New-York tribune. [volume], July 29, 1917, Page 3, Image 37

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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How America's Press Received War's Challenge in 1914
TO THE (?teat War in Europe the press
of America responded in a sort of
;:ir:i.'? d readiness ? amazement that
such a thing could really have happened,
?.et readin? ?s based upon an undercurrent
lining which had subtly colored the
??ploma*, ic history of the European nations
On July 27, 191-1, under
the head. "Austria's Responsibility." "The
i fork Times" is found declaring:
: ? . vihzed world it seens
j-na-i'iP- ela*?**OSt incredible, that a European
g?T of large proportions should be pi
Phen i? been talk again find
h a war. but it has always bo n
?iierc has been very
Of Austria's ultimatum
. end astonished the world.
???e how hostilities can
an govcrn
c,fnt ?triple to all future agi
: ?- powerful ?nfluonce on the tide
e. The avowed cause docs not jus
, ?mations of the
Crown Prmc ?if? were shaneli -'.
brut?! and with'iut purpose, but Austria has
be slow to make common cause with Russia
and France against Germany and Austria
Hungary. She would probably reserve her
strength to compose the quarrel after its
trst violence had been spent. The brunt of
a European war would fall on the four great
Continental powers. Should Germany ard
Austria-Hungary lose, it would probably
mean the end of the Hapsburg rule arul the
break-up of the 'sick man' empire, which
has now ra*-hly invited ? making-over of the
map of Europe."
And "The New York Evening Post"
>ai?l :
"Bishop Butler once speculated on the
possibility of a whole nation going suddenly
insane. If he were alive to-day he could
extend his query and ask if a half dozen na?
tions at once might not become crazy. In
Vienna, in Pari.-, in Berlin and St Peters?
burg ho would see .?igns of acute mania af
f':r:ing largo bodies of people. Mob p?y
etiology often shows it lelf In discouraging
and alarming forms, bul II BOVei M repul?
sive and appalling as when it is seen in
great crowds shouting for war. best we for
The Last Stand
? From Tlir Nets York 'J'niirs, August ,10. 191
get, indeed! About nothing does the mot
forget so quickly ftb about war. The Parisian
crowd Is crying out to-day 'A Berlin!' a?
If the same madness had not filled the street
?f Paril la 1970, with what ravage in?J
humiliation to follow others have not for
go"?.?), even if the French mob has. A?id
the way in which the war fever has seited
upon Berlin seems equally to call for the
service, not of a physician, hut of an alien?
ist. If one looked only at these surfr.ce
manifestations he would be tempted to con?
clude that Europe ?vas about to become ore
gigantic madhouse
"Fortunately for modern civilization, there
are responsible statesmen who know that
they mu^t disregard the wild howlings of a
street mob. It is from them that we mm
look for both words and acts of truth and
soberness. . . . It is a great oppo
for the farseeing and high-minded statesman.
i Especially of the German Emperor mu?t
one foci that the present crisis ?ff,
splendid chance to do a mighty service to
humanity. His strategic position and that
lof his empire are such that ?t is within the
? power of the Kaiser to make the voice of
(reason heard. He has repeatedly expr?s??* I
| the wish that his reign might be fr?-,
war. To no one moro clearly than to him
mu?t it be evident that Germany owes her
inormous advance-, daring the past **
tion to the triumphant methods of peace.
\:,d today the world wil! hi looking to him
with almo", breath!??- int? rest, in the hop-.?
thai be may cooperate in the hearties' way
and use his great prestige end Influence
in e\ery effort to prevent an insensate rush
into a war that WOOld .'hock all Furore.
"The World" Bammed thih***s up in this
fashion:
"The instinct of self-preservation, if io
higher motive, should prompt the allies of
Austria and the allioc of Bossia to play the
part of peacemakers in the proven' emer?
gency. That in all the years of their exist?
ence the Triple Entente and the Triple Al?
liance have maintained peace, in Spite of
ever recurring Jealousies and antagonisms
between their individual member?, is pr -of
of the restraining influence they exercise.
