Clemenceau's Pledge to France New Premier, on Taking Office, Declares the One Purpose of His Government Is Victory Georges Clemenceau, the new Premier of France, delivered his formal declaration of Ministerial policy in the Chamber of Deputies on Nov. 20, 1917, and received a vote of confidence by 418 to 65, the opposition being that of the United Socialists. He read his declaration in a firm, clear voice, and his emotion when he spoke of France's debt to her dead was evinced only by the trembling of the sheets in his hand. His speech in full is as follows: G ENTLEMEN: We have accepted places in the Government in order to conduct the war with redoubled efforts and with a better concentration of all our energies. We come before you with the sole idea of a unified war. We would that the confidence which we shall ask you to give us might be an act of confidence in yourselves, an appeal to the historic virtues of the men of France. Never before has France felt so clearly the need of living and growing in the ideal of force placed at the service of the human conscience, in the resolve progressively to advance the right, both as among individuals and as between peoples capable of establishing their liberties. "Conquer that justice may prevail that is the watchword of all our Governments since the beginning of the war. That program, open as the sky, we shall maintain. We have great soldiers, of great traditions, under leaders tempered by trial and animated by that supreme devotion which gave their elders renown. Through them, through all of us, the immortal native land, in the noble ambitions of peace, will pursue the course of its destinies. Those Frenchmen whom we were constrained to throw into the battle have claims upon us. Their desire is that none of our thoughts turn away from them, that none of our acts be foreign to their interests. We owe them everything, without any reserve-everything for France, bleeding in her glory; everything for the exaltation of right triumphant. The single, simple duty is to stand by the soldier, live, suffer, and fight with him; renounce everything that is not of the fatherland. The hour has come for us to be solely French, and with pride to declare that that suffices for us. rear. Salvation in Solidarity Let everything today be blended-the claims of the front and the duty in the Let every zone be the zone of war. If there must be men who find in their souls impulses of the old times, let us put them aside. All civilized nations are engaged in the same battle against the modern development of ancient barbarity. Against this, with all our good allies, we are an immovable rock, a barrier that shall not be passed. Let only fraternal solidarity, the surest foundation of the world to come, be shown at the forefront of the alliance, at every instant and everywhere. In the field of ideas France has suffered for everything that makes man firm. In her hope, drawn from the sources of purest humanity, she consents to suffer still for the defense of the soil of her great ancestors, with the hope of opening ever wider, to men as to peoples, all the doors of life. The force of the French soul is in that. That is what animates our people while they work as well as while they fight. Those silent soldiers of the workshops, deaf to evil suggestions, those old peasants bent over their land, those robust women at their toil, those children who bring them aid-there are our "poilus," who, thinking later on of the great work, may say, like those of the trenches, "I was in it." With those also we must remain steadfast; we must see to it that, stripping ourselves for the fatherland, we one day may be loved. To love each other, it is not sufficient to say so, we must prove it. We would like to try to give that proof, and we ask you to aid us. Can there be a finer program of government? "War, Nothing But War" There have been mistakes. think only of repairing them. Alas, there have been crimes also-crimes against France. Let them receive prompt chastisement. We take before you, before the country that demands justice, a vow that justice shall be done according to the rigors of the law. Let us Neither personal consideration nor political ardor shall turn us from our duty or lead us to go beyond it. Too many criminal attempts have already resulted on our battle front in the shedding of a superabundance of French blood. Weakness would be complicity. We shall be without weakness, yet also without violence. All the accused before courts-martial-that is our policy, the soldier in the pretorium in solidarity with the soldier in combat. No more pacifist campaigns, no more German intrigues. Neither treason nor semi-treason. War— nothing but war! More Liberal Censorship Our armies shall not be taken between two fires. Justice is on the way. The country will know that it is defended and is a France forever free. We have paid too great a price for our liberties to cede any part of them beyond the need of preventing publicity and excitations from which the enemy might profit. A censorship shall be maintained for diplomatic and military information, as well as for those susceptible of disturbing peace at home, up to the limits of respect for opinions. A press bureau will give news, nothing but news, to all who solicit it. In wartime, as in time of peace, liberty is to be exercised under the personal responsibility of the writer. Outside of that rule there is only arbitrary anarchy. It has not seemed to us necessary to say more under the present circumstances to indicate the character of this Government. Days will follow days, problems will follow problems, we shall march in step with you to the realizations that the necessities impose. We are under your control. The question of confidence will be continually in the balance. We are going to enter upon a régime of restrictions after the example of England, Italy, and America, admirable in her ardor. We shall ask of each citizen that he take his full part in the common defense, that he give more and consent to receive less. There is abnegation in the army. So let abnegation exist throughout the country. We shall not forge a greater France without putting our life into it. Something of our savings