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The War For Human Liberty

RESIDENT WILSON'S statement of war aims has given our present enterprise a definiteness and a high and mighty purpose which it had not had before. At one stroke he has introduced the element of order into a somewhat confused situation, made plain what we are fighting for, and made plain at the same time that we shall fight until we get it.

What, then, are the specific aims for which we are fighting?

I. No secret treaties; no private agreements between monarchs or ministries that bind whole peoples without their knowledge. This means supplanting the "Willy" and "Nicky" system by the principle underlying paragraph two, section two, article two, of the Constitution of the United States: The President "shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make, treaties." In other words the representatives of the people shall ratify every international agreement. The great statesmen who drew up our Constitution in 1787, understood the wickedness of secret diplomacy and struck this effective blow at it. Recent material unearthed in the Russian archives has pictured the Czar and the Kaiser in 1906, plotting to embroil Europe in war. "We took our oaths before God, who heard our vows," telegraphed the Kaiser. Mr. Wilson is evidently opposed to select secret societies of this kind. Mr. Lloyd-George, in his recent speech, borrowed a phrase from the Declaration of Independence, "consent of the governed," as describing the central idea on which the world should be reorganized. These few words from our Federal Constitution furnish similarly an excellent basis for the future conduct of international relations.

II. Freedom of the seas, "alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants." Herein Mr. Wilson asserts another familiar doctrine. It is also, strange as it may seem, an ancient German principle. In the treaty negotiated by Benjamin Franklin with Prussia it was provided that private property should not be subject to seizure at sea. The adoption adoption of this principle would end all blockades, by submarines or surface ships, and would make illegal any attacks in the open sea upon enemy and neutral commerce. Mr. Wilson hopes to

establish some international arrangement that will end war, and therefore he makes one exception to his anti-blockade principle. In case any nation violates its peace agreements, then a blockade against its ports, by the navies of all nations, would be used to bring it to terms. The first part of this recommendation necessarily depends upon having the last part.

III. Mr. Wilson's third condition has caused some flutter among the protectionist Republicans, who seem to think that he is seeking to establish a world system of free trade. "The removal, so far as is possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations. Senator Smoot and other worshippers of Schedule K detect in these words something more dangerous to mankind than Prussian autocracy. In the first place the phrase, "so far as it is possible," clearly saves us from a definite commitment. But it is not likely that Mr. Wilson was thinking of protective tariff in the Smoot and the Gallinger sense. Many people have advocated boycotts and non-trading arrangements directed against Germany. Germany. It has been proposed to ostracize Germany from all commercial relationships with the rest of the world; an economic war has been advocated as a sequel to the present military operations. There are indications that this possibility has driven the German leaders to despair, and that, could they be assured that Germany would once more be admitted to the family of nations as an economic equal, they would seek the quickest means of making peace. Mr. Wilson has asserted from the beginning that we are making war, not on the German people, but on the German autocracy. But none the less it is true that the fewer and lower the tariffs the less likelihood there is of war.

IV. The reduction of "national armaments to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety." In this Mr. Wilson announces a policy, without going into details or precisely defining what he means. Since his plan pro

vides for an international blockade against offending nations, it is quite plain that armament, especially naval, is not to be ended. This stipulation is directed in general against Prussia, the huge armed camp which has burdened and terrorized Europe for forty years. The details of its practical application are left for the future.

V. The President's fifth stipulation pro

vides for the settlement of "colonial claims." As Germany is the only Power that has lost any colonies in this war-the only one of the Central Powers, indeed, that has any to lose― the President is evidently discussing Africa, Tsingtau, and the German islands in the Pacific. Germany has evinced great eagerness to have these territories returned, while England and France quite clearly do not favor such a restoration. Mr. Wilson insists that "the interests of the population concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the Government whose title is to be determined." This rule would make inevitable the restoration of Germany's concession at Tsingtau to China. If the interests of the African tribes are to determine the matter Germany's African colonies certainly should not go back to the Fatherland. A plebiscite A plebiscite of the Hereros, should such a thing be possible, would not disclose any great affection for the Prussian system. It was in these African colonies that the German armies served the apprenticeship in brutality that prepared prepared them so well for the more mature exploits in Belgium and northern France. The Germans have never shown any aptitude for colonization and it is unlikely that they ever will. It is improbable that the interests of Germany or the world would be promoted by a continuation of this grotesque experiment. However, Mr. Wilson is willing to leave this matter openonly insisting that humanity and not imperialism shall control the settlement.