"The very size of the srmsment** that have
been bro ght into beinc. the millions upon
millions of men that would be summoned to
boar arms, the ruinous cos; ,,f H <Ont I
war, are point? to have a Sobering effect
upon the councils of Europe whenOTi
question of war or peace is in that bal
anee. . . .
"The statesmen who hold the rein? of gen
ornrior.t in Berlin. Paris and London cannotj
afford to rush 'into war from maudlin sen?i-;
montalism; they mus? calculate how much
each nation stands to win or lose, how ?
blood and treasure must be sacrificed, and
how for better or wnrsi I general European
war will effect every part of the statl
empire with whore interest* tbiey are
chargrd.
"The stakes are too enormous, the |ag1 8
of the game too uncertain, for civilize ! E I
rope, if it il in possession of its senses, to
risk its future wellbetng at the caprice of
military gamblers"
On August ."? "The World" believed .
"Gtnavng has run amuck. There is no
other explanation of the Kaiser's policy in
forcing a general European war
"Fortunate it is that Great Britain is com
: to cast her sword into the balare*
Iwithout further loss af i."
"The issue is now joined. Either Germ?n
? autocracy must be crushed or European
democracy will be obliterated Thai?) i< BO
i middle course. If the forces that the Kai?
ser has loosed are victorious the map ?f
European republicam?m may as well be
rolled up and ihe American people prepare
to make the last great stand for democracy.
?All of Continental Europe that is not Rus?
sianized will be Prussianized. France ? II
be reduced to the status of a third-rste
power. Belgium, Holland ard Denmark will
fall rucee: - ? the maw of German
imperialism. Italy will become a vassa!
state, the sun will have set upon the B
Empire as ?veil, and the mailed fist of the
conqueror will make ready to strike the
final blow at democracy in the New \\ '
i "The course of the German government
during the la.-t week cannot b
with any theory of political sanity. Wan?
tonly and ?I?-!?v>? lately the I
'his sword into the heart of I rill ?n. Th?
; whole world is paying the penalty of his
manne??, neutra!? as ?veil as belliperer.t.?.
I no,, the American people alone, 3.000 mi!???
\ from ? Biet, ii levied a ti ?bate
of millions of dollars a day in disorganised
comnv ganixed industry and ?I'-o?*.
I finance, and t ? ? ? - final reckoning that
. ! for 'in? maniacal onslaug
(?irman autocracy defies calculation. The
human imagination i- itaggorod as it face3
the inevitable consequences of this s . |
;.>? I? ?i '? mi IH of paranoia.
"I' !i -'ill po??ible to sympathize with the
I'erman people in the great tragedy th_t
I has overtaken them, with their backs to the
i wall fighting a more powerful coalition than
ecer Napoleon faced. But there can bo only
one answer to the Kaiser's challenge to Eu?
rope. German autocracy has mad.?
the enemy of mankind. Its destruction wll
be the emancipation of the German peo'l??
themselves ?.- well pg the salvation of Eu?
ropean republicanism '
"The New York Call." on July 28. 1914,
said:
". . Fortunately war is now thanks
to the spread <>f the socialist moviment in
Europe a double menace. It not onl> men?
aces tlie li\es of millions of the working
bul also the rule of their bloodthii ??
ami conscienceless masters. . , . W? ar"
now due for thousands of apparently '.
but mystifying pronouncements informing
I us that the assassination of the A .
. Archduke har, precipitated this crisis. An?!
though "assassination changes nothing,' ?1
regarded SS the immediate cause of th:>
>rv wholei 'ii of mill?
ions. That the racial animosities of Slav
ami Teuton ar?' Irresistible ami blood l<
.[?erative. Capitalism, of MOrse, 'de?
plores' racial hatreds, but it is always readv
to profit by them, ar.d will fan thorn into
flame for that pu? |
"Capitalism of necessity mixes up every?
thing with falsehood, chicanery and misrep
i resentation, but these 20,000,000 armed moi,
in the European countries, and those vas!
lighting fleets, arp no myth. They SI
in being for a grim, stern ami un?loniable
purpose.
