The Independent . he Presidentsfriendly request. Every government owes it to its ow:: •people, whom it is calling upon to sacrifice their lives,as well as to the neutrals, whose sympathy it desires,that a clear statement be given to the world of what arethe objects for which it is putting forth these stupen-dous efforts. There is nothing absurd or irrational about such aquestion. It is permitted by The Hague does not ask Why did you enter the war? That issomething for the future historian to discover if hecan. Nor does it ask What are your specific peaceterms? That must be answe
The Independent . he Presidentsfriendly request. Every government owes it to its ow:: •people, whom it is calling upon to sacrifice their lives,as well as to the neutrals, whose sympathy it desires,that a clear statement be given to the world of what arethe objects for which it is putting forth these stupen-dous efforts. There is nothing absurd or irrational about such aquestion. It is permitted by The Hague does not ask Why did you enter the war? That issomething for the future historian to discover if hecan. Nor does it ask What are your specific peaceterms? That must be answered by negotiation. Thequestion is what do the belligerents hope, desire andbelieve themselves entitled to. Once that is given to thev/orld, public opinion will act and react until the pre-posterous claims will be scorned or laughed out of courtand the just ones will receive the acclaim of the opportunity for mediation or for direct nego-tiation will be here and that will be the beginning ofthe Drawn for The Independent by W. 0. Morris UNCLE SAM: IF YOU WANT PEACE, PUT DOWN YOUR THINGS, COME IN AND WELL TALK IT OVER January 1, 1917 THE INDEPENDENT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? THE Secretary of State has involved in disastrousconfusion the proposal of the President to thewarring powers that they make known the ends forwhich they are fighting and the terms on which theywould be ready to make peace. When the Americannote was made public, it was naturally accepted at itsface value as a sincere attempt by the chief neutralpower to aid in the creation of conditions which wouldbring the coming of peace nearer. It bore every appear-ance of disinterestedness. But the day after it was dispatched, Mr. Lansing,in an authorized statement, declared that neither thePresident nor himself regarded it as a peace note. Hesaid that we are drawing nearer to the verge of warourselves and therefore we are entitled to know exactlywhat each belligerent seeks in order that we may regu-late
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