VI. Necessarily the evacuation of those parts of Russia held by Germany shall be a preliminary to any permanent treaty of peace. Germany's cynicism in approaching Russia with a proposal for "peace without annexations" and then insisting that she retain Russian Poland, Courland, Lithuania, Livonia, and Esthonia is apparently the action which inspired the President's message. Mr. Wilson's suggestion for settling the Russian question, including that of the invaded provinces, is precisely that same broad principle which he hopes to see applied to the reorganization of the whole world, including Germany itself. It is what Germany calls "the self-determination of peoples," but for which we have a better phrase "the consent of the governed." Thus Russia is to be welcomed "into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing." Mr. Wilson has not adopted that bitter attitude toward the sev

eral brands of Russian revolutionists which has become so general. He sees a nation distracted by all kinds of difficulties and blindly groping toward the light. He would lend a helping hand. He would extend Russia "more than a welcome; assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire." This is one of the high points in the

message.

VII. That Belgium must be evacuated and restored is fundamental. And Belgian independence, as President Wilson understands it, will contain not the slightest taint of German domination or control. There must be no "attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations."

VIII. Necessarily all invaded French territory must also be evacuated and restored. And Mr. Wilson does not limit this evacuation to the crimes committed in the last three years; he goes back to 1870-71. For the first time. he speaks definitely the words "AlsaceLorraine." Germany will never be admitted into the family of nations until she surrenders the plunder of forty-seven years ago. The fate of Alsace-Lorraine will finally decide whether the new ideals have triumphed in this struggle.

IX. Mr. Wilson insists that Italy shall be reorganized on the basis of nationality. This implies that the Trentino and parts of Istria and the east coast of the Adriatic shall become parts of the Italian kingdom. Again the principle of the "consent of the governed" is to settle a problem that can never be permanently settled on any other basis.

X and XI. Mr. Wilson has definite ideas on the settlement of the most tangled of European problems, that of the Balkans. What is to become of the Slavic parts of Austria-Hungary, of Serbia, Rumania, Montenegro? Many regard this question as even more important than Alsace-Lorraine. Germany's plan for a huge Germanic state or federation, including the present German and Austrian empires, Serbia, Rumania, and large sections of the Turkish empire, in Europe and Asia, is perhaps the chief stake in the present war. The realization of this ambition would mean the end of democracy, not only in Europe but possibly in North and South America. President Wilson's terms are intended to destroy this Byzantine dream of conquest. This principle of self-government necessarily

implies the establishment of such historic nationalities as Serbia, Rumania, and Montenegro. Serbia, in order to maintain herself as a nation, must have that outlet to the sea which Austrian policy has persistently denied her. Mr. Wilson disclaims any intention of destroying AustriaHungary, but he insists that the several Slavic peoples which now lie under the frightfully oppressive rule of the Hapsburgs shall have the right of "autonomous development." The expression is vague, but the principle involved is clear. It means that these peoples are no longer to be exploited for the benefit of a decrepit dynasty, but are to have the right to earn their own living in peace, to enjoy the fruits of their own toil, and to give expression to their racial ideals. It means that they are to be free men, instead of slaves.

XII. Turkey is to be permitted to rule Turks, but not to rule and destroy Armenians, Slavs, Greeks, and other peoples who have been subjected to a murderous sway for nearly five centuries. The Sultan may retain Constantinople as his capital, but he shall not be permitted to close the Dardanelles. This indispensable highway of commerce shall be controlled by international guarantees, and the Black Sea and the Mediterranean shall be as free and open as the Atlantic.

XIII. Perhaps Mr. Wilson's most dramatic demand is for the resurrection of Poland. He proposes not only a revision of the treaty of Frankfort; he seeks to turn the clock back to the days of Frederick the Great and Catherine of Russia and to undo the hideous crime of the eighteenth century. The Europe that remained inactive onlookers while Prussia, Russia, and Austria vivisected the Polish kingdom must now, nearly one hundred and forty years after the event, step in and give back Poland to the Poles. Hardly any statesman has ever proposed a modern Polish state on the comprehensive plans now outlined by President Wilson. It includes not only Russian Poland, but those parts of the ancient Polish Kingdom which are now integral parts of Austria and Prussia. The clause that will enrage the Germans most is the one in which Mr. Wilson demands that Poland, like Serbia, shall have an outlet to the sea. This means that Danzig will become the great seaport of the new Polish state and that Prussia itself will be split in two, with a strip of Poland as an intervening wedge. A sufficient answer to German objections is that this is what was

precisely the situation until Prussia rapaciously added these territories to her own dominions. The one determining fact is that so-called Prussian Poland is Poland, that its peoples are Poles, not Prussians, and that they overwhelmingly desire to become part of the new Polish state. There can be no complete Polish nation that does not include them.

