will commence a war of revenge, of aggrandizement, as she did the 'war of liberation' in 1813 when she decided to add the red color to her national symbol of black and white, to indicate that 'out of blood and death freedom shall grow.' The warlike spirit which Prince Frederick Charles did so much to stimulate in the 'fifties of last century is as strong now in the Prussian soldier as it ever was. There are Germans to-day who confess that from their youth up they have lived in hopes of seeing many at war against England.nly a month ago we read of young Corman recruits as eager to gain experience of the battlefield as were those at the beginning of the war. In September last, a Berlin editor, a fugitive from Germany, warned Allied 'pacifists' that the German Socialist has no thought of creating revolution, and that all classes of the population in Germany are animated by the same military spirit and are in favor only of a 'German peace.' On every available occasion messages of allegiance reach the Kaiser. The German Imperial Chancellor just lately said, 'Now, as before, Kaiser, Empire, Princes, and people stand closely and confidently together. They trust in our incomparable troops, etc.' Lieutenant-General von Freytag-Loringhoven strikes the same note in his recent book, Deductions from the World-War. This little volume reveals the view 'universal in Germany' that war will continue to exist. On the subjects of Disarmament and Courts of Arbitration, von Freytag agrees with previous writers that it is impossible to rid the world of war by mutual agreements. Such is the gulf which separates Germany's view from President Wilson's idea of 'The League of Nations'! only, which will induce Germany to There is one thing, and one thing Germany should barter her 'pawn' in the West for suitable colonies, and annex Briey, the iron-producing area of France. Dernburg, Kühlmann, Winand Engel, Max Schippel, Naumann, Paul Lensch, and others look for salvation to the 'Free Seas' and an 'Economic Peace,' which must not only be demanded but, if need be, 'extorted by force.' By 'Freedom of the Sea' the Pan-Germans (whose aim is Germany's domination of the seas) mean not only the right to 'enter every port and there unload and load,' but the right of aliens to be provided with facilities for unloading and loading. There must be no boycott of the Germans; no anti-German syndicates monopolizing cranes, etc., or regulating the direct or indirect sale of raw materials to Germany. Herr Dernburg, the German exColonial Secretary and late arch-intri gant in America, suggests that the Allies should consent to join in an 'Economic League' and agree to the principle of international rationing.' On the conclusion of war 'all countries shall formally agree that raw materials are to be distributed, shipped, and paid for in accordance with determined principles, under the auspices of an international distributing committee invested with arbitral powers. A large part of the world's shipping will sail under uniform control, and the output of a large number of raw materials by the separate states for the common benefit will be promoted, if necessary, by force.' After a 'cool consideration' of chances, Dernburg comes to the conclusion that, 'Germany will in the end be able to force her enemies into the economic agreement she requires,' and the result would be 'a League of Nations .... The Outlook for the Universal Supply of a Humanity destitute of raw materials.' But there is nothing to prevent the Allies from maintaining an economic grip after the determination of a military and diplomatic peace; and until Germany has been reformed and chastened she will not be admitted into any economic or political 'League of Nations' of which latter an Economic League is an important item. Part of Germany's punishment for all the crimes she has committed and all the devastation she has wrought must be a prolonged and very strict control by the Allies of all the raw materials obtainable from their countries. This need not create discords among either Allies or neutrals, but it would thwart Germany's intriguing methods of commercial penetration and the willful economic schemes on which her preparations for war are based, and would teach her that, in the long run, war is a losing not a paying adventure. This instruction should be given by means of incessant raiding during the war, and prolonged and complete economic control by the Allies afterwards. The greatest safeguard of future peace, and the most powerful weapon against the recurrence of German aggressiveness in trade, is control over raw materials. by Great Britain and her Allies. It is a positive shame that Ministers and ex-Ministers have not already agreed, and publicly declared themselves to be in favor of the resolutions of the Paris Conference, of anti-dumping, and of closing the 'open door' which gave Germany access to the raw-materials markets of the British Empire as the Colonies would