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Show H WINKING AT PERFIDY. H When the ballots are counted in the forthcoming elec- H tions of Sweden, her high officials who violated the neu- H trality of their country in the transmission of the Lux- H gurg notes to Germany will be repudiated for their ac- tion. If Secretary of State Lansing properly portrays the attitude of the United States in regard to the Luxburg notes, this will be the end of the disgraceful affair. Swed- en certainly cannot object to this course, and if we read H the signs aright, Germany will lend her unqualified ap-B ap-B prrval to the program. In arriving at a decision that the B Swedish people and the Swedish nation have not offended B the United States by the acts of their officials, our offi-B offi-B cials rely on high ideals to convey the wisdom of its policy. B It is based on the logic of a world at peace and shows a H woeful disregard for the bloody struggle across the seas. B Secretary of States Lansing distinguishes between tho B Swedish people, the Swedish government and officials of B the government who are responsible for the transmission B of the Luxburg notes. It is a noble aim to hope to recog-B recog-B nize the first two and ignore the last. The high ideals B of peace times would provide grounds for hope that the H offending officials would be duly and sufficiently pun-B pun-B ished in the elections. When a nation is at war an atti-Bf atti-Bf tude of this kind amounts to indifference, which ought B to encourage rather than discourage or stop perfidy B among officials of nations. If we are not to hold the B governments of nations responsible for the acts of offici-B offici-B als, to whom are we to look for abatement of 'treachery B th.it has but one end, extending aid to the nation we are H fighting? B We are told that the Swedish people are friendly and H that their government is neutral. Despite this, we face H the cold fact that high officials of the government are H either arrayed against us or they are so plainly incompe- H tent that they constitute a menace to the neutrality of B Sweden, as well as the cause of the United States and her H allies. We cannot treat with the people themselves, no H matter how much they are in discord with the govern- H ment. It is an ideal to which we strive, hoping that the H day will come when governments are so representative of H the people that their acts are direct reflections of the H will of the people. The ideal, however, is to be reached H only through governments, as it is clearly impossible for H all the people to participate in legislation. We cannot sep- H arate certain officials from the acknowledged govern- H ment, no matter how much we desire. As a nation we H must meet Sweden as well as other powers as a nation. H We can do it only through the accepted government. We H cannot distinguish between the government and the offi- H cials. They are of the same system. H The government is responsible to the people and the H officials must answer to the government. If we attempt H to ignore the acts of officials we are blind to the gov- H eminent. We are precluded from direct treatment with H the people, because we can only meet them through gov- H eminent. How, then, are we to distinguish between friend- H ly people and a neutral government harboring officials H arrayed against us? Plainly the answer is in an ideal, H difficult of attainment. The same high philosophy marks H our relations with Germany, although the two stands can H in no way be made consistent. We are told that we have H no fight with the German people and that we are at war H i only with German militarism. Openly, we express the H conviction that the German people do not know what they H are fighting for. If they did, they would not be fighting. Hl We acknowledge our inability to treat with the German B people as a people on the theory that we can meet them in m world relations only as a nation. Their government and B officials are the only tangible organizations with whom B we can conduct war or peace negotiations. Our theory H is that we must fight the German people until that gov- H eminent is overthrown or crushed by outside influence. H We profess a friendly feeling for the people themselves H but admit inability to deal with them as anything but a m nation. The theory is right. We can meet a nation only H through its government and can treat that government H only on the acts of officials. B In Germany we ignore the people and recognize the H ! officials of the government who have offended us. In H I Sweden we ignore the officials who have offended us and M recognize the people. There seems to be no doubt as to H the neutrality violation involved in the Luzburg notes. H . Someone is -responsible for the offense. The people are L11V ' pH. friendly we clear them of complicity. The government j is neutral we do not hold it responsible. Officials are I guilty but not in sympathy with the people and govern- j ment we ignore them. The whole mess returns to where Q it started and would have been better if it never had been t uncovered. The Swedish government is answerable to this nation for the acts of its officials. It is the duty of ; the Swedish government to punish those officials for then J offense against neutrality. Manifestly the people can- j not mete out the punishment necessary- and the United i States cannot touch them. If the government cannot punish pun-ish them or does not punish them, how is Sweden to ans- I wer to us? If they do not answer, it is contempt for the J rights of our nation. f In times of peace this attitude would not be so dan- gerous. Now, however, we are at war and cannot toler- j ate perfidy whether we find it at home of in neutral nations. na-tions. We are fighting the greatest war machine of all j times, and the quicker we realize it the better. The weapons weap-ons of war are the tools of the devil and are not to be destroyed by lofty ideals. The German vehicle of destruction destruc-tion is not confined to the battle front. The spy system, spreading to every country in the world, is one of its j strongest claws. If the machine is to be broken it is to be through destruction. We have to realize that we must j fight war with war, whether we find it on the battlefields j of Europe or in the friendly nation. In war, time is too precious to waste in waiting for elections to right wrongs and eliminate treachery. Herald-Republican. I o I |