is asked besides. If the action that concludes this session is favorable to us, we expect of it consecration. In the complete success of our war loan is to be found supreme evidence of the confidence that France owes to herself when she is asked for victory. May it be vouchsafed us to live that victory in this hour, to live it in advance in the communion of our hearts, in proportion as we draw more and more upon that inexhaustible spirit of self-sacrifice which should culminate in the sublime flight of the soul of France to the highest peak of its hopes. Some day, from Paris to the humblest village, shouts of acclamation will greet our victorious standards, stained with blood and tears and torn by shells-magnificent emblem of our noble dead. That day, the greatest day of our race, after so many others of grandeur, it is in our power to create. For our unchangeable resolution, gentlemen, we ask the seal of your approval. Victory His One Aim Replying to interpellations on the policy of his Government, M. Clemenceau said to the Chamber later on the same day: I will speak sincerely and briefly. The Ministerial declaration has already replied to the question regarding our war aims and the League of Nations for which M. Ribot's committee is preparing. I have been reproached with being unfavorable to arbitration. Well, at the time of the Casablanca affair I proposed arbitration, but it was refused by both Germany and Austria. I understand your idealism and I share it, but where we differ is that I am under no illusion regarding the reality of facts. I do not believe that a League of Nations is the necessary outcome of the present war. Why? Because if the entry of Germany into the League of Nations were proposed tomorrow I would not consent. You might offer me as a guarantee a signature. Well, go and ask the Belgians what that is worth. Peoples must be capable of freeing themselves. You are compelled to begin by saying that Germany will smash up Hypothe Prussian militarism, but the terrible fact is that she does not break it. sis is always in the stage of hypothesis. We cannot commit ourselves to such a course without injuring the morale which enables us to persevere with the war. When we are thoroughly embarked in a course of action we should talk as little as possible. The argument of M. Forgeot is incontestable in theory, but it I will not hold water in the face of realities. The men in the trenches are fighting for a peace which will give them life and honor. You ask me my war aims. I reply that my aim is to be victorious. Lloyd George on War Aims The British Premier Indorses President Wilson's Views on Peace With Victory Premier Lloyd George, in an address at London before Grey's Inn Benchers on Dec. 14, asserted that any overtures to Prussia for peace before victory would be a betrayal of trust. He declared himself in accord with President Wilson's address to Congress. Striking passages from the Premier's address follow: I WARN the nation to watch men who think there is a half-way house between victory and defeat. [This reference was to the Lansdowne proposal.] There is no such half-way house. These are the men who think the war can be ended now by some sort of peace-the setting up of a League of Nations, with conditions as to arbitration for disputes and provisions for disarmament, and with a covenant on the part of all nations to sign a treaty along these lines. That is the right policy after victory. Without victory it would be a farce. Who would sign such a treaty? I presume, among others, the people who have so far successfully broken the last. Who would enforce the new treaty? I presume the nations that have so far not quite succeeded in enforcing the last. To end the war entered upon and to enforce a treaty without reparation for infringement of that treaty merely by entering into a more sweeping treaty would, indeed, be a farce in the setting of a tragedy. We are not misled by mere words like disarmament, arbitration, and similar terms. You cannot wage war or secure peace by mere words. We ought never to have started unless we meant, at all hazards, to complete our task. Of course, our enemies are ready to accept a peace, leaving them with some of the richest provinces and the fairest cities of Russia in their pockets. It is idle to talk of security under such conditions. There is no protection for life or property in a State where the criminal is more powerful than the law. The law of nations is no exception. We are dealing with a criminal State now, and there will always be criminal States until the reward for international crime becomes too precarious to make it profitable, and the punishment of international crime becomes too sure to make it attractive. We are confronted with the alternatives of abasing ourselves in terror before the lawlessness, which means ultimately a world intimidated by successful bandits, or going through with our task to establish a righteous and lasting peace for ourselves and our children. Surely no nation with any regard for its selfrespect and any honor can hesitate a moment in its choice. A Hopeful Prospect If there were no prospects of things going better the longer we fought, it would be infamous to prolong the war, but because I am fully convinced, despite some untoward events and discouraging appearances, that we are making steady progress toward the desired goal, I would regard peace overtures to Prussia, at the very moment when the Prussian military spirit is drunk with boastfulness, as a betrayal of the great trust with which my colleagues and I have been charged. The German victories have been emblazoned to the world, but her troubles did not appear in the bulletins. However, we know something of them. The deadly grip of the British Navy is having its effect, and the valor of the troops is making an impression which will tell in the end. * * * This is not the most propitious hour. Russia's threatened retirement from the war strengthens the Hohenzollerns and weakens the forces of democracy, but Russia's action will not lead, as she imagines, to universal peace. It will simply prolong the world's agony and inevitably put her in bondage to Prussian military dominance. [If Russia persisted