany, or I,
those who resist and defy that spirl
Ind intention and insist upon tongues
and subjugation7 Or are we listening
N fact to both unreconciled and II
open and hopeless contradiction
These are very serious and pregnan
questions.
World Peace At Stake.
upon the answer to them depend
the peace Of the world.
'Eut whatever the results Of the pSar
1eys at Brest.Litovsk, whatever tn,
.c~onfuslons Of counsel and Of purpos'
Nn the utterances Of the Spokesman o
the central empires, they have agaIl
attempted to acquaint the world witt
their objects IN the war and hay
lagain challenged their adversarles Il
nay what their objects are and wha
jeort Of settlement they would deeu
Dust and satisfactory.
"There Is no good reason why tim
lchallenge should not be responded (
and responded to with the utmost cur
dor. W. did not walt for 1t. Not Onct
but again and again we have laid on
whole thought and purpose before tn
world, not In general terms only. bu
lesch time with sufficient definition
make It clear what sort Of dennitiv
terms Of settlement must n~ecessaril
pprthg out Of them.