The Washington times., 1919-01-29
@. B. Shan Tells How
Britain Barred Plot
To Destroy Germany

tion Germany has wrought by in
vaslons, raids and submarine piracy.
Demand Murder of Kaiser.
The blackguards of England, q
noisy and not, l hope, numerous
body, which has been tolerated and
encouraged during the war to a dis
graceful and dangerous extent, are
openly demanding the murder of the
Kaiser, the sack of every German
town and the subsequent enslsve-
ment of the German people by i'm
possible ransoms for centuries to
come.
1t is easy to tell these people that
we were stronger and cleverer than
ihe Germans, and that the press
photograph of the British Lion as
Ialf sheep, half donkey, was a fake.
t is less popular to tell them that
ne German Devil is Just as absurd
fable as. the British Angel. ..
They want to revel in the con-
ciousness Of being victorious, sue
'esSful and Notwithstanding hum
ugs, If you will, but mighty crafty
orn rulers Of men-yet they do not
Jant to give the Germans fair play.
hey want moral excuses for skin
ing them alive, and on this point
ey must be resolutely tackled and
I'D back and made to behave them
elves.
If no British statesman has cour-
age and character enough to bully
them, Mr.. Wilson must. If not, they
will produce a world situation in
which anti-British combinations will
be formed which / dare not describe
in detail, for they might spring into
being at the flourish of a pen, if
that pen were too explicit.
Suffice 1t to say that the destruc-
ton Of Germany's prestige has left
the British Empire in the position
formerly held by her defeated foe,
namely, that of the most dangerous
and dreaded Imperial Power left in
the world. And as America has
helped to place her there. it is now
necessary to go carefully into Amer
ica's position in the matter.
Says Wilson Is Out of Court.
1t is clear that Mr.. Wilson cannot
60 into the Peace Conference on the
pretenses the American press has
picked up from the English press.
The ultimatum to Serbia, the viola
tiOn Of the neutrality Of Belgium, the
attack on France may be plausible
points in the case Of Britain, who
went to war the moment Belgium
was invaded, but the United States
did not move in the matter, and is,
therefore, out of court as far as
these particular counts in the indict-
ment against Germany are concerned.
l., myself, made an appeal to the
United States, in the form Of an
open letter to President Wilson, in
1914, in which, while carefully dis
claiming the case founded on the
treaty Of 1889, which l knew could
not be sustained, suggested that
the United States should intervene
on behalf of Belgium on grounds OF
common humanity. But the United
States remained out of the war and
made a great deal of money out Of
the war until the submarine cam
paign produced a situation in which
neutrality was no longer possible.
In this the United States behaved
very prudently. They were able to
give invaluable assistance to the
allies as neutrals. When they drew
the sword at last they were able to
come in as the determining factor in
the conflict, and thus make them
selves the holders Of the balance Of
power.
In the meantime they had rid
themselves Of all their financial in
debtedness to Europe and compelled
England to admit them to an i'm
mensely increased share of the car
rying trade. They had strengthened
the moral position Of republicanism
greatly by production, at the right
moment, of man who, like Wash
ington and Lincoln, easily dominates
the situation as the spokesman OF
the highest ideals, whilst British and
French democrats could not rise
above the rhetoric Of the prize ring
and the slop Of the cinema subtitle. |
Posing as knight Errant.
Yet even as England, with a very
strong case and a still stronger
hand, had discounted both the |
strength of her case and the prestige !
of her strength by substituting a |
ridiculous melodrama for the truth, !
the United States seem equally in
capable of understanding their own
position and equally determined to
pose as the Knights Errant of the
distressed damsels who have been |
rescued from the dungeons of Kaiser
Bill, the Demon Enchanter of Hun
land.
They will have it that their swords
leaped from their scabbards to
svenge Edith Cavell and that the
tearing up of the scrap of paper,
now repudiated by the Belgians
themselves in the hour of their
triumph, was to them as the rending
of the veil of the temple.
All this is very silly and would
make Mr.. Wilson very ridiculous at
Versailles If he attemnted IN i'm,