The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-03-04
MIST M0MENT0US HOUR IN
HISTORY OF ALL HUMANITY

cfotoy VI 1eooSCdu 10 Ill OuI ON VI
Declaration of Independence. Lafay-
cite brought not merely the brave
soldiers OF France to aid in securing
freedom, but he brought that enthus
iasm for liberty and human rights
that helped inspire our own revolt
tionary soldiers. Thus does it seem
that France is the natural battlefield
Of human liberty.
II see before me my personal
friends and fellow citizens. We ask
each other in all candor Is France
today the battlefield upon which is
to be fought the issue as to our own
liberty. If 1t is, we then can face
with resolute heart and determined
purpose the necessary sacrifices for
that great cause. In such event, we
are justified in undergoing the trials
and grief that we know the next few
years has in store for us.
IF it is true that liberty and the
welfare of our sons and daughters and
their children and all posterity to the
remotest generations are to be Sc.
cured by these sacrifices, we can
then reconcile ourselves to the ter
rible ordeal
. No Vain Sacrifice.
Those who go to face the fury OF
our foe and undergo as much OF hell
as this earth can ever witness, may
then know that their sacrifices are
not in vain. And if they feel In their
hearts that the welfare of those that
they hold dear is at stake, there are
no dangers too terrible, nor sacrifices
too great for them to undertake. They
then know that if in the raging con-
t,t 80 I To- 49, h~
fury Of the battlefield, they find
been one of those lived in vain but
their blood the greatest cause to
which a long life could have been de-
voted
Can we bring ourselves and our
sons to so view this great conflict?
ut Is useless for me to recite the
details OF this war, known SO well
from the pages of our daily press. l
have not the time nor you the in
clination to enter upon the details
of that narrowing narrative. I de-
sire this afternoon to look at this
war in some Of it's larger relations.
ut Is its historic setting which
marks indelibly it's character. 1t Is
not SO much my purpose today to dis.
cuss the German people as 1t Is their
rulers. There is no particular pur-
pose in discussing the people OF a
a nation that do not rule that nation.
Best People Gone.
do you know it is a fact that OF
the German people the best and
noblest do not live in Germany? The
best people of Germany forsook her
a generation ago. The spirit OF lib
erty was alive in Germany 100 years
ago. The principles cast abroad by
the French revolution and the desire
OF overthrowing kings and despots
had fallen upon not entirely barren
ground in Germany. When the day
Of the invader came and the triumph.
ant armies Of Napoleon marched at
will throughout the kingdom Of Prus-
STA, Frederick William III was on the
throne. He was a Hohenzollern; he
had many of the characteristics OF
that interruptions family. Above all,
he had the traditions OF Frederick
the Great. and his principles OF state
craft.
"Frederick William III. when in de-
NaDoleon, begged his people to make
every sacrifice; he promised them
large measure Of freedom; Of partioi-
patton in government and even what
seemed a constitutional form; and
vet a few years later when the peril
was paAged and his throne assured.
he proceeded to conniye with that
arch william, Metternich, to defeat the
will of the people OF Prussia and the
other German states.
'"The congress OF Vienna. held aft
er the downfall of Napoleon degen-
Grated into conspiracy against pop
ular rights in Europe. The king OF
Prussia, the emperor OF Austria and
the czar OF Russia were the CHIEF
conspirators under the guidance OF
the willy Metternich. The appearance
of liberty was upheld but not Its sub
stance. The German states were
promised constitutional forms OF gov
eminent and the participation OF the
people in its affairs.
throughout the balance OF the
reign of Frederick William III until
his death in 1910, the people of Prus-
sia and the German states expert
enced one long course of hope de-
ferred.
"The king suggested on occasions
that his commission to rule came
from on high. Upon his death, Fred
erick William " at once made fair
promises and appeared to recognize
an obligation to the people Of Prussia
to Give them participation in its gov
eminent. But the longer he exercis'
ed autocratic power, the more re-
luctant he was to grant any popular
rights and in 1s47 at convention
of delegates sent by the German
states for the purpose OF considering
matters of revenue. he told them he
would not tolerate constitutional
form Of government. He declared
that it was his purpose to rule in ac-
cordance with his own judgment and
that he would not be subservient to
the will of majorities. His obligations
he owed to God and not to the GEL
man people One year later, when
the tempest was again raging III
France and popular rights were re-
asserting themselves, the contagion
spread to Prussia. Barbados were
formed in the streets of Berlin; con-
flicts took place between the troops