in her present policy, the Premier pointed out, the withdrawal by the enemy from the east of a third of his troops must release hundreds of thousands of men and masses of material to attack Great Britain, France, and Italy. He went on:] It would be folly to underestimate the danger from the release of the enemy's eastern forces. It would equally be folly to exaggerate it. But the greatest folly of all would be not to face it. America Coming "With Both Arms If the Russian democracy has decided to abandon the struggle against military autocracy, the American democracy is taking it up. This is the most momentous fact of the year, which has transposed the whole situation. There is no more powerful country in the world than the United States, with their gigantic resources and indomitable people, and if Russia is out, America is coming in with both arms. If this is the worst moment, it is because Russia has stepped out and America is only preparing to come in. Her army is not yet`ready and her tonnage is unbuilt, but with every hour that passes the gap formed by Russia's retirement will be filled by the valiant sons of the great American Republic. Germany knows it and Austria knows it. Hence the desperate efforts to force the issue before America is ready. They will not succeed, but we must be prepared for greater efforts and greater sacrifices. It is no time to cower or to falter. Great Britain's will is as tempered steel and will bear all right to the end. There must be a further drain upon our man power in order to sustain the additional burden until the American Army arrives. Even There is no ground for panic. now, after we have sent troops to Italy, the Allies have marked superiority in numbers in France and Flanders and considerable reserves at home. Much greater progress has been made in man power in the last few months than either our friends or our foes realize, but it is not enough to enable us to face the new contingencies without anxiety. The problem of man power, however, does not end with the army. Victory a Question of Tonnage Victory now is a question of tonnage. Nothing can defeat us but the shortage of tonnage, and the advent of the United States has increased the tonnage problem enormously. Germany has gambled on America's failure to transport her army to Europe. The Prussian claim is that autocracy alone can do things. The honor of democracy is at stake, and I do not doubt that the Prussians will be disillusioned, but both America and Great Britain will have to strain their resources to the utmost to increase their tonnage. The fact that American tonnage will be absorbed in the transport of its own armies compels us to increase our responsibilities in assisting France and Italy with the transportation of essential commodities to their shores. In order to obtain the necessary men for this object we must interfere to even a greater extent than heretofore with the industries not absolutely essential to the prosecution of the war. [Premier Lloyd George, in concluding, emphasized how the country could aid by further economizing and in the increase of home production. 'We must strip even barer for the fight," he said. British food imports next year, he stated in this connection, must be reduced 3,000,000 tons by increased home production and economy. The Premier also spoke on aerial warfare, saying that the nations possibly would determine that this must be the last war in which air weapons were used, as they brought the perils and horrors of the battlefields to civilians at home, who previously had dwelt in security.] Air Reprisals by Allies Baron Rothermere, the British Air Minister, made the following declarations in favor of air reprisals at the same meeting: My advisers have asked me to make a precise statement of our air policy. The question of reprisals comes first and foremost. At the Air Board we are whole heartedly in favor of reprisals. It is our duty to avenge the murder of innocent women and their children. As the enemy. elect, therefore, so be it-an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And in this respect we shall strive for a complete and satisfying retaliation. Von Ludendorff proclaims this a War of the Nations, suggesting that the civil population is a mark for the bombs equally with the fighting men. We detest this doctrine, holding it to be grossly immoral, but, fighting for our lives and the lives of our women and children, we will not consent to its one-sided application. The enemy has to learn in this, as in the larger things, that outrages on the civilian population of this country do not pay. America's Purpose in the War Address by Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, Sum- The United States Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, delivered an address in New York City Dec. 12, 1917, which was regarded as of deep significance, voicing the Government's views respecting the war. Secretary Baker spoke before the Southern Society of New York and emphasized the obliteration of sectional feeling in his opening remarks as follows: TH HE year 1917 is writing a new. date line in our history. It will take none of the glory from any of our memories; it will leave us as a priceless inheritance the great traditions of our race, out of which our institutions and our liberties have been fabricated, but from this year many things which are separated in sentence are all written under a new date, and the supremacy of common sacrifices in a common cause makes us more really a united people, more really a nation, than we have ever been in our entire history. The family of the nation has become continental in its extent. Many of these distinctions which once troubled us will be absorbed in the new glory of citizenship in the new nation. And this will be especially true because of the heroic character and the idealism of this enterprise. Every now and then somebody tells me that he has heard somebody say that America is fighting somebody else's war, and my instant reflection is, Well, suppose that were true? Is it not more heroic to save somebody else's life than your own? To whom do we build monuments, for whom do we cast hero medals -the men who save their own lives or |