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OAkOLJJfA. THVRSDJf DECEMBER 97, 1917.
*0. 94
THIS WORLD WAR AND OUR
PART IN IT.
CHARGE TO TO THE GRAND JURY IN FOR.
SYTH COUNTY RY JUDGE ADAMS.
HMwt Ganmmm RwWs Mm W
Why this world war? Why are Um
Mntnl European empires Um enemy
of foar-flfths of ths world? Why la
Ciinny the enemy of oar country,
the kaiser our anthronad antagonist ^
These questions ara (till asked by pee
Ha «* fair intelligence. In seeking an
answer wa moat consider tha imperial
Carman government— ita adminiatra
tion. and ita ulUmaU object; for Ger
many's "allies" art Germany'» vsssals.
Tha Germaa empire ia a fadaral
state mada ay of fair kingdoms, Purs
aia3avaria,Saxony and Warttemburg
—aix grand-duches, lira duchies, mm
principalities, three free cttie* and tha
imperial domain of A lace-Lorraine.
Chief among these ia the kingdom of
Prnaaia, in Urritor> mora than three
ttoaea aa large as all the atbar atatea
the anion put together, her popula
tion throe-fifths that of all Germany.
The King * Prussia is tha Emperor
of Germany. As emperor his constitu
tional prerogatiTee are- of the aMet
eminent kind. Unlike other presi
k !■■*«. ka ia irresponsible; ha cannot
he rfmored his oAca belonging un
rliaiahly to tha throne at Prnaaia,
whether its occupant ha king or regent
aniy. He summons, opens, adjourns,
the Reichstag, the latter of which he
can alao, with the consent of the Bun
dersrath, dissolve. Ha sppoinU and
at his pleasure removes the Im
1 perial Chancellor, who is both the vital
centra of all imperial administration
and the Chairman of tha Bundesrath,
and he appoints also, under the coun
tersignatures of the Chancellor, all
minor officers of the imperial service,
whom, with a like co-operation of the
chancellor, he may also dismiss. He
controls the foreign affairs of the em
pire and commands its vast military
forces; and in this latter capacity, of
commander-in-Chief of the imperial
army, it rests with him, acting at the
aogestion of the Bundesrath, to co
area into obedience such atatea of the
empire aa may at any time wilfully
and pertinaciously neglect to fulfill
their federal dutiea. He has, in brief,
to the fulleet extent, both the execu
tive and the representative functions
Bow characteristic of the head of a
powerful constitutional state."
The Bundesrsth U the federal coun
cil—a body of ambassadors who rep
reaent the government of the slates
from which they come; who, in •
word, are accredited to the Emperor
as diplomatic agents, and are clothed
with the same protection that is ex
tended to the like reprecontativea of
foreign states. The members of the
Bundesrsth, then, ere only the agents
of their governments, and act under
ist ructions from them. The imper
il chancellor is chief of the Prussian
legation and presents all the more
important legislation; Prussia has by
far the largest number of votes. Prus
sia, therefore, in reality presides ovel
the process of legislation.
The reichstag stands upon a differ
ent footing. It represents, not thi
states, but the whole German people
But1 the rekhMag does not govern
In a treasure it only controls. Yore
over, the majority of Its memebrs an
Prussian*, "and Prussia Is eVve al
things else a military state, traine<
to the compact order and jri ti.ictiv
, obedience of a strong monarchy
Classes, too, are sharply maiked ii
Prussia. An active and Influentla
landed arMfltracy furnishes the arm'
bast officers, the court wit!
I —
ita MH devoted wnwili, the public
three Minft to, (Witrt, no
exage ration to mf that in DM Car
man Kmpire Prussia la the dominant
power; that Prussia ia a military au
tocracy, egotistic, pompous, homhas
tle, tyrannical; that the spirit of Prus
■ia to incarnate in the Kaiaar. and
that ha to tha protegontot of Prussia's
insane ambition. In defining tha acope
of her ambition may wa not thara
fora, ba aided by hto conduct and hto
public attermiMM?
