OCR Text |
Show DIPLOMATIC FARING. Germany's newspapers, under government gov-ernment direction, have jrrown vociferous vocifer-ous once more in denunciation of President Presi-dent Wilson and Secretary Lansing. In this country Tee see no radical change in the Lusitania negotiations to warrant war-rant this journalistic bedlam and we wonder what all the noise is about. Evidently there is an African in the woodpile. The German government has something in mind and is trying to set np a scarecrow and have the editors knock it down with a great hue and cry that shall confuse the German people. Recently Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, undersecretary un-dersecretary for foreign affairs in Berlin, Ber-lin, assuming an attitude of virtuous indignation, in-dignation, said that Germany could not accept the new demands of the United States. She had gone as far as she could in reason, but positively refused to bow to these humiliating new demands. As the United States had made no new demands. Secretary Lansing promptly expressed doubt as to the authenticity of the interview, saying he did not believe the official had used any such language. The correspondent made it abundantly clear that he had quoted the official correctly. The Chancellor von Bethmann-Holl-weg began to display the same kind of virtuous indignation. Germany would not submit to further humiliations; humilia-tions; she would concede anything fair and reasonable, but she would not permit the United States to tie her hands in naval warfare. Immediately the German journals commenced to be virtuously indignant about the new demands of Wilson and Lansing, although al-though there were no new demands, and to shriek like steam calliopes about the attitude of the United States. What is the explanation of this noise-f noise-f est ? Evidently the German government govern-ment has worked up a new mystification mystifica-tion to deceive the people of Germany so fts to get their backing for something some-thing the German people might not support sup-port if left to their own devices. What ifl this something that the Berlin government gov-ernment wants the people to stand back oft Apparently it is the scheme to sink all armed merchantmen of the enemy. The fact that international law permits the merchantmen to carry guns for defense stands in the way of the German admiralty, and therefore there-fore the government deems it wise to get the support of the nation before launching the new campaign of " terri-bleness. terri-bleness. ' ' And to this end the newspapers news-papers are shouting and screaming about some mythical new demands of the United States which are supposed to have for their sinister purpose the humiliation of Germany and the handicapping han-dicapping of German naval warfare. If the German people are deluded by this cheap variety of "bunk" they stand little chance of understanding just how the land lies as the panorama of war unfolds. If disaster comes they will not know of it until it is upon them, for a government that is constantly con-stantly working up "diplomat!'' fakes" as producers of mob sentiment will hide the truth from the people to the last. It is patent that the German Ger-man people do not know what is going go-ing on outside their own country, and that they know but little more about what is transpiring within the ' ' iron ring" that engirds them. The duplicity of the German government govern-ment in deluding the German people is one of the most dangerous phases of the relations between this country and the fatherland. We can treat intelligently in-telligently with an honest and fully informed nation, but it is impossible to deal safely with a nation whih is being led astray by fantastic moving-picture moving-picture romances invented by its own government. |