wish the mother country now to do. THE ITALIAN VICTORY BY PREMIER ORLANDO [The speech made before Parliament, taking account of the Italian victories by land and sea.] IN these last days the Italian army has faced the most formidable trial to which it has been exposed since the war began. The coincidence, surely not fortuitous, of the reduction of the bread-ration at Vienna with the beginning of the offensive against us, shows that our foe is compelled to obey the rigid laws of necessity. Thus the whole Austrian army, so far as its effectives are concerned, has been largely reorganized in such wise as to eliminate or hold in check the internal dissensions between the different races; and inspired by the courage born of extreme emergencies, has attacked simultaneously on a front of one hundred kilometres,practically our whole front,-in one tremendous offensive. Our army has successfully withstood this assault. Another battle may have to be fought sooner or later; but meanwhile we are justified in recording a genuine victory for our arms. some If, indeed, we think of the gigantic resources which are at the disposal of a modern offensive on a large scale, and of the superior numbers of the enemy along the whole of the assailed front, so superior that at points our troops had to contend against forces four times greater than their own, who fought always with valor and sometimes with the strength of desperation; if, moreover, we consider the ambitious designs of the offensive, revealed to us in official documents which have fallen into 670 our hands; and if we remember the concrete result of this offensive, cisively and disastrously, in the mounwhich has come to a standstill, detain-zone, and has advanced to an average depth of one or two kilometres in a single sector of the plainzone, then we shall realize that, for the enemy, this is more than failure: it is defeat. presumption, animated by a faith, Far removed from vainglory and deep and sincere, excludes all caswhich, for the very reason that it is ily preconceived optimism, we await without boasting the difficult days which are in store for us. But we can and must ascertain and establish as historical truth some essential facts. And in the first place we must at once which we might be led to believe remove the erroneous impression by Altopiano and the Grappa has been that the enemy's offensive in the force an impression which might simply a great demonstration in arise from the mere fact of its brief duration. On the contrary, the truth is that the enemy attacked there with no less violence than at other points; threatening gravity was no less serithat there he had objectives, whose dangerous than in other places. Beous but was, perhaps, even more cause of the varying character of the terrain, the battle took a different turn and wore itself out more swiftly than is usual, being restricted almost to the unity of time characteristic of the battles of antiquity - namely, a single day. The attacks and counterattacks were epic; the defense of the valley of the Brenta, upon which, strategically, the main force of the enemy converged, the aim being to break through our front, is worthy of being cited among the most furious and decisive battles in history. On the Altopiano di Asiago, the British and French forces fought side by side with our own troops, forming an army of threefold nationality, which has fought with such harmonious accord, with such fraternal fusion of mind, purpose, and tactics, that none more perfect could be found, or hoped for, in any national army. But this single reservation should perhaps be made: that the flame of rivalry, burning ever more intensely, spurred them on to emulation in braveryto a most marvelous competition in which neither of the three could excel the others, so nearly equal was the tenacity of their resistance and the fury of their attack. On the Grappa,- the Mountain of the Fatherland, the enemy found opposing him that strong, unvanquished army, which already, after its terrible retreat from Cadore, had succeeded in building strong causeways under such difficulties that, even to-day, when we recall them, they seem legendary. This time the army acted like a steel spring of perfect quality: pressed together, it reacted almost automatically and shattered the enemy against the gorges and valleys. The just pride of the general who commanded it found. utterance in this single wish: that the glorious mountain, with its Cyclopean works of defense, may be declared a national monument by the State. And, truly, the bare stones of the Grappa, sanctified by the blood of our heroes, are a more fitting testimony to the glory of the whole army, and more worthy to exalt its name for centuries to come, than marble arches and gilded monuments. But no less gratitude does the Fatherland owe to the defenders of the Piave. Here the conditions of the fighting were very different. The bank of a river with a slow and intermittent