On June IB, IMS, at tha age of 28,
Will torn II became Empbror of tha
German empire Tha peopte did not
greet hto aeeeeeion with Joyful ac
claim. "Hto youth, impatooaity, and
arrogant erotism lad hia subjects to
view him with many misgiving*." Ha
bagan hia raign with a pompous dto
ptoy of military pow.r, and addraaaad
hto proclamation, not to tha paopla,
but to tha army. Hia profaaaion of a
"divine right to rata aa tha Lord's
Anointed" promptly lad to oatenta
ttooa dtoplay and a revival of tha
P**»antry of agaa taat ara pest. Ha
wranchad thto profaaaion into rain
pretext for tha intandad construction
of a Prussian hierarchy that ahould
rompaaa tha globa.
At Konigaberg, in Auguet, 1»10, ha
Mid:
"Here my grandfathar br hia w.
pnr • trmmmmm 11 wl opVlf nil
head, onca mora dtottnetly emphasix
ing tha fact that it waa accorded him
by tha will of God alone, and not by
assemblage of the people or by popu
lar vote, and that he thua looked up
on himself aa the choaen instrument
of Heaven, and aa such performed hi*
duties aa regent and Sovereign."
In like manner when the kaiaar plac
ed the crown upon hto own head he
exclaimed:
"I consider myself an instrument of
heaven, and shall go my way without
regard to the views and opinions of
the day."
In 1897 at Berlin He said:
"It we have been able to accomplish
what we have accomplished, it is due
to the fact that we consider that we
have been appointed by Cod to pre
aerve and direct for their own wel
fare the people over whom he has
given ua power."
Transition from one fatuality to an
other ia easy. At Breman the Kaiser
said:
"We are the salt of the earth."
And at Munster in 1907:
"The German people will be the
rock upon which our Lord God can
build and complete his work of Kul
tur in the world."
How is German "Kultur" to be built
and completed in the world-? The Kai
ser answered:
"Germanism like the spirit of imper
ial Rome must expand over the
world."
And again at Aix-la-Chapell in
1902:
"It is to the world that the German
(jenius aspire*."
Here, then, is the kaiser's far-flung;
challenge: Prussia's mission is di
vine; Prussia stands at the summit of
the aires, the elect of God, Prussia
must conquer the nations, subdue the
earth, and make all rule and authority
and power subservient to her will.
This vainglorious conceit Prussia
, teaches in the hom«, in the chuich
1 in the university. The following let.
| «er written by a Prussian school gir1
, to her .cwisa friend was first publish
ed In "The Kdinburgh Scotsman." !i
, bears evrjr indication of authentic
| ity, and li trcroendou ly sijmiftraiit.
r "Prmnlifwrt-on-OlHir,
I July 20, 1016
"It to evident I
9r
how my kart, tka tout
of a young Carman |H paaalaaatriy
daaired this war. Speaking ef to aama
years ago, my father Mid to aa: 'Chil
dren, Germany to iMttaf toe mmJI far
sa; wa shall have to go to Fram
ill order to Aim! mere nana/ la
M oar fault If Franaa will not
nmaaary for oa?
"And yoa reproach aa that oar aoid
Im ton baaa vary rroal to tka Bei
Ci»n rabble and yoa ipnh alaa of tka
burning of rfllagae and to ana. Wall, 1
that to war. Aa to every other under
taking wa are past maatora in tka I
making of war.
"Ton have • great deal to learn be
fore yea iiiom op to oar standard, aad |
I can aaeore yoa that what has
dona far to a mare bagatelle
pared with what will follow.
"As a matter of fact, there to hat
one race worthy of fact, tkere to bat
one race worthy of ruling the world,
and which baa already attained the
highest degree of civilization. That
race to oorm, the Proas ton >; far the
we Germane in general are the lorda
jf the world, the Pruaaian to im
ioubtodly the lord par excellence
unoag the Garmans.
tegenerato and of inferior
rhat to why I have always been ao|
proud of being a true Pruaaian.
