Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1939-11-16
Armistice Speaker
Reviews History
Continued from Page -


and had gotten us up there in the
first place through mistaken ideal
ism and mistaken patriotism. One
look at a battlefield and then re-
membering the true things of life
taught us at mothers knee, remem-
bering the tender philosophy of the
sermon on the mount, the tenets and
precepts of the Christian faith as
CLEANED from the great reservoir of
that faith, remembering the Ten Com
mandments which among other things
tells us that 'Thou shalt not kill,
thou shalt not steal or covet thy
neighbours goods; one look at a
battlefield and we saw that war did
all of those things and therefore vio-
lated the teachings of Christianity
and was incompatible with the
teachings of Jesus Christ.
1t Could Have Been Different.
Now it was not only the men of
our army that saw these things, but
the men of all armies clearly saw
them. The clarion cry that came
out of the trenches of the World war
was that of "let us live and let live"
and we know that if the men who
did the fighting and dying up there
had been permitted to write the
treaty of Versailles different order
would have been inaugurated.
But theirs was not the choice
nor were they even consulted. No
representative for the millions of dead
was ever permitted to enter the
gilded hall of mirrors where the treaty
of Versailles was written, nor as we
shall see, was theirs the philosophy
that prevailed there. Sixty-four mil
lion men from various nations of the
world took part in that war and
11,422,738 died on the battlefields of
that war. The total casualty list
resulting from that war was 33, 487,-
684, yet when the war was over, four
men, four puny little men from the
four strong powers of England,
France, Italy and the United States
were permitted to sit down and write
that treaty. A treaty which not only
made the world safe for future wars,
but on their own admission guaran-
teed them.
The Treaty Makers.
What kind of men were these four?
What was their background? Glenn
enceau of France, who presided, was
a former newspaper reporter and
noted atheist who by sheer power
of personality had elevated himself
to the premiership of France. Lloyd
George, WEIGH politician, who by
grace of the fact that his ideas COIN
cided with the conservative imperial
ism of England, represented England.
Premier Orlando represented Italy.
A man of nobler lineage and mein
than the other two. However, he was
there only as collecting agent for
Italy and finally Woodrow Wilson,
A former college professor and then
president of the United States rep
resented this nation. Wilson, as we
know, was a man of noble ideals and
committed to noble experiments. But
he was unskilled in diplomacy and
chose for his advisor, Americas Ras-
putin, Colonel House, a Shiny con-
temptible pro-BritiSher, who togeth-
er with Walter Hines Page, Amer
ica's Ambassador to Great Britain,
had helped sell us into that war in
the first place.
Those were the men, and after the
horror and terrible carnage of that
war, one would have thought they
might remember ST. Paul's sermon
anent the qualities of mercy. But
apparently they didn't for the kind
of mercy they showed was as Shake
speare said, pretty well strained
When these four men sat down to
corral the spoils of victory from that
war it became at once clear that
Italy and Japan were not really
allies of France and England in the
true sense of the word, but simply
hired hands who had been promised
payment in other peoples posses
.sions and goods for their participa-
ton in that war.
Payment in Others Possessions.
No clearer insight into the caliber
of men who promote wars need ever
be given than can be shown right
here, for it became evident that the
war was fought for other peoples
possessions, that none of the rulers
of nations told their people the true
aims of their governments in that
war and that the armies of all ma
tons were victimized by sham, hy-
pocrisy and war propaganda to do
the fighting and the dying in that
war of imperialism.
Italy, it developed, had been prom
ised other peoples possessions in
Istria, Dalmatia, Abyssinia and the
Port of Fiume. However on the
Port of Fiume proposition Wilson
baked and Orlando left the confer
ence at the advise of his king. How
ever, he returned the following spring
when Lloyd George and Clemenceau
had given Italy their personal word
that they would see to it that Italy
got this port. This agreement was
not lived up to, nor was the agree
ment regarding Abyssinia, and as we
now know, Italy has later taken all