Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-03-12
SEC.LANSINC
SAYS WORLD
FACESCR|SIS
Urges Speedy Peace and
Aid to Germany to
Check Red Terror.

Paris. Tuesday. March 11.-"Wr
have reached a crisis in the af
fairs Of the world" said Secretar,
Of State Robert Lansing at a ban
quet tonight by the inter-allieC
press club in honor OF the Ameri
can peace commissioners. Mr.
Lansing was emphatic in his state
mont that the allies must feeC
Germany and give the Germans
opportunity to sell their product!
in the foreign markets. IL the dan
ger of Bolshevism was TO be avoid
ed. He pointed out that =, was not
through pity for Germany. but tC
the allies own advantage to see
that anarchy was prevented in the
former German empire. Mr. Lans.
ing said:
1t is always a privilege for az
~American who knows the history
o. his country to be present or
such al occasion as this, where
the mutual friendship Of France
and the United States-a tradition
al friendship nearly a century and
a half-finds expression IN words
and response in our hearts
In the infancy of our republic
across the sea the political and
material aid of France gave the
support which was needed to make
individual liberty the supreme ruI-
er of the destinies of the new born
nation. From that time forward
liberty has been. and still is the
most sacred and most compelling
impulse in political life in Amer
lea.
1t was when the people of the
United States came to a full real
ization that the liberty for which
they had fought and TO which they
owed their power and prosperity
was in danger: when they realized
that France and the great demOc-
racies were imperiled from the at
tack OF an ambitious autocracy
that the nation with unsurpassed
uLanimity took up the sword with
firm determination to do it's part
in freeing liberty and the world
from autocracy.
Germany Suffers RightfulIy.
"A mighty victory has been won.
The imperial armies of the central
LTGey no longer exist. Scattered
and broken. they have returned to
their homes. where hunger and
prtvation await them hunger and
privatiOn which are the conse-
quences Of their own blind faith in
evil men who led them into their
unrighteous war.
Germany has suffered bitterly.
is suffering bitterly. and Germany
is entitled to suffer for what she
has done. She has paid a fearful
penalty for the crime Of plunging
the world into four years of blood
and fire Today starvation and
want are the portions of the Ger
man people. Violence and murder
stalk through the streets of their
great cities. Political institutions.
private enterprise. and the very
structure of society are tottering.
1t is the price of their cwn evil
doing. the just retributiOn of their
crimes
No Pity Exists.
H. We may be disposed 10 pity
tHSse innocent among the Germans
but our pity is almost dried up
when we consider what France
and other nations have had to suf-
fer from the invading armies of
the Teutons. Ten days after
landed in France in December. |
made it my business to visit the
battlefieIds of the Marine, Aisne.
and Champagne. | saw tie ruins of
Chateau-Thierry and Tismes; :
saw the stately and historical ca
thcIra1 Of
the feroCity of the Germa rs: | saw
the SCARED and upturned fields of
Champagne and deserted places
where once had been thriving. hap
py villages: I saw hamiets along
the Marine. whose crumbling walls !
bore witness to the frightfulness
of war. No man could see what | F,
saw in those days without bearing /
a burning Indignation against /
those responsible for such ruins /.
and destruction. without an in /
tense and undying hatred for !
them.
My friends. France has endured /
unspeskable woes with a fortitude /
and determination which excite the
admiration and wonder of the
world. What greater prize can = +
man feel than he who Is able to /
sa!j :! was in the trenches at Yer /
dun I fought at the SOmme' To /
these splendid troops who strug-
gled month after month, and year
after year. without flinching and
with high courage. France and the
wGY1d owe a debt of gratitude |
mich eternal memory of man can
only repay.
Tells Dangers of Red TerrOr.
And. now that the great CON
fict is ended and the mighty war
engine of Prussia is crushed we
have new problems to solve. new
dangers to overcome. East of the
Rhine there are famine and idle
ness; want and misery. POliticai
chaos and oUtlawry have supplant-
ed the highly organized govern
ment of imperial Germany. Social
order is breaking down under the
difficulties of defeat and the hope
iessness of the future. Like the