"Yesterday, again oar pastor ex
plained to na convincingly that our
Krst parents, Adam and Eve, were
ttoo Prussian. That is quite easy to
understand becauae the Bible tells as
that the German God created us all
after his own image. If, then, all men
are deecended from Adam and bis
wife, it follows that «ily Prussians,
or at least Gennam, ought to exist
in the world and that all who push
on and prosper ought to belong to us.
You must admit that Is logic, and that
Is why our motto to 'God with us!
Germany above everything.'
"You know now why we wished
this war. It ii not shameful that oth
er nations who have no right to ex
istence on the earth, with to dimintoh
our heritage? We are the divine
fruit and the others are only weeds.
That is why our great emperor has
decided to put an end to all these in
justices and to extirpate the weeds.
Do you understand that now? I re
main your school friend,"
In fact, the entire educational sys
tem of Germany in the home, in the
church, in the university, is completely
dominated by the Prussian state, and
only inch instruction U imparted as
j meets the approval of the governing
class. A id the creed of the govern
ing cla« is Pan-Germanism with
world-vri< i dominion. What is Pan
Germanis i? Adam Roder, a well
known Ger tan publicist, says:
"The Pan-German view of the world
is consciously aimed at the rooting
out of the Christian religion and the
system of ethics derived from it. A
German religion is to arise, linked to
the belief in Wndan of our ancestors,
which, in turn, is to lie so 'refined' by
the results of the modem theory of
races and the teachings of the Dar
winian theory of evolution that whnt
remains will lis atheism, framed in
high-sounding plirate*.
"Chri t iu lit y will oe done am a/ witli
nfffordlng to the ideas of Nietzsche a«
the great weakening and enervating
influence. The only ( sit person L«
h» who ha1 p-.wer ard uses It. Sin
, redemption, repentance, ilia giuaUst
•
tries U i
of kwrtliaa built*.
I
ii
la atdar to
Bat l<* ahell thta
iwplaM? By Might, by bnt
torn, by Gormany'a "Invincible anas
md by "dtploMej." h January
IMI, speaking of tho army the bio
■Ms
"Tito clooo relatioaahip >itWM mi
and ovary aingle one of My oAeon
bark two hun«rod years, fm
MM bund rod years has proven true tki
—afoiito of tbo part Xlnf:"Tlw worU
doea not roat upon tho ahouldera oi
Atlaa any Moro securely than th«
Pruaaian atata upon tho ahouldora of
tho army.'"
At a review of tho Fourteenth Army
Corpa at Kariaruha, ha aaid:
"Wo Gormana are a people who re
joicea in weapoaa, and who lightly and
Joyfully wear oar uniform, because wa
know it preaervea the peace for ae bi
wWch alone our work can prosper.
On another nrrarii he declared:
"The aoldior must aot have a will
of hia owa; bet yea all have eae will,
and that ia my will. There la only one
law, and that is My law."
At a military banqaet in Berlin he
uaed this langaage:
"The army and the emperor at its
bead can alone secure the safety of
the OMpire and the peace of the world.
It la the aoidter and the arMy and not
the parliamentary majority and votoe
hat have welded the empire together.
Hy cofiftdeoce reeta upon the anay."|
he •oWWr's personal doty:
"You have sworn loyalty to me;
hia means, children of my God, that
rou are now My soldiers; that you
lave given yourselves up to ma, body
ind soula; there is for you but one
enemy, that is my enemy. In view of
Lhe present socialistic agvtation it may
come to paaa that I shall command
you to ahoot down your own relative!
your brothers, yea, your parent*—
which God forbid—but even then you
muat follow my command without a
murraer."
This unbridled passion debasses
mind and soul, breeds selfishness, ego
tism, and barbarity. The Kaiaer, for
instance, speaking to the Branden
burgers in 1890, said concerning his
policy:
"All thoee who wish to help me In
this work I bid hearty welcome who
ever they may be; but all those who
oppose me in this work I shall smish
to pieces."
He would "i mash to pieces" by
means of an army inspired wi'h hate,
consumed with lust, treacherous, vin
dictive, and relentless.