XIV. After having made good all these ancient wrongs and rebuilt Europe on national lines, Mr. Wilson proposes an international organization that shall exist for the purpose of guaranteeing its perpetuity. In such an organization the United States will become a part. For a long period we recognized no responsibility for civilization except in our own hemisphere. By entering this war we seemed to admit a wider responsibility. By pledging ourselves to fight until the peoples of Europe are free, which is what the President does, we fully accept a share of responsibility for civilization in the whole world; no matter how the leagued association is formed or how it works we have definitely begun a new era.

The aims set out by the President can be achieved only by a victorious war.

So long as Germany is controlled by its present rulers whose religion is conquest, supported by an unbeaten army, its pledges will be worthless, its intentions hostile, its power great, and even if it agreed to such terms as we demand its pledges would be worthless.

We and our Allies have got to finish beating Germany now or be constantly prepared to fight at any later time when she chooses to run amuck again.

If Germany is beaten in the field the prestige of her military government will be gone and a republic may take its place. With the military autocracy successful it can and will kill all attempts at free government in Germany.

From our side the military defeat of Germany is an absolute necessity to prevent the repetition of Germany's systematic attempt to destroy civilization. The geographical and commercial terms which the President outlines are for the purpose of leaving as little cause as possible for future wars arising from other reasons. Not everyone believes with the President that human ingenuity will be clever enough to arrange the world so that no more causes for war will exist. But if the coldblooded desire to fight is beaten out of Germany and Austria and does not crop

up in some other Government, the great nations ought to be able to maintain a maximum amount of peace. But if Germany and Austria continue in the state of mind in which they want war there is no way in which the rest can prevent war from occuring.

Moreover, as the Imperial war-willing German Government uses the foreign trade organizations to currupt and weaken the political life of other nations and to spy on them, as long as the autocracy in Germany persists no nations can ever safely trade with Germany —and such a refusal to trade would probably lead to war.

As the President says, we are not fighting to dictate to Germany what kind of Government she shall have, but the fact remains just the same that there will be no chance of an arrangement promising even a fair amount of peace until the German military organization is defeated in the field and driven out of power. When that is done there will be an opportunity to put into practice the statesmanlike and far reaching programme the President proposes.

Director General McAdoo

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WHEN the President appointed Mr. McAdoo Director General of Railroads he did a great service toward the successful prosecution of the war. The President's action had two fundamental merits. He gave the job to a single man and gave him the power to do it. There is no committee, board, council, or advisory commission. The power and the responsibility are lodged in a single individual, which is the only way to get things done. In the second place the President gave this task to the man in his immediate circle who particularly has the habit of getting things done. Mr. McAdoo has many enemies-has had more than he has now-and there are many people who have questioned his policies, but no one can question his initiative, his courage, or his energy. These are now the essential qualities. Moreover, Mr. McAdoo's governmental activities form a rather remarkable record. He was a large figure in the inauguration of the Federal Reserve System, without which unquestionably our war financing would have been in bad straits by now. He endeavored to start Government shipping lines in 1915. The WORLD'S WORK did not then and does not

now believe his project would have increased shipping faster than it did increase, but, none the less, his shipping plan was another evidence of his energy and initiative. Mr. McAdoo is responsible for the Government war risk insurance on shipping which has been most useful. He is responsible for the soldiers' insurance plan, which seems as if it might be far more beneficial to the soldiers and sailors than the old pension system and also escape becoming a vast political scandal such as the Civil War pensions have become. Mr. McAdoo is responsible for the successful flotation of the two Liberty Loans and for the inauguration of the War Savings Stamp plan. There is a tendency, of course, in some quarters to say that the Liberty Loans were made successful by the bankers. This is true to a certain extent. But if the bankers had had their way the first Liberty Loan would have been at 4 per cent. instead of 31. They said that it could not be floated at 3 successfully. Mr. McAdoo had the courage to go ahead anyway and he was right. Moreover, if the Loan had been a failure it would have been his failure. It was a success. On the same basis the success is his.

All in all it is a good record. Mr. McAdoo has the courage to take responsibility and he gets results. If he does this in the railroad business it is all the public should ask of him during the war. As for his having three or four other jobs already, that is all right too, so long as he can do them. In war time there should be no mercy for a public official who fails to get results, and no jealousy toward one who does.

The Director General's Problems

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R. MCADOO'S new title is Director General of Railroads and his task was to take over their operation. In cold truth his most useful function will be protector general of railroads. The railroads were much more sinned against than sinning.

For example, let us take the coal situation. The railroads have this winter delivered to many sections of this country more coal than in any previous year. In other words the coal shortage, particularly the shortage of domestic coal is not due primarily to the railroads. But after the railroads transported the coal it did not take its usual course. The public feared a coal famine. The forehanded, who could