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Show I i I Editorial Opinion On Vital Issues of the Day H I HOW THE UNITED STATES H IS TO BE CRUSHED. H For the last four years U. Grant H I Smith was counselor of the American H ) embassy In Vienna. Ho had excop- H tlonal opportunity to study German H I policies and the underlying causes of the war. In an article of consuler- !able length, reviewing Prussian history his-tory foi the past half century, ho convicts con-victs the Teutons of deliberately provoking pro-voking no less than four wars of ag- grandl7ement, and charges that the H i involving of the United States In the H presont conflict was for two pur- H poses. One, in case of victory, to cx- H act a great indemnity, and the sec- H ond, In the event of defeat, to have the H voice of humanity In the United States H I pleading leniency for the Kaiser. H ; Mr. Smith's article is filled with !v startling statements as to the plans of Gormany in relation to the United StAtes. Ho says: "In a recent issue tho Volks Zcltung of Cologne said, Wo aro entitled to a H I thumping war indemnity, and wo do H ) not care who pays it- Those states H ' which have sacrificed Immense sumB H will be unable to pay it. Therefore, H America, which has earned thousands H of millions through munitions and H supplies, will have to unbutton it pock- H ets. Wo need not forco America it- H self to pay, but wo hold so many H , pledges in hand that for the entente H I It is most important to have America H , J as a banker behind them ' Recall the latt, Liic&u uau uciTCjiayci . uuiuiuuj H Is subject to the strictest censorship H that whatever sentiments are express- H I ed In them can be assumed to be those H of the government H "This 1b not a vague theory. It has H 1 been a matter of common knowledge H among thinking persons in Germany H and Austria-Hungary for months past H and is in line with the Prussian pol- H i icy followed in the war of 1S66 and H ' 1870, which whetted their appetite for M j indemnities, monetary, as well as ter- 1 1 ritorial. H ' j "Since tho beginning of 1915 you M will find practically no reference in M I the German or Austro-Hungarian press Hj to the United States of an appreciates apprecia-tes I tivo or complimentary character, in H , spite of the fact that American dlplo-H dlplo-H matic and consular officers in the war-H war-H ring countries wero working most H earnestly and generously to caro for H I German and Austro Hungarian Inter-H Inter-H ests. The tens of thousands of civll-H civll-H i ian and military prisoners in Franco, H I England, and Russia owe an untold H ' debt of gratitude to America." H Smith tells how Germany planned to M control the commerce of tho world, if H successful m the war, as follows: H ' "The second part of the great plan H i is the formation of the largest com- H I mercial combination or trust that has H I ever been conceived by the mind of H man, viz.: tho addition of Austrla- H i Hungary to tho German Empire under 1 Prussian leadership and through in- 1 terlocking directorates (to use a fa- H miliar phrase) of Bulgaria and H Turkey. H "It can bo readily seen what an H enormous power, in fact a power al- H most irresiBtiblo in international com- 1 merce, would thus be formed. Just M as the subsidiaries of any one of our H ' own trusts have their purchases and H " sales controlled through a central office, so all the foreign commerce, both export and import, of tho Mittel Europa Trust would bo controlled from tho Central Prussian Bureau Suppose, for example, that Mittel Europa Eu-ropa wanted to buy ?200,000,000 worth of cotton. They would come to this country and forco the formation of a group which would agreo to purchase from Germany or one of her subsid-laiy subsid-laiy corporations, products in return foi a certain portion of the ?200,000,-000 ?200,000,-000 worth of cotton, and, under tho conditions imposed, tho American group would bo obliged to agreo not to purchase tho commodities in question ques-tion from any other country. So they would go into all of tho markots of tho world, into South America and Asia and outbid and undersell competitors. com-petitors. -Business men can Imagine the effect of such competition on ex-poits ex-poits from tho United States. "A moment's reflection will convince you that if our normal two billions of exports woro reduced by oven one-half, one-half, tho pocket of every man in tho United States would suffer You le-member le-member how, at tho outbreak of the war in Europe, eory citizen of tho tt i, . ni-i ..l. Jl ,1 1,.-, UnilCU OUUCS vna HUUJUULUU LU mu effects, most serious while they lasted, of the resultant financial crisis. Wo are not self-contained, independent of the outside world "Tho financial status of tho laborer and tho farmer of tho Middle West is affected by tho conditions of our foreign commerco directly or indirectly, indi-rectly, but nono the less profoundly affected, just as tho trade conditions in his own section or any part of tho United States react on him. "It is tho operations of this gigantic gigan-tic trust after peace has como again that wo have most to fear, and sinco either German victory or evon the termination of the war in what people peo-ple might call a draw, would permit tho formation of such a combination, it is evident that either result Is ab solutoly contrary to tho interests of tho United States and of every resident resi-dent of this country. In case of German Ger-man victory wo would bo obliged to pay an enormous indemnity in addition addi-tion to having our foreign markets practically taken away from us If any trust could ever have tho adjective adjec-tive predatory aptly applied to it, It is that of Mittel Europa. Every man who has his stake in this country has a vital interest in preventing its formation, for-mation, and since Germany has deliberately de-liberately and with forethought forced us to participate in thiB war, the only salvation for us lios in our going into It with grim determination determina-tion to make every sacrifice to defeat her aims." |