In July, 1910, he thus admonished
bis troops about to sail for China:
"You will and muat defeat the
enemy with the hilp of God and in
such a way that the Chinese in thous
ands of years will not prexjme to
raise his hand against the German.
On the strength of the oath to the llag
which you have sworn to me, I de
mand that you give r.o pardon, that
no prisoners to taken, for you shall
be the avengers of the abominations
which have l>oen committed."
And again:
that the Huns under Attila. See thai
for on* thousand years no enemy men
tion* the very name of Germany with
ou' rhuddci ing."
Do you doubt that this Hm«?ins
command wax followod with thj re
frain, "Onward with Gad?"
Tli!-. cumm.u!iu i Sc. ;nan an&j'
charter nnd tht Ocrmnn warrior'# li
car.ao for ^hc tmlu!«."cnc« in Sulgiun
I and France of all Um brutalities a
the cavemen, and of all tlie accom
pli hwenti of tflcn'iiic saraffery. I*
no man say henceforth that the*
itr .Von countries are the rirtima a
rflM.
The ultimata afcjart ef eGrmany tn
making this WW is not hard U Ami.
Ufce AltiiwUr, urf Caeaar, and Km
Wlllian II Mfiti
and indulgea the worship of
might—tha adoration ef tha nipar
man. Tha weak ha »ama. Truth,
juaira, love, marr y, ha
atrikee down. Ha debaaa
exalte perfidy HI. vaulting ambition
haa dreamed af universal empire, tha
dethroneaMnt af tha rhrlatian ralig
tan. and tha coronation of pan-Car
man Atheism. symbolised in tha "food
old Carman Rod" of hrawn and allot
and (hall. Woa to tha conquered!
Two score year* ace Carman be
gan to devise plana for tha definite
accomplishment of thia scheme. How
crude It than appaarad' and now bow
I
WhUa tha kingdom af Prussia haa
exieted since tha lattar part af tha
seventeenth century. tha eGnnan em
pire waa founded in January, in.
Aftar the battle of Sedan Wlllian I,
b^ame emperor. He premUed hia
subjects a reign of peace, without
interference in the affair* of other
nation*. Bat aboard waa a "reign of
peace" in the eye* af Bteaarek—
chancellor, premier, secretary—who
for tewnty year* waa the power be
hind the throne. The ft rat thing he
did »*a to increase the army. Em
peror William I dime March f, 1888.
The next day the Crown Prince Fred- '
erick III assumed the imperial office, i
and reigned only ninety-nine day*. <
WUltam^IJ weeded hmJ
kar—the assumption of the "war <
claaa—with thia reaalt: "Any one who i
allowed himaelf to think, or write or I
■peak otherwiae than waa plaaaing to
the governing claaa waa aupj>re«*ed,
punished, or if need be, (hot to bis
death." By the *poken and the writ
ten word the court of Berlin prepar
ed tha people for this war, becauae
they wished it and declared it to be
inevitable. Their powerful patronage
undermined the grou-d of peacc. In
the mind of the yocng. rain, and am
bitious emperor was instilled the
thought of war and conquest. Speak
ing of the historical antecedents of
this war, the author of "I Accuse,"
himself a German says:
An introduction appeared to have
seized the whole of Germany—a new
intoxication of freedom—from what
bondage no one knew. This drunken
ness was artificially produced by the
fiery beverages which an unscruplous
patriotic Press had for many a year
and day poured out to the German na
tion. Even those occupying the high
est positions were unable to escape
this condition of intoxication. A true
epidemic of patriotism broke out, set
ting high and low, young and old in
a fever of ecstacy.. No one any long
er inquired as to the grounds or the
object of this populai movement pre
pared lond in advance and skillfully
staged by the Nationalist wire-pullers
a movement in which the Emperor and
the Chancellor were at first victims
carried away by the stream, a move
ment in which later they were volun
tary participators, and of which in the
end they became the conscious direct
ing leaders."