current cannot be held by large forces without their being doomed to certain massacre, exposed as they are to a murderous fire from entrenched positions. We passed the river ourselves almost daily, with simple patrols, with no other purpose than to annoy the enemy. The real line of defense, therefore, had to be, and is, somewhat farther back: this line has been heroically defended after a succession of fierce indecisive combats; while for a long time the enemy has not even succeeded in driving us from the banks of the river. These admirable results could not have been obtained without great individual courage, as well as great collective courage. It is the victory of our private soldier, who, after three years of this terrible struggle, has once more found untouched within his soul the great enthusiasm of the first days of the national war, the same ardent bravery, the same spirit of sacrifice, consisting above all in fidelity to his chiefs and to his flag, loyalty to this our beloved and generous soil, whose yellow offspring I have seen in these latter days, concealing the trenches and covering the wire-entanglements with its abundance, almost as if it would give tangible evidence to the soldiers that it is their duty, too, to defend the generous soil which gave them life and sustenance the soil of their mother, Italy. Moreover, if we regard the army as a single powerful organism, an organism whose various delicate, complex parts seem to be governed by one soul, inspired by a secret harmony in doing brave deeds, and to aim with far from our souls. If our own civil united strength at a single supreme end if we so regard it, its collective gallantry stands out in bold relief. He who, like myself, has been able to observe with what wonderful discipline and spontaneous exactness all arms obey one central will, must feel the greatest admiration for the illustrious general, the commander of the army, who in his ardent and assiduous work for that army, accomplished in the silent performance of his daily duties, has become its strong and trustworthy restorer, and who is the genial and sagacious leader. But, above all, this vision of the unity of the military organism leads our thoughts to His Majesty the King; to the great encourager of our soldiers, whom he loves as his own sons; to the august chief of our army; to him who is well worthy to be regarded as summing up in himself all the great and noble virtues. Thus has Italian bravery asserted itself on land; and in the meantime, while the great echo of the heroic enterprise of Pola and of Commander Pelligrini has not yet died away, another battle has taken place at sea this time, in the open sea. One squadron of two of our shallops attacked voluntarily the Austrian squadron of two superdreadnoughts and ten destroyers. At least one of the two large ironclads went to the bottom, and the other, besides one of the destroyers, has been made unfit. for service for a long time to come. The two small Italian boats both returned to their port; and Commander Luigi Rizzo was entitled to hoist at the prow of his ship the valiant flag of victory a victory which, because of the way in which it was won, may be called unique in naval history. superiority did not inspire us spontaneously with a just sense of proportion, the very hour, the historical moment which is passing, so big with great events, and the sentiment that new and formidable trials may await us, would suffice to impose a grave and pensive attitude. But nevertheless, after seven months of hard discipline and anxious meditation, after having fought against every adversity and endured every suffering, this people may be permitted, for one moment only, to manifest a feeling of legitimate pride; allow it to express all the emotion of its heart and soul its heart and soul filled with gratitude to its soldiers and sailors, to the chiefs who lead them to victory. In honor of these heroes we will not raise grotesque wooden colossi into which nails are driven. We, on the contrary, can foretell that from the inexhaustible mind of the Italians there may spring forth to the glorious light of day a new divine artist, who, like Donatello in his San Giorgio or Michelangelo in his David, will create, in an eternal image of beauty, the symbol of the Italian soldier who too has opposed an enemy no less fearful than the giant and no less maleficent than the dragon. At present we keep these sentiments of admiration and gratitude enshrined in our hearts, waiting for the hour to come which will bring the victory of our just cause to us and our allies. But we are guilty of no inconsiderate and inept exultation, if from this place, at this moment, we say to those brave men, who defend our immortal Italy on the mountains, on the river, on the sea, and in the air: ‘O sons, our sons, for all that you have done, for all that you will do, your country thanks you, praises you, and blesses Let every feeling of vainglory be you!' |