New-York tribune., 1919-06-17

November II, 1913 was signed, and
that it is peace Of violence and not
of justice. The protest Of the Ger
man delegation shows that they fail
to understand the position in which
Germany stands to-day. They seem
to think that Germany has only to
make sacrifices in order to attain
peace" as if this were but the end
of some mere struggle for territory
and power. The Allied and asso-
ciated powers therefore feel it ne
cessary to begin their reply by
clear statement of the Judgment of
the world which has been forged by
practically the whole of civilized
mankind.
In the view Of the Allied and as
sociated powers, the war which be-
gan on August /, 1914, was the great
est crime against humanity and free
dom of the people that any nation,
calling itself civilized, has ever con-
sciously committed. For many years
the rulers of Germany, true to the
Prussian tradition, strove for a po-
sition of dominance in Europe. They
were not satisfied with that growing
prosperity and influence to which
Germany was entitled, and which all
other nations were willing to ac-
cord her. They required that they
should be able to dictate and tyr
annie over a subservient Europe,
as they dictated and tyrannized over
a subservient Germany.
In order to attain their ends thew
ucnI ~, ~
educate their own subjects of the
doctrine that might was right in in
ternational affairs. They never
ceased to expand German armaments
by land and sea, and to propagate
the falsehood that it was necessary
because Germany's neighbors were
jealous of her prosperity and power.
They sought to show hostility
and suspicion instead of friend
ship between nations. They de-
veloped system of espion-
age and intrigue through which they
were enabled to stir up international
rebellion and unrest and even to
make secret offensive preparations
within the territory of their neigh
bors whereby they might, when the
moment came, strike them down
with greater certainty and ease.
Tells How Germany
Started the War
They kept Europe in ferment bv
threats of violence, and when thew
found that their neighbors were re-
solved to resist their arrogant will
they determined to assist their pre-
dominance in Europe by force. AS
soon as their preparations were COM
plete they encouraged a subservient
ally to declare war on Serbia at
1orty-elght hours notice, war in
volvng the control Of the Balkans.
which they knew could not be To-
callzed, and which was bound to un-
chain a general war. In order to
make doub1y sure, they refused every
attempt at conciliation and confer
ence until it was too late and the
world war was inevitable for which
they had plotted nd for which alone
among the nations they were ade-
quately equipped and prepared.
Germany's sponsibility, however,
IS not confined to having planned and
started the war She is no less re-
sponsible for the savage and inhu-
man manner in which it was con-
Quoted. Though Germany was her
self guarantor of Belgium, she yio-
lated the country after a solemn
promise to respect the neutrality of
this unoffending people. Not content
with this, the Germans deliberately
carried out series of promiscuous
shootings and burnings, with the sole
object of terrifying the inhabitants
into submission by the very fright
fulness of their action.
They were the first to use poison
Gus gas, Notwithstanding the appall-
ing suffering it entailed They began
the bombing and long distance she'll
ing of towns for no military object,
but solely for the purpose of reduc-
ing the morale of their opponents by
striking at their women and children.
They commenced the submarine cam
paign, with it's piratical challenge to
international law and its destruction
Of great numbers of innocent pas
sengers and sailors in midocean, far
from succor, at the mercy of the
winds and the waves, and the vet
more ruthless submarine crews. They
drove thousands of men and women
and children with brutal savagery
into slavery in foreign lands. They
allowed barbarities to bc practised
against their prisoners Of war from
which the most uncivilized people
would have recoiled.
Guilty of Taking
100000 Lives
The conduct Of Germany is almost
unexampled in human history. The
terrible responsibility which lies at
her doors Ean be seen on the fact
that not less than seven million
dead lie buried in Europe, while
more than twenty 1:!!ion others
carry upon them the evidence Of
wounds and suffering, because Ger
many saw fit to crafty her lust for
tyranny by resort to war.
The Allied and associate powers
believe that they will be false to
those who have given their all to
save the freedom of the world If
they consent to treat war on any
other basis than as crime against
humanity and right.
This attitude of the Allied and
associated powers was made perfectly
clear to Germany during the war
by their principal statesmen. It
was defined by President Wilson in
his speech Of April 8, 1918, and ex-
plicitly and categorically accepted