(■real nruain was UIC imniniiaic uu*
ject of Germany'! avenging wrath. On
every battleship, in every banqueting
ruom, the German officer held V.igh hin
glau in drinMn; to "The Day" when
Piitain's fleet should he swept from
the ^eas, and the highways of the
earth should become the heritage of
>' the 11 in. At last, Germany concluded
"The Day" had come. The occasion
i' was the as*assinatton by a Serbian
' youth of Archduke frani Ferdinand,
•' the heir apparent to the Austro-Hun
I' ~n-iin throne, and of lila consort, tha
i Dutchess of Hob iberg, in Sarajevo,
^ June A 1914. Austria-Hungary claim
Ml ae
n
Oh Aacuat (at. Germany
France; Md an the ml
Om Amgmt 4.
(tod
Germany, and in
Japan, Turkey. Italy,
mania, Portugal, and
wara numbered among tha
nationa. Kit why. Anally, did oar |OT
ernment, on April A, lfft7, dad*n that
"a «tata of war nia'j between tha
United State* and ti* Imperial Oar
man Government *** And wily ara we
now at war with Oermaay? Let oa
appaal to hiatory.
In ltlO, tha Kaiaar riaitad
and at tha vary momant whan
finaara wara working day and
to complete a not weik of
railway* la tha Belgian frontier—pre
paring afiiratTka Day"—ha told tha
eonAdlng Belgian* that ha wooM an
Ainchingty maintain tha neutrality of
thair eaoatry.
nhiHaatiofi of tha ai aiiaa
it b.cama arrant far tha
concerned to know whether
Belgian nautrmlity would ba respected
Belgium said: "W« expect and da
»ira that othar powei* wiO otieei n
tnd ophoit our neutrality which wo kv
tand to awintam to tha otmoet aw
sower." France raaolvad to
t; Graat Britain determined to
lain it; bat Germany Dong to tha wted
til laiblanra o international law, Md
lev la red bar selema treaty "a array of
rhich for Ara daya offered atubbara
eaiatance; on tha 20th occupied Bru»
iel«, on which aha levied a tribute of
'orty million*; Ave daya afterward*
lack* and burned Louvain, and later
lenecrated tha aoil of France. Thence
forth on land and *ea Germany lat
iooaa the rein* on tha neck of brutal
ity. With brazen arrogance—her own
fleet bottled up in the Kiel canal—aha
claimed dominion in the Atlantic and
circumscribed a limit for American
commerce—thu* far ihalt thou go and
no further. Aa well preeeribe a limit
for the free air and the grarioua »un
ahina.
Early in 1915 Germany declared Um
waters around the British Isle a war
zone, announced her purpose to des
troy every enemy veiul found therein
without regard to the safety of the
crew or passenger*, in plain violation
of international la*, and warned neu
tral vessels of the danger of hostile
attack. This amazing threat against
neutral right indicated again the sub
serviency of German diplomacy to
military control, and the purpose to
cast off the restraints of civilized aa
val warfare, and to adopt the inhu
manity of the German practice. Why
be surprised? Had not the Emperor
told his army to glory the name and
character of the Hun? On January
28. 191&, the Willian P. Frye was
sunk and within a week after the
war zone decree had gone in e fleet,
two other American «*«sels. A month
later, after giving the captain Ave
minutes to save pasengers and crew
a submarine torpedoed the Falaba and
took toll of more than a hundred livws.
Soon afterwards a German aeroplane
threw bombs at the Grushjng, and a
submarine attacked the GulflighL But
the supreme horror eras to follow. On
May 1, 1915 the Cunard liner Lusl
tania was schsdulsd to sail from New
York. She carried a crew of 607 men
and 1.2*0 passengers, one hundred and
eichty-eight of whom were Americana.
In the afternoon of Friday, May 7,
while proceo l;ng ton miles off the Old
Head of Kinsale, the southerns Urn Up
of Ireland, the Lasitania was torpe
doed twice without warning and ia
eighteen mi-.,:te:i s«.nk. Of the crew
(Continued to page (ear) i