"There are, perhaps, besides the sfoi
20,000,000, iom< hundred million European
dumdrudgos to draw upon for the hecatumb
and no doubt 'patriotism' ar.d the sanctic
and blasse go with thei
"But thare are a
alists ar.d anti-a
into the game with ano'her hand to p
it is they wh?. are *? ? ? a terror t
capitalism, forcing the ral exploi
ers to 'letting I dare not wait upon I
"What *?
what they can do we are equally ignoran
If war develops, then a. But upo
of th
hand of slaughter jsttt now.
"Many S
go out of ? la some such crisis a
this. ... 1' may be so. And th
It may not.
"All depends upon what thoa
able to d<?. They may have enough powe
' svsn now to make the war idea such a to;
j ror to th. | . mnot be il
j du'ged in and the Bf?
may t! g be i : ? till a number o
year *' b? Rg er?
. o?" time, i '
prevent l! .4?, hop? .
"But whatever ha; a- .. of th
Caucasian world now dtpen
, ami Europe Jost no** : hi one great theati
; of SI ' ? '?? play V th?
Hamk-t observed of sai k.' "
On August 5, I1! i, Hie Ti
?ed out *
"The general ? |
: ently inevitable resal
?
large part by a -es who ai
exposed to the terrible consequea ?
v.u. who have inherited ambition
tno-iitie*?, sppetil com
! mon people do not feonsciouily share
| With a war such a in, th;
? tremendous SOSl
proved to every human being
.?ven t>*e shortest foresight proved by At
, ilirect hal'iiship, prisation
.lured, it ., not at all beyond the limite o(
: able spec; at'er that
? the pene-ral moni of I rid ni* y
0 deeply revolt.
srmsmenl thst eomp
meal.
"Nor i.-i it beyond ?
; that the political aystemi of Europ?
have left the preciou
mon people I
eomir
...
the keepini
or a Roma i
"The Outlook" for tugUSl . 1914, con?
tains a colle-ction of "American opi*.
the war, a poll ?
"Horror is I
in America:
. ' - Europe, if ?
country i- Section, and \? t
in cut ami d
from pap?
?
the f. : | ?
I tion is a failure.
" ' \\ ?
I
'Tha.* Philad
York Ifa-ra': :
' /.ation a Fa .lar V 'The 1 in' sp
1 parentljr thinks it is
Of ?VSI i eoi ? ? ? The Sun':
"Bless You, My Children!"
- -Fron The New York World, August 1, lyi-f
A feeling of depression, sadness, almo-t
of bit 'y thinkl--.tr
I
I then, an inevitable In I mankind a**?l
man only if DoVi
know
11
? ? bind him to ? ? an I
?
?rid. in a .? which
. which
, | if ?uch long anna's of h!,, ? 1
?
; ? rer be
? n the temp', by Mr
-**?
on to point oui
awful
than if was; we for ?r
! modern m
institution,'
I in the pas*
hund med?*
n art, in commerce, in conquest ?if
l! In con i
.? ' . no! '
?'When it com.' I in
iai f pa] with 'Thi
Francisco Chronii devsv
_ war in European history,' thi
ut. Monarchical eliqu
ttt*m*OTS and has the power, without
going to war, to guard against the commis
aion of such crimes in the future.
"The rr.ediseval challenge suddenly hurled
?y the Vienna government practically ?!'
roande : nould become a pro
rste of the l'ual Monarchy. Serbia's
to **as con
.1 yielded every really
The publication this morr
a complete -ummary of this reply
that Austria's continued determ?na?
le Serbia is based on other rea?
lms than tho.-e indicated in the ultimatum.
