Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1919-01-01
The Peace
Table and After
NO. 5
A Ring of Iron or Ring of PuttyP
By CLARENCE l.. SPEED

Committee of the Union League Club Of
| Chicago) ..s
The same Germany which, only a
few months ago, seemed near to sue
cess in IN effort to dominate the
world by force of arms, will he in eX~
istence when the peace treaty is sign
| ed. 1t may not have the same rul-
| ers, but it will be inhabited by the
same people--peopIe who long have be-
| lieved that military and political ex-
panSiOn. should be coupled with COM
mercial expansion.
This Germany will be surrounded
by ring of nations not one of which.
| alone, can compare even with deteat-
ed Germany in wealth and Industrial
power.
Whether this ring Of nations shall
| be ring Of iron to resist German
aggression in the future of ring OF
putty in German hands rests partly
on the action to be taken at the peace
conference, but more upon the future
policy of the United States and the
great nations which have been aSsoci-
ated with her in war in reference to
continued support Of the states now
about to emerge from centuries Of OPP
preston as result of the great war.
Greatest Peril on the East.
OF Belgium, Of France, Of Italy.
there is no doubt Come what may
they may be depended upon to make the
western part. of the circle strong as
iron to resist German expansion.
It is on the eastern side Of the cir
Gle that the greatest peril remains
peril that the nations which are to
be set up may in time become not
barriers to German expansion, but
mere tools in her hands!
Among these will be Poland. which
has suffered deeply under the iron
heel of German despotism; Czecho-
SlOvakia, which. for centuries. has
groaned beneath the Hapsburg yoke;
Ukrainia. which. during the war, es-
capped from the power Of the car only
to be subjected to worse oppression;
Roumania. which was driven perilous-
ly close to destruction in an effort to
rescue the Roumanians outside her
border from Magyar tyranny; Jugo-
Slavia, and finally there will be indie
pendent Hungary composed of head.
strong and warlike people who have
been in close alliance with the Teu-
tons.
Grab Planned by Germany.
Germany herself. even while SEEM
ingly victorious. planned nominal in.
dependence for at least two of these
states-Poland and Urkrainia, but they
were to be thoroughly dominated by
German rulers until such time as it
might he convenient to absorb them
outright. Defeated Germany will seek
| at the peace table to bring about con-
ditions which will prevent them from
| obtaining full economic independence.
| and reconstructed Germany, whether
| 1t be republic or empire, will seek COM
mercial dominance in all these lands.
It remains for the United States and
| the entente allies to see that these ma
tons not only are set up, but that
their governments are firmly establish
ed and their peoples given an oppor-
tunity to take their place in the indus
trial life of the world. This means
that money must be provided In the
shane of national loans TO the new
governments and in the form Of pri-
Dvate capital for the development Of
natural resources.
Ships must be provided for the
development OF commerce to and from
their ports, and ports must be proYid-
ed to harbor the ships. This latter
necessity is one which offers the first
prospect not only Of difficulty with
Germany but. perhaps. between some
of the allies Themselves. No German
government whether il he imperial or
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. will consent, I'M
less it is forced. to grant Poland
port on the Baltic, yet Poland must
have such a port II II is to be really
independent of Germany. This means
that East Prussia rIust be cut off from
the remainder Of Germany by a neck
of land reaching M to the Baltic, or
Poland will be economically strangled.
Must Aid czecho-siovakia.
Ukrainia will have its commercial
outlet through the Black Sea. There
can be no possibility of a port for
Czecho- Slovakia. This country is es-
sentially inland, but, If the allies give
proper support. its commercial outlets
NAV be through lands hostile to Ger
man expansion.
As regards Jugo-Slavia it remains
for the peace conference to decide
whether this rejuvenated land shall
| have suitable access to the Adriatf
or be driven back to dependence on
Germany by Italy depriving 1t OF its
logical outlets to the sea.
There are hundred million or more
peopIe in these border states to the
east. If all can he welded into bhr-
monious chain, every link tempered to
resist German aggression. the barrier
TO German expansion to the east VIII
held. This is gigantic tasE--one
which only a league of nations can
perform-becauSe Germany is the
nearest neighbOr of these lands.
German political ideas have not
perished in the war even II the Ger
man government has been overturned,
German industry and thrift remain.
and with them there is still tn" old
Prussian idea Of superiority over 9th
crs and the belief that might alone
,,,o,-os ri,rb+ II v,ilI he necessary for