Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1917 — WHY WE ARE NOW IN THE WAR [ARTICLE]

WHY WE ARE NOW IN THE WAR

As Seen by One of America’s Foremost Statesmen. There are those in this' country who would have us believe that the United States-, has no just cause for entering the world war at this time, or any time, and there are others who would have us believe that it was not the dictum of a majority of the people that we take arms against Germany. One man in Rensselaer recently remarked to us that we were forced into the war by the money powers who stood to lose large sums if the allies were defeated, and another said that had our relations with the belligerents been handled more diplomatically there would have been no occasion for us to go to war. Such groundless arguments as these are hardly worthy of a second thought as the best and brainiest men of the land have agreed that we could no longer remain neutral and still maintain the high pinnacle of humanity and justice which is one of the chief foundations of our country. And again there are some so narrow-minded as to'try and inject politics into the present situation. TO these we cannot reply better than by quoting Elihu Root, one of the foremost Republican statesmen of the nation, who has just returned from a trip to Russia in the interests of the allied nations. Among other things Mr. Root said: “In -Russia almost within sound of the guns, rethink we get a little nearer to the truth in this great war. upon which our country has embarked, a deeper realization than the people of the United States appreciate. We see that for centuries we have been building up a .structure for civilization. We have fondly believed that the world was growing more humane, more just. We have believed that the old dark days of tyranny aqs cruelty were passing away and that the nations of the earth had entered into a ; solemn covenant to keep alive these divine principles under which we propose to live. We see now. more clearly than ever, a great military power, a great military autocracy, proceeding upon the principles of the dark and cruel past, throwing down the gauntlet to the liberty of our day. We see Germany repudiate the rule of morality among nations —the binding faith of treaties—-without

which the society of nations cannot endure. We see these principles cast aside with cynical indifference. The principles of liberty and slavery, of good and evil, are locked' horns in mortal struggle. We see that the principles of our fathers, must go down before the inarch of this German Molqgh. unless the triumphant manhood of our republic- .gives support. ■,As Surely as the ‘ sun shall rise tomorrow. if this war ends with the triumph .of Germany, this country will become a subject nation for the temper anient of. the German rulfng power will turn to these purple fields, these- rich arf’d vast spaces of the western hemisphere. Leave your wealth on the sidewalk and trust that the. passing thief will not touch it; send forth your richly-laden ships and trust that the pirates will let them pass as .well trust that security will come with German victory. There will be orphans and there will be widows’ homes. There will be doubt and almost despair but in the end there will be a great free country, re-made in the spirit of our fathers to carry liberty and justice throughout the world. We are in this war and have got to go on with it. It is not for us to worry about the cause of war or why we should be in this war. It is not a time for whys and wherefores. We must realize that the time has. come when • American liberty and justice arid the independence and freedom of every one of us is the stake for which we must fight.’’ The word “junker” has frequently been used in connection with the Prussian government, and there is inquiry as to its meaning. A “junker.” says the Columbus, Ohio, Dispatch (Jungheer), is the scion of a noble house which has devoted itsdf to military service; a member of the aristrocratic party in Prussia which came into power under Bismark when he was made prime minister. Herr Bamberger described a junker as “a mixture of Charles I, cavalier, Prussian lieutenant, German feudal lord and Spanish Dori Quixote.” ,