"It will be freely said that Count Berch
teld has seized what seemed to him a most
Mity for dealing a blow at
and for strengthening pe.n
and incidentally reviving ?he
party in Austria. Taken alone, and
?.??regarding the seemingly inevitable conse
tao the rest of Europe, it is a pru
opportanity. . ? ? But the oppor
dered alone, nor can
the larger consequences of the act be d'S
roa if Germany and Italy, Russia,
ar.d England are at the moment
occupied with vital internal problems
?f con?tructive legislation. . , ?
hen the world's
? r *h-'
question of war arises. Perhaps the time Is
not far off. On* I Bftaia, the pros
II war, for SOCb
a cause as that pat forward by Austria as
tn excuse for Its tseatsseat ef Serbia, Is
rt-an: r o un try II a very different
om that with which nome of the
- ars of the past were viewed. Slaugh?
ter for conques: rj Is no longer
looked upon as a matter of course. It is not
?a say that the war news fr-m
? . with loathing and a
of shame. The only hope of peace
an awakening of the German
I
,!ay The Tnhi.ne wrote:
?SI on
Hungary has assurr.- -ability
... European war,
* is hard to see how Russia can avoid
? ? challenge flung in her far?- by
. ? ? Austria-Hun
Ma* i? plain to all. It ?a to use
to assassinations as a mean**, of
?sing a fiu* ? and taking ven
. rbiaaa for having block'-d
"?ral ?xpansion
...... , ? Um w*r
?e?*>in?t Serbia Is ? ?ar t? asS?JBMi inspired
? ?
ptlteal Seed fet launching it was tn
' ?? that AlStrie Hungary did not venture
I to the ordinary processes of
latioi.\* ?*
(bat ??ermariy will atand firmly *m*
??nd AnetriaV-Hia-fsry 11 Itseelo support?
?**th.o Tt,,- fjtriel DoMoofate tA Oajmeof
??uld o?p!'?re a ?or 11 et who?* burden? would
%S by ?h'.-e who h- ve
?'taring tt. Hut they
taran?,? r?.?r?.ra tr.e ir?,verrarrient or the over
*??.>', pirit "' the graat masses of
?*?*?*?? G?rm?n people . .
"Oa the other hand, Great Br.tain would
America s Press Now Sees War From Another Ande!
THKRE ia always something Oly
pian about the newspaper .
dividual? may have doubts, I
newspapers rarely have. Doubtless th<
are reasons for it; the giant's survey
the little we rid f**h*oa unusual opportu
ties for acquiring definite opinions.
any rate it is true that American editor
opinion in the mass does not hesitate ar
where when it comes to the war. It is
composed, a.? settled, and as agreeable
the compulsion of the war spirit as
th??se distant three years ago it condemn
Europe for initiating an apparently net
lesa slaughter. But it is a commonpla
tc say that all war aims and attitud
have changed in these startling thirty-.?
months, and it is possible that from the
vantage point newspapers have been t1
first in America to exchange the provi
C'al viewpoint which saw Europe fightii
for merely selfish aims for the wid
idealism that descries a terrible battle fi
freedoa to li\e.
"Our war," ia what "The lmlianapoi
."-tar" calls it; "our war to the very en
tnd unless it Is ended satisfactorily w
with most to lose, will be called on to pa
the heaviest penalty. Any one who wide
takes to create the Impression that weai
being made cat's-paws for European allie
ia serving the purpose of the enemy. W
are in the war, and there is nothing to b
done but to win our way out in cooper?
t;on with our Allies." The sentiment ap
pears, too, in Milwaukee, where a mult;
lude of Teutonic traditions does not kee
'Th?- Milwaukee Journal" from declaring
"A great many people have fooled them
- about the b'nited States becauoe W
have not been wildly excited. But dee
down there has been the growing oonvictioi
that t h. -s country must settle ?Ins war, tha
it will settle it "
The Answer to
German Contempt
i.i'rmar, ?*oni?mpt fur American prowes?
in the present war. whether real or af
? :. ha infliMneed opinion somewhai
i in favor <?f an ?arly opportunity to match
arm? with the foe. This is the answer of
"The St. Louis Post Dispatch" to the
declaration of the new Chancellor:
"The (hancollor sneers at America a? s
I negligible factor. The only answer we can
I -give to hi? sneer is to speed up war prepa
! ration? on the largest -?rale and throw all
I our available forces and skill into the anti
submarine campaign We mutt prove to
? both the German p? ople and their masters
' that America'? entra?e-? into the w?r ha? put
i te thrir hope? of a victorious Ger
\g?aa fOaae thr<"iu**ri ruthles? whrfare."
