" Today the
demon of war has been writing with blazing letters certain lessons upon
the hills and valleys of Europe, and fortunate is that youth who can
read the writing and interpret aright the lessons of the times.
The people of the republic now realize for the first time what are the
inevitable fruits of imperialism and militarism. One of the perils of
America's distance from the scenes of autocracy is that our people have
come to think that the forms of government are of little importance. We
hear it said that climate determines government and that one nation
likes autocracy and another limited monarchy, that we like democracy
self-government, and that the people are about as happy under one form
of control as another. This misconception is based upon a failure to
understand foreign imperialism. Superficially, the fruits of autocracy
are efficiency, industrial wealth, and military power. But now, after
nearly five months of constant discussion, our people understand
thoroughly the other side of imperialism. The 6,000,000 of
German-Americans living in this country, with their high type of
character, millions who have left their native land to escape service in
the army, the burdens of taxation involved in militarism, and the law of
lese majeste, should have opened our eyes long ago.
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