The simplified issues of the war return
to "The Philadelphia Press" in a new ligj
in the phrase the Crown Prince used
describe the aubmarine "the lasl arg
r.ient of kings":
"What have the German people t?> do wi
'his war? Their massed | simp
one of 'the arguments of kings.' That erg
iront was hurled at a world which foolish
tried to argue in the ways of peace. It WI
thrown at thorn first in the form of an am
marching into Belgium and Poland, ami tin
in the form of Zeppelins spreading imparti
death among schoolhoUM ? and tem
end now m the submai ring imparti;
<:cath around the seas, among neutral rivi
?an.-; find enem\ civilians. These are the am
ments of kings. They are not th.- argument
of the German people, or of any people m ti
world to-day, nor are they the arguments c
any kings excrpt thOl S in Central Europe."
The certair *y of our own place in thi
scheme of things appears on the editorii
page of "The Chicago Hi raid" when i
declarea :
"German. I count on the t'r.ito
in time of trouble. H ?-re is Kaiser
dorn, loaning against the ropes, sutTerin;
from internal pains, groggy from the pun
?shmenf already recen ed and li.?quirted a
: respect of receiving still more. It i
in just such a lUnsels an antag
onist to go in as hard as ho can to scor
a further advantage."
And this from "The Portland Oregon
ian":
"We must supply the armed forces am
the money and material needed to carrj
the Allies over the crest of the hill of vie
tory and to push them down th?? farthei
slope with steadily Increasing momentum.'
America Is Not Fighting for
Mere Iechnical Rights
?lust as the assassination of the Austrian
Archduke seems a faraway and negligible
factor iti the final sum <?f the war itself,
so few Americans remember the .?inking of
the Sussex or other incidents far below
the I.usitania murder in their human sig?
nificance as having tu do with our entry
into the war. And yet "The Washington
Poet*1 interprets the State Pcpartment de?
cision not tu take part in an Allied con?
ference on the aims of the war as a con
elusion that we are warring against Ger?
many because Germany interfered with
Am?*rican commerce and committed other
merely technical wrongs against our
national person. As for the nations fight?
ing with Germany, we have no grievance
against them, preferring to remain out?
side of the general quarrels of Europe
when they do not concern us.
To all <?f this "The Des Moines Reg
i?t?r" takes a lart-o exception, finding
America in the war for much more than
th" merely technical excuse of defence
igainsl German brigandage:
"There may he some reason foi ma
nig in an official way this technical attitude.
Out eXcUM l'or entering the war was un?
doubtedly interference with our cot
on the part of Germany. But nobody has
ever mistaken this technical excuse f
4^ai foi the rial reason fur th?' .? -, :
nobody would in 'h<* en.i tie iatl ? .1 m th
an enuinc of the irai that ?el o'ir technical
Silt, but mal rua' -satisfy our re.
; pose. Por I in point of 1
have gone to war, ft?
! with our neutral right a had been ail. "A a
j passed over the Lusitaiia tragedy, anal ?hat
fir the mo.t grievous offence a -
our rights. We eould settls with ?,. :
: to-morrow if all we were to demand was
fain
tared.
"1 hi; technical I l
so out of keepa .
I
And Then Peace
-?1 rom The Lot Anpries Daily 1 unes, July lu, 1D17
I WOT, and with everything he hi*
? .. p.-..,
irai purpose ol" the *- Ing the
? it is hard to I '. < ven a?
?
'?
has. !a) formulate the |e
l a will alo:.' ' -
T i T'y th
* .' ?hat
?
: tO OUI
? in ?r a'
be willing I
.1 . ? al. If
r to be
at war be. .
0 I
injuries, it \i on? of the emba?r.,
the .
war thai cannot be justified by
?
1 as that might hi
I humanity
scorn to have gone a long ways in displac?
ing those of pro,.
"
Home Thoughts on Reed
ON'? K more il i- Reed, of Missouri,
who ! - found opposing the P
dent, blocking urgen: war legisla?
tion, appealing to class OS .-ailing
character, impugning mot Rood, of
Missouri, attacking Ho*yv*sr,.: running true
In form. Reed.-of Missouri, lighting against
food control, ii eonsi tently against the
Administration and tently on the
Reed, of Mis?
souri, win eeenting the worst in
politics and corpo.-.ition interests in Kan
City or lining up with the war
profiteers in the Senate, i Rood, '?-' M -
souri, all the time.
Before he was Reeaj, of Missouri, and
*he .state unen viable m the
Senate he was R?-e.i. ,,\ Kansas ( ;ty, and
was different in no m iterial reepect cx
. the extent of his capacity
for harm. In Kansai < ity ho was always
I found 00 * f the anti-public
force-. He had and has ;i natural predi
f'.r the malign end the darksome
in politics and att rne\i-m. He C!)ii-a,r*. !
? n?orts by ? ? tbith those who
work under cover. !!?? hated ind hates the
tad men who do things in the light.
I; ?.i. of Kineil ? Ity, ISM known here for
exactly what Rood, of MisoOttli, is coming
known in the Senate and in the
country.
Th"-* wh" boot know Reed, of Ki
City, can understand hi- personal animus
? to Hoover.?The Kansas City Star.
absolutists, and those in Germany in par?
titular, are hold res| ? -'8
?I h?1 Spring! Id I.e.
publii ' in violating the
?? i ?. Em?
. ick did
- ".' and goes on te ?sj
irg* d by the
Frencl * Emperor forced
ling to
, te sfl in.
thai it m 'more
rillen? oeeai r??d
m international nee the time of
" 'The St. Lou t?!-iraes
point out
that it i? the German go not the
,f the people, n 'No two
the ?pirlt
ni rit of
? Th ? Republic,' i ?nids:
'the consent
?
"?I* dal am?
bition and of imperialism ecial privi
lege fighting against Chi * 0?
.' in the opinion ol
Journal,' , n Iphim
liltimate
! rd nato but
- involved, 'The
o ; nks the
war i? due i?? 'big irst ss
an example ?,f crin ?mi an
lack of con dor: t on f<>. 'the i*ull'd
- bleed
the man y to <
il ??!,?. winch
?, rniMljr,
?,, the di*fl?
and
'which hsve ed the ssfi ' el Eu?,
,? cord?
ing to 'The Buffalo Comm? reial.'
this gigaatlg
I alone
tiv sU
IVrhapg
Amerii i -e
of th. thou -h|
mueii of t? ? which?*
! . -rhapi
with ' ???? un-?
heda)
? - mat?,
? f which ' ? "OW
"
"At SS MO%
'SO
and pa ? ?s of
th The? PI
,: e L? '.- r* thai ?.?j if
ny l" a ? i u i ? ? isk.'
'V>o -?
the 'scarcity of provisions' which lirmany
will feel in a long war is the usual re??oa
given. 'The Boston Transcr.pt' and 'The
Hartford Courant' believe that the British
ly to be a determining: factor and
"The Wall Street Journal' remarks that
?there is one awkward little fact of wMch
Continent ..ml some of our
own, prepared to divide up the British Em?
n advance, conveniently forget. It is
that the British navy is always on a war
footing.' This paper, too. ?i ninre sanguine
of the nossibilit tish army than
that 'Great
hat no other country
. . still of fighting age. who
??nonce of being
s rot ?
S ? . i feeling in
America that den ? ipposed
to blossom in this country, and the republL
can form of weil ex?
emplified by the 1 will ecr.
tainly gain by n struggle. The
feeling is that absolutism and the 'divino
right' fetich are in for a big setback.
-.' says "The New York
irope humanity?will not
*n?rk airain info a position enabling
of them senile, \n.
subject to melancholia, and the third
often showing signs of disturbed mental
balance to give, on their individual ehotcd
or whim, the signal for destruction an?|
massacre.' And "The Chicago Tribun*/
?This, i? the twilight of the* kinftfc
Western Europe Of the people may be r.?uprt<|
in thi? debacle, but never again. K.ntjrn
Europe of the Wing will be remade, an?f
the name of God si all not g ve grace to gj
bandred square mil??? of broken bodies.'
"It is the ? he kings. The repube
lia marches east in Europe."